Chapter 264
Funeng didn't know that if his master Master Jingkong hadn't turned a blind eye, he would never have been able to sneak away right under his nose.
Master Jingkong sighed as he looked at the letter left by his disciples. It was obvious that this youngest disciple had the highest comprehension, understood everything at a glance, and had the highest talent for spiritual practice. But why did he want to run away?
He is in Buddhism but his heart is not in it. What's the point of keeping him in the temple?
This is called "once you meet Yuan Jing, you will be ruined for life". Master Jingkong regretted bringing this little disciple to show off to Taoist Bixu that day.
Life in the Qingcheng Taoist Temple was quite happy. Yuan Jing either exchanged Taoist techniques with other disciples in the temple or practiced with them on the field.
Knowing that Yuan Jing could even draw the Innate Five Thunder Talisman, the disciples in the temple were full of admiration. The Qingcheng Temple was good at formations and fighting techniques, but its ability in making talismans was much worse. Many of the talismans used by the disciples in the temple were exchanged from the Maoshan Sect.
"Oh, uncle, the next step is to go to Maoshan Sect to exchange and learn about talisman techniques with the disciples of Maoshan Sect, so that they can also see what it means that there are always people better than you."
"Yes, yes, Uncle Master, do you want us to go with you? Let them look down on our ability to make talismans."
Yuan Jing couldn't help laughing when he saw that their eyes were shining. These Taoists were just pretending to accompany him, but they were really joining in the fun. They wanted to make fun of the Taoists of Maoshan Sect. In fact, Qingcheng Temple and Maoshan Sect had always had exchanges and they had a good relationship.
"I do have plans to go to Maoshan Sect. My master told me that the talisman technique of Maoshan Sect is the highest among all Taoist sects. I am planning to learn from Maoshan Sect." He was not trying to embarrass him. Maoshan Sect was not small in scale. He and his master could not afford to offend such a Taoist sect.
"You are too stupid. Yuan Jing is at best an external aid to your Qingcheng Taoist Temple. If you can defeat the Taoist priests of Maoshan Sect with your real ability, that would be amazing and people would look up to you. So what's the point of instigating Yuan Jing to go there?" Funeng grinned and refuted them.
"Come on, come on, Funeng, let's fight again. I don't believe I can't beat you."
"Okay, come on, let's see who is afraid of who."
Yuan Jing sat aside with his chin in his hand watching the two people fighting. It must be said that Funeng's talent for Buddhism was indeed very high. Even the temple master, who had seen Funeng fighting with the disciples in the temple, said that Funeng's talent was extremely high. If nothing unexpected happened, he would definitely become a great monk in the Buddhist community in the future.
After staying for nearly a month and giving his master a seal, Yuan Jing finally packed his bags and said goodbye to the abbot and disciples in the temple. Ning He and a group of Taoists reluctantly sent Yuan Jing and Funeng down the mountain, and agreed to meet again another day to go out together to eliminate demons and monsters.
In order to facilitate travel, Funeng also bought a donkey in the town at the foot of the mountain in advance, so that he could be a good match with Yuan Jingdeng.
After getting rid of the Taoists and setting off on the road with Yuan Jing, Funeng was in high spirits. Even the flowers and plants on the road looked so cute.
Neither of them took action in the Qingcheng Taoist Temple. Of course, it was not their turn to take action. If there was anything unusual, someone would have reported it to the Qingcheng Taoist Temple and the disciples would have come out to check it out.
As they were about to leave the Qingcheng Taoist Temple, Funeng flipped through the map and said, "Let's go take a look at this place. I heard from the disciples in the temple that people often go missing or die inexplicably in this place. There must be something unusual."
"Okay, but don't you really want to send a letter of safety to your master?" Yuan Jing asked him with a smile.
Fu Neng shook his head and said, "Let's talk about it after a while. I have to make some achievements, otherwise it would be unworthy of the name of coming out for training."
Yuan Jing didn't expect Fu Neng to come up with such an idea. He asked, "Did your master really not notice that you sneaked out of Guiyuan Temple before?"
Fu Neng touched his bald head and said, "Yuan Jing, you said that Master had already noticed it? He didn't come out to stop me, but tacitly allowed me to leave?"
Yuan Jing asked, "Are you really confident that you can hide the truth from your master?"
Fu Neng suddenly realized, "So Master agreed to let me go out for training. Why didn't Master tell me? I spent so much effort and gave up some good things to bribe my two brothers."
