Chapter 48: The Groundless Accusation of a Treasure Hunter

In the morning, breakfast was simple: sorghum porridge and pickled wild vegetables.

Little Douding sat with his rice bowl, slurping the porridge while peeking through his small eyes at the two adults in front of him, who were exchanging meaningful glances.

Something was wrong; these two were acting very strange!

"Sister."

"Sister."

"Huh?"

Su Yunjin turned her head to look at Little Douding.

"Where did you go last night? I woke up in the middle of the night to pee and couldn't find you."

Upon hearing this, Su Yunjin's face instantly flushed red. She shot a glance at Chen Jie and lifted her bowl to hide her embarrassment.

"Why are you looking at Brother-in-law? Brother-in-law, do you know?"

Little Douding turned to look at Chen Jie.

Chen Jie remained calm. Taking a sip of porridge, he said, "Oh, is Rui Rui so capable now that he doesn't wet the bed anymore? Your sister told me that when you were four, you were still wetting the bed!"

"Mm, Brother-in-law, I stopped wetting the bed a long time ago! Rui Rui is a big boy now!"

Rui Rui immediately grew anxious.

Seeing this, Chen Jie smiled. Kids were just kids. He followed up with, "Is that so? But Rui Rui still looks very small."

"Brother-in-law, let me tell you, Rui Rui is five years old this year. Five-year-olds don't wet the bed."

"Really? Rui Rui is that impressive now?"

"Mhm, mhm!"

"Good, very good. Since Rui Rui has performed so well, Brother-in-law will buy you something delicious today, alright?"

"Yay!"

Rui Rui shouted excitedly, having long since forgotten about his sister's disappearance the previous night.

Su Yunjin glanced at Chen Jie, her eyes filled with gratitude.

Chen Jie responded with a "no big deal" expression.

Never mind dealing with a little kid; even with his former business partners, he rarely left room for criticism. How could he be stumped by a child?

After finishing his meal, Chen Jie took his leave of Su Yunjin.

He had originally intended to give the money he obtained yesterday to Su Yunjin, but upon reflection, giving her such a large sum abruptly might not be a good thing; it could cause her worry.

Thus, Chen Jie didn't give her the money, thinking instead that he could just buy some things for her when he had the time.

Now that he was well-off, he should buy a couple of new sets of clothes for the two sisters.

The clothes Su Yunjin was wearing now still had patches. Although she was naturally beautiful and the patches didn't affect her looks, now that life was improving, why should she continue to live so bitterly?

As he walked out of the house, he saw several men dressed as servants in black clothing on the street, questioning several village women.

The women were talking and gesturing wildly, leaving the servants looking completely bewildered.

As Chen Jie passed by, he heard one woman say, "I'm telling you, that golden pheasant you're asking about must have been taken by that outsider treasure-stealer!"

"An outsider treasure-stealer?"

"That's right, we saw it with our own eyes."

"You saw it yourselves?"

The servants looked at the village women. One woman replied, "How could it be fake? He came down from the ridge up ahead. We were washing clothes and saw it clearly."

"What time did this happen?"

"It must have been around the hour of the Rabbit (Mao)."

"Yes, when I left home, it should have been the third quarter of the hour of the Rabbit, and he hadn't left by the end of it..."

"What did this treasure-stealer look like?"

The servants asked. Hearing this, a woman said, "About this high. Looking at his build, he wasn't thin; he probably wasn't a farmhand."

The woman gestured with her hands: "He was wearing a bamboo hat, so his face wasn't clear, but he looked to be in his thirties, right, Second Sister-in-law?"

"Roughly. The sun and wind make people look older; he might only be twenty-eight or twenty-nine."

The women went back and forth, eventually piecing together the image of a wandering martial arts hero.

Seven feet tall, sturdy build, wearing black short tunics, a bamboo hat, and carrying a hemp sack...

An artist was following the servants, sketching based on the descriptions and occasionally questioning the women.

The women were all talking at once.

"Second Sister-in-law, do you have anything to add?"

"The face needs to be slimmer. Oh, right, there's a scar on his face, on the left side."

"Uh, does he have one, Second Sister-in-law?"

"Yes, you just didn't look closely."

"Is there really one?" a servant asked.

"Yes, there is!"

Finally, the artist finished a portrait of a wandering hero. The servants looked at it, thinking it would suffice to report back.

At that moment, Chen Jie walked over.

"Stop! Where are you going?"

Chen Jie looked at the servants and said, "Who are you? Why are you blocking me?"

"Cut the nonsense! Just answer my question!"

A nearby auntie said, "Jiu Si, they are people from Master Yu's household in town."

"Oh, oh, go ahead and ask."

Chen Jie nodded, appearing to only just realize who they were. The servants looked at Chen Jie and asked, "Did you see anyone coming down from the mountain the day before yesterday, carrying a hemp sack?"

"That... I wouldn't know."

"Hmm?"

The servants immediately became suspicious, their eyes turning toward the women. The women grew anxious and looked at Chen Jie, saying, "Jiu Si, think carefully. Was there someone wearing a bamboo hat?"

Seeing this, Chen Jie put on an innocent face. "Aunties, I've been studying medicine under Doctor Bai lately, memorizing medical classics every day. My brain is like mush; I really can't remember anything."

Hearing this, the women said, "That's true. Jiu Si is busy studying every day; how would he have time to notice such things?"

Chen Jie looked up at the servants and said, "Brothers, I truly didn't see anything. How about this: why don't you come to my master's house? My Uncle Wu Zhong is always out and about; you can ask him!"

"How about it?"

Chen Jie looked at the servants. Upon hearing this, the servants' expressions turned incredibly awkward.

Who did they think they were? To go and question Wu Zhong would be asking for death.

Who was Wu Zhong? He was the manager of the fishing stalls for the Fishery Guild, a man on equal footing with their master. To interrogate him was suicide.

Furthermore, this youth before them was no ordinary person—the apprentice of Doctor Bai. Everyone knew how protective Doctor Bai was of his own, and Wu Zhong listened to the doctor above all else.

Thinking of this, the servants immediately changed their demeanor and smiled at Chen Jie. "Haha, little brother, we were just joking. You are Doctor Bai's top disciple; how could you have time for such things? We won't delay you. Go back to your studies."

Chen Jie smiled. "Alright, then I'm off. By the way, what are you all asking about?"

The servants shook their heads immediately. "Nothing, nothing."

Chen Jie remarked, "So mysterious."

He then headed straight for Doctor Bai's house, leaving the servants standing there to continue questioning others: "Did you see anyone the day before yesterday..."

They went through the entire Immortal Peach Village, and finally reached a conclusion: there was definitely an outsider wearing a bamboo hat passing through here that day.

How did they know?

When three people say the same thing, it becomes truth; when a rumor spreads through an entire village, it is no longer a rumor.

Chen Jie knew how dangerous rumors could be. So, Yu Biao, you go ahead and look for this wandering hero with the bamboo hat and the facial scar!

As for me, I'm going to lay low and develop my strength!