Chapter 126: Try your luck?
The village head came out of the house yawning.
"Why are you crying so early in the morning? What do you mean someone is missing? Can a grown person get lost?"
Several women lowered their heads and stammered, "It's just... he hasn't come back since he left..."
The village head sat on the doorstep, knocked the mud off the soles of his shoes, and glanced at them sideways. "Aren't all the men of you going to visit relatives? It's not uncommon for relatives to stay for a day or two. Why are you so anxious?"
The village head put on his shoes and waved them off, "Go back, everyone. You might have already returned home by now."
The women looked at each other, not moving a step.
"What's going on?" The village head stood up and chuckled. "If you're really worried, why don't you go check on your relatives? You don't need me to look for them for you, do you? Don't count on me for everything. I have other things to do!"
Naturally, the women were unwilling to leave. They stood together and pushed each other. Finally, Wang Damazi's wife, Tian, was pushed to the front by everyone.
Tian's eyes were swollen and red from crying. "Village head, everyone's family is short of food these days. Who would let their relatives stay at home? I'm worried that they met bandits on the road and were captured!"
The village head waved his hand. "You're overthinking it. Are the bandits just bored out of their minds or something? Why arrest them? Do you think everyone is Xiao Jiuer and worth the bandits' attention? Bandits are picky too, right?"
Tian: "..."
The village head walked out as he spoke, his expression somewhat impatient. "You can even get lost while visiting relatives, and you're not afraid of being laughed at when you tell others about it! Don't bother me with such trivial matters. Go find it yourself!"
Tian and his men were anxious and hurriedly followed the headman, "Headman, five people are missing at once, this is no small matter!"
"Yes, when Xiaojiu disappeared that day, you mobilized the entire village!"
"Although our lives are cheap and not as noble as Xiaojiu's, they are still five lives after all. Village head, you can't be too biased!"
The village head paused, "You're saying I'm partial? Don't you have any idea why Xiaojiu is missing?"
"That's because the Ye family helped the entire village resist bandits, and they targeted them and retaliated against them! Shouldn't we mobilize the entire village to find them?!"
"Should..." the women said with their heads lowered.
"I'm telling you, you say I'm biased, right! I am biased! If you can treat Heihe Village wholeheartedly like the Ye family, I will also be biased towards you! The only thing I can do now is to help you open the city gate, and you can go to your relatives' homes to look for them yourself!"
"Follow me, I'll open the city gate for you!" The village head's face was full of anger.
Tian Shi saw that she couldn't hide it anymore, so she said hesitantly, "Village Head, they... didn't actually go to visit relatives..."
"You didn't go to visit relatives?" The village head's eyes widened. "What are you talking about? The day before yesterday, your family's Wang Damazi asked me to open the city gate at dusk, saying he was going to visit his uncle. The same thing happened with other families, visiting the eldest aunt, the third aunt, and the sixth aunt. I was wondering at the time why they all rushed out to visit relatives on the same day? And now you tell me you didn't go to visit relatives? So you guys are lying to me?"
The women looked away. "They...just feel like they've been cooped up in the village for too long and want to go out for a walk."
"They were afraid the village head wouldn't agree, so they had to say they were visiting relatives."
"Go out for a walk?" The village head stared at them coldly.
"Yes, I agreed to be back the next morning at the latest, but I haven't returned yet."
The village head sneered, "Are you telling the truth now? Are you not lying?"
"No lie!" said the women.
"It seems I'm old now, and you think I'm easy to fool!" The headman's face changed, and he banged the gong loudly. "I'm telling you to lie! If you have the guts, lie in front of the whole village!"
The women's faces suddenly changed, but it was too late to stop it.
The threshing ground was bustling with people.
Five women stood aside with their heads hunched.
The village head glanced at them and said to the villagers, "Listen up everyone! Wang Damazi, the Li family father and son, Zhang Youcai, and Xu Sangui left the village the other day. They lied and said they were visiting relatives. Now they're gone. As a village, we can't just stand there and watch. How about we go out and look for them together?"
"We can go out and look for them!" the villagers agreed. "The key is where to look. Where have they all gone?"
"No one knows that," the village head snorted coldly. "They said they were just feeling pent up and wanted to go out for a walk. As for where they went, only they know!"
"Are you feeling suffocated and want to go for a walk?" The villagers laughed. "Isn't Heihe Village big enough for them to walk around?"
"They didn't feel suffocated in the morning or in the evening, but just the day before yesterday, everyone felt suffocated. Don't you think it's strange?" Luo Qiuyue stood in the crowd holding Xiaojiu, with a mocking look in her eyes.
"If I remember correctly, the day before yesterday was the day when the Ye family bought the mountain, right?" The village head looked at the Tian family and their companions, "You guys are still not telling the truth. Do you think the whole village is stupid?"
The five women huddled together in panic, looking at everyone's cold gazes. Finally, they couldn't hold back their tears anymore and covered their faces with their hands and cried.
“They… heard that there were treasures in the mountain that the Ye family bought, so they wanted to try their luck.”
"Shameless!" the villagers cursed. "You're talking about trying your luck, but you're clearly just trying to steal the treasure!"
"I've given these people good advice several times, but they haven't listened and are still harboring evil intentions! Now they're gone, it's all their own fault!"
"He's coveting the Ye family's things. He's so greedy and ungrateful. He deserves to die!"
Several women were scolded until their faces turned red. They knelt down and kowtowed to everyone, saying, "We have made a mistake. Please help us, fellow villagers. Let's go to the mountain together to look for him!"
The villagers shouted angrily, "You did something so shameless, and you still have the nerve to ask us to help you find it? If you want to find it, go find it yourself!"
"We want to go too, but we dare not! It's too close to the Black Eagle Village." The women sobbed.
"If you don't dare, why do we dare?" The villagers laughed out of anger.
Tian and the old Li family were more active in their thinking. They ran to Luo Qiuyue and knelt down. "Mother Yan Ping, we really know we were wrong. We shouldn't have been so greedy and wanted to take advantage of your family. You have always been so magnanimous. Can you save them this time?"
"Don't flatter me. I've always been narrow-minded." Luo Qiuyue said slowly, "A few months ago, you also knelt down and begged my family to dig a canal in the mountains. What did you say that day? I will always remember the kindness of the Ye family, and you will listen to everything I say from now on!
So some people talk like they're farting, wiping their lips and then ignoring you? They stole my things and asked me to save them. There must be a limit to how shameless people can be!
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