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When the woman was brought to the hospital, it attracted the attention of many medical staff.
Especially the female nurses, who, upon seeing the woman's injuries that looked like the result of domestic abuse, showed expressions of sympathy.
And this sympathy deepened after examining the woman's condition.
"What happened here? What's your relationship with the patient?" one nurse couldn't help but ask.
The old man and woman wiped away their tears and cried, "This is our daughter. She was abducted over ten years ago, and we just found her."
It turns out it was a case of abduction!
As soon as the topic of abduction was brought up, not only the nurse but also the onlookers around them showed expressions of anger and disgust.
Abduction, in their eyes, is one of the most unforgivable crimes, something that no reason can justify.
Murder might be the result of an impulsive act, a moment of passion, or perhaps an act of revenge. It could also be a reaction to long-term oppression, a last resort when one can no longer endure, or even an accidental act of excessive self-defense. Although the law should judge as it sees fit, some reasons are truly sympathetic.
But abduction—there is no reason that could evoke sympathy for the traffickers.
Traffickers should all be caught, skinned, drawn, and quartered!
The nurse, with a stern face, applied medicine while asking if they had reported to the police: "We must catch the traffickers quickly!"
Everyone around nodded in agreement, but the old man and his companions looked troubled.
It wasn’t that they didn’t want to, but the thought of the fierce and menacing villagers made them anxious.
Could the police really handle an entire village of such people?
At that moment, Jiang Chenyi happened to arrive at the hospital. Hearing the nurse's words, he casually remarked, "The traffickers have already been caught."
"Really!"
Seeing the shocked expressions on the old man’s face and those around him, Jiang Chenyi nodded with a smile, "Yes, it was the Chashan City Public Security Bureau that caught them."
Huo Yunxi followed closely behind him, not saying a word the entire time.
If anyone had been paying close attention to his eyes at that moment, they would have noticed that he seemed somewhat dazed as his gaze was unfocused, as if lost in thought.
Because they needed to apply medicine, Jiang Chenyi and the other men were all ushered out, so he decided to take the old man outside to talk.
"There are some things I need to ask you."
The old man looked puzzled, then heard the young man repeat the words he had once said: "You told my partner that you were informed of your daughter's whereabouts, right?"
This was something the old man had mentioned when Huo Yunxi was leading them away.
The old man nodded, probably knowing what Jiang Chenyi wanted to ask.
"But I don’t know who told me. Someone just slipped a note at my doorstep with the location of that village." Moreover, the note was printed on an A4 paper, with no handwriting to trace, so they had no way of finding out who it was.
After hearing his explanation, Jiang Chenyi fell silent.
It seems that the orders from above were still stuck at the lower units?
But it’s unclear whether the units were unwilling to act to bring the people back or if they were colluding with the village...
According to the men in the village, the number of "brides" bought into the village was not small.
To be honest, if Jiang Chenyi hadn’t been solely focused on sneaking the woman out, he would have liked to explore the entire village.
Then, find out exactly how many "brides" had been bought into the village.
Upon learning that the entire village was involved, Jiang Chenyi had already decided to dismantle the whole village.
Just like how he dealt with Yu Min’s village before, all involved, regardless of age or gender, would be arrested—those deserving of the death penalty would be executed, and those deserving of life imprisonment would be sentenced accordingly.
Even if the women were abducted, if they were also aiding and abetting the Tiger, he would not let them off.
And those who were protecting this village from behind the scenes—he would not spare a single one of them.
The young man's eyes were deep and cold, with a glint of icy light swirling within.
The old man looked at the young man with eager eyes.
If he hadn't witnessed the young man's extraordinary abilities firsthand, it would have been hard for him to believe that this young man had helped the police dismantle an entire human trafficking organization.
Now his daughter has returned, but what about the other children?
He believed that in Xiaocheng, there must be more than just his daughter who had been abducted. So there were surely other victims like his daughter who had not yet been found.
"Is that piece of paper still there?"
Hearing the young man speak, the old man quickly nodded. "Yes, yes, we carry it with us at all times because we are afraid that we might go to the wrong place."
He took out the piece of paper hidden in his chest and handed it to Jiang Chenyi. Huo Yunxi leaned in to look and found that there were indeed no clues to follow on it.
"When the time comes, you'll follow Song Miao and go stay with the Huo family for a while. Don't go anywhere recently, and don't return to your home or hometown for now. Also, have your grandson take a leave of absence from school."
Jiang Chenyi arranged this purely because the old man's home was in the west of Xiaocheng, while that village was in the east of Xiaocheng, with only about 300 kilometers between the two places.
