"Let’s stay here and wait for Eldest Brother to return. They will definitely be alright... they will be alright," Xiao Yuyan muttered.

It was unsure whether she was consoling herself or her little sister.

Xiao Qingya watched as Zhou Anran’s hurried figure disappeared in the distance. Xiao Yuyan picked up her little sister, intending to keep her inside the house and prevent her from running away.

However, before they could get inside, there were a few guests who suddenly arrived.

Zhou Wenzhi got off the ox cart and a few unfamiliar faces followed behind him. Xiao Yuyan had never seen them before. Still, seeing her grandfather felt like a lost child finding their parents again at a time like this.

"Yan’er, where is your mother?" Zhou Wenzhi asked. Soon, he noticed Xiao Yuyan’s face which looked as if she was desperately holding back her tears and was startled. "What’s wrong? Tell your grandfather!"

She suddenly opened the door wide, revealing a familiar figure bound in ropes.

"Shiming?" Zhou Wenzhi frowned. Then, his face became fierce as he thought of something. "Did he make trouble for your family again?"

After he said that, he turned to the people behind him and sighed, "Steward Xu, I am sorry, you have witnessed a joke."

Steward Xu was one of the stewards from the magistrate’s mansion. They had originally come to pick up the paddy rice seeds from the Xiao family’s house.

The farmers from all over the county were more enthusiastic than they thought, and the stock for paddy rice seeds almost ran out today, so they took the initiative to pick up the remaining paddy rice seeds they had agreed upon from the Xiao family.

"It’s no trouble, no trouble at all," Steward Xu waved his hand.

He and his men also had seen the anxious look on Xiao Yuyan’s face and the bound Zhou Shiming. He couldn’t help but ask, "Is there something wrong? We might be able to help."

Even if they couldn’t solve the trouble right away for the Xiao family, they could go back and ask the magistrate himself for help.

This Xiao family was full of good people who weren’t greedy for wealth. When they heard the Magistrate’s plan about distributing the paddy rice to the farmers, they had offered a lower price for them.

He was sure that the Magistrate would be more than willing to help.

"Bad!" Xiao Qingya pointed to bound Zhou Shiming a little aggrievedly.

"Indeed, your uncle is so bad," Zhou Wenzhi agreed, glaring at the delirious Zhou Shiming. Then, he turned his gaze to Xiao Yuyan, waiting for her to explain.

Just as she was about to open her mouth, they all heard the voices of several people and footsteps heading in their direction. Xiao Jingran had arrived with Village Head Su and several people.

"Jing’er," Zhou Wenzhi called out to his eldest son, and then greeted Village Head Su. Their appearance made him grow even more alarmed.

"Grandfather," Xiao Jingran greeted him solemnly. Upon seeing his confused face, he quickly understood that Zhou Wenzhi was still unaware of what was happening.

So, he explained briefly how Xiao Fenghao and Xiao Yuxi went missing, then Zhou Shiming’s visit and his threat.

Zhou Wenzhi’s face was indescribable. He stared at his eldest son, and then walked over and struck him in the face. "Unfilial descendant! You don’t even spare your sister’s children!"

A glaring red handprint appeared on Zhou Shiming’s face, showing just how hard the force he had been using.

Seeing his grandfather almost collapse due to shock and grief, Xiao Jingran hurriedly went over to support Zhou Wenzhi. The old man seemed to have aged ten years in an instant.

Xiao Jingran pressed some of his acupoints, and Zhou Wenzhi finally could breathe more easily.

He slowly got back on his feet and turned to Village Head Su. His face was full of shame at what his eldest son had done.

Although Xiao Jingran had been using lighter phrases to describe the situation, based on his understanding of his eldest son, the real scenario was most likely much worse.

With a slightly trembling voice, he asked the Village Head. "Old Su... I will trouble you to help us searching for Hao’er and Xi’er."

Village Head Su had a headache. So many big things had been happening a lot in the span of a year.

