Chapter 36: The Monk's Prayer

  As soon as I heard that we need to find someone who knows a monk, I was worried. We ordinary people, how many of us can come into contact with this kind of person?

  Cao Yuan thought of a plan, he said to find a scenic spot to take a stroll and ask the monks there for help. Since they are all monks, they must have contact with each other, let's see if anyone can come out to help.

  This idea is not bad, but when I think deeply about it, I want to laugh. Those scenic spots and monks didn't provoke anyone, they really encountered an unexpected disaster, being stared at by Cao Yuan, this is a violent-tempered master, if three or two words are not right, he will forcibly bind those innocent monks back?

  Cao Yuan said and left immediately, calling a few of his men to take the car downstairs.

  The scenic area is not close from here, I estimate that he came and went back, at least half a day's time, but in less than half an hour, he actually returned with a smile.

  He went into the conference room and muttered to us that Ah Feng's plan was solid, he found someone who was very familiar with that monk.

  I'm quite puzzled, thinking how he managed it in such a short time. Even if he rode a rocket to the scenic area, it wouldn't be that fast, would it?

  Lu Yifeng also asked who he was looking for.

  "Cao Yuan said, 'You know that there are two mediums in Longzhou, right? The dark-skinned medium is suspicious and we're investigating him now. But the other medium knows the monk and they just had a conversation earlier. He's also willing to cooperate with the police. What do you think, isn't this heaven helping us crack the case?'"

  Have to say, this thing was done really smoothly. Since someone has chosen, we two shouldn't delay either, let's hurry up and go to that spiritual medium's house.

  Lu Yifeng had met this medium before and was familiar with him, but I and Panzi were seeing him for the first time. My impression was that although he was also a medium, his skin tone was particularly pale. If he stood next to the dark-skinned medium, they could be considered as yin and yang. Moreover, he had a goatee and a face full of wrinkles, looking quite unusual at first glance, perhaps it was an extraordinary appearance for an extraordinary person.

  The white spirit medium was very enthusiastic, proactively greeting me and Panzi, and boasting about himself. I don't know if his boasting is a form of industry competition, but he specially emphasized that in Longzhou City, only this spirit medium has received professional training, implying that black spirit mediums can't compare to him.

  We didn't go to him for divination or fortune-telling either. We just praised him a few words, and then we all got on the car together and rushed to that village.

  The old detective had only roughly mentioned the village's address, and under the guidance of my subjective impression, I thought the village was better than it actually was.

  When I arrived at the place, looking at this area full of broken bricks and tiles, I was almost speechless.

  The white spirit medium explained to us that this is a characteristic of Longzhou now. The remote and out-of-the-way places are all ready to be relocated, and the villagers in this village have all moved away except for the monks. The monks feel that without the temple, they have no place to settle down, so they became a nail household.

  No wonder this monk and that old man know each other, they have similar temperaments, both are so stubborn.

  But anyway, Lu Yu Feng drove the sedan through the village and even with his good driving skills, he still scratched the bottom of the car several times.

  We arrived at the temple and got off the car together. Judging from our appearance, we were guests. Looking at the closed temple gate, both of us thought it would be polite to knock on the door first.

  Bailin Media didn't have that intention, he pushed the door and found it wasn't locked, then beckoned us to go inside, and shouted in a loud voice, "Master, it's me!"

  This sentence made me feel a bit different. I think when I meet that monk, he must be wearing a kasaya, holding a wooden fish, and looking like he's attained enlightenment.

  But when I walked to the temple, I found that the monk was wearing a tattered monk's robe, kneeling in front of a mud Bodhisattva and praying.

  We suspected the monk, I looked at his background and thought to myself, what is he up to now? Is it that he has killed someone and feels uneasy in his heart? He's chanting with the Bodhisattva, washing away his sins.

  Lu Yifeng made a gesture to us, telling us not to disturb him, and then led the way forward.

  When I came face to face with the monk and looked at his face, my heart skipped a beat.

  He looked like he was in his fifties or sixties, with beads of sweat the size of beans on his forehead, his eyes tightly closed, not even glancing at us, reciting scriptures with an extremely pious attitude.

