Chapter 9: The Enigma of Seigen Temple

He was slightly taken aback, quietly reviewing his memories—nothing seemed amiss yesterday, did it?
Why had she come again?
Indeed, though the little car bore no distinguishing features, Lin Xiaosu’s extraordinary eye for detail could not be deceived. Through the glass window, he immediately recognized the driver as the female officer Zhou Mei from the day before.
Zhou Mei pulled off a beautiful drift, stopping right outside Lin Xiaosu’s gate. She and another woman got out simultaneously, approaching the entrance.
Lin Xiaosu glanced over the newcomer, his heart giving a slight jolt—there were so many incongruities about her…
But his gaze only lingered briefly before settling on Zhou Mei’s face. “Officer Zhou, do you still suspect me? Come here specially to arrest me?”
“Yes!” Zhou Mei replied with a stern face. “We analyzed things all night and feel there’s something very suspicious about you. So, we’d like to invite you to the station for a bowl of noodles…”
“Don’t you usually say ‘come to the station for tea’ when you’re arresting someone? Why noodles?” Lin Xiaosu frowned.
Zhou Mei burst out laughing. “You’re still concerned about the difference between tea and noodles? Clearly, you haven’t done anything wrong.”
“I haven’t done anything wrong to begin with.”
“Well then… may we come in for a cup of tea?” Zhou Mei asked.
Lin Xiaosu opened the gate…
The two women entered side by side. Lin Xiaosu emerged from within, teapot in hand, catching the gaze of the new beauty. Her expression was peculiar—immaculately clean and profoundly deep, wholly unlike a woman who lived in the mundane world.
“Is this lady also an officer?” Lin Xiaosu poured her a cup of tea first.
Zhou Mei smiled. “You’re in luck. This is my superior, Officer Chang from the provincial department.”
“Chang Ye,” said the woman, uttering her name quietly, her voice serene and clear.
“Welcome, officers!” Lin Xiaosu smiled. “Is there something you need from me?”
Zhou Mei glanced at Chang Ye…
Chang Ye spoke. “Mr. Lin, your investigative methods yesterday were astonishing. I came today first to thank you personally, and second, there is another case I’d like your help with.”
“No need for thanks. If it hadn’t involved my friend’s martial arts gym, I wouldn’t have gotten involved in police matters. As for another case… I really don’t have time, to be honest. I’m currently preparing for the civil service exam, and my schedule is tight.”
Zhou Mei said, “Hey, helping the police is every citizen’s…”
Chang Ye gently raised her hand, stopping Zhou Mei’s slogan-like words. “We saw your mother on the way here. She was carrying vegetables to the market to sell.”
“Exactly. I haven’t even helped my mother sell vegetables, letting her toil like this—it shows I truly have no time,” Lin Xiaosu replied.
“Selling vegetables is for the family’s livelihood. You could help ease her burden. If you help me with this matter, I’ll pay you!”

