When Ling Xi heard what Liu Hai said, she shook her head too, not knowing what was going on either.
At that moment, it was as if Ling Xi had completely forgotten about testing Liu Hai, and when Lin Xiao saw this, he felt both helpless and annoyed. Seriously, he hadn’t expected Ling Xi to forget something so important at such a time. If this “Liu Hai” in front of them really was an imposter, they’d all be in danger.
Just as Lin Xiao was about to step in himself to test Liu Hai, he suddenly heard Ling Xi casually change the topic: “I really don’t know where they could’ve run off to. Do you think maybe they saw something lively and went off to join the crowd again?”
Liu Hai actually paused to think about this seriously. “That can’t be it. I remember Zhang Nu’s not someone who likes crowds.”
“The last time we went to the lantern festival, he and Lin Xiao just stayed behind us carrying our things—they barely bought anything, and they didn’t join in the fun at all.”
When Ling Xi heard Liu Hai say this, she looked at Lin Xiao with wide eyes. It really was Liu Hai—only one of them would know Zhang Nu’s personality this well. That meant that this Liu Hai must be the real one.
So… who was actually in trouble? Could it really be Zhang Nu and Zhao Yang?
“Is it possible that Zhang Nu and Zhao Yang ran into trouble?”
Lin Xiao shook his head when he heard Ling Xi say that. He didn’t know who exactly was in danger. His ability only let him sense that something bad had happened, but not the exact who or where.
Just then, Liu Hai overheard Ling Xi and Lin Xiao’s talk and immediately grew more anxious.
“Lin Xiao, did you sense something bad again? Then we need to hurry and find Zhao Yang and Zhang Nu. If something happens to them, we’ll regret it forever.”
When Ling Xi and Lin Xiao heard Liu Hai say that, they were even more convinced this really was the real Liu Hai. If he were a fake, he wouldn’t have said something like that.
“So where do we even start looking?”
Ling Xi’s simple question instantly stumped both Liu Hai and Lin Xiao. They really didn’t know where to look for Zhang Nu. It felt like they’d been trapped in a huge maze, not knowing where to go or where Zhang Nu might appear.
“Where can we even find Zhang Nu? This really is a headache,” Liu Hai muttered.
Hearing that, Lin Xiao and Ling Xi could only shake their heads too. If they’d had any clues, they would’ve been searching already. It was precisely because they had none that they were stuck here, pacing around in circles.
“But if we don’t at least try to look, then we’ll never find them either,” Ling Xi said. “Let’s just split up and check every place we can. Maybe we’ll get lucky and run into them.”
Though Lin Xiao and Liu Hai both knew this was a clumsy approach, they had to admit it was practical. So very quickly, the three of them left the inn to search.
Just as they stepped outside, Zhang Nu and Zhao Yang finally returned. But when Zhang Nu and Zhao Yang saw the empty room, they were both taken aback. Logically speaking, Ling Xi and the others should have been back by now—how could they be missing for so long?
“Zhang Nu, what now? We’ve gotten separated from Ling Xi and Lin Xiao,” Zhao Yang said anxiously.
Zhang Nu shook his head. They’d just come back from a generous patron’s house. The patron had been very kind, offering to take them in and even give them some travel funds. Though Zhang Nu still felt it all sounded too good to be true, it had really happened.
“There are still good people in this world. We should believe that there’s more good than bad,” Zhang Nu said.
“It wasn’t easy finding someone willing to help us and give us some money for the road… and now we can’t find Ling Xi and the others.”
Zhao Yang knew Zhang Nu was worried, but worrying wouldn’t solve anything now. If they really wanted to handle this properly, they needed to act quickly.
“Let’s head back to the patron’s house first,” Zhao Yang suggested. “We can leave a note or a message with the innkeeper. If Ling Xi and the others come back, he can tell them where we went. That way they’ll find us soon.”
Seeing that there was no other way, Zhang Nu could only nod. They’d do just that— it was the only option for now.
So after leaving the message behind, Zhang Nu and Zhao Yang returned to the patron’s residence.