After figuring out the situation, Liu Ji’an and Shen Qingge didn’t stay long. It was better to have as little contact with Ying Huan as possible.
On the way back, Liu Ji’an asked, “Wife, do you think Lame Liu’s mother really just ‘disappeared’? Could it have something to do with that woman?”
He felt the woman named Ying Huan was definitely involved.
Shen Qingge had been reflecting on recent events. She felt that the “leader” who had jumped off the cliff to his death had died a bit too easily. Shouldn’t a villain be more resilient? She had a gut feeling that Ying Huan was not an innocent victim in that bandit group; she likely had a deep connection to the dead leader.
If her intuition was right, Lame Liu’s mother wasn’t missing—she was likely murdered. And Lame Liu had probably been turned by Ying Huan to cooperate with her.
Shen Qingge shared her thoughts with Liu Ji’an.
He frowned. “You mean… Ying Huan might have been the real leader of that group?”
Shen Qingge: “Even if she wasn’t the leader, she was definitely high up. Her identity is not clean.” Of this, she was certain.
This reminded Liu Ji’an of the time Ying Huan tried to drug him. Such a potent substance wasn’t something an ordinary woman would have. “If that’s the case, she has no reason to keep traveling with us. She must have a purpose.”
“If I’m right,” Shen Qingge said, “she wants revenge.”
“Revenge?”
“Yes. We destroyed her group. She naturally holds a grudge. That explains why she insisted on staying with us from the start.”
Shen had wiped them out, and Liu Ji’an had reported them to the authorities. Their biggest enemies were the two of them. That’s why she initially targeted Liu Ji’an—trying to seduce him to drive a wedge between the couple. She just didn’t expect him to be totally immune to her charms.
“She gave up on seducing you, but she’s turned her gaze to others. I suspect she’s already involved with several men in the village. She wants to use them against us. Lame Liu is just one of them. His mother didn’t disappear—she was killed.”
Liu Ji’an’s face darkened. He was the one who had intentionally put Ying Huan and Lame Liu together in the same bed as a punishment. He hadn’t expected it would give her a foothold to take a life.
“We don’t know who else she has recruited, but her intentions are terrifying. Trouble will brew sooner or later. We need to warn the Village Chief.”
Shen Qingge stopped him. “Both she and Lame Liu are there right now. Going now will only alert them. Let’s wait until dark.”
Once they were back in their shelter, they shared their suspicions with Father and Mother Liu in private.
Father Liu was furious. “That scoundrel Lame Liu! To do that to his own mother…”
Lame Liu’s mother had been harsh to outsiders, but she was incredibly good to her son. When he broke his leg, she had begged everyone to borrow money for a doctor. She had carried the whole household on her back. To think it ended like this made Mother Liu’s skin crawl.
Seeing the old couple so upset, Shen Qingge said, “Father, Mother, these are just guesses for now. Perhaps… she is okay.” She wasn’t great at comforting people and looked to Liu Ji’an for help.
He quickly chimed in: “Yes, until it’s proven, it’s not necessarily the worst-case scenario. But we can’t just be sad; Ying Huan is dangerous. We need to alert the Chief so we can prepare.”
“You’re right,” Father Liu said, pulling himself together. “I’ll go find him.”
“Father, make sure no one else knows. We can’t alert them.”
Over the next few days, the journey continued normally. No strange incidents occurred, but Lame Liu’s mother was never found. Most villagers assumed the worst—the road was dangerous, and a lone old woman was an easy target. The atmosphere in the group was low.
However, the Village Chief, having been warned, was not spending his time grieving. He took Liu Ji’an and Shen Qingge’s warning very seriously. Even though several days passed peacefully, he did not relax. He arranged for several groups to keep a 24-hour watch on Ying Huan and Lame Liu.
At first, nothing happened. But soon, the watchers noticed that Ying Huan would sneak out every night. Sometimes she met with other women; other times, she was seen with the village troublemakers—men who were much easier to manipulate than the rest.