"No one's inside. Keke's not dead."
Aether recognized the hat in Paimon's hands—it was the one Yu Keke always wore.
The hat had been dropped here, but there was no sign of her in the burned-out shack.
Either she escaped… or she was taken by the people Paimon had mentioned.
"Ugh… She must've been kidnapped by those bad guys! We have to save her!"
Paimon clutched Keke's hat, her face anxious.
"We don't even know who took her. Where would we even start looking? First, tell me what happened after I left. Then we'll figure it out."
"Okay! After you left, Keke and I were just talking here. We didn't go anywhere.
A little while later, we heard a lot of footsteps. We stayed quiet, hiding inside the hut.
But it was like they already knew we were here. The scary-looking one leading them came in with a torch and found us right away…"
"Did they say anything?"
"No… Wait! That mean auntie—Keke's new mom! She was with them too!" Paimon suddenly remembered.
"She pointed Keke out to the others and started yanking off her hat.
I tried to help, but she was way too strong and flung me away.
Then I heard Keke crying and shouting from inside, 'Paimon, run! Go find brother! Please, get him to help me find my dad…'" Paimon mimicked Keke's voice.
"I was scared too. I couldn't fight them, so I just flew and flew… and finally found you."
"So that group must've been brought here deliberately by that woman. And they started the fire too."
Aether fell into thought. According to Keke, only she knew about this place, and she'd been hiding here all along.
Then he remembered—just a few days ago, that woman had yelled at Keke, telling her to get back home and stop running around…
She must've discovered the hut while following Keke. That would explain how they knew exactly where to find her.
Putting it all together, this was likely a premeditated kidnapping.
"Yeah! I thought the same thing," Paimon nodded. "But… why would her stepmom do that? Isn't she supposed to care for Keke?"
"Let's go find out. Let's check her house—maybe we'll find a clue."
"Mhm!"
As Aether and Paimon stepped out of the ruins, a group of onlookers gathered around them.
"My lord, I'm the village chief of Qingxi, name's Laikton. Is there anything I can do for you?"
The speaker was the elderly man who had thanked Aether earlier.
"Grandpa, do you know where Keke's house is?" Paimon asked.
"Keke… you mean the little girl from the Yu family?"
Chief Laikton didn't seem fazed by Paimon's appearance. He paused to think, then asked.
"Her name is Yu Keke. That should be her," Paimon nodded.
"Something happen to her?"
"She was taken by bad people. Right here. We think they started the fire too."
"Poor little girl…" Laikton sighed, glancing at the smoking ruins.
"Everyone, back to your homes. My lord, follow me."
Waving the crowd away, Laikton leaned on his cane and led Aether and Paimon into the village.
After about ten minutes of slow walking, he finally stopped and pointed to a house that looked newer than the others.
"My lord, this is where Yu Keke lives."
Laikton walked up to the door and knocked gently, calling out.
"Keke's mom? Are you home? Keke's mom?"
"Huh? What's going on? No one home this late at night?"
He kept calling, but there was no response—just the occasional barking of dogs at the village gate.
"Traveler, I'll go take a look," Paimon volunteered, flying over the courtyard wall.
But inside was pitch-black and eerily silent. A little spooked, she quickly flew back to Aether's side.
"There's no one in there. It's super dark and creepy."
"I'll take a look."
Aether activated his elemental sight, peering through the crack of the wooden door.
He saw no one in the yard—but behind the house's inner door, a gray silhouette appeared, holding what looked like a stick.
Creak…
Without saying anything, Aether stepped forward and gave the gate a gentle push. It opened with a groan.
He walked up to the Inner door and knocked again. Still no answer.
But the figure behind the door raised what looked like a wooden club, clearly waiting to strike the moment someone stepped in.
Without hesitation, Aether gestured to Paimon and Laikton behind him, then pushed the door open with force.
"Ahhh! Murder! Help!"
A woman's shrill scream rang out—the door had slammed her flat to the ground.
"Is that… Keke's mom?" Laikton approached with a lantern, trying to get a better look.
Aether stepped forward and kicked the door further open, revealing the figure clutching the club.
"That's her, isn't it? What is she doing?!"
"That's the mean auntie! Where's Keke? What did you do with her?!" Paimon shouted.
The woman tried to cover her face and kept shrieking.
"Help! Robbers! They're trying to kill me!"
"Enough screaming. It's me—Chief Laikton," the old man snapped, frowning.
"Even if you're the chief, you can't break into my house in the middle of the night!"
Realizing she'd been recognized, the woman stopped pretending. She stood up, brushing off dust while hiding the stick behind her back, and glared at Laikton.
"You—!"
"What 'you'?! You think just because Old Yu's gone, you can barge in and harass a widow like me?! You disgusting old bastard—"
Before Laikton could get a word in, she launched into a vicious tirade.
The chief's face went pale. His fingers trembled as he pointed at her, too shocked to speak.
"Hmph."
Aether let out a cold snort. A wave of pressure surged from him, pinning the woman back against the wall. Her lips trembled, and she fell silent.
"Where is Yu Keke?" he asked coldly. Words clearly weren't going to work—he had to force her to shut up.
"None of your da—!" She tried to snap back, but his sharp glare cut her off.
"Where's Keke? You took her—where is she now? And those thugs—where did they go?"
Paimon pressed anxiously.
If this awful woman was here alone, then Keke had probably already been taken away by the others. Paimon was deeply worried.
_
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