Chapter 70 The Dust Settles

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In the cellar, once the children's eyes had adjusted to the darkness and they could see in the dark, they found that the woman who had been so imposing just moments before, wielding a whip, had collapsed to the ground, bound by thick ropes and bearing the marks of a severe whipping.

The steamed buns, which were originally scattered on the ground and covered in dust, are now placed clean and white within easy reach of the children.

Fearing it was another of her tricks to punish people, the children's stomachs were growling with hunger, but they dared not reach for the food that was within reach. They huddled together in a corner, not daring to make a sound, and even the baby's mouth was covered.

Seeing the children's pitiful appearance, She Ning couldn't help but turn around and lash the woman a few more times. The whips cut through the air with a whooshing sound, followed by "crack, crack, crack" sounds as they quickly struck the woman's body.

The unconscious man, whipped and convulsing in pain, writhed uncontrollably.

"Is it a deity?" In mid-air, whips seemed to be waving in the dark cellar. The children, still a little dazed from hunger, murmured softly.

Upon hearing this, She Ning paused in her actions. She didn't say anything, threw away the whip, took the steamed buns, and handed them to them one by one.

The children stared at the steamed buns hanging in mid-air, a glimmer of light appearing in their despairing, numb eyes, and a hint of expression returning to their dirty faces.

The plump, white steamed buns were right in front of them. Although they were cold, the unique aroma of wheat and the tempting scent of fruit kept filling their nostrils. The children couldn't help but swallow. After a while, a dirty little hand reached out, and gradually, a second, a third...

Having been hungry for so long, they wolfed down the steamed buns as soon as they received them. The fist-sized buns were gone in no time. After they were full, their stomachs and bodies felt warm, and the children began to doze off.

Before they fell asleep, they saw a rainbow.

She Ning transformed the Mary Sue rainbow umbrella from black to rainbow colors, turning the rainbow into a single sentence.

#Sleep well, it will all be over when you wake up.#

In the dark, sunless cellar, the rainbow, like the brightest and most dazzling color in the darkness, pulled their hearts out of the mire of darkness. For the first time since being abducted, their bodies felt warm. Their brows gradually relaxed, their expressions became calm, and they fell peacefully asleep.

I hope you have sweet dreams.

After cleaning up the residue from the Linglong fruit, She Ning took out an unknown incense stick from the system, lit it, and murmured softly.

The man waited for a long time but no one came up, so he stuck his head out to look into the cellar.

The cellar was poorly lit, and they couldn't see anything clearly.

"Could something have happened?" the pockmarked man asked anxiously, looking at his companion beside him.

"That can't be right. Don't we know what's going on inside? Just some locked-up kids." The tall man braced his hands on the edge of the cellar entrance and craned his neck to look inside carefully.

"Why don't we go down and take a look?" The cellar was unusually quiet. The pockmarked man, trying to gain permission, licked his lips.

“You can go down yourself, I’m not going. You know Sister Zhen’s temper.” Hearing the pockmarked man’s suggestion, the tall man looked at him in surprise, then waved his hands repeatedly in refusal. He straightened up, looked at the cellar and pursed his lips. He didn’t want to get whipped for no reason.

"Forget it, I'm not going down either." The tall man's words woke him up. Thinking of the scene of the woman smiling as she slapped the man's skin until it bled, the pockmarked man couldn't help but shudder.

He didn't want to get beaten up, so he decided to obediently wait for her to come up.

The pockmarked man thought timidly.

With her consciousness possessing the invisible Ya Ya, She Ning stood to the side listening to their conversation.

Don't want to go down? That's not your decision.

She opened the Mary Sue rainbow umbrella and used the principle of mixing the three primary colors to make the umbrella's color resemble white light. She Ning took out the puppet A Ning and then kicked the man down into the cellar with one foot each.

The pockmarked man and the tall man were chatting when, before they could react, a flash of white light appeared before their eyes, a sharp pain in their buttocks, and they tumbled into the cellar.

"Ouch..." they cried out in pain.

Although the bottom of the cellar was lined with straw, which cushioned the fall, my body still ached as if it had been broken apart.

She Ning followed them back to the cellar. Ya Ya stood on her shoulder, turned the Mary Sue rainbow umbrella black, and used the Absolute Territory again.

After questioning them one by one, She Ning used their own methods against them, picked up a whip from the side, and lashed them hard.

Then, they picked up the thick rope they had used to kidnap the children from one side of the cellar and tied them tightly together. Finally, She Ning knocked them unconscious with a single blow.

Within the Absolute Domain, those trapped can only speak the truth.

The three people's testimonies were largely accurate, except that Sister Zhen knew more information.

This human trafficking gang actually consists of ten people: four are stationed here at the main base, and the other six are scattered around committing crimes.

Sister Zhen and the sleeping man in the room were considered minor leaders of this team. They were responsible for planning trafficking routes, identifying trafficking targets, and finding buyers.

Sister Zhen has an advantage in appearance, making her the easiest target. She is the mastermind behind most of the human trafficking cases. Don't be fooled by her gentle and harmless appearance; she is cold-hearted and ruthless. Everyone in the team is afraid of her.

After tying the three people up, She Ning went to the room. The sleeping man was still fast asleep, completely unaware of what was happening outside.

"Who!" Just as She Ning was about to approach the bedside, the man suddenly opened his eyes, sprang to his feet, and stood on the bed, his eyes sharp and fierce as he looked in the direction where She Ning had been.

Seeing no one in front of him, he even reached out and slapped the spot that felt strange several times, his large hand almost touching She Ning a few times.

He found nothing, but the room was quiet. Sensing the strange atmosphere around him, the man jumped out of bed and tried to run away.

