The two of them looked extremely unnatural, just like Su Cheng when she found out something she shouldn't have known and then tried her best to pretend otherwise.
Su Cheng called out to the two of them.
Upon seeing her, their eyes lit up, but then, as if remembering something, they quickly dimmed again.
Su Cheng leaned closer, "What did you find?"
The two hadn't expected Su Cheng to see through their disguise so easily. Keke no one was around did they dare to whisper, "This village is involved in human trafficking!"
Su Cheng raised an eyebrow and looked up at Su Zhou, who nodded repeatedly in affirmation of Keke's words.
One person seeing it might lead to a misunderstanding, but if two people say the same thing, then the veracity of the claim increases significantly.
Adult or child?
Keke clutched her clothes, her face pale. "A woman... she was crying. I heard her saying things like 'let me go' through the wall. It's true... she's definitely not from the village..."
Keke gets extremely nervous whenever she thinks about the illegal activities taking place in the village, and the fact that she's in the middle of it.
She had seen too many stories online about the aftermath of abducted women; those tragic cases were too shocking to bear, and she feared she might become one of them.
Seeing that Coco was distracted, Su Cheng Keke only turn her gaze to the relatively calm Su Zhou. "Take me there to see him."
Su Zhou hesitated for a moment before agreeing, "Come with me."
The house, which Keke to be where abducted girls are being held, is located alone at the back of the village, surrounded by a wall.
It has no neighbors nearby, making it truly suitable for Tibetans.
Su Zhou and Keke casually found some scenic spots in the village to shoot footage, interview villagers, and take group photos; everything went smoothly.
Until they took a wrong turn, they suddenly heard a woman's soft sobbing.
The two ran to the back wall and listened carefully before they could faintly hear the woman's weak cries for help.
They dared not linger, fearing discovery, and were thinking of quickly telling Su Xiaoxiao and Zhou Yang about it... but unexpectedly they ran into Su Cheng on the way.
After understanding the situation, Su Cheng nodded slightly.
The homeowners were all home at the time, and she heard them talking.
Mu Ling walked through the wall and circled back into the house. "There is indeed a woman locked in a room, on the first floor, behind this wall."
Upon hearing this, Su Cheng looked at the tree and the wall, and an idea came to her mind.
"I'd like to go inside and take a look. There are only two people inside. You can use the excuse of an interview to send them away..."
"You... are you really that bold?"
Keke and Su Zhou both widened their eyes. Their previous impression of Su Cheng was that she was simple-minded, even a little clumsy.
But could a simple-minded and somewhat foolish person really remain so calm and bold after learning about a human trafficking case?
Meeting Su Cheng's calm gaze, Su Zhou gritted his teeth and nodded, "Okay! But hurry up, I'm afraid I can't hold out much longer."
Keke Su Zhou agreed, and after much hesitation, decided to help stall for time.
After taking a deep breath, the two regained their composure, walked to the front door, and raised their hands to knock.
Is anyone there?
Who is it?
"We are tourists and need your help."
"Here it comes... here it comes..."
Su Cheng climbed the tree, and when she heard the door creak open, she leaped from the tree onto the wall and vaulted over it.
"Clatter"
She jumped to the ground, the slight sound going unnoticed.
Keke and Su Zhou had already started chatting with the couple inside the house.
Su Zhou's deliberately amplified voice seemed to be telling Su Cheng that things were going smoothly on their end for the time being.
Following Mu Ling's directions, Su Cheng crouched low and successfully climbed through the window into the room where the woman was locked up.
The room contained only a wooden bed; there were no cabinets or tables, and the edges of the bed were covered with cotton cloth.
The woman was asleep in bed, her hands and feet were tied to the bedposts with ropes.
She was extremely thin, and her face was sickly pale. The slight bulge in her abdomen was particularly noticeable.
She is pregnant.
Su Cheng quickly walked to the bedside, shook her, and covered her lips as she opened her eyes.
"Don't shout, I'm not a villager, I'm a tourist."
The woman seemed not to understand her words, her eyes reddening, her body struggling violently. She bit Su Cheng's hand fiercely, letting out a wild, warning growl.
She has mental health issues.
Su Cheng winced in pain, but didn't let go. If she did, the other person's scream would surely attract the attention of the couple outside.
Su Cheng remembered that she had sedatives in her bag.
With her other hand, she quickly took out a sedative and injected it into the woman's upper arm. Considering that the woman was pregnant, she only injected half an syringe.
"Ugh!"
The woman winced in pain.
As the drug took effect, she slowly released her mouth and stopped struggling. After her aggression subsided, she looked at Su Cheng with hazy eyes.
Su Cheng remained vigilant, prepared to cover her mouth again at any moment.
"Are you feeling better? Were you abducted? Or... are you a tourist too?"
