Chapter 153 An Encounter with Xiao Chong
"What!?" The man inside the cave immediately stood up and asked anxiously, "How did she end up here?"
Thinking of something, she took a deep breath and asked, "Who did she come with?"
"She had several beastmen husbands, one of whom was... Xuan Lin," the beastman recalled.
The man narrowed his eyes slightly, pondered for a moment, and then said calmly, "I understand."
After leaving the place where the group was trading goods, Shu Ning and the others stopped in a corner and gathered together to discuss.
"Where do you think the lost stray beast is?" Jin Tong asked with a worried expression. "The clues have gone cold since we entered this place."
“If someone kidnapped stray beasts and brought them here, someone would definitely have seen these goods being traded,” Shu Ning analyzed. “After all, with so many stray beasts missing, it would inevitably attract their attention.”
“Okay,” Xuan Lin replied. “Let’s split up and investigate.”
"Wait a minute," Han She said. "Find another excuse to find out, don't be too obvious."
"Mm," Xuan Lin and the others responded.
"I'll go this way with Ningning," Han She said, holding Shu Ning in her arms.
“Then I’ll go over there with Mo Li,” Jin Tong said.
“Okay, I’ll go this way,” Xuan Lin said. “We’ll meet here again later.”
"good."
After the group split up, Shu Ning patted Han She and said, "Han She, put me down."
"What, you don't like being held by me?" Han She was taken aback, her brows furrowing slightly.
"No, I'm just worried you'll get tired."
The way he held her, supporting her by the bottom and facing her, made her feel a little awkward.
After all, she's not a child anymore.
"Not tired," he said in a low voice, instead holding her even tighter.
As they passed the place where they had just traded, Shu Ning told Han She to stop.
"Hey, you're back again, beautiful lady. See if there's anything else you like." The orc said, arranging the items on his stall neatly.
"Boss, I'm not buying anything this time. I have something urgent to ask you," Shu Ning said.
The orc didn't understand what the boss meant, but guessed that he was being addressed, and then asked, "Um... what is it?"
After Han She put her down, Shu Ning leaned closer and whispered, "Have any new people joined you here recently?"
"No," the orc immediately denied.
Then, Shu Ning said with a sob in her voice, "Our child is missing. We've searched so many places but still can't find him. Sigh, we finally found this place with the child's father, but now we're at a loss again. What should we do?"
She wiped away the tears that hadn't yet fallen as she spoke.
"You say we don't know how our poor child is doing now, whether he's hungry, whether he's cold, whether he's... still alive..."
As she spoke, her eyes reddened and tears streamed down her face.
"Don't cry, don't cry." Seeing Shu Ning crying so pitifully, the orc was moved by her tears and frowned, saying, "Wait, don't rush, let me think... let me think..."
Seeing Shu Ning crying so sadly, Han She, who was standing to the side, felt heartbroken even though he knew she was acting, and immediately pulled her into his arms.
He wiped away her tears, gently patted her head, and comforted her with a melancholy look in his eyes and a low voice, "Don't cry, Ningning, we will definitely find the child."
Shu Ning nodded in his arms and replied, "Mmm..."
"Oh, right, I remember now!" the orc exclaimed excitedly.
At this moment, Shu Ning and Han She looked at him.
“A group of monitor lizards carrying several large animal skin bags passed by here a couple of days ago. I felt something was wrong at the time. I just don’t know if your child is in one of them,” the orc recalled.
"Then, do you know which direction they went?" Shu Ning asked anxiously.
The orc thought for a moment, then pointed towards a passage, "Over there."
"Okay, thank you very much!" Shu Ning said, taking a fried fish from her space and giving it to him. "This was made by my husband, it's very delicious, consider it a thank you for your help."
He was about to leave immediately after saying that.
"Wait," the orc said, "Here, take this."
Han She took the item from Shu Ning's hand before she could.
"What is this?" she asked, looking at the bag in Han She's hand.
“This can cure lizard poison,” he explained.
"Oh, boss, you're so kind," Shu Ning said gratefully.
"This...oh, you're too kind! I also hope you can find your child soon."
He waved to Shu Ning and the others, feeling both admiration for their perfect match and concern for their lost child.
When they returned, Shu Ning vaguely saw a familiar silver figure in the crowd. She wasn't sure if it was her imagination, but when she looked again, the figure had disappeared.
By this time, Jin Tong and the others had also returned.
Xuan Lin frowned when he saw the tears in Shu Ning's eyes. "What's wrong?"
Then he looked at Han She, his eyes cold, suppressing his anger, and said, "Did you bully him?"
Upon hearing this, Jin Tong and Mo Li both frowned and looked at Han She.
"No, no," Shu Ning quickly denied. "I was just using a self-inflicted injury as a ruse."
"Huh?" Xuan Lin was taken aback. "A self-inflicted injury ploy?"
"Mm," Shu Ning nodded in response.
"Don't use it next time." Xuan Lin said, a tender look appearing in his eyes.
"Okay, I won't do it again next time," Shu Ning said.
"So, what's the result?" she asked.
“We asked around and found out which direction the group of lizards went,” Mo Li said.
“Mine is too,” Xuan Lin said.
"It seems everyone's result is the same," Shu Ning said. "Without further ado, let's set off now."
“Mm,” Xuan Lin replied.
They then headed toward the passage and soon came to see the entrance to a cave.
"Is this the place?" Jin Tong said. "Something's not right."
They looked at the cave entrance before them, which should have been heavily guarded, but was now unattended.
"Let's go in and take a look," Xuan Lin said.
Not long after they entered, they heard the voices of several orcs as they continued walking inside.
To their shock, they saw a familiar person standing outside the fence where the stray animals were kept.
"Xiao Chong?" Shu Ning asked in surprise.
Xiao Chong turned to look at them, his furrowed brows instantly relaxing, and a gentle look appeared in his eyes as he looked at Shu Ning.
"What are you doing here?" Xuan Lin asked.
“Just like you guys,” Xiao Chong said, pulling Shu Ning, who had walked over, into his arms.
"Xiao Chong, how did you know we were looking for stray beasts?" Shu Ning asked, looking up.
"I heard about it," Xiao Chong said, patting her head.
"Did you go to the Abandoned Beast Domain too?" Shu Ning asked.
"Mm," Xiao Chong replied softly.
"What's going on now?" Mo Li asked, looking at everything with a puzzled expression.
"We're a step too late," Xiao Chong said.
"So, the culprit who kidnapped the stray beasts has escaped?" Jin Tong said, heading towards the cave inside to investigate.
“That’s right,” Xiao Chong said. “I’ve already searched inside; there’s no one there.”
"This is such bad luck," Jin Tong said dejectedly. "But thankfully, these stray beasts are still here."
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