Not long after the corpse was burned, Ren Qing, who finally had some free time, was called to the public hearing hall.
It was not that the body was moved out of the window in the middle of the night. It was mainly because the county magistrate ordered the government officials to be summoned, and the government officials in the entire Western District were alerted.
According to Ren Qing's understanding, such a large battle has something to do with weirdness.
The meeting hall in the Public Trial Hall is not large in area and is filled with wooden chairs. The people sitting there are all the fire workers in charge of the various blocks in Sanxiang City.
They are generally over 30 years old, and many of them have gray hair, except Ren Qing, who is less than 20 years old.
The room was silent. Ren Qing sat near the door and took the opportunity to observe everyone.
Not long after, the scribe came in with an ugly expression.
This clerk's surname is Zhao, a yamen servant in charge of the west district of the yamen, and he looks more like a shrewd businessman.
"To make a long story short, you should know something about the Eastern District Prison, right?"
Ren Qing looked around. The expressions of the other yamen servants all turned ugly. He was the only one who was confused.
Secretary Zhao continued: "It has become a restricted area. After the jailer is done with it, you will be responsible for cleaning up the prison. Five people will be sent out from each street to find some smart ones."
The government officials agreed one after another that although they did not have to take risks themselves, it would be easy to lose credibility if their subordinates died too many times.
Ren Qing shook his head helplessly. It seemed that the four people talking about the street would definitely not be able to escape.
However, he was curious, why was the prison worthy of such an effort by the Yamen, and what exactly was the so-called restricted area?
Could it be that ghosts and gods are involved...
"When you get to the prison, remember not to expose any skin on your body, and clean it thoroughly without leaving any debris."
Secretary Zhao began to speak at length, talking about precautions, but the officials listened very seriously and even lowered their heads to record.
The atmosphere in the house became increasingly depressing.
Ren Qing could clearly see the fear in the government officer's eyes.
To be honest, the total number of dead people they had come into contact with was at least a thousand, so how could they be so rude?
"Let's all go back and get ready, and let the government officials who are there explain the funeral arrangements."
Secretary Zhao waved his hand, then turned and left the meeting hall.
Not long after he left, the government officials began to talk loudly, and a conflict almost broke out. Their anxiety could be seen.
Ren Qing found a middle-aged fireman in the corner and asked, "Excuse me, what happened in the prison?"
The middle-aged fireman was stunned for a moment, and then he realized: "Oh, I have to know, it turned out to be a street talker..."
"That prison is in the East District of the Yamen. It is said that the prisoners inside are full of corpses because they killed each other. But two batches of prison guards have entered the prison in the past few days. There is not enough manpower in the East District, so we have to do it."
Ren Qing couldn't help but continue to ask: "Then what is a restricted area?"
"If there are inexplicable tragic deaths on a large scale, it will be a restricted area."
The middle-aged fireman left in a hurry after finishing speaking, as did the rest of the government officials.
Ren Qing carefully considered the scribe's words. Are those seemingly absurd rules and regulations a warning?
After returning to the Huo Gong Hall, he immediately dictated the matter to Li Mian and others.
The two Li brothers looked at each other, and Li Mian swallowed and said, "I heard the old man in the yamen say before that if you go to the restricted area, you will almost die..."
Xiao Wu was frightened and took a few steps back. Fortunately, after these few days of training, he became a little bolder, at least he did not fall directly to the ground.
Ren Qing pinched his temples and said: "We can't escape anyway, so we might as well be more prepared to avoid things going wrong."
"Okay, then just listen to the messenger."
Li Mian and the others were convinced by Ren Qingsheng, and their moods gradually calmed down.
After they had eaten and drank enough, they covered their bodies and put on two sets of thick clothes as the scribe said.
Just to be on the safe side, I also brought a short knife.
Only one pair of eyes is left to see.
Ren Qing prepared some pig eyes and wrapped them in oil paper, but he didn't worry and swallowed a few first to keep the heat in his body flowing.
While waiting uneasily, the sun is about to set below the horizon.
The sound of a gong sounded somewhere in the Yamen.
Ren Qing and the other four walked out of the yard, and he gave a final reminder: "Follow me closely. If I don't touch anything, don't make any unnecessary moves."
"I know, send someone."
Everyone looked at each other in silence and followed the guidance of the gong to a relatively open area in the west district.
A team of hundreds of government officials was ready to go.
Ren Qing found that his attire was not exaggerated, and he generally wanted to wear a suit of iron armor to save his life.
After the gathering was completed, Secretary Zhao hesitated to speak, but in the end he did not speak and turned around and walked towards the East District of the Yamen.
The policemen I met on the road stopped one after another, their eyes looking very complicated.
By the time we arrived at the cell, the moon was already high in the sky.
The cell does not look big from the outside, but in fact it is not. The building extends three floors underground and can hold thousands of prisoners.
The path leading to the cell was surrounded by officers and soldiers, and there were several guards wearing light armor and hats standing under a tree not far away.
Ren Qing stayed on one of the guards for a moment.
He met the other party when he was cleaning up blood stains a few days ago. At that time, he seemed to be holding an old human skin in his hand.
I thought it was related to certain exercises, but now it feels like I'm dealing with something strange in the cell.
Secretary Zhao shouted loudly: "Everyone, please bring out the corpse of the government servant on the second floor first, and then deal with the other corpses."
Ren Qing reviewed the details secretly, and then slowly followed the crowd into the prison.
It was extremely humid behind the iron gate, and even through two layers of turbans you could smell the strange smell of putrid smell mixed with blood.
The first floor of the prison was used by jailers to rest. Except for the traces of dragging corpses, there was nothing unusual about the rest.
But the ground floor is completely different.
I saw that the walls were covered with thick plasma, accompanied by fragments of flesh and blood, like a hell on earth...
The cells spread out side by side were empty, but deep fingernail marks could be seen on the wooden railings, showing the prisoners' pain before death.
Zaoli picked up the lime and started cleaning it, while the fireman went to the next floor.
Ren Qing clearly felt that Xiao Wu was a little nervous and his breathing became rapid.
He patted Xiao Wu's head, and the latter calmed down.
After arriving at the second underground floor, Ren Qing discovered that the bodies inside had been almost moved by the firemen who came before.
Everyone still checked it carefully to make sure nothing was missing.
Finally, the body of the dead fireman was found on the stairs leading to the lower level.
The body was in a twisted shape, its clothes were in tatters, and its expression was filled with fear.
Ren Qing speculated that these pyrotechnics should have escaped from the third floor underground, and did not know what they encountered.
Everyone cooperated to move the body away. At this moment, something as big as a palm flashed past the stairs.
Only Ren Qing noticed it. It seemed like a broken human skin?