"Recently, we've all been discussing the Abbot's death. Some people say he was murdered, not that he died naturally!" the young monk told us.
"Murdered? Didn't you call the police?" I asked.
"The current Abbot did something to cover it up. How would we juniors dare to pry?"
From the young monk's tone, it was clear he hadn't been here long and wasn't very cautious with his words.
He didn't hesitate when we asked him to lead us to the current Abbot. He turned and walked directly into the main hall of the temple. The temple was quite spacious, with a lot of marble construction around and many willow trees planted. The sunlight was abundant, and the stone path was exceptionally elegant.
Several golden Buddha statues stood in the main hall. In the center was Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, with Maitreya Buddha to the left and another Buddha I couldn't identify to the right.
A large table was placed before the main hall, covered with incense burners. Not much incense was lit in the middle. No wonder the young monk said no one had come to worship here for a long time. But given the pleasant environment, why didn't citizens like coming here to worship?
As I was pondering this, an old monk with six red dots on his head and wearing a yellow kasaya walked out. His face was full of wrinkles, his temples were white, and he was slightly stooped. Seeing us, he politely said, "Three benefactors, what brings you here?"
The young monk whispered a few words in his ear, and the old monk then reacted, "So, you are police officers!"
I said, "Yes. May I ask if a former Abbot here recently passed away?"
"You heard about it from outside, didn't you? Yes, the former Abbot passed away half a month ago."
"We are currently investigating a murder case. A sarira was found on the victim. When our former Abbot passed away, shouldn't he have left behind a sarira?" I asked, testing him, and staring at the old monk with the stern gaze characteristic of a detective.
"Even if the former Abbot passed away, he wouldn't necessarily leave a sarira. These are only produced by highly enlightened monks," the old monk explained naturally.
However, I noticed an abnormal twitch in his jaw muscles. This guy was lying!
I didn't expose his lie immediately but continued politely, "Have you noticed any strange people coming to the temple recently?"
"Benefactor, why do you ask? It's always been very safe here. No thieves have ever come, and besides, we don't have anything valuable for them to steal!" the old monk explained.
I thought for a moment and continued, "Can we see the former Abbot's room?"
"This, it's not very convenient, as you are outsiders!" the old monk replied uncomfortably. But I noticed a hint of panic in his expression, as if he was deliberately trying to prevent something from being discovered.
"If we must inspect it, we are doing so as police officers!" Gao Mingqiang said sternly.
"Do you have a search warrant? Don't assume we monks don't know the law!" the old monk retorted dismissively.
We naturally didn't have one. After all, this lead about the sarira was a long shot. However, I cleverly replied, "Of course, we have a search warrant, and we don't need to show it to you. We suspect a murder case is related to this place. If you don't cooperate, then I'm sorry, we will arrest you for obstruction of justice!"
"You want to act rashly! Without a search warrant, you have no such authority!" the old monk shouted angrily.
I let out a cold laugh, "You won't shed a tear until you see the coffin. Do you think I don't know? You are not a monk at all. The six dots on your head are not imprinted but directly applied with cinnabar. And what's with your fingers? So many calluses, were you a butcher before? And your face is full of scars. Although they are covered by something, they cannot escape my eyes!"
"You're talking nonsense! How could I not be a monk?" the old monk retorted vehemently.
"Whether you are or not, we will know after our investigation. If you don't cooperate, it proves you have something to hide!" I pressed.
At this moment, the young monk tugged at the old monk and whispered something in his ear. The old monk, for reasons unknown, changed his mind. "If you want to search, then search. You won't find anything anyway!"
"Then please lead the way!" I said politely. Gao Mingqiang glanced at me, as if worried about the situation that might unfold. I gestured to him, indicating that he should notify reinforcements if the situation demanded it.
We followed the old monk through a corridor of the temple and soon arrived in front of a side room. It looked vacant. A bolt secured a wooden door at the front. Through the window, we could see only a simple wooden plank bed inside.
Upon arrival, the old monk said, "This is where our former Abbot used to rest."
"Why is it so simple?" Gao Mingqiang inquired.
"As ascetics, our living conditions are naturally humble. What's so strange about that?" the old monk replied as a matter of course.
I didn't reply. I carefully removed the bolt and opened the door. I suddenly noticed that the doorknob was covered in dust, as if no one had touched it for a long time.
However, based on the condition of the second victim, it had been at least two months. And the Abbot passed away before she had her incident, so it had been at least half a month since anyone had been here.
I suddenly asked, "After the Abbot died, no one lived here anymore?"
"We have so many rooms here. We usually don't occupy places where deceased people lived," the old monk explained.
"Then it's strange. Aren't you Taoists? Are you afraid of that?" Gao Mingqiang deliberately asked.
The old monk didn't answer, his expression turning grim. I ignored them and walked directly into the room. I approached the bed that the former Abbot used and casually felt around. I found a crease under a pillow, and some quilts were placed in the middle of the bed.
I moved the quilts and saw the impression of knees having sat there. It was estimated that the former Abbot liked to meditate here. I went to the windowsill and observed the area carefully. I gently pushed open the window, but as I did, I noticed something amiss on both sides of the window, as if it had been tampered with.
I turned to the old monk and asked, "Has this window been tampered with?"
"I'm not sure. The one who used to take care of the former Abbot was Monk Liu. He was the Abbot's attendant and was by his side almost every day."
I felt that this old monk knew a lot about the temple's past life. He seemed to have been at Qinghe Temple for some time. But why would a butcher end up here?