After being jilted, the entire neighboring village was filled with deep regret.

Chapter 266 Found it

Chunqin was initially reluctant, but considering the attitude of Rong Laosi and his wife, she immediately changed her mind. "Alright! I'll go with you to look for him. Little Twelve is usually very attached to me, so he should listen to me. If we find him, Fourth Master and Aunt will be happy, and we can leave the village."

They volunteered to go out and find people.

Dongfeng was also somewhat tempted. Seeing that Chunxiang didn't move, he asked, "Aren't you going to go look for her?"

Chunxiang's lips curled into a slight sneer, "What are we looking for? It's pitch black, the village roads are difficult to navigate, and we're not familiar with them. Where are we supposed to look? We don't want to end up causing trouble instead of finding the person."

Dongfeng thought it made sense, so he waited with Chunxiang.

Inside the house, Rong Laosi and Qiu Shi kept exchanging glances, wondering what to do next.

Their original plan was to intimidate the township and village chiefs, extort money from them, and then leave without delaying anything. As for Little Twelve, even if they found him, he would just beat him to death anyway, so he was of no value and they could just leave him.

But given the current situation, they can no longer simply leave, otherwise it would confirm Su Tai's suspicions and be detrimental to them.

The couple wanted nothing more than to tear Su Tai to pieces, but they had to put on an indignant expression.

At this time, Chunqin and the others were also carrying lanterns and pretending to look for Xiao Shier on the village path.

Chunxing complained, "It's pitch black, we're lucky if we can even see the road clearly, how are we supposed to find it?"

Chunqin rolled her eyes at her, "Idiot! We'll just look around and go back when it's about time. By then, the troupe leader and the old lady will have calmed down and won't bother us. If we can find Little Twelve, that would be even better, and we can even earn merit."

"Why didn't Chunxiang and the others come out and search with us?" Chunxing didn't quite understand.

Chunqin said sarcastically, "They're the troupe leader and the matriarch's favorites. They have to stay and wait for the troupe leader and the matriarch's orders! Anyway, if something goes wrong, the matriarch will at most scold Chunxiang a couple of times. It's different if we stay there. The matriarch will eat us alive! Don't you think so?"

“Yes! Chunqin is right. Actually, it’s better that Xiao Shier ran away. Going back would only lead to his death.” Dong Ri rarely spoke a fair word.

Everyone was silent.

Chunqin said irritably, "It's easy for him to run away, but we have to work ourselves to death following him. Just as Auntie said, he's an ungrateful wretch. All my kindness to him was for nothing, and I almost got punished along with him."

"Alright, stop talking. I think the villagers are all heading in that direction. Why don't we go check it out too?" Dongchuan said loudly, pointing towards the village entrance.

Right now, they can't even tell which way is north, south, east, or west. If they accidentally wander into the fields, it will be even more troublesome.

Everyone nodded quickly and walked toward the firelight, carrying their lanterns.

They only breathed a sigh of relief when they got close to the crowd.

Shen Liang, holding a torch, frowned as he looked at the newcomers. "Aren't you from an opera troupe? What are you doing here?"

"We're here to help find Xiao Shier," Chunqin said, feigning concern.

Shen Liang showed no mercy whatsoever, and sternly rebuked them, "This is already outside the village. There might be wild beasts coming down from the mountains. How dare you, so weak, come out here?"

"Huh? We didn't know!" Chunxing turned pale with fright.

The others were also shaken by the experience.

Afraid of being blamed by everyone, Chunqin quickly led them into the crowd and then explained, "We were just too worried. Little Twelve is so young, what if something happens to him? Also, our troupe leader and aunt are so anxious that they've started arguing with the township head and village chief. If we stay in the compound, we'll be blamed too, so it's better to come out and look for someone."

Shen Liang shook his head, unable to understand.

Shen Mu and the other older men pondered for a moment and said, "Alright, enough talk. Now that everyone's here, let's all help. If the dog is barking, there's bound to be something wrong."

Chunqin nodded repeatedly.

Just then, the dog barked a few times, and everyone quickly looked in a certain direction in the darkness, only to find that it was a desolate wilderness overgrown with weeds, making it impossible to even see where the dog was. Everyone was apprehensive, unsure whether the dog had truly discovered something or was in danger.

Just as everyone was hesitating, more dogs rushed in, their barking echoing through the desolate wilderness.

Chunqin and the others instinctively huddled together, trembling.

"If I had known this earlier, I would have preferred to stay in the compound and be scolded rather than come here!" Chunxing trembled, almost crying.

They saw that the villagers had all gone into the woods.

The group was terrified, but they could only grit their teeth and follow them inside.

Unexpectedly, they witnessed a shocking scene.

"This...this...isn't this our opera troupe's trunk?" Chunqin exclaimed, then quickly covered her mouth, her face filled with terror.

The villagers looked grave as they went to check the box and found it was locked.

Shen Liang, his face grim, pointed at Chunqin and the others, "Come here, unlock it!"

"No, no, no, this box has nothing to do with us, we don't know anything about it!" Chunqin and the others shook their heads frantically.

The villagers were all furious.

They all rushed forward and surrounded them.

Chunxiang was so frightened that she collapsed to the ground and burst into tears, crying, "We really don't have the key. The key is with the troupe leader and the old lady."

Shen Mu asked with a livid face, "Just tell me if this box belongs to the opera troupe or not. No lying allowed!"

Faced with the angry villagers, Chunqin and the others were no match for them and quickly nodded in agreement.

Shen Mu and the others weighed the box in their hands, sensing that it contained a child, but they called out to them for a long time without any response.

Before Chunqin and the others could breathe a sigh of relief, the dog started barking incessantly again when the villagers refused to open the box.

The villagers dared not wait any longer.

"I'll drive. If anything goes wrong, I'll take full responsibility." Shen the Cripple gritted his teeth and rushed out, his eyes bloodshot.

Shen Mu felt sorry for you and said, "You've been up all night, rest first, we'll take care of it."

"No! I can't wait any longer!" Shen the Cripple stepped forward decisively with his wood-chopping knife. He was determined to burn his bridges and acted without hesitation. With just a few chops, he had broken the lock on the box.

The moment the box arrived, Shen the Cripple's eyes were blurred with tears. "Xiao Xi! My Xiao Xi!"

Everyone was overjoyed and rushed forward to help carry the child out, while the others quickly chopped down another large box.

Chunqin and the others stared blankly at the scene before them, their hands and feet turning ice-cold with fear. It's over! They're finished!

Sure enough, the child was rescued and sent to town overnight.

Shen Liang and the others also took Chunqin and the others into custody.

Chunqin struggled and begged frantically, "We really don't know anything! Please spare us! This really has nothing to do with us!"

"We're innocent! It must have been the troupe leader and the old woman who did it! Please let us go!" Chunxing cried out, tears streaming down her face.