Chapter 7 Chapter 7 The three words "short-lived ghost" are in...

The three words "short-lived ghost" kept turning in Hezhou's ears.

He spilled the warm tea in his hand as soon as he heard it.

"What are you doing!" The person at the next table slammed the table and stood up, "You bastard..."

Hezhou stood up with a dark face and turned his neck. "What did you just say?"

The man looked around and stiffened his neck before shouting, "Sir, County Magistrate, if you have time to sit here and eat, you might as well think about solving the case."

"Do you need to tell me about solving the case? Just be nice with your words. If I hear it again, I will arrest you!" Hezhou looked at him with a fierce look in his eyes.

"Wow~ so arrogant! What's the point of arresting a civilian like me? If you have the ability, go and arrest the murderer! It's just an empty shell!" The man was not afraid and looked up at him.

Hezhou walked forward and put his hand on Xie Xunzhi's shoulder. "What if I catch him within three days?"

"If you catch him within three days, I'll run around the streets promoting you as the County Magistrate!"

Xie Xunzhi patted him, turned around and continued, "A whole day!"

The man nodded and smiled. "Sure, all day. If you guys..."

"Then let's leave." Xie Xunzhi looked up at him, his tone still steady.

"That's not what I said! Hey, everyone, listen carefully."

Hezhou curled his lips. He liked what Xie Xunzhi said. If they were to leave, they would leave together.

He looked at the person in front of him and took note of it quietly. After saying those harsh words, there was no need to continue the argument. He had already splashed tea on the other person anyway.

Half of the man's hair on the back was wet.

Now that things have gotten this far, the other party will definitely not leave easily. Even eating in the water in the summer is not comfortable.

Hezhou found the meal boring and hated Master Chen even more.

The county's cash flow is poor, and there are very few liquor stores left. This is the largest and best one.

Hezhou was deflated. He had rarely cooked before and ordered takeout every day. Otherwise, he would definitely open his own business and not have to endure this?

The four of them walked back slowly on the road. Hezhou looked around and saw that there were no people around, so he asked quietly, "Xunzhi, do you think that person did it on purpose?"

"I guess it was someone sent by Master Chen to provoke you, and...you'd better be careful about that Li Erniu." Xie Xunzhi tilted his head and reminded him in a low voice.

Hezhou winked at him and said, "Don't worry, I know what's going on. At most, I'll just ask him to run some errands. By the way, do you think it's possible that he did this to deliberately embarrass me?"

Xie Xunzhi shook his head. "Probably not. He doesn't need to take that risk. He can still drive us away by other means. But if he is found to be involved in the murder case... then he will..."

"Yeah, I guess he's just trying to disgust me. Otherwise, he won't suffer any loss." He Zhou's eyes turned and his voice was delicate, "Xunzhi, if we can't solve the case in three days, we'll be homeless on the streets! You won't despise me then, will you?"

Xie Xunzhi laughed and poked his forehead. "Didn't Brother He say that when you reach the mountain, there will always be a way out? Besides, if anyone is to blame, it should be me who is causing trouble. I am a drifter..."

"How can you say that! Meeting you is the luckiest thing that has ever happened to me!" Hezhou looked into his eyes and said seriously.

"Me too, but Brother He, don't worry too much. I have actually thought about it all. Don't worry." Xie Xunzhi also winked at him.

——

Sleeping at night was a big problem. Now only two rooms were cleaned up. Hezhou and Xie Xunzhi moved to the master bedroom, and Lotus Spring Juan slept in the side room.

Hezhou hung up his official uniform and put on his inner clothes, sitting on the edge of the bed. "Xunzhi, I forgot to ask you, what about those two people you are looking for?"

"I threatened them. They were people who had signed death contracts but had committed serious offenses. They were bought by human traffickers and were as far away from their masters as possible. They couldn't live too comfortably. I saw the light in their eyes. From what I heard from the human traffickers, they were secretly having an affair. Who wanted the human traffickers to kill them when they were innocent?"

Hezhou took the ointment from the table and lifted up Xie Xunzhi's arm. The bruises and purples looked scary. He carefully scooped out a little and applied it on him.

"That's fine. I was just wondering if we have enough money to support two people."

Xie Xunzhi swept Hezhou with his long hair scattered. The two of them looked at the wound on their arms in the candlelight. "Nothing. I saw a few days ago that the school is short of teachers. I will go and try in a few days and teach you by the way."

"good!"

Hezhou held Xie Xunzhi in his arms and legs while sleeping. It was no wonder that whenever he closed his eyes, he would think of the scene he saw today. The blood-red area and the scratches where the bones could be seen made him almost vomit out the food he had eaten in the afternoon.

Originally, he didn't want to extinguish the candle, but Xie Xunzhi disagreed. On the one hand, it could save some fuel costs, but on the other hand, what if a fire broke out at night?

After hearing this, he could only blow out the candle obediently and sleep next to Xie Xunzhi, with the faint medicinal scent of Xie Xunzhi always surrounding his nose.

Hezhou got up as soon as it was light. He got up to go to the bathroom. Even if he was holding Xie Xunzhi, it couldn't relieve the shock in front of him.

The dream was also strange and weird. It reminded me of the horror movies I had seen before and I was scared awake.

When he returned in a daze, Xie Xunzhi had already gotten up, dressed, and was sitting next to him looking through his notes.

Hezhou felt that the quilt was already cold. Maybe Xie Xunzhi got up as soon as he got up. He was not very sleepy, so he simply got up and got dressed.

