Chapter 228 Past
As Li Dalang chased after the man in black who had kidnapped Xiao Silang, fragments of the incident four years ago kept replaying in his mind.
Four years ago, on the Lantern Festival.
At the time, he was only four years old. With his chubby face and adorable appearance, he was the youngest child in the family.
Not to mention Li Erxiong and Li Ersao, even Xiao Silang's own parents, and Li Sanniang, who had only been married for a short time at the time, all loved Xiao Silang very much.
The Lantern Festival is the only day of the year without a curfew, when people can freely roam around Chang'an.
Little Silang, with his childlike nature, loves to watch exciting things.
At that time, Brother Li had not yet joined the Imperial Guard; he was merely a lowly soldier in the camp outside Beijing.
Even soldiers, whose homes were in Chang'an, could return home for three days during the Lantern Festival.
Xiao Silang loved Li Daxiong and Li Dalang the most in the Li family.
Because only Brother Li could carry him on his shoulders, let him ride on his neck, and throw him up and down to let him experience the feeling of flying.
As the father, Li Erxiong always maintained a certain air, trying to maintain a bit of authority in front of the children.
Li Dalang was the easiest to "bully" among the older brothers. Xiao Silang had long since discovered that as long as he felt even the slightest bit like crying, Li Dalang would agree to anything.
Li Dalang had promised Xiao Silang all sorts of things, from taking him to the streets to carrying him on his back and acting as his tall horse to play war games with other children. He had never refused this little brother.
In short, in Xiao Silang's eyes, Li Dalang was wonderful, and he loved Li Dalang the most.
As for Li Erlang, Xiao Silang also loved his older brother who always bullied Xiao Silang because of his intelligence, and his third brother who was honest, didn't talk much, and listened to Li Erlang the most. But Xiao Silang loved Li Dalang the most.
Therefore, on the night of the Lantern Festival four years ago, a bright moon hung in the sky, and Xiao Silang was led by Li Dalang to stroll through the street where people were guessing lantern riddles.
By this time, Li Dalang had already been studying at Qinglian Academy for several years. Although he couldn't write articles with fancy words, he was good at solving riddles.
Li Dalang responded to Xiao Silang's words and took down the lantern with a tiger head painted on it for him.
Xiao Silang happily carried the lantern pole, pulled Li Dalang's hand, and squeezed forward. The stall in front was even bigger, with a lotus-shaped lantern that was as tall as a person hanging in the middle, which was really eye-catching.
Li Dalang first glanced back at his father and the others who were not far away before being pulled along by Xiao Silang.
When he arrived at the stall, Koshiro was quite surprised to see the huge lotus lantern, which was much taller than himself.
"Brother, this lamp is huge!"
"What? You don't care about what you're carrying anymore?"
Xiao Silang looked down at the tiger-head lantern that Li Dalang had just won for him, then looked at the large lotus lantern hanging in the center of the stall above his head. He looked up at Li Dalang, his little eyes wide open: "Brother, it's rare, it's rare! This large lotus lantern is beautiful too!"
"You want it?"
Xiao Silang nodded vigorously, looking at Li Dalang with hopeful eyes. In Xiao Silang's eyes, only Li Dalang and Li Dalang were the most capable in the Li family. Li Dalang always had to go out on duty, so he often saw Li Dalang.
In Xiao Silang's heart, Li Dalang was the best and most powerful elder brother, capable of doing anything.
Faced with Xiao Silang's trusting and expectant gaze, what could Li Dalang do?
Li Dalang looked up at the riddles pasted under the large lotus lantern. There were ten strips of cloth on the lantern. The stall owner explained that whoever solved the most riddles would be the winner and could take the large lotus lantern away.
Li Dalang looked at the first question the stall owner had just put down: "Draw it as a circle, write it as a square, it's short in winter and long in summer." The stall owner cupped his hands to the onlookers and said, "First question, guess a Chinese character."
Li Dalang looked at the riddle, racked his brains, and finally figured it out!
"On this day!"
The stall owner took a small hammer and struck the small gong beside him, then said to Li Dalang with a big smile, "Young man, you have a question to answer!"
Li Dalang guessed two of the next five questions correctly. He clenched his hands and looked at the next question the stall owner had opened: "The white snake crosses the river, with a red sun overhead."
"Guess the common object in this question."
Li Dalang looked at the riddle written on the red paper and pondered carefully what the answer was.
Li Dalang was so focused on answering the questions that he neglected to hold Xiao Silang's hand, while Xiao Silang had already been targeted by the kidnappers.
Small children who can run, jump, and talk, and who are fair-skinned and cute, are the kind of kids that kidnappers love to abduct.
When the accomplice who had been lurking on the sidelines saw Li Dalang let go of Xiao Silang's hand because he was focused on solving the riddle, he quickly came up behind Xiao Silang, took a handkerchief soaked in medicine and covered Xiao Silang's nose. In just a few breaths, Xiao Silang was unable to move.
The thug scooped up Xiao Silang and hurriedly left the stall.
When Li Dalang answered the sixth riddle faster than the others, revealing the answer to be "oil lamp," he won another riddle. When he wanted to turn around and share his joy with Xiao Silang, he looked down but couldn't find Xiao Silang.
Xiao Silang has disappeared!
Li Dalang panicked and no longer cared about the riddle. He paced back and forth in the crowd, shouting, "Xiao Si, Xiao Si, where did you go?"
No one responded to Li Dalang's words. Li Dalang took a few steps forward and saw a child with the same pigtails. He grabbed the child from behind and saw his face clearly. It wasn't Xiao Silang.
Li Dalang shouted as he went back and forth on the street, pulling up children who were about the same height as Xiao Silang.
But none of them are Xiao Silang!
Only then did Li Dalang truly realize that he had lost Xiao Silang!
Li Dalang quickly turned back to his father and the others, and, suppressing his tears, told them about the situation he had with Xiao Silang at that time.
"I'm going to find the patrol officers. That kidnapper can't have gone far! You all shout as loud as you can; there's definitely more than one child who's been kidnapped. Let's search together! It'll be faster!"
After Brother Li finished speaking, his long legs led him to the front of the street where the patrolling constables usually stood.
When Li Erxiong heard that his son was missing, his first reaction was fear. This child was really too lively. If he resisted too much, the kidnapper might hurt him badly.
"Don't be afraid, brother, there's still time. Listen to your elder brother, shout! There must be more than one child whose four has been stolen. Many hands make light work, we're sure we can find them!"
Tears streamed down Li Dalang's face. He wiped them away casually with his sleeve and then, along with the rest of the Li family, shouted loudly in the street. This shouting alerted several people to the fact that their child had also been stolen!
Sure enough, Koshiro wasn't the only child who was stolen!
Li Dalang felt extremely guilty, thinking that he had been too focused on solving the riddle and had let go of Xiao Silang's hand, which allowed the kidnapper to steal Xiao Silang's belongings.
It's all my fault! It's all my fault!
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