Chapter 60
"Father, it's my mother, it's my mother."
Wen Chuanzong burst into tears. He thought of Liu Shi and recalled the moment when the mule went crazy and lost control. He also wanted to ask Liu Shi what was wrong.
Everyone stared at him with wide eyes. If he said that Liu was at her uncle's house, they could all breathe a sigh of relief.
If it's the other way around, then...
The road back was difficult to travel, and it was a bit cold. At first, the mule was relatively easy to control. Wen Chuanzong remembered that he and Liu Shi were both sitting on the mule, slowly making their way to his uncle's house.
Before they even reached their destination, the mule seemed to go mad, suddenly charging into the forest and running wildly. He couldn't control it and was terrified. The mountains were already freezing cold, and he almost passed out.
However, he remembered that before he passed out, he was holding onto the saddle tightly, afraid of being thrown off. As for Liu, wasn't she holding onto his waist the whole time?
Where is your mother?
The eldest son's tone became more serious. Wen Chuanzong seemed to be alright, but what about Liu Shi?
"My mother, isn't my mother with me? Hasn't she come back?"
Wen Chuanzong managed to finish speaking, his thin face filled with fear. He was still terrified when he thought about it. The mule had run wild in the mountains, and that crazy mule had caused him a lot of trouble. Everyone in the room changed their expressions when they heard this, and Wen Shi frowned even more.
“Your mother hasn’t come back, you beast. I told you not to go, not to go, but you still took your mother with you. You even said you could ride a mule, but what happened? If the village head’s security guard hadn’t brought you over in the middle of the night last night, I wouldn’t have known you weren’t with your mother.”
"Brother, are you saying Mother isn't at Uncle's house?"
Wen Shi's expression turned very ugly, but he still asked again, because he needed a definite answer.
Last night, on the bright side, perhaps the two arrived safely, but Liu didn't come back, and there wasn't enough room at his uncle's house, so Wen Chuanzong came back. But now it seems that he was overthinking it; the two of them didn't even arrive at their destination.
"Third brother, that black mule suddenly went mad. We were only halfway there when it started running around. But I remember my mother was holding me the whole time. I'm back now, and she..."
In his panic, Wen Chuanzong began to defend himself. He was already frightened, and this time it was even more terrifying than before. Fortunately, he escaped unharmed in the end, but what about his mother?
Enraged, Old Man Wen raised his arm and delivered a heavy slap to Wen Chuanzong's face, instantly swelling up half of Wen Chuanzong's cheek.
The room fell silent. Some people looked at Wen Chuanzong in disbelief, while others looked outside with worry.
Wen Chuanzong's words were tantamount to telling them that Liu was in danger and that he didn't even know where she was.
"Third brother, what should we do? Your mother, your mother..."
Old Man Wen started panting anxiously, his face extremely pale. They had been married for many years and had their share of arguments, but after all these years, there must have been feelings between them.
Wen Shi looked outside and saw that the weather had improved somewhat, but according to Wen Chuanzong, he didn't know when Liu Shi had disappeared, let alone where she had fallen off the mule.
With the current freezing weather and even harsher mountain climate, the difficulty of finding people is unknown.
Old Man Wen glared fiercely at Wen Chuanzong, but now he could only pin his hopes on Wen Shi. He was filled with regret; if he had known, he should have desperately stopped him.
"Brother, before you fell unconscious, did you remember any specific location?"
Wen Shi asked with a stern face.
"I don't remember. I've never been up the mountain, and all the forests look the same to me. The mad mule runs around wildly inside, and I really don't know exactly where it is."
Wen Chuanzong was in a sorry state, but no one cared about him.
"Dad, let's go find Uncle Village Head and Uncle Village Chief. Many hands make light work. No matter what happens later, the most important thing right now is to find Mom."
Although quite some time has passed and it's freezing outside, Liu is wearing plenty of clothes. Besides, she might not necessarily not make it through. If we think optimistically, there's still hope if we keep looking.
"Second brother and fourth brother, you each go to the village chief's and village head's houses to see if you can find more able-bodied young men in the village to go up the mountain with you to help find Mother. Fifth brother, let's go to the mountains first. Dad, you stay home and wait. You're getting old, don't wander around outside."
"Okay, okay, second brother and fourth brother, hurry up and go."
Before leaving, Wen Shi went inside and gave Ying Xiang some instructions. When she heard that he was going to the mountains, Ying Xiang frowned deeply. She subconsciously grabbed his hand, but after realizing what was happening, she could only let go.
"My husband, you must be careful. You must always travel in groups and never go out into the mountains alone. Find a handy weapon to carry with you, preferably a long stick."
This mountain forest has never been developed, and it must contain all sorts of rare herbs and mushrooms. When Yingxiang first arrived, she was also tempted by its beauty.
However, she eventually gave up. The sign-in system couldn't guarantee his safety, and she didn't have any cheats. She had always kept her distance when she was digging for wild vegetables.
It is said that there are tigers and wolves inside. I wonder if it was used by the older generation to scare children and prevent them from running around.
Now that she has no choice but to go, she can only try her best to remind him to be careful.
"I'm with Xiao Wu, and the villagers will probably help us. With so many people, nothing will happen, so don't worry."
