Chapter 701: Cutting People Like Cutting Melons

The broker that Yu Yongbai knew was named Zhan. He was the seventh child in the family and everyone called him Zhan Laoqi.

Because Zhan Laoqi is a famous broker in the capital, he has connections with all kinds of people, and he even knows a lot of people in the brainless business.

Yu Yongbai was unwilling to let Xingxing have contact, so he asked Xingxing and Gong Qingniang to sit behind a screen and invited Zhan Laoqi into the room.

This screen was a rare item from Xifan. Xingxing and Gong Qingniang sat inside and could see what was happening on the other side of the screen through the light coming in from the window. However, the light was against the screen, so Xingxing and Gong Qingniang could not see what was happening on their side.

"Hey, Second Master Yu." As soon as Zhan Laoqi entered the room, he greeted Yu Yongbai very warmly, "I was wondering why the magpie kept chirping this morning. It turns out that Second Master Yu came to see me today."

Yu Yongbai knew that he had to maintain his dignity when dealing with such people, otherwise the other party would just look down on him.

Yu Yongbai looked indifferent and nodded to Zhan Laoqi: "Zhan Laoqi, sit down. I want to ask you something."

Zhan Laoqi laughed twice, sat down, and bowed to Yu Yongbai: "Second Master Yu, just ask. I, Zhan Laoqi, will definitely tell you everything I know."

Yu Yongbai said calmly: "The capital has not been very peaceful these days."

Zhan Laoqi's ears twitched slightly, he laughed dryly, and asked tentatively: "I don't know what Yu Erye means by that? ... You know, I know a lot of people, and in my opinion, this capital has never been peaceful."

Yu Yongbai brought up the story of a shopkeeper under him whose daughter was nearly kidnapped: "Are there some people kidnapping people recently? ... I have a shopkeeper under me whose daughter was kidnapped."

Zhan Laoqi showed a look of surprise on his face: "Oh, I haven't heard of this before. After all, this is a very unscrupulous thing..."

He observed Yu Yongbai's expression and said, "But... I do know someone who might know something about this... Second Master Yu, what's the name of your shopkeeper's daughter? I'll go find out for you."

Yu Yongbai's expression remained unchanged as he reported Chu Yaoniang's name.

Zhan Laoqi nodded, stood up, and bowed to Yu Yongbai: "Then there is no time to delay this matter. I will help you find out right away. Don't delay."

Yu Yongbai also stood up to see him off: "I'll buy you a drink then."

Zhan Laoqi smiled flatteringly: "Oh, that's really my honor. I will definitely come to you to ask for wine. Everyone knows that our Second Master Yu is the one in the Beijing business circle," Zhan Laoqi raised his thumb, "The wine that Second Master will treat me to will definitely be good wine."

"That's natural."

Zhan Laoqi left in a hurry with a smile on his face.

Xingxing and Gong Qingniang then came out from behind the screen.

Gong Qingniang said, "It's obvious that Zhan Laoqi is lying. He must know something."

Xingxing nodded.

Yu Yongbai said, "The kidnappers do things that are immoral. I have just sent someone to follow Zhan Laoqi. Not only do we need to rescue the little girl, we also need to destroy their lair."

Who doesn’t have children? Put yourself in their shoes. If their daughter Xingxing, or those naughty brothers who climbed up the roof and robbed the tiles, were kidnapped, Yu Yongbai couldn’t even imagine what would happen to his family.

Yu Yongbai dispatched the caravan's heavily-funded escort team. Each of them was a skilled fighter who could fight ten enemies at once, and they were just waiting for any movement from Zhan Laoqi to rescue him.

Xingxing waited for two hours, and one of the people who came with Zhan Laoqi came back.

Sure enough, Zhan Laoqi knew some inside information.

The man said, "Zhan Laoqi left our company and went to several places before he sneaked to a private house to look for someone. The people there were very alert, so we couldn't get too close. We could only hear Zhan Laoqi telling them to stop and that they had offended someone they shouldn't have offended. We investigated the private house and found it to be simple in structure and didn't look like it had a cellar or secret room. It should just be a place to stay... I'll come back to report that they're still waiting. I plan to go see where their lair is."

Yu Yongbai nodded: "The city gates will be locked soon. If their base is in the city, they may leave at night."

Yu Yongbai gave orders to have the caravan's guards on standby at all times.

When the time comes, we'll get the news from there and attack directly.

