The First Criminal Judge of the Zhenguan Era

Chapter 97 Everyone was stunned. Who was he?!

Upon hearing Liu Shuyi's words, Wang Gui's eyes widened in surprise.

"The lotus platform has a hidden mechanism!?"

He looked at the lotus platform in front of him, stepped on it, and the stone-carved lotus platform did not move at all. No matter how you looked at it, it did not seem like there was anything wrong with it.

However, knowing Liu Shuyi's abilities, he immediately ordered people to search for the mechanism after hearing Liu Shuyi's analysis.

The yamen runners quickly began to knock and bang around the lotus platform, while Wang Gui, Du Gou, and others also lowered their heads to carefully observe it.

However, after searching for a long time, more than a dozen people all frowned and shook their heads.

"The mechanism was not found."

"No abnormalities were found."

"I didn't find anything here either."

Wang Gui frowned, and couldn't help but look at Liu Shuyi, saying, "Master Liu, have we thought about things the wrong way?"

Upon hearing this, everyone else instinctively looked at Liu Shuyi.

However, Liu Shuyi's gaze was not on the lotus platform at all, but rather he was carefully looking around.

Hearing Wang Gui's words, Liu Shuyi did not look away, still scanning the shrine inch by inch, and said at the same time, "If there is really a mystery under this lotus platform, and such a large stone tablet can be brought up, one can imagine how big the space below must be. Such a large underground space cannot be dug out by a few people in a short time."

"For thieves, creating this so-called prophetic stele is absolutely necessary, so it is completely understandable that they spent time and effort to create it."

But what about the mystery beneath the lotus platform?

Liu Shuyi shook his head and said, "The manpower and resources required to dig out such a large underground space are terrifying. Not to mention, people are constantly walking on this mountain. If we are not careful, we will be discovered by the villagers at the foot of the mountain... How difficult and dangerous is it?"

"The method of placing the stone tablet is far less important than the stone tablet itself. Even if it was carried in through the door, so what? They can embellish it when it is spread later... Therefore, if I am not mistaken, if there is really a mystery under this lotus platform, it should not have been dug by thieves."

Wang Gui was taken aback: "If it wasn't dug up by thieves, then who could it be?"

Liu Shuyi finally looked at him and said, "Has County Magistrate Wang forgotten why this shrine appeared in the first place?"

"Of course I remember. During the chaotic period at the end of the Han Dynasty, when the country was divided and people were suffering, the people here built shrines to pray for protection in order to survive—"

Before he could finish speaking, Wang Gui suddenly paused, as if he had thought of something, then widened his eyes and said, "Could it be those common people who built the shrine back then?"

Liu Shuyi narrowed his eyes: "I'm afraid that worshipping the gods is just a facade. What truly allowed them to escape the ravages of war and survive was the shrine itself!"

Wang Gui gasped: "So, they built the shrine not to seek Shen Tu's protection, but to secretly dig a secret passage beneath it. If there is any danger, they can escape into it immediately and avoid disaster!"

Du Gou and the others were unaware of the origins of the shrine, so they were somewhat bewildered by what the two men were saying.

What about the late Han Dynasty, what about Shen Tu, what about escaping disaster...

Liu Shuyi glanced at Du Gou and the others, and seeing the confusion on their faces, he gave a brief explanation.

Du Gou then realized: "Given the chaotic situation at the time, after repeated wars, less than one in ten people survived. The fact that the people here were able to live well and continue to keep the incense burning at this shrine for three hundred years suggests that the shrine has truly protected them... Gods are too illusory; it is more realistic to take your own destiny into your own hands. I agree with your point of view."

Liu Shuyi smiled and said, "If nothing unexpected happens, this lotus platform will be the gateway to a safe place."

"And such a gateway determines their life and death, and they will never allow anyone to easily find a way to open it."

"If an enemy comes to this shrine and finds the statues they worship, I think they would be very likely to destroy the statues in anger, or even burn the shrine down. Therefore, the mechanism to open the door should not be near the statues, or even affected by destroying the shrine."

Wang Gui couldn't figure it out: "If it's not near the statue, and even destroying the shrine can't break the mechanism... then where could the mechanism be? Is it outside the shrine?"

Liu Shuyi still shook his head: "The outside world is too far away and too uncontrollable. If wild animals or someone accidentally triggers the mechanism, exposing their secret to survival, then we'll be in trouble."

Wang Gui frowned deeply: "If it's not outside, and it's not near the statue, where else could it be?"

Seeing that everyone was frowning and puzzled, Liu Shuyi didn't keep them in suspense and said directly, "The ground."

