Chapter 79: Snow Floss Dog

“By the way, you’ve never left Xiancheng. Have you noticed anything unusual lately?” Su Huchen asked again.

“Speaking of unusual, there is one thing—but I’m not sure if it counts as unusual,” Su Jian said after thinking.

“What is it? Tell me,” Su Huchen asked immediately.

“I often patrol the eastern outskirts of our Xiancheng, since it’s close to my home—I’m not very familiar with other surrounding areas.”

“I’ve noticed that this year, far more ordinary people have fallen ill and died than in previous years,” Su Jian said.

“What?” Su Huchen was stunned. He frowned immediately: “That doesn’t make sense—if ordinary people are dying in large numbers, the patrol teams on the eastern outskirts would report it to our Police Inspector Office.”

“I don’t know if your side received any reports, but this year, far more ordinary people have died than last year. Take the few neighborhoods I know well: last year, only about forty died of old age or illness, but this year, in just a few months, over a hundred have already died.”

“I also heard most of these ordinary people died from illness.”

“The initial symptoms resembled a cold, then the person gradually grew weaker. Medicine had little effect—they’d be gone within one or two months.”

“And this illness seems contagious. Some ordinary people who caught the cold-like sickness could recover by drinking ginger tea or hot water at home, but others couldn’t—they fell ill and never recovered.”

Su Huchen listened, a chill running through him.

“No wonder I was suddenly recalled. So this was waiting for me all along,” Su Huchen rolled his eyes. “Thank goodness you told me—if you hadn’t, I wouldn’t have realized how far things had gone.”

“The Intelligence Division must have serious problems.”

“In short, you’ve probably inherited a rotten potato,” Su Jian said with a touch of sympathy.

“By the way, are you familiar with the Wood Witch Tribe?” Su Huchen asked again.

“Do you think someone like me could be familiar with the Wood Witch Tribe?” Su Jian pointed to his own nose and retorted.

What are you thinking?

Could he possibly pay attention to the Wood Witch Tribe deep in the mountains?

“I guess you don’t know. Did you see the monsters at the lumberyard?” Su Huchen asked.

“You mean the big monsters or the small ones?” Su Jian asked quickly.

“The small ones. At one spot in the lumberyard, we found about ten or so shrunken corpses of small monsters. After analysis by the intelligence officers, we confirmed they were eaten by Xuechiluo.” Su Huchen said.

“What?” Su Jian’s voice rose sharply. “Eaten by Xuechiluo? Can Xuechiluo even eat small monsters? Isn’t it a symbiotic witch spirit, meant only to help the Wood Witches cultivate spiritual herbs?”

“When did the great witches of the witch clans ever cultivate purely auxiliary witch spirits?”

“Xuechiluo was originally created for war. Only after wars ended did it shift to assisting in cultivating spiritual herbs.”

“Xuechiluo possesses a unique talent—or rather, a divine ability.”

“It can drain the blood or bodily fluids of any living creature from afar.”

“So now you understand how those small monsters died?” Su Huchen said.

Su Jian rubbed his nose—he never imagined Xuechiluo had eaten over a dozen small monsters!

So Su Jin, that damn girl, definitely took Xuechiluo out with her when they left the city.

And as soon as Xuechiluo stepped outside, it caused a big mess.

Not only did it kill a bunch of small monsters, but now the Police Inspector Office has found out.

“So have you found that Xuechiluo?”

"What do you mean 'that one'? It's a Zun. We haven't found that Zun Xuechiluo—it was probably some great witch from the Wood Witch Tribe passing by, and her pet Xuechiluo, being greedy, saw them and ate them," Su Huchen said outright.

Su Jian’s heart relaxed immediately. He added with a smirk: “So are you planning to investigate the Wood Witch Tribe deep in the mountains, to check on their great witch? But isn’t it said their last great witch died fifty or sixty years ago?”

Su Huchen rolled his eyes.

“Why bother investigating? The Wood Witch Tribe has no great witch left—no Xuechiluo either!”

Su Jian burst out laughing.

"Still, if we had a Zun Xuechiluo to help, we might have already found the black shadow monster's nest," Su Huchen mused.

Su Jian pretended not to hear.

If it were just helping Su Huchen personally, he’d be willing.

But now Su Huchen is a sect official. If Xuechiluo’s involvement becomes known, the entire Xiancheng would know within a day.

To avoid trouble for himself, he still couldn’t reveal Xuechiluo.

“I remember the sect has a kind of dog, about the size of an adult’s palm, called Xuerong Dog. Get one, and you’ll find any nest,” Su Jian immediately suggested.

The Xuerong Dog was extraordinarily gifted in tracking—its ability was astonishing.

“I requested one, but my senior sister hasn’t replied yet,” Su Huchen sighed. “Xuerong Dogs are indeed powerful in tracking, but they’re extremely hard to raise—you have to raise them from puppyhood, and their combat strength is pitiful. One slip, and they get killed by the very demons or monsters you’re tracking.”

“Xuerong Dogs have poor breeding rates. That’s why they’re nearly impossible to obtain within the sect.”

“Even borrowing one requires a waiting list.”

Su Jian whistled in disbelief.

“So do you have any other ideas?”

“I’ll think some more. Forget it—let’s go eat. Afterward, I’ll think of something else,” Su Huchen said.

“Alright, let’s go.”

Su Jian figured solving the case wouldn’t be delayed by one meal, so he went out with Su Huchen.

After eating, Su Huchen returned to the Police Inspector Office, saying they’d meet again when time allowed.

Su Jian thought to himself: with all the mess in Xiancheng, Big Hu probably won’t have time to come find him for another meal anytime soon.

When Su Jin returned home that night, Su Jian quickly pulled her into her room.

“Last time we left the city, you took Xuechiluo out, didn’t you?” Su Jian asked.

Su Jin looked at her brother in surprise: “How did you know? I didn’t tell you.”

“Xuechiluo ate some small monsters outside the city. Someone found out. Luckily, your big brother is clever—I covered for you,” Su Jian bragged.

Su Jin had no suspicion at all. “Thank you, big brother. Xuechiluo wanted to go out and play, so I took it for a walk. I won’t take it out again.”

Su Jian thought about what Su Huchen had said regarding Xuechiluo’s special ability.

Maybe he should still let it go out—it’d be safer.

“Taking it outside the city isn’t impossible, but you must keep a close eye on it. Don’t let it wander off and cause trouble.”

“Okay, I understand, big brother. Thank you, big brother,” Su Jin said happily.