The man who came with the Village Chief looked to be in his forties. He was dressed in rags and his body was dirty. His hair could be made into a birdâs nest. He looked like a beggar.
The Village Chief led the man to Su Meng and said with a smile, âMaster, this is the owner of the keys. His name is Meng Qing. But there is something wrong with him, so please bear with him.â
After saying that, he dragged Meng Qing to Su Meng and taught him, âIt was this master who helped you pick up the keys. Quickly say thank you to her.â
Meng Qing walked in front of Su Meng and stared at her with a silly smile. After looking at her for a long time, he said in a silly tone, âBeautiful, so beautiful. I want you to be my wife!â
Wei Ting, who was standing at the side, shot him a glare. The aura around him instantly turned cold.
Although Meng Qing was silly, he immediately sensed danger. Without waiting for Wei Ting to speak, he hid behind the Village Chief first.
The Village Chief hurriedly apologized to Su Meng. âIâm sorry, Master. Donât take it to heart. Thereâs something wrong with his brain. Heâs so old and hasnât married yet, so heâll say that when he sees a beauty. But donât look at him as being silly. Heâs not a bad person.â
âItâs okay.â Su Meng looked at Meng Qingâs face. The Village Chief was right. This person was indeed stupid. But according to his fate, he shouldnât have been born like this. He had become like this after something happened. This person shouldnât have done anything bad. His fate was still clear.
If the keys found at the scene were indeed his, and Ren Chi was confirmed to have been taken away by him, it meant that he hadnât killed anyone. In other words, Ren Chi was probably still safe.
Su Meng and Wei Ting looked at each other, and the two immediately understood each otherâs thoughts.
Su Meng smiled and said, âOkay, itâs not a big deal. Village Chief, since we saw the owner, let him go back. We should leave now that heâs gone.â
âBut before we leave, thereâs one more thing we want to ask you. We were following a human trafficker and saw him coming to your village. After we followed him in, he disappeared. We donât know where he went to hide.â
âI think no one in this village is more familiar with him than you, so Iâd like to ask, where can this human trafficker hide?â
As Su Meng spoke, she kept her eyes on the Village Chief.
Sure enough, when the Village Chief heard her mention the words âhuman traffickerâ, his expression changed for a moment, but he recovered in an instant.
âMaster, did you see that person enter our village?â the Village Chief asked warily.
Su Meng shook her head, regretfully. She said, âNo, I saw him enter the mountain, but the mountain path was really hard to walk, so we lost him. It was precisely because of this that we came to find you. We wanted to ask you, but in the end, we picked up that set of keys on the way here.â
The Village Chief sighed and explained, âMaster, we are surrounded by mountains here. Even if someone came here, they might not necessarily come to our village. If they hid in the mountains, then we might not be able to find them.â
âIn that case, letâs leave first. Weâll go look for them ourselves. If weâre lucky, we might be able to find them. Generally, human traffickers have accomplices. Other than accomplices, the buyer also has to bear the responsibility,â Su Meng said. She pulled Wei Ting and turned to leave.
Seeing that Su Meng was about to leave, the Village Chief hurriedly stopped her.
âMaster, itâs getting dark. The mountain road isnât easy to walk on. Look, itâs already so late. Do you want to stay here? Although our place is very remote and not as luxurious as your big city, our house is clean and the local food is considered delicious. Why donât you stay here for a night? Tomorrow morning at dawn, Iâll get someone to help you look for him.â
âPlease donât decline. Youâve helped us too much. We should thank you anyway. Since thereâs a chance, why donât you stay? With more helpers, we can find him as soon as possible, right?â
The Village Chiefâs attitude appeared sincere. It seemed that he really wanted to thank Su Meng and help her.
Wei Ting looked at Su Meng and nodded slightly at her. Only then did Su Meng agree. âOkay, then Iâll have to trouble you, Village Chief.â
âWhat trouble? Itâs not like we donât know each other. Only by helping each other can we be called friends.â The Village Chief took the opportunity to quickly improve his relationship with Su Meng.
âForgive me for saying this, but I want to ask, does anyone else know that youâre here?â After the Village Chief asked, he quickly added, âBecause Iâm afraid that if too many people know, someone will point the way for that human trafficker to escape.â