The carefree life of Yang Shuisheng, the village miracle doctor

Hearing the cries of the child next door, Yang Shuisheng and Guo Cuihong were instantly pulled out of the depths of despair.

The two sprang to their feet almost simultaneously, disregarding all etiquette, and rushed into their neighbor's yard in a few steps.

"Sister Wang! You just said... Xiao Bao?"

In the courtyard, neighbor Wang Sao was holding a thin bamboo stick, pretending to hit her eight or nine-year-old son Tiedan, whose face was covered in snot and tears.

When Wang Sao saw Yang Shuisheng and Guo Cuihong rush in, she was stunned for a moment, and the bamboo stick she had raised stopped in mid-air.

"Is Xiao Bao from Sister Cuihong's family with Tie Dan and the others?" Yang Shuisheng asked eagerly, not bothering with pleasantries.

Guo Cuihong rushed to Tiedan, grabbed his arm, and cried out in a trembling voice, "Tiedan! Tiedan, be good, tell your auntie, have you seen my little treasure?"

Where is he? Who is he with?

"Where have you all gone? Tell your auntie!"

Tie Dan was so frightened by the scene that he forgot to cry. He looked at his mother, then at Guo Cuihong, whose face was pale with anxiety, and nodded timidly: "I...I saw it."

"This morning, Er Gou, Xiao Bao, and I went to play at the fishpond behind the mountain."

"Fishpond? Which fishpond?" Yang Shuisheng pressed, his heart sinking.

There are several fish ponds near Taohua'ao, some close and some far.

"It's...it's the fishpond over in Da Liushu Village, that old black pipe's." Tie Dan said in a low voice.

"Daliushu Village? Old Black Fish Pond?" Guo Cuihong and Sister Wang exclaimed almost simultaneously, their faces changing color.

Daliushu Village is quite far from Taohua'ao; it takes an adult almost an hour to walk there one way.

That old black fish pond was notorious in the surrounding villages for being a dangerous pond. A few years ago, a fish thief from out of town drowned there, and everyone said that the pond was not clean.

Moreover, Old Hei, who guards the pond, has a bad temper and is a local bully. He hates it when children play by his pond, fearing they will scare away his fish. If they do, he will curse them to death and even hit them.

"Why...why did you run so far?"

"Going back to that place! Are you out of your mind?" Wang Sao was both angry and scared, and raised her hand to hit Tie Dan again.

"We heard that someone caught a big fish over there recently, and we wanted to go see what was going on," Tie Dan said, shrinking his neck and looking aggrieved. "We didn't go into the water; we just watched from the shore for a while."

"Later, Lao Hei came and rudely chased us away, so we ran away. Xiao Bao ran with us, but he seemed to have fallen while running and was a little slow to get up."

"And then? Where did Xiaobao go after that?" Guo Cuihong's heart was in her throat.

"Then we got separated. I ran back to the village, and Er Gou seemed to run into his field."

"I didn't notice, but it seems like Xiao Bao ran back too?"

"Or...or did Old Black catch him?"

Tie Dan became increasingly uncertain as he spoke, and his voice grew softer and softer.

Upon hearing this, Guo Cuihong's legs went weak, and she almost sat down on the ground again.

Yang Shuisheng quickly helped her up and said to Sister Wang, "Sister Wang, let's go find someone first. Tiedan, thank you."

After saying that, he half-supported and half-dragged the panicked Guo Cuihong, rushed out of the neighbor's house, and ran wildly towards the direction of Daliushu Village.

Yang Shuisheng circulated his internal energy, moving with incredible speed. Although Guo Cuihong was a woman, she was also eager to save her son and ran very fast with him.

The two ran all the way without taking a break, and in more than half the usual time, they arrived at the outskirts of Daliushu Village. They looked at the old black fishpond with its dark green water that looked somewhat eerie.

The fishpond was quiet; there wasn't a soul in sight.

There were no fishermen, and even fewer children.

The only sounds were the rustling of the wind through the reeds on the bank and the occasional splash of water caused by a fish leaping out of the water.

