67: Dazhuang Village

"Why are you so late?"

"Did you oversleep?"

Han Yi arrived at the west city gate, only to be surprised to find Qian Xue and Bai Sanren already standing there, seemingly having waited for a long time.

It was just dawn at this time, with the morning dew still wet.

He felt he had woken up early, but he didn't expect these two to be even more proactive than him.

"Hahaha, Xiao Han, you don't know," Bai Sanren shook his head, looking helpless, "Isn't this her first time going out on a mission? Xiao Qian Xue was so excited she didn't sleep all night yesterday..."

"She's just tossing and turning my old bones!"

As he spoke, Bai Sanren gently tapped Qian Xue's forehead, but a hint of doting could be seen in his eyes.

"Uh..."

"It hurts!"

Bai Sanren, isn't your behavior as a bodyguard a bit out of line... Han Yi muttered inwardly.

"Alright, let's go quickly." Han Yi quickly stopped Qian Xue's futile counterattack.

At the west gate at this time, people gradually increased. At the entrance, many farmers were already carrying melons and fruits, and pushing carts loaded with vegetables, queuing to enter the city.

There were also a few wealthy families in carriages, dressed in brocade robes, walking out from inside the gate, seemingly going out to discuss some big business.

The poor common people were dressed in rags, wearing coarse homespun cloth, forming a stark contrast with the Young Masters and young ladies dressed in light gauze and silk.

Dazhuang Village is five li west of An Yan City. All three were Martial Artists with extremely fast footwork. After a short while, they walked off the main road, and the surrounding farmland and fields began to increase.

Soon, the three of them arrived on a small hillside.

Below the hillside, Dazhuang Village was reached.

But even though it was clearly early morning, there were few figures moving below, only the occasional sound of chickens crowing and dogs barking.

At the entrance of the village, several rows of weeping willows were planted haphazardly by the roadside. The trees were gloomy, the willow branches hung down like messy hair, and the willow leaves emitted a chilling pale green color, swaying constantly despite only a gentle morning breeze.

The three looked at each other, but Bai Sanren was experienced.

He beckoned a villager from the roadside and asked him to find the village chief.

The villager saw that these three had extraordinary bearing, unlike ordinary people. The young man in the middle looked good, but the large sword on his back, like a door panel, looked terrifying!

He didn't know where these fierce people came from!

Did the village chief commit some crime? The villager muttered to himself.

The three of them waited for a moment, and a small old man with a cane and a slightly hunched back walked out.

Han Yi glanced at the small old man; he was also an ordinary person.

"My old name is Zhang, and I humbly serve as the chief of Dazhuang Village." The chief seemed to have seen a bit of the world, speaking neither subserviently nor arrogantly, "Three Lords, may I ask what brings you to my small village?"

The three exchanged glances, and Han Yi still took a step forward, walking up to the village chief.

He cupped his hands: "Chief Zhang, I heard there are wild dogs crying at the graves here? Is this true?"

"Yes, yes!"

Upon hearing this, Chief Zhang immediately became agitated, waving his cane, and his back seemed to straighten instantly.

It turned out that on the north side of Dazhuang Village, there was a grave area, considered by the villagers as the customary burial ground.

It had always been fine, and normally the village would raise money every year to invite monks or Taoists to perform rituals.

But out of nowhere, a pack of wild dogs appeared for some unknown reason, running wild in the graveyard in broad daylight, and what was even more abominable was.

This pack of wild dogs even dug up the coffins within the burial area, breaking them open and exposing the corpses. New, old, damaged, broken, skeletons, coffins, and straw mats were scattered everywhere!

Speaking of this matter, Chief Zhang's mouth frothed and his eyes were red, clearly furious. Looking at him, he seemed to wish he could skin these wild dogs and eat their flesh.

Han Yi could also understand his feelings. After all, no matter what world it is, filial piety is the foremost of all virtues. If one's ancestral graves were desecrated, with bones exposed and gnawed by wild dogs, probably no one could accept it!

"But, didn't you try to eliminate this pack of wild dogs?"

"Lord, we first reported it to the officials, but those Masters in the government only eat without doing anything!"

"Lord, we also organized militia, wanting to kill this pack of wild dogs, but who knew..." Chief Zhang sighed deeply.

"That pack of wild dogs would run when they saw many of us. We couldn't chase them down, and couldn't hit them with bows and arrows. Even if we hit them, that pack of wild dogs had no reaction at all..."

"But when there were few people, that pack of wild dogs dared to come up and bite people. Wang Erniang's son was chased by wild dogs when he passed by that graveyard during the day. Fortunately, it was close to the village, and dozens of villagers came out to drive that pack of wild dogs away.

"Later, we reported it to the officials again, but those Masters in the County Yamen didn't even come to investigate, there was no movement at all, they just ate without doing anything!"

"Hm?" Bai Sanren snorted through his nose. They were now also working for the government.

"Of course, I'm talking about those corrupt officials, not you three Lords." The chief shrank his neck and gave an awkward smile.

He continued: "After that, the village was also in a state of panic because of this matter, unable to live peacefully. Those with connections went to live in An Yan City, or went to stay with relatives. Now, in Dazhuang Village, only a dozen or so households of the old, weak, sick, and disabled, who are attached to their homeland, are still here, and no one is bothering with the wild dogs anymore..."

Chief Zhang sighed deeply, his tone filled with weariness.

"Chief, before the wild dogs cried at the graves, were there any strange or unusual occurrences in Dazhuang Village?"

After hearing the words of the chief of Dazhuang Village, the three discussed in low voices for a while, and it was still Han Yi who spoke up to ask.

"The village is still the same as usual. Even if there are things happening, they are just happy or sad events, like weddings, funerals, etc..."

"To be more specific, it's just that Old Wang's son married a new bride and the villagers went to his house for the wedding feast, and Old Li's wife caught a cold on the way back after going to An Yan City and fell ill, never recovering..."

The chief started rambling, counting on his fingers, but all he talked about was nothing more than gossip about the Zhang family and the Li family.

At first, the three could still listen patiently and carefully, trying to find some clues from it. After all, the mission requirements stated that if they could investigate the reason for the wild dogs' abnormality, the reward would be much more generous than simply clearing out the wild dogs!

"Alright, alright, old man, stop talking!"

Qian Xue was the first to lose patience. She covered her ears with her hands, shaking her head wildly like a rattle-drum, just like Sun Wukong hearing the Golden Fillet Spell, her face filled with annoyance.

"Thank you, Chief. We'll go take a look at the graveyard in the village first."

Han Yi held down Qian Xue's restless little head.

"The graveyard is on the north side of Dazhuang Village. There's a small patch of woods there, it's easy to find. Three Lords, please help us solve this problem with the pack of wild dogs!"

The chief respectfully bowed deeply.