NFBE Chapter 1954 The Temple Under the Cover of Night
Chapter 1954 The Temple Under the Cover of Night
Yuan Gang and Monk Jue Xing were assigned to go to the Municipal Bureau to handle the matter of receiving Yuan Neng's remains.
Li Xiangnan then left the hospital, intending to return to Pudu Temple for another visit.
Unlike the anxious rush on the way there, on the way back, both Guo Qian and his team of police officers, as well as Li Xiangnan and his two companions, remained silent, each processing the sudden turn of events and the weighty clues.
The motorcycle traveled through the quiet streets, and the outline of the Pudu Temple's gate and eaves could be seen in the distance.
In the darkness of night, the lights emanating from the temple were much sparser than usual, scattered here and there, as if they too knew of the changes in Yuan Energy today and were infected by a certain uneasy atmosphere.
Outside the mountain gate, Liu Yiming and his teammates were already on guard, and the atmosphere was even more tense than before.
As the group entered the temple, an unusual silence immediately enveloped them.
The daytime hustle and bustle, the chaos of firefighting, and the panic over the changes in Yuan Energy—all the hidden tensions within the temple seemed to be absorbed and suppressed by the deep night, settling into a viscous, unsettling stillness.
Occasionally, a monk would hurry by, but he always kept his head down, avoiding eye contact. His steps were quick and light, and he dared not make a sound, his face showing fear or bewilderment.
They rarely spoke to each other, as if they were afraid of breaking the eerie silence by saying even one more word.
The lingering smell of burning in the air, mixed with the chill of the winter night and the scent of incense, added an eerie atmosphere.
Li Xiangnan didn't disturb too many people. He came to the vicinity of the burning outbuilding, looked at the collapsed house and the frozen water stains, and took out a cigarette to smoke.
Wang Defa and Song Ziming squatted to one side, and although they were far from the monks' quarters, they could still hear the faint whispers in the darkness.
"Xiao Li, something's definitely not right! Do they know Yuan Neng is dead?"
Song Ziming frowned: "Brother Nan, it seems they really panicked. Look at how badly the house is burned; they don't even have the energy to clean it up!"
Li Xiangnan looked around, smoked half a cigarette, and then said, "It seems that what Yuan Gang and Juexing said was true. Yuan Neng usually had some prestige in the temple, and his death will cause an impact. Come on, let's go to the back and take a look! You two go and pay attention to the movements in various places and what the monks are discussing in private!"
After the two nodded and left, he slowed his pace and walked towards the abbot's monastery.
The Abbot's Temple is located in a relatively secluded courtyard behind the main hall, in a tranquil location with excellent feng shui.
At this moment, the courtyard gate was ajar, and a warm, dim light emanated from the room.
Li Xiangnan did not push the door open and go in. Instead, he stood silently in the shadow of an old pine tree outside the courtyard gate, observing quietly.
On the window paper of the meditation room, a thin, slightly hunched figure was reflected. He was sitting upright on a futon, seemingly meditating.
It was none other than Abbot Yuantong of Pudu Temple.
His figure remained motionless, like a statue.
If it weren't for the slight rise and fall of his breathing, which indicated that he was a living person, Li Xiangnan would have really thought that this was a clay sculpture!
The lights shone steadily, appearing strangely out of place in the already tense atmosphere of the temple night.
Li Xiangnan shifted his gaze from the window to other parts of the courtyard.
In a corner room of the meditation room, a figure could be vaguely seen moving about; judging from the back, it looked like the monk Jueming.
If you shift your gaze again, you'll notice that there seem to be two people standing next to the moon gate in the front yard, dressed in monks' robes. You can't see them clearly, and you don't know who they are.
They did not enter the monastery; they simply stood there, as if guarding Yuantong.
Or is it surveillance?
Or are they waiting for something?
Without alerting these people, Li Xiangnan quietly withdrew and then circled around to the monks' quarters of the temple.
Most of the older monks of the Yuan generation lived in a relatively independent monastery at the back.
The lighting here is a bit sparse, and most of the windows are dark.
Li Xiangnan could sense that many eyes were peering anxiously through the window cracks in the darkness.
"Beer beer..."
A notification sound came from behind him. Li Xiangnan turned his head and saw Wang Defa and Song Ziming squatting under a window corner, waving.
He stepped over and heard faint, suppressed voices talking, their tones hurried and anxious.
"With so much silence and Uncle Yuan Gang still not back, I think Uncle Yuan Neng is most likely gone!"
"What?! How could this be?! How could my martial uncle be dead?"
"Shh, keep your voice down, the police are still outside!"
"We're doomed. What if they find out something? What kind of beings has our temple offended? How many people have died over the years?"
"Yes, should we stay here? I heard there's a White Horse Temple outside. We could try to find another place to practice!"
"Don't talk nonsense, Uncle-Master is a lucky man, he'll be fine!"
"Just now, I noticed that the policeman who escorted Yuan Neng back looked a bit off. I asked my martial uncle how he was doing, but no one answered!"
"It seems things are indeed not going well. Why is there no word from the abbot's side?"
These sounds were intermittent and indistinct, but they were enough to reflect the undercurrents of anxiety and unease within the temple.
Fear, suspicion, and dread of the unknown, along with the worry that Yuan Neng's death might uncover more secrets, spread like a plague among the monks.
Li Xiangnan glanced at Wang Defa and Song Ziming, and the three of them quietly retreated to the vicinity of the ruins of the fire-damaged outbuilding and started smoking.
"Xiao Li, we listened for a while, and they all genuinely suspect that Yuan Neng is dead!"
Song Ziming turned his head and pointed to the monks' quarters of the Yuan generation, "I specifically went to listen to Yuan Da's room for a while, but there was no sound at all, and the lights were all off. I don't know what he was doing! Yuan Neng is dead, so according to custom, the Yuan generation should be heartbroken! They should have kept the lights on all night and not slept at all!"
Li Xiangnan nodded; he had noticed these details.
Most of the rooms belonging to the Yuan generation are dark.
Very few people keep their lamps lit like the old abbot.
The relationships within these temples are indeed not as harmonious as one might imagine; there are conflicts of interest among them.
Yuan Da and Yuan Tong form a stark contrast, one dark and one bright.
"I'm going back for a bit. When you see Captain Guo later, tell him not to hide Yuan Nengzhi's death, but to tell Yuan Tong directly..."
Wang Defa and Song Ziming were startled, realizing that he was trying to openly reveal his hand and make the people in the temple expose their secrets. Before they could ask any questions, they suddenly heard a familiar and faint whistling sound coming from outside the temple wall.
Three short and one long!
This was the emergency communication signal between Li Xiangnan and Hongxing Gangfang!
brush!
Li Xiangnan stood up instantly, followed the sound, avoided the main path, and quickly arrived at a relatively secluded section of the wall on the west side of the temple.
There are many trees here, creating a deep shade.
Just as he stood still, a dark figure slid silently down the wall like a raccoon dog; it was Gouzi, Cheng Kui's capable porter.
"Doctor Li!"
The dog's voice was low, filled with the excitement of finally discovering something crucial: "You were absolutely right! Someone has been in contact with Lan Cuihua!"
"What?!" Li Xiangnan's pupils suddenly contracted, and he was startled.