If someone from there were to chase after them by car, they could reach the old man's home in half a day.
The old man also understood that this was to protect his family of four and agreed almost without hesitation.
Not long after, the woman's injuries had all been treated, and Song Miao took them back to the Huo family first.
As for Jiang Chenyi and Huo Yunxi, they still had some things to investigate outside.
Before getting into the car, Song Miao only said one thing to them: "If you need the Huo family to step in, just give us a call."
Jiang Chenyi glanced at the girl in the car: "Perfect, you can ask her more about the bullying incidents."
The second middle school where that child attended had more than just one bullying incident.
There was nothing wrong with her, so why did the bullies target her? What were the reasons other children in the school were bullied? Had the bullies formed a small group? What was the school's stance on this?
These were all things they needed to figure out while they were at the Huo family's place.
Song Miao nodded. She didn’t need Jiang Chenyi to remind her; she already knew what she had to do.
It wasn’t just her working hard. Yu Shun was also collecting data on school bullying cases across the country in recent years.
And the younger members of the family, upon learning about the work they were doing, had all volunteered to help.
After watching the car drive away, the two exchanged a glance. The young man took out a piece of paper from his pocket and sighed, muttering about another day of wasted effort.
But even as he said this, his mind was already moving quickly and thinking about the transaction with the supermarket.
Huo Yunxi saw through his facade and looked at the young man with an extremely gentle gaze.
After Jiang Chenyi left, the village conducted a thorough search, not just within the village but also in the surrounding five-kilometer area.
But in the end, they found nothing—not even a single hair.
"How could a woman just disappear like that?" Liu Laowu, the man who had bought the woman, was furious at the result.
He suddenly turned around and glared at the villagers behind him: "Did one of you take my woman?"
The more he thought about it, the more plausible it seemed.
Although the woman had aged and become much uglier, she had been quite beautiful in her youth. According to the students in town, her "genes" or whatever were supposed to be good, so any child she bore wouldn’t be ugly.
So, when Liu Laowu saw his son growing more and more handsome, he was filled with pride!
The more he thought about it, the more he believed this was a real possibility. Maybe someone else wanted to change their "genes" but couldn’t afford to buy a woman, so they just stole her instead.
The men he was glaring at turned pale, and one of them couldn’t take it anymore and spat in his face.
"F*** you! Do you think I need your stinking woman?" the man said with disgust.
The man who had been spat on turned red with anger, but he didn’t dare to confront the other man. He could only swallow his pride and let it go.
No one was willing to admit to it, after all, none of them had taken the woman.
After the search yielded no results, they returned to the village.
Liu Laowu pushed open the door and saw his son, Liu Wei, about to leave.
The young man was holding a broken bowl filled with food meant for pigs.
"Going to feed the dog again?"
Liu Laowu casually stepped aside to let him pass.
Liu Wei carried the bowl and walked along the mountain path for a while before arriving at a secluded cave.
The foul stench coming from inside made him gag involuntarily.
He didn’t enter, but instead poured the pig feed in his hand onto the ground. A malicious smile appeared on his face, instantly distorting his otherwise handsome features into something ugly and ferocious. "Come and eat, dog."
Soon, the sound of chains echoed from within the cave.
The "dog" he referred to was actually a person. The figure slowly crawled to the mouth of the cave while lying on the ground and licking up the food bit by bit.
Seeing this man reduced to a state worse than a pig or a dog, the young man’s inner malice was finally satisfied, and he turned to leave.
However, he didn’t notice that the moment he turned away, the man on the ground raised his head.
Beneath the dirty, disheveled hair, a pair of hollow eyes were revealed.
The man’s fingers dug tightly into the soil, as if he was enduring something. But in the end, after barely filling his stomach, he retreated back into the cave.
‘Not now… there’s no opportunity yet…’
***
Three hours after Song Miao left, Jiang Chenyi and Huo Yunxi arrived at the Xiaocheng Public Security Bureau. As soon as he entered, Jiang Chenyi directly stated his identity.
"Supervisor of the Celestial Masters Association. I’d like to inquire about the list of abducted individuals issued by the central government. Have you found all of them?"
He glanced around the room but didn’t spot anything suspicious.
The police officer he questioned was surprised by the young man’s identity, but after verifying it, he answered truthfully, "We’ve basically found everyone. Most have been sent back home, but some…" The officer frowned slightly with his expression tinged with sadness.
Jiang Chenyi had seen this kind of sorrow on the faces of police officers in Chashan City before—it was the look they had when they worried that the abducted victims wouldn’t be accepted by their families.