Xing Xing said, "There are many civilians living near the South Gate, and it's close to where Chu Yao Niang got lost. I guess the kidnapper's lair might be there too. Second brother, have someone take my princess jade token, just in case. If anything happens, you can ask the nearby soldiers to come and help."

Yu Yongbai nodded, and Xingxing went to Lou Ruhui to exchange information.

Lou Ruhui's people had been searching for most of the day but to no avail. Lou Ruhui was getting a little discouraged until she heard that Xing Xing had made some progress, and she perked up.

"Let's just wait here for good news from my second brother." Xingxing said.

The place where the two met was very close to the south of the city.

The two little girls had nothing to do at the moment, so they found a teahouse to have some tea and rest.

But unexpectedly, Xingxing glanced outside casually while drinking tea, and her eyes became a little solemn.

Lou Ruhui asked, "What's wrong?"

Xing Xing lowered her voice and quickly explained to Lou Ruhui: "...Did you see the man who just passed by holding a sleeping little girl? The little girl didn't look like she was asleep, but looked like she was dazed."

Lou Ruhui shook her head, her expression becoming a little serious: "I don't see any difference. But you are a professional, and if you say so, there must be a problem."

Lou Ruhui put down a piece of silver, pulled Xingxing and ran forward: "Let's go and see!"

It must be said that Xing Xing and Lou Ruhui were both quite smart. Although they had never learned how to track people, they both knew that the more people there were, the easier it was to be discovered. They asked their maids to follow them far behind, and they followed the man holding the unconscious little girl on tiptoe, all the way into the alley, without being discovered.

The man held the unconscious little girl in his arms and looked around in front of a narrow alley.

Xing Xing and Lou Ruhui had expected the other party to be so alert, so they hid in a shop in advance.

The man walked into the alley confidently, stopped in front of a small courtyard filled with junk, and knocked on the gate of the alley.

The man knocked on the door rhythmically, three long, three short, and three long.

The two girls hid behind a pile of junk. Xing Xing had excellent hearing and heard someone complain, "…We're moving again tonight, why did you bring another shipment?"

"Oh, it's easy and doesn't require much effort..."

The sound gradually faded away, and was followed by an almost inaudible creaking sound, apparently indicating that a door had opened.

After that, Xingxing couldn't hear anymore.

Xing Xing looked solemn.

She guessed correctly, this was probably where the kidnappers hid the children.

It seemed that she accidentally found the kidnapper's lair earlier than her second brother's men.

From the kidnapper's conversation, we learned that they were planning to move out of the city tonight, so time was clearly very tight!

Lou Ruhui heard nothing. Seeing Xingxing concentrating as if listening with her ear tilted to the side, she looked solemn and said nothing.

When Xingxing came to her senses and looked at her, the two exchanged glances. Lou Ruhui understood immediately, pursed her lips tightly, and nodded.

The two were about to leave quietly when they heard movement at the entrance of the alley again.

Xing Xing and Lou Ruhui immediately shrank back, hiding themselves perfectly in the pile of debris.

The sky was gloomy now. Xing Xing saw through the gaps between the debris that several burly men in bodyguard uniforms came in from the alley and headed straight for the yard where the man had just entered.

The leading escort knocked on the door bang bang bang.

He did not knock on the door in the same way as the previous kidnapper, three long, three short, and three long knocks.

As expected, someone in the courtyard asked with a vigilant look, "Who is it?"

The escort smiled and said, "Is Master Wang San here? We have a business deal and would like to discuss it with Master Wang San."

The person inside asked cautiously through the gate, "What business?"

Xingxing saw the escort slip a silver note through the crack in the door.

The banknote was estimated to be of considerable value, and the voices of the people inside were all smiling: "Not bad, it is indeed very sincere."

The door creaked open a crack. The person inside was still very alert and looked at the escort through the crack: "Tell me, what's the business?"

The escort asked with a smile, "Did you bring a little boy of about thirteen or fourteen last night? He was pretty good-looking, wearing a moon-white gown with bamboo embroidered on the corners?"

The person inside the door didn't say anything, but the escorts were very smart and they guessed what was going on as soon as they saw the other person's expression.

The escort smiled and said, "That's it."

The person in the door snorted.

The escort lowered his voice. Xing Xing concentrated and could barely hear: "...someone asked us to do something. The money just now is the money to buy your life..."

For the rest of the words, the escort's voice became lower and lower. Even Xingxing, who had sharp ears and eyes, could not hear clearly what he said.

