Wedding ceremony tomorrow

Chapter 54 The Disappearance Case in the Temple

The woods behind the mountain.

Luo Qingfeng and Aya finally climbed up after much effort.

The Great Buddha Temple is right in front of us.

Luo Qingfeng stopped in the woods and began to analyze the situation with the girl beside him.

"Since this is a mission for beginner teams, the demons in the temple shouldn't be too powerful. There are no monks in the temple who can handle them, so clearly, those monks are probably not cultivators..."

"If you're not a cultivator, you're more susceptible to demonic invasion, even if you're a monk who's pure and detached from worldly desires. After all, a powerful demon appeared in the vicinity not long ago, so every monk in this temple, including the abbot, could potentially be a demon."

"In that case, we must not alert the enemy."

"They thought the people from the Demon Suppression Academy wouldn't arrive for another two days, so they were unprepared today."

"We'll climb over the wall later and observe from inside quietly."

"If we're discovered, I'll take out the Demon Suppression Academy's badge, but you absolutely mustn't take off your mask, and you can't let them see what we look like..."

As Luo Qingfeng spoke, Aya nodded blankly.

She would tap a button after each sentence she spoke.

After saying that, Luo Qingfeng subconsciously made an "OK" gesture. Seeing that the little girl was a bit confused, he quickly said, "It means 'okay' or 'are you alright?' Do you understand?"

"Let's go."

Luo Qingfeng walked ahead.

Aya followed behind, thought for a moment, and quietly imitated his gesture, bending her index finger and thumb together to make an "OK" sign.

Luo Qingfeng kept his eyes and ears open and quickly approached the backyard wall.

Then I pressed myself against the wall and listened to what was happening inside.

His hearing has become even more acute as his cultivation level has improved.

After a while.

He turned around, preparing to signal to the girl behind him that it was time to climb over the wall.

But suddenly there was no one behind him.

He paused for a moment, then suddenly noticed a slender, petite figure appearing at the back door not far away.

Aya pushed open the back door and went straight in. Then she poked her head out from inside the door, her dark, bright eyes looking at him and gesturing for him to follow.

Luo Qingfeng: "..."

There are hardly any monks left in the dilapidated Dafosi Temple.

This is the time when worshippers come to offer incense, and the monks in the temple should have already gone to the front courtyard, so there is no one guarding the back gate.

Luo Qingfeng entered through the back door and found the backyard empty except for a few sparrows hopping around on the ground, watching them curiously.

"Actually, I already realized that no one was here, but since we're sneaking in, we have to make it look like we're sneaking in. You see, thieves always climb over walls to steal things, right?"

Luo Qingfeng said to the girl beside him in a serious tone.

Aya nodded blankly.

Luo Qingfeng ignored her and walked ahead towards the front yard.

We didn't encounter any monks along the way.

As we approached the front yard, we suddenly heard the sound of a wooden fish being struck, followed by the sound of chanting.

It turned out that all the monks had gathered in the main hall in front and were chanting sutras for the worshippers.

Luo Qingfeng felt relieved. He first led Aya around the entire temple, but found no clues. Then he took off his mask, entered the front courtyard, and mingled with a group of worshippers. He carefully observed the monks sitting in the main hall, but still found nothing unusual.

"Let's go, let's wait in the backyard."

The two did not linger; they immediately put their masks back on and went to the backyard.

Since this temple has requested the Demon Suppression Institute's help to exorcise the demon, something terrible must have happened. They know nothing and have no clues, so it will definitely be difficult for them to find the demon.

Therefore, they needed to observe the monks from the shadows first.

It was almost noon.

After the tourists leave, the monks will probably go to the backyard for their meal.

We should observe their behavior first. If we still have no clues, we can only go to the abbot and ask him what has happened recently before making any plans.

We arrived at the backyard.

Luo Qingfeng then looked around again, especially at the places where the monks slept.

As he was carefully examining the room, a dog suddenly barked outside.

Luo Qingfeng hurriedly went out and saw Aya running back from the vegetable garden behind the house, looking terrified.

"What's wrong?"

Aya pointed to the vegetable garden behind.

Luo Qingfeng hurried over, pushed open the wooden door, and found a large wolfhound tied up in the vegetable garden, baring its fangs and barking at the two of them.

When the two men first came to check, the big wolfhound was still sleeping in the shed and didn't notice them. Now it must have woken up and heard the noise.

"Have you noticed anything wrong?"

Luo Qingfeng looked at the girl behind him and asked.

Aya shook her head.

She had only pushed the wooden door, and the big wolfhound suddenly woke up, startling her.

Luo Qingfeng glanced at the vegetable garden again and then closed the wooden door.

The big wolfhound barked a few more times before finally stopping with a whimper.

Just then, footsteps and voices suddenly came from ahead.

Luo Qingfeng immediately took Aya and hid in the meditation room next door, carefully observing through the crack in the window.

