Chapter 41
Tang Qingqing walked and stopped along the way. After climbing over a hill, she finally stopped under a big tree. She stopped running and kept circling nearby.
After winter comes, few people go here.
Compared to the village, the snow is thicker.
Moreover, this area is relatively flat, and the snow has accumulated to the ankles. The thicker the snow is, the bigger the pit will be if you step into it.
The heavy snow three days ago completely covered this area, and it was impossible to tell whether anyone had walked here before.
At this time, Wang Heizi, Wang Xiaotie and Wang Tiantian also followed.
Tang Qingqing's speed was not fast, but the other three followed her and soon caught up with her.
Wang Tiantian looked around, feeling a little worried.
"Why are you here? If you go further you will reach Lang'ao."
Although it is rare to see wild animals coming down the mountain now, it is still very dangerous deep in the forest.
In the place called Lang'ao, there used to be many wolves, who would come down the mountain from time to time to commit crimes.
Elderly people now like to use Wolf Hole to scare children, saying that if they don't obey, they will be taken away by wolves.
This kind of thing happened frequently in the past. Not only children, but even adults did not dare to run too far alone, otherwise they would easily be taken away by wild animals hiding in the dark.
People in the mountains have a sense of awe for the deep forests. If Tang Qingqing and Zhai Hongyi hadn't come here, they wouldn't have run so far.
Wang Xiaotie also said: "We dare not go any further. It will be dangerous if we go any further. The old people in the village say that this area is very dangerous in winter. Even though there are not as many wild animals as before, there are still many in the deep mountains."
Zhai Hongyi: "Is this area usually not visited by many people?"
Wang Tiantian: "Yes, further ahead is Tiandong and Langao, which are very dangerous."
The reason why Tiandong Brigade is called this name is that there is a naturally formed cave near the village.
Some caves are underground, and if you step on them carelessly you may fall down.
The caves are very deep and winding.
If you fall in, there is no way you can be rescued. Your body will just remain under the cave and there is no way to rest in peace.
"There's nothing fun here, let's go back quickly."
Wang Xiaotie was afraid that they came from the city and didn't know the dangers of the mountains, so he thought it would be better to leave as soon as possible.
Zhai Hongyi: "We are here and will not go any further."
This area is indeed not dangerous. When it is not snowing, some people in the team will come here to chop firewood.
Wang Tiantian and Wang Xiaotie were not so insistent, they were just curious as to why they came here.
Wang Heizi said calmly, "Of course it's because there are traces of snow bugs here."
Wang Xiaotie was puzzled: "How do you know about snowworms? Why have we never heard of them?"
Seeing that the silly boy finally began to doubt, Wang Heizi explained calmly, "Of course I read it in a book. My dad bought me a lot of comic books, and one of the books mentioned snowworms."
Wang Tiantian and Wang Xiaotie had never been to school, so they had no idea that comic books were storybooks. They just thought that books were amazing, so they no longer had any doubts.
Wang Heizi deliberately said it was a comic strip because he thought that when the lie was exposed in the future, he could say that he didn't know those were made-up stories and thought they really existed in reality.
In this case, it wouldn't be considered as fooling my good friend... right?
Wang Heizi ran to Zhai Hongyi and asked, "Brother Yi, what should we do now?"
Zhai Hongyi looked at the thick layer of snow and realized that it would not be enough to just use branches to sweep the snow.
"We have to go back and get the shovel."
Wang Heizi patted his chest and said, "Leave this matter to us. The three of us will go back and get it now. You guys stay here and study it slowly."
Zhai Hongyi saw Tang Qingqing still wandering around, looking for clues, and nodded:
"Go back and get the shovels and spades. Be careful on the road."
"Don't worry!"
Wang Heizi ran away with brother and sister Wang Xiaotie and Wang Tiantian.
Zhai Hongyi saw her stand up straight, then stepped forward and asked, "How is it, did you find anything?"
"The footprints stop here."
"What's so special about these footprints?"
There must be a reason why Tang Qingqing is chasing after these footprints.
"Cao Liang's footprints are not consistent with his weight. They are deeper than ordinary footprints."
Zhai Hongyi narrowed his eyes slightly: "You mean, he is carrying a burden?"
Tang Qingqing nodded: "And he's not light. He probably weighs more than 110 kilograms, but this set of footprints shows that he weighs at least 200 kilograms."
