usatvline Chapter 33 Poisoning Case in a Dilapidated Temple in the Wilderness (Part 1)
Chapter 33 Poisoning Case in a Dilapidated Temple in the Wilderness (Part 1)
From Qingmu County to Jianzhou City, it would take a day and a night to travel on horseback.
But it takes twice as long to travel by horse-drawn carriage.
A strong wind blew in the afternoon, and in an instant, dark clouds gathered, and lightning flashed and thunder roared.
"It's going to rain heavily soon, quickly find a place to take shelter."
Summer storms can strike suddenly, giving no time to react.
The group rushed into the desolate mountain and dilapidated temple, but the few on horseback still got soaked.
As Shen Lan helped Fu Qingyan down from the carriage, holding an umbrella, they heard a loud argument between Sui Feng and someone outside the dilapidated temple.
"Get out of here! Or don't blame us for being impolite!"
A new gatekeeper statue has appeared at the entrance of the dilapidated temple. It is tall and has a fierce face.
Holding his sword, Sui Feng looked at his opponent with disdain, "Come on, I'd like to see how impolite you really are!"
The burly man called out, "Brothers, we've got a job!"
Before the people inside could come out to help, a figure rushed towards him at an extremely fast speed. Without anyone seeing how it happened, the big man was sent flying far away.
Shen Lan's eyes were filled with amazement.
Xiao Ji had two attendants: one was Sui Feng, who was very noisy, and the other was Sui Ying, who was always so quiet that people could not even notice his presence.
I never expected his martial arts skills to be so high.
Four people emerged one after another from the dilapidated temple. The man in the lead was not angry at all; instead, he smiled and invited them inside.
"I'm so sorry, my brother has a quick temper, please forgive him."
Xiao Ji clasped his hands in a fist and said, "It's no problem. When you're traveling, it's always good to help others and yourself."
Shen Lan glanced around and saw that there were only two or three places in the dilapidated temple that could keep out the rain. A mother and daughter were huddled in the innermost corner, cooking soup over a fire.
On the other side was the gathering place of this group of men, which was covered with dry grass, indicating that they had arrived before the rain.
There's a reason why these uninvited guests are unwelcome.
After browsing through the books, they finally moved the old offering table aside, laid out a straw mat for their young master to rest on, and the rest of the people sat around it.
"The rain is coming down hard; it should stop tonight. Let's rest here tonight."
They brought dry rations, so they had plenty of food and drink.
Summer nights are not cold, so there's no need to light a fire.
Shen Lan was munching on a biscuit with water when she smelled a hint of chicken soup.
It was the mother and daughter in the corner cooking chicken soup. They had added mushrooms to the soup, and it smelled delicious.
They were alright; at most, they'd be craving it for a day, but tomorrow they'd be able to enjoy a delicious and luxurious meal in Jianzhou City.
But another group of men couldn't sit still any longer.
A burly man got up, walked over, and tossed down a string of copper coins. "Hey, we'll buy this pot of chicken soup."
The little girl was so frightened that she hid behind her mother.
The mother looked to be in her early twenties, and although she was covered in dust and dirt, her beauty was still undeniable.
"Sorry, the child is hungry, so we don't sell chicken soup," the woman said firmly.
She opened the pot lid, and the aroma became even stronger.
Guanshu also wanted to buy chicken soup to nourish the young master, but the mother and daughter looked pale and thin, and he couldn't bring himself to ask.
"What? You think the money isn't enough?"
The burly man tossed down a few more copper coins, then picked up the pot and carried it away.
The woman wanted to stop them but didn't dare, so she could only collect the coins on the ground and huddle in a corner with her daughter.
Unable to concentrate on his reading, he went over and gave them two pieces of bread, letting out a cold snort as he passed the group of burly men.
"You brat, you're looking for death!"
Despite being just a page, Guan Shu was a man of principle and immediately retorted, "A bunch of men bullying two weak women, how impressive!"
"you……"
Fu Qingyan didn't want to cause any more trouble, so he called Guan Shu back.
After the others finished drinking the chicken soup, the man in the lead walked over and said, "You all look somewhat familiar, are you from Jianzhou?"
Xiao Ji nodded: "Brother, you have a good eye."
"Haha, we are from Jianzhou Yingjie Escort Agency, so we're practically from the same hometown. May I ask how you are addressed, young master?"
"My surname is Xiao."
"Young Master Xiao is a very distinguished man. Is he visiting relatives or traveling?"
Xiao Ji answered his questions with a pleasant expression, and in doing so, he also managed to extract a lot of information from him.
This group of bodyguards had just received a big order to escort the goods to the port of Citong.
The reason we blocked them from entering was because we thought they were troublesome and were afraid they would rob the shipment.
Shen Lan listened silently from the side, thinking to herself: Xiao Ji's self-cultivation is really good. If it were her, she might not be willing to communicate with this group of brutes.
The group of bodyguards laughed and joked, freely commenting on the courtesans in brothels, discussing which had the biggest breasts and which was good in bed, which was an insult to the ears.
Shen Lan closed her eyes to rest, and after an unknown amount of time, she heard the group of men making a new commotion.
"Big brother, my stomach hurts..."
The loudest shouter was the man who had just gone to snatch the chicken soup.
Immediately afterwards, the others also clutched their stomachs and groaned in pain.
Shen Lan stood up, instinctively wanting to go over and see, but Xiao Ji grabbed her sleeve.
Xiao Ji shook his head at her, then ordered Suiying to go and check.
After only about an incense stick's time, there was no more movement from that side, and Suiying returned with a grim expression.
"Sir, they are all dead. They are foaming at the mouth, suspected of being poisoned."
Now everyone woke up.
Sui Feng lit a torch and went over with Xiao Ji to investigate.
Shen Lan followed behind him, her gaze sweeping over the mother and daughter in the corner. She saw the two of them sleeping soundly, wrapped in a cloak.
How come such a loud noise didn't wake them up?
A bolt of lightning suddenly flashed outside the window, illuminating the several corpses on the ground and giving the dilapidated temple a somewhat terrifying atmosphere.
Five strong and healthy bodyguards died together. Judging from the commotion just now, they were indeed poisoned by food.
Could it be the chicken soup from last night?
Shen Lan picked up the copper pot from the ground. Not a drop of chicken soup was left inside. She brought it to her nose and smelled it, but she could only smell a little chicken soup and mushrooms.
She turned a corner and woke up the mother and daughter in the corner.
The mother and daughter were startled awake from their sleep, looking at Shen Lan warily, who seemed to be holding a stick under her cloak.
Shen Lan reassured her, "Don't be afraid, Madam. I'm just here to ask what kind of mushrooms you added to the chicken soup you made tonight?"
The woman shook her head blankly: "These mushrooms were picked by my daughter and me on the back hill. We don't know their names."
Do you remember what it looked like?
"There are several kinds. One is as black as charcoal, one is as white as frost, and there is another one that is quite ordinary, but it tastes sweet."
She kindly added, "If you like to eat them, there are more on the back hill. You can go pick them tomorrow."
Shen Lan shook her head and instructed, "Madam, please take good care of your daughter."
The woman asked anxiously, "What's wrong? What happened?"
Shen Lan didn't answer. She walked to Xiao Ji's side and whispered something in his ear.
Xiao Ji glanced into the corner and made way for him. "Come and take a look. The symptoms are very obvious; he died from poisoning."
Just then, another bolt of lightning struck, and the mother and daughter finally saw what was happening.
Five corpses lay scattered about, each with its eyes wide open in death, their appearances horrifying.
The girl screamed, accompanied by thunder, disrupting the peaceful rainy night.