Chapter 245

Chapter 245

Suiyun Town!

Old Man Zhao narrowed his eyes, and he exchanged a look with Village Chief Sun beside him.

Just as the two were about to say something, the scar-faced man across from them grinned maliciously and said, "Do you really think a grown man can just vanish into thin air in broad daylight? If you ask me, your dad didn’t want to be burdened with you anymore, so he made up some excuse and dumped you."

"I’ve seen this kind of thing plenty of times. A scrawny little boy like you—can’t walk far, can’t carry any belongings, and just wastes food. Better to ditch you and lighten the load. Someone like you is such a loss-making deal that even a child trafficker wouldn’t want you. Even if someone wanted to exchange you for food, they’d complain there’s hardly any meat on your bones, just bones—what good is that?"

In chaotic times, children’s lives were the cheapest. They had no strength for labor, and as goods, they were too weak and sickly—hard to keep alive. If you took one in, you might end up losing money, let alone thinking of them as food reserves... tsk. How much meat could there be?

He thought to himself, if it weren’t for Zhou Zikang insisting that this kid knew where the gold box was hidden, he wouldn’t have bothered with this trip at all.

A little brat like this—he wouldn’t even bother reaching out to grab him.

But these people... he rubbed his fingers together, still unable to suppress the thoughts churning inside.

Chen Ping’an heard this and froze, then his mouth twisted and he burst into loud sobs: "Wah—you’re lying! My dad wouldn’t abandon me! You’re tricking me, you must be tricking me!"

"You’re right, he is tricking you!" As the most cherished and beloved little darling of the family, the apple of her parents’ eyes, Zhao Xiaobao couldn’t stand anyone questioning a parent’s love for their child. She wasn’t even afraid of the scar-faced man anymore and glared fiercely at him, then hurriedly tried to comfort Chen Ping’an, who was crying with snot and tears streaming down his face. "No father would ever abandon his own child. He’s just bullying you because you’re little, making up lies to fool you. You should be smart and not fall for his tricks."

"Really?" The boy sniffled, his nose bubbling with snot. He didn’t trust anyone anymore.

"How could it be false!" Zhao Xiaobao decided to judge by appearances. "Look at him—he doesn’t look like a good person. Of course, you can’t believe what a bad person says!"

Ignoring the scar-faced man’s darkened expression, she hugged her father’s neck tightly, feeling a sense of safety, and bravely continued, "He’s in cahoots with your wicked cousin. Your wicked cousin almost smothered you just now, and before that, he abandoned you, nearly letting you get trampled into mud by the chaos of carts and people. They’re both bad people. Mom said that bad people’s words are only meant to deceive children, so you must never believe them."

Old Man Zhao hugged his daughter with relief.

Zhao Xiaobao had her own logic, speaking clearly and reasonably: "Your dad managed to escape with you from the bandits’ blades, so why would he abandon you halfway? You are his most precious treasure." Her memory was excellent; she could still recall that wealthy man opening his mouth to say things like "Daddy’s precious treasure" and "If anything happens to you, Daddy won’t live either." He loved his son so much—how could he abandon him?

Even a child understood this reasoning, and Old Man Zhao naturally got it. There must have been some mishap.

But no matter what accident, a grown man disappearing in the time it takes to buy a steamed bun—the scar-faced man had a point: a living person doesn’t just vanish in broad daylight. This showed that Suiyun Town wasn’t as safe as it pretended to be.

Opening the gates so wide to refugees on the run—that in itself was very suspicious.

Old Man Zhao made up his mind. No matter what Village Chief Sun said, he wouldn’t send anyone into town to buy food. When you know there’s a tiger on the mountain, you run as far and as fast as you can.

He glanced around. Many refugees were silently walking along the edge of the main road, making no sound.

The direction they were heading was Suiyun Town.

The sun wasn’t too low yet; they could eat a pancake, rest a little, and then keep moving... Just as he was thinking about how to end this trouble quickly and reassemble for a break, another loud wail exploded in his head, making it throb painfully.

"You promised me! You said you’d be my grandson!" The old woman, slumped on the ground, kicked her legs, sending clumps of grass and mud flying. "How can you break your word? How can you cheat me?!"

"Everyone cheats me, everyone cheats me!"

"They said they’d come back right away, but none of them did! None of them came back!" She raised her head and let out a shrill scream, looking at Zhao Dashan as if she wanted to devour him. "Give me back my Zhu’er! Give him back!" She lunged and grabbed his legs tightly.

"This is my grandson! I gave him a pancake! This is my Zhu’er!" Her fingernails dug into Zhao Dashan’s flesh. He gasped in pain and wanted to kick her off, but worried he might hurt her, so he could only hop on one leg, trying to free himself from her grip.

"What’s wrong with you? Let go!" What kind of person was this? A kidnapper who thinks she has the right?

The old woman scrambled and grabbed at Chen Ping’an’s leg. Blood and saliva dripped from the gap in her teeth, where the scar-faced man had struck her. She seemed completely deranged, muttering nonsense: "Zhu’er will stay with me and wait for his father, uncle, and second uncle to come back. Zhu’er is a good child, my grandson is a good child! He won’t go with his mother, he won’t go with you!"

