Chapter 528: Saving People (3)

"No." The village chief’s son was closest to Su Li and grabbed her arm without a second thought.

He used a lot of force, and Su Li cried out at once.

"It hurts."

The village chief’s son immediately let go of Su Li but blocked her path. "No, you can’t go."

Little Tang Mo rushed to Su Li’s side. "Mom, does it hurt?"

After Su Li shook her head, he immediately looked at the village chief’s son. "Why are you so worked up? What’s wrong with us looking at the bride’s dress?"

The reactions of the village chief and his son... were indeed excessive.

Overreacting meant giving themselves away.

A cold sweat was already breaking out on the village chief’s brow.

"The boy is just protective of his wife. He’s worried that if strangers see the bride, it’ll bring them bad luck in the future. Don’t mind him."

The captain and his men had been public security officers for years. They were already suspicious, and seeing this, there was no doubt something was wrong.

The captain’s eyes narrowed dangerously as he patted the village chief’s shoulder. "Village Chief, where did you say this daughter-in-law of yours is from?"

The village chief was momentarily silent.

"Is she from this village? Or another one? Goodness, this place of yours is so remote. It took us two full days to get here, and it’s another two days just to get to town. It must be a bit difficult to find wives, isn’t it?"

The village chief nodded with a stiff smile. "Yes, yes. It’s rare for officials from town to come here. They’ve only been here two or three times before."

The captain saw that the two women supporting the bride didn’t dare to move. All the surrounding villagers, whether they were eating or just watching, were staring at them with wary eyes.

"We’re mainly here to survey the land and register the population. A lot of you here get married without registering, and the children’s household registrations aren’t filed either, so we’re making one trip for everything."

The captain was all smiles, looking very easygoing.

The village chief’s attention was drawn away, but on the other side, Su Li and his son were still in a standoff.

"I just thought the bride’s dress was so beautiful that I wanted a closer look. I didn’t realize you had such exquisite wedding gowns here."

Su Li kept her eyes fixed on the bride.

A vein throbbed on the village chief’s son’s forehead. "Many families in the village have them. I can borrow one for you to look at tomorrow."

"I just want a quick look at the dress. Is there something I’m not supposed to see? Or is there some kind of secret?" Su Li asked deliberately.

"What secret could there be... If you want to look, then have a look."

The village chief’s son was too inexperienced. Stuck in a bind, he finally agreed.

He led Su Li toward the bride. The village chief watched, fuming, but he couldn’t say anything to stop it.

He still had to deal with the captain, who was clearly no simple man.

The village chief was puzzled about the group’s origins. Although the villagers rarely went to town, the people from town didn’t seem to have the same air about them as this group.

Most importantly... was their accent.

It didn’t sound like the town accent. He had been to town on business many times, and he had never seen any of these people before.

The village chief grew secretly vigilant. Seeing Su Li head straight for the bride, a harsh glint flashed in his eyes, and he discreetly made a hand signal behind his back.

Immediately, two young men nonchalantly walked out.

"You’re all so diligent. Thank you for making the trip. We didn’t receive any notice, otherwise we would have come to meet you."

The village chief spoke politely. "You must be exhausted after walking all those mountain roads. Come, join the feast."

As he spoke, he kicked someone at the nearest table. The people at that table were only halfway through their meal and weren’t full yet, but seeing the village chief, they quickly got the hint, shoveled down their last two bites, and got up to offer their seats.

The women helping out immediately cleared the bowls and chopsticks and wiped the table clean.

"Come, have a seat. Please, sit."

The captain didn’t rush to sit down. Instead, he looked toward Su Li.

Su Li had already reached the bride. She didn’t know what had happened in that short time, but the bride was suddenly motionless, standing there rigidly.

Su Li pretended to examine the dress, her expression unchanged, exclaiming how beautiful it was.

The village chief’s son was tense all over. Seeing Su Li reach out her hand, he immediately said, "You can’t touch it."

"I can’t even touch it?" Su Li retracted her hand, her gaze falling on the bride’s hands.

The bride’s hands were hanging in front of her, but her sleeves were so long that her hands were completely hidden.

"Come, take your seats and eat. You must be hungry, right?"

The village chief’s son forced a smile and said warmly to Su Li.

"Our village’s ’Eight Great Bowls’ can’t compare to the ones in town, but our banquet chef is skilled. The food is pretty good."

"Alright, then. I am getting hungry."

Su Li acted as if she hadn’t noticed the slight tremor running through the bride’s body. She agreed cheerfully and turned as if to leave.

The village chief’s son let out a huge sigh of relief. "This way, please..."

He hadn’t even finished exhaling when, in the blink of an eye, Su Li suddenly stumbled.

"AH!" Su Li screamed and, as if trying to regain her balance, lunged straight for the bride.

Before anyone could react, Su Li grabbed the bride’s red veil and fell against her.

Su Li quickly steadied herself, and the bride’s face was revealed.

Her face was covered in thick makeup... no, it wasn’t right to call it makeup. It couldn’t be considered makeup at all.

Her face was thickly coated in a layer of what was probably homemade, deathly-white powder made from flour. Her cheeks and lips were stained red, probably with dyed paper.

This awkward, horrifying makeup was already frightening enough, but it was also streaked and ruined by tears. And there was a towel stuffed in her mouth.

The ruined makeup, combined with the towel, distorted her face, but Su Li still recognized her at first glance.

This person was none other than Miao Zhi, who had been missing for days.

The Miao Zhi she had been searching for all this time.

Su Li had suspected the bride might be a trafficking victim, which was why she faked the fall, but she had never imagined that the girl would actually be Miao Zhi.

Seeing the light of day again, Miao Zhi looked at Su Li, tears streaming down her face. But she couldn’t hide the shock and joyous surprise in her eyes.

’Su Li! It’s really Su Li.’

Just when she was at her most desperate, she had heard Su Li’s voice, and now Su Li had actually appeared right in front of her.

How could Miao Zhi not have been desperate?

’Su Li!’ she screamed silently, her shock unimaginable.

’Miao Zhi!’ Miao Zhi was stunned, but Su Li was even more so.

She snapped back to reality and immediately pulled the towel from Miao Zhi’s mouth.

"Su Li, it’s dangerous!"

The first thing Miao Zhi said after the towel was removed was a warning.

The words had barely left Miao Zhi’s mouth when Su Li heard a faint whoosh of air. She whipped her head around just in time to see the village chief’s son lunging at her.

"Mind your own business!"

He still looked like that simple, spirited young man, but the vicious killing intent in his eyes was just as pure.

"Mom!"

Along with Little Tang Mo’s cry and the village chief’s son’s lunge came a sharp shout and a gunshot.

It wasn’t the kind of sound you hear on TV or in the movies. It was a sudden, deafening blast right next to her ear.

In that instant, Su Li’s heart clenched violently.

Everything that followed seemed to unfold in slow motion.