More than one family had the same conversation.
"No one was fished out? Hahaha! God has mercy! Have you seen them ever since the Liu family had a Blessed Baby? They usually looked at our Xiapo villagers haughtily. This is great. Their Blessed Baby is gone, hahaha!"
"Humph, I've heard that the Liu family spoiled their granddaughter more than the boys in their family. Look what happened now. Their foolishness has gone too far, and karma has struck. Hey, husband, since that baby is gone, do you think our village has any chance to win the winery? Should you go back to the village chief and urge him on?"
"This is still uncertain, mainly because we don't have the secret recipe in our hands. I'll drop by the Village Chief's house later to take a look. We'll talk about it then if there's a chance."
The Blessed Baby of Xinghua Village fell into the river and drowned. This matter was spread around last night by villagers who returned at night, and overnight it spread to every household.
Many people tossed and turned with excitement during the night.
In the past, their Xiapo Village used to almost suppress Xinghua Village, but in the past two years, they've been countered by Xinghua Village. Why?
Wasn't it because of that Blessed Baby?
With her gone, their villagers were looking forward to the days when they could raise their heads again.
A night has passed now, so anyone who fell into the river, no matter how good a swimmer he was, should have long died.
"Dang–dang–"
The sudden ringing of a bell interrupted the fervent discussion in each household.
"What's going on? The bell only rings when the village holds a general meeting. What's going on at this hour?"
"Let's put down our work first and gather quickly in the village square!"
"The Village Chief must have something important to announce! Do you think it has something to do with the Xinghua Village's Blessed Baby?"
Families swarmed and ran in unison towards the square.
The village square was located in the middle of the village, and was a large piece of flat ground made of stone slabs, which was used for drying the grains of the families during harvest season. However, within a short time, the place was packed with people.
In the crowd, people found that the Village Chief, An Cai, had also hurriedly arrived.
"Village Chief, what are you doing here? Didn't you ring the bell?"
"The Village Chief is here, who rang the bell? Who got the nerve to play tricks on people?"
An Cai gasped, his face gloomy as he stared at the large bell on the high platform at the front of the square.
He was the ruler of this village, and usually no one but him dared to touch that bell. Not even the most mischievous child would dare to run up to the platform to play with it!
Just as the crowd was shocked and enraged, and ready to go up and arrest someone…
A figure slowly appeared behind the huge bell.
A seven or eight-year-old boy.
"Isn't this the child of that widow living in the Luofu Mountain cabin? Hey! How dare you come to our village and cause trouble? You're looking for death, right?!"
Someone cursed furiously, rolled up his sleeves and went up to catch him.
In the crowd, however, two men had already turned pale and backed away in fright.
"Where's Shengsheng?" The boy slowly walked to the edge of the platform, his gaze faintly scanning the crowd below, oblivious to the burly man who came up to grab him.
"What Shengsheng? We don't know! What do you mean coming down here in Xiapo Village to find her? I think you're just here, looking for a fight!" The burly man climbed up onto the raised platform and reached out to grab the boy's arm.
An ignorant child deserved to be beaten, so that he could remember the lesson in the future.
Some people off the stage were ready to leave. It was no big deal. There was nothing to see in teaching a child.
Then there was a bang, followed by the audience's scream, making these people couldn't resist turning around. Then they went pale with shock.
There on the platform, the boy was still standing calmly!
The big man who was going to beat him up was on his knees, motionless at his feet! What an ultimate humiliation!
The place was in an uproar.
They couldn't believe that a child so small could kick a strong man to his knees!
They also didn't know what method he used to make him immobile!
It was horrible!
At this time, Liu Dalin and Liu Erlin have also arrived with the villagers, pointing at the people who were still in shock, "You Xiapo villagers kidnapped my daughter, hurry up and give her back!"
"Hand her over! I'm telling you, if Nannan is hurt in the slightest, I'll fight to the death with you!" Liu Erlin glared at them, his eyes red. The brothers were frighteningly strong with the desire to fight to their death.
"What are you, Xinghua villagers, trying to do? Why did you come to our village to make a racket? What kidnapped your Nannan? What hand her over? You guys are mad!"
"What? Your village's Blessed Baby drowned in the river and now you want to come to our Xiapo Village to ask for compensation? Did you think we're afraid of you? Are you looking for a fight? Bring it on!"
The Xiapo villagers refused to show weakness, stalking their necks and cursing. Some even rolled their sleeves up right away.
Seeing this, the Xinghua villagers immediately stood next to Liu Dalin and Liu Erlin. If they wanted a fight, then fight!
Even if they were less in number, they would never stand idly by!
Seeing that the two sides were on the verge of fighting, An Cai stepped out of the crowd, raised his hand to squash the agitated Xiapo villagers, folded his hands in front of him, and looked at the two brothers, Liu Dalin and Liu Erlin, together with the Xinghua villagers.
I've heard about the Blessed Baby of Xinghua Village and I'm deeply saddened and sorry that such a lovely little girl was gone. But I don't understand what you're asking us to do when you suddenly barged into our village. The dead can't be revived, but no matter how sad it is, you can't just dump dirty water on my village! Although our two villages have had small conflicts, it hasn't reached the point of deep-seated hatred. There's no way in hell that our Xiapo villagers would go after a baby for nothing! You'd better give us an explanation for this!"
"Haha! Explanation?!" Liu Dalin's eyes were scarlet. He trudged heavily for, staring at An Cai's morally upright face, gritting his teeth and licking his blood. "You kidnapped my daughter and in turn want me to give you an explanation? Let me tell you right now, if you don't hand over my daughter today, I, Liu Dalin, swear to fight you to my last dying breath."
"Damn it! You're still going strong, aren't you? To your dying breath? Who are you trying to scare? Let me kill you right now!" Someone behind An Cai squeezed out, raising his fist and swung at Liu Dalin.
An Cai squinted and watched with cold eyes.
The situation was on the verge of breaking out.
"Where's Shengsheng?" The boy's tender voice rang gently, penetrating the noise and falling into everyone's ears.
The clamor then suddenly stilled.
The fist the man had swung stopped abruptly at the tip of Liu Dalin's nose and could no longer inch forward. His complexion drastically changed, and cold sweat oozed densely out of his forehead.
Because of his daughter's disappearance, Liu Dalin's mind has already been on upheaval, so he was unaware of the change on his opponent. He countered the attack and hit the man's head with his fist, then on the face. He knocked the man down, pinned him to the ground, and punched non-stop, like a wild beast driven to the bottom of the valley, tearing at each enemy with madness.