Li Zhang rode on the horse in casual clothes, with wild dogs and Ouyang Xiu next to him. Both of them were dressed in casual clothes, looking like three rich young men going out for fun. They are now located in the southern suburbs of Luoyang, and this is the first time that someone has discovered the hat demon.

"What do you think of the hat demon?" Li Zhang smiled and asked Ouyang Xiu next to him. When he came to Luoyang to investigate the hat demon, a local official needed to cooperate. Qian Weiyan saw that Li Zhang and Ouyang Xiu were old acquaintances, and they were both young people. In addition, he also wanted to cultivate Ouyang Xiu, so he asked Ouyang Xiu to accompany Li Zhang to investigate the case.

Ouyang Xiu showed a hesitant expression at this time. After a moment, he spoke: "I don't speak the strange powers of the gods. I didn't believe in the hat demon, but I was also present on the day of Judge Zhou's birthday and saw the legendary hat demon with my own eyes. Moreover, during this period, there were constant incidents of hat demons hurting people in the city, which made people panic. Now I also have some doubts if there is really a hat demon in this world?"

After Ouyang Xiu said that, he saw Li Zhang smiling and silent, and asked curiously: "I wonder what brother Li, what do you think of the hat demon?"

"Me?" Li Zhang smiled again when he heard this, and then he spoke, "Before I saw the hat demon with my own eyes, I was still skeptical about the hat demon, and even if I saw it, it might not be true. After all, eyes can sometimes deceive people."

When Li Zhang was speaking, the three of them also came to a small hill. Luoyang was not like Kaifeng. There was a large plain on Kaifeng and could not even see a mountain. At most, there were some mounds of soil, which were called Tushan by the locals. However, there were many mountains in Luoyang, such as Yushan, Mangshan, Qingyaoshan, Jingzishan, etc.

The hill in front of Li Zhang and the others was very ordinary, its name was Qingfengling. You can tell that it was not a famous mountain. In fact, this hill did not have a name. Few people in Luoyang had heard of it before, but just a few months ago, this Qingfengling became famous because there was a hat demon here. Many villagers around him witnessed a hat demon flying from the hillside and soon disappeared.

Li Zhang wanted to find the first place to discover the hat demon. After all, his detective novels were not for nothing. Generally speaking, there were always some special places where the case first appeared, so he also asked Qian Weiyan about the place where the hat demon was discovered for the first time. Although it was not certain, judging from the incident of the hat demon that the yamen had appeared, Qingfengling should be the first place where the hat demon was reported.

"This is Qingfeng Ridge. There are three villages nearby, located in the southeast, northwest and northeast of Qingfeng Ridge. At that time, the Hawk Demon appeared halfway up the mountain of Qingfeng Ridge and floated in the air. He disappeared after a moment. Many people from the three villages saw it." Ouyang Xiu pointed to the hill in front and introduced.

At this time, Li Zhang also took out a topographic map, which was the terrain near Qingfengling and the location of the village. After seeing the topographic map, he suddenly turned his head and confirmed to Ouyang Xiu next to him again: "Can everyone in the three villages see the hat demon?"

"Yes, in fact, not only the people in the village, but there is a Hongfa Temple on the mountain. There are more than a dozen monks living in the temple, and they also saw the hat demon." Ouyang Xiu said again at this time. In order to accompany Li Zhang to investigate the hat demon, he had also carefully read all the things that the hat demon had appeared in the past two days, and he was also aware of it.

After hearing this, Li Zhang nodded, then thought about it for a while and said again: "Let's go up the mountain and take a look!"

The mountain road was narrow and there was no way to go, so Li Zhang and the other two simply got off the horse and walked, leaving a few followers to see the horses at the foot of the mountain. Qingfeng Ridge was not high, so Li Zhang and the others quickly arrived at the mountainside. Li Zhang originally wanted to find clues here, but the grass was lush and the place was too big, so they could not find any effective clues.

In desperation, Li Zhang had to continue walking upwards. He saw pedestrians from time to time on the road. After asking Ouyang Xiu, he realized that after the appearance of the Hat Demon, the people in the surrounding villages were also panicked, so he went up the mountain to Hongfa Temple to burn incense and seek peace talismans. It is said that as long as the peace talismans in the temple are hung, the Hat Demon dared not enter and hurt people.

Li Zhang shook his head slightly to the above statement, but he didn't say anything. When they arrived at the top of the mountain, they saw a small temple appearing in front of them, surrounded by trees. If they didn't look for it carefully, most people would probably miss this temple.

Li Zhang came to the temple and looked at the temple door. He saw a plaque with three big characters "Hongfa Temple" hanging on the door, and it looked very new. It seemed that the temple gate was wide open. From time to time, pilgrims could be seen entering and leaving. The temple was also filled with incense, which seemed a little out of place with the quiet and hidden environment around the temple.

