Chapter 128: Chapter 128: Symbol and Kidnapping Case
"Where is she? Y-you can see her?" Sun Tiezhu bombarded him with several questions at once. He gripped Xiao Jingran’s sleeve tightly. "Brother Jingran, tell me you are not lying..."
There was shock on Sun Tiezhu’s face, and then a hint of desperation.
Xiao Jingran glanced at him, not really surprised by how quickly he accepted the fact that someone could see ghosts. Sun Tiezhu probably had been under pressure and desperation for too long.
Qiu Mu also fell silent, waiting for Xiao Jingran’s answer.
"Auntie Sun, can you leave this place?" He asked, staring straight at Qiu Mu’s figure.
Qiu Mu widened her eyes. Xiao Jingran really could see her! His gaze was accurately directed at her.
And the little one... she was also blinking her big eyes curiously in her direction.
[I... I can’t... wait, let me try.] Qiu Mu floated over the thick vegetation, and as she crossed a dozen meters, she suddenly couldn’t advance further. As if there was an invisible wall blocking her.
Her spirit also visibly grew much more faint.
Xiao Qingya grabbed her eldest brother’s hand and shook her head. This auntie can’t go anywhere!
After she floated back to their side, Qiu Mu explained. [I-I really can’t.]
There was a way to bring Qiu Mu out of the place she was bound to, but he was unwilling to let his little sister do it. Otherwise, there might be too many ghosts around her.
He cleared his throat, glancing at the wide-eyed Sun Tiezhu. The latter had witnessed the conversation between Xiao Jingran and some invisible figure.
Although he couldn’t see his mother’s figure, the change in atmosphere around them was enough to make him suspect that Xiao Jingran was telling the truth.
He could feel a soft breeze after Xiao Jingran asked that question, the temperature getting warm slightly as if a piece of ice block was leaving. Then, the cold temperature returned again after a while.
It was impossible for Xiao Jingran to manipulate the temperature like that.
"Follow me," Xiao Jingran said these words seriously to Sun Tiezhu. He picked up Xiao Qingya and walked along the thicker vegetation in the riverside. The place where less people would visit.
Sun Tiezhu hurriedly followed him, his eyes scanning his surroundings for his mother’s invisible figure.
At some point, Xiao Jingran crouched down and picked up something from the ground. Sun Tiezhu yelped slightly when he saw what it was.
Fortunately, the snake didn’t hit him.
They walked a few more steps, and then stopped. Their presence was now blocked by the various thick vegetation acting as walls.
"Auntie Sun, I can help you communicate with Tiezhu if you have something to say to him." Xiao Jingran began.
She became an earthbound spirit because she had an unfulfilled wish. It was more likely related to her sons’ safety.
"Mother... are you really here?" Sun Tiezhu murmured softly.
Qiu Mu hesitated for a moment, and she became silent as she stared at her son’s young figure. If she were to reveal it to Xiao Jingran, she might drag their family in danger.
Her eyes landed on Xiao Qingya’s little frame, and her hesitation grew stronger.
As if sensing her unease, Xiao Jingran added, "Auntie Sun, you don’t need to feel worried if you want to reveal something to us."
He already had a guess that Sun Tiezhu might know something. Most of the time, he and his younger siblings would ignore Sun Daniu’s existence, but based on the Ling siblings, they actually had a lot of fights recently.
Sun Tiezhu stared at Xiao Jingran in shock. "Brother Jingran... you already knew about it?"
He lowered his eyes, feeling slightly guilty. His father was actually such a man, and he had no power to stop him. His younger siblings were still too innocent; he couldn’t risk his life because he still had to take care of them.
Qiu Mu stared at her son, and she was filled with myriad emotions. Her thin arms reached out to hug him. Alas, she passed by him again.
Sun Tiezhu could feel the atmosphere around him growing colder, but he wasn’t afraid. In a slightly trembling voice, he turned everywhere, searching for her. "Brother Jingran, where is my mother?"
Seeing Xiao Jingran pointed to his right, he turned his gaze in that direction. "Mother, you are here."
Qiu Mu was stunned. Although she knew her son couldn’t see her, he was currently looking straight at her.
He wiped his own eyes. Like a lost child, he had unknowingly cried.
"Brother Jingran is right, Mother, please reveal everything you know. I-I will bring all the younger brothers away from here. Father won’t be able to do anything to us..." He made a decision on the spot.
"Actually..." he swallowed, hesitating slightly. He glanced at Xiao Jingran. The latter nodded at him as if giving him encouragement. "I found a letter under your bed... There is an unknown symbol there. A serpent coiling around a sword..."
Qiu Mu gripped her own chest, shaking her head in disbelief. Her eyes were wide as if her eyeballs were about to jump out of their sockets.
"I can’t recognize a single character, but it must have been from Father’s, right?" Sun Tiezhu asked, full of conviction.
[Y-yes... it was your father’s letter.] Qiu Mu sighed.
The Sun family was rather well off. In his younger days, Sun Daniu had learned how to write and read from a teacher. Alas, he wasn’t cut for studying and his parents no longer forced him.
Even so, he could still recognize a few characters and write simple letters.
On the other hand, Qiu Mu was completely illiterate. She only recognized the symbol on the letter, and it was enough to make her blood run cold.
The symbol reminded her of unpleasant memories during her teenage days. She was taken away by masked people who wanted to sell her to be a slave.
These people had such symbols on their bodies—they were human traffickers.
Before she found out what Sun Daniu had done, at that time, he also had been coming home with some money, which was a very unusual thing. Of course, he didn’t give all the money to his wife.
He only wanted to show off to her.
[Jingran, I am sorry.] Qiu Mu suddenly apologized. [Your little sister’s kidnapping case... it might have something to do with my husband.]