Two monks entered through the round gate and went straight to the kitchen.

Then, several more monks came over.

A few more moments passed.

Several monks escorted an elderly monk wearing a kasaya as they entered through the round gate and headed straight for the meditation room.

The old monk was none other than Abbot Yunhai of the Great Buddha Temple.

Luo Qingfeng immediately led Aya to hide behind the Buddha statue.

The door opened.

Yunhai entered the meditation room and said to the monks behind him, "You should go and have your meal first. You still need to keep watch in the front this afternoon."

"Yes, Master."

Several young monks left.

Yunhai closed the door, came to the Buddha statue, sat down on the prayer mat, closed his eyes and meditated for a while, then began to tap the wooden fish and chant scriptures.

It lasted for a full half hour.

By this time, it had quieted down outside, and the monks seemed to have all left.

Luo Qingfeng observed carefully for a long time but found nothing unusual. He gave Aya a wink and then walked out from behind the Buddha statue.

Hearing the noise, Yunhai opened his eyes, clearly startled, but quickly calmed down, put down the wooden fish, and put his hands together: "Amitabha, where do you come from, benefactor? What brings you here? If it is for money, then you have come to the wrong place."

Luo Qingfeng was dressed in a black outfit and wore a mask, making him look like a bad guy.

He pulled out the Demon Suppression Academy's nameplate from his person and said, "Abbot, you misunderstand. I am a demon exorcist sent by the Demon Suppression Academy. Because I was afraid of alerting the enemy, I did not inform you in advance and came in directly. Please forgive me if I have disturbed you."

Upon seeing the nameplate, Yunhai immediately stood up, clasped his hands in front of his chest, and bowed his head, saying, "Amitabha, so you are a master from the Demon Suppression Academy. My apologies for my disrespect. My eyesight is poor, and I misunderstood you. Please forgive me."

Luo Qingfeng put away the nameplate and said, "It's not the abbot's fault; it was my sudden appearance. I wore a mask for safety reasons, and I hope the abbot won't take offense. By the way, could the abbot tell me in detail what has happened at your temple recently?"

Upon hearing the question, Yunhai sighed and gestured, saying, "Please sit down, sir, and let this old monk explain slowly."

Luo Qingfeng thanked him and sat down on the futon opposite him.

Yunhai sat back down on the futon, sighed again, and began to tell his story.

"About a month ago, a worshipper suddenly disappeared from the temple. His family came looking for him, and the old monk mobilized the entire temple to search, but they couldn't find him. Everyone assumed that the person had left the temple and disappeared in the mountains or somewhere else, and the old monk didn't take it seriously..."

"Unexpectedly, half a month ago, another family came to the temple looking for someone, saying that a family member had come to the temple to worship Buddha and had not returned for a day and a night. The old monk once again mobilized all the monks in the temple to search, and in addition to the temple, they searched the surrounding mountains and forests, but still could not find them. The government also sent people to search, but still found nothing."

"Then seven days ago, another pilgrim went missing..."

"Only then did the old monk realize that something was wrong, and the government also noticed it. They sent more people to investigate, and finally they found a corpse in a dry well in our backyard."

"The body was already decomposed and unrecognizable, but strangely, after identification, it was not one of the three missing pilgrims..."

"The coroner examined us carefully and told us that it might be the work of a demon, advising us to seek help from your esteemed institution. Therefore, this old monk immediately sent someone to request your assistance in exorcising the demon..."

"Alas, because of this incident, fewer and fewer pilgrims are coming to the mountain, and lately, the monks in the temple have been living in fear; five have already secretly run away..."

After listening, Luo Qingfeng pondered for a moment and asked, "Abbot, who are those three missing pilgrims? How old are they? Are they male or female? What do they have in common?"

Yunhai lowered his head and replied, "There are rich young ladies and ordinary peasant women, all in their twenties or thirties. If there's anything in common, it's that they are all women, and all of them are already married."

"Are they all women?"

Luo Qingfeng frowned and asked again, "Was the corpse pulled out of the dry well also a woman's corpse?"

Yunhai sighed and said, "Yes. The government officials suspected that there was a lecherous thief hiding in my temple. They investigated for a long time but found nothing. Finally, they suspected the Demon Queen and then stopped investigating."

Luo Qingfeng then asked, "Have you investigated the five monks who secretly escaped?"

Yunhai nodded slightly: "The government has already investigated, but it was just a matter of questioning and inspection; they didn't take him back for interrogation. In fact, this old monk also suspects that the murderer may have already escaped, after all, the government and the Demon Suppression Academy have been alerted."

Luo Qingfeng frowned and said, "If they really escaped, then things will be difficult..."

As the two were talking, they suddenly heard hurried footsteps outside.

A young monk suddenly pushed open the door, his face filled with panic, and said, "Abbot! Something terrible has happened! Another worshipper says his wife is missing! She just went to the outhouse and suddenly disappeared!"

(End of this chapter)