When Li Zhang entered the temple, he saw a tall incense burner. Many pilgrims were burning incense. There were monks selling incense beside him. Li Zhang casually looked at the situation in the temple and then entered the hall. He saw that the hall was no different from ordinary temples. The main entrance was facing a clay Buddha statue. Pilgrims could ask for a signature, and there were monks next to it to explain the signature, and even sold the peace talisman. Although Li Zhang remembered that the peace talisman seemed to be Taoist, Buddhism and Taoism were not separated, and it seemed that nothing was wrong when it appeared in the Buddhist temple.

After Li Zhang found the monk who was a wise guest, he revealed his identity as an official, and asked to see the presidency in the temple. The monk who was a wise guest did not dare to be negligent. He first asked Li Zhang and the others to rest in the quiet room next to him, and served tea, and then ran to the backyard to report.

After a while, a fat middle-aged monk walked in and immediately bowed to Li Zhang and said, "My monk Xuanyue is polite. I don't know what this noble person is called. He holds any position in the yamen. What's the matter with finding me?"

Although Xuan Yue seemed to be nothing unusual on the surface, he was actually very alert, because he asked Li Zhang three questions in a row, and his eyes were also looking at Li Zhang and the others with a scrutiny look.

"Master Xuanyue is polite. Here is Ouyang Xiu, the commander of the Xijing left-behind office. This time he went out with his friends. He heard that there had been a hat demon here. He was curious and wanted to inquire about some things from the master." Ouyang Xiu stood up and expressed his identity.

When Xuan Yue heard of Ouyang Xiu's identity, he immediately showed a respectful look. Although the position of a promotor is not high, he has real power. Moreover, the other party is so young, either a scholar from a Jinshi or a nobleman who is under his bride. Neither of these two people can be provoked by a small host.

"It turned out to be Ouyang Promoter. I am so rude. Please sit down quickly. Come and serve good tea!" Xuanyue said enthusiastically immediately, and finally ordered someone to change the good tea. This made Li Zhang and Ouyang Xiu smile at each other. Although Xuanyue was a monk, her words and deeds were more like a businessman.

At that moment, Xuan Yue accompanied Li Zhang and others to chat, and Ouyang Xiu also asked about the hat demon again. Xuan Yue was very eloquent and explained in detail the previous appearance of the hat demon, and added many mysterious details, such as the storm when the hat demon appeared, and the howling of the wolf appeared in the mountains. I don’t know whether it was true or false.

Although Xuanyue told a wonderful story, it was not of much value. Ouyang Xiu also looked disappointed after hearing it. However, Li Zhang suddenly spoke: "Master Xuanyue, I think Hongfa Temple is quite simple. I think it should be an ancient temple, right?"

When Xuan Yue heard Li Zhang's words, his eyes lit up and immediately said excitedly: "This noble man is really talented. Our temple was built in the Wuzhou period of the Tang Dynasty. It is said that someone saw the colorful Buddha light at Qingfengling at that time, so a noble man invested to build this temple on the mountain. Although our temple is not very big, it has been prosperous for hundreds of years, especially recently, it has been incense. Even in Luoyang City, people often come to the temple to burn incense and fulfill their wishes!"

Seeing Xuan Yue's excited look, Li Zhang smiled calmly and said again: "I didn't expect that Hongfa Temple has such an origin. However, when I entered the temple gate just now, I found that the plaque in the temple was brand new. Could it be that there was a plaque in the temple?"

The plaque is not easily replaced. It can be painted again when it is old, but it is rarely replaced with new ones unless the old plaque is really broken and cannot be used. Some plaques can even be passed down for generations, especially in places like temples. An old plaque can sometimes highlight the heritage of the temple.

Hearing Li Zhang's inquiry, Xuan Yue's face showed a little unnatural expression, but finally explained: "To be honest, our temple was originally called Mingxin Temple. After I became the host, I felt that the name was not very good, so I changed it to Hongfa Temple, so I changed it to a new plaque."

"Mingxin Temple?" Li Zhang suddenly showed a clear expression when he heard the name, and then smiled again, "Zen Buddhism has the words of enlightenment and seeing the nature, and becoming a Buddha. If I guess correctly, Mingxin Temple should have been a temple of practice before, right?"

The temple is divided into Xiuxing Temple and Incense Temple. The so-called Xiuxing Temple means that monks in the temple dominate their practice and do not receive pilgrims in their daily lives. The Incense Temple is the temple in the hearts of most people. You can go in to burn incense and worship Buddha, collect incense money, etc.

"This..." When Xuan Yue heard Li Zhang's words, he immediately showed an embarrassing expression, but this kind of thing could not be lying at all, because the Song Dynasty was extremely strict with both Buddhist and Taoist families, and the changes in the temple were reported to the government. The two people in front of him were officials, and they would know their true feelings as soon as they checked them.

"Master Xuanyue, I still have another question here. I wonder if you changed the Xiuxing Temple to Xianghuo Temple before or after the appearance of the Hat Demon?" Li Zhang stared at Xuanyue and asked again. From the moment he arrived at Hongfa Temple, he had already doubted the temple.
Chapter completed!