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墨書 Inktalez
The alley was empty, with glaring sunlight streaming in, casting a wide shadow at the base of the wall. The wind stirred the fallen leaves and dried the tears on her face, leaving only a panicked expression.
At the same time, Liu Qingxi had her eyes tightly shut, her neck drooping to one side, a black scarf covering her head, being dragged forward by several people.
"Hurry up, hurry up, there’s no one here." A few men sneaked around, keeping their heads down as they searched for an unoccupied path.
"Got it!" They exchanged knowing smiles and followed the pre-marked route, quickly disappearing from sight.
Liu Qinglian and Liu Qingju searched for a long time but could not find Liu Qingxi. "What should we do? What should we do?" Liu Qingju's hands trembled with anxiety, her speech faltering and tinged with tears.
Liu Qinglian was equally distraught; in just a short while, a living person had vanished. The more they thought about it, the more frightened they became, squatting by the roadside unsure of what to do.
Tears flowed down like pearls from a broken string, helpless and at a loss. Passersby glanced at them and shook their heads as they left, not understanding why the two were crying so sorrowfully.
Some kind-hearted individuals stopped to ask a few questions: "Girls, what happened? Please stop crying!"
Unfortunately, the two could not hear them at all. Outside, Liu Qingxi was their support, their emotional pillar; now that she was gone, what could they do?
It wasn’t just the loss of support; they were also worried about Liu Qingxi's safety.
After what felt like an eternity, Liu Qinglian's tears were nearly dried up. Squatting on the ground made her feet numb; her hands were numb too, and her mind felt foggy.
Wiping away her tears, she felt as if everything that had just happened was a dream; waking up revealed that this was reality.
What should they do? What should they do? This phrase kept flashing through her mind.
Indeed, what ideas could a ten-year-old girl have? At home, there were elders to make decisions; outside, Liu Qingxi took charge. How could she come up with a good solution in such a moment?
She stood up but stumbled suddenly and nearly fell. Fortunately, she managed to grab onto a nearby tree: "Qingju, stop crying. Let’s hurry and find someone."
"How do we find her?" Liu Qingju thought that Liu Qinglian was better off; she had an older brother and doting parents, so she was less likely to be mistreated by the Wang family.
Liu Qinglian was more responsible; she had seen her parents suffer from bullying.
"Let's ask the people passing by if they have seen Second Sister."
Liu Qinglian got to work, wiping her face vigorously with her sleeve. With her swollen eyes, she approached a man and asked, "Hello, sir, have you seen a girl about this tall, wearing yellow clothes? She was just here."
"No, I haven't seen her!"
"Excuse me, ma'am, have you seen us together just a moment ago? She disappeared in the blink of an eye." Liu Qinglian explained the situation to a passing woman, but the woman shook her head.
Undeterred, she continued asking, "Sir..."
"Young man..."
Each response brought disappointment.
Suddenly, an idea flashed in her mind. She slapped her forehead and exclaimed, "Qingju! How could I forget? Let's go find the Village Chief!"
"Right! The Village Chief will definitely have a solution."
They had been foolish earlier. Without wasting another moment, they ran straight to the Blacksmith Shop. Before they even entered, they shouted inside, "Village Chief! Village Chief! Something's wrong!"
Zhang Wuliang was discussing what he wanted with the blacksmith when the girls' shouts startled him, making his heart race.
He suddenly had a bad feeling and rushed outside. "What happened? Weren't you supposed to be shopping? Where's Qingxi?"
Liu Qingju's tears flowed before she could speak: "Village Chief, boohoo~~~"
Seeing familiar and close people, the urgency of searching just moments ago faded, and tears streamed down their faces: "Boohoo, Second Sister is missing!"
"What?" Zhang Wuliang doubted he heard correctly and confirmed again, "What do you mean? How could Qingxi be missing? Weren't you together? She often comes to town; she wouldn't get lost."
Zhang Wuliang thought the two girls were joking with him, but their swollen eyes like walnuts made it clear this was serious. He stumbled back a step.
Silently reminding himself: "No, I can't panic, can't panic. She definitely didn't just wander off. So why can't we find her? Could she have been kidnapped? Liu Qingxi hasn't offended anyone, right?"
Even as the village chief, this was his first time facing such a situation—someone went missing after he brought them out? What should he do?
But there weren't any familiar faces in town: "Wait, there are people from the Village working here."
"You two wait here; come with me instead. Let's go find her." He abruptly changed his mind about leaving the two girls behind.
Having already lost one person, what if these two girls went missing too?
Zhang Wuliang hurriedly walked ahead, suddenly turning back to pull the two girls along, afraid that if he let go of one, another problem would arise.
People from the Blacksmith Shop called out: "Hey, hey, hey? Do you still need this Tile Cutter?"
The only response was the quickly disappearing figures of Zhang Wuliang and the others.
Zhang Wuliang's pace quickened; what usually took a moment now only took a short while. Fortunately, there were people from the Village working in town, so he knew where to go.
From a distance, he spotted someone familiar: "Dog Boy's Father, wait a moment."
The strong man, sweating profusely while looking at the burlap sack in front of him, heard the voice and turned around, smiling as he put down the load on his shoulder. "Village Chief, what do you need from me?"
"Don't get busy just yet. Quickly call over Kid. We came to town, and while I was at the Blacksmith Shop making tools, Liu Qingxi suddenly disappeared. We couldn't find her anywhere, so I came to ask for your help."
"Oh, oh, oh, wait a moment! I'll go get someone right now." The strong man didn't bother to pick up the burlap sack he had set down and ran off to find help.
If it were anyone else, it might have been fine, but as soon as they heard it was Liu Qingxi, they immediately wanted to help. After all, she was like a deity in Ten Li Pu.
How could they let her go missing? In no time at all, a group of about ten people arrived, including several sons and daughters-in-law of Grandpa Zhang, who worked at the tavern.
"Village Chief, where did she go missing? Let's hurry. We work in town and know this area well; it's easier to find people with more of us."
Zhang Wuliang didn't bother explaining and led the group forward. "Let's move while we talk."
At the same time, Liu Qingxi groggily woke up, opening her eyes to a dark scene in front of her.
Her memory flashed back to just moments ago when she had been lost in thought. Suddenly, someone covered her mouth, and then everything went blank; she woke up to find herself in this situation.
"How's it going? Who's coming first?" A lewd voice came through, chuckling in a way that made Liu Qingxi's skin crawl. It was not only disgusting but also frightening.
"It must be me. If I hadn't introduced you all, would there be such a good opportunity?" said the Hunchbacked Man.
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