The news that thirty young girls and children had gone missing during the Upper Yuan Festival had not spread widely, and the ignorant commoners, seeing the great commotion at the Governnt, all thought it was a hunt for assassins.
But in the blink of an eye, three days had passed. Despite a dragnet search, no "assassin" was found. Instead, they caught a good number of petty thieves, and for a ti, the public order in Jing City had improved considerably.
Families who had lost children were so desperate they were almost insane. In a large mansion in the north of the city, Fat Brother, Shouzi, and the rest were no better off.
"Fat Brother, the situation is very bad. If we keep going like this, we will eventually be discovered by the governnt officers," Shouzi said.
After managing to send away the governnt officers who had co to search, Shouzi rushed into the backyard, his whole body exuding impatience.
"Damn assassin, coming neither early nor late, just had to show up now and block our way to fortune!" Fat Brother’s face darkened as he fiercely smashed the chair to the ground: "You go and call Yanniang and the others!"
Upon hearing this, Shouzi imdiately ran out to summon others.
Once everyone had arrived, Fat Brother, sitting at the head of the table, said, "As long as the assassin isn’t caught, the searches won’t end, but we can’t afford to drag this out. We must take the Human Trafficking Victims to Yancheng before the delivery deadline. Otherwise, all our efforts will have been for nothing. Does anyone have a plan? Let’s hear it!"
The twenty people sitting on both sides of the small hall looked at each other. Finally, the only woman among them, Yanniang, stood up and said, "Fat Brother, how about we each take people out one by one? Drug the kids so we can carry them out. As for the young ladies, we use knives to threaten them. They’re all delicate and most likely won’t dare to resist. Once we’re out of the city, it will be much easier to manage."
After listening, Fat Brother neither nodded nor shook his head, but instead asked the others, "What do you think of this plan?"
Most people nodded in agreent, but one stood up and said, "It’s fine to carry the drugged children out, but those young ladies, who can guarantee there won’t be any troublemakers? If even one doesn’t obey, we’re all finished."
Fat Brother nodded, as this was precisely his concern.
"How about we ask that official to help us out of the city?" soone else suggested.
At this, everyone’s eyes lit up, and they all looked expectantly at Fat Brother.
But Fat Brother disagreed, "With everything being so tense right now, that official may not be willing to help. Besides, this ti, we made our own move with the ’Human Trafficking Victims’. Even if that official doesn’t bla us, should he help us, he would get most of the profit. After all the effort we’ve put in, would it not be in vain?"
Upon hearing this, everyone’s expressions soured. They had been in the business of ’Human Trafficking Victims’ for twenty years, but the actual silver coin they received was scant. Otherwise, they would have long since given up this line of work and turned to legitimate business.
After half a day of discussion, no viable plan erged. In the end, they decided that if the scrutiny remained as intense in two days, they would follow Yanniang’s thod.
In those two days, Mo Yan, under threat of death, had managed to find out from Shouzi, who delivered their als, that Zhenzhen had not been captured. Without further worries, she began to contemplate how to escape.
She had considered escape routes, but Shouzi was very cunning. The food was slipped through the iron gate, making it impossible for them to hold him hostage and take the keys. Even when Ting Lan pretended to be ill the day before yesterday, Shouzi rely said that if she died, they’d carry her out, not giving her a single dose of dicine. This deepened her understanding of the traffickers’ cruelty.
But would Mo Yan just sit and wait for death? Since they didn’t care about one "death", what if everyone was to "die"? Combining the scene she saw at the city gate on the Upper Yuan Festival and Shouzi’s increasingly troubled expression, she vaguely guessed that the situation outside was greatly disadvantaging these traffickers. This was her opportunity!
Reviews
All reviews (0)