Chapter 17: Shame (Part 1)
Qi Shan's gaze swept over the eleven corpses one by one.
He pondered for a long time but couldn't find anything suspicious.
I decided to just copy the answers instead of thinking about it.
"Who's missing?"
“A man,” Shen Tang replied, then added a detail, “a man who is about seven feet four inches tall.”
"A man who is about seven feet four inches tall?"
Qi Shan murmured to herself, when a sudden flash of inspiration struck her.
He knew who Shen Tang was talking about!
"Yes, that's right, we're missing one person."
This person might still be alive!
Qi Shan focused her gaze on the hands of the eleven corpses.
The hands of these corpses were all rough, dark-skinned, and covered in calluses. Even the old women dressed in silk had hands that looked like they had been working for years. But among these corpses, there were none with hands that had been used for writing for a long time. Writing for a long time would deform the knuckles, and the degree of deformation was related to the age at which one started practicing calligraphy and the length of time one had practiced. These corpses did not have this characteristic on their hands.
But the side room they had just been in had several bookshelves, and in front of the window were two desks, one large and one small, with bamboo slips on them for children's early education. If the child being educated was Ayan, then where was the person who was educating him at this very moment?
Of course, this alone is not enough to prove anything; the tutor might have taught the children during the day and stayed at his own home at night. But the fact that the bandit who opened the door for the two was brave yet dressed in an ill-fitting brown scholar's robe is intriguing.
The most likely guess is that the garment did not belong to the bandits, but to the teacher who gave the child his first education.
Qi Shan asked, "And then what? What's the use of finding it?"
Shen Tang said, "At least we can know some inside information."
Qi Shan couldn't help but chuckle, reminding Shen Tang.
"Young Master Shen, do you still remember your current status? Let alone that this matter has nothing to do with you, even if it does have some connection to you, you've been dragged into it now. Once the investigation is launched, you'll likely be gone forever. Helping those in need and taking care of things when they happen is the way of a chivalrous knight-errant."
Shen Tang: "..."
It may not be pleasant to hear, but it's the absolute truth.
She should be playing it safe right now instead of being reckless.
The entire village had been searched, but there were no other survivors besides the two of them. With no leads, Shen Tang had no choice but to put her raincoat and straw hat back on and return to Qianjia Village with Qi Shan. Through the rain, they saw the village headman waiting for someone at the village entrance. Just then, the village headman also saw the two of them and hurriedly came to greet them: "You two are finally back—"
Shen Tang said regretfully, "We still haven't looked..."
But Muramasa said, "Ayan has been found."
Shen Tang and Qi Shan were both surprised: "Found it?"
Qi Shan then asked, "Where are the others?"
Shen Tang also asked, "Where did he run off to earlier?"
Muramasa was happy that Ayan was safe, and his smile grew even wider when he saw how enthusiastic the two strangers were.
He had specifically waited at the village entrance for the two to return and share the good news: "Ayan was called out by his teacher earlier; that gentleman said he would take him away to the north to find his relatives. Because of a slight accident, they had to leave immediately, and they've already set off..."
Shen Tang and Qi Shan looked at each other in bewilderment.
"Ayan's teacher?"
"What's the rush that necessitates setting off in the rain tonight?"
Muramasa didn't know either, and he didn't want to ask too many questions.
Shen Tang asked, "Did Ayan leave with him voluntarily?"
Muramasa asked in surprise, "Young master, what are you saying?"
Shen Tang gave an awkward, self-deprecating laugh.
Muramasa added, "Don't worry, that gentleman is a good person."
Even if he's not a good person, he wouldn't be a kidnapper. Children aren't worth much these days, let alone a mentally challenged child with a brain disorder.
Why go through all that trouble to kidnap him?
The torrential rain showed no signs of stopping.
It is about ten miles away from Qianjia Village.
A bright red horse braved the heavy rain as it traversed the dense forest.
The horse carried two people, one big and one small.
The older one had gray hair and looked quite old. He wore a crescent-colored scholar's robe, a straw raincoat, and a bamboo hat. The younger one hadn't brought any rain gear and was gripping the reins tightly with both hands.
Look closely, isn't this child with pursed lips and a serious and solemn expression the one everyone has been searching for all night, Ayan?
"drive!"
The horse's hooves landed, splashing mud and water.
The red steed leaped out of the dense forest like a flame, and without the slightest hesitation, it leaped two zhang (approximately 6.6 meters) across the rushing stream before stopping.
"Ayan, it's...it's okay now..."
A weak voice came from behind.
Ayan steed into a kneeling position, using one hand to help the frail old man down from the horse. Blood mixed with rainwater pooled at the old man's feet. He sat weakly on the ground, his face pale and bluish, his right hand constantly clutching the area below his right rib, from which blood continued to flow.
The old man took several deep breaths to calm himself down and suppress the excruciating pain in his wound, but the veins on his forehead were still throbbing uncontrollably.
Ayan looked at the old man sadly, and reached out to straighten his askew straw hat. The old man forced a smile that was more like a grimace: "It's alright, fortunately it didn't go in too deep, he shouldn't die..."
After a while, he saw Ayan take out a piece of sticky maltose, about the size of a thumb, from his wet pouch. It was stained with blood and soaked by the rain, and had already mostly dissolved. He held it to the old man's lips and said, "Teacher, eat."
The old man smiled and did not refuse.
The taste of maltose is really not good.
He tore off a sleeve from his clothes and pieced it together to make a simple bandage to wrap around the wound. After doing this, he stood up with Ayan's help and muttered to himself, "Let's find somewhere to shelter from the rain first, then go get some more food before heading to Xiaocheng..."
Ayan murmured, "Xiaocheng?"
The old man said, "Yes, let's go there first and then make further plans."
You might have escaped this pursuit by sheer luck, but what about next time?
Luck won't always be on his side; he needs to prepare early.
It's just a pity for Ah Yan, who has to run around with this old man at such a young age. I wanted to keep him here, but—the child is grown up and has his own ideas.
Ayan nodded: "Yes, let's go to Xiaocheng!"
"Does Ayan know where Xiaocheng is?"
"I don't know." Ayan pointed to the horse. "There's a big red horse."
The old man suppressed a laugh: "You're still too young. The red horse won't last long. Forcing it will put a lot of strain on you... Ah Yan, put your red horse away. I'm feeling a bit better now. Let's find a place to shelter from the rain for the night..."
Ayan nodded vigorously.
That night was exceptionally difficult.
When Shen Tang woke up, the rain had stopped.
The outside was muddy and full of potholes filled with mud and water. The village head had already packed the prepared dry food for the two of them.
Before the sun got too high, Qi Shan decided to set off early.
The two traveled for an hour before finally coming across a roadside teahouse, where they decided to stop, rest, and catch their breath.
A sound of horses' hooves approached from afar, accompanied by about a hundred men dressed as soldiers. Several prison carts were being escorted behind the procession.
Qi Shan glanced at him out of the corner of his eye: "Don't be nervous, Young Master Shen, they're not looking for you. This group should be soldiers from the Geng Kingdom."
_(:з」∠)_ I revised this chapter several times.
I felt that the previous plot developments were not going well, and after several hesitations, I changed the person being hunted to Ayan's teacher.
(End of this chapter)
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