Father and daughter walked down the middle of the road, one scanning the left side while the other searched the right.
Even after reaching the city gates, they still had not spotted a single familiar face.
Lin Yan began to panic slightly.
The city gates were tightly shut, and a notice had been pasted beside them.
Setting his daughter down, Lin Yan wiped the sweat from his forehead and carefully read the announcement.
Meanwhile, Lin Zhiyue continued turning her head, searching the crowd behind them.
Truthfully, she was not even sure whether she would recognize the villagers from Dahe Village if she saw them.
Still, instinctively, she kept looking around.
At that moment, a disturbance broke out near the right side of the city gate.
An old woman was dragging along a little girl.
“You can’t leave! I traded two jin of millet for you! If you want to go, return the grain first!” the old woman shrieked.
“You damned old hag! Who was traded to you? Truly no good deed goes unpunished! Let go of me!”
The little girl struggled fiercely while shouting back angrily.
The surrounding people merely lifted their heads to watch the commotion.
No one stepped forward to interfere.
It was as though such scenes had become completely ordinary.
The moment Lin Zhiyue saw the girl, fragmented memories suddenly flashed through her mind.
“Yueyue is really so pretty.”
The girl often stared blankly at her before sighing admiringly.
“That outfit only looks average on you. But if my Yueyue wore it, then it would become the prettiest outfit ever.”
That had been when another child in the village showed off new clothes in front of her.
“When I grow up and earn money, I’ll buy Yueyue beautiful dresses and pretty hairpins.”
The girl had once declared this proudly to a younger little boy.
“Then when I earn money, I’ll buy Yueyue tasty food! And I’m going to become a great hero someday too! If anyone bullies Yueyue, I’ll beat them to death!”
The little boy had immediately refused to be outdone.
Lin Zhiyue stared fixedly at the girl’s face as the image before her gradually merged with the warm memories of the cousin who had always protected her.
At that moment, the girl failed to break free from the old woman’s grip.
In desperation, she opened her mouth and bit down hard on the old woman’s hand.
“You little slut! You dare bite me?!”
The old woman cursed viciously before raising her other hand and slapping the girl across the face.
The sharp smack rang loudly.
The girl’s cheek immediately swelled bright red.
Lin Zhiyue’s pupils contracted.
Without even warning Lin Yan, she suddenly let out a loud yell and charged forward.
At the same time, the electric baton slid from her sleeve into her hand.
Switching it on, she jabbed it directly into the old woman’s waist.
In an instant—
The old woman’s face turned deathly pale.
Her entire body convulsed violently, and the hand gripping the girl loosened immediately before she collapsed onto the ground twitching uncontrollably.
The surrounding crowd stared in stunned shock.
After several seconds, whispers instantly spread through the area.
“Xingxing!”
The moment his daughter ran off, Lin Yan had chased after her.
But she had moved far too quickly.
Before he even processed what had happened, the old woman had already collapsed.
Only then did he notice the girl beside them—
Lin Zhixing.
At that moment, Lin Zhixing was staring blankly at Lin Zhiyue as well, too stunned to respond to Lin Yan.
Th-This was her little sister, wasn’t it?
Those eyebrows…
That mouth…
That nose…
Though why were there dark spots on her nose?
And had her skin gotten tanned?
Her little sister was not quite as beautiful as before anymore.
But even so, she was still the prettiest child in the village.
Finally recognizing her cousin, Lin Zhixing suddenly reacted.
“Ahhh—Yueyue!”
Ignoring the pain in her face entirely, she rushed forward, scooped Lin Zhiyue into her arms, and spun her around excitedly.
“Yueyue! You’re better now, right? You recognize me now! You finally recognize me!”
Looking at the rapidly swelling cheek on Lin Zhixing’s face, Lin Zhiyue felt a painful ache in her chest.
She wanted to touch it but hesitated midway, drawing her hand back.
“Big Sister Xingxing, put me down first. Does your face hurt?”
