Xu Xinning had no idea that Xu Laosan and Mu Jingheng had gone to that deep pit, nor did she know that Mu Jingheng had the idea of going down there to explore.
The dangers here are actually the thin air and the fact that bats and snakes inhabit the cave. If you accidentally wander in and disturb them, it can be quite dangerous.
After Mu Jingheng returned, he went to Xu Xinning's side and, for the first time ever, started discussing the growing environment of herbs with her.
Seeing his interest, Xu Xinning told him about the uses of some herbs and precautions for harvesting them.
Mu Jingheng then began to subtly manipulate Xu Xinning, asking her about the rare medicinal herbs that usually grow on cliff faces.
Xu Xinning thought this person was acting strangely today; why did they suddenly want to ask this question?
However, she still told him that she actually had these herbs in her space, but she just enjoyed the process of gathering herbs and could also practice her martial arts skills in the process.
But Mu Jingheng didn't think that way. Since he had made up his mind about Xu Xinning, he really didn't want her to suffer like this anymore. If she needed anything, he could go find it for her.
After such a long period of treatment, Grandma Chen was finally able to get up and take a few steps. Her family was overjoyed to see her like this, especially Yao Dahai, who almost knelt down before Xu Xinning. At her age, he was crying his eyes out.
What puzzled Xu Xinning was that after observing Wang Ying for so long, she hadn't found any clues that she wanted to harm Old Madam Chen. On the contrary, she took excellent care of Old Madam Chen. That kind of sincerity couldn't be faked, just like her feelings for Xu Xinning, which couldn't be acted out.
Although Xu Xinning has been well protected by her family in both her past and present lives, she was, after all, a princess in her past life, and she came into contact with all sorts of people, so she could still distinguish between the real and the fake.
This puzzled Xu Xinning. It was an undeniable fact that someone wanted to harm Old Mrs. Chen, and the needle she had collected last time contained the drug that caused Old Mrs. Chen's stroke. This left Xu Xinning somewhat perplexed. Why not destroy the evidence after poisoning her? Was this audacity or provocation?
Xu Xinning didn't know why, but she felt that the murderer was provoking everyone, wanting them to know that Old Mrs. Chen's stroke was caused by poisoning.
So what was his purpose in doing this?
The Chen family is small. Yao Dahai is an honest and simple old farmer who only knows how to work hard in the fields all year round. He has very few relatives who go to the commune or county town.
Chen Ping is Chen Ping's biological son and a retired soldier. He wasn't home when the old lady Chen had the accident, so it's impossible for him to have harmed her.
Chen Jianguo is still a child, only knowing how to follow Xu Laosan around aimlessly, so he can be ruled out as well.
Wang Ying seemed to be the most likely suspect in the family, but Xu Xinning trusted herself and felt that Wang Ying was not the one who did it.
That's strange, because apart from the Xu family, the Chen family has practically no relatives or friends.
Oh! And there's an adopted daughter too.
However, this person had severed ties with his family for several years and had never seen her visit him.
Xu Xinning couldn't understand it at all. She didn't know whether she should talk to Xu Yaozu about it. Maybe he could find some clues. She also hated herself for being too presumptuous and focusing on Wang Ying, which led to the fact that the real murderer hadn't been found for so long.
Xu Xinning pulled Xu Yaozu aside after dinner to talk to him alone. Unexpectedly, Xu Yaozu was not surprised at all after hearing what Xu Xinning said.
Xu Yaozu's lack of surprise surprised Xu Xinning instead. Was there something she didn't know?
However, she won't meddle in things that aren't her business. Once Xu Yaozu gets involved, there's no need for her to bother anymore.
The next morning, Mu Jingheng went out alone with a basket on his back.
Xu Laosan had to go to school and couldn't follow Mu Jingheng anymore. He even asked Mu Jingheng where he was going.
Mu Jingheng just smiled mysteriously at him and said that Xu Xinning had taught him to recognize many Chinese medicinal herbs, and he was going up the mountain to collect herbs for Xu Xinning.
Many children in the brigade are currently collecting herbs, so Xu Laosan has lost interest. He joked that he would be the one collecting the herbs anyway, and he wouldn't accept them if Mu Jingheng's herbs were substandard.
Grandma Xu laughed at Xu Laosan for making a big deal out of nothing.
Hsu Hsin-ning also took it as a joke and just listened to it without thinking about it.
Jiang Juecheng and Xu Mingyang didn't intend to go together either. The main reason was that they realized they were being watched by the enemy. They had captured a few of their comrades on the periphery, but unfortunately, they hadn't gotten any useful information out of them. So, they decided that it wasn't a bad thing to let Mu Jingheng act alone, since his abilities shouldn't be underestimated.
When Mu Jingheng didn't return for lunch, Grandma Xu thought he might have forgotten the time while climbing the mountain, so she didn't think much of it and left him some food to keep warm in the pot.
Xu Mingyang and Jiang Juecheng didn't care. What they were doing was already being done covertly, so it was normal that Mu Jingheng would be gone for a while after entering the deep mountains.
Xu Xinning felt inexplicably panicked, as if something bad was about to happen. She had never felt this way before, when she herself had an accident in her previous life. It was painful, suffocating, and she felt like she couldn't breathe.
When Mu Jingheng still hadn't returned by mid-afternoon, Xu Xinning became restless. She didn't know why she cared so much about Mu Jingheng.
Suddenly, Xu Xinning remembered the conversation between Mu Jingheng and Xu Laosan that morning.
Did he go to gather herbs for her?
Gathering herbs shouldn't be dangerous, right? The kids in the village have been helping with that for a while now, and none of them have gotten into trouble.
However, she had emphasized to them that they were not allowed to go to dangerous places, otherwise she would not accept their medicine. So the children were very obedient and did not go to the deep mountains or places they thought were dangerous.
Xu Xinning thought she was overthinking it. Mu Jingheng had been up the mountain quite often since he came to Xujia Village. What could possibly happen to such a grown man?
This feeling of unease didn't subside until Xu Laosan came home from school.
When Xu Laosan heard that Mu Jingheng had gone out in the morning and hadn't returned, it inexplicably reminded him of the place he had taken Mu Jingheng to yesterday.
He didn't want to tell anyone else, so he pulled Xu Xinning to his room and told her everything that had happened yesterday.
Xu Xinning's heart skipped a beat. No wonder this person asked her so many questions about herbs yesterday. She was certain that Mu Jingheng had gone there alone to help her collect herbs on the cliff.
But the cliff face wasn't dangerous. Xu Xinning believed that Mu Jingheng was capable enough to avoid any trouble, unless he was too curious and went down there alone, and then entered the cave by himself.
If one is mentally prepared, the cave is not considered dangerous; the only fear is that Mu Jingheng underestimated his opponent.
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