Weird Cultivation, I have a five-organ temple

Chapter 416 Making Animals
"Sir, what's going on in there? Why aren't there any children crying? Are they all dead?"

Tu Bin rode his horse to catch up, and imitating Shang Lu's behavior, he also stuck his head into the hole on the top of Yi Tower to look around.

But his eyesight was far inferior to Shang Lu's. Even if he opened his eyes wide, he still could not see anything.

Shang Lu shook his head and said, "There are only old corpses that have been burned in the Yi Tower. I don't see any sick children that have been thrown in recently."

"No sick children?"

After hearing what Shang Lu said, County Captain Chen also came over and looked inside the Yi Tower.

However, like Tu Pi, he saw nothing and could only guess in confusion: "Did the people of Xia Huai Village throw the sick children to another Yita? Or have those sick children been taken away by the mysterious peddler?"

"I'll go down and take a look." Tu Bin said as he was about to take out a torch from his bag and go into Yi Tower.

Seeing this, Shang Lu stopped him and said, "Forget it. You can't get in with your big body unless you smash the hole. Besides, the situation in the tower is unknown. If you go down rashly, you may be in danger."

As he spoke, Shang Lu put his right hand into his mouth and blew a loud whistle.

A wooden kite suddenly flew down from the sky. Shang Lu pointed his finger, and the kite immediately flew into the Yi Tower through the cave entrance.

At the same time, Shang Lu raised his right hand and waved towards the sky.

The other two wooden kites that had flown here with him immediately separated and went around to scout the situation.

Upon seeing this, County Lieutenant Chen hurriedly sent out a part of the county soldiers he had brought with him to search the area to see if they could find anything.

The wooden kite that Shang Lu sent into Yi Tower began to emit a magical glow as soon as it flew in.

The light was very faint at first, like the light of a firefly, but it soon became bright and dazzling, like the scorching sun, illuminating every corner of the Yi Tower.

Tu Bin and County Magistrate Chen stuck their heads out again and looked into the tower through the hole.

Shang Lu didn't stick his head out again.

Through the eyes of the wooden kite, he could see clearly what was happening inside the Yi Tower.

There were indeed no newly thrown children in the tower, only a pile of bones burned by the fire.

The walls of the tower were all black, with traces of fire. However, one could still vaguely tell that there were murals and witchcraft on the walls.

It is these murals, witchcraft and other objects that constitute the magic circle inside the Yi Tower, which has the effects of purifying negative energy, eliminating resentment, and transcending the souls of the dead. At the same time, it can also drive away wild beasts, prevent evil ways from stealing corpses and seizing souls, practicing evil methods, and concocting monsters.

But now, there is a problem with this magic circle.

Sanniang appeared beside Shang Lu and told him: "The magic circle in this Yi Tower has been broken by someone."

Shang Lu also noticed that the magic circle inside the Yi Tower showed no signs of working.

Under Sanniang's guidance, Shang Lu quickly saw several witchcraft spells on the tower wall, which showed signs of human destruction.

“It seems that someone broke into the Tower of Justice, broke the magic circle, and stole the poisoned child…” Shang Lu analyzed.

Just at this time, several villagers from Xiahuai Village were carried over by Qiudao on horseback.

These villagers had never experienced anything like this before. When they were thrown off their horses by the thieves, they couldn't even stand up.

On the one hand, he was shaken, and on the other hand, he was frightened by this group of fully armed bandits and county soldiers.

Shang Lu rode up to the villagers and asked them condescendingly, "Did you throw the child into this Yi Tower?"

With the help of their eloquence and sophistry, the villagers answered without hesitation: "Yes, it was thrown here."

Then, they realized that this was illegal, and the people in front of them were all officials, so they hurriedly explained:
"My Lords, we don't want to abandon our children. They are infected with a serious disease. If we don't abandon them, we and the whole village, young and old, will be infected and die."

"May the Lord of Heaven see clearly that when we threw the children into the Tower of Justice, they were all dead. We did not throw any children alive."

"Yes, yes, we didn't throw the child alive. Please investigate clearly, sir."

Shang Lu did not believe the villagers' subsequent explanations, but he did not expose them at this time. He just shouted, "Just answer what I ask, don't talk nonsense."

Several villagers were startled and quickly shut up.

Shang Lu asked again: "When did you throw the child into Yita?"

"Yesterday...Yesterday afternoon, probably around the time of Shen to You."

"When you came here, did you see anyone? Or did you see or hear anything unusual?"

