The Ming Dynasty took an unconventional approach

The five officers drove the servants over and carefully dug down along the traces: "Be careful not to damage the marks on his body..."

Before he finished speaking, the two men who were lifting the corpse paused and looked up at their colleagues.

The person who was speaking also saw another corpse under the corpse.

The five people looked at each other and felt bad.

Sure enough, they picked up the top corpse and found two corpses stacked together below. They dug down along the two corpses and found even older corpses less than half a meter down, and there were more of them stacked together.

Yamen Runner A looked extremely unhappy and said in a deep voice, "We have to dig to the side. There are no less than five bodies on this floor."

He raised his head and glared at Master Li who was sitting under the tree. He no longer had the playful smile he had before: "Master Li, how many people are buried in this pit?"

Mr. Li himself was frightened. The three corpses that had been dug out were placed at his feet, and the black eye sockets on the skulls seemed to be staring at him.

When he heard the yamen runner asking, he shook his head repeatedly and said in panic: "I, I don't know, I don't know, this matter has nothing to do with me."

"Master Li!" Yamen Runner B shouted angrily, "This is your mountain. Someone dug such a big corpse pit on your mountain. How could you not know?"

Mr. Li went to see Pan Yun in panic.

Pan Yun said in a deep voice: "Let's raise the corpse first. The county lord must make the decision on this matter."

The five yamen runners stopped talking, picked up their shovels in silence and continued digging.

Pan Yun knew that there were many people buried underground, but he didn't expect there were so many.

She silently rolled up her sleeves, picked up a shovel with her foot, and jumped into the pit: "Let me help you dig."

This time the five yamen runners did not refuse. They didn't know how big the pit was. The sun was getting higher in the sky, and they were afraid that they would not be able to dig it out before dark.

It's a gloomy place here and it's not a good place to spend the night.

The yamen runners also asked Master Li to send two servants back to the county yamen to report the case: "Tell them to bring a few more people, and don't forget the coroner."

Mr. Li agreed repeatedly.

However, the yamen runners did not allow the Li family's servants to go down into the pit to dig the soil. They only allowed Pan Yun and Li Wenying to go down into the pit.

Because they are Taoists, they understand medicine and feng shui, and know what can be moved and what cannot be moved.

You can also find bones the size of soybeans in a pile of mud, and put them together so that they are exactly the same.

Bones were dug out one after another and handed over, and then neatly placed on the pit. When the county magistrate and the county lieutenant arrived with the people from the county government, all they saw was a pile of bones.

The county magistrate's legs went weak, and he rolled over and crawled over: "This, this, this, how could such a wicked thing happen in my Ji'an County?"

The county lieutenant also opened his mouth wide. In a flash, some legends from the past flashed through his mind, and he suddenly looked at Master Li.

Mr. Li sat quietly by the side, indifferent to the county magistrate's questions.

New corpses were constantly being dug up from the bottom of the pit. Except for the two at the top which were only badly decayed, all the corpses below had decayed into white bones. The deeper they went, the older they were, and it was obvious that they had been there for a long time.

He knew that there were people buried under the land, but he didn't know so many people were buried there.

So many corpses were dug out, and not only him, but also the county magistrate and the county lieutenant were all finished.

Unless Yang Ji and Yang Shoufu are resurrected, they can use a big quilt to cover the sky and hide these dirty things.

But he knew it was impossible.

Once Yang Ji died, no one was able to cover up such a big thing.

The county magistrate also knew that he was finished.

After the incident of Yang Ji, he took prompt action to arrest people, search for evidence, and escort people to the capital. Only then did the court think that he was an honest official, but a strong dragon cannot defeat a local snake. He was deceived and threatened by Yang Ji and could only investigate the case secretly, which led to Yang Ji committing many evil deeds without being caught.

The most crucial thing is that Yang Ji had been doing evil for decades, and he had only been in office in Ji'an County for four years, so his dereliction of duty was excusable, and he was able to barely keep his position as county magistrate.

It was agreed upon by the higher-ups that he would take the initiative to inform on Yang Ji and put half of what Yang Ji had done on Yang Shiqi's head. After two years, when the matter was over, he would be promoted.

The county magistrate had nothing wrong in doing these things. Yang Ji was Yang Shiqi's son. Yang Shiqi would not believe that Yang Ji knew nothing about these things.

Besides, what if I really don’t know?

Yang Ji did take advantage of Yang Shiqi's power to commit evil in Ji'an and Jiangnan areas. As a father, he failed to fulfill his responsibility of educating his child, which was his fault.

So the county magistrate did those things with a clear conscience and without any guilt, but now...

