Farm Girl's Manor
Chapter 120 Who Lit the Fire (2)_1

Chapter 120: Chapter 120 Who Lit the Fire (2)_1

"Village Chief, there’s a villain in our village, and we can’t let him get away with it."

...

The villagers, filled with righteous indignation, denounced the arsonist, demanding that Yang Bao come forward to administer justice.

Yang Bao had just finished helping to put out the fire when the villagers woke him up. He took the initiative to summon his sons to fight the fire. Now, upon hearing the villagers, he said gravely, "There must be an explanation for this, but there are so many people in our village, and no one saw the arsonist. This is going to be troublesome."

"The arsonist must have a grudge against the Mo Family. Who else would do such a vile thing without reason?" a villager said.

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone’s gaze turned unanimously towards Mo Qingze.

Yang Bao looked at the stunned Mo Qingze and gently asked, "Mr. Mo, have you offended anyone?"

Mo Qingze came to his senses and bowed slightly, "Although Qingze is unremarkable, I rarely make enemies. I can’t think of anyone who would do this."

Remembering the Mo Family’s usual actions, people nodded in agreement.

Unable to find a reason, but knowing there was such a malicious person in the village, everyone felt uneasy. Who knew if next time, the culprit wouldn’t set fire to houses instead of just wood?

After some thought, Yang Bao asked, "Who discovered the fire first?"

At this moment, Lin Mu stepped forward and said, "It was Mo Dashan who discovered it first; he’s the one who woke me up to put out the fire."

Mo Dashan, having failed to set a successful fire, was already feeling guilty. Now, when someone mentioned him, he quickly stood up to clear his name, "The fire wasn’t set by me; why would I call for help otherwise?"

"No one is saying it was you. We just want to ask you some questions. Why are you so anxious?" Yang Bao waved his hands dismissively but then questioned, "However, at the third watch of the night, isn’t your home in the west side of the village? How did you end up here?"

"I... I... I..." Overcome by guilt, Mo Dashan couldn’t finish his sentence.

His behavior only raised more suspicions, and someone in the crowd muttered, "Maybe he was the one who set the fire but called for help when the flames grew too large to manage."

This speculation seemed quite plausible, and for a moment, many people looked at Mo Dashan with scrutiny, and those standing near him unconsciously stepped back a few paces.

Seeing this, Mo Dashan became angry, glaring at the people and saying, "I didn’t start the fire. The fire was already burning when I got there, believe it or not."

As he finished speaking, he pushed his way through the crowd, intending to leave.

However, as the case was still unclear and he was a suspect, the villagers were not willing to let him go. A few people stepped forward to block his path.

Seeing this, Mo Dashan’s anger contorted his nose: "What’s this? Good dogs don’t stand in the way; get out of my way."

No one listened to him.

"I believe he is not the one. Let him go home!" Mo Qingze suddenly spoke up.

The crowd, puzzled, looked at him, and Mo Dashan watched Mo Qingze with disbelief.

Mo Qingze offered a faint smile: "You are not that kind of person."

Truth be told, the two were of similar age and had grown up together, albeit having a strained relationship.

Mo Qingze knew him well enough to understand that Mo Dashan was somewhat narrow-minded and easily jealous. He wouldn’t hesitate to make sarcastic remarks to someone he disliked and would badmouth them behind their back. But to think he was capable of arson, that seemed beyond his courage.

Mo Dashan’s eyes widened in shock. He never expected that when others doubted him, it would be this man, whom he always looked upon unfavorably, who would speak up for him.

Looking at Mo Qingze with mixed feelings, Mo Dashan clenched his fists and gritted his teeth, "That’s right, I did intend to start a fire tonight to vent my anger, but I wasn’t vicious enough to start such a big one. I hadn’t yet begun when the fire had already grown fierce."