Human Trafficker

Rumble~

The Han River is much more turbulent than the Cang River, and with the heavy thunder and rain, the water is quite muddy.

Carrying the Water-Repelling Pearl, Ye Xingge swam swiftly along the riverbed towards the center of the river. This time, without the Great Beauty spotting, it was a bit difficult to pinpoint the target's location. He surfaced briefly halfway through to search. After swimming for about fifteen minutes, he reached the center of the river.

Splash~

The merchant ships sailed with favorable winds and currents, reaching considerable speeds.

Ye Xingge lay hidden beneath the water's surface. When the merchant ship approached, he threw out his Immortal Rope, hooked it onto the stern, pulled himself up, and climbed onto the hull, listening intently.

The merchant ship had a shallow draft and not many people on board.

Ye Xingge moved silently along the stern of the boat. After walking a short distance, he heard heavy snoring and some casual conversation.

"After passing Martial Emperor Mountain, it's not far..."

"We've been wandering the martial world for over ten years now, when do you think we'll finally become the best in the land...?"

"For people like us, if we can make it to the bottom Third Rank in our forties or fifties, we've already lived a worthwhile life..."

Seeing this, Ye Xingge continued walking forward and saw some furs and dried medicinal herbs inside the ship's cabin, but they didn't seem to be very valuable.

The hatch leading to the lower deck was locked, and next to it was a recliner where a robust merchant was fast asleep, with a scimitar and a wine jug beside him.

Seeing that the man had no beard, Ye Xingge thought he looked more like a gatekeeper or guard, and looked around again.

There were only six people on board, and apart from the henchmen, there was no one else in sight.

Ye Xingge looked slightly puzzled. To avoid killing the wrong target and wasting his time, he took out a wanted poster from his Mountains and Rivers Pouch and examined it.

Shasha~

On a deckchair in the cabin.

Pan Zhuo, who was snoring, ranked 280th in the top Third Rank, which is quite impressive.

Hearing the soft rustling of paper and the shifting light, he stopped snoring and groggily checked on the scene.

He found a young swordsman wearing a straw hat standing at the warehouse threshold, with a knife at his waist and a piece of paper in his hands, comparing it back and forth with him, seemingly looking at something.

?

Although Pan Zhuo was confused, his eyes cleared instantly when he realized that there were outsiders on the ship. He glanced at the sword on the table and then got up.

Whoosh~

Clang--

A flash of red light appeared inside the cargo hold, and a crosswind stirred up the tassels and grass leaves inside the cargo ship.

Pan Zhuo had clearly underestimated the strength of this wandering swordsman. The moment his back left the recliner, he found the blade already pressing down on him.

He tried to draw his knife to parry, but before the blade was fully drawn, he was struck squarely in the chest by an elbow, causing him to fall back onto the recliner, the dark red blade now pressed against his neck.

Thump~

People in the martial arts world are usually better at recognizing weapons than people.

Pan Zhuo glanced at the dark red blade at his neck, his face turning ashen, staring at the straw-hatted swordsman just inches away:

"The Fate-Robbing Saber... you... you are..."

Ye Xingge held Pan Zhuo down with a knife, his right hand holding the wanted poster issued by the Inspection Bureau, continuing to compare their appearances.

The wanted poster features the bearded Li Kui, but this merchant doesn't have a beard. However, his features and eyes are drawn quite well, making it clear that it's the same person.

Having confirmed the target, Ye Xingge had some doubts:

Where's your beard? Did you shave it?

Pan Zhuo guessed the identity of the person and knew he was doomed, but driven by his survival instinct, he still feigned confusion:

"Yellow Beard is a nickname given to me by the underworld. As for those Rotten Crotch, I'm not really in the sex trade. I've been in the fur business for years, and I used to kill bandits outside the Great Wall..."

Ye Xingge completely ignored this nonsense. Seeing that the target was correct, he turned his head to indicate the locked entrance to the basement:

"A hostage obtained from the Western Regions?"

Pan Zhuo's heart was pounding. He glanced around and seemed about to speak, but his gaze quietly shifted towards the door.

Snap~

Ye Xingge sensed something was wrong and immediately slit his own throat, then turned around to protect the cargo ship.

But outside the warehouse, thunder and rain were raging, and there was nothing there.

?

Ye Xingge frowned, realizing he had fallen for a feint, and turned his head back.

"Heh~"

Pan Zhuo's throat was severed with a single blow, blood seeping from between his fingers. His body writhed on the recliner, barely able to utter a sound, while his horrified eyes held a hint of shock, suggesting:

You fucking kill me first and then see what happens?

Ye Xingge, carrying a blood-stained single-edged sword, looked somewhat speechless. Seeing that the other party was unable to confess, he pressed down on the shoulder and plunged the sword into the heart, pinning the man to the recliner.

"You'll get used to it; learn your lesson in the next life."

"Hmm..."

Pan Zhuo was clearly unable to speak. He grabbed his arm and twitched a few times before his body quickly lost its vitality. Blood slid down from the recliner and seeped into the cracks in the floor.