"Two hundred kilograms? There's a chance he's carrying someone on his back." Zhai Hongyi was cautious and didn't say anything definite, but he already thought so in his heart.
"According to Uncle Song's description of Wang Xianghong, about 200 kilograms is consistent with the combined weight of the two people."
Tang Qingqing pursed her lips and said, "Why would he go there without telling Wang Xianghong? This forest doesn't lead to the train station, nor is it the way out of the village."
Zhai Hongyi also half-knelt down to observe the ground, occasionally pushing away the thick layer of snow with his hands.
Looking around the tree, we also found the problem.
“This area has been cleaned before.”
Although the ground was covered again because of the previous snowfall, the difference can be seen if you look closely.
But the snow was too thick, and if we wanted to know what was going on underneath, we had to use tools to clean the snow away.
Wang Heizi took Wang Tiantian and Wang Xiaotie, skipping and humming a little tune, back to the village to get the shovel and iron shovel.
Before I reached the entrance village, I saw Cao Liang coming towards me.
Cao Liang frowned: "It's so cold, why are you still walking around outside? Aren't you afraid of freezing?"
Wang Tiantian replied: "Uncle, we are looking for snowworms."
"Snowworms? What are those?"
Wang Xiaotie: "Uncle, you don't even know what a snow bug is? It's a kind of bug that makes your whole body cool when you put it on your body. If you have such a bug, working in the summer won't be so hot."
"How can there be such a bug? This is nonsense."
Wang Heizi took the initiative to explain: "That's what the book says. We will find it soon. You will know whether there is such a bug later."
"What book is it written in?"
Wang Xiaotie: "Comic strip!"
Cao Liang frowned even more when he heard this: "That's all made up stories. There's no such thing as snow bugs."
Wang Heizi was unhappy, and said with his hands on his hips: "Yes, there must be one. Just wait and see, I will catch it and show it to you later!"
Cao Liang ignored him and looked at Wang Tiantian and said:
"I just saw you guys coming over the valley. Are you guys going there to play?"
Wang Tiantian lowered her head and avoided his gaze.
Cao Liang was very angry: "How can you kids be so brave? Is that a place you can go? Go home quickly. If I see you go there again, I will beat you up."
Wang Xiaotie said weakly: "Uncle, we didn't go too deep."
"That won't work either. Go home and don't come out again."
Wang Heizi pulled Wang Xiaotie and Wang Tiantian back and said, "Okay, okay, let's go home now."
After running away, Wang Xiaotie asked: "Now that we are back home, what about Brother Yi and the others?"
Wang Heizi looked as if he was stupid: "We just tricked him. We're going home to get the shovel now. How can he still stay there and stare at us?"
Wang Xiaotie and Wang Tiantian were both honest children. They had never been so hypocritical before, so they were a little worried.
Wang Tiantian: "But what if we get discovered? We will definitely be scolded to death."
"What are you afraid of? I'm here for you." Wang Heizi patted his chest.
"Do you have any close friends? You can borrow a shovel or iron shovel from them."
Wang Xiaotie and Wang Tiantian took Wang Heizi to the village to borrow tools from someone. The person from whom they borrowed the tools asked a casual question, and they just said that they were useful, and the other party did not ask any further questions.
It's just that other children also wanted to go out together, but were stopped by the adults at home.
Why are you running around outside in the middle of winter? It will be troublesome if you get sick.
"The Wang family is really careless. They let the child run around outside in such a cold weather. Look at his frozen face."
The three men had just run out of the village not far with the shovels and shovels when Cao Liang suddenly appeared from behind a big tree, looking at them with a frown, his eyes fixed on the shovels and shovels in their hands.
“Uncle…”
Wang Xiaotie and Wang Tiantian subconsciously hid the tools in their hands behind their bodies, but they were not as tall as the shovels and iron shovels, so they could not stop it at all.
"What are you doing with shovels and shovels?"
Wang Heizi quickly replied, "We are going to dig holes and catch rabbits. We just saw wild rabbits on the mountain."
Wang Xiaotie and Wang Tiantian were stunned. They didn't understand why Wang Heizi lied, but they tacitly didn't say anything.
"Really?"
Cao Liang's eyes swept over Wang Xiaotie and Wang Tiantian.
The two children nodded. They would not spoil the show for their friends.
"Didn't I just tell you to go home? Why did you run out? I told you that the hilltop was dangerous and you couldn't go there. Why didn't you listen?"
