“Fire! Fire!”
Someone suddenly shouted.
Everyone looked up and saw that the dry grass along the roadside had caught fire in the March weather.
Some people’s clothing had been set ablaze as well.
Panic erupted.
People scrambled in every direction while trying to beat out the flames.
The guards immediately shouted:
“Put the fire out now!”
“Stop running around!”
“Everyone gather in the middle of the road!”
“If even one person is missing, the rest of you will suffer for it!”
The soldiers were worried that someone might use the chaos as an opportunity to escape.
Fortunately, the fire wasn’t very large.
It was quickly extinguished.
Once the danger had passed, Chen Laoda ordered two of his men to begin counting heads.
Lan Luoyun hurriedly brought Dabao and Erbao out of her space and returned them to their baskets.
As expected, someone was missing.
The missing person was none other than Lin Yaru.
The moment Lan Luoyun heard this, a bad feeling arose.
The fire had probably been started by Lin Yaru.
She had likely used the confusion to make her escape.
Thinking back, perhaps even the wild boar attack from the previous night hadn’t been an accident.
When everyone had asked how she encountered the boar, she claimed she had simply gone outside to relieve herself in the middle of the night.
But now that Lan Luoyun thought about it carefully…
Many people had gone outside repeatedly while gathering firewood during the pig slaughter.
None of them encountered any wild boars.
So why had Lin Yaru run into one the moment she went outside alone?
Chen Laoda was already furious the instant he learned someone was missing.
“Which blind fool dared escape right under my nose?!”
He cursed nonstop.
When he discovered the missing person was Lin Yaru, his anger exploded.
Without hesitation, he raised his whip and lashed Madam Su.
“You damned woman!”
“Every single problem comes from your daughter!”
“If she isn’t found today, don’t think you’ll live either!”
Chen Laoda was absolutely livid.
Ordinarily, losing one exile wasn’t a major issue.
Even if ten people disappeared, the guards could simply report that they had died along the road.
The authorities rarely cared about the fate of exiles.
But this situation was different.
This looked very much like an escape attempt.
It was a direct challenge to his authority.
If he failed to punish her properly, what credibility would he have left?
What if others began trying to escape as well?
No matter what, Lin Yaru had to be found.
“Meng Laosan!”
“Take two men and search that direction!”
“Leave two guards here to watch the prisoners!”
“Everyone else comes with me!”
Chen Laoda barked orders.
“Hurry up!”
“She can’t have gotten far!”
At that moment, Lan Luoyun stepped forward.
“Chen Laoda, let me help search.”
The guard considered for a moment before agreeing.
He wasn’t worried about Lan Luoyun escaping.
Over the past few days, he had observed her carefully.
Her feelings for Lin Nancheng were genuine.
She also had two children.
A woman like that wouldn’t abandon her family and run away alone.
“Fine.”
“Everyone split up and search!”
Why did Lan Luoyun volunteer?
There were two reasons.
First, if the guards couldn’t find Lin Yaru, they would likely vent their anger on everyone else.
Second, even if the guards found her while she was actively fleeing, the remaining prisoners would still suffer the consequences.
Either way, someone was going to pay.
Therefore, she needed to find Lin Yaru before the guards did.
As soon as she reached a place where no one could see her, she acted.
Without hesitation, she took a drone out of her space.
Launching it into the sky, she began a systematic aerial search.
Sure enough, she quickly spotted Lin Yaru.
The woman had been running frantically.
In fact, she was surprisingly fast.
No wonder she had managed to reach the abandoned house during the wild boar incident without being caught.
After running for a while, Lin Yaru suddenly stopped.
Apparently, she had heard the guards shouting her name.
She immediately hid herself.
That alone confirmed Lan Luoyun’s suspicions.
She had definitely intended to escape.
Once she locked onto Lin Yaru’s location, Lan Luoyun entered her space.
When she emerged again, she was directly behind her target.
“Lin Yaru!”
“What are you doing hiding here?”
The sudden voice nearly scared Lin Yaru to death.
She spun around, trembling.
“Lan Luoyun?!”
“How are you here?!”
She had never imagined that Lan Luoyun would find her before the guards did.
Lan Luoyun folded her arms.
“What do you think?”
“Were you trying to escape?”
The accusation struck home.
Lin Yaru was terrified.
Still, she stubbornly denied everything.
“Who says I was escaping?”
“The fire scared me.”
“I panicked and ran.”
“Then I couldn’t find my way back.”
No matter what, she refused to admit the truth.
If Lan Luoyun handed her over to the guards as an escapee, she would be beaten half to death.
Lan Luoyun snorted.
“You can argue all you want.”
“You’d better hope you weren’t trying to escape.”
“Otherwise nobody is going to let you off easily.”
“If you want to throw your life away, that’s your business.”
“But don’t drag everyone else down with you.”
With that, she grabbed Lin Yaru by the collar and dragged her back.
At that point, the search parties had not yet returned.
When everyone saw that Lan Luoyun had already found the missing woman, they collectively breathed a sigh of relief.
The two guards left behind immediately signaled Chen Laoda and Meng Laosan.
Before long, both groups returned.
The instant Chen Laoda arrived, he launched into a brutal beating.
Punches.
Kicks.
And constant shouting.
“You wretched woman!”
“How dare you try escaping under my watch?!”
“Run, will you?!”
“Let’s see you run after I break your legs!”
Lin Yaru immediately dropped to her knees and slammed her head against the ground repeatedly.
“Officer!”
“Officer!”
“You’ve misunderstood!”
“I really wasn’t trying to escape!”
“I swear!”
Chen Laoda wasn’t interested.
He was still furious.
Several more lashes followed.
“Please stop!”
Lin Yaru cried.
Then she hurriedly grabbed his leg and discreetly slipped a few pieces of silver into his hand.
Just like her mother.
Always trying to solve problems with money.
Only then did Chen Laoda pause long enough to listen.
“Officer.”
“I truly wasn’t escaping.”
“Look.”
She lifted her pant leg.
Her ankle was visibly swollen.
“When the fire broke out, I stepped on a branch and twisted my ankle.”
“I couldn’t move.”
“That’s why I didn’t return.”
“Please believe me.”
Seeing her injury and hearing her explanation, Chen Laoda finally calmed down.
The story sounded plausible enough.
So he chose to believe her.
But while she might fool everyone else…
She couldn’t fool Lan Luoyun.
When Lan Luoyun found her, she had caught a glimpse of something hidden inside Lin Yaru’s clothing.
That object revealed everything.
It was proof that Lin Yaru had been preparing to escape for quite some time.