Night had fallen over Dongli Town. The sky was sparsely covered with clouds, revealing a sky full of stars. A bright moon hung high, casting its light over a small courtyard.
Xiao Jingcheng maneuvered his body to the courtyard gate and tried to open it. But Ye Wanmian had latched it, and at his current size, he couldn't reach it.
After trying for a while without success, he had no choice but to give up.
He poked the yellow light ball inside his body and said,
[Hey, stupid dog, is there any way to get out of this courtyard?]
The yellow light ball trembled slightly and replied anxiously,
[Mother hit Dahuang to protect Dahuang. Dahuang can't leave mother!]
Dahuang thought he wanted to escape from the courtyard because he had been scolded by Ye Wanmian. Xiao Jingcheng let out an impatient "tut".
[I didn't say I was going to abandon her. I just want to go out and gather information.]
The light ball whispered, [Protect, protect mother.]
Xiao Jingcheng had to be patient and coax it, [She's already asleep. She'll be fine. I'll just go out for a little while and come back soon.]
Only then did the light ball respond to him, [It's behind the water tank, at the base of the wall.]
The base of the wall?
Xiao Jingcheng suddenly had a bad feeling. He followed the light ball's instructions and found the base of the wall behind the water tank, which was covered by weeds. He moved the stones piled there, and a small hole only big enough for a dog to crawl through appeared.
Xiao Jingcheng: …
He, the esteemed crown prince, could never crawl through a dog hole!
Xiao Jingcheng immediately wanted to turn around and leave. But after walking a few steps, he gritted his teeth and turned back to the dog hole.
The dog hole was indeed only big enough for a dog to pass through. To make matters worse, because he had been eating well and sleeping soundly recently, and had feasted on meat several times, the yellow dog had gained a little weight. When he was halfway through the hole, he got stuck!
After finally crawling out of the dog hole, he felt a burning pain on his buttocks from rubbing against the wall, which reminded him of what had happened in the evening.
Damn it!
Grinding his back teeth, he didn't waste any time and turned to run outside.
Outside the dog hole, the weeds were overgrown, and there was a ditch. Usually, no one came here, so no one noticed a dog running through.
After leaving the town and running about two li, Xiao Jingcheng came to a thicket. He leaped onto the most prominent rock in the forest, raised his head, and let out a howl towards the moon.
"Awooo—Awooo—"
In just a moment, howls echoed from all directions, responding to Xiao Jingcheng on the rock.
He stopped howling, sat on the rock, and looked down quietly, waiting. The moonlight poured down, making the yellow dog covered in silver frost look majestic.
His triangular ears twitched slightly. Besides the chirping of insects in the forest, there was also the sound of the wind blowing through the leaves. But soon, there were some faint footsteps that only dogs could hear, and Xiao Jingcheng could also smell a strange doggy odor.
Xiao Jingcheng's heart skipped a beat.
They're here!
If there had been someone here, they would surely have been frightened by the sight—
In the dark forest, more and more dogs arrived one after another. The irises of the dogs glowed green in the darkness, like little lamps, which was quite terrifying at first glance.
A familiar figure emerged from the shadows. The shaggy stray dog led the other dogs to Xiao Jingcheng, lay down in front of him, and let out submissive whimpers.
The shaggy stray dog humbly raised its head and wagged its tail讨好ly.
With the explanation of the yellow light ball, Xiao Jingcheng understood what the shaggy stray dog was saying.
"Boss Sangbiao, did you summon us in the middle of the night for any instructions?"
Although he had been prepared, the name "Sangbiao" still made Xiao Jingcheng shiver. He rumbled in his throat, lowered his voice, and made a "growl" sound towards the dogs in front of him.
"From today on, don't call me Sangbiao anymore. This name damages my dignity. I don't like it."
The shaggy stray dog lowered its body slightly and asked obsequiously, "Then, then what should we call you?"
The words of that stinky Taoist priest suddenly came to Xiao Jingcheng's mind.
Cough cough.
"I am the Heavenly Howling God Dog who has descended to earth. In the past, I fought on the battlefield with the True Lord Erlang and was conferred the title of the General Who Swallows the Sun. You can call me 'General' from now on."
All the dogs were shocked. Their gazes towards Xiao Jingcheng became even more worshipful.
No wonder he could defeat the previous Sangbiao. It turned out that he was actually a divine dog from the heavens! A dog that didn't want to be a divine dog wasn't a good dog. Immediately, barks rang out from all around, all addressing Xiao Jingcheng as "General".
Xiao Jingcheng gently raised his paw, and all the dogs fell silent. Then he began to state his purpose.
"Since I've come to Dongli Town, I have the responsibility to protect it. There have been many outsiders in the town recently. Do you all know about it?"
This was no secret in Dongli Town. All the dogs nodded in agreement. Some even complained to Xiao Jingcheng that their territories had been occupied by those guards and they had almost been slaughtered, so they had to flee to other areas of the town.
The shaggy stray dog took a step forward and growled, "General, do you want to drive them out of the town?"
Xiao Jingcheng said, "So many people suddenly came to the town. There must be a secret hidden among them. I want you all to help me find out this secret. By then, these people will naturally leave."
When the dogs heard that they were going to find a secret, they all perked up and were eager to try.
"Whatever the General says, we'll do." The shaggy stray dog growled, "We'll all follow the General's orders."
"Yes, we'll all follow the General's orders!"
Hearing the dogs' agreement, Xiao Jingcheng secretly let out a sigh of relief.
It seemed that he had made the right move. With the help of these dogs, he was sure to find the clues he wanted.
The shaggy stray dog was a wild dog. After being deprived of the name Sangbiao, it had no name. Since Xiao Jingcheng didn't like the name Sangbiao, he gave it back to the dog.
Sangbiao was extremely touched. It became even more worshipful of Xiao Jingcheng, the "General Who Swallows the Sun", and vowed to assist the "General Who Swallows the Sun" wholeheartedly!
Sangbiao usually roamed around the area near Liuxiang Tower. Xiao Jingcheng told it to lead the other dogs to keep an eye on the movements of the King of Mu, the King of Xuan, and the King of Ning. They were to try their best to find out the content of their conversations and who they met every day.
As for another yellow - and - white dog, Xiao Jingcheng told it to go and keep watch near the mansion of the Chen员外. It was to try its best to find out information related to the youngest son of the Chen员外.
Among Sangbiao's subordinates, there was a black short - legged dog that was quite smart. Xiao Jingcheng told it to be responsible for guarding and patrolling Jiang Zhiqing's courtyard.
— Although he didn't know what her relationship was with the woman in that courtyard, since she had come here specially and climbed over the walls, it must be someone very important to her.
As for the fourth team,
"Guard Qingyu Alley well. When I'm not around, you must protect that woman's safety."