Chapter 99

Pang Guang took the stack of drawing papers from Zhu Xiulan first, and soon everyone gathered around the coffee table and began to look at each sheet carefully.

Tan Tian's paintings are mostly dark in color. Even though Luo Jingyao doesn't know much about psychology, she can still feel the boundless depression and struggle from those paintings.

Every few pictures, she would see a painting of a cat's corpse. This theme was a rare bright color in Tan Tian's past paintings.

The rich red color stung the eyes of everyone present, which was enough to prove how much shock and harm He Jinzhe's revenge had brought to him.

Zhu Xiulan, who now understood everything, felt so heartbroken that she had difficulty breathing. Unable to bear it any longer, she stood up and went to the yard, hugged the boy tightly in her arms and let out a broken cry.

Apart from the paintings of cats, the rest are mostly white paper covered with random patterns and lines, which make it completely confusing at first glance.

After looking through all the paintings, Pang Guang sighed deeply at the papers scattered all over the coffee table and the floor. "What exactly do the patterns and lines on them represent? I'm afraid only Tan Tian himself knows. But he just can't communicate with others!"

"I really wish I had a superpower like mind reading, so I wouldn't have to stand here scratching my head."

While the young man was muttering, Luo Jingyao's eyes never left those seemingly meaningless paintings. Suddenly, she slowly narrowed her eyes and tilted her head left and right repeatedly in uncertainty.

Finally, she bent down and pulled a few paintings from the pile.

These messy lines seemed to her like... like the iron bars she had seen at the crime scene that were used to restrict Little Potato's movements!

When she came to her senses, Luo Jingyao heard Lin Jiafan's voice.

"Although there are certain obstacles in communicating with others, these paintings show that Tan Tian is still able to express his inner thoughts through other means, even if others may not understand."

After saying that, Lin Jiafan hesitated for two seconds, then slowly walked up to the mother and son who were cuddling each other in the yard.

"Ms. Zhu, we have a few questions we would like to ask Tan Tian. I wonder if it would be convenient for you," he said in a serious tone.

"This..." Zhu Xiulan was a little hesitant after hearing this request: "For so many years, Xiaotian hasn't even called me mom a few times. Officer Lin, it's not that I, as a mother, am unreasonable, but even if you ask, I'm afraid you won't get anything out of it."

"We have to try. There is a child waiting for us to save him." Lin Jiafan stared at them steadily and replied with a firm expression.

Zhu Xiulan moved her lips slightly, but she couldn't say anything to refuse.

She gently lowered her hands that were originally around Tan Tian's thin shoulders, and turned her head to the side, obviously agreeing.

Lin Jiafan squatted down and tried to make eye contact with the boy in front of him at a relatively equal height.

But unfortunately, Tan Tian kept his head down, as if the various sounds from the outside world had no meaning to him and were not as interesting to him as the lines on his palm.

The expected reaction didn't bring Lin Jiafan any frustration. After thinking about it, he took out three photos from his pocket and tentatively handed them to the boy one by one: "Xiaotian, have you seen them?"

When facing the photos of He Jinzhe and An Ping, Tan Tian looked unaware until Little Potato's face appeared in front of him, then he finally had a different reaction.

Sensitively noticing the boy's gaze following him, Lin Jiafan tentatively raised the photo of Little Potato, and sure enough, the other party raised his head.

At this moment, he took the time to turn around and ask, "When did Tan Hailong start taking him out alone?"

"It seems like not long ago, maybe a few months ago?" Zhu Xiulan gave a vague answer.

But it was enough. Lin Jiafan calculated that it was very likely that Tan Hailong would only begin to formally implement the plan of "training a successor" after obtaining Little Potato. Before that, it was probably just a tentative gift of "trophies."

So what exactly triggered Tan Hailong's change of heart? Could it be An Ping's death? Perhaps only the person involved knows the true reason.

Putting his complicated thoughts aside for the moment, Lin Jiafan looked at Tan Tian again: "Your father didn't take you to see him? Do you know his name? His name is Little Potato."

"Can you tell us where he is?"

“…”

The boy responded with his inherent silence. After staring at the photo quietly for a long time, he lowered his head again.

Zhu Xiulan, who was standing nearby, sighed silently. "The teacher at the rehabilitation school said that not only is Xiaotian having trouble expressing himself, but he also sometimes has trouble understanding overly complex instructions."

Luo Jingyao was standing in the living room at this time, taking in everything in the yard through the window, but after hearing Zhu Xiulan's words, she suddenly had a bold idea.

Although Tan Tian couldn't understand Lin Jiafan's question, his reaction to the photo of Little Potato alone proved that he had indeed seen Little Potato.

Assuming that Tan Hailong really took the boy to the place where Little Potato was imprisoned, then what Tan Tian saw might be Little Potato imprisoned behind the bars!

Thinking of this, she grabbed the paintings she had just picked out and quickly walked to Lin Jiafan's side. She took the photo of Little Potato from the man's hand and placed it on the painting: "Xiaotian, have you seen him?"

The crisscrossing black lines, coupled with the childish face of Little Potato, almost instantly stimulated Tan Tian to go crazy.

He first waved his hands twice randomly, knocked the photos and drawing paper in Luo Jingyao's hands to the ground, and then rushed out of the door!

Seeing this, everyone hurriedly chased after him. Zhu Xiulan even called out worriedly as she ran, "Xiaotian! Xiaotian, I'm your mom! Xiaotian!"

