CH 25.1

Chapter 25: Refuse to Go (1) Original translation is from tenderflower's blog.

There was a rule among hunters in the village to engrave their names on their weapons so that in the event of an accident, others could recognize the identity of the owner with the bows or sticks, and notify the family in time.

Xiao Lang had picked up a crude spear stained with blood and he clearly remembered that when Xiao Shouwang handed it over to a family, a gray-haired old man hugged the spear and wept bitterly. The children of different heights and shorts showed a bewildered look at first, and then began to cry, and the cry was so loud that many villagers shed tears.

Therefore, when Xiao Lang heard what the maid said, there was a buzzing sound in Xiao Lang’s mind as if he had been hit hard in the chest by a boulder, which made him feel very uncomfortable.

Scenes from the morning appeared before him. Xiao Shouwang, a tall and thin figure with a longbow on his back, crouching by the river, looking back to greet him with the smile on his face when he drank water, the rough big hand he rubbed on his head, and he pointed out awkwardly and uncomfortably...

Perhaps, he just accidentally dropped the bow?

The idea was simply self-deception!

Xiao Lang stood up abruptly. There were so many people with the same name and surname. He wanted to see the bow. He wanted to identify the nicks on the bow. He wanted to check whether there was blood on the bow that belonged to his father!

The next moment, Xiao Lang ran out like a gust of wind and disappeared in front of everyone in the blink of an eye. Only the clear footsteps in the courtyard could be heard, but soon, the footsteps disappeared in the screams of the servants one after another.

The maid stood at the door and the atmosphere in the room suddenly became solemn.

Shu Lan noticed this sensitively. She knew that the “Second Master Xiao” in the maid’s mouth was Second Uncle Xiao, and she knew someone picked up the bow that Second Uncle Xiao dropped, but she couldn’t guess the meaning of these words together. Looking at the serious faces of the adults, she became inexplicably uneasy. She looked at Zhu Yuanbao, who was also confused, for help, hoping that the omniscient brother Yuanbao could tell her what happened.

Zhu Yuanbao shook his head and motioned Shu Lan not to speak. Although he did not know the specific situation, he understood something bad must have happened.

After Xiao Lang ran out, Shu Wan held back the tears that filled her eyes. She looked at Zhu Yuanbao and Shu Lan who were ignorant and turned around to say to the old madam: “Grandmother, something happened at home. It must be a mess. Just let Ah Lan stay here for a few more days. I’ll leave now.”

The old madam held her eldest granddaughter who turned around and wanted to leave, and her heart was also heavy. She knew exactly what the relationship between the Xiao family and the Shu family was. If Xiao Shouwang really died, her daughter and son-in-law would be very sad for a long time. Back then when Lan-shi died of childbirth, her daughter was thin for several months and she lost a lot of weight.

“Silly girl, that child is anxious and impulsive, why do you follow him as well!” The old madam rebuked distressingly, and turned back to her eldest daughter-in-law, Zhu-shi, “Send someone to inform your father and them, see if the cloth shop can draw people out and take them to the village to help. My son-in-law must have asked the village head to gather the villagers to go into the mountains to find him. Our family will follow. More people have more hope!”

Zhu-shi responded, and hurriedly went out to assign, ordering this to go to the cloth shop to inform the father-in-law and the young masters, and instruct the one to prepare the carriage and stick. Although her face was calm, she was extremely uneasy in her heart. That was a pack of wolves! No matter how many people enter the mountain, as long as she thought her husband might encounter a wolf, her heart couldn’t wait to jump out. Instinctively, she wanted to complain about the old madam for too many things. It was not like the son-in-law was in danger. It was okay to send a few servants to help. Why let her own man follow? But on second thought, it was also the old madam’s husband and sons, and she was worried more than her.

All the worries and dissatisfaction turned into a long sigh.

Qin Ruhai quickly led everyone back, told his old wife, and his family took Shu Wan to one carriage, seven sturdy workers stepped into the other, and the two carriages rushed to Qingshan Village.

“Grandmother, what happened to Uncle Xiao?” Shu Lan leaned beside the old madam and asked nervously.

The old madam patted her head and gave Zhu Yuanbao a wink before saying: “It’s alright, he’s probably lost in the mountains. I asked your grandfather and the others to help find him.”

“Oh...” Shu Lan immediately felt relieved and muttered to herself, “Then Uncle Xiao will definitely come out. He told me when I was a child that if I got lost in the mountains, just look at where the sun is, there is...that’s...”

After a long time, she still couldn’t remember whether it was east or west. Shu Lan smiled embarrassedly, ran back to Zhu Yuanbao again, and pulled his sleeves to go play with the birds in the backyard. She didn’t know whether parrots eat cherries or not. Well, she would have a try later.

Zhu Yuanbao looked at the old madam in doubt. When he saw the old madam waving at him with a tired face, he followed Shu Lan out, but he was obviously absent-minded.

******

With the curtain of the carriage wide open, Shu Wan sat nervously on the side and saw that they were about to reach Qingshan Village after turning to the next intersection. Why hadn’t she seen Ah Lang?

“Did he take a detour?” Uncle Qin Yikang guessed doubtfully. After all, no matter how fast the kid ran, he couldn’t outrun the carriage. 80% of it, he must choose a different path.

Qin Ruhai’s dark eyebrows were deeply wrinkled. The last time he heard the wolves caused trouble was a cold winter night more than ten years ago. The wolves couldn’t find food in the deep mountains. They were only skin and bones hungry before they fled to the village at the foot of the mountain to hunt poultry. But now it was the season when the grass grew and the rabbits grew fat. How could wolves come out of the mountains?

Original translation is from willkissonyou, tenderflower. If you're not reading from tenderflower then it'd been stolen and posted without the consent of tenderflower.