Chapter 110.2

Yin Meng did not know who exactly had been peeping into the room from the doorway last night, but after being hit by the flashlight once, those spying eyes never appeared again.

She wedged a chair behind the door, then returned to bed and went back to sleep.

She needed rest. She could not really let herself get into too poor a state. But even while sleeping, she kept one eye open and one eye closed.

At daybreak the next morning, the sound of chopping wood came from the courtyard.

Yin Meng pushed Zheng Jiayi awake. Zheng Jiayi yawned and said lazily, “Mengmeng, I’m so sleepy. I want to sleep a little longer.”

“Did you forget about your parents’ illness?”

Zheng Jiayi immediately sat up.

“Go downstairs and wash up first.”

“If we go downstairs to wash up, are you really going to keep carrying that bag?”

“I’m used to it.”

As they passed the other two bedrooms on the second floor, Yin Meng deliberately paused again to listen, but heard no movement inside.

When they got to the downstairs courtyard, the one chopping wood was a man not yet thirty, wearing a tank top, shorts, and cloth shoes. He was tall and thin.

“Brother Daqiang!”

Zheng Jiayi greeted him warmly.

“Jiayi, heh-heh.” Daqiang waved. “My parents went into the mountains early this morning to gather goods. Breakfast’s on the table.”

Yin Meng drew water from the well. After she and Zheng Jiayi washed up, the two went into the kitchen.

On the small table were bowls of porridge and pickled vegetables.

Yin Meng picked up the porridge, sniffed it, and found nothing wrong. She was now sharp enough with food to tell.

But after taking a sip, she realized the porridge was not merely lukewarm. It was practically cold.

The problem was that the weather had not yet reached the point where things should be this cool.

She tried a piece of pickled vegetable. When her teeth bit down, it actually chilled them.

It felt as though the breakfast had been deliberately hung in the well to cool.

Yin Meng’s gaze shifted to the recess beneath the stove. All the thermoses were gone, including the one she had found last night with a mouse inside.

Should she drag Daqiang over, tie him up with the Demon-Suppressing Whip from her bag, and interrogate him?

The thought had only just arisen when Yin Meng dismissed it.

Better find Little Yuanhou first.

“Mengmeng, let me treat you to breakfast outside.” Clearly, Zheng Jiayi also felt this breakfast was impossible to eat.

“Mm.”

When the two stepped outside, they found that Daqiang, who had been chopping wood moments ago, was gone.

The axe was still where it had been, and even the split firewood had not been gathered up.

“Huh, where did Brother Daqiang go?”

Zheng Jiayi bent down to help tidy it up, then stacked it all in the corner by the wall.

Yin Meng’s gaze swept over the firewood pile. Most of the logs had moss growing on them, and in a few places, there were even mushrooms.

Firewood was a consumable. That meant this family had not burned wood for a very long time.

After leaving the Zheng home, Yin Meng first went to ask where Xue Liangliang was.

Zheng Jiayi did not live here, so she did not know Min’an Town much better than Yin Meng, an outsider, did.

But after asking all around, they always got the same reply: no one knew of any Xue family in town.

As for Xue Liangliang, the student who had gotten into Haihe University, nobody had heard of him either.

Yin Meng went to the town’s convenience shop and asked the auntie there first, but got the same answer.

She picked up the phone and called the paging station, trying to page Xue Liangliang, but no one answered.

Then she called the school’s bargain shop. Still no one answered.

After calling several more times, she asked the auntie whether the phone was broken. Right in front of her, the auntie placed an order call, showing that there was nothing wrong with it.

Yin Meng realized the problem was serious.

Still unwilling to give up, she dragged Zheng Jiayi along and kept asking around.

Eventually, the two arrived at the riverside corridor.

This place counted as the town’s leisure and cultural center.

Two tables of elderly people were drinking tea, and one old man was performing storytelling.

After he finished his tale, Yin Meng went up and asked whether anyone had come to him to inquire about anything. The storyteller shook his head, indicating no.

Yin Meng asked him to keep an eye out for her, and at the same time told him her name and the alley address of Old Zheng’s house where she was staying. Finally, she took out a banknote and placed it in the metal box in front of him.

“Thank you, miss, thank you, miss. Shall I tell you a story segment?”

“No need.”

Yin Meng then went to the various shops to ask around, requesting that people help keep watch for her.