Tan Tian, ​​who was at the front, turned a deaf ear to his mother's cries. When passing by a small alley, he turned in without hesitation.

Lin Jiafan, who noticed something was wrong, reached out to stop Zhu Xiulan's howling, and led everyone into the alley.

A group of people followed Tan Tian through many twists and turns, and finally arrived at the northeast corner of the village and stopped outside a self-built house.

Zhu Xiulan, who had been holding her breath all the way, saw that her son finally stopped, so she couldn't wait to go forward and hug him tightly, and began to ask about his well-being anxiously.

Pang Guang was tall enough, so he tiptoed over the red brick wall and looked inside. "Captain Lin, the weeds in the yard are as high as your calves. It looks like no one lives there."

"Impossible!" Zhu Xiulan retorted subconsciously: "This house was built by my family. Tan Hailong rented it out a long time ago, and he even signed a five-year lease!"

After hearing what she said, Lin Jiafan and others stared at her with meaningful eyes.

After a few seconds, Zhu Xiulan seemed to realize something, and her face looked as ugly as it could be.

Lin Jiafan didn't have the extra energy to take care of the woman's mood at the moment. After obtaining her consent, he ordered his men to break down the gate outside the courtyard.

The self-built house inside is a standard two-bedroom, one-living room layout. You can basically see the interior situation from the window, and there seems to be no trace of human habitation in the house.

Sure enough, after successfully unlocking the door and looking around, the police didn't find a single hair.

As the group was lost in thought, they heard Zhu Xiulan, who stayed outside, exclaim, "Xiaotian, where are you going?!"

When Lin Jiafan, Luo Jingyao and others came out of the house, they saw the boy running straight to the backyard.

When they arrived at the back of the self-built house, they saw Tan Tian wandering helplessly on the barren yellow land, as if he had lost his direction.

Following Lin Jiafan's order, everyone quickly began to conduct a detailed search of the yellow land.

A few minutes later, accompanied by Pang Guang's shouts, a wooden door covered by a thin layer of yellow soil appeared before everyone's eyes. Using strong pliers, they cut the iron chain hanging from it, and then the wooden door was slowly lifted up, making a teeth-grinding creaking sound.

A faint fishy smell hit him in the face. Looking at the dark cellar entrance hidden under the door, Lin Jiafan glanced at the eager Luo Jingyao with a warning, then took out the pistol from his waist and jumped down the shabby wooden ladder first.

Luo Jingyao held her breath unconsciously, standing beside Zhu Xiulan and her son, watching the police disappear into the black hole one after another.

Fortunately, not long after, Pang Guang's cheers were heard from below: "Found it! Still breathing!"

Then came Lin Jiafan's steady voice: "Call an ambulance, quickly!"

The ambulance, which had been prepared long ago, drove here from the village entrance in just two minutes. In the chaos, Luo Jingyao saw the small body held in Lin Jiafan's arms.

Perhaps because he had not seen the sun for a long time, the boy's skin was unusually white. The round little face in the photo had become sunken, and his big eyes, which should have been dark and bright, were now tightly closed. His whole body exuded a sense of fragility that would break at the slightest touch.

It was not until Little Potato was sent to the ambulance that Luo Jingyao withdrew her gaze and tentatively touched Tan Tian's head beside her.

"Xiaotian, thank you."

Tan Tian still looked as if he didn't care what was happening outside, with his head down and fiddling with his fingers.

The victims were successfully rescued, and the main suspects in both the missing rescued children case and the child abuse case were arrested. On the surface, it seemed that the special case investigation team had won another great victory.

But Luo Jingyao knew clearly that for Lin Jiafan and the others, this battle had just begun.

Whether it is the Sichuan Province human trafficking organization involved in the Lu Deshu gang, or the countless victims who have been violated by Tan Hailong, they will become huge mountains weighing on the special case investigation team.

They are struggling to pursue their goals in the cracks, just for the light-hearted word "justice" in the mouths of the people.

Of course, the follow-up matters are not something Luo Jingyao can worry about.

After leaving Yongzhuang Village, she returned to her home after a long absence. She took a refreshing bath and then climbed into bed. She wrapped herself in the quilt like a cicada pupa, and soon her eyelids became heavy and she lost consciousness.

But this sleep was not a peaceful one. The bizarre dreams throughout the night made Luo Jingyao a little tired.

The next morning, she picked up the mobile phone from the bedside table. She wanted to have a good rest at home, but after seeing the message sent by the clerk, she had no choice but to get out of bed and return to the flower shop.

Amid the enthusiasm of the shop assistant, she managed to interview six people with her eyes open in the whole day.

When did the domestic employment situation become so severe? How could a shabby flower shop receive so many resumes?

Moreover, the people who came for the interview were all relatively young, in their twenties to thirties, when they were in good health. Luo Jingyao really couldn't understand this.

Finally, at the strong request of the young clerk, Luo Jingyao selected a young man who was only 26 years old, and called to inform him that he would officially take up the job the next day.

A few days later, the new clerk successfully got on track in her work. Just when she was extremely pleased, she unexpectedly received a message from the Jinshi Public Security Bureau notifying her to go to class.

Luo Jingyao shrugged her shoulders without thinking too much, and the next day she arrived at the Public Security Bureau on time carrying the familiar big backpack.

But what she didn't expect was that when she pushed open the door of the training room in the west annex building, she found only Lin Jiafan standing in the middle of the huge venue.