"Exactly! I heard they moved here half a year ago and suddenly opened some kind of antique shop called Bo Gu Zhai. Wow! I don't know how anyone can buy those expensive bottles and jars! But, I heard that their family has a lot of connections. The Zheng family patriarch is always followed by a bunch of guards when he goes out!"
Cheng Yunping found it increasingly amazing as he listened, and couldn't help but ask, "Aunt Cui, where did you get this information from? How do you know so much detail?"
"Hey, the county town isn't that big, it's always the same people coming and going, how could you not know!" Xu Cui looked at Yun Ping earnestly and said, "Don't just play by yourself all day. A real man should go out more, make more friends, you know..."
"Alright, alright! Let's not talk about this anymore!" Cheng Yan interrupted Xu Cui's nagging at the right time, and added, "The streets are too noisy and crowded right now, so we can easily get separated. Let's all try to stay close together later!"
At this moment, Cheng Ruyi suddenly pulled out several thick hemp ropes from the bag she was carrying and gave one to each of Xu Cui, Xiaoman, and Cheng Yunping. "Xiaoman, tie the rope around your wrist and Mande's waist. Yunping, tie the rope around your wrist and Xiaoman's wrist. The three of you must not get separated no matter what. Yunping, the safety of the mother and child is in your hands!"
Cheng Yunping suddenly felt that he had been entrusted with a great responsibility, and immediately straightened his chest, "Mother, don't worry! I will definitely protect them!"
Although the system only said that Cheng Yunle would be abducted, it did not say that nothing would happen to the others. With so many people in the Cheng family, it would be very difficult to prevent them from getting separated. So they simply divided into several groups to look after each other.
Cheng Yan, Xu Cui, and Cheng Yun'an were tied together, while Cheng Ruyi herself was tied to her youngest daughter. She made this decision for two reasons: first, she didn't want others to feel guilty about this, and second, she wanted to see clearly how the human traffickers had abducted Yunle.
After the Cheng family tidied up in the corner, they agreed that if they got separated, they would go home immediately and meet at their doorsteps. Then they returned to the street and slowly walked with the crowd to the center of the county town.
Upon reaching Qingyun Street, the bustling crowds became even more palpable. The lampstands on both sides of the street were already adorned with colorful lights of various shapes, and there were numerous vendors selling candies and snacks, such as candied hawthorns, candied peach crisps, and all sorts of exquisite trinkets, dazzling the eyes.
Not to mention children, even adults couldn't help but be infected by the lively atmosphere. If it weren't for the impending danger, Cheng Ruyi would also like to experience this rare and festive atmosphere.
Cheng Yan finally found an empty lamp stand and immediately hung up the lantern he had made, finally putting an end to his worries.
Cheng Ruyi casually hung up the colorful ribbon she was holding as well. In her mind, the lanterns made by her family were the most beautiful, and she would not accept any arguments against it.
Seeing this, the Cheng family members also hung up their own ribbons, then smiled at each other.
Just as the atmosphere was getting right, a deafening sound of gongs and drums suddenly came from afar. The crowd on the street was immediately drawn to the sound and looked around. After a while, someone shouted, "Look over there! There's a fire dragon!"
Following the man's pointing finger, people looked towards the east gate and saw a fierce blaze of fire approaching. First, they saw several fireballs moving nimbly up and down among the crowd, eliciting shouts of surprise. Then, everyone noticed that a colorful golden dragon was following behind, its body covered with burning sparklers. The entire dragon looked as if it were chasing the fireballs, parting the clouds and stepping on sparks, which was quite awe-inspiring.
The townspeople, who had never seen anything like this before, were stunned by the sight and unconsciously retreated to both sides of the street, leaving a path in the middle for the dragon dance team to pass through.
"The Zheng family really spent a lot of money this time! This is the first time I've ever seen such a beautiful dragon dance!"
"That's right, I heard they were specially invited from the prefectural city!"
