The First Pot of Gold

Listening to the man's account, Mo Qiong frowned.

After all, those five people had been traumatized by him after being beaten, and they had confessed everything they knew.

But when asked about Qin Liang, this person dared not speak. Mo Qiong's heart skipped a beat then, thinking Qin Liang was in grave danger.

However, things were not as he had imagined.

The reason this person dared not speak was that Qin Liang had been sold to another group.

A group that specialized in raising children for begging, swindling, and even theft.

In fact, this was the same gang as the traffickers, just with different roles.

The group responsible for training was more high-level, and mentioning them would implicate more people.

Many children begging in various places were controlled by them, and their injuries were not congenital or accidental...

The person in charge of this matter was a man named 'Dinosaur'. His methods were particularly cruel. Let alone the children, even his colleagues were afraid of him.

Hearing this, Mo Qiong initially thought Qin Liang had been deliberately maimed and immediately beat the human trafficker to a pulp.

But the human trafficker quickly explained, "Qin Liang is good-looking, so he probably wouldn't be maimed. This child is delicate and tender. Selling him to the mountains would be a waste. Sending him to beg would be too much of a waste. Those with good appearances are more suitable for deceiving people when they grow up..."

After hearing the explanation, Mo Qiong understood what was going on.

For the children they kidnapped, Dinosaur would select those who were not good-looking or had some inherent flaw. Basically, children whose sellers wouldn't have them deliberately maimed to gain sympathy.

But for those who looked exceptionally good, they wouldn't do that. Instead, they would nurture them well.

Children who, even at a very young age, showed promise of high beauty would be taught skills and how to use their appearance to please others. Such children, when they grew up, would be attractive, well-behaved, and cute, able to cooperate with them to gain the trust of victims.

However, the standards were extremely high, and such children were rare, perhaps not even one in several years.

Qin Ya's family genes had saved him.

Compared to the children assigned to the begging group, he at least wouldn't be disabled. More children would suffer both psychological and physical torment there.

And the determinant of this fate was Dinosaur and others' judgment of their so-called appearance when they were very young.

He truly despaired of this world that judged by looks.

With this situation revealed, the nature of the case escalated again, and many other cases would be incorporated.

Although this human trafficker didn't know much, he knew the location because he had delivered a batch of children to that group before.

This intelligence was extremely important. Theoretically, that group still didn't know about the arrest of their associates. If they acted fast enough, they could at least capture the group at Qin Liang's stronghold.

However, Mo Qiong didn't need to handle this. It had to be the police. At most, he could help as a concerned citizen.

"Let's get the money first."

With one matter resolved, Mo Qiong felt exceptionally tired. He found a budget hotel and went to sleep.

He slept soundly, without dreams.

It wasn't until eight or nine in the evening that he was woken up by a phone call.

Looking at the caller ID, it was the old police officer.

"Brother..." Mo Qiong said in a low voice.

"Little Mo, the children's parents are all here, and they insist on thanking you. Come over," the old police officer said.

Upon hearing this, Mo Qiong immediately perked up.

Finally, it was here. He had worked so hard, from tracking to rescue, arrest, and interrogation. He had participated in it all.

He had even personally made the calls to the parents. It would be unreasonable for these parents to not remember him after receiving their children.

Especially for two of the families, he was determined to collect a thank-you fee.

After tidying himself up, Mo Qiong quickly rushed to the county bureau.

He saw a group of people crying while holding their children. They had all rushed over as soon as they heard the news.

Now that they saw their children, they held them tightly, not daring to let go.

The old police officer told him that the human traffickers had already been sent away. Their 'simple interrogation' had been reported, and Mo Qiong's contribution was also mentioned in the report. As for how 'Dinosaur' would be dealt with, he was unclear.

"Oh, and the higher-ups are giving you a commendation. Uh... five hundred yuan. It will be sent to your school along with a medal," the old police officer said.

Mo Qiong smiled and quickly began to think about how to explain to the instructor, because the only reason he came to Gan Province was to play...

Taking leave to go out and play on his own was too brazen. However, the school attached great importance to honor. With this commendation, the school could proactively overlook this minor matter.

"You're the one who saved my son, right?" a parent asked after hearing this.

"It was me..." Mo Qiong replied. He had put in the effort throughout, and there was no need to be humble about it.

Upon hearing this, the parents, one after another, came forward with their children to thank him.

Some couldn't control their expressions, holding Mo Qiong's hand with tears and smiles, saying, "Thank you... thank you so much..."

Mo Qiong smiled and comforted them, accepting their thanks one by one.

"The children are a bit withdrawn. Fortunately, they were only lost for a few months before being found. Spend more time with them, and they'll be smiling again soon."

Hearing Mo Qiong's words, the parents also felt fortunate. They were found after only a few months of being lost, but there were still too many who were never found even after years.

They had already learned the details from the police.

If Mo Qiong hadn't intervened this time, the child would have been sold in a while, and it would have been truly difficult to find them again.

What's more, for an ordinary person, even if they knew it might be human traffickers, they might not have been able to save the child.

Let alone saving the child, they would probably get seriously injured themselves, and then the traffickers would escape with the child. At that time, the parents would receive news that their child had appeared here but still couldn't be recovered, which would be truly despairing.

