Fourteenth Master followed a large group of pilgrims up Mount Wutai. He trailed behind them, only offering perfunctory replies to what Xiniu said, not truly listening. However, when they reached the foot of the mountain, Fourteenth Master discovered the group was no longer in one place. Some had unknowingly dispersed, likely intending to enter the temple through another entrance. The Fourth Master's worst fears had come true. The group hadn't stayed together at one entrance; instead, they had split up.
"Xiniu, go back now, don't go into the temple, okay?" Fourteen suddenly stopped and grabbed Xiniu's arm.
Looking at Shisi's very serious eyes, Xi Niu said in surprise, "Why won't you let me into the temple? I've come all this way. Unless you don't go in, I won't go in."
Fourteen shook his head and said, "No, I have to go in! But you don't have to go in, you can go down the mountain and go home!!" Fourteen really couldn't bear to let such an innocent and naive girl get involved. He was afraid that if a fight broke out, innocent people would get hurt.
"I'm not going down. I want to go in with you to pray to Guanyin Bodhisattva!" Xiniu said stubbornly.
"You, you'd better not regret this!" Fourteen's heart skipped a beat. Although he had never been attracted to this peasant girl, he couldn't bear to see her hurt by her sincere and naked affection!
"I don't regret it." Xi Niu's clear black and white eyes sparkled with excitement.
Fourteen had no choice but to try his best to protect her, so he pulled her into the mountain gate with him.
Pilgrims crowded into the temple gate, laughing and joking as they made their way to Mount Wutai, completely unaware that they had entered a dangerous place. Once inside the temple, they dispersed, each going to pay their respects to the Bodhisattvas that interested them.
In this way, Fourteen had no cover. He could have used the crowd to conceal himself and prevent the people in front of him from noticing that he had been following them.
"Hey, why are you always following them?" Xiniu also realized something was wrong, grabbed Shisi's arm, and whispered.
"You can still leave now! Let me tell you, I didn't come here for sightseeing. I'm the head constable!" Fourteen decided to try and fool Xi Niu, hoping to trick her into going back.
"Captain?" Xiniu stared at Fourteen in surprise, but her eyes clearly showed disbelief.
"Do you know who they are? They're a gang of bandits. I followed them all the way from the back to here, keeping an eye on them, hoping to capture them and bring them back to justice! I've already sent a message to my brothers by carrier pigeon; they'll be there soon. So you'd better hurry home, otherwise I can't guarantee I can protect you!" Fourteen repeated once more.
"Who needs your protection!" Xi Niu said with disdain, but her eyes became even more eager as she looked at Fourteen. "You're really the head constable? Then I'll help you catch them!"
Fourteen almost spat out a mouthful of blood, thinking to himself: This little girl is like maltose, once it's stuck to your teeth, it's impossible to get it off.
But before they could finish speaking, the group had already arrived at the entrance of the main hall, where a prayer altar had been set up. Fourteen noticed that only two people ahead of him were from that group; the others had already moved on.
Meanwhile, Fourth Master had already received the news. The two men in the portrait had been captured. It turned out they had come into the temple through a side gate and were apprehended by the martial monks as soon as they entered.
The two tried to resist, but the monk held them firmly by the joints, rendering them immobile. They were then quickly shoved into sacks and carried all the way to Fourth Master. Fourth Master had instructed that once they caught someone, they should be brought before him for questioning immediately.
The Fourth Prince and Qin Gang were in a side room behind the main hall. Kangxi's double was a monk from Zaishan Temple, whose build was similar to Kangxi's. They dressed him in clothes and gave him a fake queue. Then, they had Liang Jiugong, who served Kangxi, also accompany the fake emperor to pray for blessings with the abbot in the main hall.
Bang! Several strong monks threw two large sacks to the ground. The people inside groaned in pain and twisted around in the sacks.
"Open the sacks and drag them out!" Qin Gang said excitedly as he walked up to the two sacks after seeing that he had indeed caught them.
When his men dragged the men out of the sack, they found that both of them had their arms cut off and were gritting their teeth.
"Who exactly are you people? Where did your accomplices come from?" Qin Gang couldn't help but ask first.
Seeing this, the people on the ground knew that their whereabouts had probably been watched for a long time, so they looked at each other and fell silent.
"Ouch!" Qin Gang kicked one of the men hard. The man curled up on the ground in pain, groaning, but refused to utter a single word. Qin Gang kicked him several more times, but he still wouldn't speak.
"If you keep kicking like this, I'm afraid the Emperor will be assassinated by these thieves, and we still won't be able to get anything out of him!" The Fourth Prince coldly looked down at the two people on the ground.
"Fourth Master, why don't we cut off this guy's arm first, and see if he'll talk!" Qin Gang said coldly, his eyes red with anxiety.
The man on the ground looked on with fear when he heard Qin Gang say he was going to cut off his arm, but he also knew that even if he spoke up, his life would probably be in danger.
"This is a sacred Buddhist site. How can we defile the Buddha with their blood!" Fourth Master said. "Guard Qin, didn't you bring some medicine? It's said that if we let them swallow that medicine, their stomachs will rot and their intestines will perforate, causing them to bleed from all seven orifices and die within half an hour?"
Qin Gang paused for a moment, then immediately understood what Fourth Master meant. He chuckled and said, "That's right, let these two scoundrels taste the pain of having their bellies ripped open!"
The lean man on the ground was already losing patience. He could endure being killed with a single blow, but upon hearing that they were to be given that terrible poison, he immediately became terrified.
"I...I have something to say!" Large beads of sweat immediately appeared on his forehead.
"Camel, how dare you betray your lord!" the fatter man lying beside him roared. They were sworn brothers, bound by blood and vows to share both good times and bad. And now this skinny camel dared to betray his brother!
"I don't care about that anymore. You want your guts to rot, but I don't. We're brothers, why did you make us do such a risky thing? We got caught before we even started. We've clearly fallen into their trap," the man called "Camel" said angrily.
"Have you thought this through? The lord still holds your family in his hands!" the fat man said.
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