Chapter 25

It is unclear whether this is a family conflict or something else.

After all, Ding Yushu was the child’s biological mother, so they did not call the police right away.

The wedding was stopped, and Xu Qiu was also panicking. After all, she had raised the child for over a year, and they had already developed feelings for each other. She even took off her wedding dress and tried to look for him but was stopped.

Everyone understood the wedding suspension, and people from both the village and outside volunteered to help search.

Dozens of people went out at once, making quite a scene.

Tian Jiao followed them down, but halfway down, she pulled up a small piece of grass by its roots.

Zhang Yanran pulled her and said, “Let’s follow and look around. Don’t go too far. If there is really a problem, we will be in danger.”

Tian Jiao nodded, and when she saw Zhang Rui passing by, she quickly grabbed him and said, “I know where Erbao is.”

The adults were busy looking for the child and didn’t pay attention to Tian Jiao, so Zhang Rui had to handle this.

As expected, upon hearing this, Zhang Rui asked, “Where is it?”

Tian Jiao sighed with relief. It seemed Zhang Rui’s father still believed in her.

However, at that moment, Tian Jiao could only shake her head temporarily, turned around, and said to Zhang Yanran: “You go first; Dad and I will go to another place.”

Zhang Yanran hesitated for a moment but nodded.

She went in another direction. Tian Jiao was about to leave when she saw someone behind her. Xiao He followed her without taking a step back.

When she turned around, she saw Xiao He’s tightly pursed lips and stubborn gaze, so she had no choice but to give in.

She shook the grass in her hand, brought Zhang Rui and Xiao He to the back room, held the grass still covered with dirt in her hands, and prayed non-stop: Father Tian Dao, please appear soon!

Heavenly Father, please show up!

Tian Dao dad, come out!

This voice went on for several minutes, making the other villagers look at them strangely. After all, he is his nephew, but he seems careless and yet cares for his daughter? 

Finally, the grass in Tian Jiao’s hand moved.

Zhang Rui rubbed his eyes in disbelief. The grass was stretching lazily like a person, with two slender blades stretching out. The movement was quite graceful.

He recalled the strange events of the past few years and guessed something. He stared at his daughter as if he had seen a ghost. When he didn’t see any tails or horns on her, he sighed in relief.

He looked at Xiao He again.

But this child seemed more accepting than him. He didn’t react at all, not even showing surprise!

Feeling Tian Dao’s presence, Tian Jiao felt a lot more at ease and quickly asked in her heart, “Tian Dao dad, where is Erbao?”

The tender green leaves of the grass stretched out and slowly pointed in one direction.

Tian Jiao nodded and said to Zhang Rui, “This way.”

Zhang Rui blankly nodded and followed her. “Okay.”

Xiao He looked calm and followed them without hesitation.

It was clear that Erbao was not sent away, and actually… Tian Dao had already helped them in advance.

They were on top of Lanshan.

Lanshan is quite large. The place they visited before was only halfway up the mountain. There are many other areas. Tian Jiao and the others followed the grass’s guidance and climbed further up Lanshan.

****

Ding Yushu was in great pain.

She was lying in a trap that had been dug a long time ago. Next to her was a man around thirty years old.

The trap was deep. When the man fell, he landed awkwardly and sprained his ankle. He kept wailing for a long time and couldn’t get up. Ding Yushu felt disgusted because Zhang Zhi never complained when he was hurt.

This comparison made her feel that Zhang Zhi was better.

Ding Yushu felt down and frustrated. But when she thought about how this ruined Zhang Zhi’s wedding today, she felt a little relief. However, her future plans were disrupted, and she was unsure about what would happen next.

She initially wanted to crawl out, but after trying a little, she discovered there was a snake in the cave!

The snake was poisonous, though not very. When Ding Yushu tried to escape, she fell and got bitten. Her leg went numb, and the man beside her was also bitten.

Now they had to wait for the poison to wear off before they could try to escape.

However, Ding Yushu was still troubled.

They had left Erbao in the cave, and no one knew if the wolf would return to eat him. Just thinking about it made her heart ache.

Even though she wanted to use Erbao, she never intended for anything bad to happen to him.

At first, her plan was just to secretly take Erbao and ruin their wedding. Then this man found her and asked her to join in a kidnapping and extortion plot.

The Zhang family’s recent wealth had made many envious, but most were good citizens who only made jealous comments.

This man was different. He chose to blackmail. After getting the money, he planned to leave the mainland and sneak into Hong Kong City, where no one could touch him.

