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Join the ServerThe woman sighed, “I can’t be sure either.”
“There is a rumor in our village that an evil dragon lives beneath this land, and we need to sacrifice young girls to be its brides. Once the evil dragon has a bride, it won’t turn the earth over, and there won’t be any earthquakes.”
Speaking to this point, the woman felt a lingering dread, “Originally, as time passed, everyone stopped making sacrifices. But over twenty years ago, the earth dragon turned over again, and many people died that year.”
“Someone remembered this rumor and sacrificed their unwanted daughters. For some reason, after that, those who couldn’t have sons but had many daughters would sacrifice their baby girls.”
“Until these past few years, when young boys started disappearing. I suspect it’s because the old evil dragon died and was replaced by a female dragon who wants a live-in husband.”
Hearing this, Mu An only felt a shiver of disgust; so many young girls had been sacrificed for no reason all because of a fabricated rumor.
He did not even dare to ask how they were sacrificed.
“There is no evil dragon beneath the ground,” Shen Shengqing said coldly, his voice carrying an unquestionable certainty.
Mu An also explained, “Earthquakes in this world are caused by the shifting and squeezing of tectonic plates, not some evil dragon. Sacrifices are simply foolish.”
The woman was stunned by their remarks, and after a brief moment, she sighed, “Whether there is one or not, it doesn’t matter what you say; it only matters what they are willing to believe.”
Thinking back, she had almost been taken for the sacrifice herself; if her mother hadn’t risked her life to protect her, she might not be here today.
“But, since you say it’s not some evil dragon looking for a live-in husband, what other reason could there be for the children to go missing? So many cultivators have passed through here, and not a single one has been able to solve it.”
Mu An pursed his lips slightly and reached out to call Xiaoman forward, “Sister, do you recognize this person?”
Xiaoman stepped forward, lowering his head slightly, looking rather anxious.
The woman looked at his face, her brow furrowing slightly. As she scrutinized him closely, she gasped in shock, “This… this…”
Mu An’s eyes lit up.
The woman suddenly stood up and shouted outside, “Xiaoqu, go quickly and call your Auntie Hua over! Tell her it’s urgent! Hurry!”
“Okay!” A young girl’s voice answered from outside, and she ran off into the distance.
Mu An rose as well, “Did you recognize who he is?”
Xiaoman also looked at the woman with an anxious heart, but the woman hesitated, stopping herself from speaking.
Finally, she shook her head, “I can’t be sure, but he looks a bit like Huasui. She lost a…”
At this point, the woman fixed her eyes on Xiaoman, “She lost a son.”
If this person really was Huasui’s child, did that mean the boys missing from the village weren’t actually dead?
She silently shut her mouth, a surge of mixed emotions filling her heart.
Ever since boys had started disappearing frequently from the village, her standard of living had not only failed to decline but had actually improved.
She had been married for over ten years but had never given birth to a son, only two daughters. At first, her husband constantly blamed her, and the neighborhood elders would subtly imply every New Year that she needed a son to have someone to rely on in the future.
However, ever since the village boys started disappearing regularly, everyone began to cherish girls, believing that only girls wouldn’t go missing and that they might have to rely on their daughters for old age instead.
Her status in the household had subtly risen, and even her two daughters were given the opportunity to attend school.
She gazed at the doorway, her thoughts drifting, caught between the hope that all the children in the village would return safely and a deep, anxious dread.
Before long, a woman wearing a blue floral cloth headscarf walked in quickly, an anxious expression on her face, “Fang’er, what did you need me for?”
The moment the words left her mouth, she spotted the group of people in Chen Fang’s room, all dressed in luxurious clothing with faces so handsome they did not seem mortal.
An answer formed in her mind; she assumed these cultivators had come to ask questions again.
Chen Fang pushed aside her chaotic thoughts and pulled Xiaoman in front of her, “Huasui, look at this person. Does he look familiar to you?”
Pulled so suddenly, Xiaoman almost lost his footing. He looked up at the woman named Huasui. Could she really be his mother?
The woman’s face was slightly sallow. She looked to be in her forties, but her hair was already streaked with silver.
Huasui looked at Xiaoman’s face, freezing in place as if turned to stone, her dazed eyes staring at him for a long time.
Xiaoman felt frightened by her gaze and wanted to step back, but tears slowly welled up in the woman’s eyes.
Huasui suddenly wrapped him in a tight embrace, “Chuanyu! My Chuanyu!”
The woman’s shrill, sorrowful cries served as a definitive answer to everyone present.
Xiaoman’s eyes filled with shock. The person before him was truly his mother, and his name was Chuanyu?
Chen Fang’s mind went blank. Those boys really weren’t dead.
Looking at the mother and son reunited, Mu An’s eyes felt slightly hot, but when he turned his head, he noticed Chen Fang’s strange reaction.
Assuming Chen Fang had also lost a child, he offered some words of comfort, “Your child will come back too. We recently found a group of missing people, and they are very likely all from your village.”
Chen Fang forced a slight smile and nodded, “That’s… that’s wonderful.”
Huasui released Chuanyu and gently cupped her son’s face, her tears flowing uncontrollably, “Chuanyu, where have you been all this time? Mother was worried sick about you.”
Unaccustomed to the woman’s intense warmth, Chuanyu cast a pleading look toward Mu An.
“Sister, Chuanyu has lost his memories and doesn’t recognize you right now,” Mu An spoke up. “You need to give him some time, so you don’t frighten him.”
Hearing this, Huasui froze. “Amnesia?”
“Yes. For the specifics, I need to talk to your village chief. Could you lead the way?”
At this, Huasui nodded repeatedly. “Thank you, Benefactor, for saving my son.”
With that, she made to drop to her knees, but Mu An and Yunnan You were quick-handed enough to catch and steady her.
Shen Shengqing knit his brow and spoke up, “The most pressing matter is dealing with the missing children. Please lead the way.”
Shen Shengqing’s voice was as cold as freezing iron, carrying a natural, unquestionable authority.
His aloof attitude made Huasui dare not stand on ceremony any longer; she nodded hurriedly and stepped forward to lead the way.
The group quickly found the village chief and stated their purpose.
The white-haired old man stroked his beard and laughed up to the skies, “Our ancestors bless the Chen clan! Our clan line will not be cut off!”
Yet the sense of relief and elation in his voice inexplicably made Mu An feel uncomfortable.
It wasn’t as if their village lacked female children; how could that possibly count as cutting off the family line?
Because of this lingering discomfort, Mu An’s attitude toward the village chief lacked its initial warmth.
The village chief eagerly gathered the households who had lost children, organizing them into a team to go to the main city and pick up their kids.
Although it wasn’t guaranteed that all those amnesiac children came from Chen Village, this was the only lead on the children they’d had in all these years, so many parents eagerly signed up to go.
Ultimately, sending one person per family resulted in a group of over sixty people.
Chuanyu, in particular, found himself surrounded by numerous households who looked him over and scrutinized him. “It’s him, it’s that boy Chuanyu.”
“Chuanyu, have you seen your Older Brother Zenzhu?”
“Chuanyu, where have you been all these years? Has life been hard, and have you been eating enough?”
Everyone wanted to catch a glimpse of their own child’s current condition through conversations with Chuanyu.
You’ve got to see this next! The Girl Who Returned from Hell Doesn’t Want to Depend on Her Best friend will keep you on the edge of your seat. Start reading today!
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