Detective Di Renjie: The Mysterious Dynasty

Chapter 129: Hiding the Small with the Big
Inside the study of the Di Mansion, Di Renjie was sitting beside the desk, reading historical materials about the Xiaoguo Guard of the Sui Dynasty.

Di Renjie recited in a low voice: "In the third year of Kaihuang, Emperor Wen gathered the Xiaowei and Guoyi Army and merged them into Xiaoguowei. He selected strong men from the army to serve as the soldiers and tattooed their left arms with blood eagles... In the sixth year of Kaihuang, General Yuan Yu rebelled and was captured by Emperor Wen. He chopped off his head and cut off his left arm to offer to the great banner."

Suddenly, the sound of thunder exploded outside the window again. Di Renjie's heart was shocked and he gently placed the "Kaihuang Shilu" in his hand on the table.

"Blood Eagle, chop off his head, cut off his left arm to sacrifice to the great banner..." Di Renjie frowned, and this sentence kept echoing in his mind.

"Are there really ghosts haunting this world?" he murmured to himself.

Suddenly, the door of the study opened automatically. Di Renjie was startled and looked carefully. It turned out that it was Li Yuanfang who pushed it open.

These two walk silently.

Di Renjie rubbed his eyes, which were a little blurry from flipping through books for a long time, and sighed softly.

"Sir, am I disturbing you?" Li Yuanfang asked softly.

Di Renjie shook his head and handed the book on the table to Li Yuanfang: "No. Yuanfang, take a look at this."

Li Yuanfang took the "Kaihuang Shilu" handed to him by Di Renjie, browsed through it, and a look of astonishment appeared on his face.

"Beheading and cutting off the left arm are the punishments that the Xiaoguowei use to deal with traitors! Blood Eagle, does it refer to the bleeding eagle?" Li Yuanfang screamed.

Di Renjie nodded helplessly: "This is consistent with the bloody incidents on the official road and in Enji Manor. This "Kaihuang Shilu" cannot contain any falsehoods. Is this really a ghost case?"

Li Yuanfang swallowed and dared not speak.

Di Renjie began to pace slowly in the room again, and the study fell into a strange silence for a while.

But not long after, Zhao Ji followed Di Chun and came to the study room leisurely.

"Master, General Zhao is here again." Di Chun reported.

"Sir, this is Yuan Fang." Zhao Ji greeted him simply.

As soon as Di Renjie saw Zhao Ji, he asked anxiously, "Your Majesty is not feeling well again? Do you want me to enter the palace again?"

Zhao Ji smiled and shook his head: "Of course not, His Majesty heard that the evil spirit in Yongchang killed many people, and was worried that you would be harmed by the evil spirit in Yongchang, so he sent me to bring people to protect you. I came here specially to inform you, and I will go to Yongchang with you tomorrow."

Di Renjie was stunned, not knowing whether to laugh or cry: "Your Majesty is really... Alas."

Li Yuanfang thought for a moment and said seriously, "The evil spirits in Yongchang County only kill the traitors in the Xiaoguo Guard who betrayed Yuwen Chengdu. They should not kill innocent people indiscriminately."

However, just as he said this, he suddenly remembered something and said in surprise, "Oh, by the way, Uncle Pang Jiu said that we must not mistakenly enter the Jiang family compound. Oh no! Sir, we have all been to that compound. Will the evil spirit really cause trouble for us?"

Zhao Ji was frightened by Li Yuanfang's words. Looking at Li Yuanfang, who was deeply obsessed and extremely ridiculous, he didn't know what to do for a moment.

Di Renjie couldn't stand Li Yuanfang's nonsense anymore, so he said, "The bloody case in Yongchang County looks more and more like a ghost case. Many things are inexplicable. Chengyuan is here, so he can help to investigate."

Zhao Ji nodded and said, "Okay, then please tell me, sir."

Di Renjie motioned Zhao Ji and Li Yuanfang to sit down and slowly began to tell the story.

Zhao Jibian sat there listening, tapping his fingers, thinking about how to find a breakthrough.