"The ground?" Everyone was taken aback.

Liu Shuyi said, "If the mechanism is hidden on the ground, then even if the shrine is burned down or collapses, it won't affect it..."

Wang Gui's eyes lit up: "That's right, the ground is paved with stone slabs. If it's not deliberately destroyed, even if the shrine is destroyed, it won't have much of an impact."

"only……"

He looked at the ground of the shrine and saw that most of the ground was covered with snow, some of which was waist-deep: "Where is the mechanism? Shouldn't we clear all the snow?"

"No need."

Liu Shuyi shook his head and said, "I think the lotus platform here is just one of the gateways. The space below should lead to other places. That's why the thieves were able to transport the stone tablet here without alerting anyone."

"So the thieves probably didn't open the mechanism inside the shrine, but rather from under the lotus platform to switch the stone tablet and the statue... But it doesn't matter, even if they didn't use the mechanism inside the shrine, as long as they opened the lotus platform, the mechanism connected to the lotus platform would definitely make some noise."

“And when there is movement, the snow will react accordingly.”

Does the snow react accordingly?

Wang Gui scratched his head, frowning in deep thought.

At this moment, Cui Lin, who had been quiet all along, suddenly raised his hand and pointed to a patch of snow in front of the north wall, saying, "Although the thickness of the snow here varies due to the wind, overall, it is relatively consistent and neat in the horizontal direction."

"But a small portion of the snow layer here has sunk slightly, making it noticeably lower than the snow in other areas!"

He stared intently at Liu Shuyi and said, "So, the mechanism is right there?"

"Really?" Upon hearing this, Wang Gui also quickly looked at Liu Shuyi.

Liu Shuyi looked at the confident Cui Lin and nodded with a smile: "Military Advisor Cui is intelligent, that's right. I also think the key is there."

Upon hearing this, Cui Lin shook his head and said, "What do you mean by clever? It was your reminder that showed me what kind of anomalies to look for, even though I'm very reluctant to admit it..."

He pursed his lips, then raised his head high and said, "But when it comes to investigating cases, you are indeed better than me."

After their previous cooperation and last night's banquet, Cui Lin's attitude towards Liu Shuyi has changed significantly.

He used to be arrogant, jealous, and resentful.

But now, he can openly admit to Liu Shuyi that he is inferior to Liu Shuyi...

Liu Shuyi's smile deepened; he knew that the time to bring Cui Lin into his camp was not far off.

"quick!"

Upon receiving confirmation from Liu Shuyi, Wang Gui did not hesitate and immediately ordered his yamen runners to clear the snow from the area.

Before long, the thick layer of snow was cleared away completely, and the lower parts of the snow layer were also marked out.

Liu Shuyi arrived at the marked stone slab, looked at the more obvious gaps compared to the other stone slabs, and said with a slight smile, "It seems that the recent opening and closing of the lotus platform has caused this mechanism, which has not been used for who knows how many years, to vibrate, causing this stone slab to crack open, and thus affecting the snow on it."

"This is it, let's dig it open."

This time, Wang Gui personally took charge.

He took the tools from the bailiff, pried hard, and easily lifted the stone slab with almost no resistance.

As the stone slab was pried open, everyone discovered that underneath it was a rusty knob.

The knob is shaped like a yin-yang symbol, which looks quite mysterious.

There are two grooves where the black and white fish meet, just enough to insert your fingers.

“Master Yuanwai!” Wang Gui looked up at Liu Shuyi.

Liu Shuyi nodded: "Although it's rusty, the mechanism rotates because of the opening and closing of the lotus platform, and some of the rust on it has been worn away... It should be difficult to turn it, but it shouldn't be completely rusted shut. Give it a try."

Without any hesitation, Wang Gui immediately reached into the groove, gripped the Tai Chi knob, and turned it forcefully.

The muscles in his arms bulged instantly, veins popped, and his teeth were clenched; everyone could see that he was using all his strength.

only……

No matter how hard Wang Gui tried, the knob didn't budge.

"no……"

Wang Gui gasped for breath: "I can't turn it, I need a tool."

Liu Shuyi frowned. He didn't think that the villagers back then, in the moment of crisis when they were fleeing for their lives, would need tools to open this life-saving door.

However, it has been too long since then, more than three hundred years. The mechanism has not been maintained. Even though it was recently activated by thieves opening the lotus platform, it is not something that can be easily opened by human hands now.

He nodded: "Let's go find the tools—"

"Sir, perhaps I could give it a try."

Before Liu Shuyi could finish speaking, Lu Yangyuan's voice suddenly rang out.

