Chapter 954: The Direction of the Black Market (Patreon)

Chapter 954: The Direction of the Black Market

An intense argument broke out between the two parties, escalating with each passing moment.

Who would have expected that Tang Shi had a hidden knife? In the chaos, she stabbed Old Man Cui in the thigh.

Xiao Ya'er witnessed this scene and was stunned. Old Man Cui instinctively urged her to run.

Unfortunately, before she could escape, Li Xiaoshan grabbed Xiao Ya'er, choking her neck and throwing her to the ground.

Seeing his only granddaughter immobilized, Old Man Cui became furious and lunged at Li Xiaoshan, ready to fight him to the death.

In a fit of anger, the explosive force was astonishing. Li Xiaoshan and Old Man Cui wrestled their way into the courtyard. Just as Old Man Cui was about to cry for help, Tang Shi didn't hesitate and stabbed him in the neck with the knife.

Blood spurted from Old Man Cui's neck, splashing Li Xiaoshan's face and even blurring his vision. It took him a while before he staggered to his feet.

Both of them were stunned at the moment, but the deed was done. They had to calm down and think carefully.

Tang Shi helped Li Xiaoshan to the kitchen to wash his eyes, and when they finished, they planned to dispose of the bodies of Old Man Cui and Xiao Ya'er.

However, to their surprise, Xiao Ya'er was nowhere to be found. They were alarmed but didn't have time to think. They immediately rushed out to search for her.

However, there was no commotion outside, and Xiao Ya'er hadn't sought help from the neighboring houses. But she had indeed disappeared.

Shu Yu furrowed her brows upon hearing this. "Are you sure she escaped on her own and wasn't harmed by you?"

Tang Shi immediately shook her head. "No, if we had really harmed her, we would have put her in the cellar."

"Didn't you hear her open the door and leave?"

The sound of the door in Old Man Cui's house was quite loud. Moreover, it was at night, so it was impossible for Tang and Li Xiaoshan not to hear if Little Ya'er had opened the door by herself.

Shu Yu believed she wasn't lying. If Tang Shi had lied, she could have easily framed it on Li Xiaoshan.

"Could she have gone out through the dog hole?" Lu Sanzhu suddenly appeared at the doorway of the hall and spoke.

"A dog hole?" Tang Shi was taken aback. "Does Old Man Cui's house have a dog hole?"

Lu Sanzhu rolled his eyes. "Of course it does. When I was looking for the child earlier, I went to check the dog hole first."

He used to crawl through dog holes to play around when he was a child, so he had a knack for finding them.

In the backyard corner of Old Man Cui's house, there was a very small opening covered by some commonly grown herbs, including peppermint and aloe.

Lu Sanzhu pushed them aside and searched, but he didn't find anyone, so he went to look elsewhere.

Upon hearing this, Shu Yu asked him to lead the way and got up to follow him to the backyard.

Lu Sanzhu knew the way and moved some herbs aside. Sure enough, a small hole was revealed, which was probably only big enough for a thin child to crawl into.

Shu Yu squatted down and saw some dark red marks around the hole—bloodstains.

"Xiao Ya'er did indeed leave through here."

This wall wasn't facing the village but rather in the direction of leaving the village.

Did Xiao Ya'er leave the village?

Shu Yu walked out of Old Man Cui's house and looked into the distance.

The place appeared barren and devoid of crops, except for a distant mountain.

And that mountain was where the black market was located.

It was a four-li journey, about two kilometers. Could a wounded five-year-old child run that far?

Regardless of whether she could or not, Shu Yu wanted to search along the way.

She instructed Ying Xi to bring the mule cart from the manor, and as they were about to depart, Jiang Gongzi unexpectedly got on the cart as well.