Chapter 180: Strangeness Everywhere
To be precise, Xier did not walk back by herself, but was carried back by Xiaoliu and the others. Only after they put her on the bed and fed her some water did she slowly wake up.
According to Xiaowu and his friends, they suddenly found Xier unconscious at the entrance to the alleyway in the courtyard where they had originally lived. After examining her, they found nothing wrong with her except for some minor scratches on her face. They suspected she had fainted from severe exhaustion. Therefore, the two of them carried Xier back home, leaving the others in the dark.
Seeing this, Zhong Min did not rush Xier to speak, but personally fed her a bowl of porridge brought by Xiang'er. Judging from the way Xier wolfed down the porridge, she must have not eaten anything all day.
After eating, Xier regained a lot of strength. Without waiting for others to ask, she grabbed Zhong Min's hand and burst into tears. She looked very scared, as if she had experienced some life-threatening disaster before.
"Xier, okay, don't cry. We are safe here now. Brother Qin is here too. You don't have to be afraid anymore, okay?" Although Zhong Min didn't know what had happened, he kept comforting Xier and giving her a sense of security.
Xier cried and nodded, indicating that she understood, but she couldn't hold back her tears. After a while, she stopped and said with a sob, "Master, I thought I would never see you again. Those people were so fierce. I was really scared!"
"Okay, don't be afraid. Nothing's wrong now." Zhong Min patted Xier's shoulder again, trying to calm her down. "Do you remember what happened? Can you tell us?"
Xier nodded slightly. Although there was still a hint of fear on her face, her overall mood was much better than before. She slowly told everyone the story.
It turned out that after Zhong Min and the others left during the day, Xi'er was going to buy some groceries and see if she could find Ruyi. However, shortly after leaving the alley, she felt as if someone was following her. She wanted to turn around to see who was behind her, but before she could even turn around, she was knocked unconscious by someone from behind.
When Xier woke up again, she was tied up and locked in a room somewhere unknown. She was terrified and didn't dare to speak out for fear of attracting the attention of her captors. She quietly stayed where she was and listened for a long time before realizing that it was very quiet outside, as if no one was around.
Seeing this, Xi'er tried to break the ropes that bound her, then secretly peeked through the crack in the door. She found no one guarding the place. Perhaps those people thought it was impossible for a girl like her, who had no martial arts skills and was tied up and chained, to escape, so they didn't take it too seriously. Xi'er didn't care about anything else, just wanted to get out of here quickly and find the others.
"So, I quietly opened the lock and ran out. When I came out, I had no idea where I was. I finally found someone to ask and found out that it was in Luzi Lane, the westernmost part of the capital, far away from where we live."
Xier's eyes welled up as she spoke, "I didn't know where the silver I had on me went, and I was afraid those who were trying to catch me would find me and take me back, so I had to run back for my life. It was almost dark, and when I reached the entrance of our alley, I couldn't stand it anymore. Before I fainted, I seemed to see Xiaowu. I thought I was hallucinating, but I didn't expect it to be them."
After she finished speaking, Xier seemed much calmer, while Zhong Min, Qin Ke, and the others fell into deep thought. According to Xier, those people didn't hurt her immediately, but simply knocked her unconscious and took her to another place to be locked up. During this time, she didn't even see what those people who captured her looked like, or how many there were, so she had no idea what they were.
Who were those people, and what was their purpose in capturing Xi'er? Did they not intend to harm her, or were they delayed by something? If they were connected to a secret organization, how could they have let someone escape so easily? This was unacceptable. But if they weren't a secret organization, then who were they? Was this really just a simple case of human trafficking?
"Xier, the door was locked. How could you open the locked door easily without being discovered and escape so easily?" Qin Ke finally spoke. He looked at Xier with a hint of doubt, obviously feeling that this statement seemed to have many loopholes.
When Xier heard this, she immediately became anxious. She could naturally understand what Qin Ke meant. Although he didn't say it explicitly, she could tell from his words that he was somewhat skeptical of what she had just said.
"I, what I said is true. I really don't know who those people are or what they want to do." She said with a hint of grievance: "As for why I can easily open the locked door, it's because..."
As she spoke, she couldn't help but look at Zhong Min, as if she was a little embarrassed to say it.
"That's because Xier is an expert locksmith. Any lock is useless to her." Zhong Min saw this and spoke up for Xier, "I've known this all along. It's just that Xier herself feels her skill is a bit underwhelming, and she's afraid of misconceptions if she loses something, so she hasn't told anyone else."
