Chapter 390: Missed
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
After confirming again and again, this person stopped working and ran towards the government office.
Night fell, and the sunset appeared on the horizon.
When a group of bailiffs appeared at the old man’s house, only the old man and the woman lying on the bed were in the entire courtyard.
“Father, what’s going on? Where are the four people I saw today? Have they left?”
The old man looked at his son, who had returned with the bailiffs, with a blank expression.
“What four people? Son, are you out of your mind? There’s only your mother and me in this house! Didn’t you bring your mother back from a doctor’s appointment yesterday? Where did these four people come from?”
When the old man’s son, Jiang Bao, heard his father’s words, he immediately panicked.
“Father, stop protecting those four people! Do you know that those four people are actually fugitives wanted by the authorities? They’ve committed a crime, so we have to hand them over!”
The old man continued to stare at his son in disbelief, then slowly walked to the bailiff not far away.
“Where did you see my son? My son has been anxious to earn money to treat his mother’s illness! Did my son do something to bring you guys over?” As soon as he said this, the bailiff who came was stunned.
When the old man saw that the bailiff was stunned for a moment, realization dawned on his face.
“Is there a bounty? The bounty is very generous, so my son had ulterior motives when he saw it.”
With that, tears fell from the old man’s eyes and he walked towards his son.
“Son, son! I know you’re filial, but your mother is already in this state, so you can’t force yourself anymore! If you drive yourself crazy, what will I do?! Don’t be too anxious. We’ll have money. Let’s earn it slowly. When we’re done, we’ll go to the capital to find a famous doctor!”
With that, the old man hugged Jiang Bao again.
“Son, I know you’re a good child. I know you’re filial and my heart aches for your mother, but there’s no choice! We can’t lie to others just to get money!” As he spoke, the old man looked furious and even ruthlessly smacked Jiang Bao’s butt a few times.
“Father, what are you doing?” Jiang Bao didn’t expect his father to spank him in front of so many people. At this moment, he flew into a rage out of humiliation and said, “Father, I really saw those four people. I’m not lying!”
With that, Jiang Bao broke free from the old man’s grip and walked towards the bailiffs.
“Hurry up and search the house! Perhaps those fugitives are hiding in my house!”
The bailiffs didn’t want to return empty-handed.
No matter what the old man said to his son, the leader of the bailiffs waved his hand and the group entered the old man’s house to search.
After searching carefully, they didn’t even see rats, let alone four people.
Seeing this, Jiang Bao immediately panicked.
“Father, did you let them go? Hurry up and tell me where these people went.” The old man stared at his son with a troubled expression.
“Son, I really don’t know what you’re talking about. No one has been to our house before. If you don’t believe me, you can look around and ask the people around you! There’s no one here.”
After the bailiffs heard the father and son’s conversation, they sent some people out to investigate.
In the end, they still found nothing. No one around saw any strangers in this family.
This time, Jiang Bao was scolded by the bailiffs and beaten up a few more times before leaving.
After the bailiffs left, Jiang Bao stared at his father for a long, long time.
“Father, where are they?”
When the old man saw that the bailiffs had left, he ignored his bastard son. Without a word, he returned to the room to take care of his wife.
Seeing that his father was ignoring him, Jiang Bao could only kick the broom on the ground in fury.
One had to know that the bounty was a lot of money!
A bounty for four people was a lot of money!
“Father, do you know that you chased away the only chance to save Mother?! Those four are fugitives and the officials issued a bounty. Do you know how much they’re worth? With this money, we can afford as many doctors as we want! Do you know that Mother might be able to wake up?!” Jiang Bao shouted outside.
The old man ignored his son and let him roar crazily.
Li Xiaoran and the others were sitting in a pool in the mountains. Luo Cheng had woven two baskets with vines and was catching fish with Wu Qinghe in the pool.
As Shu Ruyue sat beside Li Xiaoran, she sized her up curiously.
“What are you looking at?” Li Xiaoran asked after seeing Shu Ruyue’s gaze.
“I think you’re about the same age as me, so how about I call you Xiaoran?” Shu Ruyue thought of something and said.
“Sure! Then shall I call you Ruyue?” Li Xiaoran replied with a smile.
“Xiaoran, do you have exceptional hearing? I remember that at the inn that night, you heard the commotion of those people before us. It’s the same today. We didn’t notice, but you actually knew that someone was coming!” Shu Ruyue asked the question on her mind. When Li Xiaoran heard this, she laughed.
“You can say that!”
It turned out that before Jiang Bao even rushed over with the bailiffs, Li Xiaoran had already sensed the emotions of many people.
After realizing that something was wrong, the four of them quickly packed up and walked into the mountains with the old man.
The four of them were martial artists and had sensitive senses, so they avoided the people in the village along the way and quietly came to the pool to rest.
The pool was hidden and rarely anyone in the village had been here before, so it was safe for the four of them to hide there.
“Fortunately, you have good hearing. Otherwise, we would have been tricked!” Shu Ruyue looked glad. Then, she stood up and looked down the mountain with her hands on her hips as she said angrily, “When the sky turns dark, I’ll go down and beat up that old man’s son. This kid is simply inhumane!”
“It’s better not to go! How do you know that those bailiffs won’t sneak in again at night?” Li Xiaoran shook her head and said.
“Huh? The bailiffs will return?” Shu Ruyue was shocked and quickly sat back down beside Li Xiaoran.
“Think about it. It wasn’t easy for the bailiffs to find clues. Even if they missed us, they definitely won’t give up.. They might be waiting for us to fall into their trap!”