"Zhu’er, be good, come down, come down and wait with Granny for your father..." She cried and coaxed, her face a bloody mess, contorted and terrifying.

The two children present were too scared to speak. Zhao Xiaobao clutched her father’s neck tightly, while Chen Ping’an stiffened his legs, unable to dodge.

"You old woman, don’t you understand? The child said he’s not your grandson. His name is Chen Ping’an, he has his own father. You coaxed him with a pancake, and you actually believe it yourself!" Village Chief Sun couldn’t help stepping forward. People from the village hated kidnappers the most. Using a piece of malt candy to lure away a child raised with so much hardship—causing the parents to cry and search desperately, suffering half a lifetime of separation and guilt—was despicable.

Kidnappers were the worst kind of people. Even if this old woman hadn’t sold the child, she had deceived him, so she wasn’t a good person.

He turned and nodded to his own people. Man Cang walked over with a stern face, unceremoniously grabbed the old woman’s arms, and forcibly pulled her off Zhao Dashan.

Now free, Zhao Dashan quickly carried Chen Ping’an away from the seemingly mad old woman.

"Don’t go with them!" Seeing she had no power over these people, the old woman suddenly turned her eyes to Chen Ping’an and screamed at him, "Don’t you want to find your father? If you go with these people, you’ll never find him again for the rest of your life!"

Hearing this, everyone froze.

Chen Ping’an struggled in Zhao Dashan’s arms. The little boy twisted like a slippery fish, impossible to hold, so Zhao Dashan had to put him down.

"Gr-Granny... w-where is my dad? Ping’an wants to find Dad. I want Dad..."

When she heard that "Granny," the old woman suddenly stopped crying and pulled him into her arms, half-lucid and half-mad: "Granny’s good grandson, Zhu’er. Granny knew you cared about your father. Not like that coward of a mother, who abandoned your father and took off with the villagers!" She ground her teeth.

"Be good, Granny’s good grandson. Don’t go with them. Your father only has you left. We won’t go. We’ll stay here and find your father, wait for your father. Granny has been inquiring for some time. Your father is in Suiyun Town. He’s still in Suiyun Town. He hasn’t left! He can’t leave, he can’t get away. Those blasted, damned people cheat refugees into the town and then catch them to dig for iron ore! They caught your father to dig ore!" She gnashed her teeth, and then turned and spat a mouthful of bloody saliva at the scar-faced man and his group. "It’s them! Every time, they pretend to be refugees and mix in with the refugees. I’ve seen those behind him more than once. They specialize in tricking people on this stretch of the road!"

She let out a cold, sinister laugh. "You think you can pretend to be refugees? Haven’t I been watching you all along?"

Then she turned to the pale-faced Zhou Zikang and spat twice at him. "And you, you lousy pale-faced scumbag! You’re all in on it! You kidnapped my son, you stole my grandson. Pah! Zhu’er is my grandson. I tell you, you can’t take him away!"

Finished, she stroked Chen Ping’an’s face with her rough hand and smiled kindly through her bloodied mouth. "Granny’s good grandson. Your father’s good son. Be good, we won’t leave. We’ll find your father. We’ll go to the mine. We’ll find him. We will find him, hehehe..."

Old Man Zhao turned to exchange a look with Village Chief Sun. Zhao Dashan’s heart tightened, and he secretly signaled to Man Cang and the others.

Zhao Ertian unwrapped the cloth from his knife, took a step forward, and stood in front of his father and little sister.

The scar-faced man ignored Zhou Zikang, who was stamping his feet in frustration, and stared coldly at the group across from him. "What’s the meaning of this?"

"Just what you see." Zhao Ertian was a man of few words and said no more.

The atmosphere suddenly shifted.

After a moment, the two sides stood facing each other in a defensive posture, with Old Man Zhao and the scar-faced man at the center.

The old woman was pulled up by her collar. She struggled a couple of times, but Wu Dazhu found her troublesome. He elbowed Zhao Dashan, who, without looking back, chopped his hand down. The old woman’s eyes rolled back, and she collapsed unconscious. Chen Ping’an was stunned. When someone grabbed him around the waist, he instinctively wanted to struggle but was met with a cold threat: "Move again and I’ll leave you here."

He instantly stopped moving.

"Here’s the thing." Old Man Zhao cleared his throat, looked at Zhou Zikang, and spoke, "I’ve met this boy once before. Coincidentally, it was the day you intended to harm him. Running into him here might be fate. So, I’m taking him with me. Don’t get in my way."

"If you do try to stop me," he turned to the scar-faced man, "this old man carries more than just one knife. If blood is spilled, no one will come out better off."

The scar-faced man’s expression shifted between anger and uncertainty, but he remained silent.

"We’re just passing through Suiyun Town. We have no intention of staying. If you’re willing to grant us passage, we’ll travel through the night and be gone. No trouble." In the midst of such tense confrontation, he still had time to shift his daughter in his arms to a more comfortable position. "But if you insist on barring our way, I don’t mind the trouble. After all, in every fight I’ve ever been in, the one left bleeding on the ground was always someone else."

Zhao Ertian’s knife glinted in a timely swing, sending a sharp flash of cold light.