Looking at the three rows of bones and the partially dug grave, the county magistrate felt that his life was over!

In such a heinous case, no amount of reasons or merits can wash away his guilt of dereliction of duty.

The county magistrate was extremely angry: "Who is it? Who did this?!"

He glared at Master Li and asked loudly, "Li Chang, tell me!"

Mr. Li shook his head: "I don't know..."

"You didn't know?" The county magistrate pointed at his nose and cursed: "This is your land. Someone buried so many people on your mountain. How could you not know?"

Mr. Li got angry and cursed back, "You don't know, that's right. This mountain is mine, that mountain is mine, this piece of land is mine. Look what I planted on the mountain? I even left dozens of acres of land barren, and I can't find anyone to plant the land. Do you understand? Do you understand?"

Any villager can carry a sickle and go up the mountain to chop firewood. I never stop villagers or hunters from going up the mountain to hunt. I'm not watching this place twelve hours a day, so how would I know who did it?
You are the county magistrate, and the entire Anji County is under your jurisdiction. How come you don't know?"

The county magistrate was almost choked to death: "Li Chang, how dare you talk to me like that?"

Mr. Li's chest rose and fell sharply, showing no sign of weakness: "Am I afraid of you?"

He was also full of grievances, and the resentment and grievances accumulated over the years burst out. Mr. Li could not bear it anymore and retorted: "Your Excellency, let's be frank and not beat around the bush. Do you really not know who did this, or are you pretending not to know?
It's no secret that Yang Ji beat someone to death. His car goes to my mountain once or twice every year. How could you know nothing about his case?"

The county magistrate quickly looked at the county lieutenant, and seeing that he lowered his head to avoid his gaze, he was so angry that his face turned blue. Gradually he calmed down and said, "Li Chang, stop slandering me. You said that Yang Ji did it. What evidence do you have? Don't think that just because he's dead and there's no evidence, you can put the blame on him."

Yang Ji had been beheaded for more than a month, his body was already cold, and now such a big case was unearthed and pinned on him.

Not to mention that the emperor cannot accept it, I'm afraid even the court officials will not accept it.

Moreover, Yang Shiqi was dead. The emperor felt guilty and had feelings for Yang Shiqi, and he would probably not want Yang Shiqi to be thrown dirty water on again.

Seeing that they were arguing, Pan Yun shouted "Hey" while holding a shovel, and after attracting the attention of the two people, he raised his chin and said, "Did the quarrel lead to the murder? Who did it and how did it happen? If we investigate, we will know, right?"

Pan Yun pointed at the corpses in the pit and said, "Who are the victims? Where are their relatives? Who was the last person they saw? If we investigate bit by bit, won't we be able to find out?"

"Who are you?" the county magistrate asked unhappily, "Does this county need you to teach us how to investigate a case?"

Pan Yun smiled slightly: "Of course, the county lord does not need conventional methods, but I can help with unconventional methods."

Pan Yun nodded his chin towards Master Li and said, "After all, I promised Master Li that I would keep his family safe."

The county magistrate narrowed his eyes: "What do you mean?" Mr. Li regained his senses and finally stopped being angry with the county magistrate. Instead, he pulled him aside and whispered to him about how he was possessed by evil spirits, asked the Taoist priest to exorcise the ghost, and a series of events that followed.

"County Master, we are not the only ones present here. There are also many things we cannot see. They are all ghosts~ and they are fierce ghosts!"

The county magistrate took two steps back expressionlessly and stared at him coldly.

Seeing that he didn't believe him, Mr. Li stamped his feet and said, "Aiya!" "County Master, you have to believe me."

The county magistrate shook his head: "I don't believe you!"

"You!" Master Li hurried to find Pan Yun: "Master Pan, please let the county magistrate see them. As long as the magistrate sees them, he will understand everything."

"Then let them state who killed them, and the county magistrate can just send out the yamen runners to arrest them all?"

"Yes, yes, yes," Mr. Li was very excited, "That would be great."

This way he wouldn't have to call out those people, and there wouldn't be any omissions, and those people wouldn't be able to blame him.

Pan Jun grinned at him, then quickly dropped her smile: "I can't do it."

The county magistrate looked at Mr. Li as if he were a moron, his face expressing: "Look!"

Mr. Li was anxious: "Why can't it be done?"

Pan Yun: "If it is possible, all county lieutenants in the world should be Taoist priests. Whenever there is a murder, we can use the magic you mentioned to summon the wronged soul to testify. What are the county lieutenants and yamen runners for?"

The county magistrate and the runners nodded together: "Yes, then what else do we need to do?"

