The coroner and the concubine doctor pursue the murderer in the Dali Temple

Chu Yunxi said hurriedly: "It doesn't matter, we are not picky, as long as we can fill our stomachs."

The old woman hobbled off to cook. Chu Yunxi looked at the old woman's home, a small yard piled with firewood. The kitchen was built in the yard with a half-person-high wall made of bricks, with a stove inside and some radishes, vegetables and other food piled up.

There are two thatched houses inside, which look very simple, but can only provide shelter from wind and rain.

"This village doesn't look wealthy. Isn't the Guanyin Temple quite popular?" Chu Yunxi whispered to Xiao Mubei.

"Although the Guanyin Temple is very popular, the villagers in this village can only run small businesses to make a living. After all, this is in the mountains. Although it is not far from the capital, it is inconvenient to go up and down the mountain. It takes an ordinary person two or three hours to walk from the village to the Guanyin Temple. If there is no horse, it will take a day to go to the capital. Because of this, we have never become rich."

"If you want to get rich, build roads first. This sentence has been true since ancient times." Chu Yunxi couldn't help but sigh.

This was the first time Xiao Mubei had heard of this concept. He couldn't help but think about it carefully, and it seemed to be true.

After a while, the old woman made two bowls of vegetable porridge and brought over two steamed buns. "Dear guest, our family is poor, and these are the only food we have. Please bear with me."

"Okay, mother-in-law." Chu Yunxi said sweetly as she took a bite of the steamed bun. However, she almost couldn't swallow it. It was too rough. She had never eaten such coarse grains in her entire life.

Seeing Chu Yunxi's expression of finding it difficult to swallow, Xiao Mubei hurriedly took a big bite and exclaimed: "Grandma's cooking skills are good." He successfully diverted the old woman's attention to him.

Chu Yunxi quickly stretched her neck and swallowed the steamed corn bread, then took a sip of the vegetable porridge. Fortunately, although the vegetable porridge was light, it still tasted normal.

Not having the courage to take another bite, Chu Yunxi began to divert the old woman's attention by talking, "Grandma, are there many outsiders in our village usually? Will there be any pilgrims coming to stay overnight?"

"There are some, but not many. After all, we are not on the route that must be taken to go up and down the mountain. Unless there are distinguished guests like you two who are lost, few people will come here on their own initiative."

If those people really stayed in this village, then it seems that they were deceived. Just like the old woman said, this is not the only way to go up or down the mountain. There is nothing to see on the mountain except the Guanyin Temple. Pilgrims will not come here specifically, unless they are lost and cannot go down the mountain that day, they may stay overnight in the village.

"Mother-in-law, do you know if there is anyone in the village who would bring someone back from the Guanyin Temple to stay overnight?"

"Bringing people back?" The old woman thought about it seriously and shook her head. "I have never seen such an old woman. This village is so small. If a stranger comes to someone's house, basically everyone will know. I have never heard of anyone bringing people back often."

Chu Yunxi was a little disappointed. Weren't those people tricked into this village and then tricked into going to Yixiantian? Or were they tricked directly into going to Yixiantian and killed? What was the murderer's motive for killing? It was unlikely to be a revenge killing. The four skeletons died at different times. It was impossible for the murderer to trick his enemies into going up the mountain one by one. Moreover, if they were enemies, they would be very vigilant, and it would not be so easy to knock them unconscious.

Considering that the victims were all young and strong men, Chu Yunxi wondered, could it be that the murderer was a woman? She seduced these victims, lured them up the mountain, used her beauty to knock them unconscious, and finally left them alone?

So Chu Yunxi asked: "Grandma, what is the name of our village, and how many people are there?"

The old woman said, "Our village is called Longshou Village. Longyu Mountain is like a dragon that wants to fly, and Longshou Village is right at the head of the dragon, so it is called Longshou Village. As for the population, there are about a hundred people. Some people went to the capital to work, and most of those who stayed behind are the elderly and weak like us, as well as women and children."

"Then why don't I see any women or children?" Chu Yunxi was a little confused. Shouldn't a place with children be lively? Why is Longshou Village so quiet?

"They were all taken to Guanyin Temple by their mothers." The old woman smiled and said, "We have a saying in Longshou Village that these children were born under the care of Goddess Guanyin, and they are equivalent to her children. They should grow up under her and have a promising future. So when their parents go shopping, they will take the children with them and let them grow up in Guanyin Temple."

So that's why. No wonder there is no one in this village.

"When do they usually come back?"

The old woman looked at the sky and said, "It's almost time to go back. It's getting dark and there aren't many people in Guanyin Temple."

Sure enough, not long after the words fell, voices were heard, and soon the village became lively.

After a while, the old woman's son also came back. He was a young man with thick eyebrows and big eyes. He was carrying a shelf with some candles, incense, and some yellow paper on it, all of which were used for sacrificial ceremonies.

"Mom, who are these two?" The young man asked puzzledly when he saw there were people at home.

The old woman stood up quickly and said, "Ah Cheng, these two got lost on this mountain this afternoon, so they asked me for some food. I think it's getting late, so why not let them stay here tonight? You can show them the way tomorrow morning and let them leave."

"In that case, thank you very much, mother-in-law." Chu Yunxi agreed immediately without waiting for Ah Cheng to speak.

Ah Cheng had no choice but to agree. Seeing that he was reluctant, Chu Yunxi immediately took out a silver ingot and handed it to him, "This is the money for tonight's meal and accommodation. I wonder if it's enough?"

This was a full twenty taels of silver, which Ah Cheng had probably never seen before in his life. His eyes immediately widened and he muttered, "Enough, enough to stay for ten days."

Chu Yunxi smiled slightly, "We'll just stay for one night. We'd also like to ask Brother Cheng to come over in the evening. My husband and I have some questions we want to ask Brother Cheng. Is that convenient?"

"That's convenient, that's convenient." Ah Cheng's eyes didn't leave the silver. He was thinking in his heart, now that he had silver, he could go down the mountain in the next few days to replenish some supplies and get some more medicine for his mother. His mother's leg disease had been treated for a long time, and it would hurt when it was cloudy or rainy. This time he finally had the silver to buy medicine for her.

Seeing that the mother and daughter were very happy, Chu Yunxi was also very happy, so she asked the old woman which room she and her husband would live in, and the two of them went into the room.

Soon, Bai Yu appeared in the room.

Xiao Mubei ordered him to pass a message to the detectives of the Dali Temple, "Rest where you are tonight and continue searching tomorrow." Bai Yu took the order and left.