Wang Xiaotie and Wang Tiantian lowered their heads and said nothing. They were both honest people, and if someone hadn't taken the lead, they wouldn't have caused such a commotion.
Wang Heizi smiled and said, "Uncle, don't worry, we know our limits. We're just going out for fun. Even in the city I can't run around the mountains like I do now. It's very rare."
"It's so cold, what if I get frozen? I have no idea what to do."
"Let's just play for a while."
"Play for a while? You are wearing thick clothes, so you don't feel cold. Look at Wang Tiantian's face and hands, they are frozen purple."
Wang Heizi then noticed that the clothes on Wang Xiaotie and Wang Tiantian were indeed very thin. Their jackets were so old that the cotton inside was probably clumped together. They were not as good as his brand new large cotton jacket.
Wang Xiaotie was fine, but Wang Tiantian's face was red from the cold and her nose was running from time to time.
They just wanted to accompany their older brothers and sisters who came from the city and let them have fun, so they didn't say anything even though they felt cold.
Wang Heizi suddenly felt guilty. Although they were an underground party and everything they did was to serve the people, they could not let the people suffer in the process.
"I'm sorry, I didn't notice."
Wang Xiaotie and Wang Tiantian waved their hands repeatedly.
"It's okay, we're not cold."
"A little run will warm you up."
Seeing them like this, Wang Heizi felt even worse.
Seeing this, Cao Liang said, "Go home quickly."
Wang Heizi couldn't leave because Zhai Hongyi and Tang Qingqing were still waiting for them in the mountains. But it was not appropriate to let Wang Xiaotie and Wang Tiantian follow them around outside.
Cao Liang then asked, "Aren't there five of you? Where are the other two?"
Wang Heizi was struggling with his thoughts and didn't pay attention to Cao Liang's question.
Wang Tiantian: "They are all waiting for us in the mountains."
"In the mountains? You took them to Wolf's Pass?"
"Before you reach Lang'ao, just over a mountain, you'll find the big tree on the small plain."
Cao Liang's voice lowered slightly: "What are you doing there?"
Wang Heizi had come to his senses by now: "We chased the hare to that place, we know our limits and won't run too deep."
Cao Liang just stared at them straight. Wang Tiantian felt inexplicably scared and shrank behind Wang Xiaotie.
"Aren't you going home yet?"
Wang Xiaotie said weakly: "We will be back soon."
Cao Liang was silent for a long time before he spoke: "Come to my house and drink some ginger tea to warm your bodies. If you continue like this, you will be frozen."
At this moment, a cool breeze blew by and Wang Tiantian sneezed loudly.
Wang Heizi was about to refuse, but suddenly he couldn't say it, so he agreed to go to Cao Liang's house to drink some ginger tea first.
Tang Qingqing and Zhai Hongyi waited under the big tree for a long time, but did not see Wang Heizi and the other two return.
Tang Qingqing trotted on the spot, breathing heavily and rubbing her hands: "Why are they so slow? If we had known earlier, we would have gone back together."
Before, I was concentrating on tracking and kept moving, so I didn't feel cold. Now that I stopped and did nothing, I felt the cold.
Zhai Hongyi took off the thick scarf from his neck and wrapped it around Tang Qingqing's neck.
The heat immediately enveloped Tang Qingqing, making her feel much warmer.
Unlike many smelly boys, Zhai Hongyi's scarf has a faint scent of soap.
Tang Qingqing hurriedly pulled at her scarf, but was stopped by Zhai Hongyi.
"Don't talk nonsense. If you get sick later, the old man will beat me up."
Tang Qingqing knew he was talking about Old Liu: "My master wouldn't be so unreasonable. What would you do if you gave it to me?"
"My clothes are much thicker than yours, and I have more firepower than you."
Zhai Hongyi was wearing the military coat that is most envied by people nowadays. The military coat is particularly warm and very long, which can wrap a person completely.
Every time Wang Heizi saw Zhai Hongyi's military coat, his eyes glowed green and he fantasized that he would be able to get one someday, and his life would be perfect.
The scarf was knitted by Zhai Hongyi's grandmother. It was a thoughtful gesture, so even though Zhai Hongyi didn't feel that cold, he kept wearing it.
Tang Qingqing did feel a little bit frozen, so she accepted the kindness without hesitation: "Brother, thank you."
