Chapter 321: Chapter 321

"Little divine doctor?" The old man felt confused.

"It's , Dad. Just now you were almost dead, and Doctor Sun was powerless to help. At this moment, a little divine doctor suddenly appeared and saved you," The old man's son worked hard to organize his words. It was fairly coherent, though somewhat unclear.

"Where is this little divine doctor?" The old man immediately asked. Although he didn't know why such a little divine doctor would appear to save him, he still needed to thank him for saving his life.

"He's right there. I want to go kowtow to him and thank him for saving you." The old man's son pointed at Xiaoyao and wanted to go continue what he hadn't finished earlier.

"Come back first. Help me over there—we'll thank him together." The old man called his son back. The pain in his body was gone, but his body was quite weak and he couldn't move around casually.

"Yes, yes, I'll help you right away," The old man's son scratched his head, scolding himself for being too hasty. How could this matter be done without his father? If his father hadn't thanked the person, he would definitely keep talking about it day and night.

"Little divine doctor, I'm going to kowtow to you,"

"Don't—I really can't accept such ceremony. It would shorten my lifespan. You wouldn't want to repay kindness with enmity, would you?" Xiaoyao stopped him once again.

"This... hehe, I'm a crude person. Besides this, I don't know how to express my gratitude." The old man's son laughed honestly. Indeed, he now didn't know how to express himself.

"I can feel your intention—you don't need to use any actions to express it. Old man, you too—don't do anything that would shorten my lifespan. I can appreciate your sentiments." Xiaoyao also gave the old man a preventive warning. He knew the old man before him might do similar things. What kind of son there was, there would be about the same kind of father, because sons learned from their fathers.

The old man seemed to see that Xiaoyao didn't like these things, so he went along with Xiaoyao's wishes and said, "Since that's the case, I won't bow to the little divine doctor either, but there must still be some thanks. We don't have much, but I hope the little divine doctor won't mind."

"Old man, your son probably hasn't told you yet—I treated you all as payment for your answers, because I have some things I want to ask you. This can also count as your thanks." Xiaoyao said with a smile.

"What things? As long as I know, I'll definitely tell you." The old man was somewhat puzzled about what such a little divine doctor would want to ask him.

"Do you remember if any special people came to your village twenty years ago? Did anything special happen?" Xiaoyao asked.

"Twenty years ago? I need to think about this..." The old man frowned. Old people's memories weren't very good, and even those with good memories would find it difficult to recall things from twenty years ago immediately.

"Think slowly. You can tell me anything special, even small matters." Xiaoyao said. Some overlooked small details were often the key to problems. This was Xiaoyao's experience—he often discovered things in small details.

"Not many people came to our small mountain village. What I remember most clearly is a young couple who came many years ago, but I don't know if it was twenty years ago or twenty-something years ago. I only remember that at that time, my son was getting married." The old man first thought of what impressed him most.

"Son, how many years have you been married?"

"Should be over twenty years. Your grandson is already twenty-one and is preparing to get married. Soon I'll have a grandson too." The old man's son answered.

Twenty-one years old—even counting marriage and immediate pregnancy on the wedding night, plus ten months, it would be at least twenty-two years.

"Then it was over twenty years ago. I remember those two people were very strange—their accents and habits were somewhat different from others." The old man recalled.

"They came from outside, so naturally they spoke differently from us, just like the little divine doctor—he also speaks somewhat differently." The old man's son felt this was very normal.

"That's true. Actually, I don't have an impression of them because of this. I remember they originally came to attend your wedding. I've forgotten the specific reason, and I don't know much else." The old man had reached his limit here. Everything he could know, he had already said.

The old man's son spoke up at this time, "I know something about this. Originally they encountered my wife being bullied and helped her. Then my wife wanted to repay them and invited them to the village to entertain them. It happened that our wedding was coming up, and they seemed very interested in this, so they stayed."

The old man's son continued, "I also remember they seemed not to like contact with people. The only person who talked with them was my wife. Even I didn't say many words to them. After they left, I never saw them again, but my wife might have seen them once a few years later."

