Li Dashun remained calm, sipping his tea without uttering a word.
Meng Shuyun was getting restless and was about to say something when a boy with two snotty snot dripping from his nose ran over and grabbed Li Dashun's pants.
"Brother Zhu is calling you."
Meng Shuyun looked at the little boy holding his arm, gazing in the direction Li Dashun had left, and took out a milk candy and waved it.
"Little friend, tell Grandma where that boy went, and I'll give you this candy, okay?"
As soon as the candy was taken out, the little kid started biting his fingers and drooling, nodding repeatedly in agreement.
"Brother Zhu told us to go behind the bamboo forest; it's just up the back of the mountain."
Meng Shuyun handed him the candy, then took out another candy to coax him not to tell anyone, and then left in that direction.
Perhaps her Xiulan was trapped up there. Meng Shuyun's expression turned grave, and she quickened her pace. She saw a bamboo grove, and looking up, she saw a dilapidated temple.
Even before I got close, I could smell a peculiar odor, both strange and familiar. I was startled. This was... counterfeit goods!
In my previous life, I worked in a garment factory. To supplement my family's income, I also took on the job of cleaning the toilets. This smell was frequently present in the restrooms, and soon the workers went insane, and later, they all disappeared...
A bad feeling welled up inside me, so I picked up a brick from the ground and rushed over.
Zhu Zi had a cigarette dangling from his lips, his face showing a mixture of enjoyment and greed, as if he were floating on air.
Li Dashun also had a cigarette in his mouth. The match in his hand crackled, and a red spark lit up as the smoke drifted upwards.
Meng Shuyun moved with incredible speed, smashing a brick down on the pillar's forehead.
Fearing that he hadn't completely subdued the man, he added a few more bricks, and Zhuzi collapsed to the ground, his face still bearing that expression of enjoying death.
"Do you even know what this is? You're smoking it!" Meng Shuyun slapped Li Dashun across the face, leaving a large swollen patch on his cheek, and the cigarette fell to the ground.
She stepped on the cigarette, and seeing that Li Dashun didn't react, she slapped his other cheek.
"Are you out of your mind? You'll take anything anyone offers you!"
Li Dashun lowered his head, his cheeks flushed, and remained silent, his throat feeling terribly constricted.
"You recognize this?" Li Dashun took a small package out of Zhu Zi's pocket and held it out to Meng Shuyun.
Meng Shuyun glanced at the item and said, "It's obviously not a good thing. Don't touch it."
"Where is Xiulan?" Meng Shuyun looked at the dilapidated temple, which she could see all the way to the bottom, and it didn't look like a place where people could hide.
Li Dashun found a hemp rope, tied the person up, and threw him into a corner.
"I don't know exactly where it is. Zhu Zi just said that the wedding procession goes to the village chief's house. Xiu Lan, who you're looking for, is probably there."
Meng Shuyun crouched down and rummaged through the pillar's pockets, looking for her motorcycle keys.
Entering the village, this was their only means of transportation, and also their only way to leave.
"The key is with me." Li Dashun took the key out of another pocket.
"I'll drive in a bit, and once we find the person, we'll leave together." Meng Shuyun took the keys from his hand and headed down the mountain.
Li Dashun followed behind and asked curiously, "You can ride a motorcycle?"
Hearing this question, Meng Shuyun realized that Li Dashun had a bit of a childlike quality.
"I've eaten more salt than you've eaten rice, there's nothing I can't do. Just don't hold me back."
Meng Shuyun took Li Dashun to ride a motorcycle. Although some people were puzzled, they didn't dare to stop them because they didn't know how to ride a motorcycle either.
Meng Shuyun immediately stepped on the gas, started the engine, twisted the accelerator, and sped off with a few "putt-putt" sounds.
They stopped in front of the village chief's house, still on the gas, and went inside with a brick in hand, demanding to see who it was.
In the countryside these days, no one locks their doors, and there's nothing of value in the house, so no one comes to steal anything during the day.
Once inside, a little girl was sitting on a low stool by the door, writing with a short pencil. She stared blankly when she saw someone barge in.
Meng Shuyun looked around, seeing no signs of adults, and took out two candies, placing them in front of her: "Where are your parents? Do you know where your sister who's been locked up is?"
The little girl pointed to the door directly opposite and said, "Grandpa went to the toilet, and my sister is in the room in front."
Meng Shuyun smashed the door lock with a brick, and a lot of light flooded into the dim room. She saw Su Xiuju tied to a chair, her mouth gagged, her eyes sunken, and she was so thin that she was almost unrecognizable.
Meng Shuyun froze when she saw her daughter; her chest ached so much she could hardly breathe. This was her Xiulan.
Her hands were trembling, and she called out in a choked voice, "Xiuju, Mother is here..."
Su Xiuju stared blankly at the person walking in against the light at the door, her eyes filled with fear and dread, instinctively looking away.
When he saw who it was, a tear rolled down his cheek. It seemed as if he had run out of tears. The tear rolled down his swollen eyes, his cracked mouth, and disappeared into his bruised and purple neck.
Meng Shuyun felt like killing someone at that moment.
I wish I could grab a knife and kill them all.
If she had arrived at this cannibalistic place any later, she didn't even dare to imagine what kind of torment her Xiuju would have suffered.
"Xiuju, Mother will take you home. Don't be afraid, Mother is here."
Meng Shuyun wiped away her tears. The most important thing now was to leave as soon as possible; who knew what might happen if she delayed even a second longer.
After untying her, he helped her onto the motorcycle. When Li Dashun tried to get on, Su Xiuju instinctively resisted, broke free, and slid off the motorcycle.
Meng Shuyun tenderly cupped her face, "Xiuju, bear with it for a moment. This car belongs to him. We can't get out without a car. Let's leave here first, okay?"
I don’t know what words stirred up Su Xiuju’s will to survive, but she nodded and cooperated by getting on the back of the motorcycle.
The next moment, the sound of firecrackers crackling rang out.
"Hurry up, let's go to the police station first," Meng Shuyun instructed.
Meanwhile, Aunt Hong's house was in complete chaos; her son and daughter-in-law had both disappeared.
After much difficulty, they finally found Zhu, who was unconscious and foaming at the mouth, in a dilapidated temple on the back mountain. The police, armed with weapons, quickly moved in and took him into custody.
“Someone reported that someone is hiding drugs here. Confess and you will be treated leniently; resist and you will be punished severely.”
Aunt Hong cried and clung to the pillar, refusing to let go: "What drugs? We don't have any! Let go of my son! You must have made a mistake!"
"We are all honest and law-abiding farmers. Who is this heartless bastard who said that his son was born without an anus!"
"Officer, are you sure you haven't got the wrong people? We're really good people!"
The police officers handling the case were not to be underestimated; they immediately launched a search operation inside the dilapidated temple.
The family was taken to the police station after three kilograms of items and a wad of cash were found.
When Aunt Hong saw Meng Shuyun sitting in the lobby of the police station, her eyes turned bloodshot, and she pointed at her and roared like a madwoman.
"Officers, these things were brought to our village by that woman. She's trying to frame me. She came into the village this morning, and everyone in the village saw her. Go and arrest her!"
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