"You already call me brother, this is nothing."
Tang Qingqing couldn't help but laugh. She now experienced the feeling of being spoiled by her brother as described in the book.
It would be a lie to say that she had no feelings about herself in that book.
She yearned for the family love there. Who doesn't like to be pampered?
I just felt disconnected from reality, so I didn't have the urge to go home immediately and experience these emotions.
Because she felt that the plot had changed, and her return would not be so easy to reverse the plot, she had more realistic considerations.
"If you're really bored, I'll give you a question to solve."
Tang Qingqing: ...
Although she likes reading very much, she is not so good at taking advantage of opportunities.
Tang Qingqing cleared her throat: "Let's talk about this case."
"Wang Xianghong is likely to be in danger." Zhai Hongyi expressed his guess.
Although there is no substantial evidence at present, all the clues do not seem optimistic.
"Just now at Cao Liang's house, I saw a bottle of vanishing cream on the windowsill. It looked very new."
Tang Qingqing thought about it and it seemed that there was indeed one, but she didn't pay much attention to it because her attention was attracted by the sewing machine.
"What does the presence of vanishing cream mean?"
"If Wang Xianghong had eloped premeditatedly, or had returned to her parents' home as Cao Liang said, she would have brought some face cream with her when she packed her luggage. She brought nothing with her, which was not in line with a woman's habit of traveling far away."
Tang Qingqing had never used face cream before. Even though it was written in the book, she didn't pay much attention to such small details.
In the winter, if you don't put anything on your face when you're outside in the wind and sun, it's easy to get chapped by the cold.
In previous years, whenever Tang Qingqing went out to herd sheep, her face would be frozen and her nose would run uncontrollably.
I don’t need to herd sheep this year, and the condition of my face has improved a lot, and it has also become whiter.
Judging from the layout of the house, Wang Xianghong was a person who lived a very sophisticated and refined lifestyle, and the villagers' description of her also proved this.
Since she bought the vanishing cream, she would not forget to use it on her face, and she would definitely remember to bring it with her when she goes on a long trip.
All these manifestations can prove that Wang Xianghong did not run away, nor did she get on the car to go back to her parents' home.
But now the person is missing, and was once carried here by Cao Liang. All these clues point to something bad, which makes people have a bad feeling.
Zhai Hongyi used his hands to clear the snow on the ground a little, and it could be seen that the soil underneath was newly buried.
“This place has definitely been touched.”
Tang Qingqing's heart skipped a beat, and she swallowed hard: "Brother, are you saying that this underground might not be..."
Zhai Hongyi looked at his watch and couldn't help frowning.
"Let's go back first."
"So what should we do here?"
"Come back later. Wang Heizi and the others have taken too long."
Although Wang Heizi is often unreliable, he will actively complete the task once he is assigned it.
Now that he hasn't come back for a long time, Zhai Hongyi has a bad feeling.
He didn't dare to delay any longer and took Tang Qingqing back first.
After taking just two steps, Zhai Hongyi's whole body tensed up.
Tang Qingqing noticed that something was wrong with him: "Brother, what's wrong...ah——"
Zhai Hongyi suddenly knocked Tang Qingqing away, and Tang Qingqing flew several meters away.
Before the person landed on the ground, Tang Qingqing heard the sound of "bang" firecrackers.
If there hadn't been snow on the ground, her bones would have been broken by the force, but with the snow she wasn't much better off, and her whole body was in pain.
"Bang, bang——" Two more sounds.
Even Tang Qingqing could tell, no matter how slow she was, that it was not the sound of firecrackers, but the sound of gunfire!
Where did the gunshot come from?
Tang Qingqing hurriedly rolled and crawled to a large rock nearby, using the rock as a cover for herself.
After crouching on a rock and making sure she was safe, she took the time to observe what was happening.
At this time, Zhai Hongyi was running towards the source of the gunfire, using the trees nearby as cover.
Although he is tall, he is very agile.
Tang Qingqing widened her eyes and stared at him nervously.
There were no injuries on Zhai Hongyi's body, which made Tang Qingqing breathe a sigh of relief.
Moreover, Tang Qingqing discovered that there was a bullet hole on the tree behind her where she had just stood. The gunshot was so powerful that it blew off the bark of the tree.
This should be a gun used by hunters, used to kill large animals, and it has very strong killing power.
