Zhu Li

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

They even checked under the bed, but still found nothing.

All they got was a coating of dust.

Their rummaging under the bed put too much pressure on the rotten wooden slats.

With a crash, the bed collapsed.

Startled, Zheng Wuyou stepped back. She waved away the cloud of dust billowing up in front of her with one hand and covered her nose and mouth with the other.

Surely this task wasn't as simple as having them search everywhere for a hairpin...

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

Just as Zheng Wuyou was feeling disappointed, she heard faint breathing from a corner.

Miao Laisheng raised a hand to signal her not to move.

The room fell silent. They could even hear the breeze passing through it.

Curious, Wansi leaned over the windowsill and cautiously poked her head inside to watch the two figures.

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

Zheng Wuyou and Miao Laisheng listened for the faint breathing in the air.

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

The two exchanged a glance, then grabbed the compartment and yanked it open.

The space inside was small. In the compartment, barely a square meter in size, crouched a little boy whose clothes were covered in patches. He looked about the same age as Wansi.

The little boy buried his head in the crook of his arms, too afraid to look up at the two people who had suddenly barged in.

Zheng Wuyou looked at Miao Laisheng in disbelief, her eyes seeming to say, I can't believe there's a child hiding in here.

"W-who are you?" The little boy kicked his legs and huddled against the wall.

He still didn't dare look up at them.

His voice trembled noticeably.

Realizing she had scared him, Zheng Wuyou awkwardly let go of the wooden door to the compartment.

"Don't be afraid. We're helpers from Old Zhu's family." Zheng Wuyou gently tried to calm him and explained why they were there.

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 nervously look up at the two strangers who had violently torn open the door.

"Helpers from Uncle Zhu's house... why did you come to my house?" His voice grew softer with every word, as if just saying that much had exhausted him.

"Ah, sorry." Zheng Wuyou tried to put the door back in place.

But its hinges had already been damaged.

Miao Laisheng, by contrast, wore a scowl as he reached out and yanked the little boy from the compartment.

The little boy screamed and tried to crawl back inside.

Zheng Wuyou stared at Miao Laisheng, confused. She didn't understand what he was doing or why he was treating a child so roughly all of a sudden!

But there was no way the little boy could match an adult's strength.

Only after the little boy had been dragged all the way out did Zheng Wuyou understand why.

Because... he was a Dwarf Man.

He wasn't a little boy.

She had almost been fooled.

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

Miao Laisheng held him firmly and asked in a low voice, "Are you the owner of this house?"

The Dwarf Man bit his lip in anger and let out a snort without saying a word.

"Not talking? Then I can't promise I won't hit someone with this stick."

Now that she knew he wasn't a child, Zheng Wuyou made no effort to be polite. She pulled a wooden stick from beneath the collapsed bed. Its broken end was jagged and sharp.

She turned the tables and threatened the Dwarf Man.

"I know what you're looking for!" The man watched the stick draw closer and swallowed before continuing. "But I won't tell you. They threw it in the river!"

The moment he said that, Miao Laisheng released his grip.

The man plopped onto the floor and rubbed his sore backside.

"Hmph! Go look for it, then! You'll never find—Mmph!"

Before he could finish his threat, a dust-covered rag was stuffed into his mouth.

Miao Laisheng raised an eyebrow and calmly dusted his hands.

He had never said he wouldn't take the man along.

Zheng Wuyou had thought that only Old Zhu's family and the village chief's household had any living people. Now it seemed the other households had simply hidden inside.

Was it because Old Zhu's family was holding a wedding?

Miao Laisheng hoisted the Dwarf Man over his shoulder and strode toward the open window.

As the Dwarf Man saw himself getting closer and closer to the window, his bloodshot eyes widened, and he struggled wildly on Miao Laisheng's shoulder.

He made muffled noises through the rag, but it was impossible to tell what he was saying.

Seeing this, Zheng Wuyou went over to help Miao Laisheng and pulled the rag from the Dwarf Man's mouth.

He stared out the window in terror. "No! I can't go outside! You can risk dying, but I can't! I didn't throw away the hairpin. That woman took it to the grave in the back hills! I didn't take it!"

They had assumed the Dwarf Man had made something up out of thin air.

Who would have thought he would name the exact hairpin they were looking for?

He had also mentioned a woman...

But why would he die if he went outside?

Was he so afraid of the outdoors?

Miao Laisheng set the Dwarf Man back down.

Still shaken, he sat on the floor, away from the sunlight by the window.

Wansi was so frightened by his terrified expression that she ducked below the windowsill.

"You don't have to go outside, but..." Zheng Wuyou lightly tapped the wooden stick against her palm. "You have 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 in his house too! He keeps the village records and knows everything!" The Dwarf Man saw the stick about to swing toward his face.

He hurriedly changed his tune and pointed the finger at the tightly shut house across the way.

"If he says he doesn't know, he's lying! I wouldn't lie about something that could cost me my life!" The Dwarf Man saw everyone turn to look where he was pointing. Seizing his chance, he scrambled to his feet and crawled back into the compartment.

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

The Dwarf Man's terror didn't seem feigned.

If that was the case, they might as well check the house across the way first.

They pulled the window shut, leaving it half open, and headed across the way with Wansi.

As they walked along the Stone Path, they ran into Wen Dian and Guo Mu coming around the outside of the house where they were staying.

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

Apart from the house they were staying in, the doors and windows of all the other main and side buildings were shut tight.

Zheng Wuyou and Miao Laisheng had just reached the door of the house the Dwarf Man had called Zhu Li's House.

The moment they knocked on its somewhat weathered wooden door, it swung open with a push.

The interior was revealed to them.

Its furnishings were much like those in Old Zhu's house: just inside the entrance was the Main Hall, where piles of Black Soil had been heaped.

And in the middle, right in front of the hall, sat a man about their age in a Wooden Wheelchair. His expression was serene, as though he were basking in the sunlight.

He seemed to be sitting there just to wait for the moment the group came to visit.

Zheng Wuyou was stunned. Anyone who didn't know better would have thought they had barged into the home of some reclusive master.

What kind of fantasy-world opening was this?