Luo Chen was both anxious and angry: "You...you really...why didn't you say so sooner?"
"I'm scared... Waaaaah."
"What's there to be afraid of? Are you going to just stand by and watch your stepmother get swept away by the river?"
Luo Li's tears fell one by one onto her clothes: "I didn't mean to..."
Luo Chen was so angry she wanted to beat him up, but seeing her brother's swollen eyes from crying, she couldn't bring herself to do it: "Wait until I get back, then I'll deal with you."
Luo Yang grabbed him: "Brother, where are you going?"
"I'm going to find someone to save my stepmother."
Luo Li started to get scared again: "We can't tell anyone, big brother. Have you forgotten what our stepmother's mother said last time? If we don't tell her in time if something happens to our stepmother again, she'll beat us to death."
"But we can't just abandon our stepmother."
Luo Li started crying again, rambling incoherently, "I killed my stepmother, it's been half an hour already, I... I don't know what to do, my stepmother's mother will definitely beat me to death, waaaaah."
Luo Yang said, "Brother, don't rush to call for help. Let's go downstream and look for her first. Stepmother is so strong, maybe she can swim and has already made it ashore."
The main reason Luo Yang didn't want Luo Chen to call for help was something he couldn't say in front of Luo Li.
The village elders say that demons will reveal their true form when they encounter danger or are injured. What if she gets injured in the river or reveals her true form to save herself? Wouldn't it harm her if the villagers had to help find her?
If people find out that the stepmother is not human, she will be burned to death by the villagers.
Luo Chen knew his second brother was far smarter than him, and although he didn't know why, he still chose to listen to his brother's advice and said to Luo Li:
"You stay home with Xin'er and don't tell Xin'er about her stepmother, do you understand?"
"I heard you."
"Stop crying, go wash your face, your second brother and I are going to find your stepmother."
The two brothers left the house. Luo Yang used the excuse of going to pick up his stepmother when it got dark to trick Luo Xin into leaving the house, and they ran downstream along the Quhe River.
Although Luo Xin found it a bit strange that her brothers always went to pick up their stepmother but failed to do so, she was too young and Luo Yang hid his emotions well, so she didn't think about it any further.
The two brothers searched along the riverbank for more than 25 minutes, walking quite a distance out of the village, but they still couldn't see anyone.
Luo Yang gave up first, pulling Luo Chen aside: "Brother, let's forget about it, stop looking."
Luo Chen didn't want to give up: "What if my stepmother is lucky enough to be washed ashore? Maybe she's heading back."
"Brother, it's been more than half an hour since Ali came back. We've been searching for so long but haven't seen our stepmother. She might really not be coming back."
Luo Chen glanced at the rushing river: "But, the stepmother is so powerful..."
Isn't she a demon who has cultivated herself into a spirit? She should know magic, right? That's what the old folks in the village say.
“I’m not saying the stepmother will definitely drown. I’m saying she doesn’t like us, doesn’t like our dilapidated house. Maybe she has to take care of us for some reason, and maybe this time she has a reason to get rid of us and leave on her own.”
Luo Chen fell silent. Yes, he knew she had always wanted to leave.
She hasn't come back for so long, so either she might not be coming back, or... she doesn't want to come back and has already left.
The two brothers shared the same thought: rather than believing that their stepmother had used this opportunity to leave Xiaqu Village and go somewhere else, they preferred to believe that she had drowned.
Although this idea might make them feel sad.
Luo Chen stood there for a while, then said, "Let's go back, Xin'er must be worried."
The two brothers returned home with equally somber expressions. Luo Li, who had been standing at the gate with his arms crossed to hide his face from Luo Xin's red eyes, started to cry again.
Luo Xin was patting her chubby cheeks, wanting to criticize her mother, when she saw that only her two older brothers had returned. She became a little anxious: "Where's Mom? Why isn't she back yet?"
The two brothers split up. Luo Chen called Luo Li to the kitchen, while Luo Yang used an excuse he had prepared on the way back to coax Luo Xin.
“My stepmother has something urgent to attend to and will probably be back a little late. My eldest brother has gone to cook porridge. Xin’er, eat your porridge and go to bed early. You might be able to see your stepmother tomorrow.”
Luo Xin pouted, "Mom, is there anything you can't do during the day? I've been worried about you for so long."
"Children shouldn't ask about adult matters. I don't know either. Second brother will take you to wash your hands and wait in the main room for porridge, okay?"
Luo Xin, always sensible and well-behaved, didn't ask any further questions: "Okay."
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