Divorced woman with child travels through time

Chapter 371 The Death of Huang Yi

"Who?" Chen Wenfang didn't quite understand.

"Huang Yi! That runaway slave!" Chu Yi approached with a cold face, her anger still tinged with sorrow. "We treated him so well, and he still ran away!"

When Chen Wenfang arrived at the courtyard, several villagers carried her on a stretcher. Uncle Hu thanked them repeatedly and gave them money for their hard work.

The person was only halfway up the large stretcher, covered by a white sheet so you couldn't see much of them.

Chen Wenfang went over to take a look, but Chu Yi stopped her, shaking her head in shock, "Godmother, don't look anymore, I've confirmed it, it's him!"

"It's nothing, I just wanted to see what happened to this child!" Chen Wenfang was a little sad. How could such a young child be so distraught? She had thought it was suicide. As she spoke, she placed her hand on the white cloth.

"Don't look!" Chu Yi quickly grabbed her hand, hesitated for a moment, and said with a heavy heart and indignation, "Godmother, he died a terrible death, don't look."

Chen Wenfang's face stiffened. "How bad is it?"

"He...his clothes were torn to shreds, his belly was ripped open..." Chu Yi gritted his teeth and squeezed out a few obscure words with difficulty.

"This..." Chen Wenfang's eyes immediately welled up with tears, and she held the white cloth tightly for a long time, unwilling to let go. "Who did this? How could someone be so heartless and cruel?"

"I don't know. I sent someone to inform the county government. The captain will be back soon. Godmother, let's go and rest for a bit." Without waiting for a reply, Chu Yi forcefully pried her hands open and helped her to rest.

Lou Guo, who was in charge of receiving the goods, naturally knew the situation. As soon as Aunt Liu and the others arrived, he explained what had happened. After a brief discussion, they moved the person to a side room to avoid causing a bad impression.

Before long, Magistrate Zheng, Assistant Magistrate Lou, and Wang Erniu returned.

"It was found by the river, pulled out of the water, and there was no murder weapon," Magistrate Lou explained the complainant's statement.

"Your hands are steady, the cuts are clean, and you avoided vital areas, resulting in very little bleeding. This shows you're fast and experienced." Wang Erniu put down the white cloth.

“It seems things are about to get unsettled in this county. You should inform the villagers that no one, especially the elderly and children, should go out alone. Post notices explaining the situation to avoid panic. This knife-shaped weapon is definitely not the work of the Japanese. You should investigate it thoroughly. I will intensify the training of the more than one hundred newly recruited soldiers. You don’t need to worry about the Japanese.” Wang Erniu spoke and acted with great composure and was very convincing.

"Alright, then I'll trouble you, Commandant." Magistrate Zheng was somewhat alarmed. If someone could kill such a young child, they must be a professional assassin.

The two men felt a pang of sorrow and arranged for someone to take Huang Yi's body away. This was at Wang Erniu's request, because he was afraid that the other children would be heartbroken if they found out, although he knew that this matter would eventually become impossible to keep secret.

In the evening, after dinner, Xiao Bo went to ask his father.

"Dad, where did Xiao Huang go? I haven't seen him all day."

"Oh, he probably went home." Uncle Hu said somewhat awkwardly, touching the table and looking for dust.

“You’re lying to me. He’s a runaway slave, where would he have a home? He might be looking for relatives though.”

"Yes, he's just going to visit relatives. You should go to sleep early." Uncle Hu pushed him out the door, trying to get him out of there.

"Okay!" Xiao Bo obediently returned to his room. He didn't like making noise, and Chen Xuanyu and the other two kids didn't like quiet either, so he had to share a room with Huang Yi. Looking at the empty bed, he couldn't help but feel a little sad. This person left without saying a word.

He lay down listlessly. "Huh!" There was something under his pillow. He pulled out a pouch and a note next to it. He recognized the pouch; it was the one Huang Yi always carried. The note read, "Please help me deliver this to Xuanzai, Brother Xiaobo."

Xiao Bo was startled and quickly sat up. He had a bad feeling; could something have happened to him?

Xiao Bo ran to Chen Xuanyu's room.

"Xuanzi! This is from Xiaohuang, open it and take a look!"

"What's wrong? Why are you in such a hurry?" Chen Xuanyu and the others were lying on their beds chatting and bragging when they saw him rushing over, so they sat up lazily.

"Don't worry about it, just open it and take a look!" Xiao Bo, being very obedient, didn't open the purse himself, but he was also worried, so as soon as he saw someone, he rudely shoved it into his hand.

Surprisingly, he didn't act like a little adult as usual. Seeing his flustered face, Chen Xuanyu immediately opened his purse, and a small sheepskin fell out. There was nothing else inside.

"What is this?" Both children came over, and Fifteen picked it up and looked at it for a long time, not knowing what it was.

Xiao Hao knew a little bit, "This is sheepskin, but there are no words on it. Why did he give it to you?"

"I don't know, I'm not familiar with him." Chen Xuanyu was puzzled. He had only saved Huang Yi on a whim, and after he recovered, Huang Yi had become lukewarm towards him. He couldn't keep trying to please Huang Yi.

"That's easy, just call the others over and ask them!" Fifteen touched his purse; it was practically empty.

"He's gone." Xiao Bo looked at the sheepskin and suddenly felt sad. Could something have happened to him? Although he wasn't very talkative, he knew that his younger brother was actually a good person.

"How could it be gone?" The three children became anxious.

“Speaking of which, I was saying that when I came back today, Grandpa Hu was acting strangely, like something had happened in our yard. Mom also told me not to go out to play too much.” Chen Xuanyu suddenly said.

"My brother also told me not to go out for the next few days," Fifteen added.

"Stop guessing, let's go find out!" Xiao Hao waved his hand, and the kids filed out.

"What about me? I'll go help too." Xiao Bo rolled up his sleeves, wanting to follow.

"Don't go, just wait here for news," Chen Xuanyu called out as he turned around.

Xiao Bo readily agreed, but I really couldn't help him.

The three of them sneaked into Aunt Hu's room. One climbed a tree, one pressed against the window, and one hid behind the door, listening intently.

Inside the room, two people were sighing over what had happened during the day.

"You know, Huang Yi is such a pitiful child. He suffered so much, and after finally being rescued, he was harmed again. Why did he have to run away? Wouldn't it have been better for him to stay here? Sigh!" Uncle Hu sighed. He had his son late in life and couldn't bear to see such things happen.

"That's right. He has plenty to eat and drink at home, yet he insists on going out. Could it be that he has something to hide? Alas, what a pity for this child."

"How can those killers be so ruthless? Killing people is one thing, but doing it like that? It's truly a tragedy." Uncle Hu couldn't bear to say that word.

"Ugh! Damn it!..."

The children were filled with righteous indignation and wished they could avenge him on the spot, for he was someone they had worked so hard to save.

"Let's go first, we need to come up with a plan!" Chen Xuanyu mouthed the words, and the two understood what he meant, quietly leaving Uncle Hu's house.

"How did it go?" Upon seeing them return, Xiao Bo immediately rushed over excitedly.

"You guessed right, something happened to him!" Chen Xuanyu sighed.

"Then let's go and rescue him!" Xiao Bo took out his pocket money and said seriously to Chen Xuanyu, "This is all I have."