Finally, Su Yan and Shen Yao followed the stutterer to a deserted village.
The surrounding houses were collapsed, and the environment was desolate, looking as if no one had lived there for a long time.
Although the village was dilapidated and desolate, the sound of barking dogs could be heard from time to time, leading Su Yan to guess that this must be Little Stutterer's lair.
Little Stutterer arrived at the end of the village and stopped in front of a small thatched hut.
Under the moonlight, Su Yan saw wisps of smoke rising from the thatched hut, and the barking of dogs was coming from that hut.
After the knocking stopped, a girl's voice responded from inside the house.
In the blink of an eye, the little stutterer walked into the house.
Su Yan and Shen Yao were hiding in the shadows, at a distance, and couldn't see clearly who opened the door for the little stutterer, but they knew it was a little girl.
A mere thatched hut was no match for Su Yan.
She turned to look at Shen Yao, "Shen Yao, sneak in and see what Little Stutterer is hiding."
"good……"
As soon as Shen Yao spoke, he climbed over the wall without saying a word. From his perspective, the little stutterer was eating in the kitchen, and the little girl next to him kept putting food on his plate.
The two seemed to have a close relationship.
To get a clear look at the girl, Shen Yao deliberately lowered his voice and prepared to jump off the wall.
Looking down, he saw a scruffy, tan-colored country dog baring its fangs and staring at him menacingly.
The puppy in front of us is not very old, only about three or four months old, and it hasn't been weaned yet.
Shen Yao naturally did not regard the dog in front of him as a threat, but if it barked, it would inevitably alert the people in the house.
To avoid alerting the dog, Shen Yao took out a piece of pastry he had taken from Su Yan from his bag and threw it in front of the puppy.
The puppy sniffed the pastries and found them to have an enticing aroma. Perhaps it was extremely hungry, because it began to wolf them down.
After finishing the pastries, the puppy wagged its tail obsequiously and stared longingly at Shen Yao.
Seeing that the puppy had been successfully bribed, Shen Yao took the opportunity to climb over the wall, threw the remaining pastries to it, and hid outside the eaves to peek at the people inside the house.
Currently, it appears that there is only a stuttering child and a little girl in this thatched hut; there is no one else.
Just as Shen Yao was about to go back, the little girl suddenly got up and walked outside.
Seeing that he was about to be discovered, Shen Yao immediately used his light footwork to leap onto the wall and lay motionless on the eaves, observing the little girl who came out of the door.
The little girl placed a bowl of rice porridge in front of the puppy, but found that it seemed to have no appetite and lay lazily on the ground without moving.
"Zhao Cai, what's wrong?"
The little girl noticed something was wrong with Zhaocai, so she anxiously grabbed the puppy and ran into the house.
It was at the moment the little girl looked up that Shen Yao saw her face clearly.
She looked remarkably similar to the Li Changyan depicted in Su Yan's painting. The only difference was that the person in the painting was rounder and cuter, while the little girl in front of her was thin and her face was no longer round.
Although the appearance of Li Changyan in the portrait is quite different from that of the little girl.
However, Shen Yao was certain that the little girl in front of him was Li Changyan, whom they had been searching for.
Although their faces have changed, their expressions remain exactly the same.
After the little girl went inside, Shen Yao quickly climbed over the wall and came to Su Yan's side, saying directly, "Li Changyan is inside."
Upon hearing this news, Su Yan was stunned for a moment, seemingly not yet able to react.
"What did you say?"
Shen Yao replied in a deep voice, "Li Changyan is inside. That kid clearly recognized the person in the portrait and is obviously trying to swindle your money."
"Are you sure that little girl just now was Li Changyan?"
Shen Yao nodded. "Why would I lie to you? You'll know once you go and see for yourself."
Su Yan agreed with Shen Yao's suggestion, "I'll knock on the door, and you stay in the shadows to keep watch, so that no one can escape."
Judging from the situation of following Little Stutterer just now, Su Yan knew that his vigilance was higher than that of ordinary people. If there was the slightest disturbance, he would probably disappear without a trace.
Su Yan was taking precautions to prevent such a situation from occurring.
"Okay...don't worry..."
After receiving Shen Yao's reply, Su Yan went to the door and knocked.
Thump...thump thump...thump thump thump...
The crisp knocking sounded especially eerie in the endless night.
The stuttering boy, who was observing the puppy's injuries, suddenly looked alertly towards the door.
Li Changyan hugged Zhaocai tightly in fear and hid behind the little stutterer, saying, "Brother Yan, could it be that they've come looking for us again?"
The little stutterer frowned, turned around and instructed Li Changyan, "Changyan, take Zhaocai and hide in the dark cave first. Don't come out unless I call you, understand..."
At this moment, Li Changyan's eyes filled with tears, and she nodded.
"Brother Yan, I understand..."
The little stutterer immediately urged Li Changyan to leave, while she went to open the door.
Li Changyan dared not linger. If she were discovered, she and her brother Yan would both be doomed.
Soon, Li Changyan lifted the wooden planks on the ground, squatted down, and crawled inside, peering out through the gaps between the planks.
At this moment, Little Stutterer opened the door and was clearly taken aback when he saw Su Yan standing there.
Looking shocked, he asked, "How did you find this place?"
Little Stutterer was quite surprised by Su Yan's appearance.
When she came to him with the portrait of Chang Yan, he knew he couldn't stay here any longer.
That's why he rushed back; his purpose was to help Li Changyan escape trouble.
Su Yan grinned mischievously at the little stutterer and said, "Hehehe...of course I followed you here. Is Li Changyan in the house?"
The stutterer instinctively refused to answer Su Yan's question and tried to close the door and leave.
"I don't understand what you're saying..."
Su Yan smiled. "Really?"
The stutterer glared at Su Yan angrily, "Get out of here... or else..."
Before the little stutterer could finish speaking...
With quick reflexes, Su Yan subdued the stutterer with a backhand grab.
“Young man, I don’t want to make things difficult for you. I’m from Chang’an, and I’m in charge of investigating the case of Li Changyan’s father, Li Qingming…”
"Hmph...you're all liars, no one would believe you..."
After saying that, the little stutterer shouted in another direction, "Changyan, run! Don't look back..."
"Kid, you really are asking for trouble..."
Su Yan's patience was limited to begin with. She tried to reason with him gently, but he wouldn't listen, so she didn't blame her for resorting to violence.
The little stutterer struggled fiercely, as arrogant as an ox.
Su Yan quickly lost control of the little stutterer's stubbornness and said to Shen Yao, "Shen Yao, don't just stand there and watch, come and help me..."
As soon as he finished speaking, Shen Yao leaped down from the corner of the wall and quickly subdued the little stutterer, pinning him to the ground where he couldn't move.
The stutterer cursed, "Kill me or torture me, if I even flinch, I'm not a Yan..."
Seeing that the stutterer had been subdued, Su Yan went into the house to look for the girl, only to find that the little girl was nowhere to be seen except for the stutterer.
Su Yan naturally knew that the little girl was hiding, so she walked out of the house and came to the little stutterer.
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