novelSusiti 044:5 Prison
044:5 Prison
Li Moxuan glanced at the three of them and said softly, "May I ask what brings you three here today?"
Su Wen bowed to Li Moxuan, then took out a yellow paper talisman from his robes and handed it to Li Moxuan. Li Moxuan took the talisman, glanced at it, and then looked at Su Wen, asking, "Where did this talisman come from?"
Su Wen replied, "Recently, two murders have occurred in Luoyang County. Both victims had this talisman in their stomachs. That's why I've come today to ask Master Li what the purpose of this talisman is."
"This is a soul-summoning talisman from our Taoist sect. It's a talisman used by the underworld's justice system against sinners in the mortal realm. It means that attaching the talisman to the person signifies that the underworld's messengers will come to the mortal world, seize the person's soul, and take it to the Nine Nether Hells!"
Upon hearing this, Su Wen recalled a case he had handled when he was a policeman.
Su Wen spoke up, "Master Li, regarding the first person who was killed, I suspect he froze to death. Could he have been imprisoned in the Frozen Hell? Regarding the second person who was killed, I suspect he was burned to death. Could he have been imprisoned in the Fiery Hell?"
Upon hearing this, Li Moxuan frowned deeply, looked at Su Wen, and said with a serious expression, "Are you saying that someone is using Daoist methods to commit murder in the Five Hells in order to ascend to immortality?"
Su Wen nodded: "Yes, we now know that one person died in the Ice Prison and one in the Fire Pit Prison. Are there three more prisons? That is: the Intestine-Pulling Prison, the Heart-Digging Prison, and the Tongue-Pulling Prison?"
Li Moxuan sighed and said, "People are truly foolish. The matter of becoming an immortal is so illusory and unreal, yet some people still believe in such evil arts and secret methods. If there were truly immortals in this world, would the people suffer so much, and would there be so many diseases and disasters?"
Su Wendao said, "Master Li, I only vaguely remember that the Five Hells correspond to five types of prisoners, but I don't know what crimes they correspond to?"
Li Moxuan said softly, "The Five Hells of Taoism are: the Ice Hell, corresponding to those who are greedy and treacherous; the Fire Pit Hell, corresponding to those who commit adultery; the Intestine-Pulling Hell, corresponding to those who betray trust; the Heart-Digging Hell, corresponding to those who are unfilial; and the Tongue-Pulling Hell, corresponding to those who are disrespectful. This so-called disrespect can refer to disrespect for ghosts and gods, disrespect for parents, disrespect for ancestors, etc."
Upon hearing this, Su Wen began to ponder.
Wu Hongye corresponds to a greedy and opportunistic person, while Ding Yuan corresponds to an adulterer.
But the problem is that Ding Yuan didn't commit adultery. Does that mean that soliciting a prostitute counts as adultery?
Or perhaps the murderer simply didn't understand what adultery meant, or perhaps adultery, like disrespect, was a general term encompassing many kinds of people?
Li Moxuan then spoke up, "Magistrate Su, let me remind you, this man is using the methods of my Daoist sect to indiscriminately kill innocent people. I urge you to solve the case quickly to avoid tarnishing the reputation of my Daoist sect. I do have a small suggestion: since this man wants to use such evil arts of the Five Hells to become an immortal, it means he wants to achieve it quickly. I suspect that this man is either suffering from a terminal illness or is a madman obsessed with cultivating immortality!"
Upon hearing this, Su Wen responded and bowed to Li Moxuan, saying, "Thank you for informing me, Daoist Li. I will not disturb your cultivation any longer and will take my leave now!"
Li Moxuan responded and slowly closed his eyes, saying, "This old Taoist priest won't see you off any longer!"
After saying that, Su Wen and the other two turned and left the room.
The three left the room, and Li Xingguo hurriedly asked, "Magistrate Su, I overheard your conversation with Daoist Li. You seem to be saying that three more people will die?"
Su Wen nodded in agreement: "Yes, that's right. If this murderer really does kill according to the Five Hells method, then three more people will be killed next: their intestines will be pulled out, their hearts will be ripped out, and their tongues will be pulled out!"
"So what do we do next?"
Su Wen also shook his head and said, "There are no clues about the murderer right now. We still need to investigate from Di Yejia's direction first. Xu Ge, go and question the owners of all the major pharmacies tonight. We must find out who brought Di Yejia into Luoyang!"
Xu Ge responded, "Yes!"
......
The next day.
Before Su Wen could even wake up, there was a rapid knocking on the door, and Li Xingguo shouted, "Magistrate Su, another body has been found!"
Su Wen hurriedly put on his clothes, without even washing up, and asked urgently, "Where are we?"
Li Xingguo said, "In Qiangrenfang!"
Su Wen asked, "Who is the deceased?"
As Li Xingguo walked, he said, "Xu Ge has already led people to secure the scene. It was the night watchman who discovered it and immediately ran to report to the authorities. The coroner has also gone to examine the body!"
A moment later, Su Wen and Li Xingguo arrived at Qiangrenfang. The place where the deceased died was an abandoned courtyard.
When they arrived at the courtyard, there were many people watching nearby. Fortunately, the thugs had already surrounded the area, preventing anyone from entering the courtyard. Otherwise, the crime scene would have been trampled into a mess.
Upon seeing Su Wen and Li Xingguo enter the courtyard, Xu Ge bowed to them and said, "Magistrate Su, General, the deceased's name was Zhao Wudou. He was a local ruffian. I asked my mother, and she said she couldn't control him. He usually wandered around, frequenting brothels, gambling dens, taverns, and recently he'd also been going to Nestorian churches, temples, and Taoist monasteries!"
Upon hearing this, Su Wen did not speak, but instead stepped down and squatted down to examine the deceased's body.
The deceased had a smile on his face, just like Wu Hongye before him, but there was a clear cut on his abdomen, which Su Wen examined carefully.
The coroner standing nearby reported, "Reporting to the magistrate, according to the preliminary examination, the deceased's intestines were removed while he was still alive, washed clean with water, and then put back into his abdomen!"
Su Wen said in a low voice, "The Intestine-Pulling Prison—what credibility do thugs and hooligans have? That's why they're treacherous!"
Su Wen carefully examined the surroundings. There might have been footprints on the ground before, but now it was all messed up.
Bad people, coroners, night watchmen, and onlookers.
The footprints were impossible to discern; the area was so badly damaged that it was unrecognizable.
Su Wen looked at Li Xingguo and said, "Give me a map of Luoyang County!"
Li Xingguo took out the map and handed it to Su Wen. Su Wen looked at the map and then glanced at Xu Ge, saying, "Last night I ordered you to investigate Di Yejia. Did you find anything?"
Xu Ge said, "The shop owner said that Diyejia has been introduced from the Western Regions for several decades. It was already widespread throughout the Tang Dynasty during the Zhou Dynasty. It's impossible to know who originally brought it. Their trade is all done through merchants from the Western Regions. I went to see a few merchants last night, and they said that everyone in the Western Regions trades with each other, so it's impossible to know for sure!"
Su Wen looked at the map carefully. The first victim, Wu Hongye, died in Daohuafang; the second victim, Ding Yuan, died in Jiaofufang; and the third victim died in Qiangrenfang.
Su Wen looked at the map, then drew two lines on it and said, "If I'm not mistaken, the fourth victim should be in Chongqi Ward, and the fifth victim should be in Yujiao Ward. The murderer wants to use Luoyang County as an altar, setting up a Five Elements Formation on it!"