Seeking Truth with a Sword-Chapter 710 - 640: Dog Corpse

The release of the two proclamations officially declared the last possibility of peace gone, vanished like smoke and clouds.

The ultimate outcome would either be All Nations’ troops flattening the Central Plains and burning down every inch of the Academic Palace, or Yu Country’s army charging thousands of miles to capture every city along the way.

From a comparison of overall strengths, the former was far more likely than the latter. This also led to the spread of rumors and chaos.

"Let go! What are you doing? Let go!"

In the evening, in Xuanyang Square of Chang’an City, a middle-aged scholar was dragged out of his house by several men.

He shouted loudly, seeking help from familiar neighbors, but no one dared to step forward. The men wore plain leather armor with no insignia; the broadswords at their waists and the crossbows on their backs clearly identified them as lapdogs of the court.

The middle-aged scholar, with his arms seized and dragged backward, struggled ceaselessly and shouted with his head held high, "I am a scholar who graduated from the Imperial College in the third year of Shangyuan, with titles to my name! By what right do you arrest people in the street? Is there no king’s law? Is there no Yu Law?!"

SMACK!

After a loud slap, the middle-aged scholar spat out several teeth. His eyes lost focus, and his consciousness dissipated as he was dragged onto a dark carriage.

The young sergeant who hit him wiped the blood off the back of his hand emotionlessly, patted the carriage, and signaled for it to drive away.

RUMBLE.

The carriage wheels turned, and the dark carriage headed south, disappearing around the corner. The onlooking neighbors dispersed with rigid expressions, pretending that nothing had happened.

...

Under the banyan tree in Pingkang Square, just a street away, Wannian County arrest officer Wu Shiqi watched the scene, smacking his lips.

A young, naive-looking constable beside him muttered softly, "Where did these people come from? They’re too arrogant, completely unrestrained."

An older constable said, "Judging from the accent, they seem to be from the Anbei Protectorate’s border army. As for whom they serve," he chuckled, "well..."

The Government Officials exchanged glances and then shut their mouths, knowing better than to speak.

A few days ago, the Emperor, the Empress, and several courtiers had left Chang’an City in a grand procession stretching ten miles long, heading to Mount Tai for a sacrificial rite. Chang’an, meanwhile, was left to the Crown Prince to supervise the state, assisted by Minister of the Secretariat Xue Ji.

Not long after the royal departure, a group of leather-armored sergeants appeared in Chang’an City. These men, nominally under the Ministry of Justice, acted with impunity, arresting people everywhere.

Those arrested had mostly expressed unique opinions: either sympathizing with Haotian believers, suggesting that Yu Country should trade the Academic Palace for the withdrawal of troops from Taihao Mountain, or advocating for recognizing the disparity in strength between the two sides and seeking peace.

Anyone who publicly questioned the "Condemnation of All Nations" or the Emperor’s decisions would be found and arrested by the leather-armored sergeants. This applied to court officials, old scholars, young scholars, and common folk alike.

Charged with the crime of treason, they were thrown into the Ministry of Justice Prison to await further action.

The rumors and gossip in Chang’an City were indeed swiftly suppressed under these draconian measures, but not without instances of injustice.

Now promoted to the head of Wannian County officers, Wu Shiqi didn’t know whether this situation was good or bad, nor did he have the power to change it.

Let’s just focus on our own work. Wu Shiqi shook his head, signaled his subordinates to follow, and proceeded towards their destination.

They walked through shaded paths and narrow alleys, arriving inside Xinghua Square where a group of citizens had already been waiting by a well for a long time.

"Is this the well?"

Wu Shiqi looked the well over from top to bottom—the stone well mouth was about an arm’s width across and had already been sealed with a stone slab, with a wooden windlass installed on top of it.

"Yes." 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

The local official managing the square nodded and repeated the statement from yesterday’s report to Wannian County. "This well is shared by the southern part of Xinghua Square. Usually, it’s normal. However, recently, it suddenly started to emit a foul smell. The water turned yellow and bitter, making it undrinkable, and it had things resembling hair mixed in. According to Old Lady Huang, just the night before last, she even saw a demon at the bottom of the well."

"Demon?"

Wu Shiqi raised his eyebrows. This sounded like a job for the garrison. Why come to the county government?

It was only after he met Old Lady Huang that Wu Shiqi understood what was going on.

The elderly lady, in her dotage, had to walk with the support of a cane. Not only was her eyesight failing, but her speech was also all over the place. She claimed she had seen a demon’s eye at the bottom of the well, an amber color, about the size of a lantern.

Before she could get a clear look, it suddenly vanished.

Are you sure it wasn’t the moon...

Wu Shiqi silently scoffed, finding Old Lady Huang’s words unreliable. No wonder the locals didn’t go to the garrison first.

He sighed and instructed his subordinates to push aside the stone slab covering the well.

CRACK—

After the stone slab was pushed aside, a faint foul odor indeed emanated from the well.

Wu Shiqi leaned over the well rim, observing the water surface for a long time. He saw nothing unusual. He then had his subordinates fetch a rope, tie it around his waist, and slowly lower him down along the well wall.

The well walls were smooth and damp, not a bit of moss in sight.

Wu Shiqi stepped down the well walls. When he was close to the bottom, he silently drew his long knife and plunged it into the water, stirring tentatively.

One circle, two circles, three circles.

BANG.

The knife blade touched something hard, and Wu Shiqi’s expression changed slightly. Gripping a protruding bluestone on the well wall with his left hand for leverage, he tightened his right hand on the knife handle and forcefully lifted. He pulled a rotting carcass of a medium-sized dog from the water.

RETCH—

The unbearable stench made his throat itch, and he instinctively retched, quickly pinching his nose and shouting upwards for his subordinates to lower a bucket.

The constables on the ground clumsily lowered the bucket. Wu Shiqi scooped the dog’s carcass into the bucket and then, pulling the rope, climbed back to the surface. He then had the dog’s carcass hauled up as well.

"Probably someone’s dog accidentally fell in, or maybe some heartless, lazy person couldn’t be bothered to bury their diseased dog and just threw it into the well. Hey, everyone come over and identify it!"

The Alley Chief scolded briefly and called over the neighbors to identify the dog’s corpse while arranging for someone to bring clean clothes for Wu Shiqi to change into.

"Brother Seventeen, something’s not right."

A young constable noticed something, his expression changing slightly, and Wu Shiqi also sensed the peculiarity.

The retrieved dog carcass had its abdomen seemingly gnawed by some wild animal; it was nearly severed, held together only by its rib cage. The dog had a slender neck and limbs, with pure black fur, much like... the fine dogs frequently used by the garrison.

Impossible.

Every fine dog in Yu Country was bred by the Zhong Family of the garrison. These dogs held military status within the garrison and received even more allocated funds for meals than regular soldiers. If one went missing, a search would be initiated.

How could it have died so inexplicably in a square’s well? Unless... this wasn’t a garrison dog.

Wu Shiqi had a peculiar expression as he instantly recalled a rumor he had heard recently.

The Zhong Family of the garrison had lost one of their most excellent stud dogs, said to be able to distinguish as many as a hundred thousand scents.