After going through that entire process, Yin Meng suddenly felt a wave of irritation in her heart.

Because she knew perfectly well that anything she could think of, they could think of too, and they would only do it better and more thoroughly than she would.

The town was only so big, and outsiders were few to begin with. If anyone had really come around asking these questions, people on the street or shopkeepers would certainly have had a very deep impression. But from all their earlier conversations, there had been nothing of the sort.

“Mengmeng, what’s wrong?”

“I’m fine.”

“Then should we keep looking?”

“No. We’re going back.”

The two returned to the Zheng home. The door was closed.

Zheng Jiayi went up and pushed it open.

Immediately afterward, her eldest aunt’s voice came from behind the door. “Back already?”

Then the woman herself came out, wearing exactly the same clothes as last night.

“Eldest Aunt, you’re back?”

“Mm, I’m back.”

“Did Eldest Uncle come back too?”

“No. Daqiang went into the mountains to find us. He took over for me, so I came back first to prepare lunch for you two. Why didn’t you eat breakfast? Didn’t Daqiang tell you?”

“Eldest Aunt, Brother Daqiang did tell me, but I wanted to take my friend out to try the local breakfast specialties, so we deliberately left with empty stomachs.”

“Oh. Then will you still be eating lunch at home?”

Zheng Jiayi looked at Yin Meng. Yin Meng gently shook her head.

“No, Eldest Aunt. We’ll still eat out later.”

“All right.”

The eldest aunt walked back inside, then went straight upstairs.

Yin Meng drew some more water from the well, washed her hands, then splashed her face.

This house, and the people in this house, all gave off a strange air.

Unfortunately, she could not find Little Yuanhou, so there was no way to report any of these clues right now.

The two went back upstairs. When they reached the turn in the staircase on the second floor, Yin Meng pointed toward the stairs that continued upward.

“Mengmeng, that’s the attic, right? I’ve never been up there.”

“Then let’s take a look.”

Yin Meng went up. It was called an attic, but it was not cramped, and it looked as though it was cleaned regularly. It was not dirty or messy.

A red old coffin was placed there.

Zheng Jiayi was startled by the coffin and hid behind Yin Meng.

“It’s fine. I used to sell coffins.”

Yin Meng walked over to the coffin. The materials were not especially fine, and the lacquer work was pretty crude. Any elderly person with even slightly better means would not choose it as their own coffin.

“Jiayi, your grandparents passed away long ago, right?”

“That’s right. The last time my parents came back, it was to visit Grandpa’s grave.”

If both grandparents were already gone, then why was there still a coffin in this house?

Although she had not yet seen Zheng Jiayi’s eldest uncle, judging from the eldest aunt’s age, the couple should still be far from the age where they would prepare burial wood for themselves in advance.

Just as Yin Meng placed a hand on the edge of the coffin and was wondering whether to open it for a look, the eldest aunt appeared in the doorway.

“How did you two end up here?”

Zheng Jiayi replied, “We were just wandering around.”

“A relative is renovating their house, so they temporarily stored the old coffin they had prepared for an elder in our home.”

Yin Meng withdrew her hand. “Oh, I see.”

“There are lots of mice in the house. Don’t run around. Don’t let the mice scare you, heh-heh.”

“Mm, we understand.”

Yin Meng and Zheng Jiayi went back to the second-floor room. Zheng Jiayi sat on the edge of the bed, while Yin Meng stood by the doorway.

“Mengmeng, let’s go out and eat.”

“No need. We’ll just eat a little of whatever.” Yin Meng took out some biscuits from her backpack and handed them to Zheng Jiayi, then returned to stand by the door.

“Mengmeng, where do we start looking next?” Zheng Jiayi asked.

“We start with this house.”

“Huh? I meant looking for your friend with the surname Xue.”

“It’s the same. Once we find his house, it’ll be easier to find the source of your parents’ illness too.”

“Oh, I see. So that’s how it is.” Zheng Jiayi nodded. She believed her.

“Jiayi, don’t you think your eldest uncle’s family is very strange?”

“I told you last night. They’ve always been very aloof. And honestly, our family hasn’t had that much contact with them.”

“Done eating?”

“Done.”

“Then let’s go out.”

Yin Meng took Zheng Jiayi out of the Zheng home and began visiting neighbors, talking to aunties and grandmas who looked like they especially enjoyed chatting.