Yuan Jing chuckled. It was impossible for Master Jingkong to say that he agreed. He and his lover were destined to be together. Master Jingkong had seen through it to some extent. Master Jingkong wanted to fight for it, but his disciple refused to cooperate. How could Master Jingkong feel good about it?
The two of them set out on the road together. The journey was much more lively and they arrived at their destination before they knew it.
However, in the eyes of others, the two of them were very interesting, a young Taoist priest and a young monk, both of them had outstanding looks, especially the Taoist priest and the monk combination, they were even more eye-catching in the crowd, they were the focus wherever they went, and passers-by kept looking back.
"Fengyi County, this is it," looking at the city gate in front and the big characters on it, Funeng asked Yuan Jing, "Can you tell what's different about Fengyi County?"
Funeng knew that Yuan Jing was born with a pair of third eyes, but he was not jealous. Instead, he felt that their combination was the best. In a few years, they would be invincible and make all the monsters and demons tremble in fear.
Funeng has great ambitions.
Yuan Jing blinked, and when he looked at the county town in front of him, a golden light flashed in his eyes. After a while, he retracted his gaze and said, "The atmosphere inside is a bit dirty. I'm afraid the situation is a bit complicated. Let's investigate it carefully after entering the city."
"Okay, I'll listen to you."
The two men got off the donkey and led the donkey towards the city gate. They heard many people saying things like "What a handsome young man", "What a pity he has to become a monk". Funeng and Yuan Jing didn't care at all and were very open-minded people.
It was fine outside, but once he entered the county, Funeng realized that the conditions of the people in this county were much worse than those in other counties. Many passers-by had sad looks on their faces. Although the two men were eye-catching enough, many people just glanced at them and hurried past, as if they were being whipped from behind.
Funeng brought Yuan Jing's donkey over and said, "Let's find an inn to stay in first."
"Okay," Yuan Jing pointed casually, "Let's go with that one."
Yuan Jing really pointed casually, but when the two of them walked into the inn, Yuan Jing frowned slightly. Although Funeng had not spent a long time with Yuan Jing, he discovered it. At the same time, he also realized that there was something wrong in this inn.
The two men calmly asked for a room, handed the donkey to the waiter to take care of it in the back, and after settling down, they went for a walk in the city.
After leaving the inn, Funeng asked in a low voice: "What did you see just now?"
Yuan Jing also whispered back, "Black air. The shopkeeper, the waiter, and some of the guests all have a black air entwined between their brows."
Funeng was shocked: "Could there be another shady shop in this county?"
Yuan Jing shook his head and said, "I'm not sure. It depends on what they do."
The two men seemed to be walking around the city casually, but in fact they were secretly paying attention to the situation around them. When they came to the entrance of an alley, they heard crying from inside. The two looked at each other and then walked in.
The crying sound came from a house whose door was open and a neighbor came to help.
"What a sin! How could Tian Dazhi die so suddenly? He left behind a family of orphans and widows. How can they survive?"
"Yes, Tian Dazhi was in good health, but how could he suddenly fall ill and die? It's really weird."
"Don't talk about weird things. I get goose bumps when I hear about them. My uncle's in-laws' neighbor also died suddenly from illness. I heard that there have been several similar cases in our county."
"There have been a lot of strange things happening recently, but the county magistrate didn't even ask about it. What can we poor people do? Unless we hope that God will open his eyes."
"Sister-in-law Tian, please stop crying and quickly arrange Dazhi's funeral, or he will be worried after he passes away. You and the child must take care of your health."
When Yuan Jing and Funeng arrived at the door, they saw a dead body lying on the door panel and a woman with two children kneeling beside them crying very sadly. An older woman was comforting her.
Yuan Jing's gaze moved from them to the corpse, a golden light flashed in his eyes, he looked surprised, and walked in, and Fu Neng followed.
"Oh, it's the young Taoist priest and the young master. I wonder what important matter has brought you here?" A middle-aged man who came to help asked in surprise when he saw the monk and Taoist priest suddenly walk in.
Funeng also noticed that something was wrong with the body. He put his hands together and chanted a Buddhist name, then pointed at the body and said, "Didn't you report it to the authorities? Didn't the authorities send someone to check on the body?"
"Young master, have you figured out something? It's not that we don't want to report it to the authorities, but the people in the yamen won't ask about this matter at all." The middle-aged man sighed.
The woman kneeling beside the corpse suddenly raised her head and asked, "Master, is there anything wrong with my husband? Please tell me, Master. My man cannot die in such an unclear way."
