Female martial arts fanatics only love to fight, while men fight for their lives.

104

"You didn't see anyone else?"

Lou Xiao didn't expect that the first difficulty she encountered on this trip was Li Huaiqing's disappearance without reason.

She recalled the route she, Er Liu, and Ai Ying had taken, and confirmed that they had not revealed their whereabouts and been discovered.

They probably didn't realize her existence.

Li Huaiqing was a weak scholar, and he had promised to wait for her to come back, so he probably wouldn't wander around alone...

How could it be missing?

She, Er Liu, Ai Ying, and Mo Jingchun searched the village inside and out, asking the old people at the entrance of the village and those working from sunrise to sunset if they had seen her "husband".

The answer is no.

"Where would he go?" Lou Xiao frowned, not understanding how such an accident could have happened.

If he had known this would happen, he should have left Ai Ying to protect him. After all, Li Huaiqing was a young man from a wealthy family. He didn't know how dangerous the world was, and he didn't have much self-defense ability.

She had overestimated the safety of the village. It seemed that the villagers here were not as simple as she had expected.

Although there were moments when she cast a suspicious look at Mo Jingchun, seeing that he was searching more actively than she was,

She searched every field, every well, and every corner, but she could not find any motive for Mo Jingchun to harm Li Huaiqing.

They have nothing to do with each other, don't they?

Lou Xiao picked up the book with scribbled handwriting on the table in the room. She flipped through it and knew what Li Huaiqing was looking for...

"At the end of the Gengxu year, eight miles outside Luotang Mountain, there were frequent forest fires. The witch in the village said that it was caused by mountain ghosts."

"In June, many hunters got lost and never returned."

"It is rumored that mountain ghosts are doing evil, and villagers are warned not to enter the mountain without reason..."

Lou Xiao fixed his sight on the three words "Luotangshan". Li Huaiqing disappeared while reading this book. Could it be that he went out to explore the way alone?

How could he be so reckless?

Er Liu brought a pot of tea to the table. Lou Xiao looked up at him and asked, "Where is Mo Jingchun?"

"He said he would go and ask around to see if anyone saw him leaving the village," Er Liu reported without any expression on his face. "Ai Ying is also looking for him, but there is still no news."

Lou Xiao pointed at the old books on the table and said, "Do you think... he may have gone to the mountains?"

Er Liu paused and shook his head, "Mr. Li would not make decisions on his own. How could he put himself in danger?"

That was true, but now that no one was found alive or dead, Lou Xiao didn't want to think of the worst case scenario. There was no new soil in the village, so he assumed that the person's life was not in danger.

If Li Huaiqing was abducted by the villagers, he should have left some clues.

And if he left alone, there would be no way that no one would know... and he doesn't know any martial arts.

There were footsteps outside the house. In Lou Xiao's sight, Mo Jingchun's face was covered with sweat, and his face was rosy from the sun. He raised his hand to wipe the sweat off while walking into the house.

He picked up the tea bowl in front of her with one tactless hand and was about to drink from it.

Lou Xiao hurriedly grabbed the corner of his clothes to stop him, "It's still hot, why are you in such a hurry?"

But the hot tea had already touched his lips. Mo Jingchun, feeling the burn, put down the coarse porcelain bowl with a grimace, wiped it with his sleeve and muttered,

"…I'm so thirsty…I need some water…"

Lou Xiao was speechless and asked Er Liu to fetch a bucket of well water for him to drink and to wash off the smell of sweat on his body.

Mo Jingchun thanked him with a smile, while Lou Xiao looked into his eyes quietly and asked the question hidden in her heart out of the blue:

"Did you do this? Mo Jingchun?"

"What?" Mo Jingchun opened his eyes in confusion, his hair wet with sweat stuck to his forehead, and asked innocently, "What did I do?"

Seeing this, Lou Xiao lowered her eyes and said, "It's okay."