TFS – Chapter 64 Into the Mountains

“I… I…” Facing the village head’s questioning, Qian Defu’s face turned bright red, and he stammered as he tried to explain. “I only said a few words during the day, but… this kid is just too unruly. Before, he kicked his mother, almost causing a big incident, and now he’s gone off without a thought, throwing the whole village into chaos.” By the end of his explanation, his words flowed more smoothly as he angrily accused the missing child.

Even though this child had been troublesome before, seeing Qian Defu’s behavior at this moment turned the villagers’ sympathies toward Qin Goudan. No matter what, he was just a child. What if something happened to him? At a time like this, no one cared about blaming the child for his mistakes—finding him was the top priority.

The villagers found it hard to understand these parents. First, one of them ran to Tang Chunming’s house, accusing him of hiding the boy—an accusation no one believed. Why would Chunming hide Goudan? Over a small spat between children? Everyone knew Chunming wasn’t that petty. Over the past six months, everything Tang Chunming had done for the village was clear to all. Then there was this other parent, still more focused on shifting blame than worrying about their child’s safety. With parents like these, it was no wonder the boy had turned out so unruly at such a young age.

The village head was on the verge of kicking someone. After all this questioning, they still weren’t getting any useful answers. He shouted angrily, “I told you to talk about Goudan! Leave everything else for after the boy is found. You can deal with it however you like once he’s back!”

Qian Defu, both ashamed and angry, wanted to leave, but with so many eyes on him, he had no choice but to continue reluctantly. “I called him to eat, but he wouldn’t eat properly. He smashed his bowl. I said a few words, and Goudan talked back. Then his mother started crying, and he ran off.” As for what was said during the argument, it wasn’t hard to guess, given Qian Defu kept glancing nervously at Tang Chunming. Somehow, their family squabble had managed to drag Chunming into it. No wonder Sun Ge’er had gone to Tang Chunming’s house late at night, demanding to know if he was hiding the boy. The absurdity of it all made people shake their heads in disbelief.

“Enough. We’re not getting anything useful from this,” the village head said irritably. “So, he ran off around noon, and you only got worried enough to start looking now? What kind of parents are you? This is disgraceful.” Turning to the gathered villagers, he instructed, “Let’s split up and search. Ask the other kids in the village if they saw Goudan while playing outside earlier.”

Though everyone had been dragged out of their warm beds to search in the freezing cold, most of the villagers didn’t complain. They were adults, after all, and it didn’t seem right to hold a grudge against a child. Many lit torches and began searching, calling out Goudan’s name loudly in the hope that, if the boy were hiding somewhere, he might hear them and come out.

Zhang Xiu and his two sons had no choice but to join the search. After listening to the details of the situation, Zhang Xiu went back to his house briefly to give his sons instructions. He told them to keep watch over the house while he joined the search party outside.

“Mom, is Goudan missing?” Er Mao poked his fluffy head out from the quilt.

“Yes. By the way, did you two see that boy today?” Zhang Xiu asked casually.

“Mom, I did see him.” Er Mao’s words startled Zhang Xiu, who had been asking without much concern. He quickly grabbed Er Mao. “Where did you see him? Do you know where he went?”

“Mom,” Er Mao grinned and dodged, “You’re so fierce! I saw Goudan running towards Ming Amu’s house, heading up the back mountain. I was going to follow him and see what he was up to, but I’m sure that kid was up to no good. But soon, I heard a dog barking from the mountain, and Goudan was so scared he ran back down. Heh, after that, I don’t know what happened.”

“And you, Da Mao?” Zhang Xiu asked his eldest son.

“I didn’t see anything. Mom, be careful outside and come back soon,” Da Mao said, shaking his head.

“Got it, stay home and take care of your brother.” Zhang Xiu patted his eldest son’s head, feeling comforted by how sensible he was becoming. Of course, he had no idea that, before this, his two sons had teamed up to give Goudan a good beating.

