Fields of Gold (Web Novel)

“Shitou, Little Shitou——” Yu Xiaocao felt her heart thumping as she raised her head to listen to the sound. When she looked up, she saw her older brother anxiously searching and calling for her younger brother in the crowd.

“Xiaocao, Xiaolian, have you seen our younger brother? After the monkey show ended, he was lost in the crowd!” Seeing that his two younger sisters were still here, Yu Hang’s heart was half relieved. But his younger brother was gone and he kept looking around them anxiously while he talked to his two sisters.

“I didn’t see him. Wasn’t our younger brother with you the entire time?” Yu Xiaolian remembered the words the old man had just said and tears began forming at the corners of her eyes.

Yu Hang appeared worried, remorseful, and full of self blame… all kinds of emotions were intertwined together. He frowned and said impatiently, “We were together before the monkey show dispersed. When the young girl was walking around to receive money, Little Shitou squeezed into the crowd and gave her two copper coins. Then, we were separated by the crowd when it began dispersing. When I searched for him after that, I couldn’t find him.”

When Yu Xiaocao saw how his brother was blaming himself for his carelessness, she quickly comforted him and said, “Don’t worry, maybe he was just pushed by the crowd to another place. Let’s go look for him again! Besides, he has Little Black with him, so there shouldn’t be any problem…”

Although Xiaocao had said that, she was still quite worried about her younger brother. If Little White had been the one following him, then he would’ve been of some use. Little Black was too unreliable. It was likely that while they were being kidnapped, Little Black would’ve thought that the kidnappers were playing a game with him!

Yu Hang said to his two younger sisters, “Let’s split up and search for him. I’ll go search in this direction and the two of you will search for him in the other direction. Make sure that the two of you don’t stray off from each other!”

Yu Xiaocao didn’t randomly search for her younger brother like a headless fly as Yu Hang did. Instead, she crouched down and stroked Little White’s soft fur. She softly said, “Little White, are you able to find Little Black’s scent in the crowd?”

Little White and Little Black had grown up on mystic-stone water given by Xiaocao. In addition to that, wolves inherently have a stronger sense of smell. Little White raised his head, closed his eyes, and sniffed the air lightly. Within the chaotic crowd, Little White was able to catch a whiff of a familiar scent. He lifted his right front leg and pointed to a direction.

Yu Xiaocao was overjoyed and said, “Little White, quickly take us there! Xiaolian, let’s follow Little White, he has found something!”

As Yu Xiaocao and her sister followed behind Little White towards a certain direction, not far away from them, a group of senior servants were anxiously looking around.

“Did you find the young master yet?” The person who spoke was a well-dressed senior servant, and she was anxiously questioning the guards who had gathered around.

A large man dressed as a guard shook his head in disappointment and said, “No! There were too many people watching the monkey show. When the show ended, everyone was pushing and shoving as they dispersed. It’s unknown where the young master ended up…”

“Then why aren’t you hurrying along looking for him? If anything happens to the young master, none of us will escape from punishment!” The senior servant was quite regretful that she didn’t bring out more guards with them when she brought the young master out to play. If she had done that, then they wouldn’t have carelessly lost the young master.

This senior servant was the wet nurse to the Tianjin Commander’s, Commander Sun, only son. It was almost the New Years, so Commander Sun’s wife brought her son to Tanggu Town to accompany her husband to celebrate the New Years. It was unknown which servant had blabbed to the young master about Tanggu Town’s lively market, but he pleaded with his mother to let him out for a walk. The commander’s wife thought that her young son wouldn’t face any danger since it was still bright out and the region was under her husband’s jurisdiction. Thus, she asked her son’s wet nurse and several guards to accompany the young master to take a stroll. Who would’ve known that they would be the one to lose the young master!

Commander Sun and his wife were currently around forty years of age and they were finally blessed with a child in their thirties. They loved and pampered their son dearly. If the servants really couldn’t find the young master, how will they still be allowed to live?

In a desolate and dark alley in Tanggu Town, several sneaky people met up. One of the guys had a large mole on his face, and with one glance, it was obvious that he wasn’t a good person. The corners of his mouth drew back into a smile, revealing his uneven yellow teeth as he said, “Our business is doing very well today. We have gathered many goods today.”

He looked at the unconscious boy dressed in satin in his hands——with red lips and white teeth, a gold necklace with a valuable jade pendant hung around his neck. With one glance, one could tell that this child came from either a rich or powerful family. A guy with a deer shaped head, mouse-like eyes, and dry hair that was yellowing said hesitantly, “Boss Yin, is this child from a government official’s family? If that’s the case, we’re in big trouble!

The guy with the large mole, whom he addressed as Boss Yin looked at him in contempt and said, “I have already inquired about Tanggu Town! Besides those with an official background and the county magistrate, the only other family we just can’t touch is the Zhou Family! County Magistrate Zhao’s children have all grown up. The main branch of the Zhou Family has two sons, and the youngest of the two is already 18 years old. The oldest grandsons of the Zhou Family are only two to three years old. The age doesn’t match up! Third Young Master Zhou from the second branch hasn’t even married yet, so why would there be a six to seven year old child in his home? Besides, we will be smuggling these goods out through the waterway tonight, and we’ll resell them once we reach the south. Even if he’s an official’s son, what can he do to us after tonight? Old Fifth, you don’t have any courage, that’s why you can’t achieve anything great!”

