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Chapter 271 The Barber and the Old Black Dog

In the letter, Xu Yuan reminded Ma Tianshou that Champa needed a fifth-rate or higher-level official to take charge.

Don’t let it happen again like last time in Shanhe County, where the powerful Quwu Division thought they were well prepared, but ended up being almost wiped out by Chen Liangxuan and his gang!
It was still thanks to Xu Yuan that the situation was reversed.

Xu Yuan is also very worried about his own safety.

Fu Jingyu went to deliver the letter, and Song Lu stood up: "Brother Jingyu, I will go with you. I haven't seen Fifth Aunt for a long time. I just want to go see her on the way."

Fu Jingyu looked at Xu Yuan.

Miss Song still has no sense of being a servant.

Fu Jingyu was ordered to go to Luocheng to deliver a letter.

Song Lu's excuse was that he was going back to visit his relatives.

But... Miss Song obviously forgot that she was on duty.

Xu Yuan thought about it and nodded: "You two can go together, so you can take care of me on the way."

Song Lu immediately smiled, his eyes curved into crescents.

Song Lu now thinks Xu Yuan is a very good person. In the future, let my and Brother Jingyu’s first child have him as the godfather!
Xu Yuan let them go together because he considered that if Ma Tianshou wanted to protect them, he would leave them in Luocheng.

Xu Yuan also didn't want the two of them to be innocently involved.

As they are from a prominent family, nothing serious should happen to them if they stay in Luocheng.

Fu Jingyu and Song Lu packed up simply, went out and mounted their horses. After arriving at the north gate, they whipped their horses and galloped away.

When the two men were leaving the city, on the other side of the city gate, there was a barber with a shoulder pole and an old black dog, queuing up to enter the city.

The barber was in his sixties, with sparse, gray hair and a face that looked weathered and worried.

He was wearing a gray cloth gown that had been starched and washed many times, and the cuffs and corners of the gown were a little untied.

She wore an apron around her waist whose color could no longer be seen.

One side of the barber's pole is loaded with various tools, including razors, combs, rakes, washbasins, towels, etc.

On the other side are the stove, kettle, stools, etc.

The carrying pole was quite heavy, and it trembled as it rose and fell on the barber's shoulders.

The old black dog looked listless, with the skin on its face drooping, and it followed its owner with its tail wagging.

After entering the city and walking through the streets and alleys, the barber would start to solicit business by rubbing the "calling sound" with one hand.

Soon business started coming to the door.

The barber put down his carrying pole and started working.

The old black dog was curled up at the foot of the wall, taking a nap.

Two hundred years ago, there was no such profession as barber.

Our hair is given by our parents. Except for monks, Taoist priests and prisoners, most people do not shave their hair.

However, as the Ming Dynasty conquered more and more land, the custom of shaving the head in some places was gradually relaxed.

For example, in the hot summer, it is indeed too hot to grow long hair, and it is indeed inconvenient for ordinary people to work with long hair.

The barber has traveled far and wide, is knowledgeable and very talkative, and he chats with customers while he works.

He soon found out all the major events that had happened in the city in recent days.

For example, yesterday the Shanhe Division arrested someone in Dongcheng with great fanfare.

It was said that the thief was so bold that he even dared to steal things from the Canal Yamen.

After the barber finished his work, he carried his load and left again.

The old black dog stood up, shook himself, and followed slowly.

When they reached a quiet, deserted alley, the barber suddenly spoke up, "The Mountain and River Division has arrested someone, and it's causing a stir all over the city."

The old black dog complained: "Miao Yu is an idiot!"

The barber asked, "What should we do?"

"First, go to the Mountain and River Division and arrest someone for interrogation to get a general understanding of the situation."

"Listen to you."

Ordinary people fear the Shanhe Division like the plague, but this man and dog have no fear at all.

The barber carried his load to the vicinity of the Shanhesi Yamen, walked around the streets and alleys a few times, and then he spotted three people.

A lieutenant was accompanied by two lieutenants.

The barber asked, "Are they the only ones?" Old Black Dog stared at the three men and shook his head, "They're too low-ranking to get any useful clues."

The man and the dog waited for a while.

Two people walked out of the gate, and the man and the dog looked at each other. It was them.

As Wu Qingzhao walked, he lectured the inspector behind him: "Don't make any mistakes this time!"

The inspector quickly replied, "That's why I didn't dare report this directly to the Lord Advocate. I'd like you to take a look first."

When the two of them passed by the entrance of an alley, they suddenly heard a dog barking:
“Woof, woof woof—”

The two of them immediately had dull eyes.

The pupils became horizontal like those of a sheep.

Following the barking of the old black dog, the two men were driven into the alley obediently like sheep.

Like sheep being herded into a fold.

The old black dog is a "shepherd dog".

The "method" of his school has a huge price to pay. Other evil methods turn others into livestock, but this one requires one to turn oneself into a dog first.

Driven by the old black dog, Wu Qingzhao sat obediently on the stool.

The barber adjusted his razor and began to shave Wu Qingzhao's head.

Start with the razor at the tip of the hair and cut backwards.

The entire scalp was cut open.

Then the barber opened Wu Qingzhao's skull and carefully observed the brain inside.

He could see Wu Qingzhao's memories directly from his mind.

After a while, the barber finished his inspection and put Wu Qingzhao's head back on and closed his scalp.

During the entire process, Wu Qingzhao did not shed a drop of blood.

"Woof woof!" The old black dog barked twice, and Wu Qingzhao obediently stood up and gave up the stool.

The old black dog barked at the inspector twice again, and this time it was the inspector who sat on it.

The barber did the same thing, confirming the information he saw from Wu Qingzhao's mind.

After everything was done, the old black dog barked at the two of them three times, and Wu Qingzhao and the inspector walked out of the alley.

But they turned into two walking corpses.

They went home in a daze, and without paying any attention to their family members' questions, they lay down on their beds and fell asleep.

I will never wake up from this sleep.

The barber and the old black dog came out from the other end of the alley.

As the old black dog walked, he said, "There's a Seventh Flow man secretly watching over there in the warehouse. It's obviously not the method used by the Five Ghosts to move things."

"What other means are there to accomplish this?"

"There are many." Old Black Dog said, "Let's go check out the homes of those wealthy merchants first."

After a few hours, the old black dog was so tired that it stuck out its tongue and lay on the ground to rest for a long time.

Those seventh-rate guards were not very strong, but they were numerous.

The old black dog is old, and it is extremely burdensome for him to cast spells continuously.

The barber took out a few pills from his bag and fed them to the old black dog. After the dog had calmed down, he said, "Everyone is dreaming."

"It's a nightmare tapir." The old black dog was very sure.

None of the guards told Shanhesi that they had a dream that night.

Moreover, in the dream, they opened the treasury and took out the silver inside.

If they say it, they may be charged with the crime of "embezzlement".

The owner will ask them to compensate for the losses.

The Shanhe Division's attention was all on the Canal Yamen. They simply questioned the guards and did not conduct a direct soul examination like they would with criminals.

The barber laughed and said, "If we want to find those nightmare tapirs, we'll have to rely on you."

The shepherd dog twitched its nose and said, "It's been two days. I wonder if I can still smell them."

"It won't be difficult for you."

(End of this chapter)