Chapter 71 Missing

In the next few days, Ji Xianyi and Li Qingruo continued to visit and investigate information about the missing women. According to the files provided by Song Zhixian, a total of eleven women were missing, including a pair of twin sisters, from Hua Niang to Miss Song.

But as they continued to visit, in just a few days they both felt all kinds of life. A feeling of powerlessness gradually came over them, and even the air seemed to become scorching.

"My Que'er, she was wearing a gray linen dress that day with blue cloth strips patched on the sleeves. That day, Que'er took her embroidery to the market to sell, hoping to exchange some money for my eyes..." The woman who spoke was about forty years old, but she had a head full of silver hair. It was difficult for her eyes to see people. I don't know if it was because she had been sewing embroidery day and night, or because she cried at night thinking of Que'er. Now, as she spoke, tears flowed again.

"My eyes hurt badly that day, and Que'er couldn't bear to see me suffer, so she went to the market alone to buy embroidery. I should have held her back... I should have held her back..."

"My bird..."

Even though Ji Xianyi and Li Qingruo had walked a long way away, the other's desperate wails still lingered in their ears for a long time. As soon as they closed their eyes, they seemed to see the blind white-haired woman.

Li Qingruo clenched her fists, her eyes reddened as she tried hard not to cry: "Brother, we will definitely catch the murderer, right?"

Ji Xianyi gently rubbed the other person's head and nodded, "I will definitely do that."

"It's getting dark. According to the file, the fiancé of the missing woman lives nearby. Let's go there first."

After hearing what her senior brother said, Li Qingruo immediately perked up and nodded.

The two of them first visited their neighbors nearby and soon got the information they wanted, but the descriptions given by their neighbors made them look solemn.

The missing woman was named Xia Lian. Both her parents died when she was thirteen years old. Her so-called fiancé was picked up by her parents one winter. At that time, he was almost frozen to death in the snow. Xia Lian's parents spent a lot of money to save him. At the same time, the doctor who prescribed medicine also diagnosed that the boy had a disease in the womb and might be weak and sickly all his life and need careful care. Perhaps for this reason, his parents abandoned him.

Because they found each other in winter and that day happened to be Xia Lian's birthday, Xia Lian's parents named the boy Xia Dongchen, and the two grew up together, but Xia Lian had a red spot on her forehead since she was a child, and as Xia Lian grew older, the spot became bigger. Xia Lian's parents were very aware of their physical condition and were afraid that Xia Lian would be bullied because of the red spot on her forehead, so after obtaining the consent of the two children, they arranged a marriage for the two children, hoping that the two children could live a peaceful life. After they passed away, Xia Dongchen focused on obtaining fame and honor, and Xia Lian was afraid that the other party would be distracted, so the two never got married.

Xia Lian disappeared on her birthday. It is said that Xia Dongchen went to get the bracelet that he had asked someone to make for Xia Lian, but when he came back, he found that Xia Lian was nowhere to be found.

The neighbors knew a lot about these things, but if they only mentioned Xia Dongchen, everyone started to hesitate. It was not because they were deliberately hiding it, but because Xia Dongchen seldom interacted with them on weekdays. He himself was not a talkative person. After the incident in the Xia family, he had almost no communication with them.

So they could only summarize in a few words the image of a person who was dull, thin, well-educated, a little aloof and arrogant and unwilling to talk to them.

Not long after Li Qingruo knocked on the door, someone soon opened it.

"Who are you?" asked the woman inside the door, with a hint of caution in her eyes.

Li Qingruo: "We are disciples of the Taibai Sword Sect. We have been asked by County Magistrate Song to investigate a missing person case. May I ask if Xia Dongchen is at home?"

The woman was a little flustered for a moment, and she nodded: "He is here, the two adults, please come in first."

As soon as Li Qingruo and Ji Xian entered the yard, they saw a man in a green gown walking out of the house. He frowned when he saw them.

When the woman saw the man coming out, she immediately went over to him and said, "Mingchuan, they are disciples of the Taibai Sword Sect. They were asked by County Magistrate Song to investigate a missing person case and are here to look for you."

Xia Mingchuan's expression changed slightly, but after noticing Lan Yu's uneasiness, he patted her hand in a comforting manner, "Go back to the house first, I'm here."

Lan Yu was a little hesitant. She looked at Xia Mingchuan worriedly, but finally nodded after feeling his comforting gesture.

After Lan Yu entered the room, the little tenderness in Xia Mingchuan's eyes disappeared completely, and he bowed to the two of them in a polite and distant manner.

"My name is Xia Dongchen. I am honored to be your guest. It is not convenient for me to entertain you in my humble abode. Please forgive me." Xia Mingchuan's tone was humble and polite, but the content was not very friendly.

Ji Xianyi and Li Qingruo didn't say much, but just followed each other's wishes and sat down at the stone table in the courtyard.

If you say he was polite, he personally poured tea for Ji Xian and the other two. If you say he was impolite, he didn't even let them into the house.

"Thank you."

Li Qingruo took the teacup, stared at the other party and asked: "Why did that girl just now replace you...Mingchuan?" Although she was more curious about the identity of the girl Yulan, she should focus on Xia Dongchen at this moment.

Xia Mingchuan's face was calm, and his voice was the same: "The two words Dongchen are inseparable from Lian'er. If I want to move forward and no longer be trapped by the past, I have to give them up. The teacher in the school couldn't bear to see me trapped in the past, so he gave me the name 'Mingchuan'. I hope you can call me Xia Mingchuan."

Xia Mingchuan's tone was flat, showing no sign of being stuck in the past. It was as if his words were trying to completely sever ties with the first half of his life.

Ji Xianyi didn't comment. He took a businesslike attitude and said, "Please tell me again what happened on the day Xia Lian disappeared."

Although Xia Mingchuan was somewhat displeased with the two people in front of him, in order to resolve the matter as quickly as possible, he still cooperated and told them what happened that day.

"That day was Lian'er's birthday. I wanted to give her a surprise, so I said I had left a book at school and needed to go get it. In fact, I was going to the west of the city to get a bracelet that I had asked someone to make for Lian'er. Unfortunately, the weather was not good. It snowed heavily not long after I got there. When the snow stopped, I returned home and found that no one was at home. The water in the stove had boiled dry, the window on the right was open, and there was some snow inside the house. After realizing something was wrong, I quickly reported it to the police, but there has been no news about Lian'er until today."

Xia Mingchuan's voice was emotionless, and he told the story of that thrilling day in just a few words, which were not much different from what was written in the case file.

But before Ji Xianyi could say anything, a rapid baby cry was heard from inside the house. Xia Mingchuan's face changed and he stood up instantly.

"My two distinguished guests, it is really inconvenient for me to entertain you at home. If you have nothing else to do, I will not see you off." Xia Mingchuan had just finished speaking when he heard a sharper cry of a baby and the sound of a teacup breaking. At this moment, he was no longer as calm as before and turned back to his room without caring about anything else.

Seeing this, Ji Xian and the other two followed suit.