Chapter 221: Wild Boar Ridge, Come Alone
Chapter 221: Chapter 221: Wild Boar Ridge, Come Alone
Xu Jinda still had to interrogate Wang Pozi, Liu Lanhua, Li Siming, and Zheng Delin, so he had no time to personally escort Zhao Nuanyang back. Instead, Deputy Captain Yang and a few of his men escorted Zhao Nuanyang, Little Red Carp, and Zhao Xiaohai home through the night.
Fearing danger on the road, everyone in the ox-cart held torches, pistols, and knives.
Meanwhile, earlier that day, after Zhao Nuanyue had contacted Zhao Nuanyang and told him to find Old Man Sun in the county town for help, she saw someone throw a piece of paper over the wall.
Zhao Nuanyue picked it up. The characters on it were scrawled and crooked. It read: "If you want Little Red Carp back, come to Wild Boar Ridge on the back mountain at once. Come alone, or she’s dead."
’Such awful handwriting,’ she thought. ’Either Li Shan wrote it this way on purpose, or he’s poorly educated and can barely write.’
’But considering how shrewd Li Siming is, he would have made sure his children learned to read. So Li Shan must have done this on purpose.’
Zhao Nuanyue knew where Little Red Carp was—not with Li Shan—so she wasn’t worried. She needed to plan this out carefully. Only after the footsteps outside faded away did Zhao Nuanyue emerge from her main gate, spotting the figure of a man in the distance.
’That must be Li Shan!’
Holding the note, Zhao Nuanyue didn’t head for Wild Boar Ridge right away. Instead, she locked her gate and went to find Li Guihua and Miao Dahai.
If Little Red Carp were really in this Li Shan’s hands, Zhao Nuanyue might truly not have dared to find help. But since Little Red Carp had already been whisked off to the county town to be sold, she naturally had nothing to fear.
’With Zhao Nuanyang and Little Red Carp there, Liu Lanhua and Li Siming won’t be able to escape. We might even catch Zheng Delin. If today goes smoothly, we can also capture Li Shan and round them all up in one go.’
Li Guihua was at home weaving baskets when she saw Zhao Nuanyue rushing over, pale-faced. Startled, she quickly asked, "Nuanyue, what’s wrong? What happened?"
Zhao Nuanyue feigned a terrified, nervous expression and began to tremble. With red-rimmed eyes, she pulled a piece of paper from her pocket and choked out, "Aunt Li, I was cleaning the house when someone threw a wad of paper into my yard. I opened it up, and... someone kidnapped Little Red Carp. I didn’t believe it at first, so I looked all over for her. She was just playing by the gate a moment ago, but now she’s gone! I’ve looked everywhere and I can’t find her. Little Red Carp is gone, Aunt Li! You have to help me!"
Hearing Zhao Nuanyue’s story, Li Guihua frowned. "Don’t panic, don’t panic. We’ll definitely find Little Red Carp. First, you need to calm down. I’ll go mobilize the whole village to help search for her right now."
"Aunt Li, no! We can’t make a big, public search!" Zhao Nuanyue said urgently, grabbing Li Guihua’s arm. "Look, the note says I have to go to Wild Boar Ridge alone. If you have all the men of the village, young and old, go out searching, the bad guy will know I told someone, and he might hurt Little Red Carp! She’s so sweet, nothing can happen to her! It’s all my fault. I wasn’t watching her closely enough!"
Seeing Zhao Nuanyue crying so wretchedly, Li Guihua quickly consoled her. "Even though Little Red Carp isn’t your sister by blood, everyone in the village knows how well you treat her. Besides, that little girl is such a sweetheart. I don’t know what kind of bastard who deserves to die a thousand deaths would kidnap her. Nuanyue, don’t cry. Since the person told you to go to Wild Boar Ridge, I’ll tell Miao Dahai. He can take a few strong young men and hurry over there. They’ll be able to save her for sure."
Li Jianjun put down his book, went inside to get his shotgun, and said, "Mr. Zhao, don’t worry, and don’t be scared. I’ve got a shotgun. I’ll take some people and go find Little Red Carp."
Because he often went to the Dragon King Temple to learn from Old Sir Qian, Li Jianjun had become quite familiar with the young people there. He was especially fond of the adorable Little Red Carp.
Incredibly cute, with the sweetest smile.
Li Minglan also stopped what she was doing and said reassuringly, "Nuanyue, don’t be scared. We’ll definitely get Little Red Carp back."
"Thank you all, thank you," Zhao Nuanyue said, wiping away her tears as she followed Li Guihua to see Miao Dahai.
Miao Dahai took the note from Zhao Nuanyue and read it several times, his expression turning grim. "When has anything like this ever happened in our Nianqiao Village? Utterly shameless. This time, I want to see for myself who’s so brazen as to steal children—and to steal one right from our village. What you might not know is that seventeen or eighteen children have gone missing in the county over the past six months. Xu Jinda has been investigating the matter. Maybe this is the same person who’s been stealing children in the county."
Zhao Nuanyue listened, then shook her head in disagreement. "Uncle Miao, I don’t think this is a child trafficker. Usually, when traffickers snatch a child, they run as far away as possible. Who would throw a note into my yard at the Dragon King Temple, demanding I come alone? I think this is more likely one of my enemies. They want to use Little Red Carp to get revenge on me."
After Zhao Nuanyue spoke, Miao Dahai, Li Guihua, Wu Dazhu, and the others were taken aback for a moment. But on second thought, it made sense.
There really weren’t any traffickers that brazen.
They also recalled how Zhao Nuanyue had earned great merit last year protecting Gu Qingyu and the others. Before that, she had rescued Li Qiong, Wang Yuan, and Yang Guanghui, foiling the plans of those villains. She had certainly made many enemies.
"Mr. Zhao, we’ll never forget what you’ve done for Nianqiao Village. Now it’s our turn to repay you," Miao Dahai declared. "Wu Dazhu, gather seven or eight men with shotguns. We’re all going to Wild Boar Ridge."
"Yes, Miao," Wu Dazhu answered before heading off to find the men.
Soon, the men had gathered. Including Miao Dahai and Li Guihua, a group of ten people followed Zhao Nuanyue toward the back mountain.
Zhao Nuanyue walked in the lead while the people behind her split into three groups, all heading toward Wild Boar Ridge via different routes. The whole way, Zhao Nuanyue’s heart burned with anxiety.
As they neared Wild Boar Ridge, Li Guihua removed a sheathed dagger from her belt and handed it to Zhao Nuanyue. "Nuanyue, don’t be scared," she said. "Take this. When you go over there, first get a look at who exactly captured Little Red Carp."
Zhao Nuanyue nodded. "Nuanyang is gone too, but he’s an adult, so he should be okay. I have to save Little Red Carp first."
"Be careful, then," Li Guihua said. "We’ll be right behind you. Don’t be afraid."
"Okay. I’m not scared. I’m not scared." Zhao Nuanyue nodded, psyching herself up. She secured the dagger and began walking toward Wild Boar Ridge, one step at a time.
In truth, all of Zhao Nuanyue’s apparent fear was an act. She wasn’t the least bit afraid.
’If there’s any danger, I can use the Space Ring to disappear,’ she thought. ’Of course, that’s my last resort for saving my life. I won’t use it unless I absolutely have to.’