Seeking Truth with a Sword-Chapter 520 - 471 Leaflet

Chapter 520: Chapter 471 Leaflet
After the rain, the damp streets teemed with a masked crowd, all moving toward the south gate of Taiyuan Prefecture City.
Their expressions were sorrowful and angry. Dozens of leaders formed groups of four, each group shouldering a coffin.
High windows in the buildings lining the streets opened one by one. Residents craned their necks, curiously observing the scene below. Small children quietly asked what these people were doing, only to have their eyes covered as their parents pulled them back.
As the approaching crowd drew nearer, the soldiers guarding the city gate all stood, their expressions astonished. They subconsciously gripped the hilts of their long knives.
CLIP-CLOP, CLIP-CLOP.
The sound of horse hooves grew closer. Sun Er, having hurried over with his men, pulled sharply on the reins, halting abruptly before the city gate. He angrily shouted at the man leading the coffin-carrying procession, "Wu Liang, are you seeking death?"
The man he scolded, Wu Liang, was a foreman at the city’s warehouses. He was normally very honest, and Sun Er recognized him—hence his shock at Wu Liang’s actions.
Even in peaceful times, privately gathering over a thousand people was a serious crime that disrupted public order.
This was especially true now, during the plague. So many people carrying over a dozen coffins to storm the city gate—the implications were clear.
"Arrest Officer Sun," Wu Liang raised his head, his voice hoarse, "is staying in the city not also seeking death?"
"What nonsense are you spouting?"
Sun Er didn’t respond. Dismounting, his hand on his knife hilt, he walked straight toward the crowd and bellowed, "Put the coffins down now!"
No one in the crowd moved. The faces under the masks merely stared at Sun Er with cold, numb expressions.
Sun Er felt an eerie chill but forced himself to speak with authority. "Think carefully about everything the Government Office has done for the common people of this city during this time! How much money and resources have been spent?
You must know that in previous dynasties, epidemics far less severe than this plague could leave seven or eight out of ten households empty, with every family wailing, every household in tears. More dead than alive.
If we all want to survive now, the best way is to follow the court’s arrangements, follow the Academic Palace’s arrangements..."
"We’ve listened. And then what?"
Wu Liang had a young man take his place shouldering the coffin. He turned to Sun Er, his voice filled with grief and anger. "The pamphlets all said that on the first day of the lockdown, there were only dozens, maybe a hundred cases in the city, all concentrated near the station.
What did you say then? That if things went smoothly, the lockdown could be lifted in about half a month.
And now? The plague is in every workshop quarter, and no family is without kin who have succumbed.
My wife was taken away for quarantine. As she left, she told me to take care of our three children at home. She said she would be back soon and that I should trust the Government Office and the Academic Palace.
Five days later, all I received was an urn. I don’t even know if the ashes inside are hers."
Tears streamed down Wu Liang’s face as he continued, "Both my older children also died of the disease. Their ashes are in these coffins.
Only my youngest child and I are left at home.
Is the lockdown working? Is it working at all?
It’s not a few thousand sick people being kept away from a million healthy ones; it’s a million people and a few thousand sick ones cooped up together!
Why didn’t you do as the pamphlets said and only quarantine the train station initially?"
"What do you know?!" All the grievances Sun Er had borne these past days ignited. He shouted, "When the city was quarantined that day, the plague had already spread throughout! Quarantining only the train station would have resulted in the plague running rampant! The entire Taiyuan Prefecture would have turned into a dead domain!"
"And what about now?" Wu Liang said sorrowfully. "The pamphlets said the Government Office could have set up isolation zones. People wanting to leave the city could have stayed in different wards within these zones for fifteen days of observation. This would have ruled out the plague.
Let those who want to leave the city do so, to seek refuge with relatives and friends, instead of being trapped in the city, facing the risk of dying from the disease at any moment."
"..." Sun Er hesitated but still said, "Things are not as simple as you think. Quarantine and observation can’t completely eliminate the risk of illness. Releasing one person increases the risk elsewhere.
Besides, the plague is everywhere along Hedong Road, whether in State Mansions or mountain villages. Where do you think you can escape? Where could you possibly go? Nowhere is a paradise!
Ultimately, do you really think these pamphlets are for your benefit?
Think about it! These pamphlets of unknown origin, spreading unstoppably—it’s clear they’re treating you as expendable, as mere tools!"
By the end of his speech, Sun Er’s tone had taken on a hint of pleading. "Wu Liang, I know your wife and your two children died. I know you’re in immense pain. But this isn’t the way to solve the problem.
Go home. For your own good, and for the sake of your youngest son."
"Sun Erlang, I barely have a home left." Wu Liang gave a miserable smile. "I’m begging you, please open the city gates. I can die, but my youngest child is only two years old; he knows nothing."
"Anyone who opens the city gates disregards the greater good! They will be traitors to Taiyuan Prefecture and all of Yu Country!"
A booming voice rose from the other side of the street. A portly sergeant clad in armor appeared, riding a horse and clutching a whip.
This is bad,
Sun Er thought. He hurried forward and whispered, "Capital Commandant, these common people have been bewitched by the pamphlets. They’re extremely agitated right now; persuasion is better than force."
"Step aside." The Capital Commandant impatiently pushed Sun Er away. He rode straight up to Wu Liang, raised his whip, and commanded arrogantly, "You’re blocking the city gates, defying Observer Li’s orders, and putting the safety of Taiyuan Prefecture at risk! Do you even care about Yu Country?
Put down those coffins!"
Wu Liang and the others remained silent.
"Not putting them down, huh?" The Capital Commandant sneered, his expression suddenly darkening. He ordered the dozens of soldiers behind him, "Smash them!"
"Capital Commandant, no!" Sun Er’s heart lurched. He stepped in front of Wu Liang but was pushed away by the soldiers.
The soldiers snatched the coffins, threw them to the ground, and split the coffin boards with their blades.
The surrounding common people reached out to stop them, only to be beaten back with the flats of the soldiers’ blades. The scene instantly descended into chaos.
Strangely, the Capital Commandant’s dozens of soldiers, all strong men from Zhe Chong Prefecture, were much more robust than ordinary people and were also clad in armor.
Yet, in the midst of the commotion, they were struck by fists and kicks from seemingly nowhere. Their limbs grew numb, they were unable to draw their weapons, and they were swiftly overwhelmed by the crowd.
Cultivators!
Alarms blared in Sun Er’s mind.
There are Cultivators mixed in with these coffin-carrying commoners!
He tried to shout, but his voice was lost in the din, nor could he squeeze out of the crowd.
The dozen or so soldiers guarding the city gates, unaware of the situation, abandoned their posts and rushed over with clubs to rescue their comrades.
Seeing the gates unguarded, a few young men exchanged glances, then charged toward the city gate, still carrying the coffins.
BOOM!
With a dull thud, the heavy, bolted city gates were smashed open by the coffins.
"The gates are open, run!" someone yelled.
The commoners who were still beating the Capital Commandant immediately shrieked and rushed towards the breach in the gate, a disaster imminent.
Until...
BUZZ—
Invisible Telekinesis spread out. Everyone on the street, whether it was the bruised and swollen Capital Commandant or the impassioned commoners, froze in place, unable to move.
The flags of the shops lining the street still waved, proving this wasn’t time itself stopping.
TAP TAP TAP.
The sound of footsteps drew closer. Xi Yangyu stood behind the crowd, his eyes deep and brooding.