Chapter 354 - 215: Prestigious Family (3)

Chapter 354: Chapter 215: Prestigious Family (3)

The old man’s body was short and thin, yet even in death, it remained standing, his aura soaring and unbroken.

Situ Qin landed beside Xie Yuan and said in a low voice,

"I was too hasty..."

Xie Yuan shook his head.

"Our opponent was just too formidable. This Mr. Qian... is he from the Yongyang Qian clan?"

Situ Qin’s brow furrowed slightly.

"It’s hard to say. But this willingness to die rather than surrender... it’s not the Qian clan’s style."

Hearing her assessment, Xie Yuan couldn’t help a wry smile despite his heavy heart.

Situ Qin had once told him that the Yongyang Qian clan was known for their Lightweight Skill, and they were always the first to run from trouble.

This old man refused to surrender, choosing death instead. His final, desperate struggle was like a death wish, leaving them both bewildered and weighed down with a heavy feeling.

’What kind of secret could be so huge that he’d rather die than utter a single word?’

Xie Yuan let out a breath.

"The manor is right here. We’ll have to see for ourselves."

Situ Qin nodded, and the two of them swept through the manor like a whirlwind, beginning their search.

However, while they had been fighting Mr. Qian, fires had already broken out all over the vast manor, plunging it into chaos. It seemed some of the guards were intent on destroying all evidence.

Besides the manor guards, there were also many maids and servants, who were now running and screaming in all directions. Cries for help came from many of the rooms. Xie Yuan went from one to the next, breaking the iron locks. Throngs of young women and even children poured out, all of them with delicate features.

Xie Yuan and Situ Qin’s expressions were grim. They organized the captured victims and directed them to run out of the manor. Any guards who dared to block their path were dispatched in a single exchange. Gradually, the way forward became clear, with no one daring to stand in their way.

After escorting everyone out of the manor, Xie Yuan went back inside to search. He found no one else. As for the account books, ledgers, and so on that should have been there, not a single one could be found. They had likely already been put to the torch.

His brow furrowed. He went back outside the manor and saw Situ Qin gathering the women and children together, questioning them carefully.

The survivors were still shaken. Now that they had escaped with their lives, a wave of crying swept through them. Xie Yuan did a quick count—there were at least a hundred people!

’Could so many people really have gone missing from Wu River County alone?’

Just as Xie Yuan’s brows knitted together, Situ Qin walked over and said in a low voice,

"I’ve asked a few of them. They’re not just locals from Wu River. There are people from all over Yunzhou, from Yanzhou, and even from beyond the passes!"

Xie Yuan had already noticed several people of different ethnicities among them, with graceful figures. They were clearly beauties from the Western Regions.

He looked them over one by one and saw all sorts of women. Most were pretty and charming, a select few could be called devastatingly beautiful, and several bore a strong resemblance to one another, as if they were sisters.

As for the children, most looked clever and bright. Some had tattoos on their foreheads, while others did not, but they all looked sturdy and healthy. It was unclear how they were categorized.

The scene was like a human trafficking market. There were all kinds of "goods," all of them top quality. It made Xie Yuan and Situ Qin’s faces turn grim as stone.

The commotion and the glow of the fire at the manor had long since attracted the attention of the nearby villagers. When the large group of women and children came running out, it sparked a realization among the locals from Wu River. Cries of alarm rose as people rushed to spread the news, and the word gradually got out.

Before long, a crowd of people from the county seat rushed over to the manor. They gathered before the women and children, their eyes filled with hope as they searched, one by one.

But sadly, the family members these townspeople were looking for had been missing for a long time. They were no longer here and might never be found.

A group of a hundred or so people wasn’t huge, but it wasn’t small either. It should have only taken a short while to look through them all and see if one’s family was there.

But they searched again and again, as if refusing to give up, until they had confirmed for the third and fourth time that their wives, daughters, and children were not there. Only then did the light in their eyes begin to fade, drop by drop.

Suddenly, someone cried out in surprise.

"Lian’Er!"

An old couple then embraced a young girl, overcome with emotion. They were residents of Wu River whose daughter had only recently gone missing. Now reunited, the three of them clung to each other, ecstatic.

"Huwa’Er!"

"Cui Cui!"

Two more families found their children. The victims from Wu River who had not yet been transported away were reunited with their loved ones.

Having survived the ordeal, they were overcome with a mixture of sorrow and joy, laughing and crying at the same time. This stirred a mix of emotions in the other victims nearby—those whose families were still missing or were far from home. They empathized deeply, weeping silently, not knowing where their own loved ones were.

"Young lady, were you abducted too? Where are you from? If you have nowhere to go, you can stay with me for a while. You look so much like my daughter... I’ll help you get home."

There were also Wu River townspeople who couldn’t find their own relatives but felt great pity for the other victims who had been brought here, and they prepared to help in any way they could.

They might not have been particularly charitable or wealthy families themselves, but they hoped that by doing this, their own children, if lost out in the world, might one day receive the same kindness.

In the crowd, an old beggar with graying hair and filthy clothes was pulling the women aside one by one to look at them, muttering constantly,

"Yu’Er, Yu’Er, where are you?"

The women, already terrified, all backed away when they saw the old beggar approach.

But hearing the anguish and desperation in his calls, the abducted women felt a pang of sadness. Many wondered if their own fathers had been reduced to such a state. They patiently let the old beggar have a closer look, but could only shake their heads and say they didn’t know anyone named Yu’Er. Watching the old beggar’s hope rise only to be dashed time and again, many of the women even began to sob.

Scholar Fan also searched through the crowd again and again. When he finally confirmed his daughter was not among them, his face turned deathly pale, and he stood without a word.

He watched the few reunited families, and an inexplicable feeling of jealousy and resentment welled up in his heart. But he quickly suppressed the thought, merely muttering to himself.