Holy Bone

Chapter 695 Fire
"Ah."

"Let's burn paper money to Miss Song who died first."

After hearing about the pig butcher's situation, Jin'an did not comment immediately, but parked the trolley carrying the coffin, picked up the big bags and walked towards the collapsed houses.

Because the case was closed and the real culprit was caught and died in the fire, there was no yamen guard on duty at the scene of the crime, and Jin An and the old Taoist entered the scene of the fire smoothly.

The pig butcher's house was burned to a mess, the ground was covered with shards of bricks and tiles blackened by smoke, most of the roof was destroyed by the fire, and the combustible wood such as the doors and windows were all burnt into coke, revealing black holes.

Miss Song's real name is Song Zhizhi.

The personal maid is called Caixia.

Not to mention that the neighbor's aunt doesn't believe that the butcher Tie Shuan is a wicked kidnapper, even Jin'an and the old Taoist don't believe that the butcher is a kidnapper.

Although the pig butcher has a withdrawn personality, doesn't like to talk, and gives people the impression of being very rude because of what happened when he was a child. It is difficult for this kind of person to get along with the people around him, but he just searched and searched for himself last night against the pig butcher. Reluctant to buy a good coffin, instead he gave all his life savings to Ms. Song and the maid to buy paper money. It can be seen that the pig butcher is a kind-hearted person with a cold face and a warm heart. He is definitely not a kidnapper who is greedy for pleasure and commits all kinds of evil.

The pig butcher bought a lot of paper money for Miss Song and the maid, and they burned it for a long time before only half of it was burned. At this time, footsteps and surprised sounds came from behind the two.

"You are?"

Hearing the voice behind them, the two stood up and looked. It was an old man with half-white hair and a wooden box in his hand. His clothes were well-groomed.The old man also noticed the large amount of paper money at the feet of Jin An and the old Taoist, and was stunned.

Although the two had burned for a while, only half of the paper money was left at their feet, but the remaining amount was still very considerable. The fifteen catties and three bundles of copper money paper alone made people stunned.

In addition, there are [-] gold-foil ingot papers shining with gold, which are extremely dazzling under the sun above the head.

"You two priests, who are you paying homage to?" The old man looked at Jin An and the old Taoist in Taoist robes with both surprise and doubt on his face.

This kind of occasion is naturally most suitable for an old Taoist priest to come forward: "Old man, we are entrusted by someone to burn some paper money for Miss Song and her personal maid Caixia who died."

Burn some paper money?

The old man glanced at the paper money on the ground and the pot of ashes in the brazier, it was not a piece of paper money.

"Entrusted by someone, who entrusted it? Could it be that the confidantes of our young lady sent the two priests here? They also have a heart. If the young lady has a spirit in heaven, she must be very happy."

Talking about his young lady, the old man showed sadness, then sighed and walked to Jin'an and the old Taoist priest, took out paper money and joss sticks from the wooden box, and set fire to the collapsed house to pay homage to the dead.

The wooden box is exquisite in workmanship, with a deep interior, separated by several layers of drawers, it looks like it came from a wealthy family.

Regarding being misunderstood, the old Taoist priest did not explain, but asked curiously: "The meaning of the old man's words is that you are from the famous local grain merchant Song Haichuan Boss Song's family?"

Through a simple conversation, the two confirmed the identity of the old man.

This is indeed a servant from the Song family, the old housekeeper of the Song family.

When I was a child, I fled to Jiangzhou Prefecture due to a flood, and it was at that time that I entered the Song family. I have been with Grandpa Song Zhizhi since I was a child.

Counting Song Zhizhi has guarded the Song family for three generations.

I watched the three generations of the Song family grow up with my own eyes.

So I have deep feelings for the Song family.

Today, I specially came to the place where Song Zhizhi died to have another look at the lady.

With such a huge change, the Song family is now grieving. Song Zhizhi's mother is sick, and Boss Song has no intention of taking care of the business. He has to take care of his sick wife while preparing for the funeral.

Perhaps it was because the Taoist robes worn by Jin An and the old Taoist could easily bring a sense of security to the common people, or perhaps because he was moved by Jin An and the old Taoist's desire to worship their young lady, the old housekeeper of the Song family had a lot of conversations with them , The two also knew more details of the case.

Because they still had to find the body of the butcher who had been buried in a mass grave, and had to re-bury the butcher, the two talked with the old housekeeper of the Song family for a while, and said goodbye to the old housekeeper of the Song family.

"We have other things to do today, so let's say goodbye for the time being. We live in the Taoist Temple of the Five Viscera in Yonglefang. Elderly people are welcome to visit at any time, and we will definitely serve good tea and water when the time comes... My condolences on Miss Song and Caixia .”

