017 Shame and Humiliation (Part I)

The gaze of Qishan swept over the eleven corpses one by one.

After pondering for a while, he didn't find any clues.

He decided to skip the speculation and go straight to the point.

"Who is missing?"

"A man," Shen Tang replied, adding some details, "A man about seven feet four inches tall."

"About seven feet four inches tall?" Qishan murmured, a flash of insight crossing his mind.

He knew who Shen Tang was referring to!

"Yes, indeed, one person is missing."

Perhaps this person is still alive!

Qishan locked his gaze on the hands of the eleven corpses.

These corpses all had rough hands, dark skin, and many calluses, even the old women wearing silk had hands that looked like they had been working for years, but none of these corpses had hands that showed signs of long-term writing. Writing for extended periods would deform the finger joints, and the degree of deformation depends on the age when writing began and the duration of practice, yet these corpses showed no such characteristics.

But there were several bookshelves in the side room where they were staying, and there were two desks by the window, one large and one small, with bamboo slips on the desks for children's education. If the child being educated was Ayan, then where is the person who educated him at this moment?

Of course, all of this is not enough to prove anything, and the educator may have taught the child during the day and returned to his own home at night. But the bandits who opened the door for the two of them earlier had martial courage and wore ill-fitting brown Confucian robes, which was interesting.

The most likely speculation is that this garment does not belong to the bandits, but rather to the person who educated the child.

"And then? What's the use of finding it?" Qishan asked.

"At least we can learn some inside information," Shen Tang replied.

Qishan couldn't help but laugh and reminded Shen Tang.

"Do you still remember your identity at this moment, Shen Xiao Langjun? Let's not talk about whether this matter has anything to do with you. Even if it does, once you get involved, if it's investigated, it'll be like a cow going to the sea, never to return. To see injustice and draw one's sword to help, to meddle in matters at the slightest trouble, that's the style of a knight-errant."

Shen Tang: "..."

Although this was not pleasant to hear, it was the truth.

At this moment, she should be lying low rather than acting recklessly.

They had searched the entire village, and besides the two of them, there were no other survivors. With no clues, Shen Tang had to put on her straw raincoat again, put on her bamboo hat, and return to Qianjia Village with Qishan. They saw the village head waiting at the village entrance through the rain curtain. Just as the village head saw them, he hurriedly came up to them: "You two are finally back——"

Shen Tang regretfully said, "We still didn't find..."

But the village head said, "Ayan has been found."

Shen Tang and Qishan were both surprised: "Found?"

Qishan asked again, "Where is he?"

Shen Tang also asked, "Where did he go earlier?"

The village head was happy that Ayan was safe, and seeing the enthusiasm of the two strangers, his smile became even brighter.

He had been waiting at the village entrance specifically to inform them of the good news: "Ayan was called out by his teacher earlier. The teacher said he wanted to take him away and go north to find his relatives. Because something unexpected happened and they had to leave immediately, they have already set off..."

Shen Tang and Qishan looked at each other in surprise.

"Ayan's teacher?"

"What's the rush? Why leave in the middle of the night?"

The village head didn't know either, and he didn't feel comfortable asking too much.

Shen Tang asked, "Did Ayan leave with him voluntarily?"

The village head was puzzled, "What are you talking about, Xiaolangjun?"

Shen Tang smiled awkwardly.

The village head continued, "Rest assured, that teacher is a good person."

Even if he wasn't a good person, he wouldn't be a kidnapper. Nowadays, children are not worth much, let alone a mentally disabled child.

Why bother to abduct him?

The rain showed no signs of stopping.

Ten miles from Qianjia Village.

A red horse, soaked in rain, galloped through the dense forest.

Two people rode on the horse's back.

The older one had gray hair and looked quite old. He wore a moon-colored Confucian robe and a straw raincoat on his head. The younger one didn't have any rain gear and held onto the reins tightly with both hands.

Upon closer inspection, this child, with pursed lips and a serious expression, was none other than Ayan, whom everyone had searched for half the night.

"Drive!"

The horse's hooves landed, splashing mud and water.

The red horse, like a flame, leaped out of the dense forest without hesitation, leaping twenty feet in one bound and crossing the rushing stream before stopping.

"Ayan, we can... we can stop now..." a weak voice came from behind.

Ayan controlled the horse to kneel halfway and helped the weak old man down from the horse. Blood mixed with rainwater pooled under the old man's feet. He sat weakly on the ground, his face pale with a hint of blue, his right hand always covering the area below his right rib, blood constantly flowing from the wound.

The old man took several deep breaths to ease the pain, suppressing the intense pain caused by the wound, but the veins on his forehead were still pulsating uncontrollably.

Ayan looked at the old man sadly, raised his hand to adjust the crooked hat for him, and the old man forced out a smile uglier than crying: "It's okay, fortunately the injury isn't too deep, I shouldn't die..."

After a while, he saw Ayan take out a piece of thumb-sized taffy from the wet pouch, already half dissolved by blood and rain, and handed it to the old man's lips, saying, "Teacher, eat."

The old man smiled and didn't refuse.

The taste of the taffy was far from good.

He tore off a piece of his own clothes and patched up the wound with a simple bandage. After doing all this, he stood up with Ayan's support and muttered to himself, "Let's find a place to take shelter from the rain first, then we'll replenish our supplies and go to Xiaocheng..."

Ayan murmured, "Xiaocheng?"

The old man said, "Yes, let's go there first and make plans."

This time they were lucky to escape the pursuit, but what about next time?

Luck wouldn't always be on their side, so they needed to prepare early.

It's just that Ayan, this child, is suffering. At such a young age, he has to flee everywhere with this old man. The old man originally wanted to leave him behind, but——as the child grows older, he has his own ideas.

Ayan nodded vigorously, "Yes, let's go to Xiaocheng