Be a small county magistrate in ancient times

Meng Changqing wanted the cloth so that he could cover his mouth and nose with something, lest the source of the smell be found and he end up being suffocated by the stench.

That would be absurd.

Looking at the things Wanbao had brought, Meng Changqing took them and examined them. The flour bags were usable, though.

But one flour sack isn't enough for more than a dozen people.

Just as I was thinking this, I saw Du Zhou arrive with ten people.

Meng Changqing noticed their attire; they wore triangular scarves around their necks. She thought to herself that this was a good thing, saving her the trouble of searching for materials everywhere.

She immediately instructed the eleven people to remove their triangular scarves and fold them up to cover their mouths and noses as she had taught them.

Meng Changqing and Xi Bei tore off the hem of their robes to cover their mouths and noses.

"Let's not waste any time, we can talk as we walk." Meng Changqing led the dozen or so people back to the place that reeked of stench.

Wanbao said, "That's strange. It didn't smell this bad last night, and the smell didn't travel this far either."

"At this temperature, if something rots somewhere, it's normal for the smell to intensify overnight, but this smell..."

"Everyone be careful. Don't remove your face coverings just because you feel stuffy. If you really can't stand the stuffiness, move away and rest for a while. We'll dig three feet into the ground to find the source of this stench today."

Everyone nodded, and Xi Bei added, "If we can't find it, it might smell even worse tomorrow."

The stench was detected on the main road of Spear City.

What used to be a street, with houses on both sides of the road, were probably shops in the past.

Nowadays, some of these shops are in terrible condition, while others look alright, with doors and windows intact.

To find the source of the stench, the houses in this area must be searched.

Meng Changqing instructed her men to be careful when entering rooms with doors and windows, and she herself took a knife into her hand.

Even with cloth covering their mouths and noses, the stench was still unbearable.

Many people can only search for a short while before having to run a distance to catch their breath.

Meng Changqing realized that this search was not going to work. Not only was everyone's time limited, but they were also running back and forth, searching the same places each time they returned, and making little progress after all this time. She had to speak up and remind them, "Draw a triangle on the door of the rooms that have been searched, so that you don't search them again."

After that, the search became much faster.

They searched every house in the two rows closest to the street, but still couldn't find the source of the stench.

But if you look any further out, that's not right; the stench is mainly concentrated in this area.

“We definitely missed something,” Meng Changqing said. “Everyone was holding their breath, their heads were spinning, so it’s normal to miss something.”

Since we haven't found the source of the stench in the open, I'd like to trouble everyone to focus on searching for hidden passages and doors. If you come across any shelves, planks, or broken baskets, be sure to lift them and check them.

Meng Changqing instructed others, and he himself paid even more attention, scrutinizing every nook and cranny of the house.

She went into an old blacksmith shop herself to search it.

The reason I know it used to be a blacksmith shop is not because there are any blacksmithing tools in the house.

These kinds of useful things are bound to be lost to the present day.

This can be deduced from the structure of the house and the iron-forging furnace inside that could not be moved.

Meng Changqing stuck his head into the stove to look, but couldn't see anything strange. He also checked the walls and floor, but there was nothing unusual about the sound.

Meng Changqing was about to leave, but seeing the open back door, he asked the person next to him, "Has the backyard been searched as well?"

"We searched it; the backyard is empty, not a single blade of grass," someone nearby replied.

After thinking about it, Meng Changqing decided to go and take a look himself.

There was nothing in the yard, not even a single piece of clutter, except for a small rock about the size of a palm, just a step away from the back door.

Meng Changqing kicked him, and that kick caused the problem.

The stone rolled aside, revealing an iron ring on the ground. (End of Chapter)