"Xiao Bao—Xiao Bao—"

"Where are you? Can you hear your mother calling you? Come out quickly!"

Guo Cuihong rushed to the edge of the pond and shouted at the top of her lungs, her voice echoing across the empty fishpond with despair.

However, apart from startling a few water birds, there was no response.

Yang Shuisheng's heart sank.

He scanned the pond with sharp eyes, but due to the abundance of weeds, he found no child's footprints or signs of struggle or dragging.

The water surface was calm, and nothing seemed amiss.

"Let's go ask Lao Hei." Yang Shuisheng pulled up Guo Cuihong, who was almost collapsing, and walked towards the lonely, low-lying mud-brick house not far from the fishpond.

That's the home of Lao Hei, the pond keeper.

Knocking on the door, a short, stocky man in his forties, with dark skin, a fierce face, and piercing eyes, blocked the entrance. It was Lao Hei.

He was shirtless, with water droplets still clinging to his clothes, as if he had just finished working. Seeing Yang Shuisheng and Guo Cuihong, whose face was streaked with tears, at the door, his brows immediately furrowed, and he snapped, "What are you doing here? Who are you looking for?"

"Brother Hei, we're from Taohua'ao. We wanted to ask you something," Yang Shuisheng said as politely as possible. "This morning, were there any teenagers playing by your fishpond?"

"One of them, Xiaobao, is the son of the woman next to me. He's missing now. We wanted to ask if you've seen them?"

"child?"

Old Hei glanced at them sideways and snorted, "Can't you see? This is a fishpond, not a place for kids to play."

"Who knows where your kid has run off to?"

"You can't even keep an eye on your own child, so what are you doing here looking for me?"

He spoke with extreme impatience and was about to close the door after he finished speaking.

Guo Cuihong panicked, rushed forward and grabbed the door frame, crying and pleading, "Brother Hei! Please, please think about it again! Someone saw my little Bao come here this morning."

"Please, have mercy and tell us where he went?"

"Did you chase him away? Which way did he run off to? Please!"

"I said I didn't see it, and I didn't see it! How annoying! Let go!" Old Hei forcefully swung his arm, shoving Guo Cuihong so hard she stumbled and almost fell. His face darkened further. "Get out of here! Don't disturb my afternoon nap."

"Auntie, let's go out first."

Seeing that he couldn't get any information out of them and that the other party's attitude was extremely bad, Yang Shuisheng knew that forcing the issue would be useless. He helped Guo Cuihong steady and whispered to her, "Don't worry. Judging from Lao Hei's attitude, Xiao Bao probably hasn't fallen into his hands, otherwise he wouldn't be so impatient."

"Xiao Bao might have run off somewhere else, or gone with another child. Let's search the neighborhood again."

Guo Cuihong was completely disoriented at this moment, and could only walk out of the low courtyard gate of Lao Hei's house with tears streaming down her face, supported by Yang Shuisheng.

Why were you so mean to that person just now?

The two had just stepped outside the courtyard and hadn't gone far when Yang Shuisheng's heightened hearing, enhanced by his true qi, suddenly picked up a hushed conversation coming from behind the broken wooden door behind them.

It's Old Black and his wife.

A woman's voice, tinged with reproach, said, "People who have lost their children are so anxious."

"Why not just talk to them nicely?"

Old Hei retorted gruffly, "What do you know! It's better to mind your own business."

"Those brats did cause trouble this morning, and there was that weirdo fishing too. Does anyone know who he is?"

"What if we get into trouble?"

"Besides, that woman was crying and whining all the time, it annoyed me."

The woman's voice was a little softer, but Yang Shuisheng could still hear her clearly: "Then at least tell them that those kids went with the fishermen."

"The fisherman didn't seem like a bad person; he even gave the children candy."

Upon hearing this, Yang Shuisheng's eyes narrowed.

He immediately stopped and said to Guo Cuihong, "Auntie, wait here for me, I'll go ask again."