"There's a dragon! Mother, look, there really is a dragon!"
"That's not a real dragon. Look, there are people holding it up underneath!"
"Wow, those people holding fireballs are really skilled, and they're not even afraid of getting splashed by the sparks!"
"What do you know? This is what professionalism is all about!"
Even though Cheng Ruyi had seen many fire dragon dance performances in modern times, she was still very shocked. She didn't expect that the ancient technology level was almost no different from that of modern times. She didn't understand the secrets, but from the perspective of an ordinary person, she really felt that the dragon dance team from the prefectural city was extraordinary.
The dragon dance team had just passed by when various acrobats took turns performing. Some were responsible for swallowing iron swords, others for performing monkey tricks, and a burly man deliberately took off his shirt, revealing his muscular chest. Holding a wine jug in one hand and a wooden stick in the other, he swallowed a large mouthful of wine and then spat it at the stick. A fiery snake instantly shot into the night sky, leaving long streaks of sparks.
The audience was captivated and couldn't help but clap and cheer.
Even more bizarrely dressed individuals, wearing enormous, terrifying masks, wielded fire sticks and nimbly leaped through the crowd, frightening people and causing adults and children alike to scream and flee in panic.
It was at this moment that Cheng Ruyi suddenly realized her youngest daughter had let go of her hand. Just as she was about to look down to check, the fire stick was swung right in front of her. Without thinking, her body reacted instinctively, dodging backward. When she regained her footing, her hand was empty, and the rope binding her wrist had been neatly cut...
She immediately pushed through the crowd to search everywhere, but to no avail. The place was packed with people, including too many unfamiliar faces. In such circumstances, finding a child was like looking for a needle in a haystack.
Cheng Ruyi glanced back at the strange man with the fire stick, only to see him continue walking forward with the group with an air of nonchalance. She stared at the advancing troupe, feeling a vague sense of unease.
At this moment, apart from Cheng Yunle, who was nowhere to be seen, her other family members had long been scattered by the crowd and were nowhere to be found.
She ignored the noise, closed her eyes and carefully sensed the surroundings. Suddenly, a thin red line appeared before her, winding its way to an intersection ahead and disappearing around the bend in the street.
Cheng Ruyi immediately walked through the crowd toward the intersection, but when she reached the bend by following the thin line, she was stopped by someone.
"Halt! No unauthorized personnel allowed inside. Go back now!"
They were two men dressed as yamen runners. They looked somewhat familiar, so they were probably real yamen runners, but I didn't know why they were guarding this place.
"Sirs, my child is missing. Please, could you please let me in to look for him?"
After listening, the two constables exchanged glances, and the older one asked the younger one, "Did you see the child walk by just now?"
"No, we've been guarding this place the whole time, and nobody has passed by."
After listening, the older constable turned to look at Cheng Ruyi, sized her up, and hesitantly asked, "Do you live here?"
This is the north of the city, and the people who live here are all rich and powerful; we can't afford to offend them.
"...No, my home is in Wutong Lane in the south of the city."
"Did you come out from inside? Or did you see your child run inside with your own eyes?"
"...No, but I..."
Upon hearing this, the constable raised his hand to interrupt Cheng Ruyi, "Then why are you coming this way! We didn't see any children pass by, hurry up and go! Look somewhere else!"
Cheng Ruyi observed that the two men's expressions were very natural, and they did not seem to be lying.
Seeing this, she stopped arguing and figured there was more than one way to get there!
Unfortunately, she didn't expect that the county government had blocked all the roads leading to the North District, and only those living inside were allowed to enter and leave freely. Cheng Ruyi hesitated for a moment, unsure whether she should pretend to live in the North District and then go in to look for him.
The behavior of these yamen runners was particularly strange. They were supposed to be maintaining order, but why were they only maintaining order in the north of the city? Didn't they need to maintain order in other areas?
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