"Huh?" Tong Youlin was stunned for a moment, not quite understanding.
He stared blankly in the direction Huo Chengche was looking, and when he saw the "upright and good official" with a deathly pale face, trembling legs, and unsteady steps, he suddenly realized what was going on.
"Has the master contracted some terminal illness?" Tongyou Lin immediately moved closer to Liang Sheng, supporting him with great concern. "If the master is unwell, please don't push yourself!"
Terminal illness...
Liang Sheng's already unpleasant expression turned even more so. He gritted his teeth, suppressing the urge to be slapped away by the jinx next to him, and glared at him fiercely, "Say less!"
Tong Youlin didn't catch a trace of Liang Sheng's anger, but he noticed the resentment in Liang Sheng's eyes as he glanced at the young master's back. He immediately understood that the good official was worried that he was ill and that His Highness wouldn't take him along on his business.
Tong Youlin immediately understood, chuckled, and hurriedly said, "Master, please follow His Highness down the mountain back to the yamen!"
Liang Sheng, who had just caught his breath, suddenly choked again and almost passed out.
Seeing this, Tong Youlin was even more moved, saying, "It's windy on this mountain, and you, sir, are still going to great lengths for us despite your illness. It's truly touching! We commoners will never trouble you like this again!"
Liang Sheng felt a mouthful of blood choke in his throat. If it weren't for his little tyrant right in front of him, he would have roared at this big, simple-minded guy: "I'd rather climb a mountain than go back to that government office full of pythons and tigers!"
Holding the little baby, Huo Chengche listened to Tong Youlin's heart-wrenching words behind him, and a cool smile curled his thin lips.
To prevent Liang Sheng from "dying in the line of duty," he promptly interrupted his friend Lin's incessant, hurtful chatter.
"Mr. Tong, after the villagers have finished eating, gather them together. There are no more pythons on the mountain. The government officials will be here soon. Take them to that valley you just visited. The children who have recently gone missing are being held there."
Upon hearing this, Tong Youlin immediately forgot about Liang Dahao, the good official, and exclaimed, "Children?! Are all the children who went missing in the village a few years ago there?!"
A few years ago?
Huo Chengche pursed his thin lips as he looked at Tong Youlin's anxious gaze.
When Tong Youlin saw the boy's reaction, it was as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over his head, and the hope on his face visibly dimmed.
"I'm not entirely sure either, but the children there are all quite young," Huo Chengche stated calmly.
Tong Youlin staggered two steps and fell onto a nearby rock. The eight-foot-tall man suddenly covered his face and choked up.
They had just reached the entrance of the village when Luo Dangdang, looking utterly dejected, was squatting there, being watched by a guard. He heard the commotion and watched as Tong Youlin's expression changed from surprise to despair, and he felt increasingly uneasy.
"Let me stay as well. They don't know what's going on in the valley. I can lead the soldiers to fetch the children," Luo Dangdang suddenly said as he walked over.
Luo Dangdang had a comical face, a thin, monkey-like face, with two unnatural mustaches hanging from his mouth, and an empty, dejected air about him that seemed out of place.
The sleepy little boy rubbed his eyes, feeling Luo Dangdang's suffocating gloom all over him, and his dark eyes were covered with a layer of mist.
Before the little boy was even awake, he comforted the other person in his childish voice: "Uncle, what did you do wrong? My dad said: It's better to admit your mistakes and make amends than to feel sorry for yourself."
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