Mistakenly Connected to the Jade Flower Branch

Chapter 183 Missing

Early in the morning, panic erupted in the backyard: Nianyao had disappeared! They searched the entire Chongming Island but couldn't find her.

Chongming Island is a paradise if it is peaceful, but it is very easy to kill someone if you want to. Just throw the body into the river and it will be gone without a trace.

Everyone stood in the courtyard, looking at each other, before finally fixing their gaze on Xue Yunting and Qin Jiu.

Tiger couldn't keep his mouth shut or hold his breath, and said fearlessly, "Young General Xue, you left Yaochi with Ninth Brother last night, and you were the last people to see the gang leader."

Xue Yunting looked at Qin Jiu: "Ninth Brother?"

Qin Jiu thought for a moment: "The old gang leader left a will before he died, saying that there was a cellar in his room. One person is for private use, two people are for public use. The gang leader asked me and the young general to go and open the cellar, but we couldn't find the cellar and came out."

Xu Lai exclaimed in surprise, "I've been with the old gang leader for so many years, how come I didn't know he had a cellar in his room?"

Qin Jiu said, "This large courtyard was designed and built by the former emperor of Nan Yue. You moved in after it was completed, so it's normal if you didn't know that."

Xu Lai asked, "What do we do now?"

Xue Yunting stared at the open gate of Yaochi and slowly uttered four words: "Dig three feet into the ground."

Others might say digging three feet into the ground is an exaggeration, but Xue Yunting says digging three feet into the ground is the real deal.

All the old gang leader's belongings were carried out of the courtyard. Tiger and his brothers dug, sweating profusely. Eighth Sister also carried a hoe to help, but Tiger snatched the hoe from her and threw it aside.

After diving three feet down, they could see everything. Everyone was covered in sweat and panting heavily.

Tiger asked gruffly, "Young General, shall we dig six feet into the ground?"

"Okay." Xue Yunting paused, then said, "Let's dig up the small hall and my sister's room together."

Jing Song couldn't help but put down his hoe: "Digging like this isn't going to work. If there were a cellar, the sound would definitely be different when we knock, but we've knocked all over the place and there's nothing unusual."

Xue Yunting's expression remained unchanged, his fists clenched slightly, as if he were pondering.

Duan Mingzhu stepped forward and stood next to Xue Yunting: "Since there's nothing underground, let's demolish the house."

Duan Mingzhu's voice wasn't loud, but it strangely drowned out all other sounds and attracted everyone's attention.

Tiger asked, "How do we dismantle it?"

Duan Mingzhu said, "Smash them all, raze the houses to the ground. There's nothing on the ground, nothing in the sky, and the only thing left in the middle of the world is to demolish the houses."

Qin Jiu and Xue Yunting suddenly understood. The two of them stepped forward and knocked on the wall at the same time, finally hearing something unusual in the wall separating the small hall from Nian Yao's room.

Xue Yunting lightly slashed with his longsword, seemingly without using much force, but a loud bang was heard, bricks and stones flew everywhere, and a hole appeared in the wall.

Without a second thought, Tiger rushed over and crawled inside.

Qin Jiu shouted, "Step to the side..."

Before he could even utter the word "body," Tiger was stuck between two walls, unable to move. With a mighty struggle, the other wall collapsed with a crash, revealing a narrow step on the ground.

The steps lead down to the cellar, and above the cellar is a gardenia grove outside the back wall of the courtyard. No wonder there was nothing unusual about the room's floor when I knocked on it.

The steps were too narrow to move the box out, so Tiger and his men dug a wider tunnel: "How did you manage to carry such a big box through such a narrow tunnel?"

Eighth Sister, never one to sit still, helped clear away the stones while replying, "It must have been tiny when we moved in, but it's grown into a big box over time."

Seeing that Eighth Sister was speaking seriously, Tiger suddenly realized and said, "I see... Then let's plant the silver pieces in the ground, and over time they will grow into large silver ingots..."

