A husband found in the village? I bought a regent for a penny!

In fact, Gu Xixi had already noticed that Gu Tiezhu was following her when she went up the mountain.

Fortunately, she had already chosen a good place for Gu Tiezhu earlier.

He deliberately sought death today, saving her the trouble of making a special plan.

Gu Xixi once found a wild tea tree nearby. While digging, she followed the roots and saw a hole hidden in the grass.

It should be a naturally formed underground cave that gradually revealed a small hole after being eroded by rainwater.

The opening is only wide enough for one adult to pass through. When the sunlight shines obliquely, it appears to be about three or four meters deep, and there is no water accumulation directly below.

A natural trap is perfect for luring a dog into an old man's den.

Because she had decided to deal with Gu Tiezhu on a whim, Gu Xixi had to go home early.

As the sun set, as expected, a commotion broke out in the village, with people banging gongs and calling out for Gu Tiezhu.

Aunt Zhang went out to check, and when she came back, she was quite excited: "Gu Tiezhu is gone."

“His parents said the wheat hadn’t been harvested yet, so he couldn’t have gone far; something must have happened to him.”

Gu Xixi continued grinding the powder in the stone mortar, "His death is not a pity, but I still feel a little bad that everyone has gone to so much trouble to find him."

Aunt Zhang, of course, had no idea that Gu Tiezhu's disappearance was related to Xixi, and continued to talk to herself, "He was so disrespectful to you, even if I'm heartless, I really hope something happens to him so he'll behave himself in the future!"

Gu Xixi nodded in agreement.

There are thick layers of decaying leaves and tree roots at the bottom of that hole, so there's a high chance you won't die from the fall.

Although the nights in the back mountains are cool in the height of summer, they won't freeze you to death.

At most... losing hands and feet, going hungry and cold, and suffering a bit more.

That night, the torches in the village flickered until the moon rose above the treetops before going out.

Liu has fainted several times from crying.

But it was too dark, so they could only agree to go into the mountains to search the next morning.

Before falling asleep, Gu Xixi glanced at the west room through the window. It had been almost two days, and Mu Nanzhao still hadn't returned.

The next morning, Gu Xixi was woken up by knocking on the door before she had even had enough sleep.

She frowned and opened her eyes, only to hear someone banging loudly on the courtyard gate.

"Gu Xixi! I know you're in there! Get out here!!"

"You deliberately caused my son to break his leg! You vicious woman with a heart of stone! Today, I'll risk my life to beat you to death, you whore who's been ridden by a thousand men and slept with by ten thousand!"

Gu Xixi sat up straight and sighed softly. It seemed that the person had been found alive, but it was a pity.

Hearing Liu's increasingly vulgar insults, Aunt Zhang outside angrily opened the door, put her hands on her hips, and started hurling insults back at Liu.

As they argued, they even revealed each other's past misdeeds.

Gu Xixi then dressed herself and came out. As she passed the west room, a wisp of bloody smell wafted in on the wind.

She suddenly turned her head to look, her eyes darkening slightly.

Outside the gate, a huge crowd completely blocked the road.

Gu Xixi's gaze passed over Liu Shi, who was red-faced and thick-necked in front of her.

The two families of Uncle Gu and Uncle Gu stood around Gu Laosan at the back, with an old door panel at their feet. Gu Tiezhu was lying on it, and it looked like he had been carried there.

Gu Qingye squatted beside her brother, sobbing softly.

"Brother, you're the pillar of our family. You've broken your leg. What are we going to do with Mom and Dad?!"

Several young men admired Gu Qingye and felt sorry for her when they saw her crying. In order to please her, they all became indignant.

"They caused someone to break their leg; they must give an explanation!"

"Yes! Let's leave Brother Tiezhu at their house and let them treat his illness and take care of him until his leg is healed!"

"You have to pay compensation and kneel down to apologize!"

Aunt Zhang wasn't going to back down either, puffing out her chest as she confronted the young men step by step, "So what? Just because his leg is broken doesn't mean he's in the right or can extort money from people. He fell into the ditch himself, what does that have to do with my family!"

Aunt Zhang was broad and sturdy, forcing the young men to retreat step by step.

Others argued, "We found Brother Tiezhu this morning, and he said that he saw Gu Xixi at the foot of the mountain and followed her there, but then he lost his footing."

Gu Xixi looked puzzled. "I did pick some wild mushrooms in the mountains yesterday. But..."

“I didn’t know my cousin was following me.”

She walked towards Gu Tiezhu, bent down and looked at him, "Why didn't you call me from behind, cousin?"

Gu Tiezhu met Xixi's eyes and immediately looked away guiltily.

"Why?" Gu Xixi asked again.

"Since my cousin followed me all the way from the foot of the mountain, why didn't I know anything about it?"

"Also, my cousin said he fell into the hole because he followed me, so why didn't I fall in first?"

Gu Tiezhu stammered and couldn't answer, so he simply closed his eyes and complained that his legs hurt and he wanted to go home.

"That's right!" Aunt Zhang said with even more confidence. "Did everyone hear that?"

"In that remote mountain valley, with no one around, a grown man sneaking around following a young woman without saying a word the whole way. I want to ask him what kind of bad thing he's planning to do?"

The villagers looked at Gu Laosan's family with suspicion and began to whisper among themselves.

Seeing that her family had lost its advantage, Liu became anxious and agitated, asking, "What bad thing has my Tiezhu done? Has anyone seen him?"

"He and Gu Xixi are cousins ​​from the same clan, how could that be!"

Aunt Zhang sneered, "He says Xixi harmed him, but who saw it?"

"I didn't give him a chance to speak, but he knew nothing when I asked him. Who would believe he wasn't guilty?"

"Besides, cousins ​​are not allowed to marry, but that doesn't stop him from ruining someone's reputation and smearing their innocence!"

His few words were powerful and resounding, silencing all those who wanted to "seek justice" for Gu Tiezhu.

Grandpa Gu sighed, "There must be some misunderstanding here."

"There are plenty of tree shadows and flower spirits in those mountains. Maybe Tiezhu's eyes are playing tricks on him."

If it's confirmed that a cousin laid a hand on his own cousin, such an inhumane act would bring shame upon the entire Gu family.

It's better to find an excuse to get by.

Gu Xixi had already taken her revenge and had no intention of dwelling on the matter any further.

"Grandpa is right, since I haven't met my cousin."

"Maybe he just saw things."

She looked directly at Gu Tiezhu, a half-smile on her face, "You agree, right, cousin?"

Gu Tiezhu gritted his teeth and nodded reluctantly.

Liu's heart was breaking. She thought of her son enduring the pain of broken bones all night in the mountains, and how when he was pulled out of the water, they almost thought he was dead.

Now they're suddenly saying it has nothing to do with Gu Xixi.

How could she possibly swallow her anger and go home like that!

Liu took a deep breath and suddenly rammed her head through the gap between Gu Xixi and Aunt Zhang.

She ran into the yard and knocked over a ceramic pot.

"If my son is suffering, you won't have it easy either! I'll smash your house to pieces!"

Seeing Liu Shi running westward, Gu Xixi knew something was wrong and hurriedly chased after her.

"Aunt Zhang! Stop her!"

Except for the sample plants she placed in the yard, which must not be smashed.

The current situation inside the west room cannot be seen.

Gu Xixi lunged forward but missed. By the time she looked up again, Liu's hand was already touching the door of the west room...