Still, he nodded at Zhou Wenzhi’s request. It was also the reason he had been bringing the men to the Xiao family. Some other villagers hadn’t arrived yet; they were still knocking on their neighbors to call for more help.

"The sky is going to turn dark in a few hours. We better set off soon." Village Head Su informed them.

"Steward Xu, I am sorry, we won’t be able to attend to you today," Zhou Wenzhi apologized to Steward Xu first.

To his surprise, Steward Xu didn’t mind and instead made an offer. "This matter is of great importance, Master Zhou. We won’t delay you further from looking for your grandchildren."

"Our capabilities might be limited, but we will be willing to aid you in search of your grandchildren," Steward Xu continued.

Zhou Wenzhi was slightly taken aback, and in such an urgent situation, he didn’t stand on ceremony. "Good, good, our family feels grateful for your help, Steward Xu."

The group men set off to the back mountain with Village Head Xu and Zhou Wenzhi leading them.

Xiao Jingran found it odd that their mother hadn’t shown up the entire time they were talking. He turned to Xiao Yuyan and asked, "Yan’er, where is Mother?"

"Eldest Brother... Mother has gone to look for Second Brother and Elder Sister in the back mountain first, carrying an oil lamp." Xiao Yuyan bit her lip after she said these words.

Xiao Jingran’s face changed, and he told his younger sister. "Take care of Little Ya, don’t let anyone inside unless it’s one of us."

He reminded Xiao Qingya to let the Ling siblings check for whoever knocked on the door first before opening it. Then, he dragged Zhou Shiming toward the grain room, putting more ropes on him and left the house.

Xiao Yuyan watched him leave with a helpless look on her face, her hands clutching on Xiao Qingya tightly.

[Host, let me go down. I will help with the search.] The System’s voice resounded in her ears.

With its small and nimble figure, the System believed it could be helpful. The System’s suggestion definitely eased some of Xiao Qingya’s worry, and she let the white cat down from her arms.

In Xiao Xue form, the System quickly trotted after Xiao Jingran and latched on to him. Xiao Jingran pretended not to notice and let it follow him.

"Little Ya, let’s stay inside the house." Xiao Yuyan pursed her lips and pulled her sister inside and began to lock all the doors and windows.

They were too weak to help, so they were quite self-aware and didn’t insist on joining the search. Xiao Qingya’s rationality also returned, and upon thinking about it, she followed her sister’s words.

They all sat on the chair, each lost in their own thoughts.

Xiao Qingya called the Ling siblings over. She just recalled that they had found some information about Zhou Shiming’s plan from some ghosts...

[Where are the ghosts now?] She quickly asked.

[Little Master, we will call them over.] Ling Bo quickly said, and his figure disappeared into a faint smoke.

He reappeared a moment later, dragging a few ghosts inside the room. Xiao Yuyan could feel the room’s temperature drop in an instant. Thinking that the door’s keys were on her, she told her little sister to stay on her chair and got up.

Xiao Yuyan brought a coat and wrapped her little sister on it. Then, she also wrapped herself in a blanket, quietly listening to the conversation between ghosts.

[They went deep into the mountain...]

[... chased by a huge bear...]

The more they listened, the more panicked they became. Xiao Qingya forced herself to calm down and tried to gather as many clues as possible.

She hoped that her eldest brother would also find a few ghosts that could help him find the way.

***

Meanwhile, in another place, Xiao Fenghao and Xiao Yuxi kept looking at the direction above them, where the light had come from.

They had fallen into some kind of trap deep in the ground.

"Second Brother," Xiao Yuxi mumbled helplessly. "If we can’t get out and we die here... we will be ghosts right? We should ask Little Ya to let us follow her around..."

Xiao Fenghao’s mouth twitched, and he knocked her head lightly. "Why is your head always full of nonsense?"

"Who is speaking nonsense?" She rubbed her forehead in dejection. "Look at this place. In order to get out, we have to climb so high... it’s just impossible."

All of a sudden, her breath hitched, and she pointed above in fright. "Second Brother, look. The mother bear is looking down at us from above there!"

Its cub was still with them.