Baima Temple No. 51

  "Do you think such a thing is possible?" With the letter closed, Nie Qiuyuan raised his head and cast his gaze at Luo Dachun beside him.

  "Henan Dao Xun Cha Shi, you're not joking, are you?!" Ruo Da Chun's face took on an indescribable expression. "I reckon the ones who received this letter aren't just our family, right?"

  "What is it that you're writing?!" I finally couldn't hold back my curiosity. Beside me, Jian Jiu was strenuously suppressing the curious expression on his face, he absolutely wouldn't dare to ask out loud.

  Lu Daquan turned his head and said seriously: "Have you heard of the White Horse Temple in Luoyang?"

  I nodded. It was a tourist attraction, and it remained so even in the 21st century when I lived.

  Please let me copy a paragraph from Baidu Encyclopedia below:

  The White Horse Temple in Luoyang, Henan Province is located 12 kilometers east of the old city of Luoyang. It was built in the eleventh year of Yongping in the Eastern Han Dynasty (68 AD) and is China's first ancient temple. It is a world-renowned Buddhist monastery and is known as the "ancestral court" and "source of Buddhism" in Chinese Buddhism. The existing site dates back to the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties. The temple has preserved a large number of valuable Buddhist statues from the Yuan Dynasty, including the Three Buddhas of the Past, Present and Future, the Two Heavenly Kings, and the Eighteen Arhats. In 1961, the White Horse Temple was announced by the State Council of the People's Republic of China as one of the first batch of national key cultural relics protection units.

  How's that? Dizzy yet? Actually, you can skip this entire section (Author: Sorry about that, I was just adding water to meet the word count). In short, it's very impressive.

  Especially in the early years of the Tang Dynasty, Li Shimin was how to revere Buddhist Dharma, we have some understanding in Journey to the West.

  "What's going on at Baima Temple?"

  When it comes to tourist attractions, the first type of case that comes to mind is a stampede.

  "Fifteen days ago, all the monks of Baima Temple disappeared in an instant before the eyes of 120 witnesses, not a single one was left behind!" Lu Da Chun said very seriously.

  "How is this possible!" I blurted out. This isn't a case, it's a terrifying paranormal event!

  "The testimonies of 120 witnesses are all the same. Now, Baima Temple has become an empty temple, and all the monks still have not been seen alive or dead!"

  The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. From a normal person's perspective, this is unscientific no matter how you look at it.

  "What exactly are you people doing?" They were county officials, not spirit mediums.

  "Summon Nie Qiuyuan, the county magistrate of Yikuan County, to bring his trusted subordinates and rush to Luozhou to investigate this case. There must be no mistake!" Rakudaichun read a passage from the secret letter, "The letter says that this matter has alarmed the Emperor, who attaches great importance to this case. Even Lord Fang Xuanling was dispatched as an inspector, together with the governor of Luozhou and the prefect of Luozhou, to handle this case. Such a big fanfare is really unprecedented!"

  House Xuanling! What a famous historical figure!

  I received a confidential letter and read it from start to finish. Judging from the wording, this was obviously a mass email. So, it wasn't just Ikawa County Magistrate who was summoned for investigation?

  It's an investigation, after all. It's impossible to just look for one household. Maybe it's a joint consultation. I'm very excited in my heart, because this may mean that the entire Henan Tao famous detective team is working together on the case, and also means that "Nie Qiuyuan" as the county magistrate of Yichuan, his ability to handle cases has been recognized by his superiors.

  "In this way, the government affairs of Yichuan will be handed over to Jin Zhi and Mei Lan for handling. Da Chun, Lin Jiu, you two come with me on a trip to Luozhou." Nie Qiuyuan thought for a moment before speaking up, "Liu Yue, now that winter is approaching, the matter of settling the refugees has reached a critical point, Mei Lan may not be able to leave. Would it be alright if we trouble you to come with us to Luozhou and take care of some daily matters for us? During the investigation, things might get very busy and many things will be neglected."

  "I'll follow big brother's arrangements!" I concealed the excitement in my heart and hastily agreed. This case is too bizarre, I really want to know the answer! I really want to go see the scene myself!

  I understand that many events shrouded in mystery have only one truth, and the process of uncovering this truth will certainly be fascinating. I've been thinking about going, but unfortunately, I had no excuse. Who would have thought things would go so smoothly? Nie Qiuyuan's unintentional decision easily resolved my dilemma.

  Meilan heard that she couldn't go, so she could only stay at home and do Red Cross activities, with a sad face and pursed lips. Although she looks like a gentle lady, her heart is actually quite restless. Her depressed expression made me feel particularly pleased, so I comforted her in a very good mood for a few sentences.

  With an excited heart and a rational attitude, I packed up everyone's luggage and loaded all the tools that I thought might be useful. I think this time, my skills will also come in handy, although it's a secret.

  Where there is autumn, there will be night.

  Time waits for no man, so we set off that very day. I disguised myself as a handsome young lad, and the four of us rode swift horses, galloping towards Luoyang County, the seat of Luozhou Prefecture.

  In modern times, my driving skills are not bad. The school has this subject, it's a required course, and I got good grades, even drifting is possible. However, in ancient times, I had to go back to driving school to learn horse riding. These two driving techniques have nothing in common, but after all, I still learned them, and the more I rode, the better I became.

  Luozhou's administrative office, Luoyang County, is just north of Yichuan County and adjacent to it. The White Horse Temple is located about 12 kilometers east of Luoyang City. In short, the journey was not far, and we arrived after riding our horses for half a day.

  It seems to be a well-planned gathering, as the registration activities are very organized. Although I didn't see any senior leaders, the reception was quite orderly. It's like in modern conferences, after signing and picking up the admission certificate, someone arranged our accommodation at the Luozhou Hotel. Each of us has a separate room in the hotel, with good conditions and high standards.

  In addition to the relevant documents, each of us also received an invitation card, inviting us to have dinner at the official residence of Luo Zhoumu tonight. I suppose that during tonight's banquet, we can learn a lot about the case. Of course, gossip is also indispensable.

  Everyone looked up at the sky and found that it was already close to evening.

  We quickly returned to our rooms to tidy up. To be honest, my identity was a bit awkward, and for this formal dinner, I should have worn a uniform. Fortunately, I had prepared early and borrowed a set of small-sized police uniforms from someone in advance. After washing and dressing up, the mirror reflected a young police officer. When I walked out of the room, our team members also came out one by one.

  Lu Daichun wore a green official robe of the sixth rank, Nie Qiuyuan, as the county captain, wore a green official robe of the seventh rank. Lin Jiu, although he had become Nie Qiuyuan's confidant, was too young to be directly promoted to the position of capture head, so he also wore ordinary capture attire. Now our four-man team, two greens and two blacks, is most valuable that all four are big handsome guys, no matter how you look at it, it's a very eye-catching team.

  Luo Da Chun saw me and smiled slightly, saying: "I was just thinking about what to do with Liu Yue, this outfit is really good, very stable."

  Nie Qiuyuan beside me seemed to smile but not quite, and looked at me with an inscrutable gaze.

  The four of us walked out of the inn together. As soon as we stepped out of the gate, we bumped into another four standing outside the gate.

  That group of people turned to face us, consisting of one green, two blacks, and a man in a blue casual attire. Judging from their attire, they were a sixth-rank civil official, a judicial clerk, a police chief, and a police officer. Essentially, it was a team composition similar to ours.

  The middle green-robed official was surprisingly young, in his early twenties, extremely slender, as if he would be blown away by the wind at any moment. His gaze swept over us, then he bowed to Luo Dachun and asked: "Yiquan County?"