"Where did these people come from, and where did they go? You've been investigating for days, and you haven't found anything at all?" The county magistrate sat at the head of the table. Recently, the town had been in chaos because of the thieves, and many local gentry had come to ask him to catch the thieves and restore peace to everyone.
"Sir, we also asked the families whose homes were robbed, and they all said that there was more than one thief, and that he was ruthless and decisive. Once he succeeded, he would scatter in all directions. Our patrols tried to chase after him, but we couldn't find him and we don't know where he went."
Officer Guo never expected that these thieves would appear and disappear without a trace, so much so that they still haven't been found.
"Then do they think they can fly or disappear into the earth? Officer Liu, tell me, have you found any clues?" The magistrate, seeing that he hadn't said anything, turned to Officer Liu standing to the side.
"Your Excellency, I haven't found any clues either. Someone said they saw the thieves running towards the county government office, but I think they might have run away from somewhere else. We still have no clue. Perhaps we should report this to the prefectural government and ask them to send someone to help with the investigation?"
Liu, the head constable, hadn't slept well for the past few nights because they had been reprimanded by the county magistrate for this matter, which led to this idea.
"Yes, sir, in my opinion, it would be better to report to the prefectural city and ask them to send people to surround and block the area. These thieves will surely be rescued." The county magistrate was a local, and he also hoped to solve the case as soon as possible so that everyone would have to come to his house. He was also very troubled.
"Hmph, you have to report this little case to the prefectural city? Are you trying to say you're incompetent or that I'm incompetent? You can't even catch a thief!" Upon hearing this, the magistrate not only didn't accept the advice, but instead loudly rebuked him.
"Please calm down, sir. It was all my fault. I will arrange for people to guard all the exits so that these thieves will never return." The county magistrate quickly apologized when he saw that the magistrate was angry.
The county government began to deploy defenses in various places, allowing entry but not exit. Now, no one dared to wander the streets casually, and they all went home. Xichun and his family's business was not doing well, so they stayed at home for the past few days, waiting to catch these thieves.
That night, their family wasn't assigned to keep watch, and Xichun and the others were all sleeping at home. As night fell, the people who were keeping watch on both sides of the alley couldn't withstand the pressure of the night and were starting to doze off.
Suddenly, someone heard a sound, opened their eyes, and vaguely saw what appeared to be several masked people.
"Quick, a thief has broken in! A thief has broken in!" The man was startled and was about to bang the gong when he was knocked unconscious by the others.
"Quick, a thief has broken in!" Xi Chun hadn't slept well all night and was worried about what might happen. She woke up immediately when she heard the shouts outside.
Aunt Zhang and the others were all sleeping fully clothed. Hearing the noise, they quickly got up and grabbed their sticks.
"Where is he? Where is he?" Taozi also came out of the room, staring warily outside.
"Ah, a thief!" Suddenly, the sound of a child crying came from the neighboring yard. As soon as Xichun heard it, she knew that someone had broken into An Wuji's house.
"Let's go, let's get out of here quickly and call for help." Xichun instructed everyone to leave, as staying in the courtyard at this time was the most unsafe thing to do.
"The thief is at the An family's house. Let's go in quickly." Outside the door, many people had also heard the news. Some ran to find the patrolling constables to report the news, while others took tools and ran to the An family's door.
"Quick, there's a staircase here, we can get to the An family's house." Xi Chun thought of the staircase, so she had several of the strongest young men climb over it. They saw An Wuji being knocked to the ground, and the thieves were stealing things.
When everyone rushed in, they saw An Wuji lying in a pool of blood, with his mother and several children huddled together. The house was ransacked, and even the neighbor who had come in to help had been slashed.
"Those people have already run that way." When the constables arrived, everyone pointed in the direction the thieves had fled, while Xichun and the others quickly helped take An Wuji to the clinic.
An Wuji was stabbed in the stomach, and his intestines almost spilled out. Fortunately, he kept his stomach covered, and the group carefully carried him on a door panel all the way to the nearest doctor's house.
The street was also not peaceful; someone had just been robbed, so there were people waiting at the doctor's house. When they saw another injured person arrive, everyone made way for him.
Fortunately, An Wuji's injury was not fatal. With the doctor's help, after a night of treatment, he was finally out of danger. However, he was charged two taels of silver. When An's mother heard this, she was filled with sorrow, as their family's silver had just been robbed by thieves.
"It's alright, I'll pay for it first. He can pay me back when he gets better." After all, it's a life at stake, and An Wuji is usually a kind-hearted person, so Xichun helped him with the money first.
Several more houses were robbed that night, and the local gentry couldn't stand it anymore. They said that if the government didn't find the culprit soon, they would go to the prefectural city to ask for help.
The county magistrate was so angry with these people that he had no choice but to give in and send someone to report to the prefectural city.
However, whether it was out of fear of the people from the prefectural city or because these thieves had just stopped, after that night, the group of thieves seemed to have vanished from the face of the earth. Even though everyone was still worried and arranged for people to patrol, those people never appeared again.
Because of this incident, the county magistrate was reprimanded by his superiors. However, the people of Weinan County seemed to have returned to their peaceful and prosperous days, as if the incident had never happened.
An Wuji was still recovering at home. All the money he had earned during this time had been stolen, and his family had returned to their previous predicament. Fortunately, Xichun and the neighbors often brought them food, which prevented them from falling into dire straits.
"I really owe a debt of gratitude to Miss Chen that night. Those thieves were so despicable. They stabbed me as soon as they saw me and said they would kill my mother, younger brother, and younger sister if I didn't reveal where I hid the money at home. If you hadn't arrived in time, I probably would be dead. Now I can only wait until I recover before I can continue doing business."
"As long as you survive, you can earn money again. Your mother and the others are worried about you. You need to get better quickly. As for paying back the money, don't rush it. Take your time. We're all neighbors." That was all the dust could say to comfort him.
Since the thieves had all disappeared, the street vendors, after observing for several days, decided to set up their stalls again. Xichun also started doing business with Aunt Zhang and the others.
Taozi was terrified by An Wuji lying in a pool of blood, and he only recovered a little in the last two days. Xichun also wanted to use this incident to help him distract himself.
Fortunately, their business was still worse than usual, but things were peaceful again and people came out to eat.
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