Dried Corpse Case

As soon as Su Mo arrived at the Document Dispatch Office to check in, someone suddenly gave him a light tap on the shoulder.

He turned around.

Short and skinny, with a lecherous face, triangular eyes, and two drooping rat whiskers, the first time Su Mo saw him, he had been startled. He had even thought Captain Jia had transmigrated just like him.

Of course, Captain Jia was busy trying to save the nation by taking the roundabout route and had no time to transmigrate.

This was Su Mo's third uncle, an old Assistant Servant in Changping County's Fast Squad.

Chen Gan looked grim. "Bring your gear and assemble at the City God Temple!"

Su Mo was stunned. "Assemble this early in the morning?"

Chen Gan's triangular eyes twitched. "A hunter discovered four dried corpses at the Locust God Temple on West Mountain!"

"Their internal organs had been torn out and arranged at the temple's southeast, southwest, northeast, and northwest points."

"The corpses had been boiled down for corpse oil. Their heads and feet were linked together in circles and placed in a pile, with a Corpse Oil Lamp burning in the center. It was sinister as hell..."

As he spoke, he habitually stroked his rat whiskers and snorted. "Ninety-nine percent chance it's the work of a heretical cult!"

"Stay sharp later. If anything seems wrong, run for your life. Don't leave the Su family without an heir!"

As an old Assistant Servant who had spent more than a decade in the government office, Chen Gan naturally knew that once something was connected to the words "heretical cult," it could never be a minor matter!

Su Mo was no fool, either. He knew full well how serious this was.

Chen Gan hesitated, then took out a money pouch and handed it to Su Mo.

"The Fast Hand position fell through!"

"Twenty taels of silver. Seventeen taels and three mace have been returned."

Su Mo was stunned. "It fell through?"

Fast Hands and Arrest Hands were collectively known as constables.

It might look as though constables were nothing more than runners in television dramas.

In reality, they held official posts in the government office and received wages and food stipends. They could even recruit miscellaneous laborers themselves. With deep-rooted local influence, they were bona fide local tyrants, and people from every walk of life feared them to some degree.

Once they were offended, they could absolutely reduce an ordinary family's home to ruin and scatter its members.

A few days ago, Chen Gan had thumped his chest and assured Su Mo that he could help him secure a Regular Servant position as a Fast Hand. How had it fallen through now?

Chen Gan explained, "Five days ago, a Fast Hand drowned after falling into the water while drunk."

"He left no descendants to take his place."

"Captain Zhong said that whoever wanted to take his position would need to pay twenty taels of silver!"

Zhong Sanyuan was the Fast Squad's Arrest Hand.

Although he was greedy and lecherous, his word was as solid as a rock. He was famous for taking money and getting things done.

A Regular Servant in the Fast Squad received twenty taels in annual wages and food stipends. Using a year's stipend to buy an iron rice bowl in the government office—one that could be passed down to one's descendants—was fairly reasonable.

Although Subordinate Clerks were barred from taking the imperial examinations for three generations, this was already the best path available to ordinary commoners.

Chen Gan ground his teeth and said bitterly, "The money was already paid!"

"That bastard Leper Zhou gave his own younger sister to Big Wart Ma as a concubine and forcibly snatched your spot!"

Big Wart Ma was the deputy magistrate of Changping County and had not even been in the county for half a year.

Although he was merely an unranked assistant official,

he was still a genuine official appointed by the imperial court, fundamentally different from a clerk.

Zhong Sanyuan naturally would not go against a deputy magistrate!

Twenty taels of silver was no small sum.

They had emptied their family coffers and sold three mu of fertile farmland just to scrape it together!

Leper Zhou had barged in without so much as a word, causing his nephew to lose more than two taels of silver for no reason. Chen Gan naturally hated him to the bone!

Su Mo's face darkened at once!

After transmigrating into this world and coming from a laborer's background, he had no hope of changing his fate through study.

