The thin man led Yuan Zhuan down increasingly winding and detours; an ordinary young girl would surely have become completely confused.
Seeing that Yuan Zhuan had not raised any questions, the man's excitement intensified.
I'm so lucky today, I snagged one so easily. This one looks small, but she'll be ready to use after a few years. Some buyers don't even need to raise her. This little girl is just the right size, hehe.
Finally, the man slowed down. A broken rectangular stone tablet appeared before him, with the words "Monan Village" written in blood-red characters. Crossing the village gate, a dirt road about three meters wide extended into the village. On both sides were low mud-brick houses. Some of the better ones were built with cement bricks, with collapsed facades, revealing their poverty at a glance.
Even though a magnificent metropolis is just a kilometer away, this place is as impoverished as a remote mountain village.
Even after letting go of the man's hand, Yuan Zhuan quietly followed behind him inside. The man's eyes, when he looked at Yuan Zhuan, couldn't hide his secret joy.
The two hadn't gone far into the village when people began to emerge from the low houses. Most of them were men, and women were rare. The few who did emerge were either weathered or very old. They leaned against the wooden pillars in front of the porch, staring intently at Yuan Zhuan with unfathomable eyes. They would occasionally greet the thin man in the local language that Yuan Zhuan couldn't quite understand.
Not long after, the two stopped in front of a courtyard built of adobe bricks. The thin man looked at Yuan Zhuan and grinned, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth. "Hey girl, come in. There's a movie theater inside. They have all the latest releases. They're really good." As he spoke, he reached out and put his arm around Yuan Zhuan's shoulder.
Yuan Zhuan was so disgusted that he almost lost his composure and punched someone on the spot. He took a few steps back to avoid it and said, "I'll go in myself."
He grabbed at empty air, but the man wasn't angry. For a moment, his eyes held a hint of gloom, but he was quicker to switch to a smile.
The courtyard, made of adobe bricks, has five rooms in a U-shape, with two rooms on each side of the main hall. The main hall is open, and you can see the old but relatively clean wooden floor inside. Apart from the offering table and stools filled with offerings, the place is empty.
Yuan Zhuan glanced at the man and followed his instructions into the courtyard. The man followed very closely behind. If Yuan Zhuan turned around at this moment, he would find that the man's body completely blocked the direction of the entrance.
"Hey girl, come on, sit down and rest for a bit. I'll find someone to show you the movie." The man pointed to an old-fashioned chair in the room and gestured for her to sit down.
Yuan Zhuan obediently sat down, and then the man smiled. The next second, he rushed out the door, closed and locked it, and did so very quickly.
After locking the door, the man stood at the window looking inside, waiting for the little girl to discover the truth and cry out in terror, kneeling and begging for mercy. But he met a pair of smiling eyes, and the gleam in those eyes was so strange that it made the man feel uneasy all over.
"Do you know you've been scammed?" The man frowned, looking at Yuan Zhuan through the steel bars with a puzzled expression.
Why isn't she afraid? She seems a bit off. Is she mentally unstable?
If there's something wrong with her brain, there's a high probability that her future children will be abnormal. Oh no, this price will probably have to be cut in half.
The man stroked his chin, looking at Yuan Zhuan and muttering to himself.
Forget it, it's a risk-free business anyway, if he catches someone, he'll profit.
The man turned and left. Only then did Yuan Zhuan stand up, distracted. Several small paper figures jumped out of his pants pocket and scattered.
Soon, the little paper doll sent back information: there were five rooms, each with its own door. Except for her room, all the other rooms were full of people, including men, women, and children.
Recalling the scene I saw when I came in, it goes without saying that this village makes a living by trafficking people.
"They all deserve to die!" This has been going on for so many years, ruining so many families.
Yuan Zhuan was surprised that the man hadn't snatched her handbag.
Little did the man know that he assumed the young girl had no money, and that things like pagers and mobile phones were out of the question.
Yuan Zhuan took out a stack of blank talisman paper from his bag, tore off dozens of small red paper figures, drew evil spirits into the paper, and then threw them out. The small paper figures squeezed out through the cracks in the door and windows.
Having done what he needed to do, Yuan Zhuan was too lazy to do anything else and quietly waited for news.
In another courtyard in the village, a dozen dark-skinned, thin men, shirtless, were eating barbecue and drinking beer around a square table, speaking incessantly in their local dialect.
The skinny man who brought Yuan Zhuan in was among them. "Boss, this batch of goods is almost done. Shouldn't we ship it out? Otherwise, we won't be able to close the gates. There are too many people. If the higher-ups investigate later, it will be troublesome for us to hide. They've already investigated once this month, and I think there will be more later this month. We should ship the goods as soon as possible."