Old Fifth relaxed after hearing his explanation, and he glanced at the child in Boss Yin’s hand. He chuckled and said, “Boss Yin, the goods are really good this time. Look at his skin, it’s as tender as tofu. His appearance is even more beautiful than a girl’s!”

If Yu Xiaocao was here, then she would definitely recognize that the child under Boss Yin’s arm was Little Shitou, whom they were all trying to find.

These child traffickers would usually put a cloth laced with poor quality chloroform to cover a child’s mouth, making them lose consciousness, then quickly take them away. But because Little Shitou usually consumed food or drank liquids that contained mystic-stone water, his body has developed some resistance to chloroform or other poisons.

While Boss Yin was talking to Old Fifth, Little Shitou was already awake. However, Little Shitou was sharp, so when he sensed that something was amiss, he continued to pretend that he was unconscious. He remained motionless as he allowed Boss Yin to carry him in his arms, but his ears were on high alert as he listened in on the conversation between the two.

From the conversation between the two, he knew that he was caught by child traffickers, and that if his family couldn’t find him by tonight, he was going to be transported to the south and be sold off. Little Shitou’s heart was very anxious. He thought about ways he could leave clues behind for his family without alerting the child traffickers.

He recalled that he had put a few pieces of wolf meat jerky in his sleeve; he was going to eat them when he was hungry. Just as Boss Yin carried him deep into the alleyway, he took out a small piece of jerky and scattered it in the alleyway when he wasn't paying attention.

Soon after the group of people disappeared into the rundown house, Little Black appeared. When Little Shitou had fallen unconscious, the rope in his hand fell to the ground. At that time, Little Black had been looking at the monkey with great interest, so he wanted to move closer to have a better look. As a result, he didn’t find out in time that his little master had been abducted by bad guys.

Even though Little Black usually appeared to be dumb, he had grown up on mystic-stone water. When he realized that his little master had disappeared, he had raised his nose and began sniffing around for his little master’s scent, which led him here. In the dim and narrow alleyway, he picked up the scent of dried jerky that his young master liked to eat, confirming that his young master had been here before. He followed the dried jerky’s scent, leading him to the rundown house in front of him. Little Black tried to gently push open the door with his short legs, only to find that the door was locked from the inside. What should he do now?

‘Humph! How can such a trifling matter pose as an obstacle to me?’ Little Black circled around the edge of the house and finally found a hidden dog hole. Little Black excitedly entered the hole, and quickly found the room where his little master was being held in.

Those child traffickers had a lot of trust in their plans. They had brought back a lot of quality goods today, so they celebrated this happy occasion by drinking next door. The children, who had been drugged unconscious, were all locked together and an iron chain was used to lock the door.

The door locked by the iron chains had a narrow gap, but the children couldn’t squeeze out from it. Fortunately, Little Black was not fat, he was able to squeeze through the gap and entered the room.

At this time, Little Shitou had already opened his eyes to carefully look at his surroundings. When he heard some movement from the door, he hurriedly lay back in the position that Boss Yin had left him in.

Little Shitou’s hands, which were in his sleeves, were balled into a fist because of how nervous he was. Suddenly, he could feel a warm breath spraying onto his face, followed by a rough tongue licking his face. He slightly cracked opened his eyes and saw Little Black’s bright green eyes.

When Little Black saw that his little master had awoken, he excitedly ran in circles as his tail wagged nonstop.

Little Shitou was very surprised to see Little Black. He stroked Little Black’s head and in a low voice said, “Little Black, the door is locked, and I can’t get out! Hurry up and look for my second sister and let her find a way to save me!”

It seemed as if Little Black understood his words as he licked his hands a few times before quickly squeezing himself out of the gap in the door. It found the hidden dog hole in the grass and quickly ran out the alleyway. However, it seemed as if God was intentionally working against him because on his way back, he actually encountered a group of brats. When the children saw a black puppy running around without an owner, they surrounded Little Black and chased after him.

Had it been an usual day, based on Little Black’s nimble movements, how would those children be able to catch him? However, his little master was worried that Little White and him would get lost on their way around town, so he tied a rope around their necks. The rope around Little Black’s neck was stepped on by one of the older children. The child bent down to pick up the rope, holding Little Black’s rope in his hands.

Little Black struggled desperately, but he was smaller than the child, so how could he escape from the child who was stronger than him? Master Xiaocao had said that if he bit someone, she would pull all his teeth out. How could he eat meat if his teeth were all pulled out? Little Black was at a loss, he couldn't escape, and he couldn't bite anyone, so how could he go find Master Xiaocao to tell her to rescue Master Shitou?

When Little White led the two sisters onto the scene, they saw Little Black having a tug of war with a group of brats. Little Black’s neck was red from the rope being pulled around, and his four small claws were bleeding from being grinded against the ground. Yet he continued to struggle without relenting.

When Little White saw the scene, he very bravely and fiercely plunged himself forward, trying to bite the hand of the boy who was pulling the rope. The boy was only ten years old, so he was frightened when he saw a fierce little white dog running towards him, trying to bite him. He loosened his grip on the rope immediately and took two steps back.