This type of gun should be relatively old, and you have to stop and reload after firing each round.
Zhai Hongyi took advantage of this gap to run towards the shooter. There was another "bang" and the tree where Zhai Hongyi was standing was blooming, with debris flying onto his face.
Tang Qingqing covered her mouth to prevent herself from screaming.
She was behind a rock and her view was still blocked.
All that could be seen clearly was that Zhai Hongyi took advantage of the gap when the shooter was changing the magazine, rushed out from behind the tree, and smashed the stone in his hand over.
"ah--"
Tang Qingqing heard a scream, and then saw Zhai Hongyi sprint and lunge again. The two were more than 20 meters apart, but she could still clearly hear the sound of fists landing on people.
The screams echoed throughout the forest. Tang Qingqing was extremely anxious behind the rock, not knowing what was going on.
She looked around and saw a wooden stick on the ground. She quickly grabbed it and rushed over there.
As she ran, she used the trees as her cover and did not dare to rush in without thinking, otherwise she would be a hindrance instead of a help.
The sound was getting closer and closer. Tang Qingqing rushed forward holding the wooden stick, and then quickly braked the car.
Zhai Hongyi was riding on a man and punched him in the face, causing a pistol to fall to the ground.
Tang Qingqing quickly slipped over, picked up the gun and put it behind her back, and saw the man who shot at them.
"Cao Liang?!"
"This bastard actually wanted to kill us! Wang Xianghong must have been killed!"
Zhai Hongyi had a vicious expression on his face and punched Cao Liang particularly hard. Cao Liang was no longer able to make a sound and his face was covered in blood.
Tang Qingqing quickly stopped him: "Brother, stop hitting him, or you'll kill him!"
Although such people deserve to be put to death, they cannot resort to lynching and must hand them over to the law for punishment.
Zhai Hongyi spat and finally stopped. He untied the laces of his shoes and tied Cao Liang's hands behind his back in a special way.
Then he stood up from the ground and picked Cao Liang up.
Cao Liang was already dizzy from the beating, many of his teeth had fallen out, and his eyes were all swollen.
"Fortunately, we are lucky, otherwise we would have died here." Zhai Hongyi sneered.
The distance between them just now was not far. If Cao Liang's shooting skills were not bad, he would not have been able to catch up no matter how fast he reacted.
This bullet is very powerful. Although it can only hit Tang Qingqing's shoulder due to the angle, it will blow off half of her shoulder and the large artery in her neck will also be extremely dangerous.
In fact, Tang Qingqing didn't feel anything about what happened just now, because Zhai Hongyi pushed her away before she could react.
Later, Cao Liang always came for Zhai Hongyi and ignored her, so although she was nervous, she was not as nervous as Zhai Hongyi who faced the danger head-on.
If something had happened to Zhai Hongyi just now, she would definitely not have survived.
With her current physical condition, she would have difficulty resisting an adult male, whether fighting or running away, not to mention that the other party had a gun.
Tang Qingqing recalled what had just happened and felt a lingering fear.
"Heizi and the others didn't come. Could it be that they were discovered?"
Cao Liang actually followed them with his gun, which showed that he was suspicious of them.
If he attacked them, would he also attack Wang Heizi and the others? Otherwise, why did they take so long to come?
Tang Qingqing felt cold all over and her lips and teeth were trembling.
Zhai Hongyi's face also looked unhappy. He pinched Cao Liang's philtrum with his hand. After a while, Cao Liang slowly woke up.
"Where are Wang Tiantian and the others? What have you done to them?"
Cao Liang opened his swollen eyes with great difficulty, and when he heard Zhai Hongyi's words, he forced a smile.
Seeing that smile, Tang Qingqing couldn't help but kick him twice: "What did you do to them!"
Cao Liang closed his eyes and said nothing, with an expression that said "you can do whatever you want" and was offering silent resistance.
Zhai Hongyi was furious and punched him again, then kicked him back.
Cao Liang walked very slowly, and Tang Qingqing was very anxious:
"Brother, let me run back and take a look."
Zhai Hongyi was also very afraid that something might happen, but he absolutely could not agree to let Tang Qingqing run back alone.
Previously, he was too self-righteous and did not anticipate the danger, which put Wang Heizi and others in danger. Now he could not let anything happen to Tang Qingqing again.
"No, we have to go together."
