Six corpses

An hour ago, in Qin Yi's study...

In the quiet study, the air was filled with a faint scent of ink. Qin Yi was hunched over his desk, writing rapidly, his brow slightly furrowed, as if pondering some difficult problem. Suddenly, a series of urgent and chaotic footsteps came from afar, breaking the tranquility of the study. Qin Yi sharply raised his head, and through the tightly closed door, he vaguely heard an anxious voice shouting, "Report... report... General Qin, something terrible has happened!" The voice was full of fear and panic, as if something extremely terrifying had occurred.

"Report... General Qin, Gongshu Chou is kneeling in front of the Qin mansion, shouting about injustice!" A young soldier, panting heavily, rushed into the study, out of breath as he reported. His forehead was covered in beads of sweat, clearly from running all the way.

"Injustice?" Qin Yi put down the brush in his hand, his originally furrowed brows now even more tightly knit. He stood up and asked with concern, "Take a breath and explain carefully, what exactly happened?"

"Yes, General." The soldier took several deep breaths, trying to calm his disordered breathing. Only then did he speak intermittently, "Today, it was our turn to stand guard at the entrance of the Qin mansion... Just now, on the street directly in front of the Qin mansion, a group of figures suddenly appeared in the distance, about ten or so people. They were escorting something, slowly walking towards the Qin mansion. The pedestrians on the street, upon seeing this, consciously gave way to the middle of the road, lined up on both sides, with different expressions, whispering to each other." At this point, he paused, an expression of disbelief on his face. "It wasn't until this group of people approached within a hundred steps that we could see clearly that the one walking at the very front was actually the famous craftsman you personally appointed, old master Gongshu Chou."

"What's even stranger is..." The soldier's voice became low and strange, as if narrating an extremely eerie event, "All the pedestrians who brushed past this escort team were all stunned and stood there, as if they had been petrified, motionless, their faces filled with fear and disbelief. The children on the street who were usually mischievous and playful were even frightened to wail loudly, their cries shrill, making one's hair stand on end."

"Such a thing actually happened?" Qin Yi's face also became serious. He keenly perceived that something was definitely not right, and he hurriedly asked, "What exactly were they escorting? Why did it cause such a great panic?"

"General Qin, I...I..." The soldier's body also began to tremble slightly, his face pale, and the beads of sweat on his forehead became more and more. He stammered, "I...I can't explain it clearly in words for a moment. The scene at that time...was really too...too terrifying. My mind is still in a mess. Please go to the entrance of the Qin mansion to see for yourself, and you will know."

Just as Qin Yi's thoughts were deepening and he wanted to continue to ask for details, a crisp system notification sound suddenly rang in his mind - "Ding..."

"Ding... Assist Gongshu Chou in fulfilling his wish. After the mission is completed, you will be rewarded with a special mysterious gift package from Gongshu Chou."

The sudden system notification made Qin Yi slightly stunned. He couldn't help but wonder in his heart, "Then, what exactly is his wish?"

"Ding... Talk to him to understand his wish. Of course, whether to do it or not is up to you."

The system notification sound disappeared, as if it had never appeared, leaving only a short message in Qin Yi's mind. He quickly repeated the system notification in his mind. Although his heart was full of doubts, the situation was urgent at the moment, and he had no time to ponder it carefully. He immediately said to the soldier, "Quickly lead me there!" After speaking, he strode out of the study.

Outside the gate of the Qin mansion, it was already surrounded by soldiers who had come upon hearing the news. There were constant low discussions and exclamations from the crowd, and the atmosphere was extremely oppressive and tense. Only the soldier who had run out earlier was heard shouting loudly, "General Qin is here! General Qin is here! Idlers quickly make way!" Hearing that Qin Yi had arrived, the surrounding soldiers immediately dispersed to both sides in a disciplined manner, leaving a narrow passage only enough for one person to pass through. Qin Yi passed through the crowd and saw Gongshu Chou kneeling in front of the gate at a glance.

Gongshu Chou was surrounded by a group of people, their cries were earth-shattering, and they were extremely grief-stricken. Among them, Gongshu Chou's cries were the most heartbreaking and moving. He clenched his fists and used all his strength to support his body kneeling on the ground, hitting the cold ground with one fist after another. His forehead and hands were broken and bleeding, and the blood mixed with the dust raised, stickily smeared on his old and wrinkled face, making him look embarrassed and unbearable to look at directly.

Although Qin Yi had experienced many battles and personally killed countless enemies, and had seen countless bloody scenes, when he personally saw this tragic situation like wild beasts wreaking havoc, he still felt extremely shocked and angry. A chill rushed from the soles of his feet straight to the top of his head. Beads of sweat dripped down his cheeks, but he didn't care to wipe them off at the moment. He just looked at everything in front of him with a gloomy face, and for a while he forgot to comfort Gongshu Chou, who was crying like his heart was breaking beside him.

What this group of people was escorting was an ordinary wooden double-wheeled flatbed cart. This kind of flatbed cart was extremely common among merchants and ordinary people in the Qin Dynasty. It was used to transport goods, grain, and tools, and it was the most common means of transportation. However, what was piled on this flatbed cart at the moment were six corpses of adult men, and it was these corpses that shocked everyone around and even frightened them to cry out.

Each corpse was cruelly cut open, and the internal organs inside were long gone, leaving only empty chest and abdominal cavities, exposed to the air. There were traces of being pecked by birds on the flesh, which were shocking and nauseating. Looking carefully at both sides of their collarbones, they were cruelly pierced by thick black iron hooks, penetrating all the way to the shoulder blades. There was another similar black iron hook pierced from the back of the head, penetrating into the mouth, making the scene extremely terrifying. What was even more creepy was that these six corpses did not shed a drop of blood, as if they had been naturally air-dried in the air for a long time, shriveled and stiff, emitting a disgusting stench of decay, spreading in the air, making people smell it and want to vomit.

"Please General Qin, be the master for our Gongshu clan! These children and grandchildren of mine, in the prime of their lives, but...but were brutally murdered, this...this is a great injustice! Wuwuwu..." Gongshu Chou's cries were hoarse and desperate, like an injured beast wailing. His voice was full of helplessness and grief, as if his chest was about to burst open, and he was about to faint at any moment. The strength of his beating the ground was also getting weaker and weaker, and his body began to tremble slightly, obviously on the verge of collapse.

Qin Yi looked at this horrific scene before him, his heart was burning with anger, and a strong sense of grief and indignation surged into his heart, making him almost unable to control his emotions. He clenched his fists tightly, his knuckles turning pale from force, and his teeth were also clenched tightly, as if to crush his teeth. He took a deep breath, forced himself to calm down, and said to Gongshu Chou in a low and firm voice: "Old Master Gongshu Chou, you...you calm down a bit, and tell me the ins and outs of the matter, carefully and in detail. The soldiers of my Great Qin will never sit idly by! I, Qin Yi, hereby swear that I will not fail your trust, and I will definitely find out the truth and seek justice for you and your clan!" His voice was sonorous and forceful, every word full of strength and determination, hoping to bring some comfort and hope to Gongshu Chou.