Eternal Life: Talent Grows with Age-Chapter 69: The Search

Wang Heihou and Niu Dazhuang grabbed their knives and rushed toward the woods behind the village.

"Wait a minute!" Lu Chang’sheng called out to them, then turned to that man and asked, "Can you give us more details about what’s going on?"

The young man answered impatiently, "What the hell are you thinking? My sister disappeared in the mountains, I need more people to help find her! I don’t have time to waste talking to you!"

Li Nangua’s house was in East Village, separated by most of the village from where Lu Chang’sheng and Wang Heihou lived. Looking at his pale, puffy face, he probably stayed at home all the time, clearly a lazybones, and it was normal for him not to know them.

"Brother, could you please just tell us? It’ll only take a moment!" Lu Chang’sheng frowned slightly.

"Get out of the way! You looking to cause trouble, huh? Move, or you’ll regret it!"

The man’s voice was loud, and pretty soon, his shouting attracted the attention of the villagers around, with several men rushing out of their houses, some gripping clubs in their hands.

But not everyone was as clueless as that man—in fact, one guy had barely come near before he recognized Lu Chang’sheng.

"Isn’t that the second son of the Lu Family?"

"Uncle!" Lu Chang’sheng’s eyes showed a little chill. He nodded to the man, "We came from home to check on Nangua, but just arrived and heard that this guy said Nangua was missing. I want to understand exactly what’s happened so we can help out."

"Oh, oh, I get it, I get it, let me tell you!"

The guy jumped in quickly—he’d heard all about Lu Chang’sheng and his crew yesterday, knew they weren’t people to mess with, so, walking ahead, he started explaining what had happened.

"A few years back, pretty much after you guys left Black Mountain Prefecture, that’s when the big drought hit. A lot of folks had to rely on old food stores just to get by. The Nangua family was already in bad shape, and that Li Chuzi was a lazy glutton, so poor Old Li and his wife suffered!"

"That whole family, it seemed like they were arguing every other day. But then, who knows what luck they ran into—Old Li went into the mountain one day and ran into a mountain wolf. Anybody else saw that wolf would’ve been scared half to death."

"Old Li definitely thought that was the end for him, figured he’d die out there, but the wolf didn’t eat him—it actually followed him back home. Ever since, every now and then, the wolf would bring a hunk of meat for the family!"

The man glanced over with a trace of envy in his eyes.

When everyone else was saving food and barely scraping by, Old Li’s family was surviving on meat brought by a wolf, feeding all three of them.

Who wouldn’t envy and resent them?

If it weren’t for the fact we’re in a village, somewhere else, someone probably would’ve killed them for it.

Of course, it took more than a year before everyone found out.

Back then, the Li family guarded their secret seriously and kept everything hidden.

"That’s a good wolf, and Old Li’s family just got lucky. Over these years, the three of them grew a lot stronger. Not long after, Old Li’s wife had one of her old health problems flare up, couldn’t get around like before, and after the drought ended, she was stuck in bed, needing to be cared for."

"Thing is, Old Li and Li Chuzi are trash—never bothered taking care of the woman in their house. Wu Xiue got skinnier every day, nobody bothered cleaning up after her in bed, as good as dead and no one would’ve questioned it!"

Lu Chang’sheng and the others had sharp looks in their eyes now.

"Those men never treated women like people!"

The man sighed.

The neighbors had tried arguing with Old Li about it before, but it was their family affair, so nobody wanted to push too hard.

"A few days ago, when Nangua got home, Wu Xiue passed away. We don’t know exactly how it went down. Li Chuzi blamed Li Nangua, but we think it had nothing to do with her. Poor Nangua girl—kicked out in the middle of the night; if it weren’t for the rest of us neighbors, who couldn’t stand watching it, she’d have been left out in the cold. We made some space for her in one of our houses, let her rest for a bit."

"Goddamn bastards!" Wang Heihou couldn’t help but curse out loud, drawing his knife and heading straight for the Li Family.