Liu Shuyi looked at Lu Yangyuan in surprise, only to see Lu Yangyuan grinning with confidence on his face.

Liu Shuyi's heart skipped a beat, and he suddenly remembered Lu Yangyuan's swift movements as he climbed onto the roof.

Is it...

He said directly, "Okay! Go and give it a try."

Without saying a word, Lu Yangyuan grabbed the knob.

Then, all the blood vessels in his body suddenly bulged out at that moment, like steel bars, surrounding him. The bulging muscles on his arms were more than twice the size of Wang Gui's, which shocked Wang Gui so much that his eyes almost popped out.

Kaka-

At that moment, a heavy, ancient machine, seemingly silent for who knows how long, its rusty gears, long since devoid of lubricant, were forced to mesh under brute force, came from underground.

Everyone was stunned for a moment, then their eyes lit up instantly.

"It really works! Lieutenant Lu, you're practically a superhuman!"

Wang Gui gave Lu Yangyuan a thumbs-up in delight.

Liu Shuyi nodded approvingly. The more he interacted with Lu Yangyuan, the more surprises he found in him.

The guard I picked up is probably no worse than Cheng Chumo.

I've hit the jackpot again!
"opened!"

"The lotus platform has really opened!"

At this moment, a yamen runner exclaimed in surprise.

Everyone quickly looked in the direction of the sound and saw that the solid, seemingly unshakeable lotus platform was indeed slowly separating to the sides.

The direction in which it moved was exactly the same as the direction in which the stone tablet was placed on it, which perfectly matched Liu Shuyi's reasoning.

Everyone hurriedly came to the lotus platform.

Looking down...

Below the lotus platform, there was a wide, dark passage that led downwards, so dark that it seemed to have no end in sight.

Wang Gui couldn't help but exclaim, "My goodness! There really is a hidden world beneath this lotus platform. Such a wide secret passage must have been quite difficult for them to dig back then."

"This doesn't look like it was dug out..."

The learned Du Gou squatted down and examined it carefully, saying, "If I'm not mistaken, the space below should be naturally formed."

"Naturally formed?"

Liu Shuyi thought of a word and said, "A cave?"

"A cave?"

Du Gou had never heard of this proper noun before, but after thinking about it carefully, he understood what Liu Shuyi meant.

"The term 'karst cave' is indeed a fitting description."

Liu Shuyi stroked his chin and said, "I see... So, the reason those people chose to build the shrine here was because there are natural caves underneath, which allowed them to create a top-secret hiding place in the shortest amount of time."

"No wonder this shrine wasn't built on the mountaintop, where it's easy to defend and difficult to attack, but rather on the mountainside."

As he spoke, he took the torch from the constable and said, "Let's go in and take a look."

Lu Yangyuan, who had already gotten up, hurriedly went to Liu Shuyi and said, "Sir, the thieves may still be hiding inside. You are of noble status, so let me take the lead."

This was the first time Liu Shuyi had been told he was of "high status," but after thinking about the situation, he nodded and said, "Alright, Deputy Lieutenant Lu, be careful too."

Lu Yangyuan took the torch, drew his sword from his waist, and grinned, "Don't worry, sir. Although I'm not very clever, I'm quite skilled with my hands."

With that, he picked up his knife and walked into the secret passage.

Wang Gui, along with his constables, drew their swords and cautiously followed.

Then came Liu Shuyi, Du Gou, and others.

Descending the steps, Du Gou said, "Back then, those people used the existing cave to widen and reinforce the secret passage, and even specially built steps for easy passage. It must have taken them a lot of effort... How could such a good place to save their lives suddenly be abandoned?"

Liu Shuyi shook his head: "Not only is it abandoned, but the people at the foot of the mountain have no idea that there is such a mystery beneath this shrine."

"Has the tradition been broken?"

Du Gou pondered, “Such a secret should not be known by just any villager. In the early stages of its construction, because many people were involved, it was not considered a secret. But as time goes by, one generation dies and another appears. The secret of the shrine should be kept by a few people so that they can save everyone in critical moments.”

"So, could it be that those who kept the secret died in some accident, preventing the secret of the shrine from being passed on to the next generation of successors?"

Liu Shuyi still shook his head: "These villagers don't know anything, we have no clues, so we have no way of finding out the truth."

Du Gou nodded.

Then they realized they had reached the bottom of the steps.

Holding torches and looking ahead, everyone couldn't help but gasp in amazement.

"What a huge cave!"

"This place can hold at least several hundred people, right?" "Is this really a naturally formed place?"

