In the days that followed, Xiao Cha went out early and came home late every day, using the convenience of her position to investigate the Tooth Brokerage.
Human trafficking was a business, too, and costs had to be considered.
Normally, traffickers didn't keep their merchandise on hand for long. They would definitely sell it off as quickly as possible.
But strangely, Xiao Cha never found out where the children had been sold.
The Tooth Brokerage had rounded up every last beggar child in all of Jinmen. There should have been some trace of them, no matter what.
Yet she found no sign of them anywhere with a high demand for child labor, whether factories or brothels.
As the days passed, Xiao Cha grew more and more anxious. When she got home that day, she couldn't help saying bitterly:
"This is so strange! The Tooth Brokerage took away so many children. Where could they have sold them? I had some of my father's old connections keep watch, but there hasn't been a single sign of anything..."
The more Xiao Cha spoke, the darker her expression grew. "Could they have sold them to the mines?"
Wan Qing handed her a bowl of mung bean soup and comforted her. "Don't worry. Did you ask anyone down at the docks? Maybe they're shipping them overseas."
"I did. Nothing. Besides, children couldn't survive a sea voyage. They only want young, able-bodied men."
Xiao Cha drained the bowl of mung bean soup. Looking troubled, she turned to Lu Li and said guiltily, "You spent fifty Ocean Dollars investigating this..."
"It's fine. Use as much as you need. But I have a suggestion."
Lu Li said, "Since you can't find anyone anywhere, why not kidnap someone from the Tooth Brokerage and interrogate him?"
At that, Xiao Cha froze and looked Lu Li up and down.
She hadn't expected this refined, well-mannered man to be so audacious!
But then she realized the plan could work!
Thinking of that small figure with her hair tied in a topknot, Xiao Cha hesitated for only a few seconds before deciding. "All right! Let's do it!"
~~~~~~~~~~
Next, Xiao Cha tossed several sacks of medicinal herbs onto a handcart and wheeled it out.
Meanwhile, Lu Li brought out two M1911s and the two shotguns, then began inspecting and maintaining them.
Somewhere deep down, he had a premonition that another slaughter was coming—and that this time, the enemy they would face was no ordinary foe.
Yet Lu Li felt a faint trace of... excitement!
He didn't know why he felt this way. He wasn't a bloodthirsty, brutal person... but he didn't mind tearing apart things that wore human skin.
As he ran his hand over the cold instruments of death, a star-like glimmer flashed through Lu Li's eyes.
At the same time, in a dark alley beside a gambling house,
Xiao Cha's fist lashed out like a whip, striking a man in a blue robe squarely in the carotid artery.
The blood supply to his brain was briefly cut off. His eyes rolled back, and he passed out.
Xiao Cha tossed him onto the handcart, covered him with several sacks of medicinal herbs, and wheeled him back to the clinic without anyone noticing.
She was a police officer, after all, and hadn't left a single trace. Even so, her heart was pounding with nerves.
She was only seventeen. Perhaps she had seen plenty, but she hadn't actually been through much.
At that moment, Xiao Cha took a deep breath, dragged her "hostage" into the woodshed, and bound his hands and feet tightly.
Then she poured a bucket of cold water over him, and the burly man immediately woke up.
Seeing his surroundings and the familiar female officer in front of him, he instantly understood what had happened.
"How dare you! You're breaking the law!"
Human traffickers like him, who could bring themselves to torture children, had nerves of steel. Now, he spoke with brazen confidence:
"Officer Luo, don't bring this on yourself! The moment Steward Yi realizes I'm missing, he'll come looking for you first!"
Normally, Xiao Cha should have roughed him up a little to make him understand the situation.
But in this world, knowing what to do was always easier than doing it. The girl was too young, and she had never taken a life. Now, she was frozen in place.
So she's a rookie~
The burly man secretly breathed a sigh of relief and grew even more brazen. "Let me go, and there's still room to smooth things over..."
But he choked off halfway through his sentence when Lu Li slowly walked in.
The burly man's heart tightened. Something was wrong!
Drawing on the keen eye he'd developed after years of mixing with all sorts, he could tell at a glance that this man had taken lives—and not just one!
Just as he was growing tense, Lu Li asked softly, "What's your name?"
"Your grandpa is Zhao Jin, a runner for the Tooth Brokerage—aaagh!!"
Before he could finish, Lu Li pulled out an M9 pistol and fired once into each of his legs.
Blood gushed out. Zhao Jin writhed in pain, mouth wide open as he screamed.
Lu Li raised his hand and fired again. The bullet grazed the corner of Zhao Jin's mouth and tore across his cheek, leaving a clownish half-grin.
The pain kept him from opening his mouth wide or making much noise. All he could do was groan softly.
In the space of three seconds, Zhao Jin had become a bloody mess.
Xiao Cha said in a trembling voice, "We haven't even questioned him yet. He's going to die..."
"It's fine. We can tie up another one." Lu Li's expression was calm as he raised the gun again.
"Stop! Stop!"
Facing the smoking muzzle, Zhao Jin broke almost at once. Through his bullet-torn mouth, he spilled everything:
"Steward Yi maims those children and sends them into the concessions to beg for foreign currency! It's got nothing to do with me. Yi did it all!"
Making children into disfigured, crippled beggars was a common trick among human traffickers.
Xiao Cha was completely flustered. She asked urgently, her voice trembling:
"Where is the little girl with the topknot, about six or seven years old, with fair skin?"
Zhao Jin hissed and sucked in a breath through his teeth. "She's in Guo Zhuang, outside the city... Steward Yi said he had a use for her."
Hearing this, Xiao Cha felt a little relieved.
But then Lu Li unexpectedly said, "Thanks for the information."
As soon as he finished speaking, he shot Zhao Jin through the skull.
With a deeply puzzled expression on his face, Zhao Jin dropped dead.
It took Xiao Cha a moment to react. "Y-you just killed him!"
"We got enough information. Besides, I don't consider him human."
Lu Li turned and left the woodshed. Xiao Cha stood there in silence for a long time.
She had always thought Lu Li was calm, considerate, and generous... But now she realized she had never truly understood this man!
~~~~~~~~~~
When Lu Li came out of the woodshed, Wan Qing had just finished making dinner.
Although the girl couldn't see, she knew everything. Now, she asked softly, "Are you eating at home?"
"You've already made it, so I'll eat before we go."
He sat down at the table, and Wan Qing felt around until she had served him a bowl of millet rice.
They had eaten in silence for about half the meal when Xiao Cha rushed in.
The girl had no appetite at all. Biting her lip, she said, "I'm going to Guo Zhuang to take a look and see if I can rescue Tong Shao."
Lu Li swallowed his food and said, "Perfect. I'll go with you. I don't know the way."
"You're going, too?" Xiao Cha asked, surprised.
"Guo Zhuang is where the traffickers keep their captives. It'll definitely be heavily guarded. You don't know any movement techniques. How are you going to sneak in?"
Lu Li chuckled. "We can prepare two plans. Guo Zhuang is outside the city, right? My legs aren't up to it, so I'll have to trouble you to take me there on the handcart."
At that moment, his eyes began to gleam again, his irises as magnificent as a collapsing universe.
Xiao Cha opened her mouth, then stopped herself. In the end, she nodded.
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