102: Chapter 102 Missing

The courtyard was a mess.

A large water vat had been overturned, and water flowed all over the ground.

Right next to the water vat, a large black-furred dog was pinning Aunt Wang's young grandson to the ground. Although the dog's size wasn't as exaggerated as the one in the alley just now, it was still a circle larger than an average local dog, and its eyes were just as terrifyingly red.

It opened its wide maw, its fangs lunging toward the child's throat to bite down.

Aunt Wang was paralyzed with fear at the doorway, her mouth agape, unable to make a single sound.

"You're looking for death!"

While Chen Mo was still in mid-air, the saber in his hand had already flown out.

The blade's light was like lightning.

Thud!

The long saber accurately pierced the vicious dog's neck. The immense force sent the dog's body flying sideways, pinning it firmly to the courtyard wall.

The vicious dog's limbs twitched a few times before it stopped moving.

The child was scared witless, lying in the mud and water, even forgetting to cry.

Chen Mo landed, walked over, and pulled out the saber.

Blood flowed down through the cracks in the wall.

It was this kind of dog again.

Large size, red eyes, biting people on sight, completely devoid of pain or fear.

Only then did Aunt Wang react. She scrambled over and scooped up her grandson, wailing loudly, "My dear grandson! This damned beast!"

Chen Mo ignored her cries.

He squatted down and examined the dead dog.

The teeth were abnormally sharp, and the claws were a section longer than those of an ordinary dog. It was like... a mutation.

"Have there been many of these mad dogs lately?" Chen Mo stood up and asked.

Aunt Wang was crying with snot and tears. Hearing Chen Mo's question, she nodded tremblingly, "Many... so many! Old Head Li from the front street had his leg bitten off yesterday! What a sin, life just can't go on like this!"

Chen Mo wiped his blade, his brow furrowed into a deep frown.

Something was wrong.

Something was about to happen in this Pingyang City.

...

That night, Chen Mo did not sleep soundly.

His dreams were filled with red-eyed dogs and those pups crazily devouring corpses.

Just as dawn broke the next day, the courtyard gate was pounded upon with a thunderous noise.

"Brother Mo! Brother Mo, save us!"

The voice carried a sob, sounding elderly and desperate.

Chen Mo rolled out of bed, threw on some clothes, and opened the door.

Someone was kneeling at the door.

It was Uncle Zhang.

The old man seemed to have aged ten years overnight. His hair was as messy as a clump of withered grass, his eye sockets were sunken, and his clothes were covered in mud spots.

"Uncle Zhang, stand up and speak."

Chen Mo reached out to help him.

Uncle Zhang gripped Chen Mo's wrist tightly with surprising strength, his nails digging into the flesh. "Gone... they're all gone..."

"Who's gone?" Chen Mo's heart skipped a beat.

"Little Grass... and my Da Ya..." Uncle Zhang was shaking all over, tears streaming down his wrinkled face. "They went out to buy needle and thread the day before yesterday afternoon and never came back... I've been searching the city for a day and a night! There's not even a shadow of them!"

Little Grass.

That Little Girl who always timidly hid behind Uncle Zhang and called him "Big Brother Chen." She was one of the few existences that made him feel a sense of humanity after his Transmigration.

And Da Ya, Uncle Zhang's only daughter, who had just turned sixteen and was preparing for marriage.

"Did you report it to the authorities?" Chen Mo asked in a low voice.

"I did... how could I not!" Uncle Zhang cried even harder. "The masters at the City Guard Department said to go home and wait... and I've been waiting for two days! Brother Mo, you're a man of the officialdom. Help your uncle, I'll kowtow to you!"

As he spoke, the old man was about to kowtow on the ground again.

Chen Mo caught him and forcefully lifted him up.

"Uncle Zhang, go home and wait."

Chen Mo's voice was cold but steady. "As long as they are still in Pingyang City, I will find them for you."

After seeing Uncle Zhang off, Chen Mo returned to his room to dress properly.

Black Runner uniform, a wild goose feather saber hanging at his waist, and light boots on his feet.

He looked at himself in the bronze mirror, his gaze colder than the edge of a blade.

The dogs had gone mad.

People were missing.

If these two things weren't connected, he'd kick his own head around like a ball.

...

City Guard Department, Records Office.

This was the place where files were kept. It saw no sunlight year-round, and the air wafted with the scent of moldy paper and aged ink.

The Old Clerk in charge of the storeroom was slumped over the desk napping, a puddle of drool having formed.

Slap!

A hand slammed heavily onto the desk.

The Old Clerk jumped in fright, nearly falling off his chair. Just as he was about to curse, he looked up and saw Chen Mo's cold face, immediately swallowing his profanities.

"Oh, Head Constable Chen, so early in the morning..."

"Bring out all the missing persons files from the past three months." Chen Mo didn't waste words.

The Old Clerk said with a bitter face, "Head Constable Chen, this isn't according to the rules..."

A piece of broken silver was slapped onto the table.

"The rules," Chen Mo said.

The Old Clerk's eyes lit up, and he nimbly tucked the silver into his sleeve. "Please wait a moment, it'll be ready right away!"

In the time it took to drink a cup of tea, a thick stack of files was piled in front of Chen Mo.

Chen Mo opened the first volume.

Two months ago, Outer City's South District, one beggar missing.

He opened the second volume.

A month and a half ago, Outer City's West District, one Night Watchman missing.

...

Chen Mo flipped through them very quickly, scanning ten lines at a time.

As the stack of files grew thinner, his expression became increasingly grim.

Three months ago, there were only two or three missing persons cases a month, mostly vagrants or drunks that no one cared about.

Two months ago, it became seven or eight cases.

Last month, it surged to twenty cases.

And this month, only halfway through, there were already over thirty reports!

Moreover, the demographic of the missing people was also changing.

From the beggars and vagrants no one noticed at first, it slowly changed to elderly people living alone, and now, women and children were starting to go missing.

Uncle Zhang's daughter and Little Grass were just the two latest names on this long list.

"With so many cases, the higher-ups haven't reacted?" Chen Mo closed the files and asked coldly.

The Old Clerk was counting his silver and said casually, "Oh, my Head Constable Chen, plenty of people die in the Outer City every day. Starved to death, frozen to death, hacked to death in Gang fights... who can manage it all? Besides, those who go missing are all from poor families, there's no profit in it..."

Halfway through, he felt a chill on his neck. Looking up, he saw Chen Mo staring at him.

That gaze was like looking at a corpse.

The Old Clerk shrank his neck and didn't dare speak further.

Chen Mo walked out of the Records Office, the sunlight outside making him squint.

A surge in missing persons.

Vicious dogs running rampant.

These dogs seemed to have been released on purpose. Was it to create chaos? Or to... mask a scent?

Dogs have keen noses.

If someone was transporting something that couldn't see the light of day, like... a large number of people. Then, having the streets full of mad dogs would indeed be a good way to confuse the senses.

Furthermore, to make so many living people disappear without a trace, ordinary petty thieves couldn't do it.

It had to be a power with organization, territory, and channels.

In the Outer City of Pingyang City, only one group dealt in such unscrupulous business.

The Dao Gang.

A bunch of scum who built their foundation on kidnapping women and children and selling stolen goods.

Chen Mo took a deep breath, his lungs feeling as if they had inhaled a ball of fire.

He strode toward the Roll Call Hall.

...

At the entrance of the Roll Call Hall, two Runners were squatting on the stone steps sunning themselves, chatting about which brothel girl was the wettest while cracking melon seeds.