After Wen Shi finished speaking, he took two long sticks from the doorway, handed one to Wen Xiaowu, and the two hurriedly walked out.
They were all from the same village, and the Wen family was well-liked. When this incident suddenly happened, the village head and the village chief both agreed to help mobilize the villagers to go into the mountains to search for the person.
Wen Shi and Wen Xiaowu went first. Not long after, the village chief and the village head mobilized hundreds of able-bodied men in the village. They went into the mountains in a large group, carrying hoes, sticks and other tools, to search for the person. Wen Lao Er and Lao Si were among them.
"Mother, where are you, Mother?"
"Old Wen's family, where are you?"
"Auntie, Auntie, if you can hear me, please say something."
Various shouts echoed through the mountains and forests as everyone called for Liu. The further in they went, the lower the temperature became, and many people shivered. Wen Shi was wearing a wool cloak and looked around.
The deeper they went, the more snow accumulated, which worried him. The snow was very even, indicating that it had snowed heavily in the mountains last night. If Liu was buried here and had fainted, it would be a real problem.
Wen Xiaowu was extremely anxious. He cursed Wen Chuanzong in his heart, but there was nothing he could do about it at the moment. He only hoped to find Liu Shi as soon as possible and that she was still alive.
If something were to happen to her, Wen Xiaowu felt utterly hopeless. The two brothers each took a long stick and would gently poke it into the thick snow.
Firstly, it serves as self-defense, and secondly, the mountains are steep, making climbing easier with this.
A cold wind blew, and the two couldn't help but shiver. Wen Shi glanced at his relatively robust younger brother, and looked around. Just as Wen Chuanzong had said, the barren mountains and forests were covered with snow, and no matter which direction you looked from, it seemed pretty much the same.
There are even more forks in the road inside, and they don't know which way to go. If they split up and there's any real danger, then they'll be helpless.
In the quiet mountain forest, shouts came from behind from time to time. Without much thought, Wen Shi pulled Wen Xiaowu and walked towards the narrowest path.
He trusted his intuition, and Wen Xiaowu trusted him too, without questioning him, and followed closely behind.
The road became increasingly difficult to traverse, and the two even had to crawl, their clothes becoming quite wet and their feet covered in mud.
Even so, the two did not give up.
"Third brother, third brother, what about Mother...?"
"No, no."
Wen Shi's lips were a little pale, and upon closer inspection, there was already some frost on his eyebrows. The further they went in, the lower the temperature became. His hands had long been frozen red, and Wen Xiaowu was in no better shape.
Even so, the two insisted on going inside. Just now they could hear shouts from behind, but now the surroundings had become very quiet.
They didn't know where those people had gone. It was quiet all around. The two of them stood in the mountains, looking around.
At this moment, Wen Xiaowu prayed for divine protection in his heart.
In a daze, the two looked up at the sky. The sun seemed to be rising, but the internal temperature did not change at all, and it started snowing again.
Wen Xiaowu glanced back unintentionally and was so startled that he almost fell to the ground.
Although he was tall and looked strong, and was not young, he had never experienced these things. Old Man Wen had taught his brothers from a young age to stay away from the mountains and forests, where there were man-eating tigers and wolves.
Wen Shi helped him up in time, and he managed to stand up straight.
"Third Brother, should we continue going further in?"
"Walk."
Wen Shi looked at the steeper fork in the road not far away, and slowly began to climb it with a stick in hand.
Wen Xiaowu could somewhat understand Wen Shi's decision to abandon the main road and take this side path. Many people went into the mountains to look for Liu Shi, and most of them would choose the wide road.
They went against the grain so as not to miss a spot; even if the black mule ran wildly, it wouldn't end up on the mountaintop.
Wen Shi was sharp-witted and had excellent eyesight. In the mountains, he was always focused. After walking for another quarter of an hour, he was exhausted, hungry, and thirsty. Even so, he dared not be careless. In a daze, he seemed to hear a rustling sound.
The sound was faint, but it was clearly not the sound of small animals in the mountains and forests, as most animals are hibernating at this time of year.
"Xiao Wu, did you hear anything?"
Wen Xiaowu shook his head blankly. He was really exhausted, panting heavily, his legs and feet aching, but he couldn't care less.
The two looked around. The surroundings were very quiet. Wen Shi did not think he was hallucinating. He focused his eyes and searched around. Suddenly, a tree branch that was weighed down by a thick layer of snow broke off and fell to the ground.
Wen Xiaowu glanced at his third brother subconsciously.
Not long after Wen Shi left, Ying Xiang immediately took the child to the kitchen, and Wen Ersao also came over.
"Second sister-in-law, so many people went this time. It's cold in the mountains. Let's prepare some food and boil a big pot of ginger soup so they can warm up and fill their stomachs when they come back."
"good."
Old Man Wen paced back and forth in the courtyard, extremely anxious. Seeing his two daughters-in-law making a move, he ignored the cries of Wen Chuanzong inside and went over to light the fire and help.
He needed to find something to do to calm down. He was filled with regret, but at this point, it was too late to change anything. He could only pray for divine intervention.
Both of the large stoves in the house were lit up; the ginger soup had to be simmered properly, and meals also needed to be prepared.
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