The kidnapper in the yard seemed to have heard it, and the half of his face that appeared through the crack of the door was full of mockery: "... Oh, you are more cruel than us. Okay, the one who pays is the master. The kid you are talking about is indeed with us... So, tomorrow, you send someone to destroy the temple and collect the kid's body. However, after the task is completed, you have to pay this amount again."

The man in the yard stretched out a hand and flipped it over.

That's one hundred taels.

The escort bargained with the people in the yard and came down to fifty taels.

Final transaction.

While they were talking, a group of people wearing light armor rushed into the alley.

The burly escorts immediately formed a circle and drew their swords with the tips pointing outwards.

The people in the yard's expressions changed slightly and they immediately closed the door.

However, the team wearing light armor was very skilled and it didn't take them much effort to knock down the escorts.

The thick door was kicked open by the team of people wearing light armor, and they rushed in!

Lou Ruhui's face turned pale and she covered her mouth.

Xing Xing's eyes sparkled: "Don't be afraid, she belongs to my second brother!"

Lou Ruhui reacted instantly and was ecstatic: "Your second brother's people?! They are so powerful, so we are all set?!"

Xing Xing nodded, and for the sake of caution, she quickly said, "Sister Lou, you hide here first. I have some drugs on me, just in case. I'll go and help! If it doesn't work, throw the drugs!"

Lou Ruhui knew that apart from being a little courageous, she was just an ordinary person with no skills at all, and she knew that she would only be a hindrance even if she went.

She said carefully: "Be careful!"

Xing Xing nodded, took out the sleeping pills from her waist, gave a packet to Lou Ruhui for self-defense, and then grabbed another packet and quietly walked to the gate of the courtyard.

The escorts lying at the gate couldn't even stand up. For safety's sake, Xing Xing carefully walked around them, thinking that these escorts looked big and strong, but they were not strong enough to take a beating.

The fighting in the yard had ceased. Xing Xing peeked inside through the gate and saw that the elite guards provided by the Yu family caravan, each of them with broad shoulders and narrow waists and tied hair, had quickly dealt with those kidnappers.

Two of them were using ropes to tie up the kidnappers lying all over the yard, preparing to send them to the authorities for punishment.

"Where is the man? Where did you put him?" One of the guards pointed a knife at the kidnapper's chin and interrogated.

Human trafficking is a serious crime, and the traffickers pretended to be stupid and cried out for justice.

The guard hated the kidnappers so much that he didn't waste any words on them. He raised his hand and the knife flashed. A scream was heard. It turned out that the guard chopped off the hand of one of the kidnappers: "I'll ask you again, where is the person? If you don't tell me, I'll leave you with one foot."

The kidnapper's screams were like a pig being slaughtered.

The kidnapper no longer dared to play dumb and pointed the entrance to the cellar to the guards.

Xing Xing silently put the drugs in her hand back.

These guards are so strong that it makes people feel at ease!

The guard also noticed Xing Xing peeking out of the door, and his face changed color: "Miss?! Why are you here!"

One of the guards hurriedly stood in front of the kidnapper with the severed hand, hoping to prevent the bloody scene.

Xing Xing coughed.

This is not necessary, she has already seen it anyway...

"Let's rescue the people in the cellar first." Xing Xing said, "We don't know how many people are imprisoned in there."

The guard obeyed the order, searched the kidnapper for the key, and opened the cellar.

There were quite a few children locked up in the cellar, mostly girls, but there were also a few boys.

When they were released, they all cried with unbelievable joy, and the whole place was filled with crying.

The rescued child had to be registered at the government office because it was related to a missing child case that had to be closed and the kidnapper had to be convicted.

Chu Yaoniang threw herself into Lou Ruhui's arms and cried loudly, obviously very scared.

When the child started crying, many other children in the yard started crying too, some looking for their fathers, some looking for their mothers. The guards who had been chopping people like cutting melons just now stood there frozen, their heads swelling.

Xingxing looked around and her eyes fell on a teenager who was making the most noise.

The young man had his back to her and was shouting at the top of his lungs to a guard: "Go find my parents to pick me up! Go now!"

He was obviously in a state of extreme depression and his legs were limping a little, probably because he had been injured in the cellar.

What caught Xingxing's attention was that under the cold moonlight, the boy's clothes, although very dirty, were undoubtedly moon-white.

The hem of the garment was embroidered with green bamboo, just as the escort had said.

Xing Xing thought, this is the one who someone found a way and spent a lot of money to have kidnappers kill him?