“Haha, not at all—ow—seeing you means it doesn’t hurt anymore! You’re better now, so nothing hurts anymore!”
The old Yueyue had always been slow and unresponsive.
Even when bullied, she merely stared blankly without reaction.
But today, Yueyue not only knew how to fight back—
She had even stood up for her.
Lin Zhixing finally set Lin Zhiyue down, grinning foolishly as she continued staring at her.
Lin Yan smiled warmly at his silly niece before stepping forward and rubbing her head.
“Xingxing, what happened? Where are your grandparents and parents? Why are you alone? And what’s with this old woman?”
Only then did Lin Zhixing fully notice her second uncle.
Suddenly remembering everything, she angrily pointed toward the old woman on the ground.
“Second Uncle, this nasty old hag tricked me in the mountains! She pretended she twisted her ankle and asked me to help her down. But after we got here, she suddenly claimed I’d been traded to her for grain and refused to let me leave!”
Before Lin Zhixing could finish speaking, two men—one tall and one short—and a woman rushed over.
“Mother! What happened? Who hit you?!”
The woman half-supported the twitching old lady while wailing loudly.
The old woman’s lips trembled violently.
Clearly, she still could not speak properly.
Her body continued twitching as she shakily pointed toward Lin Yan and the others.
The tall man immediately glared furiously at Lin Yan.
“You dare hit my mother?!”
As he shouted, he prepared to charge forward.
Lin Yan quickly pulled both girls behind him.
“What? Your mother’s a human trafficker. Is she not supposed to be beaten?”
Sensing things turning ugly, Lin Zhiyue secretly stuffed the electric baton into Lin Yan’s hand.
“Dad, just jab his numbing point if necessary. Don’t hit a fatal spot. Killing him would be troublesome.”
The tall man immediately froze upon hearing this.
Warily, he stared at the strange rod in Lin Yan’s hand.
Meanwhile, the old woman lying on the ground panicked completely.
“Ah—don’t… ah…”
The tall man hesitated.
Seeing his mother like this, he no longer dared rush forward recklessly.
The old woman desperately tugged at the woman’s sleeve beside her.
“Husband, Mother’s calling for you!”
“Big Brother, let’s take Mother back first.”
The shorter man stepped forward and tugged at the tall man’s arm.
After hesitating a moment, the tall man finally growled,
“If anything happens to my mother, I’ll never let you people off!”
Then he turned around and, together with the woman, helped the trembling old woman away.
Elsewhere nearby stood a crude shelter made from tree branches, with two outer robes spread overhead to block the sun.
“Mother, please drink some water. I’m begging you.”
Lin Dian knelt before Old Madam Lin, pleading desperately.
Old Madam Lin lay there weakly, her cloudy eyes half-open as she slowly shook her head.
Under her breath, she murmured repeatedly,
“Ah Yan… Ah Yan… Yueyue…”
“Mother, you must stay alive until Ah Yan returns! If he comes back and you’re gone, how am I supposed to explain it to him? Mother, please drink.”
Lin Dian held a nearly empty water pouch.
Only a final mouthful remained inside.
Yet no matter what, the old woman refused to drink it.
Nearby, Old Master Lin sat staring blankly ahead without even trying to persuade his wife.
Because he knew persuasion was useless.
In truth, he felt exactly the same as she did.
Until they found water, he himself would rather die of thirst than drink that final mouthful.
The grandchildren had gone searching for water—
But how easy was water to find these days?
The entire family had gone two full days without drinking a single drop.
And now, with only this final sip remaining, no one was willing to drink it.
Madam Li stood nearby quietly wiping away tears.
She had already tried persuading the old woman earlier, but the stubborn老太太 simply refused no matter what anyone said.
Their food stores had not yet run out.
But their water had.
Yesterday, the couple had tried using grain to trade for water, asking all along both sides of the city gate roads.
Not a single person had been willing to exchange.
If Old Madam Lin still refused to drink—
She likely would not survive the day.