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Chapter 7 Corpse in the Temple

As soon as the words came out, Runes and Talismans stood up.

As guards, these words that sounded like danger was approaching naturally aroused their vigilance in an instant.

Runes are just an instinctive warning, while talismans are more about firm belief.

After all, he had previously witnessed how the princess could tell at a glance in the crowd that the poisoned person was not dead, and how she rescued the person who the coroner insisted was dead.

Now that she says there is a smell of blood, there is 80% chance that she is right.

Lu Qing didn't look particularly surprised and nodded slightly to the two of them. The two brothers Fu Wen and Fu Lu understood what he meant. One of them took a torch and the other took a fire starter, and they began to carefully look around the ruined temple.

The two brothers walked out a few steps and indeed found that there seemed to be faint "water marks" in the cracks of the bluestone slabs on the ground.

Fu Wen squatted down and carefully picked up some with his fingers. His fingertips felt sticky. He put it close to his nose and sniffed it. A fishy smell immediately penetrated his nose.

He hurriedly continued searching along the "water marks" on the ground, and soon made a discovery: "Master, there's a dead body here!"

"Not necessarily!" Fu Lu corrected his elder brother as soon as he heard his elder brother's words, "Whether he's dead or not, we still need Madam to see it for sure!"

Zhu Yu often heard such words, but he didn't expect that it would still be the same after coming here.

She rubbed her forehead, and a sense of fatalistic powerlessness rose from the bottom of her heart.

Fu Wen didn't understand why his brother said that, but when Fu Lu said that, there was no reaction from Lu Qing. He was smart enough to keep his doubts to himself and held up a torch to help Lu Qing and Zhu Yu light the way.

The dead body that the Fu brothers found was behind the altar where the statue of the god was placed. In front of it hung a tattered curtain with many holes in it. It was impossible to see what was going on over there unless you got closer.

On the stone floor behind the altar, there was a person lying face down. He looked like a man, with a slightly messy hair bun and only a white shirt stained with blood on his body.

Some blood flowed from under him through the cracks in the stone slabs and was now almost dry.

If it hadn't been raining outside and the air wasn't particularly humid, preventing the blood from drying so quickly, Zhu Yu might not have been able to smell the faint fishy odor, and they naturally wouldn't have been able to discover that there was another corpse in the same room with them.

Zhu Yu was hesitating whether to intervene in this matter and was checking the corpse when he suddenly heard the sound of carriages and horses coming from far away outside the ruined temple.

Fu Wen looked at Lu Qing, who gave him a look and pulled Zhu Yu to hide behind the altar.

Fu Wen and Fu Lu also extinguished their torches, put away their fire starters, hid behind the altar, clutched the swords at their waists, and listened vigilantly to the movements outside.

After letting Lu Qing and Zhu Yu get off the carriage in front of the ruined temple, Fu Wen drove the carriage to the woods behind the ruined temple and hid it. Now, looking from the front, it was impossible to tell that there were other people hiding in the temple.

The sound of carriages and horses was getting closer and closer, and it sounded like a small carriage pulled by a single horse.

The carriage stopped in front of the dilapidated temple. There was a rustling sound and someone walked in from outside.

"Brother..." a man's voice came, sounding a little trembling, as if a little scared. "Let's go back... I heard there's a temple to the God of Wealth in the county town over the hill, and it's very effective! Tomorrow I'll go there with you to burn incense and pray to the God of Wealth to bless our business. Isn't that okay?"

"No!" A slightly older, but much more resolute voice said, "Everyone says this temple is the most effective for praying for wealth. The temple you mentioned is too crowded with worshippers, and the God of Wealth can't handle all the believers. I have to give it a try no matter what!"

"But...but...people say this is a 'ghost temple'! Only those with a predestined relationship can have their wishes fulfilled! Otherwise, at best, you'll waste your money on incense offerings, and at worst, you'll be attacked by the ghost fairy and even lose your life!
The boss of Lu Ji before... didn't he come here just to seek wealth, but... the result... now he is nowhere to be found, alive or dead!
I heard that if a wish is fulfilled, then once you enter this temple... you'll never be watched again!"

"I can't care less! This is my family business that has been passed down through three generations. If it ends in my hands, even if I go to hell, my ancestors will not forgive me!

Besides, rumors cannot be fully trusted. Didn’t some people say that there have been wild beasts appearing nearby recently? Who knows if those people who came here to burn incense and pray to the gods were unlucky and were taken away by the wild beasts!
Don't delay any longer, we'll pray to God and return quickly, nothing will happen!"

Zhu Yu hid behind the altar, listening to the conversation between the two people in front of him, and couldn't help but feel a little puzzled.

This dilapidated temple is located in a desolate mountain area with no village or shop nearby. It looks like a desolate mountain and dilapidated temple. Unexpectedly, it has some connections that attract people to brave the wind and rain and drive their horse-drawn carriages to burn incense and pay tribute.

In the desolate mountains and wilderness...Zhu Yu suddenly felt that something was wrong.

When they set out early in the morning, although she was sleepy due to a full meal and had slept through the entire journey, she couldn't be said to be completely unconscious. The carriage traveled very smoothly along the way, without any particular bumps...

She looked at Lu Qing beside her. In the darkness, Lu Qing's profile was like a clearly defined silhouette, and it was impossible to make out any look or expression.

The two men were busy in the front for a while, and the scent of burning incense began to be smelled all around. The two people who were praying to God knelt in front of the statue and kept on telling their wishes. The four people behind the altar could hear everything clearly.

These two people should be grain merchants in a county town dozens of miles away from here. Because the head of the family is addicted to gambling, he loses nine times out of ten, and the originally wealthy family assets are becoming increasingly meager.

In addition, the harvest in the past two years has not been good. First, there was an insect plague the year before, and now it has been raining heavily this year. Seeing that the price of grain is going to rise again, this gambler grain merchant can hardly afford the capital for turnover, so he has to think of this unconventional idea.

The two men were probably very scared, and after burning incense, they hurriedly drove away in the carriage.

Soon the sound of wheels and horse hooves became farther and farther away, and finally completely disappeared in the sound of rain.

After Fu Wen confirmed that it was safe, he relit the torch and looked at Lu Qing: "Master, the rain is getting heavier outside. This dilapidated temple is already in tatters, and now there is a corpse. It is not suitable to stay here any longer.

How about I stay here and guard the body, and have the talisman take you and your wife to the nearest post station to rest for the night. When the sun rises tomorrow and the rain stops, I'll find someone from the nearby government office to take care of the matter?"

"What do you think, Madam?" Lu Qing looked at Zhu Yu.

"If I agree with Fu Wen's suggestion, wouldn't that mean I'd be wasting this sudden downpour?" Zhu Yu gritted his teeth and forced a smile. "Since we're here, I might as well check it out now. This saves me having to come back tomorrow."

The two brothers Fu Wen and Fu Lu were confused, but Lu Qing laughed.

"Help the lady hold the torch so that the light is clearer." He instructed Rune.

Fu Wen hurriedly took a torch from the side and followed Zhu Yu.

(End of this chapter)