Xuan Yue was the first person to use Kongming lanterns to pretend to be a hat demon. His purpose was also very simple. He was nothing more than to create a name for Hongfa Temple, thereby increasing the incense in the temple. Moreover, he was very brave. After only once, he found rumors about the hat demons in Luoyang City, and immediately burned the Kongming lanterns he made. As for the so-called hat demons that appeared in Luoyang City later, it had nothing to do with Xuan Yue.

After interrogating Xuanyue, Li Zhang believed that he should not have lie. In addition, he also investigated Xuanyue clearly. This person was a wealthy host and did not have that much energy or ambition at all. In other words, it is very likely that someone learned about Xuanyue’s trick of reappearing the hat demon, so he learned this trick in order to achieve his unspeakable purpose. After all, Li Zhang had vaguely guessed before that the so-called hat demon could be impersonated by Kongming lanterns, and others could also guess it.

Xuan Yue and others were detained. Although they were the real murderers behind the scenes, they were the initiators of the Hat Demon case and would also be severely punished. Even Xuan Yue was likely to be in danger. However, before he was detained, Li Zhang asked him to recreate a Kongming lantern that pretended to be a Hat Demon.

The Kongming lantern made by Xuanyue is very big, almost half a house is big. The main body is made of bamboo, with tough paper on the batter outside, and there are holes to place fuel. In fact, it is an enlarged Kongming lantern, and a rope is tied below, which is convenient for retraction, so as not to be discovered by someone else. His trick will be exposed.

"Is this the so-called hat demon?" Qian Weiyan and others were also invited over. When they saw this huge Kongming lantern, they couldn't help but hold their foreheads and smiled bitterly. They never dreamed that they were fooled by a Kongming lantern. Of course, they couldn't blame them. After all, they had preconceived ideas. The hat demon was so fierce before, so no one thought about this before.

"I have asked someone to escort Xuanyue to the capital for disposal, but this Kongming lantern can be made more, and then I will be pulled to the city and let the people fly around, so that the people can see the so-called hat demon with their own eyes to calm the people's hearts!" Li Zhang said with a smile at this time.

"It's reasonable, I'll let someone prepare!" Qian Weiyan was also very happy when he heard Li Zhang's words. Although Monk Xuanyue was not the mastermind, with this Kongming lantern, the people in the city could see the true face of the so-called hat demon. It would probably calm the rumors in the city.

After Qian Weiyan ordered someone to imitate Kongming lanterns, he asked Li Zhang again: "Nephew, although Xuan Yue has caught him, according to your statement, there are other people in the city who are manipulating him. How do you plan to find these people next?"

"In fact, this matter is not difficult. Apart from Xuan Yue, the so-called hat monsters behind them have only one purpose, that is, to disrupt the people's hearts and make profits from it. This profit may be a property or other things. So as long as you investigate carefully, it should not be particularly difficult to find the person behind the scenes!" Li Zhang said confidently at the moment.

But to be honest, Li Zhang was still a little disappointed deep down because he came to Luoyang mainly to see if the hat demon was the legendary UFO, but now he found that the so-called hat demon was just Kong Minglan, and there was only someone behind it, which made Li Zhang feel distracted.

"Okay, then I'll trouble you for this matter. If you need anything, please mention it. I will let the yamen below cooperate with you!" Qian Weiyan immediately patted his chest and promised. At the same time, he admired Li Zhang, the nephew. The hat demon made their entire Luoyang officialdom awkward, but Li Zhang just came and found the truth about the hat demon. Next, he just needed to find out the real murderer behind the scenes.

Li Zhang was not polite when Qian Weiyan said this. He immediately told the matter he needed to investigate. Many of them required a lot of manpower and material resources, and they also needed to be familiar with Luoyang City. These were all subject to local officials in Luoyang. Qian Weiyan did not refuse this and directly invited some officials from the yamen to discuss, and then allocated the matter.

Three days later, more than a dozen Kongming lanterns in the shape of hats were imitated. Qian Weiyan asked someone to pull Kongming lanterns to demonstrate in various places in the city to break the people's fear of hat monsters. The effect is surprisingly good. After all, when he learned that the hat monster was manipulated, not a monster, the rumors would be self-defeating, and the people naturally had nothing to fear.

At the same time, the yamen in the city were loose on the outside and tight on the inside, and there were plainclothes yamen runners, messengers, secret lines, etc. everywhere collecting the news that Li Zhang needed. With this news, combined with the location where the hat demon appeared in the past, Li Zhang slowly came up with a clue.

"Guanghua Temple, Wuliang Temple, these two places are quite interesting!" Li Zhang drew a circle on a map, then pointed to the center and said with a smile. He just marked all the places where the hat demons appeared on the map, and in the center of this range, there was a temple and a Taoist temple.

Li Zhang has read many detective novels. Among the types of serial killers, there is a type called domain-type serial killers, which means that they will commit crimes in an area, and this area is generally centered on their residence or workplace, which is also a psychological characteristic that most people have. Therefore, Li Zhang started from this point and drew the central area of ​​the hat demon appearance area, and in this central area, two doubtful targets appeared.

Of course, the central area is just a rough area. In addition to Guanghua Temple and Wuliang Temple, there are many other buildings. However, after the news collected during this period, after the appearance of the Hat Monster, Guanghua Temple and Wuliang Temple were particularly active, and they all claimed that they could subdue the Hat Monster. The monks and Taoists in these two places also performed rituals everywhere in the city, gathering believers and property. It can be said that in just a few months when the Hat Monster appeared, the property they restrained exceeded their income in the past few years.

With two doubtful targets, Li Zhang immediately decided to go there himself. At that moment, he found Ouyang Xiu, and then left the residence with his wild dog and his entourage.

Although Luoyang City has been through several wars, it generally still maintains the structure of the market in the Tang Dynasty. The walls of the past can occasionally be seen in the streets. However, because of the development of commerce in the Song Dynasty, the boundary between commerce has almost been in name only, and business is no longer limited to the four cities in the east, west, south, north and north. Yes, Luoyang not only has East and West, but also South and North, but it has long since declined, and commerce has also spread throughout Luoyang City.

The Luoshui divides Luoyang City into two parts, north and south. The imperial city in the Tang Dynasty was also located north of Luoshui, so the northern part of Luoshui has always been the political center of Luoyang. Most of the yamen at all levels such as the left-behind mansion are located in the north of the city, and the area in the south of the city is larger, it is also the main residential area in the city and the area with the most prosperous business.

Li Zhang and his group walked through Luoshui to a place called Sishunfang in the south of the city. To the east of Sishunfang is the former Nanshi. Nanshi is also the largest yard in Luoyang City in the past and the former commercial and economic center. Although it has declined a lot now, it is also a commercial center. Therefore, several yards around Nanshi have also been affected. Business is also very prosperous and the people are generally rich.

The central area designated by Li Zhang is located in the north of Sishunfang. Guanghua Temple and Wuliang Temple are located here. It is interesting to say that this Buddhist path is across the street. Moreover, according to information obtained by Li Zhang, these two families were enemies decades ago. In order to compete for believers, the two sides even fought to kill several people, which almost lost all the faces of the monks.

The Song Dynasty still had very strict control over religion, especially the establishment of the Buddhist and Taoist Records Department, which specialized in managing religious matters and strictly restricted the number of monks and Taoists, so the power of the Buddhist and Taoist religions was far less than before.
Chapter completed!