The little heroine investigates a mysterious case

At the door of the blacksmith shop at the entrance of Heyan Village, the village chief, Uncle Wu, looked at the portrait handed to him by the strange man, stroking his beard and thinking.

The strange man was dressed in tight clothes and had a cold face. He stared at Uncle Wu's face intently.

"Old man, think about it carefully. Although ten years have passed, someone did see this little girl leaving Yanzhou through the north gate with a young man. She was never seen in Yanzhou again. There are only six villages within a hundred miles of this place, and to the north is the Wushan Mountains. Could it be that this little girl would go into the deep mountains and old forests of Wushan and become a wild person?"

Uncle Wu took the portrait and looked at it carefully, recalling the first time he met Huang Huacai and his daughter. Huang Huacai looked about the same age as the little girl in the portrait, and their appearance was somewhat similar. He couldn't help but feel frightened, but he didn't show it on the surface.

"I don't seem to have any impression of it, but there's a possibility. Maybe I went into the mountains to dig for medicinal herbs, and it took me half a year to go back and forth. I haven't seen it, but other people in the village may have seen it. If you're not in a hurry, I can ask every household for you."

"I'll give you one day. Take the portrait. I'll come again at this time tomorrow. You must give me a definite answer then!"

After the man finished speaking, he turned around, mounted his horse, and rode away.

Uncle Wu looked at the portrait again with a serious expression. He turned around and greeted the people in the blacksmith shop, then walked towards the village.

Zhao Xuan was awakened by Xiao Yixiang's words, and she suddenly realized that she seemed to have never really cared about Huang Shuo.

She only knew that Huang Shuo was a good friend of her master, and later became her adoptive father. Except when teaching martial arts, Zhao Xuan would ask Huang Shuo for advice. On weekdays, Huang Shuo worked as a blacksmith and she practiced martial arts. She ate whatever Huang Shuo cooked, and Huang Shuo's nagging went in one ear and out the other. She was only thinking about practicing martial arts well so that she would be able to find out the truth and avenge her master in the future.

Ten years passed quickly, and her martial arts skills were perfected, but Huang Shuo had fallen seriously ill and was bedridden.

Zhao Xuan specially cooked a pot of porridge that day, bought some eggs and steamed buns from her neighbors, fried two dishes, and served them on the table. Seeing Huang Shuo wolfing down the food, she felt even more upset.

"Dad! What do you want to do most?"

"Raise you up!"

"I'm already grown up. I'm asking you what you want to do most."

"Oh, by the way, Dad has already made the crossbow. I'll get it for you right away!"

Huang Shuo stopped eating and stood up, ran to the bed, took out a crossbow and ten crossbow arrows from under the bed, and ran back excitedly to hand them to Zhao Xuan.

"It took me six years of hard work to finally complete it. I also made ten crossbows for you. Our Xia Kingdom is in dire need of refined iron. I used all the money I've saved from blacksmithing over the years to ask your Uncle Wu to help me buy the arrowheads for these ten arrows in Yanzhou City. They're incredibly expensive, a pound of refined iron costs fifty taels of silver! Tomorrow I'll go to the blacksmith shop and polish the arrowheads. I'll equip you with them and take them with you when you leave, just in case!"

Zhao Xuan held the crossbow in both hands and looked at it carefully. The crossbow was exquisitely made, light and easy to carry. She had known that Huang Shuo was tinkering with this crossbow for a long time, but she didn't expect that it was tailor-made for her.

Zhao Xuan picked up another crossbow and couldn't help but exclaimed "Huh" when she saw the arrow head.

Huang Shuo asked, "Does it look familiar?"

"This is……"

"It's made according to the arrowhead style of the one that killed your master, but the shaft is thicker to better suit the power of this crossbow."

Zhao Xuan stroked the arrow shaft and looked up at Huang Shuo.

"Dad, can you help me carve a word on the shaft of each of these arrows?"

"That's easy. What do you want to engrave?"

"Shang..."

As Zhao Xuan spoke, she dipped her finger in the tea in the tea bowl and carefully wrote the word "Shang" on the table, stroke by stroke.

"When I was six, I lost my master, my grandfather, and my home overnight... That was also the year the former Zhao Xuan died. No matter how sad or painful she was, she could never find her former self again. But she listened to her master's words and lived a good life in this world as a daylily!"

"Dad understands... Don't worry, Dad will carve it for you quickly!"

"Dad, thank you."

"Use it sparingly. Don't use it unless it's a crisis. Be careful if someone snatches it away. I won't have the energy to make a second one."

Zhao Xuan suddenly put the crossbow on the table, stood up, walked to Huang Shuo, stretched out her arms and hugged Huang Shuo. Huang Shuo's body suddenly stiffened.

"Silly...silly girl, what are you doing?"

"I don't know, I just want to hug you..."

Huang Shuo twisted his body awkwardly, but Zhao Xuan did not let go and still held Huang Shuo tightly.

"You young girls nowadays are... too open-minded. Back then, even though I was so close to your master, she never hugged me..."

"You like my master?!"

Zhao Xuan suddenly let go of Huang Shuo and stared into his eyes.

"Have you always wanted to go to Qingshan Valley? To accompany my master? Is it because of me, a burden, that you've never been able to go?"

"Yeah, I've always thought so. You just found out?"

"I... I was just a kid, how could I understand so much..."

"It's been easy for me these past few years. I have to take care of your food and clothing, teach you martial arts, and make money by working as a blacksmith. At night, I have to worry about you kicking off the quilt while you sleep. During the day, while working as a blacksmith, I have to worry about you fighting with the children in the village. When you are unhappy, I have to cheer you up because I am afraid I miss your master. When you laugh, I suspect you are trying to have fun. If you lose weight, I am afraid you are malnourished. If you eat too much, I am afraid you will have digestive problems. If you stay in this village too long, I am afraid you will be narrow-minded. Now that you go out, I look forward to your return every day..."

"Dad," Zhao Xuan drank a mouthful of porridge, looked up at Huang Shuo, and said softly, "Let's go to Qingshan Valley together in a few days."

Huang Shuo was about to say something when Uncle Wu hurried in and closed the door.

"Uncle Wu? What can I do for you?"

"Yes, it's a big deal!"

Uncle Wu handed the portrait in his hand to Huang Shuo.

"I don't care if you and your daughter have any connection to the little girl in this portrait, but the people of Heyan Village have treated you well over the past ten years. The man who painted my portrait doesn't seem to be a good person. He's been targeting this little girl for ten years and still doesn't want to let go. I don't want the villagers to be implicated, but I also don't want you and your daughter to get into any trouble."

Zhao Xuan took the portrait and looked at it, then asked Uncle Wu, "Uncle, what do you want us to do?"

"The best way to have the best of both worlds is for you to leave tonight and never come back."

Zhao Xuan and Huang Shuo looked at each other and said in unison, "Okay!"

But Zhao Xuan asked worriedly, "Uncle Wu, if we leave like this, will anything happen to you and the villagers?"

"We are just ordinary people, what could happen? But you two, father and daughter, should be careful from now on! Okay, I'm going back now."

"Uncle, I'll take you there."

Zhao Xuan sent Uncle Wu out of the yard. Uncle Wu held Zhao Xuan's hand and looked at her with pity and love, but in the end he didn't say anything. He just sighed softly, waved his hand and left.

That night, after Xiao Yixian and Dongtian returned from Yanzhou City to get medicine, the four of them immediately set off and quietly left Heyan Village.