Chapter 183: Relying On Each Other
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
The wolf suddenly pounced on her and bit her neck. “Don’t be afraid. I’ll just lick you. I won’t eat you.”
Liu Sanniang was frightened awake. At the same time, the carriage stopped. Chu Yan lifted the curtain and said in a low voice, “We’ve arrived at the destination.”
Chu Yan had half of his body inside the carriage. Seeing him, Liu Sanniang felt a sense of suffocation. She blurted out. “Don’t eat me!”
Chu Yan was stunned for a moment before he suddenly smiled. He reached out and touched Liu Sanniang’s head. “I won’t.”
She hadn’t even grown up yet.
Liu Sanniang came back to her senses and blushed.
The carriage had already reached Hujia Village. It was very difficult to have the carriage go through the village because the road was extremely bumpy, so they could only walk.
The commoners could not help but be curious about what was going on and why so many officers were here. The village chief was an old scholar in his sixties. When he saw the officers, he immediately welcomed them respectfully.
The old scholar smiled and said, “Sir, I’m Hu Wangping, the village chief of Hujia. What happened?”
Wei Shilai said, “Take us to Huang Ming’s house.”
The old scholar thought for a moment. “Huang Ming’s house is still a little far away. Sir, why don’t you take a rest and drink some tea before…”
Wei Shilai interrupted the old scholar. “Set out immediately.”
The old scholar was a little terrified. Did something serious happen? However, he didn’t have time to ask around at this moment. He could only take Wei Shilai and the others to Huang Ming’s house.
After Liu Sanniang got out of the carriage, she saw that Hujia Village was in the mountains. Huanghu Village was two mountains away, and between the two villages lived a family, Huang Ming’s family.
The old scholar explained to Wei Shilai that Huang Ming was blind in one eye and his family was dead, leaving only his granddaughter and him to live together. The old scholar said that he had persuaded Huang Ming many times to move closer to them, but he refused.
The old scholar couldn’t get a word out of Wei Shilai and was flustered.
He couldn’t help but wonder if a rich relative of Huang Ming’s had come looking for him.
Wu Ju walked slowly. The constables beside him had already surpassed him. Behind him was Liu Sanniang. When Liu Sanniang realized that it was Wu Ju in front of her, her hand was held.
Wu Ju turned around and smiled at Liu Sanniang. “Miss Liu, what do you think of this place?”
She looked around. It was now autumn and most of the crops had been harvested. However, the soil she saw was not fertile, as if it hadn’t been plowed for decades. The more she walked, the less fertile the soil. The trees were not tall and looked really bare.
Liu Sanniang said, “This place is very barren.”
Even if farming was done, the yield of such land would not be high.
Wu Ju continued. “Miss, have you heard that there was a fire here? It burned across three mountains and turned everything into ashes.”
Liu Sanniang responded. “After the fire, the vegetation will turn into ashes and the soil will become fertile.”
However, this place was barren.
Wu Ju looked into the distance. After walking for a while, he said slowly, “What if the fire burned the spirit of the mountain god?”
Liu Sanniang looked at Wu Ju’s back. When he spoke, his tone was calm and his aura was warm.
Liu Sanniang couldn’t help but wonder what kind of relationship he had with Huanghu Village and what was going on with the spirit of the mountain god.
Chu Yan tightened his grip. Liu Sanniang turned to look at him and said in annoyance, “Let go.”
When Chu Yan let go after hearing that, Liu Sanniang was stunned.
Why was he so obedient?
The old scholar brought them to Huang Ming’s house. There were only three small houses and two sheds of different sizes. The courtyard was not walled and the surroundings were desolate. There was some land beside the house where some vegetables had been planted.
The sky was almost dark. A girl of eight or nine years old was carrying a wooden bucket to feed the pigs. When she saw that there were so many people, she was stunned and stammered. “W-Who are you looking for?”
The old scholar went forward and said with a smile, “Niuniu, we’re looking for your grandpa. Where’s he?”
Huang Niuniu looked at the old scholar, then at the rest of the people. She carried the wooden bucket and turned around to return to the house. She shouted loudly. “Grandpa, the village chief is looking for you.”
“Come in.”
A husky voice came from inside the house. Because the house was too small to accommodate so many people, Wei Shilai turned around and instructed. “Look around and wait for my orders.”
Wei Shilai only brought two constables, Wu Ju, Liu Sanniang, and Chu Yan in.
Huang Ming’s house was neat and tidy. When Huang Niuniu entered the house, she helped him up. Huang Ming could no longer see. Holding the walking stick, he smiled. “Village Chief, what’s the matter? Why are there so many people here?”
The old scholar looked at Wei Shilai and said, “Magistrate Wei, who is in charge of Yong County, is looking for you.”
Huang Ming was a little excited. “The magistrate is here? Greetings, sir.”
Huang Ming trembled as he knelt down and pulled his granddaughter to kneel down too.
Wei Shilai said to the old scholar, “Thank you. You can go back now. When you go back, don’t say anything you shouldn’t.”
The old scholar wanted to ask what was going on, but when he heard Wei Shilai’s cold order, he knew that he had to leave. He nodded repeatedly. “Yes, yes. Don’t worry, sir. I won’t say anything.”
Wei Shilai gave Lin Zheng a look. Lin Zheng understood and followed the old scholar out. He asked two people to send the old scholar back to the village to prevent him from lingering around and eavesdropping.
After the old scholar left, Wei Shilai helped Huang Ming get up.
Huang Ming couldn’t see, but when Wei Shilai helped him up, he was very excited. “I didn’t expect I could live to see Your Lordship one day.”
Huang Niuniu looked at Wei Shilai curiously and others curiously. In her life, all she had seen was the barren mountain area in front of the house. This place was too desolate, and the commoners were not even willing to come over to herd cows. This entire mountain was inhabited only by the two of them.
Wei Shilai asked him. “I won’t beat around the bush. To tell you the truth, the families who moved out of Huanghu Village with your family were killed a few days ago. Today is the fifth day. Your family is the last one.”
Huang Ming was not prepared to hear that. His eyes widened in shock. He asked in a trembling voice. “What? Sir, what did you say?”
Wei Shilai saw the panic in his eyes, which meant that he knew something. Wei Shilai repeated. “All those families, except for yours, have been killed.”