There is no gender imbalance in this village, so the possibility of women being trafficked is low.
Moreover, from the moment they met Uncle Liu and Xu Rong, their behavior didn't seem like they were receiving tourists for the first time, yet they remained silent about the previous tourists.
When Su Cheng found the medicinal powder in the kitchen, she was certain that the village had ulterior motives towards outsiders. However, she wasn't sure what the village needed the tourists for.
The woman's eyes gradually cleared, and as she recalled the past, large tears streamed down her face.
Seeing her like this, Su Cheng knew the drug was working. She gently patted her arm and asked:
What do the villagers want tourists for?
The woman was reminded of something terrible by those words, and her whole body trembled uncontrollably.
She sat up abruptly but was pulled back by the rope, her eyes wide with fury as she shouted at Su Cheng:
"Back mountain! Run! Run!!"
After saying that, as if unable to withstand the immense shock, she collapsed and fell into a coma...
Her last sound wasn't quiet; Su Cheng heard Su Zhou coughing violently—he was reminding her.
Su Cheng turned around, jumped out of the window, closed it, stepped onto the water tank, jumped onto the wall, and landed.
I have already mastered the series of actions required to bypass the Great Firewall.
Su Zhou and Keke quickly came out of the house, and both of them breathed a sigh of relief when they saw Su Cheng.
The three of them jogged quickly away from the house.
Su Zhou took a breath. "How was it?"
"You guessed right, there really is a pregnant woman tied up in the room. She's acting strangely; I need to escape."
Su Cheng was almost certain that she was a previous tourist.
Why was she the only one left in the village? Was it because the other woman was pregnant...?
She didn't say "Save me," but rather "Run!" She didn't believe Su Cheng was capable of saving anyone.
There was something in the back mountain that terrified her.
"I have to tell my sister and the others right away! There's no cell phone signal in the village, we have to leave immediately, we can't stay here."
Keke quickly replied, "Yes, yes..."
Su Cheng didn't reply. Could they really leave smoothly?
She remained skeptical, but at this point, it was better for them to try it out themselves than to pour cold water on the idea.
Regardless of whether she can leave or not, Su Cheng's mission is not complete, so she cannot leave.
When the three returned to the hotel, Su Xiaoxiao and Zhou Yang were already resting in their room.
Looking at Xu Rong's smiling face, Su Zhou and Keke no longer felt any warmth from her; instead, they felt that she was hiding a knife behind her smile.
The group gathered in Su Xiaoxiao's room, where Su Zhou and Keke took turns explaining everything.
Seeing their anxious expressions, Su Xiaoxiao's face grew even more serious. She realized they weren't joking, so she immediately decided to leave and call the police outside.
Su Cheng did not follow them to the village entrance.
I watched them hurriedly pack their things and leave... then twenty minutes later they dragged their belongings back into the room.
Su Zhou's face was grim. "The tire was punctured."
"And it's snowing outside."
Keke's eyes were slightly red, as if she was about to cry. "No wonder the boss didn't stop us from leaving... She knew everything, yet she still pretended to be nice when we came back."
Su Xiaoxiao angrily slammed the box to the ground. "What exactly do they want?"
As long as they remain in this village, it's not safe for them to go anywhere. After the snow, the freezing weather means they can't stay outside indefinitely...
They were completely outmaneuvered.
Su Cheng lowered her eyes. "Yes, what exactly are they trying to do?"
Xu Rong noticed their unusual behavior, and she and her accomplices were sure to suspect something. This might prompt them to act more quickly.
This question, and the relationship between the back mountain and tourists, will perhaps be answered soon.
Su Cheng lowered her brows slightly. Passivity is another form of initiative; those lurking in the shadows will naturally push her to uncover the hidden "secret."
Looking at the worried group, she advised, "They might act more quickly if things get out of hand. Try not to confront them directly. Pretend to cooperate and react to their moves."
If relations break down, the other party may resort to violence to incapacitate the individuals before achieving their goal.
"You..." Su Xiaoxiao was slightly taken aback, clearly not yet used to the change in Su Cheng's persona.
But what kind of person Su Cheng is doesn't matter, as long as she's on the same side as them, that's enough.
Su Cheng's words soon came true by evening.
Having become wary of the hotel, the group stayed in the same room and did not go downstairs for dinner on time.
Xu Rong, however, did not let them off easily. She personally carried the food upstairs and knocked on the door to deliver it.
"Oh dear, why are you all in the same room? But that makes it easier for me to bring you food."
Xu Rong placed the food on the table. "Everyone, have some appetizer soup first. It's one of my specialties. Try it and see how it tastes!"
She carried a small bowl of soup, containing only a few mouthfuls, to Su Xiaoxiao.
Su Xiaoxiao forced a smile but refused to accept it. "I'll drink it later..."
"It'll get cold if you drink it now..."