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The carriage could no longer go in, so Seventeen had no choice but to order the yamen runners to unload all the dry rations from the carriage and carry them with them.
Seventeenth Master and Duolong led their men deeper into the snow, which was incredibly thick and difficult to traverse. Their legs sank up to their knees.
They came to a fork in the road, which split in two, with a small stream in the middle, now completely frozen. This mountain village must have been divided in two by this stream. One side lived above the stream, and the other below, both relying on this water source for their livelihood.
"Given the situation here, why didn't the group that came before report anything unusual after they went back?" Seventeen said, exhaling white breath.
“They’re all from the county government. If you don’t ask, they won’t bother to tell you. Judging from what I’ve seen, this place hasn’t been used by anyone for a long time,” Duolong said.
"We need to send someone to knock on the door and see if anyone is home," Seventeen said.
“I think so too. Why don’t we split them into two teams, one going that way and the other this way? If anyone is there, tell them to bring out their household registration book. Seventeenth Master, let’s each lead a team and act separately, but we’ll still meet here in the end,” Duolong said.
“Yes, I’ll take a team over there. Brother Duolong, you take ten county constables over there,” Seventeen said.
"Alright. Be careful, Seventeenth Master." Duolong was relieved to learn that Fourth Master had specially sent someone to protect Seventeenth Master.
So the two of them each led ten county constables and went their separate ways. The four guards who were specifically assigned to protect Seventeenth Master naturally followed him closely.
Seventeen and his men finally crawled and climbed to the front of a dilapidated stone house. The house was surrounded by a fence made of stones and branches, which was almost completely covered by the snow.
"Is anyone there?" Seventeenth Master shouted into the room.
Only the cold north wind howled past, and there was not a sound of human voices in response.
“I’m afraid there’s no one here anymore! The heavy snow has blocked the roads, and the streams that provide drinking water are all frozen solid,” a county official said from the side.
"Go in and take a look!" Seventeen ordered.
Several men pushed open the gate, and the Seventeenth Master walked inside. Four guards quickly followed behind him, ready to protect him at any moment.
"Go knock on the door!" Seventeen said to the county yamen runners behind him. Although they were reluctant to cooperate, they dared not disobey openly, so they had no choice but to knock on the door.
They took pictures for quite a while, but still received no response.
"Go to the window and see if anyone is inside!" Seventeen said again.
Seeing the strange atmosphere here, and knowing that none of the people who had come before had returned, the county officials became somewhat frightened. They went to the windows in pairs and peered inside.
The seventeenth prince and his four guards stood at the door, waiting for the county constable to return and report.
"ah!"
Suddenly, a pitiful sound came from somewhere, followed by people's surprised shouts.
The four guards quickly surrounded the Seventeenth Master to prevent anyone from attacking.
"What's wrong?" Seventeenth Master asked loudly.
Upon hearing the shouts, other county officials also rushed towards the source of the sound.
Seventeen walked toward the sound, followed closely by four guards. They saw a county official who had gone to look out the back window of the house struggling on his stomach in the snow.
"What are you doing?" His companion rushed over, grabbed him, and slapped him across the face.
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