Zhai Hongyi pulled up Cao Liang's sleeve, not knowing where he pressed it, and Cao Liang let out a scream.
"Hurry up and leave, or I'll make you suffer worse than death!"
After being taught a lesson several times, Cao Liang finally behaved himself and ran much faster than before.
On the way back to the village, they did not see the bodies of the three children, which made Zhai Hongyi and Tang Qingqing breathe a sigh of relief.
As long as they were not killed outside the village, there was still hope for their survival.
Cao Liang didn't dare to fire a shot in the village, otherwise it would definitely attract everyone's attention, and then they would have a chance to escape.
When they were close to the village, Zhai Hongyi asked Tang Qingqing to go to the village to find someone and handed her the certificate given by the police station.
Zhai Hongyi took Cao Liang to Cao Liang's home and took the opportunity to see if there was any trace of Wang Heizi and his companions there.
Tang Qingqing hurried back to the village and first went home to find Wang Dashan. She told him roughly how they were almost beaten to death by Cao Liang, and then without waiting for his reaction, she dragged him to find the team leader.
When Tang Qingqing saw the captain, she directly took out her letter of introduction.
"We are here to investigate the case of Comrade Wang Xianghong's disappearance. We have now captured the suspect, Cao Liang. He just shot at us. If we hadn't dodged quickly, he would have been shot dead."
This series of words stunned the captain and Wang Dashan. If the captain had not seen that the official seal on the letter of introduction was real, they would have thought it was just a child's nonsense.
"The old chief of the township police station can also give us evidence. Now you should quickly find someone to look for Wang Tiantian and the others. They originally came back to get shovels and iron shovels, but now they have completely disappeared."
Although the captain found it hard to believe, he still gathered everyone and went to Cao Liang's home together.
Wang Dashan was completely stunned. He only knew that his two children were in danger. His face turned pale with fright and he rushed out faster than anyone else.
"Why would we ask you little kids to come here to investigate a case? This is ridiculous."
The captain trotted along, unable to help complaining all the way.
Tang Qingqing was now so anxious that she was about to cry. They were so focused on investigating the case that they had not anticipated the danger at all.
He clearly sensed something was wrong, but he didn't go back to the village to find someone. Instead, he insisted on digging it himself. Now he's in big trouble!
If they hadn't separated, nothing would have happened to the three of them.
The people who were called over only heard a few words and knew that Cao Liang was a murderer. They were all shocked.
How could Cao Liang kill someone?
He looks gentle and his voice is usually softer than that of ordinary men. No matter what happens, he never gets angry. How could he kill someone?
He was recognized as an honest man in the team, and many girls liked him before he got married.
"Is this a mistake?" someone couldn't help but ask.
Tang Qingqing didn't have time to explain. She just wanted to run to Cao Liang's house as soon as possible to look for Wang Heizi and the others.
When a group of people were about to rush into Cao Liang's yard, they were stopped by Tang Qingqing.
"Stop! You can't go in!"
Tang Qingqing hurriedly stood at the door.
The captain was unhappy: "What are you doing?"
Before Tang Qingqing could answer, Zhai Hongyi heard the noise and brought Cao Liang out.
Everyone gasped when they saw how badly Cao Liang was beaten.
A relative of Cao Liang saw this and couldn't help asking, "How could you beat someone up? You said he killed someone, do you have any evidence?"
"If we hadn't dodged quickly just now, my head would have moved away."
Zhai Hongyi threw the pistol in front of the group of people and said, "This is what he used to hit us just now."
When Cao Liang saw the captain, he immediately burst into tears:
"Captain, I am innocent. I just went to the mountain and I thought it was a wolf, so I shot it. They insist that I killed someone. How could I kill anyone?"
Tang Qingqing didn't expect that even at this point, Cao Liang still dared to make excuses.
Wang Dashan rushed over and grabbed Cao Liang by the collar.
"Where are my two children?"
"These kids went to play in the cave. I was worried that something might happen to them when I saw them running there. Then I saw that they didn't come back for a long time, so I ran over to check what happened. But I only saw two strangers coming back, and the other three little ones were gone!"
Cao Liang's front teeth were knocked out, and his speech was slurred, but he still explained what had happened clearly.
The Tiandong Brigade is somewhat xenophobic. They don't trust the outside world very much and trust the people in their own village more.
Especially since Cao Liang has always had a good reputation in the village, when he heard these words, he looked at Tang Qingqing and Zhai Hongyi with suspicion.
