In the meantime, Pei Qianhao and Du Ling’s vanguards had split into two teams; one to follow their leaders into Xiliu, while the other searched the villages near the border for Su Xi-er.
However, Yun Ruofeng was a step ahead of them, having sent his subordinate Liang Yong to retrieve Su Xi-er. Unfortunately for Liang Yong, he found Su Xi-er had disappeared from the household he had left her with when he snuck back into the village.
Knowing how important the latter was to Yun Ruofeng, Liang Yong couldn’t help but feel a creeping fear in his heart as he thought of what would happen to him if Su Xi-er really disappeared.
Just as he was racking his brains over what to do, he spotted the old woman that he had left Su Xi-er with. A slight fear appeared in her eyes as they made contact with his own, but Liang Yong quickly grabbed her arm to stop her from running away.
“Where’s the person I asked you to take care of?”
He gripped her arm so hard that the old woman stammered in fear as she said, “I-I do not know, my lord. I had just gone to the kitchen to prepare some food, and she was gone before I knew it.”
“I don’t think you’d dare lie to me.”
He then let go of the old woman, but he was still distressed over the fact that Su Xi-er was nowhere to be seen.
He decided that it was best for him to leave at this point, fearing that he might spoil Yun Ruofeng’s plans if he ended up being spotted by anyone else. Getting blamed for throwing a wrench in Yun Ruofeng’s plans was the last thing he wished for.
Liang Yong then gave the old woman a look of warning before leaving the village quickly. Unfortunately for him, Yu Xiao’s keen eyes had already been observing him from the start.
Having witnessed everything, Yu Xiao understood the situation: Yun Ruofeng had left Su Xi-er here in this village, but the latter had already managed to escape on her own.
Yu Xiao decided to stay and wait since he knew that there would be more of Yun Ruofeng’s men stationed in the area.
The most efficient thing for him to do now was to wait for more backup before starting the search for Su Xi-er.
Having decided upon a course of action, Yu Xiao settled himself into the tall weeds to hide himself when he saw the old woman walk back into her house with a look of determination. Though he found it rather odd, he stayed put.
An hour passed before he spotted two groups of men enter the village. From their outfits, he could tell that they belonged to Pei Qianhao and Yun Ruofeng respectively.
Upon seeing the men however, all the villagers retreated back into their own homes and shut their doors and windows.
As for Yu Xiao, he decided it would be best for him to stay put and observe as the two groups clashed.
Wu Ling was leading the group from Pei Qianhao and said, “This is a village. Let’s switch locations so as not to cause fear among the commoners.”
A man from the opposing group quickly replied with a taunt. “Just admit it if you’re scared. Don’t come up with excuses like that.”
“Hah!” Wu Ling scoffed. “If you weren’t scared, why would you refuse my suggestion?”
The group responded to the provocation, and it wasn’t long before the two groups left the village in an orderly manner.
The villagers started coming out of their homes once they saw the men retreating.
Upon confirming that the men had left, one of the villagers said, “What’s going on? Why are there so many officers coming to this village?”
“Our village is so ordinary. I wonder what these people are trying to do?”