Lin Xiaosu was stunned.
Zhou Mei was equally astonished.
Was the provincial department’s leader really so forthright in handling cases?
She, of course, had no idea about Chang Ye’s true identity—Chang Ye had instructed the director not to reveal it.
Chang Ye smiled at Lin Xiaosu, her smile as gentle as an orchid blooming in the silent night. “I’ve seen the look in your eyes! Ten thousand yuan, already transferred to your account.”
Ding!
At that moment, Lin Xiaosu’s phone chimed. He checked and found a message: Your bank card (ending in ****) has received a transfer of 10,000.00 yuan…
Lin Xiaosu’s heart was conflicted.
Having revealed his special abilities yesterday, he was still somewhat anxious inside.
It was fine facing Zhou Mei, but Chang Ye made him uneasy. He felt this beautiful yet otherworldly policewoman before him was no ordinary person. How did he know?
Even without his sixth sense, her attention to certain details stood out—she knew his mother, and without asking his bank card number, managed to transfer funds accurately.
This all pointed to a precise investigation of him—not a good sign…
He truly didn’t want to get involved with her affairs.
But she paid too much!
Well, for a month’s civil servant salary, he’d do it.
“Officer Chang’s style… shows real sincerity!” Lin Xiaosu sighed softly. “Tell me, what’s the case?”
Chang Ye explained…
Zhou Mei was dumbfounded.
Her superiors had told her to accompany Officer Chang from the provincial department, but hadn’t mentioned it was for this? What could possibly come from this case? It was a typical accident, not a case at all.
Lin Xiaosu was also surprised…
Four days ago, at Qingyuan Temple on Tashan, in a secluded meditation room, a scholar who had lived there many years suddenly died from a cerebral hemorrhage. The door was locked from inside, the body showed no wounds, everything matched the symptoms of a cerebral hemorrhage. The doctors concluded it was sudden, but Chang Ye insisted he investigate this headless case…
“I’d like to know… why you believe his death is suspicious?” Lin Xiaosu frowned.
“Because he once told me, ‘I will not die before my aspirations are fulfilled!’” When Chang Ye spoke these words, her expression was filled with sorrow.
“A lofty vow, ‘I will not die before my aspirations are fulfilled,’ but how many deaths in this world are truly voluntary?”

“No matter what, I want to try!” Chang Ye said. “Go to that meditation room, use your method for sensing traces, or your method from the Widow Feng’s bathing case, find every suspicious clue in the room. That counts as completing the task. Even if you find nothing, as long as you try your best, it will be enough.”
“The body is already gone, isn’t it?”
“Yes.”
An empty room, someone died there four days ago. Chasing clues now would be a mere formality for most. But after thinking for a moment, Lin Xiaosu nodded lightly, “Let’s go!”
The little car sped out of Old Tashan Village.
The villagers were not disturbed.
After a few twists and turns, they arrived on the other side of Tashan.
Tashan was a mountain separating the county town from Old Tashan Village, and the view differed completely depending on perspective.
From the village side, it was a pristine mountain, with cliffs, forests, and an ancient Daoist temple, Liulin Temple, long in disrepair.
From the county side, at the foot of the mountain were children’s playgrounds, the beautiful and tranquil Tashan Lake, the ever-developing Tashan Park; within the mountain was Qingyuan Temple, and at the summit, a TV relay tower and a meteorological station.
Such a place was the ideal weekend retreat for the town’s 160,000 residents, and so, with new facilities added every year, this side of Tashan gradually blended people and nature ever more deeply.
Qingyuan Temple was an ancient, flourishing temple—how prosperous? A financial tale illustrates it: several county banks vied for the temple’s account, exhausting their strategies. Since their client was a monk, gifts of money, liquor, or women were inappropriate. One bank found a clever solution: their office manager retired early to join the Buddhist association as secretary, thus forging a link to Qingyuan Temple and winning the account with tens of millions in annual transactions. Everyone said, “A winding path leads to a secluded place, where the meditation chamber blooms with flowers”—an old poem, given a modern twist, now a banking legend.
Qingyuan Temple has been open in recent years.
Its main openness is to certain scholars.
Tashan’s plant life is rich, with many specimens extinct elsewhere or hard to find. So, agricultural universities and research teams sent people to reside here, collecting plant samples for various studies.
Their target was just such a person.
His name was Qu Taiqing, an old scholar from a research team, resident for eight years, virtually invisible. Even his sudden death from cerebral hemorrhage in the meditation room scarcely made an impact.
Led by an old monk, they arrived at the temple’s rear meditation quarters—a secluded chamber, the one Qu Taiqing had occupied.
The door opened, revealing little inside: some basic furniture, a censer, a grand chair, a bed, and a few Buddhist scriptures on the table.
Chang Ye explained at the door that originally there had been research materials and plant specimens, but those had been removed. All unrelated items remained in place, and since the incident, only authorized personnel entered, all wearing protective clothing to ensure not a trace was left behind.
Her implication: you may enter and sniff for traces. If you find any scent beyond that left by Qu Taiqing, that person is the suspect.