"People can lie, let alone ghosts?" Pan Yun said, "Not to mention that most ghosts don't have all their memories. Even if they do, do you believe ghosts' lies?"

The county magistrate frowned, thinking Pan Yun was very interesting: "But you just said that you can help me investigate the case with unconventional methods."

"Yes," Pan Jun nodded and said, "Although ghost stories are not to be believed, corpses can give a lot of information, not to mention ghosts?"

Pan Yun lowered his voice and asked the county magistrate: "My Lord, don't you want to meet these unjustly dead ghosts, talk to them, and listen to their stories?"

The county magistrate was silent.

Because the corpse pit was too large, it could not be completely dug before dark.

The county magistrate could only leave a few yamen runners to guard the corpse pit, and the rest of the people packed up all the bones they picked up and took them back to the county government office.

Of course, Mr. Li and his son, as well as Pan Yun, Li Wenying and other parties involved were also brought back to the county government office.

In the morgue, the coroner lit a lamp and came out, saying to the people guarding the yard, "The two most recent bodies, one died about five months ago, and the other nine months ago. The exact time is hard to calculate because it is too decomposed.

Both bodies were female, approximately between 18 and 24 years old.

The magistrate asked, "Where are the other bodies?"

The coroner said, "The rest of the bodies have already turned to bones. They are between one and a half and nine years old. There are thirteen bodies in total, nine of which are females and four are males. They are all between the ages of fourteen and twenty-six."

The county magistrate frowned, "They were all so young, and so many people died in the county, but the county government didn't know anything about it?"

He looked at the county lieutenant.

This type of public security incident has always been the responsibility of the county lieutenant.

The county magistrate thought carefully about the cases he had handled over the years, and found that no serious incidents had occurred.

Oh, except for the case where Yang Ji beat someone to death in a fight, but those cases were actually closed after the incident.

Yang Ji beat someone to death and pushed someone else to take the blame. No matter how he used intimidation or bribery to redeem the person afterwards, at least according to the county government's records, the case was closed.

Everyone in the county government knew the ins and outs of the case.

But he really couldn't hear anything about the corpse pit on Lijia Mountain, and he couldn't even determine the source of the corpses.

The county magistrate frowned and asked, "County lieutenant, has anyone been reported missing in recent years?"

The county lieutenant lowered his eyes and said, "Yes, but there are not many that meet the requirements, and most missing cases have results, which does not match this case."

The county magistrate pondered, "Where did this person come from? No one cared if he died, and no one reported him missing?"

Thinking of the age range mentioned by the coroner, the county magistrate suddenly raised his eyelids and looked at Master Li: "The woman from the brothel and the man from the prostitute's house?"

Mr. Li said nothing.

Even the county lieutenant remained silent.

Pan Yun's eyes slid from Master Li to the county lieutenant, and he smiled with the corner of his mouth raised slightly: "It seems that the county lieutenant is not completely ignorant."

The county magistrate immediately looked at her and said, "Didn't you say that you could let us have a chat with the wronged souls? Why don't you invite them out?"

"Okay, okay." Pan Jun took out a handful of yellow talismans from his sleeve, pushed open the door of the autopsy room and started sticking them inside.

The county magistrate was curious and suspicious when he saw that she was really serious. Seeing Li Wenying standing aside with her arms folded, he asked, "Aren't you going to help?"

Li Wenying said: "I am just a teacher who accompanies students to gain experience. I don't earn this money."

The county magistrate said: "You don't talk about strange things, but are there really ghosts and gods in this world?"

Li Wenying: "His Majesty the Emperor offers sacrifices to the heavens and ancestors every year. What do you think?"

County Magistrate:…

What is the relationship between offering sacrifices to heaven and ancestors and ghosts and gods?
The county magistrate complained in his heart but didn't dare to say it out loud.

Pan Yun set up the yellow talisman formation and invited them in.

The county magistrate was not afraid at all. He covered his mouth and nose with a handkerchief and went in, followed closely by the county lieutenant.

The coroner was more interested and followed without thinking.

Mr. Li and Mr. Li looked at each other and supported each other as they went in.

The yamen runners also had to follow in.

Pan Yun drove out the yamen runners who were rushing in, and only allowed three people to go in: "The morgue is so small, and there are more than a dozen corpses in it. So many people can't go in."

When the runners heard this, the three people standing in the front, A, B, and C, immediately squeezed in and said, "Let's go protect the master!"

As soon as they entered, the door closed in front of them without any wind.

Pan Jun turned around and smiled, looking very sinister under the light: "Come on." (End of this chapter)