Mo Qiong was alone. If he hadn't taken down all five human traffickers, there wouldn't be such good news today.

Thinking of this, the parents became even more grateful to Mo Qiong, while also lamenting their good fortune.

In their happiness, they even took Mo Qiong to the best hotel in the county to eat and celebrate the baby's return.

After some celebration, a parent finally brought up the matter of the reward.

"The 300,000 I promised is definitely valid. Finding the child was all thanks to you; please accept this token of my gratitude."

Two of the wealthier families had posted their bounties on the website's homepage: one for 300,000 and the other for 200,000.

One had given the money, and the other was just about to.

But Mo Qiong saw the awkward expressions on some of their faces and smiled, "This 'gratitude fee' is just a gesture. I'll accept your rewards, but let's not discuss it at this table. After we finish eating, I'll give you my card number, and you can transfer the money back when you have time."

Hearing him say this, those who hadn't revealed their intentions looked at Mo Qiong gratefully.

They had also made preparations, as the notices mentioned a substantial reward. However, the so-called substantial reward would not exceed 20,000 yuan.

The fact that the two wealthy families directly stated their amounts at the dining table made them a bit awkward.

Afterward, the parents returned to the hotel and were about to transfer money upon receiving Mo Qiong's card number.

But then they were stunned because the account did not exist.

"What? Did he give the wrong number?" the woman exclaimed in surprise.

The man thought for a moment and said, "No... I didn't notice it before, but now that I look closely, this number is completely random and couldn't possibly be a bank account number."

"What does this mean?" the woman asked, bewildered.

"What else could it mean? He never intended to take our money."

The next morning, Mo Qiong got out of bed and checked his phone.

"Nice! It's arrived."

His account had an additional 500,000.

This 500,000, plus the 50,000 bounty from the wanted poster, was basically enough for him to get some equipment, rent a warehouse, and buy a small boat capable of going out to sea.

The two bosses, one offering 300,000 and the other 200,000, were ones he had seen on the website long ago.

The others were not his targets, and the money wasn't much. It was better not to take it and just give them a fake account number.

Mo Qiong now had his first pot of gold, and countless riches awaited him in the sea.

"I should notify Qin Ya's family first."

Mo Qiong had obtained definite news about Qin Liang from the human traffickers, and the police were also aware of the matter, so he didn't need to personally rescue him.

'Dinosaur' was in a town at the border of Anhui and Jiangxi. Perhaps the police would take action soon.

When he called Qin Ya and mentioned this, Qin Ya was completely stunned and remained speechless for a long time.

"Wh-what? My brother?" Qin Ya exclaimed.

Mo Qiong smiled, "I remembered what you said last time. I happened to stumble upon a group of human traffickers this time, so I asked around."

"And believe it or not, I found him. Qin Liang, with the longevity lock as identification, and the child was so good-looking that the traffickers had a deep impression of him. It's him, no doubt."

"Ah!" Qin Ya covered her mouth, crying out almost like a groan, feeling like she couldn't catch her breath.

"I'll send you the location. You can notify your family to go and see." Mo Qiong said.

"You really... really found him?" Qin Ya's voice was hoarse with tears, her voice cracking.

This was a matter that had troubled her family for four years. How long had she known Mo Qiong? Just for him to casually mention it and for him to remember and take it to heart had already moved her. She never expected to find him by such a coincidence.

"I found him, but he hasn't been rescued yet. I'll be passing by that area on my way back anyway. Give me your Second Uncle's phone number. When I get there tomorrow, I'll deliver the longevity lock to him first." Mo Qiong said.

"I'll go too. I'll definitely be there. Thank you... This is too wonderful, truly wonderful..." Qin Ya said, weeping.

"Yes, this is good news, why are you crying... Let's leave it at that for now. Calm yourself down," Mo Qiong said after a few more words, and then hung up.

Hearing Qin Ya's extreme excitement, Mo Qiong felt a bit regretful.

He regretted notifying their family so quickly, as Qin Liang's life or death was not entirely confirmed.

Four years could bring about anything.

If they came with full of hope, only to find that Qin Liang had already died at the hands of those people, it would be too despairing. It would have been better to simply inform them: Qin Liang confirmed dead.

Given the living conditions of Dinosaur's group, the possibility of a child dying was very high.

"Since I have to fly back myself, I'll take a look on the way."

"For now, I need to take care of my own business..."

Mo Qiong excitedly rushed out of the hotel and drove to the city.

With money, he had too many pieces of equipment to buy. A wetsuit, a drone for aerial photography – these were things he could still buy. As for the wingsuit, there was no other way; he would have to buy the materials and make it himself.

Anyway, the wingsuit he needed was different from others. His wingsuit only needed to satisfy two major conditions.

First, it would have multiple built-in acceleration airbags. By blowing into different tubes, he could propel air arrows in various directions inside the wingsuit.

Furthermore, the airbags would be extremely sturdy, able to withstand strong wind pressure, and could be manually deflated at any time.

With this, he could freely glide, accelerate, change direction, and decelerate in the air by inflating and deflating the airbags…

Second, after wearing it, it would look like a bird…

p.s.: The beginning is like a normal urban supernatural novel, with the main plot unfolding in about 200,000 characters. I've seen comments a few times that made me want to rush the plot, but I held back. My book's pacing is terrible, but I want to practice.