Chapter 253: Chapter 253: Missing

Wei Qing set down the firewood from her back and pulled Wei Shan out of the ditch.

"Xiao Shan, are you okay? I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to."

Wei Shan pointed at the mud on her pants and shoes and said irritably, "Look, they’re all dirty. You have to wash them for me."

Wei Qing agreed good-naturedly, her eyes subconsciously darting toward the mountain.

Noticing her anxiety, Wei Shan also glanced up the mountain, her curiosity piqued.

"What happened? Did you see a ghost on the mountain? You look so panicked!"

Wei Qing quickly looked around. Seeing no one, she whispered to Wei Shan, "Let’s talk about it when we get back."

Her curiosity stoked, Wei Shan headed home with her.

When they reached Wei Shan’s front door, Wei Qing didn’t go in, instead turning into the old thatched hut that belonged to her own family next door.

The two-room thatched hut, though uninhabitable, was perfect for storing dry firewood and other odds and ends.

After shutting the door, Wei Qing finally whispered to Wei Shan about what she had seen on the mountain. "While I was chopping firewood this afternoon, I saw some strange men hiding something in a cave."

Wei Shan was burning with curiosity. "So, did you see what they hid?"

Wei Qing shook her head. "I was too far away. I couldn’t see clearly."

"Then what happened?"

"After they hid it, they lingered on the mountain for a bit before leaving. That’s when I came down."

Wei Shan couldn’t help but ask, "They were already gone! Why didn’t you go see what they hid?"

"They weren’t from our village, and they didn’t look like good people. I was worried they might double back."

The story made Wei Shan itch with curiosity, as if a cat were scratching at her heart. "What do you think they hid?"

Wei Qing started to speak, then hesitated. "You know how the town’s grain and oil station was robbed a few days ago? And how they lost over two thousand in public funds?"

Wei Shan’s eyes grew as wide as saucers. "Are you saying they were hiding the stolen money?"

"I’m just guessing. It could be something else."

But Wei Shan was tempted. No matter what, she had to drag Wei Qing up the mountain to have a look.

’If it really is the money from the grain and oil station, and they could get it back without anyone noticing... they’d strike it rich!’

Wei Qing dissuaded her. "It’s not dark yet. If we go up the mountain now, people from the village will see us. Then, when those men come back and can’t find the money, they’ll definitely suspect us!"

At this, Wei Shan hesitated.

’These people dared to rob the grain and oil station; they must be a vicious and desperate bunch. She couldn’t afford to cross them.’

’But she couldn’t stand the thought of giving up just like that.’

"Let’s wait until tomorrow. With more people on the mountain, they won’t be able to trace it back to us."

Wei Shan thought this was a great idea and immediately made plans with Wei Qing to go up the mountain together the next afternoon to chop firewood.

It grew dark early in the winter, and it was cold. After dinner, Wei Qing and Wei Shan went to their room and got under the covers.

Wei Shan snuggled up to Wei Qing and whispered, "Hey, where’s that cave where they hid the stuff?"

"It’s over on the North Slope. We used to play in that cave when we were kids."

The mountains near Lotus Village had many caves, all of which were tunnels dug during the war.

Wei Shan asked again, "Did you see where they hid it? At the cave entrance, or inside?"

Wei Qing replied, "Inside. Buried in the ground and covered with dry grass."

Wei Shan was satisfied. "Alright, then. We’ll go up the mountain to see it tomorrow. I’m going to sleep now."

"Mm."

After a good while, there were still no snores from the person beside her. A silent smile touched Wei Qing’s lips.

She closed her eyes, waiting patiently like a predator lying in wait in the darkness.

It wasn’t until the middle of the night, just as Wei Qing could no longer fight off her drowsiness and was about to fall asleep, that Wei Shan finally moved.

"Xiao Qing."

Seeing no response from Wei Qing, Wei Shan put on her jacket and slipped quietly out of the room.

A moment later, Wei Qing sat up in bed as well.

Tonight was the fifteenth of the lunar month. Guided by the faint moonlight, Wei Shan made her way up the mountain in the dark.

