The wind blew, and the century-old ginkgo swayed and rustled.

After saying “No one comes here anymore”, the villager shuddered, turned around, and started to run away. However, after moving his feet twice, he realized that his legs and feet were empty, and he was already being lifted up by a person behind him. The big servant brought him up.

Zhao You quickly picked up the villagers who wanted to run away, looked at Lin Fei, and said happily: “Lin Shaoqing, I’ve got him! Don’t worry! He can’t run away.”

Lin Fei looked at the villagers he was holding in his hands and said: “Put the person down first!”

Zhao You said “Oh” and then put down the villager in his hand. His feet touched the ground. The villager’s feet were a little empty. He looked at the mottled and shaking shadows on the ground. With a grimace on his face, he looked like he was about to cry: “Sir, I’m not going to lie to you! This place is haunted!”

It was not easy for places like temples not to be haunted, but once they were, they were really big ghosts!

Lin Fei asked the villagers in front of him: “What is the specific method of haunting?”

The villagers said: “Sometimes you can hear voices and laughter in the temple in the middle of the night, but when you go over to take a look, you can’t even see anyone. .”

It was indeed a bit strange to only hear a voice but not see a person.

Liu Yuan glanced at the centuries-old ginkgo tree above and remarked, “It’s no wonder one can’t be seen if hiding in a tree!”

The villagers looked at him with strange expressions and said, “Whoever’s got nothing better to do, goes up a tree to talk when they’re full?”

Liu Yuan: “Maybe there is such a person! After all, there are all kinds of wonders in the world!”

The villager: “…” After a pause, he added, “Not only these, there are also people who heard the noise coming from this temple. The sound of a female ghost singing!”

Liu Yuan: “…What kind of haunting is this?”

Unfortunately, the villagers believed in this and insisted on claiming that there was a ghost. After a pause, he added: “That song is really scary.”

Liu Yuan thought for a while and said, “Maybe it’s just that the singing voice is too unpleasant!”

The villagers: “…”

Everyone had their own opinions. One firmly believed that there were female ghosts, and the other firmly believed that there were no female ghosts. Strangely, these two people could talk about it together.

Lin Fei did not ask any more questions to the villagers, but waved his hand and asked the villagers to leave.

Seeing that the only villager willing to talk was released, Liu Yuan couldn’t help but hold his forehead and sigh, “How come the testimonies of these witnesses, in this case, are getting more and more absurd? Earlier, it was Tangyuan shouting about a ghost, which was somewhat understandable, but now there’s another one claiming to have seen a female ghost singing. Are we really supposed to go find a Taoist priest to perform rituals?”

Lin Fei shook his head and led the people into Qiude Temple.

The temple, uninhabited, was in a state of disrepair, with cobwebs covering the doors and windows. Inside the hall, the statues of gods and Buddhas were incomplete, and the ones that remained were covered in cobwebs, giving the place an eerie and unsettling atmosphere.

Because the top of the entire temple was blocked by dense ginkgo trees, there is no sunlight inside the temple and it looks particularly shady compared to the outside. Because he had just heard people talking about it being haunted, he couldn’t help but think about it.

Liu Yuan touched the goosebumps on his arms and said, “Suddenly I felt that the yin energy here is quite heavy.”

Before the words were finished, the already gloomy temple, shrouded in darkness due to the dense canopy of trees, grew even darker.

When they came out, it was still morning, the time when the kitchen in the Dali Temple was serving breakfast, but now it was not yet noon, how come it was so dark? Several yamen runners following behind looked out the window and saw dark clouds gathering outside, and one of them said, “Looks like it’s going to rain.”

As soon as he finished speaking, a gust of wind mixed with water vapor rushed in from the window, and crackling raindrops hit the ground. In an instant, everything within sight was soaked.

“Why did it rain out of nowhere?” Liu Yuan looked at the gloomy sky outside, as if it were sunset, touched the goosebumps on his arms that couldn’t go away, and turned to look at Lin Fei.

In the dilapidated Buddhist hall, even the many runners were muttering “Why did it suddenly rain?”

The rustling voices started to sound, and at this moment, Lin Fei’s voice suddenly came out.

He tilted his head and said, “Listen.”

The voices of the people who were talking paused, and a very small song came from somewhere. Because the voice was so small, it was difficult to hear what was being sung. It seemed like someone was humming a little tune casually, but because of the unique melancholy and melodiousness of the tune, it inexplicably made people feel chilled all over on this gloomy and rainy day.

But after all, he had stayed in Dali Temple for so long and had experienced many cases. He was not like those villagers who ran away when scared. When he came to his senses, Liu Yuan was the first to shout: “Who…who is here? Singing? Pretending to be a ghost in broad daylight?”

Although it seemed as dark as night, it was still daytime, and the taste of jianbing guozi in his mouth reminded him that he had just finished his morning meal!

The voice of the faint melody was still not loud, and it was sung in a sad and melodious way.

Wei Fu, who was standing aside, listened carefully for a moment and said, “It’s the famous song “Ruan Shiniang” by the Jiaofang.”

Lin Fei said “Hmm” and nodded: “The song tells the story of a woman named Ruan Shiniang who fell in love with a disloyal scholar.”

Another ungrateful scholar! Liu Yuan frowned and looked at Wei Fu and Lin Fei on the side: How come Shangfeng and his colleagues even knew this? Unlike him, he didn’t know any of the famous songs from the school.

“Spread out and take a look around!” Lin Fei said, and ordered Liu Yuan and Wei Fu, “You two come with me to the back and have a look.”

After leaving the Buddhist hall, there was a dilapidated flower garden. Behind the flower garden were several doors and windows. The wing room had long been dilapidated and leaking.

Liu Yuan was startled and subconsciously glanced at Zhao You, who was happily chatting with other yamen runners behind him. This place was inexplicably haunted, the music was still playing, and yet they were dispersing at a time like this? Well, they were dispersing, but Zhao You and Lin Shaoqing were the only ones who were being so single-minded.

But Lin Shaoqing did not take Zhao You with him but chose him and Wei Fu, two men who had no power to restrain a chicken. Liu Yuan and Wei Fu looked at each other, then raised their heels and followed Lin Fei.

The Buddhist hall was searched by these officers. They walked through the Buddhist hall, passed the flower garden, and walked towards the dilapidated wing at the back.

…

After making the morning meal, Wen Mingtang took Ah Bing out to visit Tangyuan.

Only halfway along the road, the sky suddenly darkened, and then the heavy rain drifted down without stopping for a moment, drenching the entire city of Chang’an in an instant.

Wen Mingtang and Ah Bing, who were stopped halfway by the heavy rain, had no choice but to take shelter under the eaves of the roadside.

The rain came suddenly, and many people were caught off guard and got drenched. Some people even slipped on the road and injured their feet because of the sudden rain.

“Little lady!” A voice called from the corner.

Wen Mingtang turned around and looked towards the source of the sound.

In the corner, a young woman supporting her injured leg looked up as Wen Mingtang glanced at her. A faint smile appeared on the woman’s pale face. She pointed to her injured leg and asked, “I’ve hurt my leg. Could you ladies help me out?”

Meeting the gaze of Wen Mingtang and Ah Bing, the woman pointed to the waist badges hanging from their bodies and chuckled, “I am a bit injured, but seeing the two of you wearing the Dali Temple’s badges, I assume you must be good people!”

(End of Chapter)

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