“I know.” She didn’t dare move a muscle as she held her breath. The sound of her racing heart rang in her ear.
She felt extremely nervous at the moment but didn’t back away. She even made the first move by hooking her arms around his neck.
As for the rest of it, they allowed nature to run its course.
Rays of morning sun seeped through the curtains, lighting up the room.
Mu Yuan’er was fast asleep in Zong Yanchen’s arms.
It was eight in the morning when Mu Yuan’er felt ticklish on her face.
She stirred in her sleep and her eyes fluttered open. Her eyes blinked a few times to fully adapt to the light before being fully awake.
“You’re awake?” Zong Yanchen had yet to regain his sight. Hence, he could only touch her facial features.
Perhaps it was because Zong Yanchen was blind, she didn’t feel shy as she reached out to touch his face. He’s so handsome. She raised her head and kissed him on the lips, “Are you hungry?”
It was already past eight. They usually had breakfast at seven.
“Yes,” he said in a low voice soft with affection.
Mu Yuan’er reached for the towel. “I’ll go make breakfast for you…”
She was about to get off the bed when Zong Yanchen wrapped his arms around her and pulled her back into his arms.
“I’m going to make you breakfast.” Mu Yuan’er lightly struggled.
“I want to eat you.” Zong Yanchen tightened his arms around her. “You little liar.”
Mu Yuan’er was at a loss for words.
“You told me you were ugly. Are you really that ugly?”
“You can see now?” She hurriedly waved her hands in front of him and mumbled, “That can’t be. It should take a few days at least for you to regain your sight.”
Zong Yanchen lost his sight because scale powder from a butterfly had fallen into his eyes when he was in the mountains.
The butterfly species had bright colorful wings.
It was obvious that he hadn’t regain his sight when he didn’t respond to her. She asked, “You have yet to regain your sight. How do you even know I’m not ugly?”
Zong Yanchen merely smiled but kept quiet.
He would touch her face every night. Though it wasn’t very clear, he had a brief idea of how she looked by feeling her out with his fingertips.
Mu Yuan’er suddenly felt dejected as she was afraid he would be disappointed with how she looked.
She pressed her cheeks against his chest. “You must keep in mind how well I treated you no matter how I look.”
“I won’t forget.”
Zong Yanchen kissed her gently on her forehead.
Meanwhile, in town.
Wen Xiaoji said, “We’ve already searched this area. Why did you come in person when the higher-ups have sent so many people over?”
Zong Jinghao had a stern look on his face. “Would you be able to sit around when your son’s fate remains unknown?”
Wen Xiaoji was at a loss for words.
In actual fact, he was worried Lin Xinyan would become suspicious if Zong Jinghao came over just like that. However, he figured Zong Jinghao must have taken it into consideration and sorted it all out.
“Don’t worry so much about it, we’ve widened the search area.” Wen Xiaoji led the way. “He might not be around this area even though the incident happened somewhere around here. There are two towns and seven to eight villages around here. We’ve searched everywhere but haven’t found him. I think, perhaps we’ve been looking in the wrong direction all this while? Maybe he’s not around here at all.”
Zong Jinghao remained silent. He needed to see the place where the incident happened for himself.
It took them two to three hours to get there as the accident happened deep in the mountains.
Wen Xiaoji tagged along and explained the current situation. “That’s the nearest town from here. We’ve searched every corner, twice. The townsfolk also mentioned that they haven’t seen any strangers lurking around. Besides, we even checked every household. It doesn’t make sense for them to hide someone they’ve rescued. I don’t think he’s here.”
Besides, who would hide a stranger in their house?
The place of the incident had been ruined as there were lots of footsteps going in and out. They couldn’t find more clues from here.
However, Zong Jinghao had a strong hunch his son would be around here if he’s alive and well. After all, it’s not every day an outsider would come along nor head deep into the mountains.
Who would come to this kind of place?
There’s probably only a handful of people.
Zong Jinghao made a thorough investigation after he got out of the mountain. It was unusual for people to go in and out of this mountain since it was near the border of two countries.
It also explains why there were so many wild animals living in the mountain.
There was a black market in town whereby the townsfolk would perform illegal wildlife trade.
Surely there would be people sneaking into the mountain to poach wildlife. There was a possibility these people saw Zong Yanchen.
It would also explain why Zong Yanchen seemed to have disappeared into thin air.
If these poachers had met Zong Yanchen, they would either save him and keep it from everyone else or kill him in case anyone finds out what they were doing. Animal poaching was illegal after all.
It was a breakthrough no matter what actually happened.
Searching without a direction was pointless no matter how much area they covered.
“So you think anyone who enters the mountain has a possibility of meeting Yanchen?” Everything finally clicked for Wen Xiaoji. “You’re right. We should have started with people who might have entered the mountain.”
“I’ll send someone to check it out right this instance.” Wen Xiaoji was about to get up when something came to mind. He sat back down again. “We once came across a household in this town whereby a girl was living on her own. She has lots of medicinal herbs at home. The townsfolk said she would go into the mountain from time to time. However, we’ve searched her house before and didn’t find Zong Yanchen. She wouldn’t hide a stranger in her house since she’s a girl living on her own, right?”
Zong Jinghao raised his head.
Wen Xiaoji quickly amended as he met his eyes. “I’ll get someone to check it out again.”
“Is it far from here?” he asked.
“Not too far. She lives over there on a small hill.” Wen Xiaoji pointed in the direction of Mu Yuan’er’s house.
“Let’s go now.” Zong Jinghao got up. Wen Xiaoji was about to tell him to get some rest first after running around all day. However, he decided against it after putting himself in Zong Jinghao’s shoes.
“I’ll lead the way,” Wen Xiaoji said.
It was almost 7 p.m. when they headed over with a few more people.
They drove to the foot of the hill and had to hike the rest of the way up as the road was too narrow to drive.
They parked the car and headed up on foot.
“The townsfolk said she’s a really brave girl,” one of the men said.
Wen Xiaoji gave him a look. “How so?”
“They said she dared catch a viper with her bare hands. Don’t you think she’s brave? A lot of women would turn pale as a sheet if they see one.”
