Infiltrating

Gu Dahai saw Ye Yun's interest in the Meteorite Copper, and a flash of smugness crossed his eyes. He thought to himself, Boss Chen, don't blame me. If you have to blame someone, it's your bad luck. You actually wanted to kill us to silence us and cover your tracks, but you didn't stop to think if people like us could possess such a treasure? Such a thing in hand would only bring disaster. I'm merely bringing it forward.

With that thought, Gu Dahai suppressed his excitement and said, "Young Master, as far as I know, Boss Chen obtained his Meteorite Copper by chance from a traveling merchant. That merchant originally intended to give the Meteorite Copper to the Lord of Heyang City, but unfortunately, he kept it secret and didn't tell anyone. By chance, Boss Chen got wind of it. I only found out because I happened to be passing by at the time."

Ye Yun nodded and said, "Since that's the case, lead the way. We still have some time to get this done. I need to check out the haunted house tomorrow."

Half an hour later, Ye Yun followed Gu Dahai to a rather dilapidated district. The houses here were low and run-down, and the passersby were few and far between. The occasional person they saw hurried along, their clothes tattered and their eyes vacant, filled with apathy. Ye Yun even saw several people brazenly push open doors and snatch money from the residents, who offered no resistance, merely watching with numb expressions. Even when Ye Yun had Gu Dahai break the legs of those robbers and return the money to the victim, the man didn't even glance at him, closing his door as if nothing had happened, leaving Ye Yun quite awkward.

The dilapidation and chaos here stood in stark contrast to the bustling main streets of Heyang City, making it a world of difference.

Gu Dahai looked at Ye Yun's embarrassed expression and whispered, "Young Master, don't bother. It's always been like this here. The people living here are all refugees who migrated from elsewhere and have no household registration. They don't exist on the government's registry. And Young Master, don't be fooled by their current apathy; they look easy to bully, but if they get the chance, they'll pounce on you and take a bite. Every year, countless people who mistakenly wander into this area disappear completely, and the instigators are these seemingly pitiable refugees."

Ye Yun looked thoughtfully at the closed, dilapidated wooden door. He tossed the dozen or so copper coins and small piece of silver in his hand to Gu Dahai, turned, and left, letting Gu Dahai continue leading the way to Boss Chen's lair.

Boss Chen's lair was located at the end of this street. According to Gu Dahai, it was a large three-courtyard mansion that had been abandoned for some unknown reason and had become Boss Chen's base. Boss Chen usually stayed in the mansion to cultivate, only leaving in person when it was time to deliver goods. His subordinates usually managed things.

As expected of a notorious gang leader in Heyang City, even from a hundred meters away from the mansion, ruffians with unfriendly expressions were patrolling. Besides a pair of imposing stone lions at the entrance, there were four burly men armed with gleaming steel sabers guarding it, far surpassing Gu Dahai's capabilities.

When they were still over a hundred meters from the mansion, Gu Dahai suddenly stopped and turned to Ye Yun, whispering, "Young Master, Boss Chen's lair is heavily guarded, and there are many people. Young Master, I know a hidden route. Shall we sneak in quietly through there?"

"Alright, I don't want any trouble. Fighting and killing is the most boring thing," Ye Yun agreed after a moment's thought.

Gu Dahai did not lie. He indeed knew a hidden route. Along the way, he led Ye Yun past countless hidden sentries and patrol points, successfully entering the mansion. However, the mansion was quite large with many rooms, and Gu Dahai didn't know where Boss Chen was. Only Boss Chen knew the location where the Meteorite Copper was stored.

Gu Dahai didn't know, and Ye Yun certainly didn't either. However, he knew one thing: the more important the place, the tighter the security. He just needed to look for areas with heavy guard.

After all, Ye Yun was a master of Jade Purity level eight, and Gu Dahai could be considered a martial arts expert. Leaping over eaves and walking silently was nothing to them. With Ye Yun assisting, bypassing the sentries was incredibly easy.

After passing the last sentry post, Ye Yun and Gu Dahai silently entered the heavily guarded large house. The moment Ye Yun took in everything inside the room, a furious rage erupted within him.

This room was not Boss Chen's bedroom as he had imagined, but a huge prison. This originally spacious room had been divided by wooden planks into numerous cage-like cells. And what was imprisoned in these cells were naked women. These women varied in age, from around thirty years old to as young as eight or nine. What Ye Yun found most unbearable was that some women's lower bodies were in a terrible state, making it obvious what they had endured.

"Boss Gu, what is going on here?" Ye Yun clenched his fists, his words seeming to be squeezed from between his teeth, filled with chilling killing intent.

Hearing Ye Yun's murderous tone, Gu Dahai couldn't help but tremble before whispering, "These women were likely abducted, bought by force, or kidnapped by Boss Chen's subordinates. While a few are sold to wealthy families, most are sold to brothels. This is Boss Chen's biggest source of income."

"Are all the gangs in Heyang City doing this?"

Gu Dahai hesitated and replied, "Not exactly. In fact, only Boss Chen engages in such large-scale human trafficking. Others don't have Boss Chen's powerful backing. At most, they might lend money and use people's children to settle debts, and they generally don't do that because it can easily lead to death. The government values people with household registration very highly, and they will be severely punished if discovered. It's not worth the risk."

Hearing Gu Dahai's words, Ye Yun visibly relaxed. However, when he saw the women filling the room, his killing intent surged instantly, but he forcibly suppressed it. He took a deep breath to calm his anger and said to the women who were looking at him with numb expressions, "I'm here to save you. Please wait here patiently. I'll come back to take you away after I deal with these scums outside."

After speaking, Ye Yun turned to Gu Dahai and said, "Gu Dahai, go and find some clothes for them and protect them here. Today, I'm going to unleash a massacre here."

Seeing Ye Yun on the verge of exploding, Gu Dahai nodded without a second word and flipped out the window. Ye Yun followed closely behind, but instead of flipping, he flew.