Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, the monk pointed clearly at a person, who was Jiang Zhan who had not yet had time to leave.

Jiang Zhan was stunned for a moment.

What's going on? What does it have to do with him?

If it was a female corpse, he would have felt guilty because a female ghost had appeared in his dreams, so he would have considered it a relationship. But now it was a male corpse, so it had nothing to do with him.

"Uncle Master, at noon today, I saw this man sneaking to the back mountain!" The monk who identified Jiang Zhan reported to the middle-aged monk.

The middle-aged monk's Buddhist name was Xuanci. Because the abbot of Lingwu Temple was already old, he was acting as the abbot.

Upon hearing this, Xuan Ci immediately asked, "The back mountain is not open to the public. Since you discovered that there were pilgrims sneaking in at that time, why didn't you stop them in time?"

The reprimanded monk looked horrified: "I saw that this donor was enthusiastic about helping Junior Brother Sikong fetch water, so I didn't come out to chase him away. Later, when Junior Brother Sikong was found dead, I just thought it was an accident. Who would have thought that now a body tied to a rock would be pulled out of the well--"

The monk looked at Jiang Zhan with a fierce look in his eyes. "When I saw this person, I remembered what happened at noon. Uncle Master, I think this person is the murderer. He killed the young donor first, and then he was afraid that Junior Brother Sikong would find out when he was fetching water, so he pretended to be a kind person and went to help Junior Brother Sikong water the water, and took the opportunity to kill Junior Brother Sikong and pretend it was an accident!"

As the monk accused, the other monks silently surrounded Jiang Si and his group.

Across the human wall formed by the monks, heated discussions could be heard.

"The murderer was caught so quickly. Where is he from?"

"He doesn't look like he's from the neighborhood. If such a handsome guy is from nearby, who wouldn't know him?" a woman said regretfully.

People around nodded.

That makes a lot of sense.

"But why would such a handsome guy kill someone?" Many young girls and wives in the crowd were puzzled, and the men around them rolled their eyes.

Does it make sense to say that if you are good-looking, there is no reason to kill people? Do only ugly people take revenge on their neighbors?

"Sir, these people are the pilgrims who checked in this morning. The murderer is most likely among them!" The reprimanded monk said to Xuan Ci. Fearing that he would let Jiang Si and others go, he immediately said to the county lieutenant.

Jiang Zhan sneered: "This is nonsense. If I were the murderer, and I heard that a group of people came to the Lingwu Temple to retrieve corpses, would I not run away quickly but follow them to watch the excitement?"

When everyone heard this, the discussion stopped.

What this handsome boy said seems to make sense.

At this time, a man following the county lieutenant suddenly spoke up: "That's not necessarily true. It is said that many murderers like to return to the scene to watch the excitement after killing someone."

The county lieutenant looked at Jiang Zhan, and there was no sign of suspicion on his face. "How about this, since this young man is suspected, then he should stay at Lingwu Temple tonight. By the way, including the pilgrims who stayed here in the past two days, I hope your temple can provide a list. If these pilgrims are here, please pick them out from the crowd. Don't worry, I'm just asking a few questions. I can assure you that I will never wrongly accuse innocent people."

After the county lieutenant finished speaking, the crowd fell silent, and no one came out.

The county lieutenant stroked his beard and said seriously, "It doesn't matter if the pilgrims staying at Lingwu Temple have already left. Anyway, we have the list. When the officials from the government office arrive tomorrow, we can still invite them over."

These words immediately discouraged the pilgrims who were hiding in the crowd and planning to stay out of the matter, and several of them stepped out.

"I wonder if Li Zheng is in Qingniu Town?"

Soon, an old man with gray hair came out and bowed deeply to the county lieutenant: "Greetings, sir. I am here."

The county lieutenant's mouth twitched secretly.

As expected, people all have the same nature of liking to watch the hustle and bustle. I guess all the nimble people in the town are here.

That's good, it makes investigating the case easier.

"Let Li Zheng stay as well, and leave two more smart young men behind." The county lieutenant said calmly.

There is no need to be too polite to the people like Li Zheng and Ting Chang who already work for the county government.

"Okay, folks, please go back for now. I will investigate the case all night long, and I will call you to come forward and give me advice if necessary."

After the county commander spoke, the people who had been having fun left reluctantly, and the mountain behind Lingwu Temple suddenly became empty.

By this time the sun had already set, even the remaining glow had disappeared, and the entire sky appeared grayish-yellow.

The county lieutenant glanced at the faces of the people who stayed behind one by one, and finally looked at Xuanci.

Xuanci chanted a Buddhist mantra: "Sir, please move to the living room."

The county lieutenant did not refuse and pointed out a few people: "Everyone, please follow me."

Among these people were Jiang Si and his group, the Li brothers and sisters from Dayang Town, pilgrims who stayed overnight, and Li Zheng from Qingniu Town. Of course, there were also monks from Lingwu Temple. The male corpse was kept under strict supervision by the county lieutenant until the coroner came to perform an autopsy.

Returning from the empty and dark back hills to the brightly lit hall, the atmosphere was a little subtle for a moment.

The county lieutenant was the first to break the silence: "What is the name of this master?"

The monk who was rebuked said hurriedly: "Poor monks all over the world."

"Where is this young man?"

Jiang Zhan glanced at Jiang Si and said gloomily, "Sir, just call me Jiang Er."

He deliberately changed the tone of the word "姜", so that when others heard it, it became "蔣".

The county lieutenant nodded and asked Sihai: "Master Sihai, when did you find out that Jiang Er went to the back mountain, and when did you see him leave?"

Si Hai thought for a moment and said, "Lunch in the temple is always at a fixed time. I remember that it was not long after lunch, which was around noon. As for when he left... I saw Jiang Er fetching water for Junior Brother Si Kong a few times and then went back to work, so I didn't pay attention to when he left."

When he said this, he stared at Jiang Zhan and said, "But he is the only outsider who has entered the back mountain. Junior Brother Sikong must have been silenced by him! He is the murderer who killed the man in the well!"

Jiang Zhan was so angry that he jumped up and down: "Nonsense! Which eye of yours, a bald donkey, saw me kill someone?"

Yu Jin patted Jiang Zhan's shoulder gently, signaling him to calm down. After Jiang Zhan calmed down, he chuckled and said, "Master Sihai, what you said is unfair. Is the only outsider who entered the back mountain the murderer? In comparison, it would be easier for the temple people who can run around the mountain to kill people, right? County Captain, don't you think so?"

"Amitabha, please don't insult us Buddhists. Buddhists believe in the equality of all living beings. They won't even harm livestock and ants, so how could they kill people?" Sihai said angrily.

Jiang Si spoke up at the right time: "Actually, whether my brother appeared in the back hill of Lingwu Temple or not is totally irrelevant."

Everyone immediately looked at Jiang Si, with different expressions.

Although Sihai was a monk, he also had a bad temper. When he heard Jiang Si's nonchalant tone, he immediately said in dissatisfaction: "We are discussing a murder case now, female donor, please be careful with your words!"

Jiang Si raised his eyebrows: "Master, do you want me to shut up?"

Sihai said nothing, apparently acquiescing to Jiang Si's question.

Jiang Si smiled softly: "This is interesting. Just now, Master was talking about the equality of all people, but now he wants me to shut up just because I am a woman. It shows that Master doesn't understand his own heart well enough."