Once outside, Zhang Xiu didn’t hide anything about what Er Mao had said. Tang Chunming and Shen Fulang were waiting for him, along with the imposing Xiao Hua. After hearing the story, Tang Chunming said, “Looks like we need to ask Uncle Da and the others if they’ve seen the boy.” This kid was really a headache. Why did he have to keep causing trouble for his own family? No wonder he always came to their house when something went wrong. “Xiao Hua, follow along.”

“Woof Woof!” Xiao Hua barked twice and obediently followed Tang Chunming.

A man from the Li family lit a torch and followed them, lighting the path. It was freezing cold, and the ground was covered with a layer of snow that hadn’t melted. The combined reflection of the firelight and moonlight made everything unnervingly white.

By the time they reached the back mountain, the commotion in the village had already alerted several households. Some families had also lit torches, intending to go down the mountain and find out what had happened. When Tang Chunming asked, the older Ge’er from Sixth Uncle’s house immediately said, “The boy did come up here during the day. But after Ah Feng told us to keep an eye on things, we made sure no unrelated people came through. Plus, the dogs we keep were alert. When they noticed Goudan, they started barking, and by the time I got there, he had already run off.”

“Ming Ge’er, let’s stay up here and search. With the dog, no one can hide on this mountain,” Uncle Da suggested.

“Right, the dog,” Tang Chunming said, slapping his forehead as he looked down at Xiao Hua. “Xiao Hua, do you remember Goudan’s scent? Can you find that naughty boy?”

“Woof Woof Woof!” Xiao Hua barked in response, as if finally pleased that its owner remembered it.

“Wow, can this dog really find Goudan?” Shen Fulang asked, surprised.

“Let’s give it a try. It’s better than searching aimlessly like this.” When Tang Chunming said that, Xiao Hua, not too pleased, nudged its owner’s thigh with its head. Tang Chunming quickly patted its large head to calm it down. “See? Xiao Hua is protesting. Let it try and find him.”

“Maybe it’ll work. The dogs on this mountain all listen to Xiao Hua. They don’t dare bark at it,” Uncle Da said with a smile. To him, Xiao Hua seemed like the king of the dogs.

“Okay, let’s split up and search. Uncle Da, don’t wander too far. If you find any traces, hurry to the village and get everyone to help look,” Tang Chunming said with concern. Although Li Feng often cleared the mountain, he couldn’t guarantee that it would be safe, especially at night.

“Don’t worry.”

The worst thing happened. After Goudan was chased away from Tang Chunming’s house and the back mountain, he still went into the mountains. Led by Xiao Hua, Tang Chunming and the others found the child’s footprints in another direction. Because it was cold, not many people had entered the mountains, and the snow hadn’t melted or snowed again, so the footprints were clearly visible on the snow.

The next steps were beyond what Tang Chunming and the others could handle. They couldn’t go searching in the mountains at night, so the village head gathered the strong men from the village to help find Goudan. Thanks to Xiao Hua’s efforts, the village head decided to bring the dog along in hopes of finding Goudan more quickly. Once they confirmed that he had entered the mountains, they couldn’t help but scold the child for being reckless, but they were also increasingly worried. Last year, at this time, someone had died in the village—a seasoned hunter, no less.

Tang Chunming comforted Xiao Hua and promised to give it extra food when it returned. Xiao Hua, obedient as ever, followed the village head without protest, which made Shen Fulang and Zhang Xiu praise it. “Tang Chunming’s dog really has a lot of intelligence.”

“We should go back to sleep too. After all this running around, Ah Rong still has to go to school tomorrow. We can’t let him fall behind,” Shen Fulang said. Tang Chunming had been running all over the village with them and hadn’t even complained once.

“Yes, you’re right. A child probably didn’t run too far. We should hear news tomorrow morning,” Tang Chunming replied.

Back home, Tang Chunming was feeling exhausted. The two children were deep asleep, but the two adults couldn’t sleep just yet. They were waiting for the brothers to return and, after learning the situation, they could only sigh. No one could say for sure if Goudan’s decision to enter the mountain was related to Li Feng and the other men going hunting, but they just hoped nothing would go wrong.