There was no need to go to court today, so he was wearing a casual dark blue plain suit embroidered with cloud patterns. Compared to Xie Xunzhi's white suit from yesterday, the corners of his clothes were already stained with dust.

This white dress was bought before coming to Hezhou. At that time, he looked at the ready-made clothes without checking the size. It was a little small for him, but it fit Xie Xunzhi perfectly.

"Xunzhi, let's go buy clothes later."

Xie Xunzhi sighed and nodded, "It's time to get a change of clothes."

“Bang!!”

There was a sound outside, and Hezhou became alert instantly. He grabbed the iron rack and walked to the door. He carefully opened a gap and found Lotus and Spring Rolls outside.

One was sitting in the yard boiling water and the other was sweeping the floor. When I turned around, Xie Xunzhi had already started writing a book.

He sat back and watched Xie Xunzhi write. Xie Xunzhi held the pen with a powerful posture, and the words he wrote were smooth, fast, and beautiful.

These things seemed to come to his mind automatically without any need for thinking.

"There are copper coins in front of the bronze mirror. Take some and go outside to buy some soy milk for breakfast. When you come back, bring me the seal from the court." Xie Xunzhi didn't even raise his head.

Hezhou jumped up the moment he received the task. "Okay! I was thinking of waiting for you to finish writing so I can send it out together."

Xie Xunzhi raised his pen and smiled slightly, "How can you know where it is? Let Ading go. If you dare to rob a post like this, you should consider how many heads you have."

"Got it, I promise to complete the task!"

Hezhou just took the money and went out. He didn't have to go to Chen's Wine Shop to buy breakfast. He could just eat on the street without walking too far.

He was partial to Xie Xunzhi and brought an extra bowl of porridge, thinking that he should muster up the courage to go and see the scene later, and it would not be worthwhile to vomit it out.

Yesterday he placed the seal and the official stamp on the table together and took them in. Xie Xunzhi had just finished writing and was waiting for him.

Xie Xunzhi touched the seal with his hand and frowned. "There is ink in the drawer. The seal, waist badge, appointment letter, and money must be put away properly."

"Okay, come and eat. You've been busy all morning." Hezhou put the wooden container of soy milk on the table next to him, took out a piece of bread, tore off a piece and stuffed it into Xie Xunzhi's mouth.

Xie Xunzhi lowered his eyes and took the scallion pancake and ate it in small bites. He walked to the basin to wash his hands. "Brother He, please give breakfast to Hehua and Chunjuan. They are definitely not used to eating with us right now."

"That's right... When we were having dinner yesterday, the spring rolls were almost shaking like quails." Hezhou pushed the door open to get the bowl and brought the pancakes to them.

He went out with half a scallion pancake in his mouth. After boiling water for spring rolls, he lowered his head and cleaned up the rest of the room. Hezhou handed the things to Hehua.

"For breakfast, take a bowl and drink some soy milk, or pour water yourself." Hezhou took two bowls and left.

Xie Xunzhi wiped his hands and sat at the table waiting for him. After the two finished their meal, Hezhou watched Xie Xunzhi drink the medicine before going to the morgue.

Outside the door, Ading and Ajia had already gone to work and were leaning against the wall listlessly. Xie Xunzhi walked towards Ading with a smile and handed him the letter.

Before Ading and Ajia could make eye contact, Hezhou came out to play the bad guy, and in a few seconds Ading ran away with the letter.

The morgue was not what Hezhou had imagined. The body was lying on the platform covered with a white cloth. Old Song handed him a piece of paper full of words.

"There was a significant amount of drug in the body's mouth and nose. The fatal blow was a penetrating wound to the chest. Preliminary assessment suggests the victim was stabbed more than once with a triangular shoe repair axe. The large wound may have been caused by the attacker using the axe as a tool, as he felt the victim was still alive."

Hezhou handed the paper to Xie Xunzhi to check. "I checked yesterday and there haven't been any missing reports of people of this age recently."

"Post a notice and see if there is any woman with a red birthmark on her ankle who hasn't appeared for a long time. We should go to the pharmacy to try such a large dosage. Sorry to bother you, Mr. Song." Xie Xunzhi bent down and handed the record paper back.

Old Song's eyes shifted between the two of them. "You are too polite, young master."

The body didn't provide much information, but Xie Xunzhi was still most worried about the ruined temple. That place couldn't be sealed at all. If the murderer went back, he could only hope that what he thought was right.

Hezhou followed him quickly. When they arrived at the place, they both looked around separately.

It was almost the same as yesterday. The inconspicuous piles of stones that Xie Xunzhi had placed around last night were all intact.

He picked up a stone and shook it in his palm. "Xunzhi, it seems that your worry just now was a bit excessive. I feel that the murderer hung the body so openly and probably didn't care about being discovered."

"I felt the same way, that's why I didn't let Hehua guard here. But this is even more terrifying. Who knows when the next body will appear. Let's go in and take a look." Xie Xunzhi reached out and carefully removed the seal on the door.

As soon as I opened the door, a smell of blood hit me in the face. The blood on the ground had dried up long ago.

This was the first time Hezhou observed this place so carefully. There was a god sitting in front of him that he didn't recognize, who seemed to be a Taoist.

This temple still shows its former prosperity. It has a huge space and fine workmanship, and everything is complete. If it weren't for the disaster from heaven, it would probably have existed for a long time.

There were traces of ropes worn on the beams, and it was obvious that the person had been pulled up there after death.

The marks caused by grinding are shallow and the force acts on only one side.

Hezhou walked around and found a set of footprints by the wall. He moved lightly, with the footprints shoulder-width apart, and applied force with the back deeper and the front lighter.

"Brother He!"