Chapter 58

The woman's strength was considerable, far from the frail appearance she presented. Xia Tianqi used all his might to free his ankle from her grip. ▲∴

"Yueyue, come over here."

After the woman had grabbed him, Xia Tianqi dared not approach her again. Who knew if she would suddenly grab him again without warning? What if she grabbed a vital part of his body this time? It was better to stay away. Besides, this woman... was also very unstable.

Leng Yue had been an observer throughout, and he too had sensed something. He was also vigilantly observing the woman. When Xia Tianqi called him over, although he disliked being called "Yueyue," he still frowned and walked over.

"That woman is clearly unstable, probably a lunatic. We have our own matters to attend to, so let's not get involved in this. Besides, she's already awake."

Xia Tianqi expressed his attitude towards the woman. After all, it would be very difficult to help someone who couldn't even speak clearly. However, whether to help or not wasn't entirely up to him, as Leng Yue, who was overly kind, was still there.

As he had feared, as soon as he suggested giving up on the woman, Leng Yue immediately gave him a negative response, shaking his head and saying:

"No, I think we should help her."

Leng Yue added an explanation, perhaps fearing that Xia Tianqi would turn on him:

"The woman clearly has mental issues and is likely from this village. We can use her to start our investigation into this incident. Don't we need a reason?"

Leng Yue's words made some sense to Xia Tianqi. He had indeed considered using the woman to learn more about the village, but from the moment he saw her, she had given him a bad feeling.

This instinctive aversion made him completely unwilling to have any interaction with the woman.

But despite his reluctance, he had already experienced Leng Yue's stubbornness in the previous incident. He knew that no matter how strongly he insisted, Leng Yue would not listen and would do things his way.

So, rather than being awkwardly rebuffed, he decided to compromise in a show of superiority, saying with a deliberately cold face:

"I did warn you, if any trouble arises, it's on you!"

Xia Tianqi's quick compromise surprised Leng Yue somewhat, as they had always had serious differences in their approaches to handling situations.

"I understand." Xia Tianqi's compromise earned him a successful show of superiority, as Leng Yue nodded, as if acknowledging that he was being capricious.

Seeing this, Xia Tianqi's expression became oddly twisted, and he didn't know what to say.

While the two were reaching an agreement, the deranged woman had been staring at them from a distance, oblivious to the rain sliding down her face.

"We can take you home, but you need to tell us accurately where your home is and who you are. Can you do that?"

After returning to the woman, Leng Yue squatted down and asked her patiently.

Upon hearing Leng Yue's question, the woman did not become as agitated as before but instead showed a rare look of contemplation. After a while, she managed to squeeze out a few words:

"Big... house, Chen Lao Da..."

"Big house? Do you mean the largest house in the village is your home?"

Leng Yue asked, probing further.

"Big house... the biggest house... take me home... take me home...!"

As she spoke, the woman became deranged again, almost completely losing her mind.

Xia Tianqi, who had been standing nearby, threw away the half-soaked cigarette and walked over. Seeing the woman become deranged again, he asked:

"How did it go? Did you get any information?"

"Yes, the largest house in the village is her home. She also mentioned someone called 'Chen Lao Da,' but I don't know what their relationship is."

"Chen Lao Da?"

"Yes, do you know anything about it?"

"No, I just think the name sounds very cliché."

After saying this with a smug tone, Xia Tianqi checked the time and found it was already 11 o'clock. This made him urge Leng Yue:

"From the looks of it, it's almost impossible to get any more information from her. If you want to help her, we should quickly find the largest house in the village so we can rest."

"Yes, that's the only way." Leng Yue nodded in agreement and decided to follow Xia Tianqi's suggestion:

"You carry her, and we'll go look for it now."

"Wait!" Xia Tianqi, looking bewildered, stopped Leng Yue, who was about to head deeper into the village, and asked in disbelief:

"Did I hear wrong? You want me to carry her?"

"You didn't hear wrong, that's exactly what I said, because she doesn't seem to be able to walk."

"Leng Jianren, can you be any more despicable? Is helping her your responsibility or mine?"

"But my wounds haven't fully healed, and I'm really helpless. Of course, if you really don't want to carry her, you can wait here, and I'll find someone to come and get you after I find the house."

"Does that mean I have to stay here alone with her?"

Just as Xia Tianqi was about to lose his temper, Leng Yue timely diffused the situation:

"If you help me with this, I'll follow your lead from now on."

Clearly, this was the condition Leng Yue was offering for Xia Tianqi to carry the woman.

...

15 minutes later, the two appeared at the door of a house.

"It should be here."

Leng Yue was very certain that this house was the largest in the village, as its area was almost three times that of the other houses. Just by looking at the house, one could tell that it belonged to a prominent figure in the village, likely the village chief or a similar official.

"Whether it is or not, even if it's not, they must know this woman. I'm really exhausted."

To be honest, Xia Tianqi really wanted to drop the woman on his back. Her body was as cold as ice, and he felt that his entire back had lost all sensation.

The only thing to be grateful for was that the woman hadn't gone mad again since he had carried her. So, although the journey had been nerve-wracking, nothing truly life-threatening had happened.

Hearing Xia Tianqi's impatient urging, Leng Yue stopped dawdling and started knocking on the door forcefully, the sound echoing through the quiet, rainy night.

"Knock, knock, knock...!"