From the neighbors, she learned that Old Zheng’s family was famous for being withdrawn. Normally they hardly interacted with outsiders, and at one point had even reached the stage where, when there was business to handle at the homes of relatives or neighbors, they would not ask them for help. Only the two brothers from that household came back once or twice a year.

In the countryside, no matter how withdrawn or unsociable a person was, they still did not dare skip all the weddings and funerals in the village.

Because everyone understood that sooner or later, such occasions would come to their own household too. If you did not go help at others’ homes, then when your turn came, others would not come help you either.

The neighbors could not provide any concrete information either, so Yin Meng had no choice but to return to the Zheng home and sit down in the courtyard.

Unable to contact Little Yuanhou, she felt somewhat lost now.

At the moment, it seemed she could only continue following the established pattern.

For example, under the condition of not openly tearing off the mask, she could probe Old Zheng’s family’s real secret.

Yin Meng sat in the courtyard the entire afternoon.

At last she saw Zheng Jiayi’s eldest uncle. He came back carrying a fertilizer sack on his back, and something inside it was moving.

Zheng Jiayi stepped forward to greet him. “Eldest Uncle.”

“Mm, Jiayi.”

“Where’s Brother Daqiang? Why didn’t he come back with you?”

“He’s behind me. I’m going in first to sort things out.”

The eldest uncle went inside. Yin Meng had originally thought he would go into the kitchen, but instead he carried the sack straight upstairs.

And after going up, he never came back down.

A little later, Daqiang returned. He too carried a fertilizer sack on his back. Whatever was inside was moving as well, and faint squeaking sounds came from it.

Again, after only a brief greeting, he also went upstairs.

At dusk, the eldest aunt came downstairs and asked, “You two are eating out again tonight too, right?”

Zheng Jiayi said, “Yes, Eldest Aunt.”

“Then I won’t make dinner for you.”

“Eldest Aunt, call Eldest Uncle and Brother Daqiang down. Let’s all go eat out together.”

“We’re not eating out. We can’t afford that kind of expense.”

After saying that, the eldest aunt turned around and went upstairs again.

Yin Meng noticed a problem. This family of three... never appeared together. It was always only one person at a time.

Before nightfall, Yin Meng and Zheng Jiayi went out to buy some food.

Carrying the bag back, as they went up to the second floor, Yin Meng vaguely heard some unusual sounds.

But the moment she stepped onto the last stair of the second floor, the sounds all fell silent at once.

She and Zheng Jiayi returned to their room.

“Mengmeng, let’s eat together.”

“You eat first.”

Yin Meng again stood by the door, pressing her ear against it.

Creak... crunch... creak... crunch...

She heard the high-frequency sounds again. They were very faint, but they were undeniably there.

Yin Meng made a shushing gesture to Zheng Jiayi. Zheng Jiayi nodded and even stopped moving while eating.

Then Yin Meng carefully opened the door, trying not to make the slightest sound. When it was open enough for her to slip out sideways, she raised her hand, grabbed the beam above, and “sent” herself out while hanging from it.

With a wooden structure, it was hard to avoid the floor making noise, but the beams above were still solid and tightly fitted.

Seeing this, Zheng Jiayi’s mouth fell open. So people who studied Chinese medicine all had to train in martial arts too?

Yin Meng moved out into the second-floor corridor, and the sounds became clearer.

They were coming from those two rooms, but there were three separate rhythms, and all of them were right up against the doors.

Yin Meng used her waist to lift her legs up, so that if someone stood at the doorway, they would not be able to see her through the crack.

“Squeak! Crunch crunch! Squeak! Crunch crunch!...”

Each time, it began with a rapid, agonized squeal, followed by the sound of biting, crushing, and chewing. The squealing then stopped, and right after that, the next round began.

Thinking of the two fertilizer sacks the eldest uncle and Daqiang had brought back, and the mouse she had found in the thermos last night, a scene reappeared in Yin Meng’s mind:

Daqiang stood behind one room’s door, while the eldest uncle and eldest aunt stood side by side behind the other room’s door.

Again and again, they reached into the fertilizer sacks, grabbed live mice one after another, and lifted them to their mouths to gnaw on them.

Suddenly, all the sounds vanished together.

The meal was over.

…

Early in the morning, after Li Zhuiyuan came downstairs, Xue Liangliang’s father and mother warmly invited him to breakfast.