At first glance, Zhai Hongyi looks like a dishonest and troublemaker, the kind of person who likes to stir up trouble.
As for Tang Qingqing, she was just a girl and did not attract anyone's attention.
Tang Qingqing did not focus on the confrontation with Cao Liang. The most important thing now was to find Wang Heizi and the others.
Time is short. Regardless of whether Wang Heizi and the others are killed or not, Cao Liang should not have much time to transfer them away.
We didn't see anything unusual along the way, nor did we see any signs of a fight, which means the fight most likely didn't take place on the road.
Although Wang Heizi and the other two were not very old, they were all country kids, nimble and clever.
Cao Liang was not a big and strong man. If he wanted to subdue the three men, even if he didn't shoot, there would have to be a struggle, and there would definitely be traces of a fight.
If he did it in the village, it would be easy to be discovered, so it is very likely that he lured them to his own home to do the attack.
There was no sign of the three of them in the house, but they should not be too far away. Whether dead or alive, they should still be nearby.
While everyone was confronting each other, Tang Qingqing slipped into the yard to look for clues.
The yard was filled with their footprints. Tang Qingqing was trying to determine whether they were all left behind before or if there were some left later.
Soon she noticed something was wrong and ran to a wooden barrel filled with snow.
The snow in the wooden barrel should be the snowman that Wang Heizi and his friends had made before. Only the base of the snowman is left, and the rest of the parts are in the wooden barrel.
There was no barrel here originally! It was moved here later!
Tang Qingqing wanted to move the wooden barrel away, but it was very big and she could only move it a little bit even with all her strength.
"Brother, come here quickly."
Zhai Hongyi had been paying attention to the situation over there, and upon seeing this, he directly threw Cao Liang to the captain beside him.
He asked Tang Qingqing to stand aside and moved the big snow barrel away, revealing the wooden door of the cellar.
Zhai Hongyi quickly opened the cellar door and saw three people lying inside, motionless.
Zhai Hongyi's blood ran cold, "Wang Heizi!"
Tang Qingqing collapsed to the ground: "Tiantian, Xiaotie!"
When Wang Dashan heard the name of his child, he rushed over without caring about Cao Liang's relatives asking him for advice.
When I saw the situation in the cellar, I almost jumped in on the spot.
He calmed himself down and quickly found a ladder to enter the cellar.
He trembled his hands and placed his fingers on the three people's arteries, and immediately shouted, "Alive, still alive!"
Wang Dashan quickly sent the three children out one by one. The three of them only had some scratches on their bodies, indicating that there were no fatal injuries, but they were all unconscious.
"Why did you all faint?"
Zhai Hongyi thought of something and shouted:
"Everyone, disperse quickly, let them breathe fresh air, and quickly find a car to take them to the health station!"
The captain gave orders quickly and the space was cleared, and someone else ran to pull the donkey cart.
Someone was smart enough to run into the house, take out a blanket and spread it on the ground to prevent the three children from lying in the snow.
Zhai Hongyi: "Lay them all down and unbutton their collars and belts."
No one knew why he did this, but his tone made everyone take him seriously, and they all did as he said.
Zhai Hongyi glanced at Tang Qingqing and said, "Follow me and do it for Wang Tiantian later."
Tang Qingqing nodded repeatedly.
Zhai Hongyi lifted up Wang Heizi's jaw, pinched his nostrils, took a deep breath, and was about to press down on his mouth.
The crowd of onlookers all gasped, what on earth was going on?
Tang Qingqing was also stunned, but she did as he said.
Wang Dashan, who was in charge of Wang Xiaotie, was no exception. But before he could finish his words, a slight cough was heard.
As soon as Wang Heizi regained consciousness, he saw Zhai Hongyi's enlarged face pressing towards him, and he was scared to death.
"Brother Yi! Don't eat me!"
Zhai Hongyi had just taken a deep breath, and was almost choked to death by this sudden blow.
Wang Tiantian and Wang Xiaotie also opened their eyes, only to feel dizzy and not understand what had happened.
"What's wrong with us?"
Zhai Hongyi sat paralyzed on the ground, his eyes red.
Wang Heizi just felt a headache, but when he saw Zhai Hongyi's expression, he actually laughed.
"Brother Yi, you are not crying for me because you think I am going to die, right?"
