119: Chapter 119, No. 89 Xinglong Street

Cao Kun checked his watch; it was 11:20 PM.

Just then, a battered white van slowly drove up and stopped in front of the two girls.

The vehicle was very old, its body covered in mud splatters, and the license plate was obscured by grime.

In the driver's seat was a man wearing a peaked cap, the brim pulled down low, hiding his face.

He rolled down the window and said a few words.

Xiao Li shook her head and said something back.

The young girl hesitated for a moment, looking at Xiao Li and then at the van, before finally pulling the door open and climbing inside.

The van didn't drive away immediately.

The driver spoke a few more words to Xiao Li, but she continued to shake her head.

The driver seemed to grow impatient; he waved her off and then started the engine.

The van drove away, its taillights like two red eyes in the darkness, fading into the distance.

Cao Kun immediately started his car and followed from a distance.

The van didn't go fast, twisting and turning through the narrow streets of the Urban Village.

Cao Kun didn't dare follow too closely, keeping a wide gap between them.

Fortunately, there was little traffic at night, and the van's white body was fairly visible in the dark.

After driving for about ten minutes, the van turned into an even narrower alley.

Cao Kun parked his car at the alley entrance and followed on foot.

High walls lined both sides of the alley, covered in moss.

The ground was pitted and uneven, with puddles that had frozen into ice.

Cao Kun walked carefully, trying his best not to make a sound.

The van stopped in front of a three-story self-built house.

The house was very old, with mottled exterior walls where large chunks of plaster had fallen off, revealing the red bricks underneath.

The windows were all covered with thick layers of newspaper, making it impossible to see inside. Only one window on the second floor emitted a faint light, like a cloudy eye.

It was indeed No. 89 Xinglong Street.

The young girl got out of the car and followed the driver into the house.

The door opened with a 'creak' and shut with a 'thud.'

Then, the light on the second floor went out as well.

The entire house plunged into darkness, like a sleeping monster.

Cao Kun didn't approach immediately.

He waited at the alley entrance for a while, and after confirming no one was coming out, he slowly moved closer.

He circled around to the back of the house.

It was even more desolate here, overgrown with weeds and piled with various kinds of trash.

Broken furniture, discarded appliances, and blackened cotton wadding.

At the base of the back wall, he discovered the Basement window.

It was only half a meter above the ground, fitted with rusted iron bars. The window glass was filthy and covered in stains, but a faint light shone from within.

There was also sound.

Faint sounds of crying.

The crying of more than one person.

Cao Kun felt a chill in his heart.

He lowered his body and approached the window.

Through the gaps in the bars and the dirty glass, he could see a corner of the Basement.

The floor was concrete, and the walls were damp and moldy with black spots. Several blurred figures were huddled in the corner, flickering shadows making it hard to count the exact number.

But he could tell they were all female.

The crying was very suppressed, as if they were afraid of being heard but couldn't help themselves.

It was a sound of extreme despair, as if echoing from an abyss.

Just then, a man's roar came from inside the house: 'What are you crying for! Cry again and there's no food tonight!'

The voice was hoarse and vicious.

The crying stopped abruptly, turning into suppressed sobs, like a kitten being strangled, making 'ugh-ugh' sounds.

Then came another man's voice, slightly higher-pitched: 'Shut up, all of you! Whoever makes another sound gets the electric baton!'

The sobbing stopped as well.

A deathly silence followed.

Cao Kun quietly backed away, returned to the alley entrance, and then got back into his car.

His hands were shaking slightly—not from the cold, but from rage.

Girls were being held in the Basement.

More than one.

They were crying.

Someone was threatening them with an 'electric baton.'

It seemed they were the other women mentioned by the system.

...

Over the next three days, Cao Kun came to observe every day.

He figured out the van's routine.

It appeared punctually at 10:30 PM every night, circling several fixed locations.

These were all places where streetwalkers gathered.

Sometimes it picked up one girl, sometimes two.

Once the girls went inside, they wouldn't be brought out until the next morning.

Cao Kun also saw two other men.

One was bald with a scar on his face that ran from the corner of his left eye to the corner of his mouth, looking like a centipede crawling on his face.

He rode a black motorcycle and would sometimes come to pick up girls.

The other was thin and wretched-looking with triangular eyes; his gaze was shifty, like a rat's.

He was responsible for driving the transport.

Including the one in the peaked cap, there were three of them in total.

Just how many girls were in that Basement?

How long had they been locked up?

What had they endured?

Cao Kun wanted more information.

He pinned his hopes on the Private Detective.

However, the other party hadn't brought him any useful information yet.

On the fourth night, he made a decision.

He decided to enter the tiger's den.

He changed into an inconspicuous set of old clothes.

A dark gray jacket, jeans, and sneakers.

He wore a baseball cap with the brim pulled low.

He also wore a pair of plain-glass spectacles.

He looked like an ordinary migrant worker, someone who would disappear in a crowd.

At 11:00 PM, he went to one of the spots where the van frequently stopped.

This was a crossroad where the streetlights were broken, leaving it in total darkness.

Several girls stood in the shadows like ghosts.

At 11:05 PM, the van appeared on time.

The driver was still the man in the peaked cap.

He stopped the car and rolled down the window, revealing a greasy, middle-aged face.

He was about forty, with rough skin and heavy bags under his eyes.

There was a scar on his left cheek—not a knife scar, but something that looked more like a burn mark.

'Looking for a beauty?' the man asked, his voice hoarse and reeking of heavy tobacco smoke.

Cao Kun lowered his voice: 'How much?'

'Depends on what kind you want.' The man grinned, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth. 'The young ones are a bit more expensive, five hundred; the older ones are three hundred.'

'Can I choose?'

'Get in, I'll take you to have a look,' the man said. 'But let's get this straight first: no photos, don't ask for names, leave when you're done, and don't go looking for trouble.'

Cao Kun hesitated for a second.

That second was part of his act.

Then he pulled open the door and sat in the passenger seat.

The interior of the van was filthy.

The seat covers were shiny with grease, and the ashtray was overflowing.

The air inside was a mix of various odors: smoke, sweat, cheap perfume, and a faint, lingering smell of mildew that was nauseating.

The back seats had been removed and replaced with dirty blankets, which had suspicious dark brown stains that had already dried.

'What should I call you?' Cao Kun asked.

'Just call me Brother Qiang.' The man glanced at him through the rearview mirror. 'First time?'

'Yeah, a friend introduced me.'

'Then you've come to the right place.' Brother Qiang said smugly, pulling a cigarette from his pocket and lighting it. 'The girls I have here are all fresh goods, much better than those on the street. It's just... there are more rules.'

'What rules?'

'I told you already: no asking for names, no leaving contact info, no photos.'

Brother Qiang exhaled a puff of smoke. 'Also, don't think about taking them away. They're my people.'

'Understood,' Cao Kun nodded.

...