Such keen insight.

She Ning instantly recalled the puppet and the Mary Sue rainbow umbrella, her consciousness attaching itself to the invisible crow. Having narrowly escaped being discovered, She Ning sighed.

No wonder the police had such a hard time catching them; this man was a tough nut to crack. He had strong counter-intelligence skills, high sensitivity, and multiple hideouts—a true master of deception.

However, no matter how good his kitchen knife is, it can't beat firearms; and no matter how powerful he is, he's helpless against blind box items that defy scientific explanation.

Hiding behind him, She Ning manipulated her puppet Aning to deliver a powerful blow to him with the dwarf hammer. Before the man could even react, he was knocked unconscious.

Grabbing him by the collar with one hand, She threw him into the cellar, tied him up, sprinkled some musty fumes, and then sprayed Nightmare Perfume on the four of them at very close range.

Having done all this, She Ning hit the four people again to make sure they wouldn't wake up so quickly, then she left the cellar and the courtyard.

Leaving Ya Ya to observe the situation, She Ning controlled the puppet to go to the nearest phone booth in the yard, changed her voice to call the police, and then went to the police station to secretly hand in an anonymous letter.

Recently, several people in the city have reported missing children. The operator took the calls very seriously and immediately reported them. The information provided by She Ning was very detailed, and within minutes, patrolling police officers from the vicinity arrived at the scene.

She Ning returned to Ya Ya's sight, standing on the yellow-skinned fruit tree. After the police politely knocked on the door and asked questions without success, they broke down the door and entered. Some of them searched the rooms, while others went straight to the cellar in the yard.

"Report, target located."

"Report……"

The children in the cellar were rescued one by one, and the four suspects who were tied up with thick ropes were also taken into custody.

Meanwhile, the police on the other side of the operation also soon brought good news. Based on the information and character sketches provided in the anonymous letter, they successfully arrested six suspects who were waiting to commit crimes in various locations, including train stations, markets, and bus stations.

One of them was committing the crime, holding the stolen child and pretending it was his own. He even accused the child's grandmother of being a bad person, misleading onlookers into condemning the grandmother. The gang worked together and almost succeeded in stealing the child.

Fortunately, the police arrived in time and apprehended the suspects with the stolen goods. With this, all the suspects in this criminal line were arrested and brought to justice.

With the dust settled, She Ning could finally go home with peace of mind. She told Ya Ya to fly home on her own later and then withdrew her consciousness.

Her consciousness returned to her body, feeling a little dizzy. She Ning sat down in a chair, closed her eyes to rest, and then took a look at the new blind box items added to the system.

#After completing the speech at the city-wide student leadership summit and receiving an award for excellence# After completing this system task, it seems like she opened a red blind box. There were too many people at the time, so she didn't have time to check it. Then a bunch of other things came up and delayed her. She only had time to check it now.

Upon opening the system interface, in the personal attributes section, a worn-out book appeared in the "Acquired System Items" column. She Ning was about to click on its annotations.

"Sister, your dear little sister is back! Where are you?" The courtyard gate was pushed open from the outside, and little She Ni, dressed in a pink dress, rushed in like a little cannonball.

From childhood to adulthood, She Ning had never been away from She Ni for so long. After not seeing her for a day, She Ni couldn't wait to see her sister.

Inside the room, She Ning shook her head and chuckled softly. A sweet burden indeed. She closed the system interface, stood up, turned around, opened the door, and walked out.

"Sister, I miss you so much!" Before she even stepped out of the main room, a pendant appeared on She Ning's leg.

"Be careful, don't knock your sister down." Pushing her old bicycle, She Hongmei followed her in and said, looking at She Ni's clumsy manner.

This was the first time She Ning had been away from home alone. Although Director Xia was with her, she was still feeling uneasy. Thinking that She Ning would be back today, she deliberately closed the shop early and went to Xiahe Elementary School to pick up She Ni as well.

"Mom's talking nonsense, that won't happen, I'm careful." Hugging She Ning's leg, She Ni tilted her head and gave She Hongmei a soft snort, pouting as she defended herself. Then she blinked and looked up at She Ning, "Sister, Nini won't bump into you."

Before clinging to her sister's leg, she slowed down in advance so as not to hurt her sister.

"Yes, yes, little girl won't bump into me." Gently pinching her puffed-up cheeks, She Ning smiled and coaxed her softly.

With her sister's support, She Ni stuck out her tongue at She Hongmei with a smug look.

Hearing the noise, the puppy in the pigpen scratched at things and whimpered. She Ni had already finished being affectionate with She Ning, and hearing her beloved dog's cries warmed her heart.

"Sister, I'm going to check on the puppy first, I'll come back and play with you later." Releasing her grip on She Ning's leg, She Ni turned and ran to see the puppy, explaining to She Ning as she ran.

“This girl…” She Hongmei chuckled to herself.

She Ning watched her figure and shook her head with a smile.

After parking the car under the peach tree, She Hongmei took the things she bought at the market out of the basket. She remembered that She Ning wanted to eat braised pork ribs, so she specially asked someone to save some pork ribs for her yesterday afternoon.

The pork bones had little meat and little fat, so the stall owner readily agreed to leave them for her.

"Ah Ning, how about we have braised pork ribs for dinner?" She Hongmei said with a smile, shaking the bag of pork ribs.

"We absolutely have to arrange this! Mom, you're so kind!"

She Ning took the bag from the side, then reached out and took She Hongmei's arm, tilting her head and rubbing against her shoulder, saying in a coquettish tone.

A few days ago, she casually mentioned wanting to eat braised pork ribs, and today She Hongmei arranged it. It feels so good to be remembered and cared for at such a moment.