Drip, drip, drip~

Snap~

Ye Xingge drew his Fate-Robbing Saber, wiped the blood off Pan Zhuo's body, and then searched his body, finding a letter.

The letter was written by Lance Wind City and addressed to a hall master of Medicine King Valley. It seems that Lance Wind City acted as guarantor, hoping that Medicine King Valley would give him face and help Yellow Beard cure the yang poison that had accumulated in his body for many years.

Ye Xingge glanced around a few times to make sure there were no problems, then went to the entrance of the lower cabin, listened carefully, and then raised his knife and swept it horizontally.

Ding~

Splash...

The bottom hatch chain broke, the cover was pried open, and light shone through.

More than ten children, their hands chained, their mouths gagged, huddled together, their eyes filled with terror.

Before Ye Xingge arrived, the Inspection Bureau had already speculated that he was involved in the case of human trafficking in the Western Regions.

Upon closer inspection, it was clear that there were thirteen people in total: seven women and six men. The oldest was thirteen or fourteen, and the youngest was only seven or eight years old. They were all dressed in non-Han clothing, and their hair and facial features were quite different from those of Central Plains. They all looked like non-Han people.

According to the laws of the Great Yan, kidnapping, deceiving, or abducting innocent people for resale constitutes the crime of robbery and is punishable by hanging.

Kidnapping children is punishable by beheading; child abduction resulting in mutilation and dismemberment is punishable by slow slicing.

Ye Xingge observed the situation in the lower deck and felt that the sentence seemed too lenient; he should be beheaded. Therefore, he closed the cover again, turned around, and raised his hand to strike.

Puff--

Knock knock~

The head fell to the ground and rolled a few times on the deck.

Ye Xingge wiped away the blood again, turned to look at the now silent merchant ship, and then walked towards the back...

A moment later.

The merchant ships continued to sail smoothly on the river.

Inside the cargo hold, a headless corpse lay on a deckchair, swaying slightly with the rocking of the ship.

The severed head, its eyes wide open in death, was placed on the table beside it.

Ye Xingge brought over a wooden crate, propped himself up on his knees with his arms, and sat in the center of the warehouse, listening attentively.

Ahead, three ashen-faced henchmen knelt on the ground, trembling. Two corpses lay beside them, blood silently flowing down to below their knees.

"I started hiking this route three years ago..."

"The children were all taken in by the village from the Western Regions. We were just lowly men who did odd jobs and sailing; we don't know their exact origins..."

"In the past, it was always Hall Master Wang who delivered them, but this time the Chieftain was passing by, so he came over..."

After listening for a while, Ye Xingge realized that this case was quite complex.

Legitimate slave women or servants from the Hu tribes required the guarantor of local tribal leaders and Hu merchants to ensure their voluntary journey eastward, proper entry into the country, and administration by the government.

These smuggled goods are almost always sourced from human traffickers who use theft, robbery, and deception to capture people.

As for those downstream, being enslaved or made servants is considered a good outcome. If these unregistered individuals fall into the hands of the Demonic Sect, they will either suffer a miserable death or, worse, be raised into a monster.

Therefore, successive dynasties have dealt with such matters extremely severely.

After listening to the gist of it, Ye Xingge asked:

Who is the buyer?

The trembling henchman responded in a low voice:

"Previously, Hall Master Wang contacted Incense Master Su of Vast Sea Bay. As soon as the ship arrived, Incense Master Su would come to inspect the goods, and Hall Master Wang would go to negotiate, so we couldn't get a word in edgewise..."

Where does Incense Master Su live?

"This line of work is shady; we're just the low-level employees. Our superiors never told us anything about it..."

Ye Xingge nodded, picked up his sword, and stood up:

"Throw the body into the river, wash the ground clean, and come with me to deliver the goods. If we can find the buyer, you three accomplices will be given a lighter sentence."

The three henchmen, seeing the several corpses that had been 'executed on the spot,' dared not utter a single word of dissent. They quickly got up, threw the bodies into the rushing river, and then fetched water to wash the floor.

Ye Xingge, carrying his knife, arrived outside the ship's deck, keeping an eye on the three's movements. At the same time, he took out the United Hearts Plaque and reported the progress to the Heaven-Observing Pavilion:

[Pan Zhuo has been brought to justice. Thirteen abducted children have been discovered, and the abduction has been ongoing for at least three years...]

The Great Beauty Luo clearly hadn't anticipated that this was an underground channel for trafficking border residents, and quickly responded:

[Duke Zhang has ordered that the matter be thoroughly investigated and those responsible severely punished, but also that everyone be mindful of their own safety...]

Severe punishment...

Ye Xingge turned his head and looked at the blood-stained floor and the headless corpse, thinking that if he were to punish them any more severely, he would probably have to have their souls captured and thrown into the Thunder Pool.

But there were orders from above, so he thought about it and replied:

[Received, I'll try my best.]