Chapter 177 Sheepherd

At the end of East Street, crowds surged.

At noon, the streets were just as crowded as they were in the morning.

Tianjin is always bustling at midday, with people going out to eat, shopping, or rushing to buy goods.

Fang Yingxia led Qian Mantang and Zhao Shouxin from the street corner. The three of them walked in a row, sometimes together and sometimes apart, as they were swept away by the flow of people coming and going.

The sun was so strong that Qian Mantang's hair gel had become a little soft from the sun.

"Does it have to be this time? It's the middle of the day, something's fishy going on."

"Our team hasn't patrolled here in a long time." Fang Yingxia didn't turn her head and kept walking. "Besides, there are a lot of people and eyes around East Street during the day, and the sale of some special contraband items also falls under our jurisdiction."

Zhao Shouxin followed at the very back, his eyes darting around, finding everything new and interesting.

He had only been assigned to the third team for a few days, and the market on East Street was a completely new world to him.

The three of them walked through the busiest part of the street, where the crowd gradually thinned out.

Ahead is the end of East Street, which connects to a small road leading out of the city. Chinese scholar trees are planted on both sides, and the shade is dense, making it much cooler than under the sun.

Fang Yingxia slowed her pace, looking around curiously. It was actually her first time on patrol.

[At this point, I hope readers will remember our domain name: 10 ...

After leaving East Street, we arrived at the end of the street.

The Chang Le Gang is in charge of this area.

There weren't many people at the end of the street during the day, only a few closed shops and a dilapidated earth god temple. A few beggars were dozing under the eaves of the temple, and when they saw them coming, they lazily turned over.

"Look over there." Zhao Shouxin suddenly tugged at her sleeve and gestured forward with his lips.

Fang Yingxia followed his gaze.

A flock of sheep was gathered in an open space at the end of the street.

A large flock of sheep, about twenty or thirty in number, huddled under the shade of the old locust tree, bleating and squawking.

Three shepherds stood beside the flock of sheep, dressed in drab gray coarse cloth jackets with their trousers rolled up above their knees, each holding a long bamboo pole.

A shepherd was squatting on the ground eating a watermelon, the juice dripping down his elbows, while two others leaned against a tree trunk yawning. It all seemed perfectly ordinary.

"Hurrying sheep into town in the middle of the day?" Fang Yingxia tilted her head and watched for a while, muttering softly, "Don't the sheep get hot in this sun?"

"The slaughterhouse only receives livestock in the afternoon, and it's located on the east side, not on East Street," Zhao Shouxin frowned. "But it's also possible they're taken elsewhere..."

"Sister Fang, something's not right with those sheep."

Fang Yingxia was taken aback and turned to look at him: "What's wrong?"

"My hometown is in the mountains of Ji County. I've been herding sheep since I was a child," Zhao Shouxin explained in a low voice, staring at the flock of sheep. "Sheep's eyes are different from people's; their pupils are horizontal. Look at the one on the far right..."

He raised his hand slightly, pointing to a half-grown sheep at the edge of the flock. "Its pupils are round."

Fang Yingxia squinted and looked for a long time, but still couldn't see the difference. She only felt that the sheep's eyes were indeed brighter than the ones next to it, and looked a bit creepy.

"Round...what's wrong?" she asked softly.

"A normal sheep's pupils are not round."

Fang Yingxia glanced at it again, feeling inexplicably uneasy.

She subconsciously took half a step closer to Qian Mantang, but then felt that she couldn't show weakness in front of her two underlings.

"Then...then go ask?" she said in a low voice, her tone hesitant.

"Let's see first," Zhao Shouxin said, pressing down on her arm to signal her not to rush.

The three people stood by the roadside, pretending to chat, but their eyes kept drifting towards the flock of sheep.

Perhaps because they had been staring for too long, the sheep with round pupils suddenly raised its head and glanced in their direction.

His eyes were round and bright, with clear black and white, meeting her gaze directly.

Fang Yingxia's heart skipped a beat, her palms started sweating, and she quickly looked away.

"How about... we go back?" she whispered. "And then report it to Chen Mo?"

"They're already here, are they just going to leave without figuring things out?" Qian Mantang frowned; he didn't want to come out again.

"What if there's a problem?"

Fang Yingxia gritted her teeth, thinking he made sense, and walked towards the flock of sheep with a stiff upper lip.

Qian Mantang and Zhao Shouxin followed behind, protecting him on the left and right.

"A few uncles."

She walked closer, her gaze sweeping over the flock before settling on the shepherds. "Where did these sheep come from?"

The shepherd, who was squatting on the ground, raised his head, watermelon seeds still stuck to the corner of his mouth.

He was the oldest of the three, around forty years old, with a dark and thin face.

Upon seeing Fang Yingxia's uniform, a hint of panic flashed in the eyes of the two younger shepherds, and they subconsciously took a half step back.

The older one, however, remained calm and composed.

He calmly tossed the watermelon rind on the ground, stood up, clapped his hands, and put on a smile.

"Hey officer, these sheep are from the countryside, they came from Jixian County, what's wrong?"

"Jixian?" Fang Yingxia repeated, unsure of what to ask next, and turned to look at Zhao Shouxin.

Zhao Shouxin didn't say anything, but simply nodded slightly.

Fang Yingxia took a deep breath and forced herself to finish speaking: "How far did you travel to East Street to sell?"

"That's right," the older shepherd rubbed his hands together. "I've been herding sheep all night. I heard the price of sheep is good in East Street, so I came here."

Fang Yingxia said "Oh," unsure of what to ask next.

She stood there, her gaze shifting between the shepherds, feeling that something was amiss, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

The two were young; one had a shifty gaze, while the other was pale, with more sweat on his forehead than he would have gotten on a hot day, which trickled down his temples.

"Officers," the older shepherd stepped forward, smiling as he tried to smooth things over, "it's the middle of the day, so hot. Why don't you find a place to rest and have some tea? Our sheep are really fine..."

"Who said there weren't any problems?" Fang Yingxia pointed at the half-grown sheep. "Why do sheep have eyes like that!"

As soon as she finished speaking, the older shepherd's expression suddenly changed. He quickly exchanged a glance with his two companions beside him, then suddenly shook out a handful of dark powder from his pocket and threw it towards Fang Yingxia and the other two.

The powder dispersed, turning into a murky mist with a putrid, fishy smell.

Fang Yingxia didn't expect the other party to dare to use such underhanded tactics, and was caught off guard by the fog.

A bitter and astringent taste rushed into my mouth and nose, and my eyes instantly burned as if someone had thrown a handful of sand into them.

"Walk!"

The older shepherd gave a low shout and led the two of them on a wild run toward the path, not even caring about the sheep.

Zhao Shouxin stood downwind. When the mist drifted over, he instinctively closed his eyes, but still inhaled quite a bit. His head spun, and he stumbled.

The three shepherds had already run more than ten steps.

The eldest ran in front, glanced back, and saw the three of them bent over in place, a hint of resentment on his face.

This trip was a complete waste of time.

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