The guy called "boss" was as black as coal, with deep-set features that were anything but good-looking. He had three-white eyes and big buck teeth, but the ruthlessness in his eyes was real. At this moment, he was biting into a meat skewer, his mouth dripping with oil. After swallowing, he lifted his eyelids to look at the skinny guy. "I've arranged everything. It'll be the middle of the night. You guys won't be sleeping tonight. Clean up first, then go to sleep."
"Really? That's great!" The man rubbed his hands together, touched his nose, and his eyes turned bloodshot.
He made money as soon as he shipped the goods, and he had money again, hehe.
The thin man, who was fantasizing about spending money, suddenly felt a sharp pain in his forehead as a piece of bone fell to the ground. "Boss?" Why did you suddenly hit him?
"Hey, are you on drugs again? You're fucking using more and more now!! All the money your wife gets from sleeping with you is going to be spent on drugs, are you even letting your wife live? Huh? What if she doesn't want to live anymore and commits suicide? Let's see what you'll use to smoke then!" The black man was so angry he wanted to jump up and hit him. If it weren't for Heizi's top-notch ability to find drugs and scam people, he would have kicked him out of the group.
In his team, no one was allowed to use drugs, except for this kid. He had used drugs before he came in, and after he showed his abilities, he realized it, so he turned a blind eye.
Others know to use small amounts, but he keeps increasing the quantity each time. Look at him scratching his head and cheeks; he's about to burst.
As soon as he finished speaking, Hei Zi jumped up and ran outside as if his butt was on fire, yelling, "Boss, I need to poop..."
The black man stared at the wide-open doorway, seething with rage. With nowhere to vent, he kicked the man next to him who was slurping his food. "Eat, eat, all you know is how to eat! You eat so much every day but you don't get fat. People who don't know better would think the food here is bad and you're starving! You dog!" He grumbled as he stuffed meat into his mouth and poured himself a drink, his eyes wide with scorn.
Before the man who was kicked fell to the ground, he grabbed another handful of meat skewers, sat down, moved out of the black man's attack range, and continued eating meat with a silly grin.
The others were already immune to this scene; they ate meat, drank alcohol, boasted, and burped non-stop.
midnight.
There were scattered stars, but no moon; the ground was barely visible.
Qi Ming waited in the alley outside the village entrance for Yuan Zhuan's notification.
The text message on the blue screen phone was very clear: be ready to arrest someone at any time, and after arresting them, call the police to prevent any inside information. At the same time, call in reporters from TV stations, and don't forget to bring in reporters from tabloids, story magazines, and youth digests.
Finding a reporter was naturally Du Nan's job.
When Du Nan received the news late at night, he was so frightened that he broke out in a cold sweat and trembled as he got up to put on his clothes.
These big shots always make a big splash as soon as they arrive in Guangzhou. He naturally knows that village; it's a notorious scourge. Even dogs dare not pass by the village entrance. If an outsider happens to bump into it, ninety percent of the time they never come back.
Robbery, theft, human trafficking, organized crime—they had it all. Not only were all the women in their families kidnapped, but they were also sold to support their families. The men in their village never went out to work; besides relying on their wives to earn money, all their other income came from committing crimes. It could be said that they did everything except murder, but no one was ever arrested. Who among them didn't know the reason behind this?
I know I can't afford to mess with them, so I don't.
This big shot is something else; he got caught up in this mess the moment he arrived, and even dragged him along.
He refused, but they said that if it was done, they would give his wife a gold bracelet weighing half a pound. He didn't want it either, but he really liked gold. Waaah... Is this a case of people dying for money?
As Du Nan made one phone call after another, the media throughout Guangshi began to quietly mobilize, all wanting to seize first-hand information. However, they were also worried about being picked off one by one and wiped out. So, they simply joined together, spreading the word from one to ten, and formed a team of twenty reporters who set off in a grand yet furtive manner.
Having finished his business, Du Nan kept his achievements hidden. His sleepiness had worn off, so he was too lazy to sleep and simply sat in the living room watching the news, his heart pounding as he waited for the results.
It started at 1:30 a.m. on October 19th.
Yuan Zhuan was knocked out by the poisoned water, bound all over, and stuffed into a dilapidated carriage. She was surrounded by people. According to the information from the little paper doll, her carriage was the first one, and there were three more behind it. The people in the carriage were crammed together like two-legged sheep, and it was difficult for them to even stand up. Of course, apart from her, everyone in the carriage was unconscious.
Only by blocking out the sense of smell in his nasal cavity did Yuan Zhuan feel somewhat more comfortable.
Damn it, this is torture.
The car was driving very fast. In some special sections of the road, there were several checkpoints, but they didn't say a word and drove through without any obstacles, which surprised Yuan Zhuan so much that he wanted to lose his temper.
What a shitty world!! I'm so angry!!
Nearly 100 meters from the last car, a black minivan was still parked. Except for the driver's side window, the windows on both sides were made of tinted glass, so it was impossible to see who was inside.
