An Xin walked over, took Jin Qiao's hand and said, "Sister Jin Qiao, why don't you come to the capital with me? You can stay with me then."
Jinqiao's eyes inexplicably reddened, and she forced a smile, saying, "If I go, I'll only be a burden."
“I treat you like my own sister, so please don’t speak to me like that. Once we get to the capital, no one will bully you anymore, and I won’t allow it.”
Jinqiao's tears slid down her cheeks in a "plop," and she shook her head, saying, "Xin'er, I... I'll never have a future again..."
An Xin wasn't good at comforting people, and she was at a loss when she saw Jin Qiao crying. She rarely cried since she was a child, and she thought that crying was something that only people with a lot of emotional intelligence could do.
“If you want it, you can have it. Don’t cry…” An Xin said these three words stiffly, her gaze inadvertently sweeping to the door, where she unexpectedly saw Uncle Thirteen.
Uncle Thirteen had difficulty walking, and An Youwei immediately went to greet him. However, the moment Uncle Thirteen entered the door, his face suddenly changed, and then he screamed as if he had seen a ghost. He turned around and ran outside, but because of his difficulty walking, he fell to the ground. He still crawled out in fear.
An Xin's eyes suddenly narrowed!
What did Uncle Thirteen see?! What made him so afraid?!
---Aside---
Sorry girls, we had guests over, so I had to update late. (Group chat)
Chapter Forty-Seven: The Death Knot
An Youwei hurriedly stepped forward to help Zhou Shisan up, asking worriedly, "Old Shisan, what's wrong?"
Zhou Shisan's face was deathly pale, and he was trembling so badly that he couldn't utter a single word. An Xin and Jin Qiao exchanged a glance and then stepped forward and said, "Father, Uncle Shisan must be tired. Please help him to the courtyard to rest."
Jinqiao also said gently, "Yes, Uncle, Uncle Thirteen must be too nervous."
Dewdrop obediently stepped forward, and the villagers gathered around to ask her questions, but Uncle Thirteen kept his eyes tightly closed, as if he were trapped in some kind of great fear.
An Xin's cold gaze swept across the surroundings. If she wasn't mistaken, Uncle Thirteen had been startled when he looked in her direction. From the angle outside the door, the people within her range were: Lu Zhu, Jin Qiao, Wang Yihe, the girls, and four villagers. An Xin had only heard the girls' names once, but she vaguely remembered them: Liu Hong, Cai Xue, Cai Chun, Er Rong, Lü Die, and Chun Cui! The four villagers were her neighbor Wang Xiyuan, the village doctor Wang Lun, the village head Song Guo, and the tofu seller Bi Chun.
wrong……
What did she miss?
A cold, sharp light flashed in An Xin's eyes as she scanned her surroundings. On a table to one side of the group, there was a small wooden figure that she had picked up!
A slight unease settled in my heart. Was it going to be another wooden puppet?
An Xin walked over and casually picked up the little wooden figure. Jin Qiao, who had followed, took a step back in shock and fear, trembling as he said, "This, this is so scary..."
An Xin put the wooden figurine in her palm, turned around and smiled reassuringly, "It's just a wooden figurine, Sister Jinqiao, don't be afraid. Can Sister Jinqiao carve such a wooden figurine?"
Jinqiao then looked at the little figure with fear and said, "Although it is just an ordinary piece of wood, the craftsmanship is exquisite. Even I am not as good as it. Such a lifelike carving technique is very rare these days."
An Xin frowned, a sudden thought struck her, and without saying a word, she rushed outside.
Dewdrop asked hurriedly, "Miss, where are you going?"
An Xin ran away without looking back. If she guessed correctly, if the murderer wasn't caught soon, more people would die!
That thing, we absolutely, positively must have it!
As they ran along the riverbank, they ran into Yang Hu. An Xin stepped forward and asked, "Brother Yang, do you know where Xu Qinglin lives?"
Upon seeing An Xin, Yang Hu immediately smiled and said, "I know, I'll take you there."
"I'll go too." Feng Yi's voice came from behind.
An Xin turned to look at him and asked, "Any clues?"
Feng Yi flipped through the parchment in his hand and said, "I found a clue that can't really be called a clue."
An Xin said as she walked, "Speak."
Feng Yi handed the parchment to An Xin and said, "This records the life stories of Xu Qinglin and Wang Erlai. Ten years ago, the two were not villagers of Wuhua Village. They only moved here later."
An Xin paused abruptly, then raised the corner of her lips and said, "This clue really resonates with me; you seem to be thinking the same thing as me."
Feng Yi was suddenly stunned, looking at the smile on An Xin's lips. That smile was different from the ones before. It had a cold and extraordinary beauty, like a snow lotus standing alone on the peak of the northern desert mountain, carrying a kind of praise that stood at the pinnacle of "intelligence", yet it made his heart flutter.
"Where did these two people live ten years ago?" An Xin didn't notice anything unusual about Feng Yi and casually flipped through the parchment book.
"The reason why it can't be called a clue is because of this: these two people don't live in the same place." Feng Yi came back to his senses in a daze.
Yang Hu, who had been following behind the two, felt like he was listening to gibberish, but he also felt that he was just like the unpleasant third party in the rumors. Caught between the two, he was completely ignored.
He scratched the back of his head and said, "Miss An, could these two people have known each other for ten years?"
An Xin turned to Yang Hu and smiled, "Brother Yang's guess is completely reasonable. If these two people know each other, we will be able to catch the murderer soon! Right now, we need to find that thing first."
Yang Hu and Feng Yi were both taken aback: "Things? What things?"
An Xin's eyes gradually turned cold and deep: "A terrifying death warrant!"
****
Xu Qinglin's family was not well-off, but Xu Qinglin's death made the whole house lifeless. Xu's sister-in-law cried while taking care of several young children.
Most children are ignorant about death and just stare blankly as Sister-in-law Xu cries. The more sensible ones will say, "Mother, don't cry, Mother, don't cry."
At these times, Sister-in-law Xu would cry even more bitterly.
Even though An Xin had witnessed all sorts of murders and heart-wrenching separations, at this moment, the boiling anger in her heart could not be quelled. No matter how many reasons the murderer had, it could not erase the crime of killing.
The deceased are gone, but what they bring to the living is endless pain.