The Great Seminary

Chapter 265 Found It

April, Qingming Festival.

The weather in Jilu Province in northern China, which had been gradually warming up, was suddenly hit by a cold snap due to continuous rain.

Located in the southeastern part of this province, within Yanxi County, bordering Mengshan and Chihai, Shanhai County is the most remote of the three counties.

The city walls of the county town were less than two zhang high, and the city gates were no more than nine chi wide.

Several chubby soldiers, dressed in winter clothes patched up and with the character "卒" (soldier) written on their chests, were hiding in the doorway.

He curled up listlessly.

It all depends on stomping your feet every now and then to stimulate your blood circulation and get some warmth.

The leader of this group of soldiers was a burly man in his forties.

He wore distinctive leather armor and had a robust physique.

But when wet skin comes into contact with cold water, the chill that clings to the body is even more bone-chilling.

He muttered through gritted teeth, "Let's go out through this shabby doorway and stretch our legs, it's raining."

Let's stay inside and not move. This draft is so strong it's killing me.

This damn Qingming Festival, is it even worth it?!

“Hey, Zhao Chengtou, you’re really audacious.”

"During the days of 'earth's transformation and creation,' you still dare to speak recklessly and arrogantly; be careful not to break the taboo."

"Get lost, Jia Xiaosheng. Stop showing off your scholar status, with all this talk of 'geography, physics, chemistry, and biology'."

It sounds so mystical, but it's really just a day when 'ghosts appear'.

We need to burn paper money to worship our ancestors.

Besides, you've lived for over ten years, have you ever actually seen what a ghost looks like?

A skinny, pointed-mouthed, monkey-faced young man seemed to dislike his refined and handsome companion, and said with a smirk.

He stopped mid-sentence.

Looking at a figure staggering towards him through the misty rain a hundred paces away, his body trembled violently.

Seeing this, Zhao Tou stepped forward, flipped the skinny young man's head over with his hand, and whispered orders to all his men.

"Don't look at him, everyone listen carefully, don't look at him."

Upon hearing their leader's order, the soldiers turned their heads away like ostriches.

However, it's a habit for people in government offices to listen to their superiors; this applies from top to bottom.

But in this situation, it's unrealistic to say that anyone would be nervous.

The skinny, monkey-like youth snapped out of his daze and was the first to stammer:
“Zhao, even if we don’t look at it, that thing will still watch us and come over.”

This...this is useless anyway.

"Why don't we just slip away and make a quick getaway?"

"Ding Qiya, there are differences between death as light as a feather and death as heavy as Mount Tai!"

As city gate guards, we bear the responsibility of protecting our homes and the city.

If you encounter a ghost and it opens the city gate for you to run away, do you still have even the slightest bit of shame left?

Hmph, haven't you always looked down on me for having to put aside all my manners for three meals a day of mixed flour buns, shrimp and cabbage stewed in soybean oil?

Was it Jia Xiucai who took over the "radish pit" from his second uncle?

How come you don't even have the courage of a scholar like me?

Isn't that utterly ridiculous? Hahaha, it's absolutely laughable!

"Me, me, me, me"

Serving in the military means living a life of constant danger and risking your life. If you lose your courage and get spat on in the face, you deserve it.

"Seven Ducks heard what Jia Xiaosheng said, didn't they?"

Holding a seven-foot-long spear in one's hand is no joke.

Do you really think that the world we live in now, where we can eat and drink to our hearts' content every day, is all thanks to the blessings left by our ancestors?

That's just plain stupid.

But there's no need to be so afraid.

The group chattered on for so long, but the staggering figure with a split neck and mushrooms growing from the opening, a hundred paces away, only got halfway closer.

After waiting a while, Zhao Tou finally lifted the lid of the cup and said, "These are times when 'living in chaos is worse than being a dog,' and people are dying out their families all the time."

There are many dead ghosts who have no descendants to offer sacrifices to.

It's perfectly normal for a few 'earth ghosts' to crawl out of the ground around the time of Qingming Festival.

Once you get close, take advantage of the city's "popularity" and charge in; one shot will take them down.

But you shouldn't look at it too much, otherwise you might get possessed by evil spirits.

When I was in Mengshan suppressing bandits, all the veterans in the army knew these 'tricks'.

Remember what I'm saying now, and in the future...

"Help, help, I, I am, I am from the 'Compassionate People Society,' the Xuanwu Hall Jin Hai, Haiwei, help, help me."

Just then, the staggering ghost finally drew closer.

A faint, audible shout came from its mouth.

Because the neck was broken, the throat was shrill like a whistle, truly unlike a human voice.

Even the well-informed Zhao Tou was stunned for a moment.

But at this moment, Ding Qiya, who was originally the most timid, was no longer afraid.

He lived for nineteen years and served as a city gate guard for three years.

The person I admire most is Zhao Tou, who is said to have spent half his life venturing into the mountains and out to sea, killing twenty bandits and two major bandit leaders, in exchange for a ninth-rank official position.

He firmly believed that since Zhao Tou had just said that everything was alright, then everything must be alright.

"A 'mud ghost' emerged during the Qingming Festival. It approached normally, and with a surge of energy, one shot was all it took to bring it down."

Recalling Zhao Tou's words to bolster his courage, Ding Qiya gripped the red-tasseled spear tightly.

"I just lost face in front of Jia Xiaosheng. If word gets out, I'll never be able to hold my head up high again."

Forget about competing with him for the little pearl, it's difficult to even breathe loudly and say a word, so I have to win back this face!
Let's give it our all!

Zhao Tou said it's just a matter of one shot, let's go for it!

The saliva in his mouth dried without him realizing it, but he gritted his teeth regardless.

His head suddenly snapped back to normal, his eyes widened, and they were bloodshot.

He stared blankly at the staggering dead man in the rain, his eyebrows now clearly visible.

He charged out suddenly, roaring, "Kill!"

He thrust the tasseled spear he was gripping tightly straight out, striking the staggering, dead ghost squarely in the skull.

If it were a normal person's skull, because the skull is extremely hard, it would be afraid of being hit by a hammer or axe but not of being cut by a knife or spear, and would definitely slip into the eye socket.

But this time, the tip of the gun pierced through the skull smoothly.

The sound it made was like a muffled 'thud' as it pierced through rotten wood.

"You, you, Ding Qiya, what are you doing?"

Looking at Ding Qiya's 'crazy' back, Zhao Tou stammered.

Ding Qiya used all his strength to support his gun mount.

Staring intently at the trembling, lifeless figure on the gun barrel, like a fish that had been hooked and pulled ashore, he stammered:
"I, I slapped him once."

"Zhao Tou, I followed your method, used my inner energy to blast this scoundrel to pieces!"

"Hey, you little rascal, your little monster can even cry for help?!"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Tou stepped forward and slapped Ding Qiya hard across the back of the head.

He snatched the tasseled spear from his hand and with a sudden shake, threw the fake dead ghost, now a real corpse, several feet away.

They fell into the dark ditch of the moat.

On a hill several thousand paces away.

Wearing a straw raincoat, Zhang Gui held a monocular telescope with lenses made of transparent, colorless crystal.

Looking at the scene unfolding at the city gate of Shanhai County, he said with a smile:
"It's done, we found it."

Ninety-nine percent of the human traffickers in this "Ci Ren Hui" group are hiding in the county town.

Sending Jin Haiwei as a spy means they're definitely a 'big fish'.

"Let's go meet them on the 30th."

(End of this chapter)