After saying goodbye to each other, the two led the sheep cart all the way out of the city and arrived at the mass grave in the western outskirts of the city.

There are many mountains in the south of the Yangtze River, and there are not many mountains. They are mainly continuous hills, and the vegetation on the hills and mountains is also dominated by worthless shrubs and pine trees.And Jiangzhou Fucheng is a coastal trading city surrounded by mountains on three sides and facing the sea. Standing on the hills, people can see the magnificent seascape thousands of miles away. The goods are unloaded on the shore, and then filled with a ship of goods to leave the shore, and the maritime trade is developed.Jiangzhou Prefecture has always been an important trading port in the Jiangnan area. The prosperity here and the taxes paid to the treasury can reach a city in the north. The mountains here are golden mountains and the water is silver water. There are more than a dozen important ports in Kangding. The city's shipping department ranks in the top five, rich as an enemy.

"Those sea boats are really as big as his grandma's! Standing on the hills outside the city, you can see the sails clearly!" On a bare hill outside the city, the old Taoist looked at the bustling port in the south of the city, ruthlessly He said with emotion.

Those navigating merchant ships are mainly Fuchuan. The big ones can carry 600 materials, about 120 tons of cargo, or 240 people; the small ones can hold 300 to 800 materials, about [-] tons to [-] tons. Cargo, or can carry two [-] people.But these sea-going ships are not the biggest. The largest sea-going merchant ship can be as long as ten feet long and three feet wide. It can carry more than [-] tons of cargo to the ocean at a time. It is simply a giant at sea. China's tea, pottery, silk and other exquisite goods traveled across the ocean.It is said that this is not the largest sea ship in Kangding. The largest sea ship is the "Shenzhou" class, which can carry six to seven thousand materials. The Shenzhou cabin can not only raise pigs, brew wine, plow the fields, but also open a market.

Inland river merchant ships are like babies in front of these sea-going merchant ships that can withstand the wind and waves at sea.

It's no wonder that the old Taoist climbed up and looked at those sea ships, expressing such ruthless emotion.

In the south of Kangding, there is the Shibo Department, in the north is the Silk Road of the Western Regions, and in the west is the Ancient Tubo Tea-Horse Road, which has brought a steady stream of wealth to Kangding. At this time, Kangding is at its most prosperous time when the country is strong and the people are prosperous.

Compared with the sea-going ships at the stage, the ports in the south of the city have sprung up one after another, and the shipyards that can manufacture these sea-going ships are the real giants.Each shipyard is like a small town, and many craftsmen are busy like black-spotted ants. Every day, new huge sea-going ships go to sea for trial voyages, bringing more commercial wealth to Kangding.Only advanced shipbuilding technology can continue such a prosperous and prosperous maritime trade.

"As towering as a mountain, floating on the waves, the brocade sails bow their heads, and submit to the dragons." Jin An sincerely sighed.

Facing the vast sea that stretches as far as the eye can see, the old Taoist priest was emotionally excited, and brought here the old habit of subconsciously showing Fengshui to others: "surrounded by Shandong on three sides and facing the sea, this is called purple air coming from the east in Fengshui, and all wealth returns to the ancestors. The typical cornucopia terrain, doing business here can quickly gather wealth, and the wealth is endless.”

"Fengshui Fengshui, here is not only close to the sea but also has a steady stream of sea breeze from the sea, the Fengshui is smooth, the sky is high and the land is wide, and the wealth is rolling in. No wonder Jiangzhou Prefecture can be ranked in the top five among so many coastal cities in the country. Landing here is equivalent to sitting on the golden mountains and silver waters. You will never be able to dig out the golden mountains and silver waters. It is difficult not to make a fortune. And little brother, you can see that there is an island in the sky, like a turtle going out to sea and like a pearl falling into a cornucopia. Fengshui is like adding wings to a tiger, not only makes the cornucopia full and overflowing, but also creates outstanding people, if you can study, you can be a scholar, if you do business, you can make a lot of money."

The two of them stopped to admire the giant ship at sea with thousands of sails racing, and remembered that there were important things to do, so they began to search for the butcher's body in the mass grave.

"oops!"

Just as the old Taoist turned around and took a step, he almost stumbled and fell down. Because of the continuous spring rain, a lot of soil in the mass grave was washed away by the rain, and some bones were washed out. The human bone stumbled.

Fucheng is prosperous, and there is no telling how many dead people have been buried in this mass grave over the years. It is no exaggeration to say that there are several layers of bones buried in every inch of land.

"It's been raining continuously for the past few days, and the mountain road is slippery. Old Taoist, be careful." Jin An supported the old Taoist priest, and then handed the hoe in his hand to the old Taoist priest, using it as a temporary crutch.

