From behind, Zhenzhen clung to her father’s clothes, looking all around. Her once pretty and adorable face was streaked with tears, and her eyes were red and swollen, clearly from crying for a long time.
"Wuu, it’s all my fault. If it weren’t for my wanting to see the lanterns, Sister wouldn’t have gone missing. Wuu!"
Xin Er was full of self-reproach, wishing she could slap herself hard several times.
"Don’t cry anymore. Sister Yan is such a good person; heaven will protect her. Maybe she was swept away by the crowd, and perhaps she’s also looking for us right now!"
Liyan hugged Xin Er’s shoulders, comforting her in a gentle voice, but her eyes, red and swollen, carried deep worry.
At that moment, Lizhong hurried over from not far away and urgently said to Mo Qingze, "Qingze, a government officer just said that many who have been separated are at the inn ahead. Let’s go there to have a look; Yanyan might be there."
Upon hearing this, Mo Qingze’s eyes lit up with hope, and it was unclear whether he was trying to convince others or himself, "Good, good, let’s go quickly. Yanyan must be waiting for us there."
After speaking, he set off toward the inn ahead without even paying attention to his two young children.
Lizhong quickly led the three children to follow, but after only a few steps, he saw Mo Qingze stopped by a man in light armor who looked like a general. He hurried forward and realized to his surprise that it was someone he knew.
"Mr. Mo, has Miss Mo gone missing?"
Seeing the distraught Mo Qingze, Xiao Ruiyuan’s cold voice carried a hint of softness.
Mo Qingze snapped back to reality and, disregarding his rank, clutched at Xiao Ruiyuan’s arm like it was a lifeline, speaking incoherently, "Yanyan is missing, Brother Xiao, have you seen Yanyan? Is she in the inn ahead? I’ve searched everywhere and haven’t found her, is she inside?"
Realizing that the cheerful girl who loved to laugh and dote on her younger siblings was truly missing, Xiao Ruiyuan’s gaze sharpened, and something tugged painfully at his heart.
Seeing Mo Qingze’s abnormal state of mind, Xiao Ruiyuan suppressed the unease in his heart and soothed, "Mr. Mo, don’t panic. Miss Yan is not in the inn for now. I will immediately dispatch more people to search around. You go and wait in the inn; as soon as there’s news, I will inform you immediately."
Upon hearing that his daughter wasn’t in the inn, Mo Qingze was on the brink of collapse. He clutched at his hair fiercely, tears spilling from his eyes.
Xiao Ruiyuan frowned slightly, unsure how to comfort him. Seeing Zhenzhen and her brother running over, he instructed in a serious tone, "Hurry and take your father to the inn to wait for news. It’s chaotic here; don’t run around, you hear me?"
On this way, most of those who had been separated were teenage girls and children around four or five years old, none of whom had been found. He suspected this chaos was not simple—perhaps someone had deliberately created the commotion to take advantage of it and kidnap these girls and children. But he couldn’t tell the Mo Family this.
The siblings hurriedly wiped their tears and nodded quickly.
Zhenzhen’s small hand tightly held Xiao Ruiyuan’s hand, her voice thick with sobs: "Big brother, you are the Great General, aren’t you? You command a lot of soldiers, right? Can you send more soldiers to find my sister, please? As long as you help me find my sister, I’ll do anything you ask. I can’t do it now, but I’m sure I will be able to when I grow up."
The child’s naive yet determined promise touched Xiao Ruiyuan’s long-harden heart slightly. Meeting Zhenzhen’s earnest eyes, he unconsciously extended his somewhat cold hand and awkwardly patted her head, his deep voice making a solemn promise, "Big brother will definitely find your sister."