Chapter 355 - 353: The Blessed Stone (First Update)

Chapter 355: Chapter 353: The Blessed Stone (First Update)

Just as Mr. Yao finished searching a room and came out, he was stunned, "Jiang Erlang, what are you doing?!"

Jiang Yu by this time had already climbed to the highest point of the persimmon tree. Supporting himself with one hand on the trunk, his deep, dark fox-like eyes looked at the rooftop directly facing the persimmon tree. He took a light breath and said in a slightly deep voice, "There are footprints on the rooftop."

Everyone was taken aback.

Although the snow in Master Xuan Yin’s courtyard had been cleared very well, the snow on the rooftop had not been cleared.

Unless the snow accumulates very thickly, it’s rare for anyone to specifically go up to the roof to clear snow, as generally, people can’t see the snow on the rooftop and it does not affect daily activities.

Mr. Yao immediately called one of the government officials standing nearby, asking him to climb up and take a look. The official quickly climbed up the tree and shouted, "Mr. Yao, indeed, there’s a trail of footprints on the roof! The trail extends... extends to the opposite side of the house!"

Mr. Yao immediately turned to Miao Lian and Jinglian, who were also stunned, and sternly asked, "What is on the opposite side of this house!"

Miao Lian shivered, stammering, "Tha-that is the kitchen..."

Upon hearing this, Mr. Yao loudly instructed the official on the tree, "Follow the footprints over there. We’ll circle to the other side now. See where the footprints eventually stop!"

Having said that, he eagerly started to walk outside.

Xu Jing quickly followed.

On the left side of Master Xuan Yin’s courtyard was indeed the kitchen, but Xu Jing and the others walked through the kitchen and reached a small patch of empty ground behind it, when they heard the voice of the official above, "Mr. Yao, Miss Xu!"

The two looked up to see the official standing on the roof beside them, looking around, and they noticed that next to this patch of ground was a tree that was now bare.

He easily climbed down the tree and said, "The person who walked on the rooftop eventually came here. She must have come down via this tree! Moreover, coming this way, she could also check if there was anyone here in advance, and if there was, wait until they left before coming down.

Ordinary people would never think that someone would come here via the rooftop!"

And who would walk on the roof, if not Master Xuan Yin!

Xu Jing said, "From the case of Sister-in-law Wu, we know that the killer must possess some skills. Otherwise, it would be very difficult to carry someone up Xinyi’s phoenix tree, move to the rooftop, and then smoothly come down from there.

Here must be a place where the killer hides things, quite likely a secret room. Let’s spread out and search for it!"

This was a small, square patch of land, with lawn and trees planted around it. In the middle, there was only a well.

Likely a place for the kitchen to get water.

The snow here had almost been completely swept away.

Since it was behind the kitchen, few people usually come here. Even the people from the kitchen typically come to fetch water and leave immediately.

Truly, the perfect place to hide a secret room!

Seeing progress in the case, the government officials were instantly invigorated, scattering to start searching for the secret room.

Mr. Yao took the opportunity to call an official over and asked him to bring Master Xuan Yin here.

Suddenly, an official shouted, "Mr. Yao, Miss Xu, come here and have a look. There’s a stone here that looks very peculiar!"

Xu Jing and Mr. Yao quickly made their way over, noticing that indeed, on the flat ground in the upper left corner of this patch, there lay a stone that seemed to have weathered many years. The stone was large enough for a child aged five or six to lie flat upon.

The sudden appearance of such a stone here was indeed strange.

As they arrived, some young novice nuns who had been preparing dinner in the kitchen had also followed them. Seeing this, one of them hurriedly said, "That stone cannot be moved! According to legend, when Jingyuan Temple was first built, wild beasts often ran rampant from the surrounding woods. The first abbess personally placed a consecrated stone here, and since then no beasts have come again..."

Xu Jing couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow.

The more it was like this, the more suspicious the stone became.

She glanced at the young nun and calmly said to the surrounding officials, "Move this stone away immediately!"

The young nun: "!!!"

Why were these people so unreasonable! The more you tell them not to move it, the more they want to move it!

However, several officials, despite working together, couldn’t move the stone an inch.

Xu Jing’s eyes deepened. True, although the legend made ordinary disciples refrain from moving the stone casually, it didn’t guarantee that none among them would be rebellious.

If below this stone lay the entrance to a secret room, and anyone could easily find the secret room just by moving the stone, it would be too unsecured.

She immediately surveyed the environment around the stone, while Mr. Yao beside her couldn’t help but ask, "What if we truly can’t move this stone, what then?"

Without looking at him, Xu Jing said, "Then we’ll just dig up the ground beneath it."

Mr. Yao: "..."

Indeed, his brain really was rusting today, not even considering such a simple solution.

If a secret room was hidden beneath, they’d hardly need to enter through its entrance, they could simply dig it out!

But doing so would significantly increase their workload and might damage the contents inside the secret room.

It would undoubtedly be best if they could enter through the entrance.

Before Mr. Yao could finish his thoughts, he heard Xu Jing laugh softly, "However, it seems, we won’t need to exert such effort."

Mr. Yao was momentarily stunned to see Xu Jing raising her head, pointing at a certain spot on the adjacent wall, "Look, there’s a section where the wall’s color is slightly darker than the rest."

This wall was gray, and the piece Xu Jing pointed to wasn’t very different in color from the rest. But with careful observation, one could discern a subtle difference.

Only...

Mr. Yao was somewhat confused, "That place is too high, almost reaching the rooftop. Who’s tall enough to touch there?"

"That’s precisely why setting an entry point there is secure."

Xu Jing said calmly, "Don’t forget, the killer likely has a rope with a grappling hook, so climbing such a wall is hardly a challenge."

Mr. Yao was stunned and immediately called over two tall officials, having one stand on the other’s shoulders, finally enabling them to reach that part of the wall.

Under everyone’s watchful gaze, he stretched out his hand to press it, but nothing happened.

Xu Jing’s eyes deepened, and she suddenly shouted, "Press harder!"

The official was startled, hurriedly pressing down with more force...

All those looking up had their eyes suddenly widen.

The wall recessed!

Before people could recover from the shock, a subtle sound of axle rotation came from nearby, prompting Mr. Yao to instinctively turn his head, gasping in disbelief.

Beside him, the stone that couldn’t be moved as if something was lifting it, slowly rose up.