Although the clues provided by the pig butcher were vague, fortunately there were not many places where puddles could accumulate on the mass graves. After checking one by one, they finally found a wooden tombstone that was washed down by rain in a puddle.

The handwriting on the tombstone is scribbled, and at first glance it seems to have been made hastily, but the word "iron bolt" can still be read clearly.

A pig butcher has no father or mother, and is a murderer who was convicted by the yamen. The local yamen can collect his body, wrap a straw mat and bury him in a mass grave. How much love is there for a murderer.

"Old Daoist, the corpse is here, give me the hoe."

Jin'an and the old Taoist put on masks to prevent the smell of corpses, and then began to dig the grave. During the process, they dug up a lot of human bones and some half-decomposed dead people.

Fortunately, the yamen servant was lazy, and the burial was not deep. After a while, he dug up the corpse wrapped in straw mats.

When the straw mat that shrouded the corpse was untied, the stench immediately dissipated. The pig butcher was burned to death. Even though the temperature was not high in March, the corpse was still decomposing very fast, and maggots had already grown on the surface of the body.Especially after being soaked in puddles for a long time, the body swelled badly.

"Supreme Taiyi Duer Tianzun."

"You are also a miserable person. You have become a lonely ghost. You still think of others wholeheartedly. You would rather suffer yourself and order the cheapest yellow coffin for yourself."

The old Taoist shook his head and sighed, as if regretting the poor life of the pig butcher.

As for the dead, Jin An was no longer taboo like before. He calmly picked up the maggot-soaked corpse, laid it flat on a dry place, and began to clean up the corpse before putting it back into the coffin to give the butcher a decent burial.

The two had just met last night, and he had a crush on this man again, so he took care of him more if he could.

The pig butcher's whole body was almost scorched by the fire, only his chest and face were slightly burnt, but only slightly lighter than those burnt parts, his back was the most severely scorched, almost carbonized.

"The burns on the chest are mild, and the burns on the back are severe. As an old Taoist, I have heard of some cases of people being burned to death. When people were burned to death, their bodies would curl up because of the pain." The old Taoist looked at the butcher sympathetically.

Ok?
Jin An, who was cleaning the surface of the corpse, suddenly frowned.

Regardless of the nausea of ​​the rotting corpse, he looked at the palms of the pig butcher's hands, then looked at the underarm and the inner side of the arm of the pig butcher, and found that the flesh burns in these places were the lightest, almost Retains full flesh colour.

With doubts, he checked the other parts in detail, and frowned: "He was burned to death in a conscious state. Before he died, he was holding someone in his arms."

When he heard that the pig butcher was burned to death by the flames while he was awake, the old Taoist gasped and said, "This hurts so much!"

"Little brother, do you mean that the butcher was burned to death with Miss Song and Maid Caixia in his arms?"

Jin An pointed to the pig butcher's face, throat, chest, inner arms, palms, thighs, and knees, and explained: "Old Taoist, look at the body parts I'm referring to. The burns are much lighter than the back. At the time of the fire scene, the butcher should be kneeling on the ground, protecting Ms. Song and the maid Caixia... If I guessed correctly, the three of them should have hugged each other when they were burnt to death. That’s why there was a back , The calf burns are severe, almost carbonized, and the burns on these parts I pointed out are mild."

The old Taoist was stunned: "Could it be that the butcher was trying to protect Miss Song from being burned to death and missed the best time to escape?"

After finishing speaking, the old Taoist frowned tightly: "Little brother, do you suspect that the pig butcher is not the real kidnapper who kidnapped Miss Song? Is this an unjust case?"

Jin An glanced at the old Taoist priest: "Old Taoist, do you think Tie Shuan looks like that kind of vicious person?"

The old Taoist slapped his thigh hard, and shouted: "I knew the old Taoist, the pig butcher was wronged!"

"Whether it is an unjust case or not, we can't make a judgment lightly until we know more specific details of the case and the Yamen's file. Let's go back and talk about it." Jin'an put the pig butcher's body in the coffin, but did not bury it on the spot. Instead, put it on the cart and plan to take it back to the coffin shop for an autopsy.

"Old Daoist, I have to trouble you to go and find the old housekeeper of the Song family to inquire about all the details of the case. Be sure to ask Ming Tieshuan, Miss Song, and the maid Caixia how they died."

"I'll go back to the coffin shop first, and plan to open the coffin for an autopsy."

"Since we have received the money, we must do business with integrity and organize all funeral affairs for Gu."

"Okay little brother, old Taoist, I'll go to Tieshuan's house to find the old butler of the Song family!" After the two returned to the city, the old Taoist ran to Shengping Square without stopping.

(End of this chapter)