Chapter 152 - 151: Recognizing Lin Xingchen

Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation

Hearing these words, Jiang Peihuan distinctly felt the temperature around Xiao Nanye drop instantly.

Worried that the man might lose control and take action right away, Jiang Peihuan quickly grabbed his hand, then lowered her voice and said, “Xiao Nanye, hold back.”

To the others, it seemed like Jiang Peihuan was scared.

As she spoke, her breath washed over Xiao Nanye’s ear, and he could even distinctly smell her faint fragrance.

The three of them didn’t say anything but cooperatively dismounted from the carriage.

As Jiang Peihuan had anticipated, the group led them up the mountain.

However, the path they took was different from the one Jiang Peihuan had seen earlier; it was a much more concealed route.

Jiang Peihuan quietly memorized the path and followed along.

Xiao Nanye walked in front of Jiang Peihuan, and Xue Qi followed behind her. By the time they reached halfway up the mountain, the bandits couldn’t ride their horses anymore and had to proceed on foot.

Perhaps because Jiang Peihuan and her companions were cooperative, the group didn’t give them a hard time.

After walking for two hours, they were led to an empty field. As soon as they arrived, Jiang Peihuan saw Jiang Changbai and Lin Xingchen, who were tied to chairs.

Both of them had clearly been beaten up, with wounds visible on their faces. Seeing Jiang Peihuan approach, their eyes filled with resentment.

However, when they saw Xiao Nanye, the resentment in their eyes turned into surprise.

“What do you mean? 1 gave you money to kidnap them, why did you…”

Before Jiang Changbai could finish, he was punched. The man standing next to him, witnessing his pain, scoffed, “Do you think we’re fools? These people are obviously rich.”

“And you two are obviously wealthy too, since all of you all wealthy here. We wouldn’t let any of you go.”

Hearing this, Jiang Changbai was speechless, left without any rebuttal.

Seeing this, Xue Qi spoke up, “What do you want with us? If it’s money you’re after, we can give it to you. Just let us go.”

“Of cause we want money. But we want people, too.”

As he spoke, a tall man suddenly walked towards Xiao Nanye.

“When everyone witnessed this scene, they were all stunned, Jiang Peihuan included, whose eyes widened in surprise.”

“Boss, this young man is fair and delicate, doesn’t he meet your requirements?”

The man referred to as ‘Boss’ was the one who approached Xiao Nanye.

He carefully scrutinized Xiao Nanye’s appearance, finding it face somewhat familiar, but he couldn’t recall it at the moment.

From Xiao Nanye’s face down, the leader of the bandits carefully sized up Xiao Nanye’s figure. Eventually, a lewd smile appeared in his eyes, “Good, I like this one.”

As he spoke, he reached out intending to touch Xiao Nanye’s face.

Xiao Nanye’s expression changed instantly, his eyes filled with fury.

Xue Qi quietly moved aside.

“If you dare touch me, 1 swear I’ll cut you into pieces.”

Xiao Nanye dodged the man’s hand and spoke with hostility in his eyes.

Seeing Xiao Nanye’s expression, the man shuddered involuntarily. However, when he looked up again, Xiao Nanye’s expression had returned to normal.

A man standing nearby saw this and became angry, “Hey, brat, do you think you’re the king here? I’ll teach you a lesson.”

As he said this, he moved to slap Xiao Nanye, but his hand was caught by the boss, “This one’s mine. Don’t you dare lay a hand on him. What if you damage him?”

Xue Qi, Jiang Changbai, and Lin Xingchen all showed a trace of amusement upon witnessing this scene. Worried that Xiao Nanye might see their smiles, they all lowered their heads, but their shoulders shook with suppressed laughter.

Jiang Peihuan also suppressed a smile, but when she saw Xiao Nanye’s livid face, she quickly composed herself.

“Alright, lock them in the woodshed for now. We’ll sort out their belongings in the morning.”

“Yes.”

Moments later, they were all taken to a woodshed.

It was said to be a woodshed, but it was actually an abandoned house. When the door was pushed open, Jiang Peihuan was stunned.

There were many people in the room: men, women, even children.

But these people all shared a common feature, their eyes filled with fear and numbness.

When they saw Jiang Peihuan and the others being brought in, those people only looked up and did not say a word. They only looked at them with sympathy.

“Why are there so many people here?”

Seeing these people, Xue Qi couldn’t help but speak up.

Hearing his words, Jiang Changbai said in a low voice, “Obviously, these people must have been locked up here by them.”

“That’s not helpful.”

“Are you all from the Jingdou?”

Ignoring the conversation by her side, Jiang Peihuan asked a girl sitting across from them.

Compared to the others, this girl’s eyes still held some hope.

Perhaps it was because Jiang Peihuan spoke gently, or maybe out of sympathy, upon hearing Jiang Peihuan’s words, the girl said softly, “I’m the young miss of the Lin family. I was kidnapped while 1 was out playing.”

“The Lin family? Who is your father?”

As she spoke, Jiang Peihuan subconsciously glanced at Lin Xingchen.

The little girl was quite young, looking about ten years old. Hearing Jiang Peihuan’s words, she whispered, “My father is Lin Ruping. I’m his youngest daughter, my name is Lin Menglan.”

Jiang Peihuan had no impression of the name Lin Ruping.

She subconsciously looked at Xiao Nanye.

Meeting Jiang Peihuan’s eyes, the man said softly,” The editor of the Hanlin Academy has no sense of existence in the Lin family.”

Hearing this, Jiang Peihuan understood. It seemed he Lin Ruhai younger brother from another mother.

At this moment, Jiang Peihuan noticed Lin Menglan was staring in Lin Xingchen’s direction.

Just as she was about to speak, she heard the little girl’s shout, “Brother Xingchen, it’s you.”

Upon hearing the little girl’s voice, Jiang Peihuan and the others all turned to look at Lin Xingchen.

But upon hearing the little girl’s call, Lin Xingchen, with a cold face, said, “You’re mistaken.”

“I’m not mistaken.”

The little girl suddenly stood up and walked in front of Lin Xingchen. She opened her collar, taking a small pendant from around her neck. It was just a small marble, not worth any money, but because it was always worn close to her body, the marble was very smooth.

Holding the marble from her necklace up in front of Lin Xingchen, Lin Menglan said with excitement in her eyes, “Brother Xingchen, have you forgotten Lanlan? This is the marble you gave me before I been kidnapped. Look, I’ve been wearing it all along..”