Ding Yushu wanted money too but didn’t want Zhang Zhi to have an easy life. So they teamed up.

She aimed to win over Erbao, making sure he wouldn’t scream when she took him away, which would attract attention.

Once they reached Lanshan, the man would kidnap them both and use Erbao to blackmail them. She planned to be just a victim so no one would know she was involved.

It was a good idea. Ding Yushu took Erbao out of Zhang’s house and walked all the way to the cave, intending to start the plan by knocking him out with some ether.

But just then, a wolf appeared in the cave.

They were terrified and ran in panic. They ran for a long time until they fell into a trap. The wolf was clever, wandering around the trap for a while, then leaving when it saw they couldn’t escape.

Their luck was terrible because when they fell, the man hurt his leg, and now he was bitten by the snake.

Ding Yushu didn’t know if she should lament her bad luck or cry over the possibility of losing her child.

In truth, she felt a little guilty but pushed those thoughts aside, focusing instead on her current situation.

Thinking of this made her complain more to the man beside her: “It’s all your fault for not knowing there were wolves on this mountain. Why did we come here?”

The man replied angrily, “You’ve lived in Lanshan Village for so many years. You should know!”

“Then what about me, a woman…”

“…”

They quarreled like lions fighting for territory, especially Ding Yushu, who didn’t back down against a grown man.

****

With Tian Jiao leading the way, Zhang Rui and Xiao He quickly followed her to Lanshan with determination.

They went further up than where the cave was.

The grass stretched lazily, but one of its leaves continued to point in the right direction.

“Turn left.” Seeing the leaf change direction, Tian Jiao reminded them and changed her steps.

Zhang Rui had a strange look on his face as he followed, sneaking glances at the grass.

Is this really possible?

Can a girl really communicate with plants?

But now, all curiosity had to be put aside. Finding Erbao was more important.

As they walked, they suddenly heard crying.

Before the three could get close, they saw Erbao, who was over one year old, stumbling out of a small cave. He looked like he had just woken up and couldn’t find his mother, crying heartbrokenly, but he was otherwise unharmed.

“Waaaaa… Sister…” Erbao saw Tian Jiao for the first time and immediately held his breath before bursting into tears again.

Zhang Rui rushed over and held Erbao in his arms. “Okay, okay, don’t cry.”

Erbao sobbed and clung to Zhang Rui’s neck. “Wuwuwu… Mom… Sister…”

Tian Jiao relaxed upon seeing Erbao. She glanced at the grass in her hand, silently thanked it, and waited for it to lose its spirit. Then she squatted down and buried the grass again before standing up and pinching Erbao’s little hand. “What’s wrong? Didn’t you wake up?”

Erbao looked even more aggrieved. “Mom! Mom!”

But the fear and innocence in his voice had faded, and he had stopped crying completely.

Tian Jiao nodded. “Okay, I understand. I’ll take you to find your mother now.”

Erbao pursed his lips and nodded obediently.

After Erbao stopped crying, Zhang Rui asked, “Erbao, who brought you here?”

Erbao wiped his tears and tilted his head, thinking. “It’s Mom!”

This mom was different from the one he had called out before. Even the tone of voice was different.

Zhang Rui’s face darkened as he asked, “Where did they go?”

Erbao shook his head blankly. “I don’t know.”

He had fallen asleep as soon as he was taken out, so naturally, he knew nothing.

Especially since he was only a little over one year old; if he weren’t smart, he wouldn’t have known how to answer.

Tian Jiao pulled Zhang Rui’s sleeve and said, “I roughly know where she is.”

Zhang Rui was surprised. “Didn’t you bury the grass?”

Tian Jiao blinked. “It told me before I buried it.”

That was indeed the case. Tian Dao had only left after indicating which direction to go next. If it were normal, why would he suddenly tell her to go in this direction? There must be something wrong.

Zhang Rui’s mouth twitched. Now that they had found Erbao, he couldn’t help but ask curiously, “Jiaojiao, do you have special abilities?”

Tian Jiao nodded. “Yes.”

Zhang Rui’s eyes widened. “Can you talk to plants?”

Tian Jiao spread her hands. “It sometimes works and sometimes doesn’t. It depends on the weather.”

Zhang Rui was still very surprised, his heart racing. Did he really pick up a mountain monster?

However, when he saw Xiao He walking quietly beside Tian Jiao, not even reacting to her words, he felt a bit off balance and asked suspiciously, “Has he known about your ability for a long time?”

His voice was full of jealousy, which was ironic.

Tian Jiao said coquettishly, “How is that possible? I don’t usually use this ability.”