Xu Jinda still had to interrogate Wang Pozi, Liu Lanhua, Li Siming, and Zheng Delin, so he had no time to personally escort Zhao Nuanyang back. Instead, Deputy Captain Yang and a few of his men escorted Zhao Nuanyang, Little Red Carp, and Zhao Xiaohai home through the night.
Fearing danger on the road, everyone in the ox-cart held torches, pistols, and knives.
Meanwhile, earlier that day, after Zhao Nuanyue had contacted Zhao Nuanyang and told him to find Old Man Sun in the county town for help, she saw someone throw a piece of paper over the wall.
Zhao Nuanyue picked it up. The characters on it were scrawled and crooked. It read: "If you want Little Red Carp back, come to Wild Boar Ridge on the back mountain at once. Come alone, or she's dead."
'Such awful handwriting,' she thought. 'Either Li Shan wrote it this way on purpose, or he's poorly educated and can barely write.'
