Chapter 1346: Not Her

"He is a second-class steward, in charge of lower-grade purchases, including buying and selling these 'fresh goods' from human traffickers."

He Lingchuan's gaze turned cold, and the gardener immediately felt the surrounding temperature drop by several degrees, instinctively shivering.

"They... they call these..." He didn't dare to say more. "...'fresh goods'."

Wanqiu Feng sensed his master's anger and quickly pressed, "Where does Steward Zou live?"

"West... to the west." The gardener pointed west. "Follow the garden corridor to the end, turn two corners, and it's a flat house with a large bluestone doorstep. He lives... lives there!" A steward also serves the master, so his residence couldn't be too far from the second young master.

After getting the information, Wanqiu Feng chopped the gardener on the back of his neck with a hand-strike, knocking him unconscious.

"Ah Liang."

"Going now." Wanqiu Liang swung onto his horse and immediately headed west, followed by two companions.

While they were questioning, Dong Rui squatted down to examine the corpses, his technique very fluid. Compared to this master of anatomy, ordinary coroners couldn't match his extensive experience. "The flesh is withered, and the essence, energy, and blood have all been drained, yet there are no external injuries."

"Look," he said, using a method that revealed faint marks on the corpses' necks. "Actually, they are not without injuries; their necks were all constricted. But the killer's grip, or rather, the finger span, was very wide."

He used his own palm to demonstrate; the killer seemed to have hands even larger than his.

"This manner of death is similar to that of the five people from Chen Fu'ang's household." He could only say 'similar' because the deceased at Chen Family Village had been dead for over half a month, their bodies long rotted and festering, so there was no "external appearance" to speak of.

Yes, he was that meticulous.

He Lingchuan exhaled. "Ah Hui's daughter might have been here last night too."

The deaths at the Chen family residence and here were similar. This place was actually not far from Chen Family Village. Ah Hui's body had been found in the wilderness, but Xiao An was missing. The gardener had just mentioned that Wuma Xu bought little girls from traffickers.

Dong Rui immediately said, "That's right, Aunt Wu mentioned Ah Hui suddenly went mad because the five people from Chen Fu'ang's household wanted to sell Xiao An. Is it possible that after those five killed Ah Hui, they went all the way and sold the child for money as originally planned? That's why Xiao An was brought here by traffickers."

Wanqiu Feng couldn't help but interject, "Wait, according to your explanation, the little girl killed by Wuma Xu last night was Xiao An?"

A sense of gloom settled over the warriors. This girl's fate was incredibly harsh, escaping one dangerous situation only to fall into another. Heaven truly showed her no mercy.

He Lingchuan took out the soul box and approached the dead bodies on the ground. In previous instances, the black-armored leader had publicly demonstrated extracting the souls of evil people using this Juluo treasure box. Now, these evil souls lay within the box, serving as nourishment for the tree growing inside it.

But now, the treasure box had been absorbing for a long time, yet nothing had been drawn in.

"The souls of these people were also drawn away," He Lingchuan put away the box. "Whatever monster attacked them wanted all of their essence, energy, and souls; it's quite greedy."

"Is this monster chasing Xiao An again?" The little girl had told Aunt Wu that a monster had been chasing her all along.

"Perhaps," He Lingchuan slowly said. "But more than one type of monster attacked Chen Family Village."

Outside, there was a sudden sound of hurried horse hooves.

Wanqiu Liang and his two companions went out, returning with an additional person. He pulled this person off the horse's back and threw him to the ground, eliciting a cry of pain. This fellow was tall and thin, dressed in good quality clothes, but his face was deathly pale from fright.

His right arm had a hole pierced through it, bleeding profusely.

Wanqiu Liang pointed at the man. "I went to look for Steward Zou. He was already dozens of feet away from the residence, even pretending to be a servant to give me directions." So, with a backhand, he pierced Steward Zou's right arm, serving as a warning.

Wanqiu Feng stepped forward and asked Steward Zou, "What was the name of the girl your second young master killed yesterday?"

Steward Zou first saw the murderous black-armored soldiers, then the dead bodies on the ground, which further scared him until his legs turned to jelly. Wanqiu Liang kicked him behind the knee, and he immediately knelt down.

"Huh?" The chattering of his teeth was so loud that he hadn't heard Wanqiu Feng's question clearly.

Wanqiu Liang said coldly, "Didn't you usually do dirty work for Wuma Xu and handle dead bodies? Why are you scared like a bird now?"

"How could that be the same?" The people he usually handled as dead bodies were now lying dead on the ground. Steward Zou's speech became incoherent. "Her... her name was Ting-Ting-Ting!"

Dong Rui made a sound of surprise. "How old?"

"Ten, no, no, eleven!"

"Where is she?"

Steward Zou said with a bitter face, "The second young master told me to dispose of the body. I... I had someone send her to the poplar grove in the back to be buried!" He pleaded with the group, "I was just following orders. I didn't want to do it, but the second young master... he made me. If I didn't do it, someone else would. Please spare my life, noble sirs, spare my life!"

Wanqiu Feng said, "So it wasn't Xiao An."

Even if it wasn't Xiao An, it was still infuriating to hear.

"Xiao An?" Steward Zou quickly said, "The other little girl is named Xiao An, she's about five or six years old."

So she really was here? Everyone looked over, and He Lingchuan asked him, "Where is she now?"

"I only bought her back yesterday. This morning, Ah Xing was watching her. Ah Xing is this one—" He pointed at the sturdy servant lying dead on the ground. "Then... then I went off to attend to other matters."

Greenery Mountain Villa was so large; as a second-class steward, he had so many miscellaneous tasks to handle. How could he have the time to keep an eye on an insignificant little girl? Of course, now he knew: that girl was anything but insignificant!

Dong Rui interjected opportunely, "Hey, Wuma Xu probably died between 'wei' (1-3 pm) and 'shen' (3-5 pm) yesterday afternoon. How is it that you haven't discovered it until now?"

When they attacked the villa last night, it was already well past dusk. A full hour had passed in between; with people coming and going in such a large villa, had no one discovered Wuma Xu's death?

"What?" Steward Zou was startled. "The second young master wasn't killed by these black-armored people?" He stammered, "The second young master's courtyard door was closed because he didn't want to be disturbed. Everyone in the villa knows what that means!"

In other words, Xiao An's whereabouts were unknown, and no one knew where she had gone?

He Lingchuan's heart stirred; this situation had also occurred at Chen Family Village. And according to Steward Zou's confession, she had only been brought here by traffickers yesterday.

"Where else had Xiao An been before she was brought to Greenery Mountain Villa?" Over half a month had passed since the incident at Chen Family Village. Where had Xiao An been during this time?

"I don't know," Steward Zou answered truthfully. "The traffickers said they picked her up from the roadside not long ago!"

An Yangshan soldier, who had been on lookout from a high tree, jumped down and rushed in, speaking urgently, "There's a formation of torches to the north, approaching quickly, about a hundred people."

They had rushed into Greenery Mountain Villa and gone straight for their target, and only a quarter of an hour had passed since then. Master Wuma Dan had finally gathered his men, preparing to drive out these unwelcome guests.