Ma Rui gripped the steering wheel, his anxiety indescribable, feeling like ants were crawling in his veins, causing him great discomfort.
I was assigned a task, and the boss disappeared—and damn it, right under my nose! This is unacceptable!
Inside the car, apart from Qi Ming in the passenger seat, everyone was deep in thought, and the atmosphere was so heavy it felt like the sky had fallen.
"You don't need to overthink it. You may not know the full details of how powerful our boss is, but you should have a general idea. She went there on her own initiative, so if something happened, it was someone else who got into trouble," Qi Ming tried to ease the tension.
However, he was met with silence.
Qi Ming: ...
He took a deep breath. "Okay, I won't say anymore. You'll know as you go on more missions. The boss is really strong. I'm not lying to you." With the boss's bizarre and amazing skills, he even doubted whether there was anyone in the world who could rival her. It was simply beyond human capabilities.
In the darkness.
The car traveled on the flat road for less than ten minutes before turning onto an uneven path, and then began to move slowly up and down.
Yuan Zhuan leaned against the carriage and noticed that some people around him had begun to wake up, but because their mouths were stuffed with something, they could only shed silent tears.
His vision flickered in the darkness, and Yuan Zhuan's brows furrowed in worry.
The villagers' days were numbered, at the latest by the end of this month, but it seems they were allowed to live a little longer.
Shouldn't such a beast die?
"What do you want to do?" The system's voice came back to life.
Yuan Zhuan closed his eyes. "Kill them."
"You can't interfere with cause and effect. Have you forgotten the backlash last time? You almost died." Even though there was some connection, the mechanical voice was indifferent.
"Hey, system, aren't you the merit system? How about I just wander around the country and give the whole of China a thorough cleaning?"
“Your mother and your brothers are your weaknesses.”
Yuan Zhuan took a deep breath. "I'm being watched now too." If you're going to do it, you can't have so many reservations.
"Then focus on leveling up. If you can buy everything in the shop, you'll be unstoppable in this world. You haven't made any transactions in Lu Ze's dimension for a long time."
"knew."
The capitalist world, ha! If you anger her, she'll unleash a horde of demons, dragging them all down to hell for eternity!
"Also, take your time. Everything you want will come true." I thought the system wouldn't speak again, but it spoke up again.
Yuan Zhuan raised an eyebrow; it was the first time he had ever heard of a system that could comfort people.
"Sister? Are you new here?" A childish voice rang out beside me.
Yuan Zhuan opened her eyes and saw a dirty little face. It was a boy, about eight or nine years old, who was looking at her with wide, innocent eyes. The cloth in his mouth had been pulled off.
Yuan Zhuan: Actually, I might be younger than you, believe it or not?
“Yes.” Yuan Zhuan thought the conversation was over, but the little guy said the rest.
"Sister, you possess magical abilities. I can smell the talisman."
Yuan Zhuan: e=(′o｀*))) Sigh!!
The little boy, not knowing how to distinguish Yuan Zhuan in the pitch-black darkness, slowly moved closer and squeezed next to Yuan Zhuan.
"Sister, I'm a disciple of the Xuan Ying Sect. My senior brothers came to Guang City on business this time, and I was bored at the hotel, so I ran away to have some fun. They drugged me at the night market and brought me here. I've been locked up here for three days. They only give me a fist-sized steamed bun and a sip of water each day. I'm completely weak and have no strength at all. Sister, where do you think we'll be sold to? I'm not skilled enough to escape. If I'm sold abroad to be a donor, I guess I'll have to reincarnate." The boy gestured with the size of the steamed bun as he spoke, pouting and complaining.
"I'll give you a blank talisman. Can you save yourself?" Yuan Zhuan asked tentatively. Communication talismans are the most basic talismans. They can't speak, but they can be used through secret techniques to make the talisman on the other side thousands of miles away vibrate. They are rather useless and troublesome to draw. They are usually used by celestial masters to ask for help.
"No." The boy shook his head.
Although they are a legendary sect of extraordinary arts, their methods of intimidating mortals are only effective against souls and evil spirits. They are completely ineffective against humans. Moreover, their disciples are generally in poor health, so they can neither defeat them nor escape them.
Yuan Zhuan didn't say anything more. Even a fool could tell that the sect had lost too many of its techniques; otherwise, that old man Yuan Sun wouldn't have been so shameless as to work for her every day.
Yuansun: ...
Did I eat your rice?
Yuan Zhuan: Yes, you ate rice from my family.
The car stopped shortly afterward.
The people in the driver's cab jumped down, and some people walked towards the back of the carriage.
"Heizi, wake them all up. Make sure their mouths are gagged."
"Okay, boss."
Creak, creak, creak... The lock on the carriage was pulled.
With a loud crack, the iron door was suddenly pulled open, letting in light that made Yuan Zhuan close his eyes.
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