Going up the mountain alone in the middle of the night was no easy feat, but the money buried in the cave was a deadly lure, driving Wei Shan forward against all reason.

’Over two thousand! She had never seen so much money in her entire life.’

’If she could take this money and marry someone in the city, her life would be incredible.’

Her head filled with dreams of striking it rich, she failed to notice the dark figure tailing her.

She finally reached the cave Wei Qing had described.

Wei Shan impatiently lit a candle and entered the cave, guided by its flame.

She hadn’t gone far into the cave before she found the pile of dry grass. Beaming, she bent down to brush it aside, only to freeze.

There was no money buried beneath the grass. Instead, there was the pitch-black opening of a hole in the ground.

Just as she leaned over to peer curiously into the hole, a sudden, hard shove from behind sent her screaming into the pit.

SCRATCH!

A match was struck, illuminating Wei Qing’s face. She was still shaken, her breathing rapid.

Even though she had rehearsed this night’s events in her mind countless times, this was her first time actually harming someone. She couldn’t control her nervousness and fear; the hand holding the match wouldn’t stop shaking.

"Ah! Who’s up there?"

"Help! Help me!"

Listening to the cries from the pit, the panic on Wei Qing’s face gradually gave way to a sinister cruelty.

She lit a candle she had stashed in the cave earlier, then hefted two long stone slabs and used them to seal the mouth of the pit completely.

As the stone slabs covered the opening, Wei Shan’s cries instantly became so faint they were nearly inaudible.

Wei Qing then shoveled all the dirt that had been dug out to create the pit onto the stone slabs, spreading it in a thick layer. After tamping the earth down firmly with her feet, she scattered another layer of dry grass on top to conceal her work.

Once she had done all this, she collected her candle and ran out of the cave without a backward glance, rushing down the mountain and back to the Wei Family’s home.

Wei Qing was up before dawn, starting on breakfast.

After cooking breakfast, she gathered the dirty clothes Wei Shan had taken off the day before, along with her own, and took them down to the creek to wash.

By the time she returned to the Wei Family home with the clean laundry, the family was already at the table eating breakfast.

"Where’s Xiao Shan? Where has she run off to so early in the morning?"

Liu Sufen asked upon seeing her return.

Wei Qing’s heart hammered in her chest, but she answered calmly, "She was already gone when I got up to cook. She didn’t say where she was going."

Liu Sufen didn’t think much of it. Her daughter was always running off lately; she was used to it.

Seeing that Liu Sufen didn’t press the matter, Wei Qing breathed a silent sigh of relief. She hung the clean clothes up to dry, then went into the kitchen to grab a bowl and eat.

After eating and cleaning the kitchen, Wei Qing picked up her hatchet and went to the old house next door to chop firewood.

Her diligence left Liu Sufen very pleased.

Little did she know, Wei Qing was using the work to mask the anxiety and terror she felt after what she had done.

When lunchtime came and Wei Shan still hadn’t returned, the Wei Family didn’t give it much thought, assuming she was at a friend’s or classmate’s house.

In the afternoon, Wei Qing went up the mountain to chop firewood as usual, making a point to take a detour past the North Slope.

As she passed the cave where Wei Shan was "imprisoned," she used chopping wood as an excuse to linger for a good while. When she heard no sound coming from inside, the knot of anxiety in her chest finally loosened.

As evening fell, Liu Sufen returned home and immediately asked about Wei Shan the moment she walked through the door.

Learning that her daughter still wasn’t back, she rushed into the kitchen to ask Wei Qing, who was cooking dinner, "Did Xiao Shan tell you where she was going?"

"She didn’t say."

As Wei Shuan and his sons returned home one by one, they all confirmed the same thing: no one in the family had seen Wei Shan all day, and nobody knew where she had gone. It was only then that the family began to worry.

"Where on earth did that darn girl run off to? It’s almost dark, and she’s still not home!"

Liu Sufen, cursing under her breath, was about to head out the door to find her when Wei Qing called out, stopping her in her tracks.

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