Red Mansion: Fuyao River and Mountain

Chapter 146 Japanese Swordsmanship

When Jia Cong, Yang Hongbin, Jia Yucun and others heard this, their faces changed drastically. Dozens of corpses, that was a huge murder case.

The Longtan Port case has not yet been concluded, and the Japanese ronin who committed the murder is still at large.

The previous incident has not been resolved yet, is there going to be another major case? Jia Yucun, the prefect of Yingtian, suddenly became extremely ugly.

Because the matter was serious, Jia Yucun personally brought the coroner and dozens of yamen runners to the scene.

Because Prince Ning was ordered to take charge of the important affairs of Nanjing, when such a big event occurred, Yang Hongbin and Jia Cong, who were officials under Prince Ning, naturally went along as well.

When they arrived at Shicaowozi, they saw that the entrance to the cave was guarded by soldiers from the garrison. Leading the way was none other than Liu Hai, the flag-gatherer of the Water Conservancy Bureau who was in charge of the construction site.

When they arrived at the place and saw the scene, everyone was horrified.

Jia Yucun also ordered the coroner and yamen runners to dig up the mountain mud and clean up the bodies.

In the end, there were sixty-one bodies cleared out, filling the entire floor. Everyone present was horrified.

Jia Yucun also ordered the yamen runners to clean the body to facilitate the coroner's examination.

As an official under the Marble, Yang Hongbin was famous for his ability to investigate and solve cases, otherwise he would not have been assigned to follow Prince Ning south to assist Prince Ning in handling the important case of Longtan Port.

He checked several bodies in succession and found that all of them had their faces scratched, looking horrible. The murderer must have been afraid that they would be recognized.

These corpses were all killed by knife wounds, most of which were in vital parts such as the neck, chest, and abdomen. They were killed with just one knife, cleanly and neatly.

There were also some knife wounds, some diagonal and some vertical, which were extremely brutal. Some bodies were even split into two pieces, which took a long time to piece together. It looked extremely horrifying and bloody.

Yang Hongbin checked almost all the knife wounds on the bodies, his eyes flickering and his face very solemn.

Jia Cong noticed that he looked a little strange, so he asked, "Ping Shi Yang, did you find anything after examining the body?"

"The murderer's swordsmanship is fierce and fierce, with great explosive power. He kills people with one blow. It doesn't look like the swordsmanship of the Central Plains, but more like the Japanese swordsmanship of the Japanese!"

Yang Hongbin pointed at the bodies that were cut in half and said, "Such a simple and fierce chopping is a common move in Japanese swordsmanship.

Japanese swords are well-made and are known for their ability to cut through iron like mud. Only a top-quality sword can split a human body in half with one strike. "

The bodies covered in mud were gradually cleaned, and the coroners and yamen runners present exclaimed from time to time, as if they had discovered something very strange.

That night, torches were lit all night long in Shicaowowo, and the place was closely guarded by soldiers. The entry and exit of people were strictly controlled, and the atmosphere was solemn.

……

Qixia Mountain, the construction site of Da Ci'en Temple.

There was a sudden heavy rain last night, causing the wood and lime stored in the warehouse at the construction site to become seriously damp.

Although the weather cleared up this morning, the wood and lime used for construction could not be used, so Qin Ye, the construction officer, ordered a temporary halt to the work.

Another sixty or seventy craftsmen and thirty garrison soldiers who were guarding the construction site were transferred from the construction site to transport new wood and lime into Jinling City.

The craftsmen who were not assigned any work were happy to have a day off. Most of them stayed in their tents and took a nap. The remaining soldiers guarding the camp were also somewhat lazy and patrolled the construction site out of boredom.

Half a day passed like this, and just as the sun was rising to the zenith, more than a dozen yamen runners led dozens of prisoners into the construction site. The guards checked the official documents and found that the first batch of prisoners had been working on the construction site for more than a month, and Yingtian Prefecture had sent new prisoners to take over.

This was also the common practice of county and state governments in forcing prisoners to do labor.

The soldiers guarding the camp then brought the newcomers to hand over to Huang Youan, the foreman of the Yingtian Prefecture Yamen who was guarding the prisoners on the scene.

Huang Youan was a man in his thirties, eloquent and shrewd. After working on the construction site for more than a month, he became familiar with all the soldiers guarding the camp.

I was a little surprised to hear that Yingtian Prefecture had sent someone to take over for rotation. After checking the other party's official documents, I found that they were stamped with the seal of Yingtian Prefecture and the personal signature of the prefect Jia Yucun.

However, the man who came to take over looked unfamiliar. Huang Youan was a meticulous person, so he asked, "I have been in Yingtian Prefecture for many years, and this brother looks a little unfamiliar."

The man smiled and said, "It's normal for Team Leader Huang to think I'm unfamiliar, because I'm not from Yingtian Prefecture, but I'm working for Lord Liuhe County, because Yingtian Prefecture is busy catching suspects these days.

Due to a shortage of manpower, the prefect sent a letter to transfer us to Nanjing to serve as errand boys. I am Deng Hongchun from the Liuhe County Office. I hope that Team Leader Huang will take good care of me."

The man smiled and took out his identity card for Huang Youan to check. Huang Youan took it, took a look at it and returned it. It had the official seal of Yingtian Prefecture and the identity card, so it could not be fake at all.

Huang Youan said with a smile, "Team Leader Deng is too polite. We are all family. I will go back to the camp and give instructions. I will take over the shift with you immediately."

After a while, Huang Youan ordered more than ten yamen runners to escort dozens of prisoners out of the two tents. Some of the prisoners were carrying two boxes containing shovels, pickaxes and other tools for work.

Deng Hongchun and Huang Youan handed over the relevant documents and said with a smile:

"Captain Huang, the carriage I brought is to the entrance of the col ahead. You can take it back to the government office. When the one-month period is up, please ask His Excellency to send a carriage to take your place."

Huang Youan clasped his hands together, looking very experienced and calm, and said with a smile: "Thank you very much. I will treat Deng Bantou to a drink in Jinling City when I have time."

After saying this, he waved his hand, and the yamen runners behind him escorted dozens of prisoners and left the construction site slowly.

Deng Hongchun watched Huang Youan lead people out of the construction site and wiped his sweaty hands on his clothes.

Huang Youan led his men to the entrance of the valley on the left side of the construction site, where indeed there were five large trucks parked. This valley and the long mountain road ahead were the only way out of the mountain.

A sturdy yamen runner stood beside Huang Youan, directing everyone to get on the cart, and the group set off along the mountain road.

The mountain road was quiet and the trees on both sides were becoming more and more luxuriant. After several large trucks went forward for a while, steep cliffs gradually appeared on both sides of the mountain road and the road became narrow.

The sunlight above was mostly blocked by the tangled trees on the cliff, so the light was dim and even had a somewhat eerie feeling.

Huang Youan and the sturdy yamen runner sat on the shaft of the first cart, the wheels rolling as they turned the corner of the alley.

Suddenly, I saw that the road on both sides of the cliffs in front of me was blocked tightly by a pile of huge rocks more than two people tall. Judging from the way the rocks were piled, it was obviously man-made.

Huang Youan's face changed drastically. The burly yamen runner next to him spoke in stiff official language, gibberish, his expression full of shock and anger.

At this moment, something strange happened. Many porcelain jars of different shapes were thrown down from the cliffs on both sides, and each jar was on fire.

A few of them fell to the ground and smashed into pieces, splashing oil everywhere, and then burst into fire!
More porcelain jars were thrown at the five carts, and almost instantly, all five carts were on fire.

(End of this chapter)