Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
Brother Luo turned and walked away, leaving the project team members staring at each other in confusion.
Old Shao glanced at Jiang He, hoping he could find some useful information amidst the chaotic mystery.
Jiang He didn't hesitate and spoke up, "The head of the female corpse we saw belongs to Nobleman's wife, Xinyue. I noticed that she had no teeth in her mouth. Even after death, teeth and nails are among the most durable parts of the human body and do not fall out easily. This leaves us with two possibilities: first, Xinyue had lost all her teeth prior to her death; second, someone pulled out her teeth after she died."
"Both possibilities are equally likely. If it's the first, then Brother Luo is lying; Xinyue must have suffered abuse from Gangzi because a woman of her age wouldn't lose all her teeth due to natural causes. If it's the second, I still can't analyze the reason behind it," Jiang He said, watching Brother Luo's departing figure.
Old Shao nodded and gathered everyone together, slowly speaking, "Our satellite phone is missing. According to what Guan Deng and I discussed earlier, if he can't contact us, the police will send someone to look for us after three days. Today is just the first day, but things have already gone far beyond my expectations. We haven't found the children or women, and now there's been a murder. Everyone needs to stay alert."
Old Shao sighed and patted a few shoulders in turn before continuing, "I have a feeling that things are not as simple as they seem."
The project team members walked towards Er Dan's house. Er Dan was skipping ahead, looking extremely happy. Watching Er Dan's demeanor somehow calmed everyone's hearts a little; emotions can be contagious. Happiness can spread just as sadness and fear can.
At that moment, the entire village was enveloped in an atmosphere of fear.
No one knew who would be the next victim or when it would be their turn.
As the project team reached the entrance of a house, they heard loud noises coming from inside—laughter mixed with hoarse shouts.
"There's a woman's voice!" Jiang He, always sharp-eared, caught the sound of a woman inside.
Old Shao suddenly asked Er Dan, "Whose house is this?"
Er Dan stopped and pointed with his finger, saying, "It's Wang Mazi's house—the one whose belly was slashed open."
Li Sanhan's belongings along with those of Wang Mazi and Nobleman were divided among the villagers; especially "that" item. However, those who had "that" item were not allowed to get too attached.
At that time, Li Sanhan had been vague about it; Old Shao hadn't understood what Li Sanhan was referring to. But now Old Shao suddenly understood. What Li Sanhan meant was not something else but living people—living women. In other words, after Wang Mazi's death, his wife became communal property in the village; everyone had the right to use her.
Sure enough, cries from women filled with sorrow echoed from within the room. The people inside were so eager that they hadn't even closed the door properly. Standing at the entrance, though they couldn't see what was happening inside, they could tell from the sounds what was going on.
"Don't crowd! What are you rushing for? Do whatever you want today; why are you so anxious?"
"If you're not anxious, go to the back! Let me go first; those thighs are really damn white."
"Get lost, I'm going in first. I'm a Good Brother with Wang Mazi, so I have to be the first one there."
"You're full of crap. You and Wang Mazi are brothers, yet you're doing this kind of thing? Who would dare to be your brother after this?"
"Stop talking nonsense. It's not like other people's women are made of water; they're real and precious."
Filthy words echoed from the back room, reaching everyone's ears. A few clenched their fists, waiting for Old Shao's command to rush in and rescue the girl. All eyes were on Old Shao, who at that moment had his eyes wide open like copper bells, his face flushed, trembling all over. He gritted his teeth and remained silent.
Finally, Old Shao couldn't hold back any longer and whispered angrily, "Go in."
With Old Shao's command, Xu Yiman and Yuan Jun charged forward, ready to burst through the door.
Wang Chao stood at the entrance, caught in a dilemma.
At that moment, a hand reached out and grabbed Old Shao's arm. It was Jiang He. Old Shao turned to see Jiang He's expressionless face; there was no hint of sympathy in his clear eyes. For some reason, General Shao felt a sense of despair.
Everyone paused as Jiang He gently said to Old Shao, "You've always told us not to act rashly. If we go in now and discover the village's secrets, I have a ninety percent chance of believing that we won't be able to rescue her from this village and may even put ourselves in danger."