Several villagers thought about it carefully for a while, shook their heads and said no.

"A bunch of rubbish!" Tu Xiong couldn't help but curse, scaring several villagers so much that they shrank their necks.

Shang Lu waved his hand, asking Tu Bin to calm down and continue questioning the villagers.

"What did the peddler who came to your village look like? What were his characteristics?"

"He looks... eh, what does he look like?"

Several villagers wanted to describe the peddler's appearance, but they got stuck when the words came to their lips.

They discussed among themselves and scratched their heads to reminisce, but they could not remember what the peddler looked like.

This time, Tupi did not scold them.

Because they were obviously under a spell and had forgotten what the peddler looked like.

Even their haste to abandon the sick child was most likely due to the hints in the peddler's words, which aroused their fear of the epidemic.

Shang Lu then asked a few more questions, but when he saw that the villagers could not answer anything, he had to give up.

After pondering for a moment, he turned around and asked County Magistrate Chen, "Are there any other righteous towers around here?"

County Magistrate Chen looked embarrassed, he really had no idea.

However, a villager from Xiahuai Village bravely said, "Sir, there is another Yi Tower thirty miles west of here."

"Take us there."

Shang Lu immediately gave the order to go to the next Yi Tower to check the situation, and at the same time instructed Chen County Lieutenant:
"Send your men out, have them change into civilian clothes, and secretly check on peddlers, barbers, and opera troupes that travel from village to village. Also send some people to watch at various intersections. If you find any merchants trafficking in mules and horses, or people pulling a large number of boxes and barrels, tell me immediately. Don't act rashly!"

Since the thief disguised himself as a peddler, he could also disguise himself as other people who travel from village to village. We cannot just limit our attention to the peddler.

The reason why Shang Lu was keeping an eye on the traffickers of mules, horses and other livestock, as well as those pulling a large number of boxes and barrels, was because he had seen some cases in which beggars who trafficked children would use the method of creating animals to turn the children they had kidnapped into livestock, or they would use the method of dismembering children to break their limbs and bones and stuff them into boxes, barrels or even vases.

Since this group of thieves stole the sick child, no matter whether they took away a living person or a dead body, it involves the issue of transportation and must be strictly monitored.

County Lieutenant Chen obviously understood Shang Lu's intention. He simply bowed and accepted the order. He immediately selected a group of smart and clever men from the county soldiers, had them take off their armor, put on casual clothes, and go to various villages and towns for secret inspections.

At the same time, he sent people back to the county government office to bring out the experienced detectives who were good at stalking and investigating cases.

Shang Lu whistled and called out the wooden kite in the Yi Tower.

Then he took out a few pieces of talisman paper from his pocket, used the magic of cutting paper into soldiers, quickly tore out a few paper figures, and threw them into the Yi Tower. Let them act as spies, stay here to monitor, and know in time if there is any situation.

After Pegasus rode down the slope, Shang Lu ordered the accompanying thieves to erase the nearby horse hoof prints so as not to leave any loopholes and alert the enemy.

When leaving the Yi Tower, Shang Lu contacted the other two wooden kites that were scouting the surroundings, but unfortunately they did not find any useful clues nearby.

The county soldiers who were sent out to search the left and right rushed back after hearing the whistle blown by County Lieutenant Chen.

Similarly, these county soldiers gained nothing.

On the way to the next Yi Tower, Shang Lu received a message from Lu Dao.

After reading Shang Lu's report, Lu Dao thought that what happened in Longyou County was indeed strange.

Even if it cannot be combined with the case of selling rampant ghosts and soul flags in the ghost market for the time being, the Discipline Department should also participate in the investigation.

Not to mention, a thief Cao Yuan also died.

At the end of the message, Lu Dao asked Shang Lu: "We are on our way here, have you been to Yita to check the situation?"

Shang Lu quickly sent a message to Lu Dao to tell him about the situation at the Yi Tower.

Upon hearing that the curse in Yi Tower had been broken and the magic circle had been destroyed, Lu Dao's reaction was the same as Shang Lu's. He immediately sent people to keep an eye on all the intersections.

Hearing that Shang Lu had already made arrangements, Lu Dao was very pleased. At the same time, he also reminded Shang Lu not to alert the enemy if he made any discoveries, and to wait until they arrived before taking action together.

The thirty-mile journey was completed in a flash.

However, no cries or shouts were heard from this tower either.

Shang Lu released a wooden kite and flew into the tower to investigate. There was no sick child inside, but the magic circle had been destroyed by humans.