"Might have?" Xiaoyao asked. Although he didn't think this couple necessarily had problems, this statement seemed to have some inside story. Why did the old man's son say "might have" instead of a definite statement?

Such words indicated two possibilities: either the couple hadn't spoken clearly between themselves, or this matter was difficult to explain clearly.

The former would be understandable. Sometimes couples wouldn't say everything very clearly. Even if the wife wanted to say something, the husband might not necessarily listen, or it would go in one ear and out the other without paying attention.

If it were the latter, then this matter had secrets and might be a good clue. For Xiaoyao, this was a good thing. The first person he asked gave him a clue—this was fortunate.

In fact, it proved that Xiaoyao was indeed very fortunate, but also very unfortunate.

Fortunately, this matter really did have secrets...

"My wife only mentioned it when she let something slip. When I asked her, she said she didn't know. I didn't think to ask more—it was nothing anyway." The old man's son answered. Obviously, he was the type who didn't like to pry. Since this matter had nothing to do with him, he didn't want to investigate deeply.

"Has your wife always stayed in the village without going out?" Xiaoyao frowned and asked. Generally, women in such villages stayed home year-round.

"No, she was originally from the village. Even visiting her parents' home didn't require leaving the village. In those years, the child had just been born, so she couldn't go everywhere—she generally stayed nearby." The old man's son shook his head.

"Nearby, and the timing seems to match. Then this couple might be a clue." Xiaoyao organized the information. This news revealed information that he might have found a clue. Originally he thought this was like finding a needle in a haystack, but unexpectedly things turned out smoother than expected.

"May I ask where your wife is now? Could I talk with her?" Xiaoyao now urgently wanted to talk with this wife. Naturally, she would be clearest about this matter.

"..." When the old man's son heard this, he was stunned for a moment, then said with a bitter smile, "Little divine doctor, it's not that I don't want my wife to talk with you, but she's not here. We don't even know if she's alive or dead."

"??" Xiaoyao was momentarily confused, but soon connected it to the situation and understood the meaning.

The small mountain village had just been plundered by bandits. They killed a group of people, captured a group, and a group escaped. It was very chaotic—if separated, life and death would be unknown.

Also, so many days had passed. If they had escaped, they should have reunited by now. Therefore, the remaining possibilities were either already dead or captured by the bandits.

Things were as Xiaoyao thought. The old man's son soon gave an answer. The latest_epɪ_sodes are on_the ⓝovelFire.net

"When our village was plundered, she disappeared together with my son. Mother and son now have no news at all. The government officials only said they would investigate, but in the end there was no result. I still need to take care of my father, otherwise I would have gone to look for them long ago." The old man's son was somewhat helpless and carried a bit of anger, feeling the government was too inactive. From when this happened until now, not only did they not settle them, but they seemed unwilling to even investigate, wanting to let it go.

Think about it—the people of the small mountain village were all common folk, even the very poor kind. For such victim groups, government officials would generally put them aside and give up after a casual investigation.

This time the bandits seemed to be fierce bandits too. The government was even more unwilling to suppress bandits for the small mountain village people—not only dangerous but with no benefits.

But speaking of it, it was also strange why such a small mountain village would be targeted by fierce bandits. This matter also seemed somewhat odd.

"... What kind of people are these bandits? Do you have any clues?" Xiaoyao saw that now he could only go find those bandits. Finding them should let him know if the old man's daughter-in-law was in their hands.

"Yes, they call themselves people from Black Wind Stronghold. Black Wind Stronghold is very vicious bandits around here—they've always been robbing homes and committing all kinds of evil."

"Black Wind Stronghold? Since you know, hasn't the government reacted?" Xiaoyao was somewhat puzzled. Even if they were inactive, but knowing who it was, they should go get the people back.

"They don't even know where Black Wind Stronghold is—what reaction can they have?" The old man's son shook his head helplessly.

"Don't know?" Xiaoyao asked in confusion. What did this mean? Were they saying they had never investigated Black Wind Stronghold, or was Black Wind Stronghold very mysterious and had never let people know the stronghold's location?

If it were the former, that would be too speechless. If the latter, at least it was a reason, though not a very good one. In such a place, what powerful forces could there be? If they wanted to find it, they definitely could.