Facing the confused looks from the others, Jiang He didn't care; he continued, "This village never lets their women out. How many more women like her are there? We know nothing right now."
"Are you even a man?" Xu Yiman couldn't help but retort.
But upon hearing Jiang He's words, Old Shao let out a bitter laugh. One of his feet had already stepped into the courtyard, but at that moment, he gently stepped back. He turned to the others and waved his hand lightly, saying, "Although I really don't want to do this, Jiang He is indeed right."
Xu Yiman and Yuan Jun clearly showed their displeasure.
As Old Shao walked away slowly, he addressed everyone: "I know what you all are thinking and how furious you are right now. Don't blame Jiang He; he actually made the best choice. When I was young like you, I thought being a police officer was glamorous—catching bad guys, serving justice for the people, driving away darkness."
"But what is the reality?" Old Shao walked slowly but spoke with conviction: "The reality is that you will face many situations like this in the future where you feel powerless. You may know that evil is happening but can't take action due to various factors. The justice you pride yourselves on may often just be a choice for maximizing benefits."
Everyone fell silent.
Old Shao continued: "A train will pass straight over the tracks in five seconds. But if there are five helpless children tied to the tracks and you're a railway worker with only one second to decide whether to divert the train—knowing that on the alternate track there's another child tied up—what will you do?"
"I..." Several people hesitated to speak.
But Jiang He almost immediately opened his mouth: "I choose..."
However, Old Shao placed a finger on Jiang He's lips and smiled at him, saying, "I know what you would choose, so you don't need to say it. Because whether you choose or not, there is no answer to this test of humanity. I just want you to understand that those of us in this line of work will encounter many such dilemmas in the future."
"No matter what choice you make, someone will always die. No matter what choice you make, it will always be the wrong choice. Without an unwavering belief, without a strong heart, one cannot handle such matters. So sometimes I envy Jiang He, but I also think it’s too painful."
"Being in this line of work has never been something to boast about, nor has it ever been a happy thing; it is forever accompanied by darkness, cruelty, and death."
Jiang He was unfortunate; Jiang He was fortunate.
Everyone was fortunate amidst their misfortune; this is the norm of life.
The laughter of men and the screams of women gradually faded behind them, while those men who were busy seeking amusement had no idea about the members of the project team.
Er Dan looked at the serious faces around him and couldn't help but ask, "What are they doing? I used to hear those sounds all the time."
Such things naturally did not happen only once; from Li Sanhan's tone, it seemed to be an old routine.
Xu Yiman looked seriously at Er Dan for the first time and earnestly told him, "They are doing bad things. If a girl doesn’t want it, they can’t do that. Do you understand? Men should not harm women; men are meant to protect women."
Er Dan also became serious. He nodded earnestly and said, "Er Dan remembers; those are bad things."
A smile appeared on Xu Yiman's face.
Sometimes even a fool can understand things that many people do not.
Old Shao's heart was turbulent. At sixty years old, he still harbored a bit of youthful passion within him. He had never seen the girl who was being insulted by dozens of men, but Old Shao knew that this girl was most likely trafficked.
This girl could be a college student, a high school student, or even a middle school student. She should have had a perfect life; she might not be wealthy or particularly beautiful. She might have ended up with an ordinary job in the future, dated an ordinary boy, married him, become a mother, and lived as a housewife.
She might complain about life and grumble about her husband, but that would be her life.
Life may be simple and ordinary, but it was her own choice.
However, now even that choice had been taken away from her. She was trapped in this deep mountain, perhaps having lost all hope, believing that this would be her life forever. Old Shao silently vowed in his heart that he would definitely rescue this girl, without fail.
His steps were firm.
Yet upon returning to Er Dan's home, the project team members strangely discovered that Qiuju Niu was missing.
Xu Yiman stood in the yard and called out several times, but there was no sign of Qiuju Niu.
"What has Qiuju Niu gone off to do?" Xu Yiman asked, hands on her hips.
The others shook their heads.
To prevent Qiuju Niu from saying anything inappropriate, the project team never took her along on their missions. Her role was merely to guide them; once they arrived in the village, her job was done.
By nightfall, Qiuju Niu still had not returned.
Comment 0 Comment Count