"Is there anything heavy under the water dragging them?" Shen Luo asked after pondering for a while.
"There's no heavy object dragging them, nor are there any water plants in the way. There's nothing at all. It's also because it's a little unusual and the city hasn't been peaceful recently that all kinds of rumors have been spreading. Now, the Water Heating Pavilion is almost being treated as a haunted house, and its business has plummeted. "Bai Xiaotian shook his head.
Since the beginning, the Bai family didn't pay much attention to this. After all, the Qinhuai River was a place of trouble. Every year, there would be at least ten to twenty people who would fall into the water, fall into the water when they were drunk, fall into the water when they were frustrated, or die for love.
Even if it happened in their own family, they would spend some money to bribe the government and send a guest Taoist priest to perform a ritual. Regardless of whether there were evil spirits or not, as long as they put on a show for the guests and the people to see, it wouldn't be difficult to suppress the matter.
But this time, with people drowning one after another like dumplings, it really couldn't be suppressed. There were rumors on the streets that there was a ghost hiding in the Water Heating Pavilion. The three people died unjustly, and their bodies were fixed by resentment, which was why they floated and didn't leave.
"I'm also planning to go out, so I'll go with you." Shen Luo said.
"That's great." Bai Xiaotian's eyes lit up, and a smile finally appeared on his face.
Just as the two of them walked out of the room, they heard a series of hurried footsteps from outside. Then, they saw the girl Lu Xiu running in hurriedly, shouting,
"Bad … Bad news, Young Master, bad news …"
Shen Luo and Bai Xiaotian looked at each other, and a trace of gloom flashed across their faces.
"What happened? Speak slowly." Bai Xiaotian asked in a low voice.
"Manager Gao from the Auspicious Satin Shop in the west of the city went to the Water Heating Pavilion last night to find his lover, Miss Shui Yuan. In the end, he was found floating in the river in the same place as the previous three." Lu Xiu's face was slightly pale as she panted.
Bai Xiaotian sighed inwardly and walked toward the front door without saying a word. Shen Luo rubbed his nose and followed him.
"Young Master, the carriage is ready. It's waiting outside …" Lu Xiu chased after him and shouted on tiptoe.
…
The speed of the carriage was limited in the city, so it took them less than half an hour to reach the Water Heating Pavilion.
Shen Luo got down from the carriage and raised his head to take a look. In front of him stood a red gate that was thirty to forty feet high. The top of the gate was richly ornamented, depicting a hundred birds paying homage to the phoenix and a hundred flowers vying for spring.
Just a few steps away from the entrance was a magnificent pavilion that was three stories high. Between each floor of the pavilion, there was a cornice made of glazed tiles. Below the cornice hung vermillion lanterns, the colors of which were bright and glistening.
Inside the loft was a golden hall. In the middle of the hall, there was a huge screen with twelve folds behind it. A stage was built with white jade fences, and there was a wooden ladder on each side that led to the second floor.
The Water Heating Pavilion, which was usually bustling with guests, was deserted today. Only a middle-aged woman dressed in purple brocade was reprimanding several odd-job workers in a low voice, telling them not to talk too much about the Water Heating Pavilion to outsiders.
Seeing Bai Xiaotian and Lu Xiu enter, the woman immediately hid her worried expression and came forward to greet them, bowing to them.
Shen Luo looked at her and saw that she had a good appearance and an exquisite figure. However, there were fine wrinkles at the corners of her eyes that could not be hidden even if she lost some makeup. Then, she looked at her bearing and behavior and knew that she should be the nanny here.
"Eldest Young Master, you're finally here." The middle-aged woman had found her backbone. As she spoke, she pulled out a handkerchief from her waist and wiped the corners of her eyes.
"Mother Feng, where's the body?" Bai Xiaotian asked directly.
"It's at the water bank in the backyard. They didn't allow it to be carried into the house. The coroner from the government has already checked it and left. Priest Baishui is over there now." Mother Feng did not dare to say more and simply said.
Without uttering a word, Bai Xiaotian walked behind the screen.
Shen Luo followed him and walked around the screen, going out through a door at the back.
The Water Heating Pavilion was built next to the Qinhuai River. In the backyard, there was a small pillow dock. In the past, there were also flower boats docked here for guests to take care of the cleaning ladies on the river.
Right now, there was only the corpse of a fat man dressed in official clothing by the river, lying quietly in the shadow of the loft. Beside him stood a thin old man in a grayish-white Taoist robe. His cheekbones were protruding and his cheeks were slightly sunken.
Not far from here, there was a three-arched stone bridge across the river. Under the guardrail in the middle of the bridge, the words "Zhenhuai Bridge" were engraved.
On one side of the bridge, there was a river beast that looked like a single-horned rhinoceros. There was a stone pedestal at the bottom, which was only as tall as a person. After the passage of time, the bottom was covered in moss and mottled traces everywhere.
Surrounding the water beast and even on the bridge, there were many citizens of the city standing there. Their faces were filled with curiosity, fear, disgust, and some inexplicable excitement. They were pointing and whispering to each other.
Shen Luo sized up the man's corpse and saw that his body was abnormally swollen from being soaked in water. The exposed skin showed a kind of greenish-white color. Although his death looked rather peaceful, he could not help but feel that there was an evil aura emanating from him.
"Greetings, Enlightened Master." Bai Xiaotian walked closer and bowed respectfully to the thin old Taoist.
Shen Luo also clasped his fists in salute.
"Eldest Young Master, you're here." The old Taoist's brows were knitted into knots as he returned the greeting.
"How's the situation now?" Bai Xiaotian asked.
"Just like the previous few people, the coroner said that they all drowned. I can't find anything wrong with it." Bai Shui sighed and said.
"Enlightened Master, do you know approximately when he died?" Bai Xiaotian asked.
"Probably last night from midnight to chou … I'm ashamed to say that I was actually stationed in the pavilion the whole time, but he didn't notice it at all. It was the servant in the morning who found his corpse first," Taoist Bai Shui said.
"Does Miss Shui Yuan know when he left?" Bai Xiaotian turned to Mother Feng and asked.
"Sigh, she was so frightened that she couldn't think clearly. She only said that she slept like a log last night and didn't even know when he left. Now, she doesn't even dare to stay in the Water Heating Pavilion and went somewhere else to rest. "Mother Feng sighed and said.
After hearing that, Bai Xiaotian was silent for a moment. He took out a yellow paper talisman from his sleeve and walked to the corpse. He bent down and stuck it in the middle of the corpse's brows.
With a soft "poof", a wisp of flame ignited on the talisman. It suddenly jumped and then slowly burned.
"Evil Yin Qi Summoning Talisman!" Taoist Bai Shui's eyes lit up.
Shen Luo heard that and also focused his gaze on the talisman.
He had also heard of this kind of talisman. When it burned, it could use the talisman fire to draw out the hidden evil Yin Qi.
If this Manager Gao was really killed by an evil Yin spirit, there would most likely be evil Yin Qi remaining in his body. Now that the talisman fire was on his glabella, there should be evil Yin Qi flowing out from his seven orifices.
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