Securing a Regular Servant position in the government office and receiving wages and food stipends was Su Mo's greatest goal!

But the deputy magistrate's arm was thicker than the combined waists of the two of them. There was naturally nothing they could do.

Su Mo could only put away the silver and follow his uncle toward the western part of the city.

A huge, tightly packed crowd had gathered before the City God Temple.

Deng Tong, the Squad Leader of the Strong Squad, and Zhong Sanyuan, the Fast Squad's Arrest Hand, had both personally come out.

Two or three dozen constables and more than a hundred miscellaneous laborers!

Nearly two-thirds of the Fast Squad's regular law-enforcement force!

Below the Regular Servants were the unofficial workers, who usually helped gather information and handle dirty business. They were naturally unsuitable for this appearance.

Seeing that even the Strong Squad had come, Su Mo secretly found it strange!

Normally, apprehending criminals and suspects was the Fast Squad's responsibility. The Strong Squad only handled patrols, guarding the city gates, and other such matters.

The uncle and nephew very consciously took their places behind He Ping, their immediate superior.

Zhong and Deng both wore deeply furrowed brows and periodically raised their heads to peer into the distance.

Su Mo stood there obediently, following the principle of a newcomer: look more, listen more, and speak less.

Yet he was puzzled inside.

Everyone had arrived. Why had they still not set out?

Suddenly, a magnificent vermilion-red warhorse came charging over through the dust like a mass of crimson cloud.

Upon it sat a cold and beautiful woman with a slender figure, draped in a scarlet cloak!

Behind her came three tall horses, each carrying a middle-aged man in brocade robes with a long saber hanging at his waist. They exuded a murderous aura!

Chen Gan's expression abruptly changed.

Su Mo hurriedly lowered his voice and asked, "Third Uncle, what's wrong?"

Chen Gan drew a deep breath. "Things are getting more and more serious!"

Su Mo asked again, "Who is that woman? Her rank looks pretty high!"

Chen Gan was immediately scared out of his wits. "Are you trying to get yourself killed, boy?"

"An Imperial Guard Centurion!"

"With a twitch of her finger, she could crush every bone in the two of us one by one!"

Su Mo was utterly shocked when he heard that!

The Great Wu Imperial Guard's duties were the same as those of the Imperial Guard in the Ming Dynasty of his previous life.

They answered directly to the Sage Empress!

Their authority was even greater than that of the Ming Dynasty Imperial Guard at its peak.

That was not even mentioning—

their "authority to kill" alone was enough to prove how monstrous their power was.

Local government offices had no right to arrest anyone. They could only send a document to the local Imperial Guard Office and request that the Imperial Guard Office investigate and handle the matter internally!

Since the Great Wu Imperial Guard had been established, there had been no fewer than a hundred cases of court officials being executed over the past thirty years.

Yet only a handful had truly been held accountable for it!

Thus, the Imperial Guard's command tablet was also known as the [Killing Writ]!

An Imperial Guard Centurion held the rank of Principal Sixth Rank, higher than even the county magistrate!

No wonder Third Uncle's expression had changed so drastically.

In the eyes of others, the Imperial Guard were all fiendish and vicious people. They rarely took action, but once they did, corpses would lie strewn across the land and blood would flow like rivers. Who would not fear them?

The Dried Corpse Case had even alarmed the Imperial Guard, an organization completely separate from the local government office.

It was undoubtedly the work of a heretical cult!

A heretical cult was tantamount to rebellion!

Besides monitoring all court officials, the Imperial Guard was also responsible for handling rebellions!

Still, this Imperial Guard Female Captain was truly beautiful, and her figure was exceptionally striking.

Su Mo could not help glancing twice more at those particularly striking parts of her body.

Then he stood there dumbfounded!

A yellow exclamation mark suddenly appeared above the Female Captain's head!

It was exactly like the NPCs who issued quests in games!