"Get back here, Heihou!"

Lu Chang’sheng yelled.

"Chang’sheng, don’t try to stop me. Today if I, Wang Heihou, don’t cripple those two, I might as well give up on everything I’ve been through these years!" Wang Heihou said, face flushed red.

"If you do that, how do you think Nangua will feel?"

Lu Chang’sheng shook his head.

"Let me handle this."

Lu Chang’sheng let out a heavy sigh. He couldn’t just take Wang Heihou’s reckless approach. First, they needed to find Li Nangua, figure out what she was really feeling, and then decide how to punish that father and son.

Even if killing was the answer, you couldn’t do it now.

The man was frightened by Wang Heihou’s reaction—Lu Chang’sheng had to soothe him before he could continue. "As for Nangua going missing, I think it’s probably because of that wolf. Ever since she came back, those two at Old Li’s found the wolf never brought them meat again. So, they made Nangua go find the wolf and bring it back."

Lu Chang’sheng said, "Don’t those two realize? If they treated Nangua better, they’d get more out of it?"

He couldn’t believe those two didn’t notice Nangua’s changed status.

This was exactly why Lu Chang’sheng wasn’t worried about Nangua being mistreated at home.

If people acted normally, seeing that their little sister made it big, they’d try real hard to get in her good graces, to take advantage—especially selfish types like those two.

"Probably Nangua refused! And once the meat-bringing wolf disappeared, Old Li and his son lost control."

As they talked, the group kept moving into the mountains.

People kept coming from the village to help search.

We’re all from the same place—when something terrible happens, everyone pitches in.

The woods were thick and the terrain rough.

Loose rocks everywhere—you had to watch your step or risk a broken leg.

After hunting for ages, Lu Chang’sheng told Niu Dazhuang to go back and get more people.

They all searched places where people usually went, but it was no use—they found nothing. Worse yet, one group almost got killed by a wild animal.

With the sun setting, everyone could only retreat in frustration.

Only Mr. Lu, Mr. Wang, Niu Dazhuang’s older brother, and a few villagers stayed on with Lu Chang’sheng to keep searching in the mountain.

Night was coming, and the woods grew eerily quiet.

Lu Chang’sheng knew that searching for someone after dark was extremely dangerous and much less effective, so he told Wang Heihou to take everyone else back.

Of course, Wang Heihou didn’t want to go—he wanted to stay and search for Li Nangua with the two of them.

Lu Chang’sheng didn’t say a word—he just drew his knife. With a swish, four shimmering blades sliced leaves from all four sides.

"Dazhuang has mastered the Immovable Stake. My Four-Sided Blade Technique is at Great Success. My ability to protect myself is something you can’t compare to—and besides, you don’t want my father and our uncles in danger, do you?"

Wang Heihou stared at the drifting leaves, a hint of awe and reluctance on his face. Quietly, he swore: Once I’m back, I’m going to train twice as hard from now on. Then he turned, gathered the group, and left.

"Let’s go, Dazhuang!"

Niu Dazhuang nodded and headed with Lu Chang’sheng into the depths of the forest.

Earlier that day, they’d already searched most of the wolf’s usual haunts. This time, Lu Chang’sheng aimed for the nearest rocky mountain.

Climb high for a better view!

It was the only idea he had left.

Several hours later, the two of them had scaled the steep, rugged peak—nearly getting bitten by a venomous snake.

"Dazhuang, hand me the tinderbox!"

Lu Chang’sheng grabbed some dry grass from between the rocks, lit it with the tinderbox, and in an instant, a pillar of flame shot into the night sky like a beacon.

His eyes were sharp, scanning the darkness for any sign, nerves taut as a bowstring.

Time crept by, and just as despair started to fill his heart, suddenly—a fleeting spark appeared in the night.

"Over there!"

Lu Chang’sheng’s face lit up with excitement, and he scrambled madly down the mountain.