Just like before, Shang Lu left a few paper figures inside the Yi Tower, and then left with Qiu Dao, Chen Xianwei and others.

They did not stay near Ita, fearing that the thieves would be alerted if they came nearby.

Shang Lu chose a forest between two Yi Towers as the location for their surveillance.

There are paper figures left by Shang Lu in the two towers. No matter which side has something happening, he will know it at the first time and rush there as quickly as possible.

At noon, Lu Dao, Lu Yang, and two other wizards from the Discipline Department arrived here in a shuttle.

After getting off the shuttle, Lu Dao raised his hand and a little light burst out from the shuttle, making it shrink rapidly until it was as small as a leaf, and was put into Lu Dao's sleeve.

This time, Lu Dao not only brought people with him, but also brought a map of Yita in Baiyi County.

“On our way here, we cast a spell using this Yita map to search for information about Yita in the county.

It turned out that not only in Longyou County, but also in several other counties, Yita's magic array had malfunctions.

There are faulty Yita towers in Longyou County, and I have marked them. In addition to the two you found, there are several other places like this..."

Lu Dao pointed to several points on the Yita map that were marked with black witchcraft energy.

"On the way here, we released some fake children infected with corpse poison into these towers. Now we have to see when the thieves will appear and in which tower they will appear."

After putting away the Yita map, Lu Dao said, "You stay here and keep an eye on the two Yitas nearby. I'll let Lu Yang stay to assist you. The three of us will keep an eye on the remaining Yitas."

At the same time, he took out a toad from his sleeve and handed it to Shanglu.

"If something happens, immediately pinch the toad. If you hear the toad croaking, it means there is something wrong somewhere else. The toad will tell you where it is."

"Yes, disciple understands."

Shang Lu obeyed the order and accepted the toad.

Lu Dao also warned: "Don't act rashly unless it is absolutely necessary. Whether it is the peddler who poisons people from village to village or the people who steal children from Yita, they are most likely just puppets or lackeys. Don't alert them."

"Yes, disciple understands." Shang Lu nodded in response. He had also had such a guess, so he was not surprised.

After Lu Dao gave a few instructions, he hurriedly left with two other witch officers from the Discipline Department to keep an eye on other places.

Lu Yang stayed here.

Time passed quickly and it was midnight.

Shang Lu and his companions waited at this place for most of the day, but there was no movement from the two nearby Yi Towers.

The toad that Lu Dao gave to me never made any sound.

Even the county soldiers and constables sent by County Lieutenant Chen to secretly investigate the villages and keep an eye on the intersections, but there was no news returned.

The group of thieves seemed to have disappeared out of thin air.

But Shang Lu knew that they would definitely not disappear.

When it is late at night and everyone is asleep, these evil demons who are afraid of the sun will show up.

Especially in the afternoon, people from another nearby village came and threw sick children infected with corpse poison into Yita.

When these children were thrown into Yita, they were covered in festering festering, but they were still alive.

They were already in great pain because of the corpse poison, and were then abandoned by their parents and relatives into a dark Yi Tower. When they reached out their hands, all they touched were corpses and bones, and they were immediately frightened to death.

Filled with pain and fear, they cried loudly in the Itah, looking extremely miserable.

Shang Lu was afraid of scaring these sick children, and was also afraid that they would not react properly and would alert the enemy, so he just let the paper figures quietly crawl onto them to protect them secretly, and did not say anything to comfort them.

As expected, the development of the matter was just as Shang Lu had expected.

When the time came to 11:55, strange things happened in the two pagodas.

Two wild dogs ran to the top of the two towers, jumped onto the cave entrance, and barked strangely and shook their hair wildly.

Countless dog hairs were shaken off by them, floating into the tower like flying needles and onto the bodies of the sick children.

The dog hair caused great pain to the sick children with skin ulcers, and they screamed in pain.

Amid the howling of wild dogs, the bodies of these sick children underwent strange changes one after another: their bones became twisted, their bodies became deformed, and they were clearly human beings, but they lay on the ground like dogs.

Soon after, large patches of dog hair began to grow on the bodies of these sick children - they actually turned into dogs, and even their cries and shouts turned into sharp, high-pitched dog barks.

Shang Lu almost couldn't help himself and wanted to ask the paper man to save these sick children.

But he finally suppressed the impulse.

It's not time to take action yet.

You have to follow these dogs and find the "owners" behind them.

(End of this chapter)