Zhai Hongyi rolled his eyes at him and ignored him.
Tang Qingqing hugged Wang Tiantian and burst into tears.
"Tiantian, I'm so glad that you're okay. It's all my fault, wuwuwu..."
Wang Tiantian was still in a daze. It took her a while to react and she also burst into tears.
Wang Xiaotie felt sad when he saw his father's nervous face and red eyes.
In the past, I always felt that his father didn't care about them as much as his mother did, and he just worked hard all day long.
Now I know that he loves them very much, but he is not good at expressing it.
"Dad, I'm fine."
Wang Dashan turned his face to the side and forced back the tears in his eyes.
"It's all right, it's all right."
Seeing that the three children were fine, everyone in the team breathed a sigh of relief.
Cao Liang, who had been ignored, was pulled over again.
The captain's face was sullen, and he no longer had the good temper he had just shown:
"What is going on!"
Cao Liang glanced at them calmly and said, "They were just having fun and went to the cellar. I didn't know they were in there."
Wang Heizi had recovered by now and angrily said, "You are lying! It was you who lured us in there and then threw Tiantian in!"
It turned out that Cao Liang brought the three people back to the house, saying that he wanted to make brown sugar ginger tea for Wang Tiantian.
When he was about to cook, Cao Liang suddenly said that the ginger in the kitchen was out of stock and he had to get it from the cellar, so he asked Wang Xiaotie to get it.
Wang Xiaotie didn't doubt anything and went down to the cellar.
Wang Heizi was a little smarter, but he didn't notice anything. He just accompanied him and guarded the cellar door.
As a result, after Wang Xiaotie went down, Wang Heizi was also kicked in, and soon Wang Tiantian was thrown down as well.
Then Cao Liang took away the ladder and covered the cellar.
Wang Heizi relied on his agility. The cellar was only two meters away from the cave entrance, and the cellar entrance was made of stones, making it easier to climb, so he climbed to the cellar entrance.
As a result, the entrance to the cellar was blocked and could not be opened at all.
The three people inside were shouting for help, but there was no movement outside.
"We don't know what happened, but we passed out and when we woke up we saw you," said Wang Heizi.
Zhai Hongyi: "You are suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning. Although you are awake now, you still need to go to the hospital."
"What, what, what poisoning? We didn't eat anything."
Wang Heizi looked confused, and the others were not much better.
"The cellar has not been opened for a long time. It is filled with a bad gas called carbon monoxide, which can cause poisoning. You are lucky. The cellar should have been opened before, so the carbon monoxide concentration is not particularly high. Otherwise, you would have been dead by now after staying there for such a long time."
Zhai Hongyi clenched his fists tightly. Although he breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, he did not relax at all.
This was his mistake, he was too self-righteous.
The surrounding villagers understood what was said and decided to hang a candle in any cellar that had not been opened for a long time.
If it is extinguished, people cannot enter. They have to wait until the candles hung in can still be lit before they can enter. Otherwise, they will die inside.
These are the experiences passed down by everyone, but many people don't understand why this is the case.
In the past, there were people in the village who didn't pay attention to these things and went directly into the cellar, and then never came out again.
Seeing that the two children were fine, Wang Dashan stood up and punched Cao Liang directly.
Now there was no one to stop them, and everyone was eager to draw a clear line between themselves and Cao Liang.
"The kids call you uncle, and I usually call you brother. How can you be so cruel!"
Wang Dashan was angry and scared. If they had come too late, his child would definitely be gone!
This time, Cao Liang did not try to make excuses like before. He hung his head and looked half-dead, just like when Zhai Hongyi kicked him back before.
Some people who came later couldn't understand: "What on earth is going on? How did it become like this?"
Both Wang Dashan and Cao Liang are well-known honest people in the brigade.
How did it get to this point? Cao Liang almost took the lives of two children. This is too cruel.
Then he heard from the people in front that Cao Liang was chasing two foreigners with a rifle, and he was even more shocked.
"Is Cao Liang crazy?"
"Is it because your wife ran away that your mind is not clear anymore?"
"You can't do such a thing when your wife has run away."
"Hey, it's not easy for him either. Both my mother and my wife ran away. Anyone would be crazy."
Tang Qingqing couldn't listen any longer and said in a sharp voice: "Wang Xianghong didn't run away, he was killed by Cao Liang. We found where he buried the body, so he wanted to kill us all."
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