"Of course! It's impossible for humans to dig such a cave!"

Liu Shuyi had seen large karst caves in his previous life, so he wasn't as surprised as others were by the cave in front of him.

He looked around and noticed some wooden boxes next to the cave wall.

Liu Shuyi took a torch from a yamen runner and went to the wooden boxes.

It was then observed that most of these wooden boxes were rotten.

The contents of the wooden box were all blackened and unrecognizable.

Du Gou walked over and, seeing the situation, said, "These should be the food and other necessities for survival that those people stored up back then. It seems they were really prepared to hide them here for a long time."

Liu Shuyi nodded, his gaze continuing to wander inside the cave.

"wrong!"

He suddenly spoke up, saying, "Something's missing!"

"What?" Du Gou was taken aback. "What's missing?"

"Statue!"

Liu Shuyi said, "Where is Shen Tu's statue? After the thieves replaced Shen Tu's statue with the stone tablet, the statue was no longer useful to them. They still need to find a way to hide the statue. The creation of the stone tablet was a miracle performed by Shen Tu himself."

"In this situation, hiding the statue here is both worry-free and effortless!"

"But there wasn't a trace of any deity statue inside this cave!"

Wang Gui clapped his hands: "That's right, where is Shen Tu's statue? Such a large statue, it's not much easier to move than a stone tablet. If the thieves didn't hide it here, where did they put it?"

Liu Shuyi's expression flickered.

He believed he had a complete grasp of the thief's logic.

But the disappearance of the idol contradicted his judgment.

Why is this happening?
Was it because the thieves were afraid of being discovered, that they painstakingly carried away the statue?

Or perhaps... the idol still serves a purpose for them?

"try to find!"

Liu Shuyi said, "This cave must have other exits. Let's find other exits!"

Upon hearing this, Wang Gui and the others immediately dispersed, carrying torches to carefully examine the edge of the cave.

As Liu Shuyi watched the busy figures of everyone, something came to mind...

The old man I met on the way here said that before the loud noise that woke everyone else, he heard a human howl...

If the old man hadn't misheard, then it meant that the thief had likely encountered some unexpected event before performing the miracle.

What kind of unexpected event could it be?

"Master Liu, come and see..."

At that moment, Cheng Chumo's voice suddenly rang out.

Liu Shuyi quickly walked over.

Then they saw Cheng Chumo standing in front of some boxes.

These boxes, unlike the rotten ones, looked very new.

Liu Shuyi opened the boxes and found that they were all empty.

However, some black powdery substance remained inside the box.

Liu Shuyi stretched out his finger, smeared some on his nose, and then held it to his nose, taking a gentle sniff...

"gunpowder!"

"Is this black powder?"

His eyes flashed, and a look of understanding appeared in them: "As expected, it seems that their divine light is created using these black powders."

When Lu Yangyuan described the divine light before, he suspected that it was similar to fireworks in later generations, made with gunpowder.

At that time, fireworks had not yet been invented in the Tang Dynasty, and gunpowder was only circulating among a small group of alchemists, so ordinary people had no idea what gunpowder was.

They didn't even know what gunpowder was, let alone had ever seen such dazzling fireworks.

It's perfectly normal to regard it as a miracle.

It seems that these thieves have not only mastered the technique of making gunpowder, but have also begun to add other elements to it in an attempt to improve it.

Perhaps the origins of fireworks, which have been passed down through the ages, came from these thieves.

At this moment, Shenguang's question was finally answered.

However, this was not something particularly gratifying for Liu Shuyi, as it did not contribute much to finding the person behind the scenes.

On the contrary, Liu Shuyi felt that the statue that should not have disappeared was of greater significance.

"We found the exit!"

Cui Lin's voice suddenly came.

Liu Shuyi's eyes flashed, and he immediately walked towards Cui Lin with Cheng Chumo.

Soon, everyone gathered around Cui Lin.

Cui Lin ignored the others and said directly to Liu Shuyi, "I can feel the wind here. It must be connected to the outside, but I can't find the specific door."

wind?
Liu Shuyi raised his hand and carefully felt it.

Indeed, of all the places he had just traveled, this was the only place with a noticeable wind.

He raised the torch and illuminated the wall in front of him.

"Ok?"

Liu Shuyi raised an eyebrow, suddenly raised his hand, pointed to a stone to his right, and said, "Look, the stones here are smoother and shinier than the stones in other places."

"This means that this stone has been touched more times than other places."

"As expected, this is where the mechanism is located!"

Upon hearing Liu Shuyi's words, Lu Yangyuan didn't even need Liu Shuyi's instructions; he simply raised his hand and touched the stone.

