Records of Mysterious Things in the Southern Dynasties

Chapter 242 Hun Tian Terrace

The firelight in the interrogation room flickered, casting a dim light on Ren Yuan's face.

"It is true that the Dao Sect is in such a state now that we cannot ask disciples to be loyal and filial." He said to the fortune teller in a tone that was almost casual, "But you shouldn't associate with a tiger and wolf like Xiao Zhengde."

"It's easy to say. If I don't join him, who will take in us stray dogs?" The fortune teller's face was full of resentment and resentment. He struggled hard, but the iron chain on his scapula hurt him so much that he couldn't help but groan. "The Taoist sect was destroyed, the Taoist temples were demolished, the scriptures were burned, and the Buddhist sect was in its heyday. They relied on the protection of the royal family to kill all of us Taoists and didn't give us a chance to live."

"Let alone cultivation, even eating has become a problem. I have tried to make a living on my own before, but it was so difficult and I was targeted by the people of Fu Tu Sect everywhere. Later, I took refuge with Xiao Zhengde and lived like a human again. I also raised my cultivation from three orifices to six orifices! I know he has done a lot of bad things, but in this world, conscience has long been lost. I will follow whoever can make me live a good life!"

"Alas..." Ren Yuan sighed, speechless. "Well, since you have chosen this path, you must be responsible for your choice."

He also asked him about some situations of the Taoist sects in the capital, and learned that Tao Hongjing was now the abbot of Guangzhai Temple. Ren Yuan then called Zu An in to interrogate him about Xiao Zhengde.

"So soon? I thought you guys wanted to catch up on the past." Zu An said bluntly.

"Haha, I knew you were from the Shangqing Sect, otherwise I wouldn't have shown mercy to you." The fortune teller smiled at Ren Yuan and said, "You are luckier than me. You can be a lackey of the court, while I can only be a running dog of Xiao Zhengde."

"..." Ren Yuan touched his nose awkwardly and smiled bitterly: "Whatever you think, I didn't lie."

"Since you are Xiao Zhengde's lackey, do you know where he hid Princess Changle?" Zuan knew that he had embarrassed himself again, so he quickly got back to the point.

"I don't know." The fortune teller was not a great supernatural being, so he couldn't lie to Zuan. "I followed Xiao Zhengde just to make a living, to look after his house, and to protect his safety when he went out. It's not my turn to handle confidential matters like this."

"How many years have you been with him?" Ren Yuan asked at this time.

"This year is exactly ten years." The fortune teller replied.

"After such a long time, you should have gained his trust, right?" Ren Yuan said in a deep voice.

"There is no problem with trust. He will take me with him wherever he goes." The fortune teller smiled bitterly and said, "But this guy is a gangster. If you don't do dirty work for him, you will never be considered as his confidant."

"I've been stuck at the Six Apertures for several years, and he just won't give me the elixir to open it. This forced me to finally make up my mind to do the dirty work for him, but I didn't expect to fail so badly." He said with a self-deprecating sigh: "Alas, wanting to improve too much is killing me, I should have just been living a lazy life."

"You said he takes you with him wherever he goes?" Ren Yuan asked.

"Yes." The fortune teller nodded and said, "First, he likes to be surrounded by people. Every time he travels, he is always accompanied by a hundred people. Secondly, he has been doing bad things for so many years, and his enemies are too numerous to count, including many powerful people. Therefore, no matter where he goes, he must bring enough guards to prevent revenge."

"That makes sense." Ren Yuan said to Zu An, "Boss, help him recall the places he and Xiao Zhengde have been to in the past ten years."

"That's not much?" Zu An said.

"No. People have a fixed range of activities. Especially the places they often go to, there are no more than a dozen places at most." Ren Yuan said in a deep voice.

"Okay." Zuan nodded in agreement. Ren Yuan was smart, and Chen Shuai had praised him before, so Zuan trusted his judgment.

"No, how can I remember?" The fortune teller said worriedly, "Let alone a few years ago, I can't even remember where I went with him this spring."

"It doesn't matter. I'm here. I'll help you remember it bit by bit." Zuan smiled and cleared his throat, saying loudly:
"Who has not heard, 'If you hear it with your ears, you can recite it; if you see it, you can remember it!'"

~~
With the encouragement of Deputy Zu, the fortune teller spent a night to recall all the places he had been to with Xiao Zhengde in the past ten years. Ren Yuan put down his pen, picked up the confession filled with place names, and gently blew dry the ink. This was the 30th record he had made.

After asking the fortune teller to press his fingerprints, he sorted out the pile of petitions, stretched his body and said, "This is the result of an all-nighter."

"Can this thing really work?" Zuan rubbed his throbbing temple. He had been using his magical powers all night and was exhausted.

"I hope so." Ren Yuan said softly, "Leave the rest of the work to me. Go get some sleep, and we'll report together when we wake up."

"Okay, I really can't take it anymore." Zuan stood up with a yawn and went straight back to the duty room to lie down.

Ren Yuan also left the interrogation room, but did not return to the duty room. Instead, he went to the Hun Tian Terrace with the confession.

As one of the two towers of the Gouchensi, the Huntiantai is not as magnificent as the magnificent Xuanji Tower. It is square and built entirely of black basalt. It looks simple but tall and solid, as high as a seven-story building.

Maybe it was because he hated Buddhism, but Ren Yuan preferred this tower built in the style of the pre-Qin period.

Because the building is made of pure stone and is located in an open space, it has maximum fire resistance. Therefore, in addition to stargazing and divination, the Hun Tian Terrace was also used by Chen Qingzhi to store important files of the Gouchensi.

Ren Yuan came here to check the files.

After showing his badge and registering, the gatekeeper opened the door and invited him in.

This tower, which looks dark on the outside, is surprisingly bright and well-ventilated on the inside, forming a sharp contrast with the Xuanji Tower next to it, which looks shiny on the outside but is dark on the inside.

What caught Ren Yuan's eyes were the rows of tall filing cabinets filled with various archive documents.

He didn't expect that the Gou Chen Si, which had only been established for 20 years, had accumulated so many archives. While lamenting the power of the state machinery, he was more worried about how to find them.

"I wonder where to start looking?" At this time, a pleasant female voice sounded.

Ren Yuan looked in the direction of the voice and saw Chen Lingzhi walking down from the second floor with a smile.

Come to think of it, this was the first time the two met in real life.

Chen Lingzhi looked exactly the same as she did on the boat, still beautiful, generous, gentle and amiable. But her beautiful eyes no longer had the same look as when they met in the dream...

However, Chen Lingzhi had already opened his third eye, so he didn’t need to hold the stairs when going downstairs, and he had no inconvenience in moving around.

"Why don't you speak?" Chen Lingzhi asked with a smile, "Are you scared by the blind woman?"

"No, I just didn't expect that you were as beautiful as you were on the boat." Ren Yuan also smiled and said, "I thought you were too ugly in real life, so you didn't want to meet us in real life."

"Hahaha." The two laughed at each other, like old friends meeting again.

(End of this chapter)