Eighth Sister threw a stone at Tiger: "This box must have been placed there first, and then the cellar was sealed off and flowers planted... What an idiot..."

All the boxes were brought up and filled the entire room: half gold, half silver, and a set of jewelry.

Duan Mingzhu squatted down and stared at the head and face. Amidst suspicion and hostility, she spoke: "Yun Ting, my sister has been here."

Xue Yunting squatted down beside her: "How do you know?"

Duan Mingzhu pointed to the jewelry and said, "These pieces of jewelry are secured with velvet and arranged neatly and orderly. They were basically left untouched when they were brought up. Only the large hairpin is shifted halfway and leans against the hairpin, which proves that you moved it, sister."

Qin Jiu asked, "How can you prove that you took the initiative?"

Duan Mingzhu pulled Xue Yunting to his feet: "This set of jewelry is priceless. If someone else had touched it, they would have put it back in its original place. They wouldn't have left it so conspicuously messy. My sister came by but was taken away. The person who took her away was in such a hurry that they naturally didn't notice these details."

Xue Yunting said in a deep voice, "Ninth Brother, given the relationship between our family, my sister, and the Nan Yue and Dahe Gang, I have no reason to harm my sister. If anyone is trying to frame me, Ninth Brother, please be discerning."

Regardless of Nianyao's relationship with Xue Yunting, both Xue Yunting and Duan Mingzhu are outsiders from Chongming Island. Qin Jiu stared at the box without saying a word.

Xue Yunting continued, "Prince An has long coveted Chongming Island. First, he arranged for Yan Zeyu to join forces with Uncle Xu to kill Uncle Liu. Now that my sister has disappeared, it's hard not to be suspicious."

The cause of Uncle Liu's death had been kept secret until Xue Yunting revealed it in public, causing everyone's expressions to change drastically, and they all looked at Xu Lai.

Xu Lai said, "Young Master said that Liu Lin died without illness, so please don't make false accusations, General."

Aside from a few people who still harbored doubts, Hu Zi and most others breathed a sigh of relief. Luo An and Xu Lai were more trustworthy than Xue Yunting.

Xu Lai stepped forward: "Young General, we believe you when I say the gang leader's disappearance has nothing to do with you. I swear to God, this has nothing to do with me either, shouldn't you believe me, Young General?"

Tiger looked at Xu Lai and then at Xue Yunting: "What do we do now?"

Xu Lai said, "If we imprison the young general and send a message to Qinzhou, someone will naturally help us find him. This matter cannot be left like this. We must see him alive or dead. Don't you all agree?"

The brothers naturally agreed, saying in unison, "Exactly."

Xue Yunting gripped his longsword tightly and stood before Duan Mingzhu. The atmosphere instantly became tense, threatening to escalate out of control.

Qin Jiu stepped between Xu Lai and Xue Yunting: "Brothers, don't get agitated. Finding the gang leader is the top priority. We mustn't start a fight now. How about this, we split up and search again..."

Xu Lai said, "Qin Jiu, your father Jing Zhao had a close relationship with the former emperor of Nan Yue. Jing Zhao Manor has grown bigger and bigger in recent years because of the former emperor's influence. So you should naturally protect General Xue."

To be honest, all these years you've been using a fake beard to deceive the older members of the Great River Gang. According to the gang rules, such deception should punish you with thirty strokes of the cane and expulsion from the gang. Jing Song and Xue Song, you tell me yourselves, isn't that right?"

If Xue Yunting is imprisoned, Qin Jiu is expelled from the Dahe Gang, and Nian Yao is not around, then Chongming Island and the Dahe Gang will be under Xu Lai's control. Xu Lai is wholeheartedly devoted to Dongyang…

Xuesong felt a slight chill run down his spine and quickly tried to smooth things over: "Uncle Xu Lai, you're right. We need to find him alive or dead. Finding the gang leader is the most urgent thing right now. As for Qin Jiu and the others, we can put them aside for now and talk about them when the gang leader returns."