When everyone heard this, they realized that Xier actually had such a special ability. No wonder the prince agreed to let an ordinary maid accompany Zhong Min to the capital for such a big event.
"This isn't some underwhelming skill. Didn't it help you escape danger this time?" Qin Ke said calmly to Xier, "I'm not doubting what you said. I just think this matter itself is a bit strange. That's why I asked a few more questions."
Hearing this, Xier finally felt relieved. She nodded and said, "I find this very strange too. Could it be that I've been caught in a trafficker's trap? A few days ago, I heard someone say there were people who specialize in this business, kidnapping young women and selling them to brothels and the like for money. Oh, and I did have some silver on me, but it seems those people took it too."
Xier obviously didn't know that Zhong Min and others were assassinated today, so she didn't think about anything else at all. She just thought that she had really encountered a human trafficker.
"That's possible." Xiang'er said beside her, "It seems that Xi'er's problem may have nothing to do with what we encountered today."
"What happened to you today?" Xi'er suddenly thought of something and said repeatedly, "Oh, why are you all suddenly here? Where is your old place? Why don't you go back there? And why is Brother Qin here too?"
As she spoke, she glanced around and seemed to notice that someone was missing. After a moment, she remembered and asked again, "And what about Chu'er? Where did she go? Why haven't I seen her?"
Seeing Xier asking so many questions in one breath, Zhong Min smiled and said, "Okay, don't worry, it's nothing serious. We just ran into some aggressive people outside, and Chu'er got hurt a little. She's fine now and is sleeping. I was worried that my old place might not be safe anymore, so I didn't go back. Come on, you've been tired all day, so get some sleep first. We'll talk tomorrow if there's anything else."
After saying that, Zhong Min forced Xi'er to stop paying attention and get some rest first. Not wanting to disturb Xi'er, he asked everyone else to leave Xi'er's room and go about their own business.
"Brother Qin, what do you think of Xier's today?" Zhong Min asked Qin Ke directly after returning to his room. He had noticed that Qin Ke seemed to have some other physiognomy skills before, but it was difficult to ask too many questions because there were too many people around. Now that it was just the two of them, there was no need to worry.
Qin Ke sat down opposite Zhong Min, thought for a moment, and said to Zhong Min, "Do you believe what Xier said?"
"Believe me, she has no reason to lie to me." Zhong Min said without thinking: "Do you suspect Xier is lying to us?"
"I don't know either. I don't know much about Xi'er, but since you said she's fine, I must be overthinking it." Qin Ke said, "On the surface, this does seem like something human traffickers would do. They didn't expect a weak woman to be able to escape on her own, so they didn't increase the guard, which makes sense. They didn't do anything to Xi'er right away, maybe because they were busy contacting the buyer or something. It's also possible. But I always feel that this seems too coincidental."
"But I know Xier's character best, and there is no reason for her to lie to me!" Zhong Min was still very sure. She believed that Xier could not have done that, and there was no reason for her to make up these things.
"Min'er, maybe Xi'er is fine, but this matter itself may not be as simple as it seems. The strangeness I refer to is not just about Xi'er, but also includes other things, especially this matter itself. Do you understand?"
"Yes, I understand. But right now, apart from feeling strange, we can't find any other clues. It seems that it will be difficult to get to the bottom of this matter anytime soon." Zhong Min nodded. "Forget it. No matter what, we just have to be more careful in the future."
Just as he finished speaking, he heard a knock on the door. Then Xiang'er brought in dinner for the two of them and placed it on the table.
"Young Master, Mr. Qin, we haven't prepared anything for today. You guys just have to eat something first." After Xiang'er said this, she retreated first.
"Okay, I can finally eat something with peace of mind." Zhong Min said as she picked up the bowl and chopsticks and started eating. She had been worried all day and hadn't even eaten properly. Now that she relaxed, her stomach was already rumbling with hunger.
She picked up a large piece of scrambled eggs and threw it into her mouth while saying to Qin Ke, who hadn't started eating yet: "Brother Qin, eat quickly, Xiang'er's cooking skills are quite good."
Qin Ke looked at Zhong Min eating so happily, and his expression suddenly became extremely abnormal. After a moment, he said in a complicated tone: "Min'er, are you okay?"
PS: Thank you Xiaoyu for voting pink and rewarding the peach blossom fan, kiss, kiss, your messages make Qingqing embarrassed, hehe, I will do my best:)
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