Chapter 576: Someone else's brother has lost his life

Tuan Tuan tugged at Xiao Ningxun's sleeve: "Third Brother, why is it so noisy outside?"

Xiao Ningxun and the eldest brother exchanged a glance, both feeling a vague sense of foreboding.

The two led Tuan Tuan out.

Immediately afterward, the others also rushed out of the house.

The courtyard was already in utter chaos.

The shopkeeper came running over in his outer robe: "What's wrong? What happened?"

A person resembling a cook, face ashen, pointed at a half‑closed door and shouted in a shrill voice: "Shopkeeper, Abudu is missing!"

The shopkeeper ran to the doorway and peered inside: "Where did he go? He's still wounded! Why is there so much blood on the ground?"

"With so many of you, nobody saw anything?"

The cook looked up, saw Tuan Tuan's group, and pointed: "Last night when I went to dump the wastewater, I saw it with my own eyes—it was them, sneaking around Abudu's door!"

The shopkeeper froze for a moment, then his face darkened: "Shut up!"

"They're the ones who brought him back! What nonsense are you spouting?"

The cook shrank back at his shout, but still stuck out her neck and yelled: "I really did see it! Why can't I say so?"

A worker pushed to the front, stared hard at everyone, and said: "It really was them—I saw them too last night, boss."

"What did you see?" the shopkeeper asked, his brows furrowing.

The worker scratched his head: "It was them, lurking suspiciously at Abudu's door."

He shouted at another, portly worker: "Come over and take a look—was what we saw last night them?"

The fat worker came over, examined them carefully, and said: "Isn't this the group we saw together last night when we went to relieve ourselves?"

The shopkeeper's expression changed.

He slowly turned his head to look at the crowd, his eyes complex: "Gentlemen, what's going on here?"

Sa Dike spread his hands, stepped back, and said: "Well, here we go again with trouble. I said at the city gate yesterday that we shouldn't get involved."

Xiao Ningxun scooped up Tuan Tuan in one arm, his expression calm: "You all must have mistaken them."

"We're the ones who rescued him—if we wanted to do him harm, why would we go to all this trouble?"

Tuan Tuan pouted: "Exactly! They're talking nonsense!"

The shopkeeper nodded repeatedly: "That makes sense."

He turned back: "Don't spout nonsense—these people are my benefactors; they could never have done this!"

"All right, all right," he waved his hand, "they still have to be on their way—hurry up and go look elsewhere, stop yelling here."

"No way!" the fat worker's eyes bulged: "Boss, the person lived right next door to them—now he's gone and there's still blood on the ground!"

"We all saw them standing outside their door in the middle of the night—how could they possibly have nothing to do with it?"

"They must have killed Abudu—how can you just let them go like that?"

Xiao Er frowned, lifted his foot, and headed toward Abudu's door: "I'll go take a look."

"Stop! No entry!" the fat worker lunged forward, spreading his arms to block Xiao Er: "You're the ones who hurt him! Who knows what you'll do once you're inside?"

Xiao Er's steps halted.

The fat worker, face flushed with anger, locked eyes with Xiao Er for a moment, then suddenly turned and rammed his head into the nearby earthen wall.

"Bang!"

A muffled thud.

It startled Tuan Tuan: "Why are you hitting the wall? Doesn't it hurt?"

Xiao Ningxun patted his sister's back and pressed her little head into the crook of his neck.

The fat worker clutched his head and slid to sit on the ground; fresh blood seeped from between his fingers, streaming down his cheeks.

"Boss!" he lifted his head, "It really was them! Abudu treated me like a brother!"

He panted, his voice growing louder: "I can't just stand by and watch him be killed like this! You… you have to believe us!"

Suddenly, a heart‑rending wail came from outside the courtyard: "My son——!"

A woman stumbled in, lunged to the fat worker's side, her legs giving way: "My son! How could you be so foolish!"

She sobbed heart‑wrenchingly, suddenly lifted her head, her eyes red and frightening, glaring fixedly at everyone: "You thieves! How dare you harm my son like this!"

More people poured in—men and women, old and young—in the blink of an eye the courtyard was packed to the rafters.

"Who's missing? Dead or alive?"

"Have you caught the person?"

"Oh dear, that's the neighbor next door to my house! Why is his head covered in blood!"

A cacophony of voices buzzed together.

The group exchanged glances: "What on earth is all this chaos?"

The shopkeeper looked at the fat worker, his head covered in blood, his face full of difficulty and resignation.

"Gentlemen," he sighed, "you've also seen it—how did this turn into such a mess?"

He paused: "If there's really no other way, we can only report it to the authorities."

"A living person, after barely saving his life, just vanished without explanation—there has to be an accounting."

Xiao Ningxun nodded: "Then let's report it."

The shopkeeper shook his head: "Ah, there's nothing else we can do. Someone! Quick, go report to the officials!"

"All right!" a worker dashed out.

After a moment, footsteps sounded outside the courtyard gate.

"What happened? Who died?" two people pushed through the crowd and entered—one tall, one short—exactly the two soldiers from yesterday's city gate.

The crowd: "……"

Tuan Tuan's eyes widened: "How come it's them again?"

Xiao Er snorted angrily: "Who's the person in charge here?"

The short soldier glanced at him: "Our person in charge? As long as there's no fighting at the border, he wouldn't bother with these trivial matters."

The tall thin soldier asked: "Go on, what's the matter?"

The shopkeeper stepped forward and explained the whole thing.

The two soldiers listened, then exchanged a glance.

"I actually know about the matter you're talking about." The short soldier looked at the group: "Indeed, yesterday it was these people who rescued that person and brought him into the city."

The tall thin soldier said: "Exactly, so now the person is missing, there's blood on the ground, and with so many witnesses here, we naturally can only demand the person from them."

Everyone: "……"

Xiao Ningyuan couldn't help but speak: "What twisted logic is this? Since we rescued the person, why would we harm him?"

The shopkeeper sighed: "I can't figure it out either!"

Before he finished speaking, the two assistants and the cook started shouting loudly:

"Other customers simply can't get into this backyard!"

"Our shopkeeper kindly let you stay here, yet you're heartless and ungrateful!"

"Exactly! We all saw it with our own eyes!"

The short soldier waited until they finished shouting, then slowly said: "Human life is at stake, such a large pool of blood... sigh, this person, I'm afraid, is more likely to meet misfortune than fortune."

The tall thin soldier said: "Exactly, if you can't hand over the person, we can only deal with you according to the law."

He paused, then held up two fingers: "Two options: first, we lock you up in the big prison, and after the person is found, we'll ask the person in charge to hear your defense."

"However, you delicate lot probably couldn't endure the suffering of imprisonment."

"If you want to avoid jail, that's also simple."

"Just leave your wagons, caravan, and goods behind as compensation for the shopkeeper."

"We're quite fair; although your things are valuable, they've lost a brother's life!"