Tang Dynasty Prison Administration

070: The Lianhua Case in Qingzhou

When Su Wen returned to the county office, he saw Cheng Nianci, who had been all smiles that morning, now with her head hanging low, her face full of exhaustion and despair.

She glanced at Su Wen, tears welling in her eyes but not falling, and said calmly, "Young master and all the waiters in the tavern have been killed!"

Upon hearing this, Su Wen simply replied calmly, "Did you catch or see anyone?"

Cheng Nianci's eyes flashed with a fierce light as she looked at Su Wen, her tone extremely firm: "Those marks could only be made by a Mo Dao!"

Upon hearing the name "Mo Dao," Su Wen frowned. He knew that only the border troops of the Tang Dynasty were equipped with and used Mo Dao, and those who used Mo Dao were called Mo Dao generals, all of whom were elites among elites. It was simply impossible for others to possess one.

Moreover, the Mo Dao was extremely expensive to make, hence the saying: "One Mo Dao is equivalent to three sets of armor, and one warhorse is equivalent to two swords."

Therefore, apart from the border troops, no one else could afford to use it. Even those who could afford it dared not use it, because possessing a Mo Dao was a crime equivalent to treason!

At this moment, Su Wen felt a sense of unease. His mind flashed back to something, and he suddenly remembered something!

How did the corporal know the murderer's methods?

Could it be that the corporal has seen him before?

It should be understood that they were only assigned to patrol, and the soldiers could not possibly have witnessed the murderer's methods. Although there would be notices, they would only say that there was a murderer. After all, there was no need to release all the details until the case was solved!

Based on what Cheng Nianci said, it was Mo Dao who killed him!

In other words, there might be believers within the military as well?

Clearly, the other party had already guessed what Su Wen would find out, so they simply killed him to silence him and prevent future trouble!

If that's the case, how should Su Wen continue his investigation?

The Mo Dao border troops, the Tubo Kingdom, the Pure Land School—all these things point to one person: Wu Zetian!

Although Wu Zetian has been dead for many years, we must not forget that her power was not completely eliminated. After all, Princess Taiping, as Wu Zetian's most beloved daughter, perfectly inherited Wu Zetian's power, even though the emperor executed Princess Taiping in the first year of the Kaiyuan era.

However, the forces behind her were not completely eliminated. Judging from the various signs in this case, Wu Zetian's power has begun to rise again!

Cheng Nianci looked at Su Wen and said, "Have you found any clues? I must avenge my young master!"

Su Wen did not answer, but slowly closed his eyes and began to quickly organize the case and all the current clues in his mind.

In fact, Su Wen now knows that the other party may be like a cult, brainwashing people to make them willingly die in order to achieve the purpose of sacrifice!

But what was the purpose of the sacrifice? Su Wen had no idea. Could it be like the Twelve Zodiac Formation, to resurrect Wu Zetian?

Obviously, this is unlikely, because any intelligent person would know that the dead cannot be brought back to life!

As the person behind the scenes who controls the life and death of others through brainwashing, he would absolutely not believe in such a thing. After all, how could someone who can brainwash others to work for them willingly, or even sacrifice their life, be a fool?

Moreover, the fact that the other side was able to predict Su Wen's next move in advance and eliminate him completely shows that they are very clever!

Suddenly, Su Wen remembered what the young man had said: someone had secretly transported a pair of Buddha statues to Qingzhou. To deal with a clever person, you can't use the clever person's methods; you have to use the fool's methods to catch him off guard!

Since they went through so much trouble to transport a pair of Buddha statues to Qingzhou, why not just abandon all the previous clues and directly track down the whereabouts of the Buddha statues and find its hiding place? Perhaps we will have an unexpected reward!

Thinking of this, Su Wen stood up from the steps and said, "Men, pass down the order: everyone post notices offering a reward of three hundred coins for information about the double-bodied Buddha statue. If anyone can lead the government to the double-bodied Buddha statue, then the reward will be five hundred coins!"

Upon hearing this, the constables responded in unison.

Not long after, Xu Ge ran back. Su Wen looked at Xu Ge and asked, "How did it go? Did you find out anything useful?"

Xu Ge, panting, said, "I've searched almost every temple in Qingzhou Prefecture, but I haven't found any clues. However, the abbot of Jingkong Temple said that there are many Buddhist sects, and some of them have malicious intentions. They've started promoting the practice of dual-body sexual intercourse, which is not orthodox Buddhism but a cult. I hope your government can shut them down and eliminate them to prevent them from bringing shame upon orthodox Buddhism!"

Upon hearing this, Su Wen suddenly remembered something—a case he had solved when he accompanied his teacher, Chen Shixian, to Tibet.

The case involved sexual misconduct involving two bodies, which was described as the highest form of yoga, claiming that it could lead to Buddhahood in this very life.

At the time, Su Wen also discussed this matter with some monks. Some monks turned pale upon hearing it and angrily denounced it as a heretical sect, completely contrary to the Buddhism of Shakyamuni, and a complete heterodox sect that claimed to be the Buddha's teachings, even boasting that it was Vajrayana, which was higher than Mahayana Buddhism.

However, using the fictitious Vajra Hell to threaten and intimidate Buddhist disciples is a pure act of destroying the true Dharma of Buddhism and is a typical cult!

However, some people support and express their understanding.

Su Wen knew nothing about these things, so he did not participate in the discussion at the time, but only listened.

Su Wen remembered that someone had said that the so-called dual-body sexual misconduct was originally from India, and it was a fusion of Indian indigenous religions. Moreover, obscenity was a normal phenomenon in Indian indigenous religions, but for us, it was a completely heretical practice.

Upon realizing this, Su Wen immediately understood.

Could it be that the Pure Land sect is practicing some kind of illicit sexual practice involving dual-body incest, combined with the dual-body Buddha statues secretly transported to Qingzhou?

Just as Su Wen was pondering, outside the county government office, someone sneaked in, looking around furtively, and a person with a mask on ran in.

"Excuse me, is the notice posted outside real or fake? They say they'll give you 500 yuan as a reward for taking you to see the double-bodied Buddha statue?"

Upon hearing this, Su Wen immediately nodded and replied, "Yes, I'll give it to you right away. What, do you know where the twin Buddha statue is?"

The man was short and thin, and his face and head were covered, with only his eyes showing, making it impossible for Su Wen to see what he looked like.

He replied, "Then I'll take you there, but you have to pay me first, otherwise I'm afraid you'll try to renege on your promise!"

Su Wen frowned and said, "Sure, but don't even think about deceiving the authorities, or you know what will happen!"

He readily agreed, "Don't worry, I'll definitely take you there. You probably don't know, that twin-bodied Buddha, tsk tsk tsk..."

As he said this, there was a hint of lewd laughter in his voice.

Su Wen immediately thought of the Buddha statue he had seen in his memory that depicted a form of sexual misconduct involving two bodies, and wondered if it was the same one.

Su Wen took out a money pouch from his pocket, counted out five hundred coins, and tossed it to him. After catching the money and counting it, he looked at Su Wen and said, "Let's go, Shangguan, but you'd better take more men with you!"

Su Wen responded and looked at Xu Ge, saying, "Xu Ge, go and call Du Yu to bring a team of men!"

Five people form a squad, two squads form a group, five groups form a team, and a team consists of fifty people!