He first felt it for a moment, then pressed down hard—

Next, muscles erupted, blood vessels bulged, and terrifying power was transmitted to the palm, and then to the smooth stone.

Kaka-

The same heavy sound rang out again.

To their left, where there was no visible gap in the cave wall, a huge rock was slowly moving outwards.

"The door really is here! That really is a mechanism!" Zhao Feng exclaimed in surprise.

Liu Shuyi slowly exhaled.

Putting everything else aside, finding another entrance and exit would reveal which route the thieves took to bring the stone tablet in.

Knowing their specific route would make it much easier to find witnesses or other clues.

That's how we found the starting point for the case.

The stone gate opened, and everyone quickly stepped out.

Only then did they discover that the other exit of the cave was hidden inside a cave.

As you exit the karst cave and enter the mountain cave, you'll see a faint light shining in from the cave entrance.

Meanwhile, at the entrance of the cave, stood a very tall figure.

"That is?"

Wang Gui took a few steps closer, then his eyes widened in surprise as he exclaimed, "The statue of Shen Tu! They actually hid the statue here!"

Upon hearing this, Liu Shuyi's eyes flashed, and he quickly walked to the cave entrance.

Then, about two zhang away from the cave entrance, a mottled stone statue of a deity stood there.

This statue is basically the same as the Shen Tu in the door god paintings, but because some of the paint has peeled off, the statue looks somewhat like its face has been peeled off, which is a bit eerie and creepy.

But that's nothing.

What truly sent a chill down everyone's spine was the statue's eyes...

It was actually shedding tears of blood!
The blood and tears had frozen due to the cold weather.

This makes the statue appear as if it is constantly weeping because of something tragic.

Under the torchlight, the frozen tears of blood even shimmered with a scarlet glow...

Wang Gui gasped in shock: "This is bizarre! This statue doesn't look divine at all; instead, it's so sinister!"

Du Gou nodded in deep agreement: "It is indeed somewhat different from the statues of gods I have seen before."

As he spoke, he looked at Liu Shuyi: "Master Liu, you've been looking for it all this time, and now you've finally found it—"

Before he could finish speaking, Du Gou suddenly paused.

He noticed that Liu Shuyi's expression was extremely serious, a seriousness he had never seen before...

He couldn't help but ask, "Master Liu, what's wrong with this statue?"

Upon hearing Du Gou's words, everyone subconsciously looked at Liu Shuyi.

Then Liu Shuyi said in a deep voice, "Didn't you notice that the blood and tears weren't smeared on?"

"what?"

Everyone was startled.

Du Gou quickly examined it closely, and then his pupils shrank involuntarily: "This... it really wasn't smeared on. It looks like it flowed out from inside the statue's eyes!"

"What!?"

"how is this possible?"

"How could a statue really shed tears?"

Everyone felt a chill run down their spines and couldn't believe it.

Wang Gui couldn't help but ask, "Master Liu, what's going on? How can it shed tears on its own?"

Liu Shuyi raised his hand and touched the statue's eyeballs, saying, "It can indeed move!"

"Can you move around?"

Wang Gui was taken aback.

Liu Shuyi said, "It seems that the people who built the shrine back then not only left themselves a hiding place, but also tampered with the statues so that they could use them to monitor the outside world and know what was happening outside."

Then he said directly to Wang Gui, "County Commandant Wang, order your men to knock down the statue!"

"Take it down!?"

Wang Gui glanced at the strange statue, then gritted his teeth and said, "What are you waiting for? Push it!"

The constables obeyed the order and immediately stepped forward.

As they worked, they discovered that the tall statue before them was much lighter than the stone tablet inside the shrine.

They didn't even exert much force, and then a loud "bang" was heard.

The statue suddenly overturned to the ground.

As the statue collapsed, everyone was shocked to discover that it was hollow!
The inside of the statue is not made of stone at all, but rather a space large enough to accommodate a person.

And in that space—

At this moment, there is a person, or rather, a corpse that has long been frozen stiff.

Everyone was stunned for a moment as they watched the corpse slide out of the statue.

Upon seeing that the corpse was wearing a purple official robe, a garment reserved for officials of the fifth rank or higher, they felt a chill run down their spines.

"Purple...purple official robe?"

Wang Gui even started stuttering when he spoke.

"Who, who died here?"

Liu Shuyi's pupils also jumped violently.

He remembered the howl the old man had described…

Is it...

Liu Shuyi narrowed his eyes: "Last night's accident, was it him?"

(End of this chapter)