They really were enthusiastic. The main staple at breakfast was actually rice, and they had even stir-fried three hot dishes.

It was just that the way Runsheng lit incense before eating struck them as a little strange.

Li Zhuiyuan explained that when Runsheng was little, he had often been sick, and that a wandering Daoist had said he needed to spend one month every year eating every meal with incense lit, and then he would be kept safe from illness and disaster.

Xue Liangliang’s parents clicked their tongues in amazement and praised that Daoist for being impressive.

After all, with Runsheng’s build and size on display, there was not the slightest trace of anyone weak and sickly about him.

After breakfast, Li Zhuiyuan told Runsheng to go out and ask around, focusing especially near the convenience shop.

He himself sat in the courtyard chatting with Xue Liangliang’s father, while Xue Liangliang’s mother washed clothes. She even warmly took Li Zhuiyuan’s and Runsheng’s dirty laundry and washed it for them as well.

Xue Liangliang’s father was chatting very happily. At this moment, even setting aside his son’s connection, he genuinely liked this young man.

And Li Zhuiyuan truly had the ability to make someone happy.

He had been learning that skill since childhood. It was just that later on, especially after receiving that phone call from Li Lan, he had no longer wanted to keep putting on an act, at least not for irrelevant strangers.

After leaving Taigong’s house and going off to university, he had only become even more cold toward outsiders.

It was not deliberate. He simply could not be bothered to keep acting.

But this old craft that had come with him “straight from the womb” had not been lost.

At ten in the morning, Runsheng came back. He had not found anyone.

“Brother Runsheng, go to the convenience shop and make a call. Page Brother Binbin, then call the shop and ask whether any phone calls came into the shop for them.”

“All right.”

Runsheng went out again, while Li Zhuiyuan began trying to guide Xue Liangliang’s father into talking about the “young expedition team.”

It was obvious that Xue Liangliang’s father did not really want to talk about it, but in the end, little by little, more still got drawn out of him.

Before long, Runsheng came back again, bringing a piece of news:

“Xiaoyuan, I couldn’t get through. The paging station wouldn’t go through. I dialed every number I remembered, but none of them connected.

“The phone is fine. Right in front of me, the auntie at the convenience shop called a wholesaler in the county and ordered a shipment.”

“Brother Runsheng, go ask at the shops along the main street, and have the shop owners help keep an eye out. Then go to the crowded places in town too... the riverside corridor Xue Liangliang’s dad took us to yesterday. It’s close to the archway and counts as an obvious spot.”

“All right.”

Runsheng went out again.

Li Zhuiyuan stayed here.

He was not staying behind to loaf. First, he wanted to keep drawing information out of Xue Liangliang’s father. Second, he had to remain here and wait for Yin Meng and Binbin to come find him.

“Uncle Xue, your family should be pretty well known in town, right?”

“Of course.” Xue Liangliang’s father proudly straightened his chest. “Who told me to have such a good son? Whenever the town repairs roads, builds bridges, or anything like that, my family always contributes a big share.”

Actually, Li Zhuiyuan’s question was unnecessary, because the moment he entered town and asked the auntie at the convenience shop, she had enthusiastically led them straight to the Xue home without even minding her shop.

That not only meant the Xue family was well known in town, but also that they were on very good terms with people.

Runsheng came back. “Xiaoyuan, I asked around and let everyone know. At the corridor too, the storyteller there said he’d help keep an eye out.”

“Did you give him money?”

“Ah... my money’s in the bag. I didn’t bring the bag when I went out. Should I take money out to him now?”

“Forget it. Whether you give it or not doesn’t matter anymore.”

Runsheng asked, “Xiaoyuan, did we run into some kind of trouble?”

After all, the calls would not go through, and it seemed the problem was specifically aimed at them.

The only thing was, Runsheng was missing one link in the chain: finding the household where Tan Wenbin and Yin Meng were staying now. When everyone had set out, those two lines had not yet become clear.

Without directly going through the experience of searching and failing to find that family, one’s understanding of the situation would not deepen that far.

But Li Zhuiyuan could shift perspectives, because he had been sitting here this long, and Yin Meng and Binbin still had not come to find him. That meant another possibility.

Runsheng said, “Xiaoyuan, maybe Binbin and Mengmeng got delayed on the road by something and couldn’t make it here?”

Li Zhuiyuan shook his head.

“I think they’re already in this town.”

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