“Who is it?” Hu Jia roared.
A figure rushed towards him, leaped into the air, and kicked out.
Hu Jia blocked with both hands and retreated two steps.
“Hmph, if it weren’t for all the plants and flowers in here, you might not have found me.” The person was none other than Lü Qingqing.
“Why are you here?” Hu Jia couldn’t deny his surprise, and his irrepressible smile showed how happy he was.
“Your plan to play the oriole succeeded. I was worried about you being alone here, so I came to check.” Lü Qingqing looked around. “Still no discoveries?”
Hu Jia shook his head. “How did we hide the key back then? It’s so well concealed.”
Lü Qingqing chuckled. “Whether the key is even here is another question, and you’re already praising yourself.”
Hu Jia bared his teeth. “Did we really bury it underground?”
Lü Qingqing pondered. “Even if it was buried underground, there would have to be some marker.”
Hu Jia had thought the same, but looking around, the place was overgrown with weeds, leaving no trace. Coupled with the passage of time, any tricks they might have played back then would have long since vanished.
In the end, the two not only dismantled the small wooden hut, digging three feet deep, but they also dug up every suspicious spot in the vicinity.
“It’s over, the key might not be here. I can’t believe you guys wouldn’t consider how to retrieve it later when hiding something. It’s not like Master Tang going to fetch scriptures, requiring eighty-one trials,” Lü Qingqing said, exhausted.
Hu Jia was also frustrated, his hopes dashed once again. “Let’s rest, and then we’ll head back. I’ll ask Sister Chun Ya again when we have time. See if she can remember anything else.”
Lü Qingqing nodded.
She lay in the grass, looking up at the sky above, so blue. The white clouds, so beautiful!
Hu Jia lay down beside her, and they fell silent, both enjoying the rare moment of tranquility.
“Actually, Yu Yue didn’t bring back this news, did she?” Lü Qingqing suddenly spoke.
Hu Jia was startled. “You know?”
Indeed, women couldn’t be trusted. Yu Yue was a traitor. Hu Jia had expected Lü Qingqing to fly into a rage upon hearing this, but her calm tone suggested she wasn’t angry.
“Do you think I’m stupid? Yu Yue spent so long with Mou Chun Ya and got no news. You went out last night, and then the news arrived.”
Hu Jia sighed; this woman was hard to fool.
“Qingqing,” Hu Jia started to explain, but Lü Qingqing interrupted him. “I know what you’re thinking. You’re afraid of implicating us. But whether it’s you, me, Ouyang Wen, Li Yang, or Wen Wu, do we use the word ‘implicate’ among ourselves?”
Yes, meeting someone with whom you can share fortune and adversity is a great blessing.
The more realistic society became, the more lonely people felt.
It was this self-righteous sentiment of “I’m doing this for your own good” that forced everyone to become an isolated individual.
“Casual acquaintances are a burden, but close loved ones are those you need,” Lü Qingqing said.
Hu Jia understood; he understood all of this.
“For years, the case has remained unsolved, and yet everyone involved has met with an accident. I am probably the only one alive. I’ve forgotten you all, but you still stay by my side. But if you all forget me, who will be by your side then?”
Hu Jia was only afraid, afraid that those around him would leave because of him.
Lü Qingqing could naturally understand what Hu Jia was thinking. She turned on her side, propped her chin on her hand, and looked at Hu Jia. “Will you forget me?”
Hu Jia shook his head. How could I forget you? The moment I touch your hand, I remember you.
“Then I won’t forget you either,” Lü Qingqing said.
…
This was an agreement, and a promise. It was an expression of emotion, and a transmission of sentiment.
Today, something had deepened between them.
Finally, Lü Qingqing and Hu Jia made three rules: no matter what they encountered in the future, they would not hide from each other. Especially regarding the shooting case, they must share information.
“Let’s go. It seems we won’t find anything here. We still have to keep searching,” Hu Jia said, deliberately using a teasing tone to mask his disappointment.
“Mm.” Lü Qingqing stood up with him.
They were going to the pond to retrieve their clothes, which were soaked from diving.
“You climbed up this cliff face back then. You were quite foolish not to realize the only way in and out was through the water,” Lü Qingqing said as they walked, recounting past events, especially the embarrassing stories of everyone searching for Hu Jia after he went missing.
“Do you think everyone’s brain works as fast as yours?” Hu Jia couldn’t remember the exact situation back then, so he went along with Lü Qingqing’s narrative.
“Of course. If we hadn’t found the straw ropes, we wouldn’t have realized you guys went up this way.” Lü Qingqing finished speaking and then pulled Hu Jia to the base of the cliff. “Look. Your masterpiece back then.”
Hu Jia looked at the residual straw ropes on the ground. The toughness of the straw roots allowed them to be preserved for a long time after drying.
There were no creatures in this area, and the high cliffs on all sides blocked the air circulation. In other words, there was no wind, so the knot of the straw rope remained as it was before, only now it had decayed.
Hu Jia glanced at it casually, then squatted down. He reached out to pick up a straw rope, but as soon as he lifted it, it crumbled into dust.
“What’s wrong? Do you want to take it back as a souvenir?” Lü Qingqing asked with a smile.
“You just said I climbed up here with the Wang brothers. That means there were only three people present at the time,” Hu Jia asked.
“Mm, what’s wrong?” Lü Qingqing didn’t understand why Hu Jia was asking.
“Look at the weaving technique of these straw knots,” Hu Jia pointed to the ruined remnants on the ground. “There are more than three techniques here.”
Lü Qingqing looked slightly surprised. Indeed, there were several knotting methods on the ground.
One involved several loops and then passing through the center, another involved bending into a loop and then tying a firm knot, and some completely different knotting methods were also found.
“Is there anything special about this?” Lü Qingqing asked, confused.
“If there were only three of us, under such tense and urgent circumstances, would you use different knotting methods? No! Because you would only want to finish quickly, leave quickly, and you would definitely use the knotting method you are most skilled at and guarantees safety.”
At this, Lü Qingqing understood. This meant that a fourth person, or even more, had been present here, and they had also woven straw ropes.
But what was so surprising about that? Wang Xia and Mou Ji Xuan had both been here before. It was normal for them to know how to tie knots, right?
Wait!
How could it be normal?
Lü Qingqing suddenly understood Hu Jia’s meaning.
Whether it was Wang Xia or Mou Ji Xuan, they both knew that the only way in and out of this place was through that waterway.
Since they knew the exit was in that location, why would they tie knots with rope?
Did they have nothing better to do than risk climbing this cliff?
No, there was only one possibility.
They did need to climb the cliff, but not to find the exit.
Lü Qingqing looked up at the surrounding cliffs. She suddenly felt a surge of excitement.
It seemed that the key would appear soon.