CHAPTER 351: CHAPTER 351: IN CHANGPING TOWN

"Why do you say that?"

Yuan Bao was genuinely seeking guidance at this point.

"Earlier, when searching around the village, I noticed that many gardens behind people’s houses were full of vegetables. So, I went to the fields on the east side of the village."

"The crops in the fields were growing well, but there were also quite a few weeds."

"From this, it can be seen that when they planted in spring, the villagers were still living here, and they even tended to the crops for a while."

"Then suddenly, the villagers just left!"

"Under normal circumstances, the people would never abandon such thriving crops."

"Unless they encountered an irresistible reason."

Nanny Xue’s words echoed the thoughts in Yuan Bao’s mind.

Yuan Bao also noticed something amiss in the village.

While searching the houses in the village, Yuan Bao found not only untouched kitchen utensils but even left-behind salt.

Salt, that was very valuable.

Back when the Yuan Family left Great Yin, even though it was in haste, they didn’t leave behind a single grain of salt.

Yet, in Sanfu Village, some households left behind their small salt containers, which was quite unreasonable.

Unfortunately, no matter how much Yuan Bao and Nanny Xue speculated, they couldn’t guess what the real truth was.

The four of them spent a night in Sanfu Village.

To be exact, they endured a night in the village.

Even though they had a house to stay in, without mosquito nets, the mosquitoes in the mountain village were too plentiful in the hot weather.

The next morning, Yuan Bao nearly missed his daily practice of the Breathing Technique.

It was thanks to Mei Jiu’s diligent duties that Yuan Bao was stirred awake.

Last night’s dinner was fish, and breakfast was still fish.

Living by the mountain, they relied on the mountain; living by the water, they relied on the water.

The ancestors summarized it quite aptly.

After breakfast, even though the blisters on Hu Niuniu’s feet had burst, they still had to obediently continue on their journey.

Though Yuan Bao treated Hu Niuniu well, there was a distinction between master and servant.

Yesterday, Yuan Bao had already granted a concession; today, they couldn’t continue staying in the village.

Furthermore, the sudden disappearance of the villagers in Sanfu Village needed to be clearly investigated.

The group left the rugged mountain roads, returned to the main road, took a short rest, and then continued, heading directly for Changping Town, the nearest town to Sanfu Village.

Changping Town was the closest town to Sanfu Village.

If they wanted to inquire about Sanfu Village’s situation, coming to Changping Town was undoubtedly the best choice.

Upon arriving in town, the group first found an inn to rest until they were somewhat recovered, then headed out straight to a restaurant in town to eat and listen for news.

A place like a restaurant has all sorts of people, making it the most well-informed.

Yuan Bao couldn’t believe the people of Changping Town knew nothing about the disappearance of Sanfu Village’s residents.

Sure enough, Yuan Bao and Mei Jiu had just settled down when they heard someone mention Sanfu Village.

Upon hearing someone mention Sanfu Village, Yuan Bao’s eyes immediately lit up.

You must understand, Sanfu Village was her fiefdom; with its people gone, she was the one ultimately incurring losses.

However, as she listened to these people talk about the situation in Sanfu Village, the light in Yuan Bao’s eyes quickly dimmed.

Because everything they were saying was nonsense.

To the point that, until now, no one knew Sanfu Village was already empty.

"This doesn’t make sense!"

Although Sanfu Village was deep in the mountains, the fact that an entire village’s people disappeared and the nearby town hadn’t realized it for so long was increasingly eerie the more she thought about it.