  I can be sure that this monk must have been very scared in his heart, especially with the way he closed his eyes, if it wasn't from the bottom of his heart, he couldn't pretend like that.

  I was suddenly chilled and wondered if we were wrong again. Was this monk not the murderer, but the next target of the murderer?

  If this guess is correct, then our purpose for coming here will also change. We won't just be investigating him, but we'll also have to take time out to protect him.

  Bailian waited for a while but didn't see the monk get up, so he got impatient and whispered a few words into the monk's ear.

  Perhaps because of the friendship, the monk finally opened his eyes and hastily glanced at us a few times, saying, "You are all masters, please excuse me, I have something to attend to, and I won't be able to entertain you properly!"

  To put it bluntly, he didn't want to bother with us. Bai Ling's face was a bit unbearable, and she still wanted to say something to the monk. But Lu Yu Feng pulled her back, pointing to a corner, meaning we should go sit down for a while.

  We also didn't go far, and gathered together to discuss in a low voice. Lu Yu Feng's idea was that since the monk was practicing Buddhism, we just had to wait, he would get up sooner or later.

  I think Lu Yufeng is being sarcastic, he's just going through the motions, it can be seen that after seeing the monk, his attitude has also changed a bit, and he has discovered something.

  Bai Lingmei is just cooperating with the police, since A Feng has made a statement, he doesn't care. Pan Zijian doesn't even need to be mentioned, he simply doesn't think for himself, whatever A Feng says goes.

  The temple was quite simple, let alone chairs, there wasn't even a stool, but there was a place where some dry grass was piled up, so we spread the dry grass on the ground and sat down casually.

  After more than an hour, Ah Feng and I could still sit, but Panzi and Bai Lingmei couldn't hold on anymore. Panzi stretched out his hand to ask Ah Feng for the car key.

  This beast is up to no good, I can see right through him. We have dried meat in the carriage, he's bored and wants to eat some meat, but can't openly eat it in the temple hall, so he thinks of hiding in the carriage to do so.

  Although it's not good to show the idea of eating meat in front of Bodhisattva, we are not monks after all and don't care that much. Lu Yufeng glanced at Pan Zibao with a sly smile and handed him the key.

  The white spirit took out a sightseeing posture and wandered around in the temple, finally strolling outside the temple gate.

  I don't understand what happened either, anyway suddenly, the white spirit medium let out a loud wail and ran wildly into the temple hall.

  He was too nervous and even tripped on the doorstep when he came in.

  I and Lu Yifeng quickly got up and went over to support him. I asked in advance, "What's wrong with you?"

  The white spirit medium's face turned slightly red, and he stuttered to us, "Something terrible has happened! I just saw two children with pale faces, black pupils, and their bodies covered in white fur, wearing long gowns, floating past the temple gate. This is a sign of great calamity."

  It's just afternoon, the sun hasn't set yet, and I thought he was seeing a ghost or something, but how is it possible to run into a ghost in broad daylight? And he had been bragging about receiving formal training before, now he's showing such a timid side, I really want to ask him if his so-called formal training was just a correspondence course that he paid for.

  Lu Yifeng calmed down Bai Ling's mind and then took us outside to take a look. During this time, I turned my head to glance at the monk again, he must have heard Bai Ling's shout, but he still didn't move, only speeding up his chanting rhythm.

  After we came out, I saw Panzi still sitting in the car, lowering his head to chew on dried meat. I quickly walked over and pulled him out too.

  I asked Panzi, what happened just now? I thought that since Bailin Media had run into evil forces, Panzi should also have some perception.

  But Panzi looked at me inexplicably, shook his head, and said that the meat smells good, want to come together?

  I looked at him and couldn't ask anything else, so I went back to Ah Feng's side.

  Lu Yifeng looked around for a while and asked Bailin if she still remembered which direction the two strange children had drifted off to?

  The white spirit medium was also a bit afraid and said he didn't dare to be certain, but it seemed to be heading southwest.

  The southwest of the village looked even more desolate, it was impossible for anyone to be there. In order to investigate the truth, we had no choice but to rush in that direction together.