Zhu Li

They carefully searched every corner—under the tables, inside the cabinets.

They even looked beneath the bed, yet still found nothing.

All they got was a full coating of dust.

Because of their rummaging, the rotting wooden slats under the bed couldn't bear the pressure any longer.

With a crash, they collapsed.

Zheng Wuyou startled back a step, waving one hand to clear the dust that suddenly rose while covering her mouth and nose with the other.

This task wouldn't let them just wander around finding a hairpin so easily...

But the List and the middle-aged man had only mentioned finding the hairpin and successfully completing the wedding.

Just as disappointment set in, Zheng Wuyou heard a faint breathing sound from some corner.

Miao Laisheng raised a hand, signaling her not to move.

The room fell silent, so quiet they could even hear the wind sweeping through the hall.

Wansi, curious, leaned on the windowsill, cautiously poking her head out to watch the two figures inside.

Her SpongeBob pajamas cast a yellow glow on the window frame in the sunlight.

Zheng Wuyou and Miao Laisheng's ears caught the faint breaths in the air.

Following the sound, they spotted a Hidden Compartment in the corner behind the collapsed bed.

They exchanged a glance and directly grabbed the compartment door, yanking it open by force.

The space inside the Hidden Compartment was small—barely one square meter—and curled up within it was a little boy whose clothes were covered in patches, looking about the same age as Wansi.

The little boy buried his head in his arms, not daring to look up at the two sudden intruders.

Zheng Wuyou looked at Miao Laisheng in disbelief, her eyes seeming to say she never expected a child to be hidden here.

"Who... who are you?" the little boy asked warily, kicking his legs as he shrank back against the wall.

He still didn't dare lift his head to look at them.

His voice was clearly trembling.

Realizing he was terrified, Zheng Wuyou awkwardly let go of the Hidden Compartment's wooden door.

"Don't be afraid, we're helpers at Old Zhu's place," Zheng Wuyou said softly, trying to calm him down and state their purpose.

Remembering the middle-aged man's warning, she didn't say outright that they were looking for a hairpin.

Only then did the little boy lift his head in fright to look at the two strangers who had violently broken in.

"Helpers at Uncle Zhu's... why are you at my house?" His voice grew quieter as he spoke, as if just saying those words had drained all his strength.

"Ah, sorry," Zheng Wuyou said, trying to push the door back into place.

But the hinge structure was already broken.

Miao Laisheng, on the other hand, wore a sour expression as he reached out and yanked the little boy out of the Hidden Compartment in one go.

The little boy let out a sharp scream and tried to crawl back inside.

Zheng Wuyou looked at him in confusion, not understanding what he was doing or why Miao Laisheng was suddenly acting so aggressively toward a child!

But the little boy's strength was no match for an adult's.

It wasn't until the little boy was fully dragged out that Zheng Wuyou realized why.

Because... this was a Dwarf Man.

Not a little boy at all.

She had almost been fooled.

The Dwarf Man's eyes were full of fear and anger as he struggled to break free from Miao Laisheng's grip.

But Miao Laisheng held him tight, lowering his voice: "Are you the master of this house?"

The Dwarf Man bit his lip in defiance, letting out a "hmph" and saying nothing.

"Not talking? Then I can't guarantee where this stick in my hand will land."

Seeing he wasn't a child, Zheng Wuyou, now unceremonious, pulled a wooden stick from the collapsed bed frame, its broken end sharp and jagged.

She turned the tables and threatened the Dwarf Man.

"I know what you're looking for!" the man said, staring at the stick getting closer and closer, swallowing hard before continuing, "But I won't tell you—they threw it into the river!"

As soon as those words left his mouth, Miao Laisheng released his grip.

The man landed on the ground with a thud, rubbing his sore backside in pain.

"Hmph! Go ahead and look! You'll never find—mmph!"

Before he could finish his harsh words, a dust-covered rag was shoved into his mouth.

Miao Laisheng raised an eyebrow and calmly dusted off his hands.

He never said he wouldn't bring this guy along.

Zheng Wuyou had thought only Old Zhu's family and the village chief's household had living people here, but it now seemed the others were simply hiding inside their homes.

Was it because of the wedding at Old Zhu's place?

Miao Laisheng hoisted the dwarf man onto his shoulder and strode toward the open window.

The dwarf man watched the window drawing closer, his bloodshot eyes wide as he struggled wildly on Miao Laisheng's shoulder.

Muffled whimpers came from his mouth, his words unintelligible.

Seeing this, Zheng Wuyou stepped forward to assist Miao Laisheng, pulling the rag from the dwarf man's mouth.

He stared out the window in terror. "No! I can't go out! You want to die, but I can't! The hairpin wasn't lost by me—that woman took it to the graveyard in the back mountain! I didn't take it!"

Zheng Wuyou had assumed the dwarf man was just fabricating something out of thin air.

But to her surprise, he accurately named the very hairpin they were searching for.

And he mentioned a woman...

But why would going outside mean death for him?

Was he that resistant to the window?

Miao Laisheng set the dwarf man back down on the ground.

He sat there, still shaken, far from the sunlight streaming through the window.

Wansi was so frightened by his panicked state that she shrank back against the windowsill.

"You don't have to go out, but..." Zheng Wuyou tapped the wooden stick lightly in her hand. "You need to tell us exactly where the thing is."

"I don't know! I... I do know! Go to Zhu Li's house and find Zhu Li! It's right across the way! He's hiding inside too! He's the village record-keeper and knows everything!" The dwarf man watched the stick about to swing toward his face.

He quickly changed tack, redirecting their attention to the tightly shut house across the street.

"If he says he doesn't know, he's lying! I wouldn't stake my life on a falsehood!" Seeing everyone follow his pointed direction, the dwarf man scrambled up from the ground and crawled back into the hidden compartment.

Zheng Wuyou watched the compartment door he pulled shut from inside and sighed quietly.

The dwarf man's terror didn't seem like an act.

In that case, they might as well check across the street first.

They pulled the window back to its half-closed state and led Wansi toward the house opposite.

Walking along the stone path, they ran into Wen Dian and Guo Mu coming around from outside the room they were staying in.

They still hadn't found a way to climb over the wall and enter.

Aside from the room they occupied, all the other main rooms and side rooms had their doors and windows tightly shut.

Zheng Wuyou and Miao Laisheng had just reached the doorstep of the house the dwarf man called Zhu Li's.

The moment they knocked on its slightly worn wooden door, the unlatched door swung open with the force.

Revealing the interior before them.

The layout inside was much like Old Zhu's place—entering led straight to the main hall piled with black soil.

And right in the center of the main hall's doorway sat a man about their age, quietly resting in a wooden wheelchair, his face wearing an expression of enjoyment as if basking in the sunlight.

He sat there, as though he had been waiting for their arrival all along.

Zheng Wuyou was taken aback, half-wondering if she had stumbled into some hermit's dwelling.

What kind of mystical beginning was this?