"However, aside from the children, there are only a few female victims in this situation. But Ancheng recently established a rehabilitation center that can take in such individuals. It’s officially recognized by the Ancheng Public Security Bureau, so we’ve been sending people there."
As he finished speaking, the officer’s expression turned to one of relief.
Ancheng…
Upon hearing the name of the city, Jiang Chenyi instinctively thought of Zhang Miaomiao and the others…
But in their recent conversations, he hadn’t heard Sister Miaomiao mention anything about this.
Jiang Chenyi suppressed his doubts and refocused his attention on the abduction case.
"However, we just encountered a family deeply affected by abduction. Their daughter was in a small village less than 300 kilometers from their home, but not only was she not found, when they went there themselves, they were almost beaten by the villagers."
Jiang Chenyi’s words immediately caught the attention of all the officers present.
"That’s impossible! The list issued by the central government requires every district and county police station to report their findings. According to the reports we received, everyone has been found and returned!"
Some thought Jiang Chenyi was lying and just trying to cause trouble.
Although the Celestial Masters Association still held some weight, no one could guarantee that everyone in it was trustworthy!
Huo Yunxi snorted while looking at them with a half-smile. "That person is currently at the Huo residence. If you don’t believe me, I don’t mind taking you there to see for yourselves."
"The Huo residence? Which Huo residence?"
Just then, someone returned and overheard these words as they entered.
Huo Yunxi turned around and looked at the woman approaching from behind. She exuded a sharp and commanding presence, clearly not an ordinary police officer.
"Xiaocheng only has one Huo family."
The woman scrutinized Huo Yunxi carefully, and upon seeing his face, she immediately understood, "You're a junior from the Huo family?"
Her words caused the two young men to exchange strange expressions.
The woman was the Director of the Public Security Bureau. She had just returned from a meeting when she heard about this matter.
"My surname is Long. I want to know which district and county the village you mentioned belongs to."
Whether due to central orders or her own sense of duty, Director Long had no intention of letting this matter slide easily.
Jiang Chenyi not only told the female director the location of the village but also shared the leaked information he had heard from those people.
"Of course, I can't verify the latter part yet. Just listen for now. Once I find evidence, I'll revisit it with you."
The reason Jiang Chenyi revealed so much upon first meeting the director was because of the Merit tinged with Baleful Aura she carried.
Generally, people like this were military veterans, and they had definitely been on the battlefield.
Director Long was somewhat surprised by the information Jiang Chenyi had obtained, but beyond her surprise, she was more concerned about the situation in the village.
She and Jiang Chenyi shared the same thought: If a village truly had so many trafficked "brides", there must be someone shielding them behind the scenes.
Although the place was remote, it wasn't as isolated as the depths of the mountains.
Logically speaking, how could a village not too far from a town have the audacity to engage in such frequent human trafficking?
The more she thought about it, the deeper her concerns grew.
The only difference between her and Jiang Chenyi's thoughts was that Jiang Chenyi leaned toward local police protection, while Director Long suspected foreign forces.
Because, just five kilometers past that village, it was foreign territory.
"Here's what we'll do. I'll have someone investigate the local police station under the guise of an inspection. Meanwhile, I'll accompany you to the Huo family to check on the victim's situation."
Director Long thought it through clearly. This matter wasn't just about human trafficking.
Jiang Chenyi didn't seem surprised at all when he learned she intended to take action herself.
He and Huo Yunxi exchanged a glance, both of their eyes filled with complex emotions.
In the past three hours, they had first traced the source of the A4 paper and eventually found the police station in the village's location.
However, since the paper had been touched by many people, it wasn't clear who had typed those words or who are kind to warned them.
Finally, they arrived at the Xiaocheng Public Security Bureau, not only to clarify the previous questions but also to use their help to investigate the local police station.
If they could resolve it, that would be ideal.
If they couldn't handle it, then he would step in later... but if he really took action, it would undoubtedly escalate into a major incident.
Just think of President Lu, who had been bottom fished so thoroughly that he lost everything:)
They immediately took Director Long to the Huo family. However, at the entrance of the Huo residence, they first saw several police officers standing there.
Huh? Police officers?
Jiang Chenyi and Huo Yunxi immediately looked at Director Long, whose expression gradually turned grave.
She could tell that these police officers were not from the bureau, so... most likely they were officers from a local police station?
Coincidentally, Director Long wasn’t wearing her police uniform at the moment.
As the three of them walked over, they heard the officers speaking with a stern expression to the security guard: "Our station received a report from someone saying his wife had gone missing. Later, someone at the hospital saw her being brought here."
