Chapter 17: 017: Disgrace (Part 1)

Qi Shan’s gaze swept over the eleven corpses one by one.

He pondered for a long while but found no discrepancies.

Deciding not to overthink it, he opted to simply copy the answer.

"Who is missing?"

"A man," Shen Tang answered, then added a detail. "A man about seven feet and four inches tall."

"A man about seven feet and four inches?"

Qi Shan murmured the words, and a flash of inspiration suddenly struck him.

He knew who Shen Tang was talking about!

"That's right, indeed, one person is missing."

This person might still be alive!

Qi Shan locked his gaze onto the hands of the eleven corpses.

The hands of these corpses were all coarse, with dark skin and many calluses. Even the elderly nannies wearing silk had hands hardened by years of labor, but among these corpses, there was not a single pair of hands shaped by long-term writing. Constant writing causes the knuckles to deform, the degree of which depends on the age at which one began practicing and the duration of study; none of these corpses exhibited such characteristics.

However, the side room they had just occupied contained several bookshelves, and in front of the window-leak sat two desks, one large and one small. The bamboo slips on the desk were for a child's basic education. If the child being taught was A-Yan, then where was the person teaching him at this very moment?

Of course, this alone was not enough to prove anything; the tutor might teach the child during the day and return to his own home at night. But the bandit who had opened the door for the two of them earlier possessed martial courage yet wore an ill-fitting brown Confucian robe, which made things interesting.

The most likely hypothesis was that the garment did not belong to a bandit, but to the owner—the very tutor who was teaching the child.

Qi Shan said, "And then? What is the use of finding him?"

Shen Tang replied, "At least we will know some of the inner workings."

Qi Shan couldn't help but chuckle, reminding Shen Tang

"Does Young Master Shen remember your current status? Setting aside the fact that this matter has nothing to do with you, even if it did have some connection, if you get entangled in it now and an investigation is launched, I fear you will vanish like a stone dropped into the ocean, never to return. To draw a sword to right a wrong when you see injustice, and to meddle whenever something happens—that is the manner of a wandering hero."

Shen Tang: "..."

Though the words were unpleasant, they were the truth.

She should be lying low right now rather than acting recklessly.

They had searched the entire manor, and there were no other survivors besides the two of them. With no clues, Shen Tang had no choice but to put on her straw raincoat and conical hat again. She accompanied Qi Shan back to Qianjia Village, where through the curtain of rain, they saw the Village Chief waiting at the entrance for someone. Coincidentally, the Village Chief saw them as well and hurried forward to greet them: "You two have finally returned—"

Shen Tang said regretfully, "We still haven't found..."

To her surprise, the Village Chief said, "A-Yan has been found."

Both Shen Tang and Qi Shan were astonished. "Found?"

Qi Shan asked, "Where is he?"

Shen Tang also asked, "Where did he run off to earlier?"

The Village Chief was overjoyed that A-Yan was safe; seeing how enthusiastic these two strangers were, the smile on his face grew even wider.

He had stayed at the village entrance specifically to wait for their return to share the good news: "A-Yan was called out by his teacher earlier. That gentleman said he wanted to take him away to head north to find relatives. Because of an unexpected accident, they had to set off immediately, and they are already on their way..."

Shen Tang and Qi Shan looked at each other in bewilderment.

"A-Yan's teacher?"

"What kind of matter is so urgent that they must set off in the rain overnight?"

The Village Chief didn't know, and it wasn't his place to ask too many questions.

Shen Tang asked, "Did A-Yan go with him voluntarily?"

The Village Chief asked strangely, "What kind of words are those, Young Master?"

Shen Tang gave an awkward, sheepish laugh.

The Village Chief added, "Don't worry, that gentleman is a good man."

Even if he weren't a good man, he wouldn't be a kidnapper. Children were not worth much in these times, let alone a simple-minded boy with a mental affliction.

Why go through all that trouble to kidnap him?

The torrential rain showed no sign of stopping.

Ten miles from Qianjia Village.

A bright red steed dashed through the dense forest, braving the heavy rain.

On its back were two people, one elder and one child.

The elder had gray hair and looked quite old, wearing a moon-colored Confucian robe, a straw raincoat, and a conical hat. The child carried no rain gear at all, his hands gripping the reins tightly.

Looking closely, this child with pursed lips and a solemn, grave expression was none other than A-Yan, whom everyone had been searching for all night.

"Hyah!"

Hooves struck the ground, splashing mud everywhere.

The red steed leaped out of the forest like a ball of flame. Without a moment's hesitation, it leaped two yards across a rushing stream before coming to a halt.

"A-Yan, it's... it's okay now..."

A weak voice came from behind.

Controlling the horse, A-Yan knelt on one knee and used one hand to help the frail elder down from the horse's back. Blood mixed with rainwater pooled beneath the elder's feet. The man sat weakly on the ground, his face pale with a bluish tint, his right hand constantly clutching his lower right ribs where blood continued to seep from a wound.

The elder took several deep breaths to steady himself and suppress the excruciating pain from the wound, though the veins on his forehead still throbbed uncontrollably.

A-Yan looked at the elder sorrowfully and reached up to straighten his tilted conical hat. The elder forced a smile that looked more like a sob: "It's fine. Fortunately, it didn't go deep; I shouldn't die..."

After a moment, he saw A-Yan pull a thumb-sized piece of sticky malt candy from a wet pouch. It was stained with blood and soaked by the rain, having mostly dissolved. A-Yan held it to the elder's lips and said, "Teacher, eat."

The elder smiled and did not refuse.

The taste of the malt candy was truly not good.

He tore a piece of his own sleeve to fashion a simple bandage to wrap around the wound. Having finished this, he stood up with A-Yan's support and muttered to himself, "Let's find a place to take shelter from the rain first, then find some dry rations before heading to Xiaocheng..."

A-Yan murmured, "Xiaocheng?"

The elder said, "Yes, we'll go there first and then make our plans."

They had narrowly escaped this pursuit, but what about the next time?

Luck would not always visit him; he had to prepare early.

It was only hard on the child, A-Yan; at such a young age, he had to follow this old man running for his life. He had wanted to leave the boy behind, but—the child was growing up and had his own ideas.

A-Yan nodded. "Mhm, to Xiaocheng!"

"Does A-Yan know where Xiaocheng is?"

"I don't know." A-Yan pointed at the red steed. "There is a big red horse."

The elder suppressed a laugh. "You are still too young. The big red horse won't last much longer; forcing it will place a significant burden on you... A-Yan, put your big red horse away. Your teacher is feeling a bit better; let's find a place to shelter for the night..."

A-Yan nodded vigorously.

This night was exceptionally difficult.

By the time Shen Tang woke up, the rain had stopped.

The ground outside was muddy and pockmarked with puddles. The Village Chief had already packed the prepared dry rations for the two of them.

Since the sun was not yet high, Qi Shan decided to set off early.

After riding for an hour, they encountered a roadside tea house and decided to stop to rest, drink some tea, and catch their breath.

The sound of approaching hoofbeats grew louder. There were about a hundred people, all dressed as soldiers, with several prisoner carts being escorted at the rear of the column.

Qi Shan caught a glimpse out of the corner of his eye. "Don't be nervous, Young Master Shen. They aren't looking for you. This group should be soldiers from the State of Geng."