After talking for a long time, Di Renjie took a sip of tea and concluded: "This is the general situation of the case. The most mysterious thing about this case is that the way the deceased died is consistent with the legends of Yuwen Chengdu and Xiaoguowei." "Several decades ago, the same bloody case happened again. It is really difficult to explain with common sense. Yuan Fang and I are both confused by the facts. You are a bystander. I wonder what you think?"

Li Yuanfang couldn't help but interrupt and said, "Sir, this is a ghost case, of course it can't be explained by common sense."

Zhao Ji couldn't help laughing, looking at Li Yuanfang, secretly shaking his head. How could he handle the case well with such a Yuanfang?
Li Yuanfang saw Zhao Ji laughing and asked, "Chengyuan, what are you laughing at? Is there anything wrong with what I said?"

Zhao Ji coughed twice, restrained his smile, and asked seriously: "Yuan Fang, you are a martial arts expert, invincible, and not afraid of death, but you seem to be afraid of ghosts. Can I ask why?"

Li Yuanfang's face did not look good when he heard this question: "Who wouldn't be afraid of the underworld?"

Zhao Ji shook his head and said exaggeratedly, "This doesn't make sense. Everyone should be afraid of ghosts, except you, Li Yuanfang. If there really is a ghost, not only would it not dare to harm you, but it would have to take a detour if it saw you, Li Yuanfang."

"What do you mean? Why shouldn't I be afraid of ghosts?" Li Yuanfang asked puzzledly.

Zhao Ji smiled slightly and explained: "Think about it, if a ghost kills you, then you will naturally become a ghost. With your martial arts, the ghost that harmed you will be finished, right?"

Di Renjie was stunned at first. Then he burst into laughter: "Ahahahaha, Chengyuan is right!"

Li Yuanfang was speechless for a moment, unable to say anything: "This..."

Zhao Ji smiled and patted Li Yuanfang on the shoulder: "People are always afraid of things they don't know. If someone really sees such a headless ghost, and if the ghost's ability is only to kill people, then it is nothing more than a more ferocious venomous snake or beast, and it is not something to be afraid of."

Di Renjie nodded repeatedly and said, "Well said. If this isn't a ghost case, then Cheng Yuan must have figured out the details of this case."

Zhao Ji smiled and said, "Your Excellency is right. In all cases, these far-fetched legends, nursery rhymes, curses, and myths are all means used by the murderer to confuse the public and cover up the truth."

"Through these mysterious things, they may conceal their methods of committing crimes or some unnatural phenomena. In short, these ghost stories are deliberately fabricated for special purposes."

Li Yuanfang was puzzled: "Did you deliberately make it up?"

Di Renjie was more perceptive. He thought: "Unnatural phenomenon, special purpose? What do you mean?"

Zhao Ji said in a deep voice: "In ordinary murders, even if the murderer wants to hide the identity of the deceased, he will at most chop off the head. Now so many people have been killed across the country, but all of them have had their left arms chopped off. Is this natural?"

Li Yuanfang still didn't understand: "Isn't beheading and left arm the usual way for the Xiaoguo Guard to punish traitors?"

Zhao Ji chuckled and said, "Generally speaking, if so many people had their left arms chopped off at the same time, even a fool would know that something was wrong. But the bad guys used the so-called Xiaoguowei punishment and Yuwen Chengdu's evil spirit to cover it up, making this strange thing seem reasonable, and they kept it a secret from you for so long."

Di Renjie took a deep breath and stood up suddenly: "It's the inner guards!"

Zhao Ji also stood up and said confidently: "The dead are all over the country, some of them are masters, all of them had their left arms cut off. Someone wants to hide the identity of the inner guards."

When Li Yuanfang heard this, his expression suddenly changed. He looked at Di Renjie, then at Zhao Ji, and he also understood a little.

Di Renjie began to pace again, recalling the circumstances of the two dead on the official road.

One of the dead was in the car, and the other abandoned the car and fled, falling in front of a tombstone. It seems that to escape, one should go to an open place, so why would he run to a grave and end his own life?
Suddenly, Di Renjie's eyes sparkled, and he figured it out: "Yuan Fang, do you still remember the location of the two dead people on the official road?"

Li Yuan nodded: "Remember."

"Okay, let's leave the city immediately and explore the official road!" Di Renjie said decisively.

(End of this chapter)