73 Village
The eldest girl looked at the candy in her palm, then at the two of them. She pushed her brother and sister into the house and said warily, “Ask away.”
Jian Qingqing heaved a sigh of relief. “Did you see an adult bringing two strange boys here? The two boys are eight and five years old.”
Hearing this, the little girl immediately turned hostile. She jumped into the house and closed the door. A muffled voice came from inside the house. “I haven’t seen them!”
Seeing her reaction, Jian Qingqing was sure that the person who had captured Xiao Hu was in the village, and it was a villager.
The reason she asked the child was that the child was not as guarded as the adult. Usually, when she coaxed them, they would tell her. Even if they did not tell her, they would still give themselves away because of their subconscious reaction.
If she asked the adults and the victims were from the same village, they would choose to hide it. They might even do something to hurt them.
In the past, she had often seen the news of women being trafficked in the mountains. In some places, there might only be one or two houses that were bought, but the entire village would help cover it up. Even when the kidnapped women were about to escape, they would help the snitch chase them back.
Jian Qingqing asked with a bad expression, “How are we going to find them? Should we wait for people to come and search?”
At this moment, a little boy’s voice sounded, “I’ve seen them, I’ve seen them!”
Jian Qingqing followed the voice and looked over. It turned out that there was a boy in the house next door leaning on the little girl’s low mud wall and looking over.
Jian Qingqing asked in surprise, “Who is it? Have you really seen them?”
The little boy left the mud wall and ran towards their gate.
Jian Qingqing guessed that he was coming to see them and also went to their house.
The boy opened the gate and looked at the candy in Jian Qingqing’s hand with envy. He swallowed his saliva and said, “I’ll tell you if you give me all your candy.”
Jian Qingqing gave him the candy in her hand and then took out all the candy from her pocket. “I’ll give you the rest after you tell me.”
The boy eagerly put a piece of candy into his mouth and said vaguely, “I saw Uncle Dagou and Uncle Ergou carrying two children into the village in the afternoon. I’ve never seen those two children before. They should be the people you’re looking for.”
Jian Qingqing gave him the rest of the candy and asked anxiously, “Where is their home? Are they still in the village?”
The boy put the precious candy in his pocket and looked up at her. He then looked at Ming Zhiyan who was standing quietly behind her. Seeing that he did not react, he said with relief, “You need to pay more for that information.”
Jian Qingqing was speechless. This spoiled child.
“Alright, if you can lead me to the person, I will give you half a tael of silver.”
“Deal!”
The boy brought Jian Qingqing and Ming Zhiyan around the village and came to a small road. They took many turns on the small road and arrived in front of a stone mountain.
There was a gap in front of the mountain that could accommodate the two of them. It was about two meters tall and seemed very hidden on the black-gray Stone Mountain. If it was not for the boy who brought them here, it might have been a little difficult to find this place.
After passing through this gap, what appeared in front of them was a valley that was surrounded by mountains. The valley was flat and open, and there were hundreds of families and connected fields. This was the real-life version of the story of the peach blossom.
No wonder the village outside was so small. There were only a dozen families. It turned out that the real village was here, and it was naturally hidden by a stone mountain.
The farmers here were all working in the fields. They did not even raise their heads, so no one noticed them.
Jian Qingqing heaved a sigh of relief. She was still afraid that the criminal who had kidnapped Xiao Hu might be noticed among them and need to inform others.