Behind Huo Yunxi and the others, a pair of eyes narrowed slightly.
The aura emanating from these people... why did it feel so strange?
Gold symbolized Merit, white symbolized Votive Power, black symbolized sin, and Baleful Aura was like scorching, crimson magma.
As for the power of Spirits, each Spirit was different.
For example, the adorable Wu Tuan’s power was a deep green, the same color as her eyes, while Huo Yunxi’s was the color of a Bell.
Ordinary people wouldn’t have any glow other than these four colors.
Yet, the four police officers in front of them were surrounded by a faint yellow mist—it wasn’t the power of Merit, but rather, it seemed more like the power of a Spirit.
Most importantly, this deep yellow light gave Jiang Chenyi a very unpleasant feeling.
It was like forcing someone who disliked egg yolks to eat one that had been rolled in sewage... not only did they dislike it, but it was also inedible!
Huo Yunxi was the first to notice the disgusted expression on Jiang Chenyi’s face. Following the young man’s gaze, he realized the target of his attention was these people.
He certainly didn’t think Jiang Chenyi was upset about the police officers intervening.
"Those people... something’s off?"
The young man frowned while nodding with a look as if he had smelled something foul, then silently took a step back... then another, increasing the distance between himself and those individuals.
Upon hearing the officers’ words, the security guard’s first thought wasn’t that the Huo family had abducted the missing wife, but that they had found her.
"Let me report this first. Please wait a moment." Given that this group was from the police, the security guard’s attitude remained friendly.
As he was about to report, the guard suddenly noticed Huo Yunxi and the others standing to the side.
"Mr. Huo! Mr. Jiang! You’re back!"
As a member of the Huo family, Huo Yunxi naturally had the authority to have the security guard open the gate and let them in. "I’ll take these people inside."
With Huo Yunxi present, the security guard naturally didn’t refuse.
The police officers were also startled when they saw Huo Yunxi and the others. They hadn’t sensed anyone behind them at all!
Using Huo Yunxi’s tall figure as cover, Jiang Chenyi kept his eyes fixed on those individuals.
Especially their expressions upon seeing Huo Yunxi—shock, wariness, greed, and then calmness.
This change happened in an instant that if Jiang Chenyi hadn’t been watching closely, he might have missed it.
As they entered the gate, Jiang Chenyi suddenly felt a light touch on his arm.
Turning his head, he heard Director Long casually ask him a question, as if making small talk.
"Kid, have you ever seen a face-changing magic trick?"
This single sentence was enough to prove that Director Long had also witnessed everything that had just happened.
Jiang Chenyi’s lips curled into a smile, and his mood instantly lightened.
This Director was unexpectedly sharp!
To avoid arousing suspicion, they continued chatting about the magic trick for a short while, until they met Yuan Aiping, who had come out to greet them.
Upon seeing the police officers behind them, a glint flashed in the eyes of this septuagenarian woman.
She glanced at Jiang Chenyi, and the young man smiled at her—good, she understood. These police officers were not here with good intentions!
She had Song Miao come out to deal with the officers, as she was the most familiar with the matters they were inquiring about.
Song Miao led them to the reception room with a gentle expression, and as they passed Jiang Chenyi, she glanced toward the second floor with the corner of her eye.
The person was on the second floor.
As the officers passed by, Huo Yunxi distinctly felt a viscous liquid extending tentacles toward him.
However, before the tentacles could touch his body, they were destroyed by the Baleful Aura emanating from him.
After they left, Yuan Aiping turned her gaze to Director Long: "I recognize you, Director Long. I've long heard of your reputation."
This Director Long was once a renowned iron lady in the military. If not for some health issues and personal reasons later on, she would undoubtedly be a high-ranking officer in the army now.
However, serving as the Director of the Public Security Bureau in Xiaocheng was also a promising career.
Director Long saluted the elderly woman.
The deeds of this elderly woman were still etched in her memory, and she had been her idol since she first joined the military.
She was then, and she still is now.
"Chief, it's been a long time."
After a brief exchange of pleasantries, they quickly got down to business.
And the topic that initiated this discussion was not the matter of the woman being hidden by the villagers, but rather that A4 sheet of paper.
Jiang Chenyi took out the paper and said meaningfully to Director Long, "This paper comes from the police station in Longyuan Town."
Longyuan Town was the town where that village was located.
On one hand, they were unwilling to rescue the abducted person, and on the other, they secretly traveled three hundred kilometers to visit the victim's family. What exactly was this police station trying to do?
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