flstandardbreds Chapter 383 The Hunter's Little Darling 44
Chapter 383 The Hunter's Little Darling 44
Tu Shen felt that the night road was even more dangerous, as even with torches, one could not see the road clearly.
So I was worried about Xie Qingyu coming down to walk.
Xie Qingyu was both amused and exasperated. Her eyesight was already poor, so whether it was day or night didn't make much difference to her. Tu Shen, however, was feeling a tension that he himself hadn't realized he was experiencing, all stemming from his concern for Xie Qingyu.
Xie Qingyu held a torch on Tu Shen's back.
Tu Shen could carry a wild boar down from the mountainside, so carrying Xie Qingyu was a piece of cake; he couldn't feel the weight at all.
They hadn't been delayed for very long; they could vaguely see the faint light of torches ahead.
However, the teams ahead were also searching downstream, so they couldn't catch up for the time being.
The line ahead never stopped, and Tu Shen was only focused on carrying Xie Qingyu on his back and hurrying on.
The team ahead had already basically figured out what was going on.
Even her cousin didn't see the whole story, but judging from the situation, she could tell that Ma Erya had done something wrong. Now that she couldn't be found anywhere, some people even suspected that she was hiding out of fear.
The story of Ma Erya's origins has already spread among these people.
The old woman who was searching for the person was initially a little worried. She hadn't seen her family for many years. This time, Ma Erya, as someone from her family, came to her home with so many things, which made her feel proud. She even straightened her back. When she went out and met other people, they all knew that a girl from her family had come up the mountain to visit her.
Most of the women who married into the mountain village were sold by their families and had no family members of their own. So when Ma Erya came, it made Butcher feel proud for several days.
However, according to her granddaughter, Ma Erya did something that Tu Shen stopped her from doing, and in the chaos, she fell into the water.
How can this be done?
"You little brat, how can you say that without seeing it yourself? We haven't found her yet, but it's not too late to ask her when we do." Old Woman Tu still spoke up for Ma Er Ya, but not for Ma Er Ya's sake.
However, no one listened to what Granny Butcher said.
This pointless waiting for clarification is nowhere near as interesting as the sensational gossip they've speculated about.
People are always interested in gossip, and don't care whether it's the truth or not.
When they reached the middle of the river, they couldn't find anyone. As they continued downstream, they all stayed together and didn't dare to separate.
It's too dangerous on the mountain at night; it's better to gather together with torches.
However, they have been searching for a long time.
It's difficult to walk along this riverbank.
Apart from the area where they draw water, which is cleared out, the rest of the riverbank is naturally formed, with sharp rocks or dense vegetation providing cover.
Moreover, they couldn't see the road clearly at night, and they wouldn't walk too close to the riverbank, which made it more difficult to find people. In some places where they couldn't get close to the riverbank, they could only stop and look into the river by the light of their torches to see if anyone was there.
By the latter half of the night, the torches had mostly gone out, with only three or four that had been prepared to remain lit. These were meant to deter large animals, but they could no longer illuminate the middle of the river.
Fortunately, the moonlight was very bright that night.
Moreover, the sun rises relatively early on the mountain.
After a whole night of walking and stopping, they still couldn't find Ma Erya.
By the time dawn broke, some people were already too tired to stay awake any longer.
They searched all night long, keeping a close eye on every single floating object on the river.
They searched from upstream to downstream, taking a long detour, and no one could muster the energy to continue.
Seeing that they couldn't find it any longer, some people were already thinking of going back.
As dawn approached, the others finally noticed Tu Shen and Xie Qingyu following behind the group.
Because they were walking very slowly, Xie Qingyu had already gotten off and started walking on her own. When they first caught up, only a few people at the back of the group knew, but now that it was daylight, everyone else had noticed as well.
With the parties involved present, the previously dejected group seemed to gain a bit of vitality from their desire to gossip.
"Tu Shen, tell me what happened. Did you shout and knock someone into the water?" The hunters on the mountain, especially those who helped with the search, all knew each other. Because of Tu Shen's strength, all the hunters had a good relationship with him.
The hunter who is now asking the question is doing so jokingly; he doesn't really mean it.
"Did you see her trying to push someone into the water?" Someone knows to grasp the key point.
"Hmm." Tu Shen's expression was cold.
Seeing his expression, everyone believed what he said, which meant that what they knew before was also true.
"Then why bother looking for her? She'll only end up hurting herself instead of others. We can't keep someone like her on the mountain. There aren't many children left in each family. If she ever gets any bad ideas, it'll be terrifying." Someone complained, expressing their dissatisfaction after walking all night.
"We haven't found them yet," Butcher Granny tried to change the subject.
"If we can't find it now, it'll be gone." Eventually, someone couldn't hold on any longer and stopped to rest.
Tu Shen also stayed with Xie Qingyu to rest.
Some people continued forward, but further on, the water didn't just flow in one stream; it branched into countless streams, and once they reached the other side, they truly had no idea where to begin searching.
Although they had been walking all night, the distance they had traveled was not very far. It was only because they were looking for someone and the roads were difficult to travel at night that it took them so long.
As dawn breaks, the able-bodied young men move quickly forward, their vision improving as they can easily spot anyone in the water.
There are also a few hunters living along the riverbank. If they still can't find anything later, they can go and ask for some water before going back.
Naturally, no one was found.
They rested for a while and then went back.
Even though they have no connection and might even be someone with malicious intentions, not finding them can still be frustrating.
They returned home mostly looking listless.
And they kept looking into the water to see if it was over there.
The return journey was a long line, with those in good physical condition at the front and those in poor physical condition following far behind.
I don't know where I've gotten, but suddenly there's a commotion ahead, as if something has happened. A moment later, people come running up, shouting, "Found it! Found it!"
The remaining people exchanged glances and looked at each other, then, ignoring their exhaustion, they hurried forward haphazardly.
Tu Shen and Xie Qingyu arrived in the blink of an eye.
But when faced with so many people, Ma Erya, who was being held in someone's arms, looked blankly at the people surrounding her, her voice trembling, "Who are you?"