Fu Neng walked closer and asked, "Can I uncover it and take a closer look?"
"Of course." The woman personally removed the cloth covering the body, revealing the corpse inside. The two children burst into tears when they saw their father, and the neighbors who came to help also had tears in their eyes.
The body lying on the door panel did not look like a body at all. Rather, it looked like a person who had fallen asleep. He might be able to get up and talk after waking up. However, this was not the case in the eyes of Funeng and Yuan Jing. In their eyes, Tian Dazhi, who should have been strong and healthy, suddenly lost all his vitality.
"Sure enough, this person did not die of natural causes. As long as we invite the coroner from the government office, they can find out that the chest cavity of the deceased is empty. The heart is gone."
The woman was so frightened that she fell to the ground, then threw herself on the man and burst into tears. The neighbors who came to help were so scared that they took a few steps back.
Fu Neng pulled open the clothes on his chest, and found that the chest was smooth without a single wound. However, the young master said that the heart inside was gone. In other words, the heart in the chest had disappeared. This did not seem like a crime committed by a human at all, and it could only make people think of supernatural powers.
The middle-aged man thought for a moment and took another step forward, and asked respectfully: "Little Master, what should we do now?"
Funeng said: "It would be best if we could ask the county coroner to open the chest cavity. Otherwise, without evidence, it would just be empty talk."
"Mrs. Tian, do you really want to have someone stab Dazhi?" the middle-aged man asked the woman again.
"Okay, I agree. I can't let my man die in obscurity. You have to give me an explanation. I will take responsibility for whether he is a human or a ghost." The woman wiped the tears from her face and said firmly.
The middle-aged man said hello and left in a hurry. He said he would find a way to invite a coroner over.
Yuan Jing and Funeng did not leave. They asked in detail about the family and the deceased Tian Dazhi, where he had been before his death, and if there was anything unusual.
A quarter of an hour later, the middle-aged man brought a thin man over. From the aura on his body, it was clear that he often dealt with dead bodies. He was undoubtedly a coroner.
The coroner saw the young Taoist priest and the young monk in the yard, bowed respectfully, and asked, "Were they the young monk and the young Taoist priest who discovered that the heart in the deceased's chest was gone?"
"Yes." Funeng nodded. "Would the coroner like to verify it?"
"Let me take a look."
The coroner came to the body, squatted down and felt around the body, and finally pressed the chest area and said, "Although I haven't cut it open, I can tell that what the young master said is correct. The heart in the chest is gone."
Yuan Jing asked, "We are new here, but we have heard that several families in the county have had people die inexplicably. Have their bodies been examined?"
The coroner stood up, clasped his fists towards Yuan Jing and said, "This is a complicated matter, but I have examined several corpses, and the cause of death is exactly the same as this one."
"Oh my God, who is the murderer? How did he dig out the heart through the chest?" the neighbor exclaimed.
The coroner waved his hands and said, "We coroners only report the results. It is not our job to find the murderer, but we have not found any trace of the murderer so far."
As he spoke, he glanced at Funeng and Yuan Jing. They all judged that the murderer was not a human, otherwise it would be impossible for him to leave no trace at all, so it was most likely a ghost or a goblin.
As a coroner, he often deals with corpses, so he knows more about strange things than ordinary people. He knows that some ghosts and goblins like to eat human hearts. In addition, many incidents have occurred, so he believes that the perpetrator is a non-human being.
So how do we investigate a case like this? Unless the county magistrate invites a powerful monk or Taoist priest, I wonder if the two of you can help.
"Sister-in-law, I will report the deceased's condition truthfully, and I will inform you if there is any result."
"Thank you." The woman could also tell that it was not an ordinary person who committed the crime, which made her very desperate and unable to avenge her husband.
The coroner left first. Yuan Jing and Funeng touched the two children's heads and could only sigh and leave.
When they came out, they saw the coroner waiting for them. When Funeng and Yuan Jing approached, the coroner politely asked, "You two can tell at a glance that the deceased has no heart. Do you see any other abnormalities?"
Yuan Jing said: "Yes, I also saw other things. In addition to the heart being gone, the soul of the deceased also disappeared completely."
The coroner took a deep breath, knowing that this case was beyond their ability to solve. He said, "I have a request, I wonder if you two can come with me to see if the other bodies are in the same condition as Tian Dazhi's, and see if there are any other clues on them."
This was exactly what Yuan Jing and Funeng wanted, so they followed the coroner and left.
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