“Ah Rong, hurry and go to bed. You need to wake up early tomorrow,” Tang Chunming urged his younger brother. If Ah Rong didn’t sleep, Elder He couldn’t rest either. Once Ah Rong was settled in the other room, Tang Chunming quickly climbed onto the heated kang, finally feeling like he could breathe again. He had been out for a while, and his hands and feet hadn’t warmed up at all. Wang Ying noticed his state and brought hot water for him to wash his feet.

“Tell me, what did the Qian couple say to make that child fixate on your family? If anything happens, will they keep coming after you?” Wang Ying asked with concern as he watched his stepson drink the hot water.

Tang Chunming shrugged and said, “How would I know? I asked them for a long time and got nothing. Being involved with people like that is just our bad luck. If they dare to come after us again, I’ll let Xiao Hua and Xiao Hei bite them!” Tang Chunming was seething with frustration. Not only did they come to his door asking for the child, but they also cried and begged to kneel down. Damn it, he wanted to shout at them. Was this all a show? If this continued and the child lost the pregnancy, would he be responsible? It was too infuriating. He would rather just fight it out, at least it would be more satisfying.

“Alright, once Ah Feng is back, they won’t dare to make a fuss anymore. The bottom line is that they are in the wrong,” Wang Ying, unusually, comforted his stepson. He thought this situation was really frustrating—especially with a Ge’er who was dealing with a pregnancy scare. You really couldn’t push him too hard, otherwise, who would take responsibility if something happened to the baby? He didn’t think much of the type of ge’er who would just cry when something went wrong, but at least now his stepson was more agreeable than before.

It wasn’t until he spoke that Tang Chunming started thinking about what had happened tonight and the village’s unease. He climbed into the bed and asked his stepmother, “Mom, do you think Ah Feng and the others will be alright in the mountains?”

Wang Ying smacked him lightly and said, “Isn’t it a little late to be worrying now? They’re already in the mountains. What good is worrying now?” He didn’t want to say more. Last year, it was Zhao Dahu who had gone into the mountains around this time and never came back. He was worried that mentioning it might upset his stepson, and he didn’t expect that he had already stopped connecting those past events to the present.

Tang Chunming surrendered, obediently curling up in bed to sleep. The reason he hadn’t been worried before was because he trusted Li Feng’s abilities. He had seen Li Feng’s skills firsthand, and when it came to hunting tigers in the mountains, it didn’t sound exaggerated to him. Plus, after getting to know Li Feng better and seeing him take care of his internal energy with the space spring water and food, Li Feng himself said his skills had improved. So, Tang Chunming assumed he would be back in a few days.

Surprisingly, Tang Chunming, usually carefree, found himself worrying too. Li Feng had been uneasy all night, and even though he slept fitfully, it seemed like he heard wolves howling from the mountain during the night. Half-asleep, he couldn’t make out whether it was real or just his imagination. When he woke up to his stepmother’s movements in the morning, he quickly sat up and asked, “Mom, is there any news from the village?”

“No, I asked around. The people who went into the mountains haven’t come back yet, and it seems that kid isn’t doing too well,” Wang Ying replied without even looking up.

That wasn’t good news at all. Despite his heavy sleep, Tang Chunming got out of bed. Without Li Feng around, he couldn’t slack off. He washed up, helped his stepmother prepare breakfast, and after sending Ah Rong off with Sixth Uncle using the ox cart, he finally had time to ask about the situation in the village.

Before he could head out, Doctor Hu rushed in, but he wasn’t looking for Tang Chunming. He was asking for Elder He: “Old Brother, can you go check on things? That kid is too troublesome. I told him to rest and take care of the baby, but he’s causing all this trouble and won’t listen. I’m afraid I won’t be able to keep the baby safe.” He could only ask Elder He to check, as Elder He’s medical skills were something Doctor  Hu greatly respected.

Elder He had just finished his breakfast and hadn’t slept well the night before either. He didn’t say much and simply told Tang Chunming that he was leaving with Doctor Hu. As a doctor, even though he had his own opinions about the way that kid acted, he couldn’t just stand by and let a life be at risk.

Just like the villagers, even if they didn’t like Goudan, they would still go out at night, sleepless, to search for him if something serious happened.