jdhmnovel Chapter 442 Searching for Suspects
Chapter 442 Searching for Suspects
They all returned to the Bodhi Temple together. It was almost midnight. Except for the Taoist priests who were patrolling at night, most of the Taoist priests and pilgrims in the temple had basically gone to sleep. The Bodhi Temple was very quiet.
With so many people going up the mountain, there was naturally a lot of noise. Candles were lit in many rooms. A murder had occurred on the mountainside today, so everyone was in a panic. Now many people opened their doors to check when they heard the noise.
Chu Yunxi thought of something, so she asked the Taoist priest in charge, "By the way, have Tie Niu and Xiao Huan, who had a conflict with the Four Young Masters of Qingcheng in the temple today, come down the mountain?"
The Taoist priest in charge was named Qingfeng. He said, "I didn't pay attention to this, but I asked someone to register all the pilgrims who stayed. I'll have someone bring the list over right away."
"Okay, send someone to get it first. But in addition to this, we also need to gather all the people in the temple. Now the suspect is very likely still on the mountain, and may be hiding in this Bodhi Temple. We must question everyone."
After Chu Yunxi finished speaking, she looked at the layout of the Bodhi Temple. Only the open space in front of the Queen Mother of the West Hall was the most spacious, so she said to Qingfeng, "Master Qingfeng, please ask all the people in the temple to gather in this open space and separate the pilgrims from the people in the temple. We need to check them one by one."
Qingfeng agreed and made arrangements. After a while, people from the temple came over one after another. Chu Yunxi asked Wen Rulan to greet the pilgrims stranded on the mountain, and asked Wu Lingqi to greet the Taoists and servants in the temple. She stood with Qingfeng, holding the roster to check the number of people.
There were seventy-six pilgrims who did not have time to go down the mountain. Including Qingfeng, there were twenty-eight Taoists and servants in the temple. Of course, the temple master and the little Taoist nun were not counted, so there were about a hundred people in total.
The murder happened at 3:15 in the afternoon. At that time, there were almost no people going up the mountain. Most of the people on the mountain were burning incense or preparing to go down the mountain after burning incense. Chu Yunxi and her friends arrived early, met the abbot, burned incense, and visited the Bodhi Temple, so they arrived at about the same time as those people.
Chu Yunxi looked at the pilgrims and saw Tie Niu and Xiao Huan. Tie Niu was holding Xiao Huan's hand tightly. No one knew what he was thinking about. He lowered his head in thought. Xiao Huan whispered something beside him. Chu Yunxi walked to them. Tie Niu felt something and looked up to see Chu Yunxi. He looked a little dazed.
Chu Yunxi smiled and said, "Don't be afraid. I'm here to investigate this case. I have a few questions for you. Your name is Tie Niu, right?"
Chu Yunxi looked Tie Niu up and down. His physique was somewhat similar to that of the murderer, but he didn't look like he had great martial arts skills.
Tie Niu was stunned for a while, and suddenly said: "I didn't kill anyone, I didn't kill them."
Chu Yunxi didn't expect him to say that suddenly, but she quickly reacted, her expression unchanged, and said: "No one said you killed him? I just want to ask where you were at 3:45 this afternoon. Is there anyone who can prove it for you?"
"You still suspect me of murder, don't you?" Tie Niu suddenly became excited and raised his voice. "Yes, I had a conflict with those scumbags, and they were killed. I think it was retribution, but I really didn't kill them. They brought so many followers with them. How could I beat so many people by myself?"
When Xiao Mubei heard the noise, he came over to protect Chu Yunxi, fearing that she might get into trouble. Xiaohuan also hurriedly grabbed Tieniu's arm and advised, "Brother Tieniu, calm down. I believe this girl will not wrongly accuse you."
Tie Niu scratched his hair in annoyance and said, "Many people said in the afternoon that those scums were killed on the way down the mountain. They all suspected that I was the one who killed them. They pointed fingers at me and said that I was the murderer. My mother was sick. I just brought Xiaohuan up the mountain to burn incense to Queen Mother Wang and pray that she would bless my mother to get well soon. How could I kill someone?"
Chu Yunxi said in a gentle voice: "Tie Niu, I am just asking a routine question. I will ask everyone here. As long as you can prove your alibi, you can clear your suspicion. You don't have to have any psychological burden."
"But...but...at 15:30 pm, Xiao Huan and I climbed to the top of the mountain. We wanted to see the scenery of Mount Bodhi before going down the mountain. At that time, there was no one else present except the two of us. We didn't go down the mountain until 15:30 pm. When we got down the mountain, we heard that something happened on the mountainside. The fourth young master of Qingcheng died, and no one was allowed to go down the mountain." Tie Niu looked frustrated. "If I had known, we would have gone down the mountain after offering incense. My mother must have been worried sick."
He didn't seem to be lying. Chu Yunxi looked at Xiaohuan, who immediately raised her hand. "I swear, Brother Tieniu is telling the truth. There is absolutely no falsehood."
However, given their relationship, their testimonies were not acceptable. Chu Yunxi had no choice but to say, "Okay, I understand. You don't have to panic for now. As long as you didn't kill the person, there is no need to be afraid. The truth will eventually come out."
Seeing that Chu Yunxi spoke kindly and did not doubt him without any reason, Tie Niu's emotions finally calmed down. He nodded, sat on the ground with his head down and said nothing. Xiao Huan also sat down to accompany him.
Walking aside, Chu Yunxi asked Xiao Mubei, "Can you tell if Tie Niu knows martial arts?"
Xiao Mubei said: "This can be faked. Even if a person is highly skilled in martial arts, it is very easy for him to pretend that he does not know martial arts. Unless I can take his pulse and find out whether he has internal strength in his body, I can be sure."
That is to say, Tie Niu cannot be ruled out as a suspect at the moment. Although Chu Yunxi thinks he is not the murderer, it is useless without evidence.
Next, Chu Yunxi divided all the people into several groups. She, Wen Rulan, Xiao Mubei, and Wu Lingqi separately inquired about the whereabouts of these people at 3:30 pm, and quickly eliminated the suspicion of some people. After all, most people were burning incense in the temple or visiting the Bodhi Temple at that time, and there were also mutual confirmations between the Taoists and the pilgrims.
After asking around, it turned out that the only people who had no time to be witnesses were more than a dozen pilgrims, less than ten Taoists, and two servants. It was said that those Taoists were on duty last night, so they were not on duty during the day and slept in their respective dormitories. Therefore, no one saw them. What surprised Chu Yunxi was that Taoist Qingfeng also had no time to be a witness.
Chu Yunxi remembered that when she came, Taoist Qingfeng had been on duty in the Palace of Queen Mother of the West. How could he leave at that time?
Taoist Qingfeng replied, "Amitabha, I was not feeling well this afternoon. After the four young masters of Qingcheng caused trouble, I went back to my own dorm to rest for a while. It was not until this donor Xiao came to find me that I was woken up."