Chapter 954: Chapter 954: The Direction of the Black Market

The two sides broke into an argument on the spot, the shouting growing more intense by the second.

Who would have thought that Ms. Tang had a knife hidden on her? Amidst the chaos, she stabbed Old Man Cui in the thigh.

This scene was witnessed by Little Ya’er. The little girl froze in place, and Old Man Cui instinctively urged her to run.

Unfortunately, it was too late. Li Xiaoshan rushed forward, grabbed Little Ya’er, squeezed her neck, and threw her to the ground.

Seeing his only granddaughter go still, Old Man Cui snapped. He lunged at Li Xiaoshan, fighting for his life.

The explosive force of anger was astonishing. As Li Xiaoshan wrestled with him, they tumbled into the courtyard. Just as Old Man Cui was about to shout for help, Ms. Tang wordlessly plunged the knife into his neck.

Old Man Cui’s blood sprayed across Li Xiaoshan’s face, blinding his eyes. It took him a while to stumble to his feet, shaken.

Both of them were petrified at that moment, but the deed was done. There was no turning back. They had to calm down and think things through.

Ms. Tang first helped Li Xiaoshan to the kitchen to wash the blood out of his eyes. Once they were cleaned up, they planned to deal with the bodies of Old Man Cui and Little Ya’er.

But to their shock, Little Ya’er had disappeared. Panicked, the pair abandoned everything and immediately started searching.

Outside was eerily quiet. Little Ya’er hadn’t gone to the neighbors for help, but she was undeniably missing.

Hearing this, Shu Yu furrowed her brows. “Are you sure she escaped on her own and didn’t get killed by you two?”

Ms. Tang shook her head quickly. “No. If we’d killed her, we’d have definitely hidden the body in the cellar.”

“You didn’t hear her opening the door?”

The door of the Cui family’s house made a distinct noise, especially in the dead of night. If Little Ya’er had opened it to leave, it would have been impossible for Ms. Tang and Li Xiaoshan not to hear it.

Shu Yu believed Ms. Tang wasn’t lying. After all, she admitted to stabbing Old Man Cui with the knife. If she’d wanted to lie, she could have easily pinned it all on Li Xiaoshan.

“Could she have crawled out through the dog hole?” Third Lu suddenly appeared in the living room doorway and suggested.

“Dog hole?” Ms. Tang was taken aback. “The Cui family has a dog hole?”

Third Lu rolled his eyes. “Of course they do. When I was looking for the child earlier, the dog hole was the first place I checked.”

When he was a kid, he used to crawl through dog holes to play everywhere and was quite skilled at finding them.

In the back corner of the Cui family’s courtyard wall, there was a very small opening hidden by some common herbs like mint and aloe vera growing over it.

Third Lu had moved the plants aside earlier but hadn’t seen anyone, so he went off to search elsewhere.

Hearing this, Shu Yu immediately told him to lead the way, standing up to follow him to the backyard.

Third Lu, familiar with the spot, shifted the herbs to the side, revealing the hole–a very small opening, likely only large enough for a thin child to squeeze through.

Squatting down, Shu Yu noticed some dark red stains near the hole. Blood.

“Little Ya’er definitely escaped through here.”

The wall beyond didn’t face the village but instead led out toward the open countryside.

Little Ya’er had left the village?

Shu Yu left the Cui family house, lifting her gaze to look into the distance.

The area was barren and desolate, stripped of crops due to the lack of food. The only thing visible in the distance was the looming mountain.

That mountain was where the black market was located.

Four li–approximately two kilometers. Could a wounded five-year-old child really run that far?

Whether it was possible or not, Shu Yu knew she had to search along the way.

She told Ying Xi to bring the mule carriage over from the manor. As soon as the carriage arrived, she climbed aboard, ready to leave–only for Young Master Jiang to join her as well.