Chapter 123: Garden of Sin
Yin Chuan's question left Linlang a little confused. "It doesn't exist? Why do you say that? Are they deliberately using false information to deceive me? But what is the purpose of doing this?"
"I'm just guessing. What if the so-called 'Father Douglas' is a member of an organization we know, such as Wan Jianjun or the old man from the Jin family? Is this possible?"
Linlang pondered for a moment, "It's possible, but I find it a little unbelievable."
"Of course, I don't have any evidence to support this; I'm just listing a possibility. By the way, you said you were attacked. Was the attacker the gardener of this garden? His name was... Ma Lao Ba?"
"That's right."
"The gardener of this garden..." Yin Chuan murmured as he looked at the flower bed near the hospital.
Seeing him thinking about something, Linlang couldn't help but ask, "Brother Yin, have you thought of something?"
"Linlang, have you ever noticed anything strange about this garden?"
"Is there something strange about the garden?" Linlang looked around again, "Brother Yin, what do you think is strange?"
"I'm new here, and the first glance at this garden makes me feel it's completely different from any garden I've seen before. A little thought leads me to two questions." Yin Chuan lowered his head and saw two canals dividing the entire garden. "You see, generally speaking, if a garden digs a canal for irrigation, it's usually a circular canal surrounding the flower beds. There's no need to dig two. Furthermore, they run straight through the garden, horizontally and vertically. It seems to have a deeper meaning no matter how you look at it. Secondly," Yin Chuan said, looking back at the banyan tree in the center of the garden, "this tree is the one that makes me feel the strangest."
Linlang looked up at the banyan tree. "What's so strange about this banyan tree? Doesn't it look like an ordinary banyan tree?"
"No, Linlang, maybe you don't know. In our land of China, banyan trees generally grow in southern regions, such as Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong, and the Southeast Asian region. And where is this place? North of Shandong! Even if I can't be too specific, it's really hard to find a sturdy banyan tree like this one. And..." As he spoke, he sniffed hard, "There's a strange smell next to this tree, it's both foul and fishy. If they were fertilizing the banyan tree, why would they use such a thick layer of fertilizer?"
Linlang nodded thoughtfully. "According to what you said, this garden is indeed very strange."
"Yeah, I think this garden is really strange!"
A time-worn voice came from behind the banyan tree, sending shivers down Yin Chuan and Lin Lang's spine. A figure appeared from behind the tree; it was none other than the gardener, Ma Lao Ba.
"You...why are you here?" Linlang's tone was filled with shock and fear.
"Don't worry, I won't dare to attack you again. If you feel that you can't get rid of your anger without revenge, come and retaliate against me." As he said that, Ma Laoba took off the felt hat on his head, revealing his shiny bald head, and stretched it towards Linlang.
"Forget it, I'm not that petty." Linlang stepped back, intending to stay away from him.
At this time, Du Yunzhang also came closer, "Old Yin, this guy came out of the warehouse behind the church and wanted to talk to Linlang. So I brought him to see you. You better behave yourself!"
Yin Chuan nodded and then said to Ma Lao Ba, "Since you are the gardener of this garden, why do you also think it is strange?"
"As for me, although I'm a bit older, I've only been taking care of this garden for a little over two years. Of course, there are quite a few young, fake foreigners among these foreigners you're surrounded by. They originally assigned me to take care of the flowers and plants in this garden. And this banyan tree was planted here from a stubble they transported from the south via the canal. It was already exceptionally strong when it arrived."
"Is this how they designed the garden from the beginning?" Yin Chuan asked.
"That's right. Everything from the two canals running across the garden, to the banyan tree planted in the center of the garden, and the flower seeds brought from the West, was designed and arranged by them for me to cultivate and care for. There couldn't be any mistakes."
"Then do you know why they designed it this way?"
Ma Laoba shook his head. "I thought it was strange at the time, too, but they didn't tell me. But..."
"But what?" Linlang asked.
"But from what I know about the sacrificial rituals of that 'holy religion' they believe in, I can roughly deduce that this garden seems to resemble the symbolic shape represented by the 'holy religion' sacrifices. In the words of those fake foreigners, this garden is a 'garden of sin.'"
Garden of Sin?
Yin Chuan, Linlang and Du Yunzhang were all speechless. For a moment they did not understand what the so-called "Garden of Sin" meant.
"'Garden of Sin'? Is this what they call it in the cult's sacrificial rituals?" Yin Chuan calmed himself down and asked.
"I'm not qualified to participate in their sacrificial ceremonies. Besides, everything they say is in foreign languages. Even if I eavesdropped, I wouldn't understand what they mean. I overheard this while a few nurses and doctors were quietly chatting near the hospital. Of course, they were all followers of the so-called 'Holy Church.'"
"Since you have some knowledge about their sacrificial rituals, I would like to ask, is there a need to sacrifice children in the sacrificial rituals? Or sacrifice children's limbs?" Yin Chuan asked.
Ma Lao Ba kept shaking his head, "No, absolutely not! I've peeked into their sacrificial ceremonies more than once or twice, and I've never seen them use children as sacrifices."
"So..." Linlang took over the conversation, "You should be aware of the disappearance of children in Jushui Village, right? Could it be that they did it?"
Ma Laoba sighed, "Actually... I won't hide it from you all. My family also lost a granddaughter. My son originally had three children, two boys and a girl. After the girl was lost, my son and daughter-in-law were afraid of further misfortune, so they moved to the girl's family in another city. I'm the only one left here, an old widower, working as a gardener. As for who did it, if I knew, I would have fought them to death long ago. But looking at the appearance of those foreigners... it doesn't seem like they did it."
Yin Chuan nodded. "You said you came to see this girl. Besides apologizing to her, what else do you have to say?"
"Actually..." Ma Laoba scratched his head, "I found you before I found an arm hanging from the banyan tree branch in the garden yesterday morning. You were hiding at the back door of the hospital at that time. Am I right?"
"That's true, so what?" Linlang asked back.
"I...I didn't expose your actions in front of those foreigners."
Yin Chuan, Linlang and Du Yunzhang were all confused.
"What do you want to say?"
"I... I want to say... could you please say a good word for me in front of that female warrior and give me the antidote? I'll do whatever you want me to do!"
"Antidote? What antidote?" Linlang still didn't understand.
"Hahahaha, I was blackmailing him!" Luo Mei's hearty laughter came from not far away.
When Ma Lao Ba heard this, his face turned pale with fear. "Lady! Lady! Please have mercy on me and spare my life!"
As soon as Yin Chuan saw this, he understood everything. "Di Feiyan, that's a really mean trick! You're using fake poison to trick people. Look how scared they are."
"What? You allow him to plot against Linlang behind her back, but you won't allow me to force fake medicine into his mouth to trick him?"
"Ah? Fake medicine?" Ma Laoba opened his mouth wide and couldn't say anything for a long time.
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