readytorunbook Chapter 127 Is there such a thing?
Chapter 127 Is there such a thing?
"A small road?" Lin Feng looked at the collapsed road ahead. Even now, let alone in the torrential rain of last night, it would probably take two or three days to pass through.
Given the county magistrate's impatient nature, it was absolutely impossible for her to wait until the road was open before setting off.
"Huguo Temple is the largest Buddhist temple in the suburbs of Beijing, and it attracts a lot of people to burn incense. So, besides this official road, there are also nearby villages that can pass through, although they are a bit roundabout. Therefore, there is more than one side road. I just don't know which one the county magistrate will take..."
Lin Feng was a guard at the Princess's residence. Because the Princess often went to Huguo Temple to offer incense and worship Buddha, he was quite familiar with the roads nearby. However, he had left in a hurry and did not bring any men with him. If something really happened to the Princess, he was afraid that if he continued to search slowly, it would cause delays.
“Miss Lu, could you please go back and find some people? I was in such a hurry that I didn’t bring any men with me. Searching for them one by one might cause delays, and I’m worried that the county princess might be in danger.” Lin Feng looked at Lu Yangyang with difficulty. Asking a young girl like Lu Yangyang to go back so far to find people was something he hadn’t thought of carefully enough.
“This place isn’t close to the capital. If we go back and forth like this, we don’t know how long it will take. Here’s what we’ll do: tell me which way to go, and we’ll split up to search. The most important thing is to find out which road the county princess took first, and then we can follow that route. That should be faster.” Lu Yangyang looked at the sky. If she turned back now to look for her, it would be afternoon by the time she got there. This place wasn’t far from Huguo Temple and Qinglian Temple. If Princess Liduan really had an accident on the way, then we could definitely find her by following that route.
If Princess Liduan has already gone to Qinglian Temple, then they will receive the news even faster.
"But, are you sure you can manage alone?" It wasn't that Lin Feng didn't want Lu Yangyang to stay, but in his eyes, Lu Yangyang was about the same age as their county princess, both young girls. It was really inappropriate and dangerous for her to go find people alone.
“I came with you, did you see me holding you back?” Lu Yangyang asked.
Lin Feng thought for a moment. He had been in a hurry and had been riding his horse very fast, hardly stopping along the way, but Lu Yangyang had kept up.
Lin Feng clasped his hands in a fist and bowed very solemnly to Lu Yangyang: "Then I'll trouble you, Miss Lu. Here's what we'll do: you go south. There are several villages to the south. You can bypass this road by going around them. As for the location of Qinglian Temple, you can ask around and find it easily. I'll go north. There's a mountain road to the north that's closer. Whether we find it or not, we'll meet at the foot of Qinglian Temple before sunset at 5 PM. What do you think?"
Lu Yangyang hesitated for a moment. She had grown up around the mountains since she was a child, so she was more familiar with them.
However, she was not familiar with the mountains outside the capital. From Lin Feng's perspective, if she said she would go into the mountains to look for it, Lin Feng probably wouldn't agree.
“Okay, I’ll go ask around in the nearby villages first. You go look for me in the mountains. If I can make it quickly, I’ll come and meet you. But don’t worry, if I can’t make it, I’ll definitely wait for you at the foot of Qinglian Temple around 5-7 PM,” Lu Yangyang said after thinking for a moment.
"Okay, thank you." Lin Feng thanked Lu Yangyang again before mounting his horse and hurrying away.
Lu Yangyang didn't dawdle. She mounted her horse, asked someone for directions, and headed towards a nearby village.
She has a good memory and can basically remember the roads she has traveled. After asking the nearby villagers, she roughly figured out that there are three villages that can bypass this road, and the direction of Qinglian Temple is a little south, which is roughly at the point of a triangle with the road that is currently blocked.
The main destination in Liduan County is Qinglian Temple. Theoretically, taking the official road south from the section where the accident occurred would be the fastest and most convenient. However, if we're talking about taking a shortcut, the shortest route is diagonally from the other end.
Last night, Princess Liduan went down the mountain and encountered a landslide caused by heavy rain. She wanted to go to Qinglian Temple. One option was to go around the mountain that Lin Feng had gone to and take the official road here. The other option was to go directly into the village from the small path there and walk diagonally along the village, which was the shortest route.
Therefore, if Princess Li Duan chose this route last night, she must have walked diagonally.
Having mentally rehearsed the route, Lu Yangyang didn't waste a moment and rode her horse directly around the village ahead.
Last night there was a heavy rain, and the village roads were all dirt roads, which were the most difficult to walk on at this time. Every now and then you would encounter some puddles or mud pits that had not been filled in. Fortunately, Lu Yangyang was brave enough to jump over the ones that she couldn't avoid.
Finally, she managed to find the route she had simulated in her mind before noon. If Princess Liduan had taken this route last night, she would definitely find her by following this path. If she hadn't found her, then either she had finally arrived at Qinglian Temple, or she had taken the route Lin Feng had found.
With a direction in mind, Lu Yangyang became much more meticulous. Unfortunately, she asked around in two villages, but neither village had seen it before, and she hadn't heard any noise from it last night.
Could it be that she guessed wrong?
As Lu Yangyang was pondering this, she heard a cheerful suona horn sound coming from the village ahead.
Whose family is having a happy occasion at this time?
Lu Yangyang hadn't eaten breakfast and had been traveling all morning, so she was dizzy and thirsty. Just then, she led her horse into the village and grabbed a little boy playing in a mud puddle. "Hey, I'm just passing by. Can you take me to your house for a drink of water?"
The little boy looked at her warily: "What if you're a bad person? My mom said I shouldn't talk to strangers."
Lu Yangyang patted him on the head: "I'm only a few years older than you. What makes you think I'm a bad guy? Look at my arms, they're not even as thick as yours!"
Lu Yangyang stretched out her arm and rolled up her sleeve, revealing an arm that was indeed not much better than the little boy's.
The little boy scratched his head, looked at Lu Yangyang, and said, "You're right. Okay, come with me then."
Lu Yangyang, leading the horse, glanced at him and said, "Kid, you're quite wary."
The little boy whispered, "In the past few years, many children have gone missing in the villages around here, ranging from a few years old to teenagers. It is said that they were all abducted by traffickers. The old men in the government have been searching for a long time, but they have not been able to find the traffickers. They can only go from village to village to inform the children not to run around and not to talk to strangers."
"Such a thing happens? Can a teenager really get lost?" Lu Yangyang suddenly became alert. Could it be that Princess Liduan was kidnapped by abductors last night during the heavy rain?