Xia Yonglin seemed to have anticipated that Shen Qingfeng and the others would secretly revisit the Golden Summit Temple. The temple, half - destroyed by the avalanche, was heavily guarded. They searched for a long time but couldn't find a way to sneak in. Finally, Shen Qingfeng asked Yu Shuang to knock out two guards who had gone out to relieve themselves. They stripped the guards of their clothes and Shen Qingfeng and Lu Yan put them on. Shen Qingfeng then told Yu Shuang and Xu Ruhui to create a diversion while they took the opportunity to sneak in.
Inside the Golden Summit Temple, the guards of the Sikuo Tower were patrolling back and forth. But because it was so dark and this was the time when people were the sleepiest, the two of them walked in with their heads down and surprisingly weren't noticed.
Following the route in his memory, Shen Qingfeng led Lu Yan to the part where the golden statue had collapsed.
The snow that had completely buried the broken upper half of the golden statue due to the avalanche was being cleared. Two guards on duty were yawning as they shoveled the snow. Shen Qingfeng and Lu Yan exchanged a look and quietly circled behind the statue when the two guards weren't paying attention. Fortunately, the snow on the still - standing lower half of the statue hadn't been cleared yet. When they got behind the statue, they didn't see any guards.
It seemed that most of the Sikuo Tower guards had been stationed around the Golden Summit Temple to keep watch. Shen Qingfeng let out a long sigh of relief, calmed himself down, and crouched down to observe carefully.
He remembered very clearly that the fire had started burning from the lower part behind the golden statue. This meant that there must be something here that could be used to start the fire.
Since they dared not light a lamp, Shen Qingfeng had to lie on the ground to look for clues in the dim moonlight. Lu Yan stood behind Shen Qingfeng, using his tall figure to shield Shen Qingfeng from view, his eagle - like eyes warily scanning the surroundings.
The statue of Xingtian had burned very quickly. The flames had spread from its back in just the time it took to drink a cup of tea. This meant that at least the entire back of the golden statue had been coated with a flammable substance. And the avalanche had occurred while the statue was burning, which meant that the flammable substance might not have completely burned out.
Without hesitation, Shen Qingfeng picked a spot and started digging the snow with his bare hands. He was in poor health and started gasping for breath after just a few shovels. Seeing this, Lu Yan quickly ran over to help him. Soon, they had dug a deep pit and touched the ice - cold statue of Xingtian that had been buried in the snow for a long time. Shen Qingfeng crawled in, reached out his hand to feel the statue, and then brought his hand to his nose to smell it.
It was pungent, obviously the smell of sulfur, with a faint smell of saltpeter.
Shen Qingfeng frowned. He looked at the black stain on his hand and then held it out for Lu Yan to smell. Lu Yan sniffed it, and the two exchanged a look, both realizing something was wrong.
Shen Qingfeng lowered his voice and said, "Sulfur and saltpeter are indeed used in normal sacrificial procedures to make sacrificial pills, but..."
Lu Yan looked at Shen Qingfeng and understood, "One part saltpeter, two parts sulfur, and three parts charcoal. Just having saltpeter and sulfur won't be enough to start a fire. Charcoal is also needed."
"There should be some that didn't burn here. There are still remnants of this black charcoal ash." Shen Qingfeng said, "But all the items transported here were directly sent from the Bian Palace. I've read the transportation records from that time, and there was no option for charcoal."
Lu Yan asked, "Could it have been stored in the Golden Summit Temple from the very beginning?"
"Impossible." Shen Qingfeng said, "The Golden Summit Temple is only opened once a year. No one is allowed to enter at other times. Moreover, the high - ranking monk in the temple is highly respected and over a hundred years old. Even if King Xia Jie insisted, he wouldn't take it seriously."
Lu Yan thought for a while, then dug a bit further in another direction along the hole they had already dug. He felt around, brought his hand up to smell the black stain on it, and said, "There's this smell here too."
Seeing this, Shen Qingfeng also imitated Lu Yan's way and changed to another spot. He lay down and dug another snow pit, grabbed a handful of snow, looked at it, and said, "This part hasn't been burned yet."
Lu Yan leaned over. Seeing that there was no black color on Shen Qingfeng's hand, he sniffed it and said, "There's still the smell of saltpeter and sulfur. Is it because the charcoal ash wasn't applied here, so it didn't burn?"
Shen Qingfeng nodded, "It's very likely. They probably didn't have time to apply the charcoal ash here. Maybe because the statue of Xingtian was big and there wasn't enough time."
Shen Qingfeng looked around, roughly measured the area, and then said, "There's a certain amount of space behind the golden statue. The person who did this took advantage of the large crowd during the sacrifice and came behind the statue of Xingtian to operate. Everyone's attention was on Xia Chuli during the sacrifice, so no one would notice this. He could even escape in the chaos after the golden statue started burning."
"So it mainly comes down to the source of the raw materials. Where did the charcoal come from?" Lu Yan paused for a moment and then asked, "Is there a record of what was transported into the Golden Summit Temple at that time?"
Shen Qingfeng said, "There is a record, in the Divination Hall."
Lu Yan asked again, "Should we go and check if there are any loopholes?"
"Okay." Shen Qingfeng nodded. There was still an hour until the court session. They had to find evidence as soon as possible.
Shen Qingfeng scooped up a little of the burned and unburned coating from the snow holes they had dug. He took out two cloth bags from his bosom, put the samples in them, and then put the bags back in his bosom. He said, "We have to hurry."
Lu Yan nodded. The two of them pretended to go out to relieve themselves, avoided the patrolling guards, and slipped out again under the cover of night.
This operation was relatively smooth. Lu Yan and Shen Qingfeng quickly met up with Yu Shuang and Xu Ruhui. They changed back into their own clothes, put the guards' clothes back on the two guards, and asked Yu Shuang and Xu Ruhui to take the two guards back to the Dingbei Marquis Mansion and detain them to prevent them from leaking information.
Yu Shuang glanced at Shen Qingfeng and pointed to a side, "My lord, just now I noticed that they were throwing the snow cleared from the golden statue off the cliff over there."
Xu Ruhui was unhappy when he heard this, "What do you mean you noticed! It was clearly the two of us who noticed together, okay?"
Yu Shuang ignored him.
"Naturally. The snow is sticky with the flammable substance. They're destroying evidence." Shen Qingfeng thought for a while and asked, "How high is that cliff?"
Yu Shuang said, "It's not very high."
Shen Qingfeng said, "If possible, go and check under the cliff later. The snow that was thrown down should be sticky with saltpeter powder and sulfur. You must protect it well. This is important evidence."
Yu Shuang understood and said, "Yes, my lord."
"I'll go with you." Xu Ruhui moved closer to Yu Shuang.
Yu Shuang's face stiffened. She quietly took a step to the side and pursed her lips without answering.
Hearing this, Shen Qingfeng said, "That's fine. You two go together. You can look out for each other in case something happens."
Yu Shuang's face clearly fell.
Lu Yan looked at the sky, frowned, and said, "We should go."
Shen Qingfeng nodded, took a deep breath, and said, "Okay."