xymnovel 047:5 Prison
047:5 Prison
Upon hearing this, Su Wen frowned immediately, his mind racing as images flashed through his mind.
When they went to Wu Hongye's house to investigate, a woman said that Wu Hongye had recently become a follower of Nestorian Christianity. Zhao Wudou had also been to Nestorian Christianity before he died, and Wang Youfu had also been to Nestorian Christianity. In the eyes of outsiders, he was disrespectful to his parents, so he was sentenced to have his heart removed, which corresponds to the Heart Removal Prison.
Su Wen also recalled his previous guess: Ding Yuan was just a prostitute, which did not fall under the category of adultery, but the murderer still treated him as an adulterer. This shows that the murderer may not have a thorough understanding of the Chinese language.
The deceased was very anxious because, according to Li Moxuan, he was either seriously ill or insane. But a madman would not be so meticulous and intelligent, so he must be seriously ill!
At this thought, a person flashed through Su Wen's mind!
Moreover, the biggest problem is that several of the deceased had fish bladders in their stomachs. Could this have been due to forced feeding? Otherwise, the deceased would have resisted. In other words, the deceased used the fish bladders voluntarily.
Although the fish bladder wasn't very big, it wasn't small either. Why would the deceased willingly consume it? Unless, it was a lie to deceive the deceased with doctrines or the promise of cleansing sins!
Thinking of this, Su Wen suddenly realized something and looked at Li Xingguo and Xu Ge, saying, "I know who the murderer is!"
"Who?"
"Come on, take me to Nestorianism!"
Xu Ge responded and then led Su Wen, Li Xingguo, and the other two to the Nestorian Temple.
The Nestorian Temple, also known as the Persian Temple, was a place where Su Wen found that there were not many Han Chinese, but many people from the Western Regions. Su Wen entered the temple and saw two people dressed in black robes supporting a person, immersing his face in the water, and then pulling him out.
Su Wen had seen it before; although the process was slightly different, it was basically the same.
Su Wen ignored all of this and instead said, "I am Su Wen, the magistrate of Luoyang County, the chief minister of the Ministry of Justice, and a professor of criminal law. Where is your Nestorian Church's chief minister? Summon him!"
Upon hearing this, one of them bowed slightly to Su Wen and said, "The Grand Master has gone to Tongxuan Temple to discuss Taoism with Master Li; he is not in the church!"
Upon hearing this, Su Wen immediately frowned, and a sentence suddenly flashed through his mind: "Those who disrespect ghosts and gods will be imprisoned in the Tongue-Pulling Hell!"
Thinking of this, Su Wen immediately turned around and shouted, "Oh no! Quick, to Tongxuan Temple!"
The two hurriedly followed Su Wen and ran after him.
As Li Xingguo ran, he asked, "Magistrate, do you mean the murderer is the Grand Secretary of the Nestorian Church?"
Su Wen responded, "I've been misled all along. I suspected a Taoist priest just because I saw a talisman. But just now, I suddenly realized that the murderer wanted to achieve immortality by killing people in the Five Hells. Master Li said that the murderer is either insane or seriously ill. Do you remember what that young Taoist said?"
Li Xingguo thought for a moment and said, "I understand, but why do we need to go to Tongxuan Temple now?"
Su Wendao said, "The last of the Five Hells is the Tongue-Pulling Hell, for those who disrespect ghosts and gods. Daoist Li Moxuan is a thinker; he doesn't believe in ghosts and gods at all. Therefore, the murderer will definitely target him as the final target!"
The three of them ran wildly. Su Wen was initially in the lead, but after a few hundred meters, he was left far behind by Li Xingguo and Xu Ge.
By the time Su Wen reached Tongxuan Temple, he was exhausted and out of breath, his eyes bloodshot.
When Su Wen arrived at Li Moxuan's residence, he saw Li Moxuan standing there, with Li Xingguo standing beside him, and Xu Ge holding a knife to the neck of the Jingjiao Grand Master, who was coughing violently and wearing a black robe.
Su Wendao: "You caught them?"
Li Xingguo said, "When we arrived here, we saw him already lying on the ground!"
Li Moxuan then slowly said, "Magistrate Su, may I ask if you have solved this case?"
Li Moxuan pointed at him and asked, "Is this the murderer?"
Su Wen nodded and replied, "Yes!"
Li Moxuan closed his eyes and slowly said, "Just now he came to me, trying to kill me, but how could a seriously ill person like him be a match for this old Taoist? I injured him. When I saw him, I already guessed that he was the one who killed several people this time, wanting to kill through the Five Hells to become an immortal. So he waited for you all here!"
Su Wen looked at the Grand Secretary of Nestorianism, took a few breaths, and clutched his waist, saying, "Mutos, do you confess?"
Mutos looked up at Su Wen, then slowly rose from the ground, looked at Su Wen with a smile, and without any hesitation, grabbed the knife Xu Ge was holding to his neck, pulled hard, and slit his own throat.
Su Wen, Xu Ge, and Li Xingguo were all shocked by what they saw. Li Moxuan, however, slowly turned around and sighed, "Alas... how foolish people are!"
Seeing that the Grand Master of Nestorian Christianity was dead, Su Wen turned to Li Moxuan and said, "Master Li, I didn't expect you to be so capable, able to emerge unscathed from an assassination attempt!"
Li Moxuan glanced at Su Wen and said coldly, "This old Taoist priest served as a military advisor to the Emperor at Anqing Palace for seven or eight years. How could he not know martial arts?"
After saying that, Li Moxuan walked into the house, seemingly unaffected by Mutos's death!
Seeing Li Moxuan's expression, Su Wen quickly called to Xu Ge and Li Xingguo, "Take the body back to the county government office, and while you're at it, clean this place up!"
Upon returning to the county office, Li Xingguo said, "This case has been solved!"
Su Wen glanced at Li Xingguo without saying a word, only letting out a cold laugh before walking towards the morgue. Xu Ge, looking bewildered, asked, "Magistrate, this case is solved, but why do you seem so unhappy?"
At this moment, Su Wen walked to the side of the Nestorian Grand Secretary who had just been carried back, and tentatively touched his nostrils with his hand, then actually pulled out a little powder from them.
Li Xingguo and Xu Ge were both shocked and asked, "What is this?"
Su Wendao said, "I had already concluded that the Grand Secretary of the Nestorian Church was the murderer, but when I saw him just now, I suddenly discovered something!"
The two men looked puzzled, and Su Wen asked, "General, haven't you noticed?"
The general shook his head.
Su Wendao said, "When we first saw him last night, we noticed he was coughing almost constantly, and the same thing happened when we saw him a second time this morning. But when we saw him just now, he didn't cough at all. Don't you find that strange?"
The two shook their heads in confusion. Su Wen explained, "There are many things that don't quite add up in this case, but ultimately it boils down to one thing: too many clues point to him, they're not even clues anymore, they're explicit indications!"
"For the murderer to kill so many people, to do so many things, and in such a short time—if he could do it, isn't that a joke?"
Su Wen paused here, then continued, "You know, he was already terminally ill, a man on the verge of death. We saw him twice, and he was even walking unsteadily. How could someone like that possibly kill three people in a row, and even escape during that process!"
Su Wen then looked at Li Xingguo and Xu Ge and said, "You and I just ran all the way from Chongqi Fang to Dunhua Fang. Didn't you notice that although I don't run often, I'm still a fairly strong man? Even running at this speed, it took me a full quarter of an hour, and I'm exhausted. Do you think a dying man has the ability to kill someone in Chongqi Fang and then quickly run back to Dunhua Fang?"