“I didn’t go to the wrong place, this is Hua Xiaolou’s house. These are his parents and five older siblings. I took pictures of them all.”

Tie Dan laid out the photos one by one on the table. Some of the people in the photos were wearing ethnic costumes, while others were in casual clothes. What they had in common was that they were all in tattered clothes. However, it could be seen that several of the younger people had delicate features and their eyebrows and eyes were somewhat similar to Hua Xiaolou's, but they were not as stunning as Hua Xiaolou.

Lu Mo pondered for a long time before suddenly asking, "Was Hua Xiaolou taken away by the priest in the mountains?"

Tie Dan nodded vigorously, "That's exactly what happened. Hua Xiaolou was originally called Hua Xiaolou. When he was three years old, he was so sick that he was about to die. His parents sent him to the mountains to leave his fate to fate, but the next day he disappeared. The people in the village said that the priest in the mountains took him away."

"But Hua Xiaolou never went home after that. Everyone thought he was dead, including his parents, brothers and sisters."

Ye Qingqing frowned. "That's not right. Hua Xiaolou said last time that his older brother and sister treated him very well and didn't let him do any work!"

"He's lying. His siblings all think he's dead; they can't even remember what he looks like," Tie Dan said gruffly.

"Why did he lie?" Ye Qingqing couldn't understand. Even if he grew up by the High Priest's side, it wasn't anything shameful. Why didn't he just explain?

Lu Mo frowned and said, "The priests over there are very mysterious. It is said that they can communicate with the gods and have a very high status in the hearts of the locals. Generally, the locals just assume that the person chosen by the priest is already dead."

Although he was very unwilling, that was the truth. Hua Xiaolou was not lying. If he really grew up with the priest, and if he were to enter the mortal world again, he would not be able to say that he was related to the priest.

But Lu Mo still had doubts about Hua Xiaolou.

However, he had no evidence, which made him very unhappy.

"So, Hua Xiaolou wasn't lying after all." Ye Qingqing breathed a sigh of relief; at least he wasn't a bad person.

Lu Mo felt uneasy. He had investigated for so many days but had found nothing, and he still had to watch this girl's interactions with that man surnamed Hua.

"Have you found the priest?" Lu Mo asked.

Tie Dan shook his head. "I can't find him. The villagers said the priest hasn't come out for many years. I went to the mountains to look for him but couldn't find him."

He searched all the mountains near the hill where Hua Xiaolou's parents abandoned her, leaving no cave unchecked, but he still couldn't find the priest. That's why Tie Dan said he couldn't explain it.

Lu Mo's suspicions resurfaced. He knew Tie Dan well; although the silly boy was simple-minded, he was meticulous. If Tie Dan said he had searched, he must have searched inside and out. Either the priest had vanished into thin air, or he simply did not exist.

The claim that Hua Xiaolou was raised by a priest is problematic.

Who exactly has Hua Xiaolou been with over the past ten years?

"How many years has it been since the priest appeared?" Lu Mo asked.

Tie Dan scratched the back of his head, looking bewildered, and said, "Some people say it's twenty years, some say it's thirty years, I can't figure it out."

“Hua Xiaolou is twenty-one years old, right? He was adopted by the priest when he was three, so the priest must have appeared at least eighteen years ago,” Ruan Yingzi analyzed.

Lu Mo shook his head. "No, no one saw the priest eighteen years ago. It was just the villagers' analysis. It's also possible that the person who adopted Hua Xiaolou wasn't the priest."

He even suspected that the so-called priest did not exist at all, or had already passed away.

"Who else could it be but a priest?" Ye Qingqing couldn't understand.