50: Chapter 50: Still alive? But the outlook isn't good!

Screech!

A piercing screech of brakes echoed through the entire livestream via the phone's microphone; it was the agonizing scream of tires rubbing violently against the asphalt.

The van skidded, leaving two pitch-black marks on the road. The vehicle shook violently, narrowly avoiding a rollover.

Li Guohua lunged forward, only to be yanked back by the seatbelt.

But he couldn't care less about the sharp pain in his chest. He gripped his phone tightly, his eyes bulging as if they were about to pop out.

"M-Master..."

"You said the direction was wrong, does that mean Lele..."

Li Guohua didn't dare say those two words out loud, terrified that this might just be auditory hallucinations caused by missing his son too much.

Su Yun looked at the father on the screen—his face weathered, yet his eyes burning with a terrifying intensity—and nodded.

"He is still alive."

Three words.

Three light, airy words that instantly shattered Li Guohua's long-withered heart.

"Alive... alive! Hahaha! I knew it! I knew this little brat had a tough life!"

Li Guohua was crying and laughing at the same time. His hand holding the phone was trembling, and his face was smeared with tears and snot.

He wiped his face messily with his sleeve, looking both comical and heartbreaking.

The livestream chat instantly exploded.

"Holy crap! He's really still alive?"

"I knew the Master would never let us down!"

"The uncle's crying broke me; this is just too hard!"

"Don't get happy too early; the Master's expression just now wasn't right..."

It was indeed not right.

Su Yun did not join in Li Guohua's joy. His fingers tapped unconsciously on the desk, and his brows were furrowed into a deep frown.

On the system panel, that red exclamation mark was glaring enough to make one's heart race with anxiety.

[Target: Li Le (Current Name: Zhao Ergou)]

[Status: Severely disabled, extremely malnourished, on the verge of a mental breakdown]

[Current Location: Southwestern border, Heilong Mountains, Dahuai Tree Village, Zhao family cellar at the west end of the village]

[Note: The target attempted to escape three times. The first time he was caught, two ribs were broken. The second time, he was starved for five days. The third time... his left kneecap was smashed with a hammer, and he has only been able to crawl like a dog ever since.]

Looking at these words, Su Yun felt as if a heavy stone was pressing on his chest, making it hard to breathe.

Is this even something a human would do?

"Brother, don't get happy too soon." Su Yun interrupted Li Guohua's ecstasy, his tone becoming unprecedentedly serious. "Listen carefully, I am giving you a coordinate now."

"Southwest direction, about two hundred kilometers from your current location."

"Deep in the Heilong Mountains, there is a place called Dahuai Tree Village."

Li Guohua scrambled to input the location into his car navigation system.

"Found it! Found it!" Li Guohua's voice was floating. "Two hundred kilometers, I have a car! I drive fast! Three hours... no, two and a half hours and I'll be there!"

As he spoke, he prepared to shift gears and make a U-turn.

"Wait!"

Su Yun suddenly shouted, stopping Li Guohua just as he was about to step on the gas.

"Li Guohua, you are an adult, and there are some things I must make clear to you."

Su Yun stared into the camera, his eyes as cold as ice. "Your son is still alive, but his current condition... is very bad."

"One might even say, worse than death."

Li Guohua's hands gripping the steering wheel suddenly stiffened. The smile on his face froze bit by bit, eventually turning into a near-dazed terror.

"M-Master, what do you mean by that?"

Su Yun took a deep breath, trying his best to make his voice sound calm.

"I have calculated that over these twelve years, he has been constantly trying to escape."

"But he never succeeded."

"Some prices were too high for someone of his age to bear."

At this point, even a fool would understand.

Li Guohua's lips turned blue-purple, and he seemed to have had his spine removed, slumping in the driver's seat.

But he quickly sat up straight again. The light in his eyes, though dimmed, became even more frantic.

"As long as he is still there... as long as he is still there, that's enough!"

Li Guohua gritted his teeth and floored the accelerator. "Even if he is missing limbs, I will take care of him for the rest of his life! He is my flesh and blood!"

Boom!

The dilapidated van let out a roar like a dying beast, completing an extremely dangerous U-turn on the highway.

Then, like a crazed bull, it sped off towards the southwest.

Su Yun watched this scene, his heart filled with mixed emotions.

This is fatherly love.

Even if there is a mountain of blades and a sea of fire ahead, even knowing the outcome might not be beautiful, he would still rush forward without hesitation.

...

Su Yun maintained the connection while hiding another phone under the desk, his fingers typing rapidly to send a message to Qin Yumo.

[Su Yun: Did you see that uncle looking for his son?]

[Qin Yumo: We are watching, the whole police station is watching. The technical department has already locked onto the location of Dahuai Tree Village.]

[Su Yun: The situation is very bad. It's a human trafficking den with immense clan influence, and that child... I estimate he has already been tortured beyond recognition.]

[Qin Yumo: Received. We have contacted the local Provincial Department and are coordinating police forces. But it's a mountainous area with complex terrain, and with cross-province procedures, it will take at least four hours to form a containment circle. You must keep that father steady; do not let him act recklessly alone!]

Four hours?

Su Yun took a glance at Li Guohua on the screen, driving his van like a race car.

At this speed, it won't even take two hours.

"Brother Li, I know you are anxious." Su Yun said into the microphone. "But that Dahuai Tree Village is no good place."

"It's deep in the mountains, a clan settlement where hundreds of villagers are mostly related to each other."

"To put it bluntly, that kind of place is impenetrable."

"If you rush in alone, and they discover you, forget about saving your son—you'll end up getting yourself killed too!"

Su Yun was not fear-mongering.

In the information provided by the system, this Dahuai Tree Village was simply a hotbed of crime.

Human trafficking was not a secret there at all; it was even a 'custom' tacitly accepted by the whole village.

Whichever family bought a wife or a son, the villagers would cover for each other.

If an outsider dared to go and demand people back, the whole village, young and old, could surround you with hoes and sickles.

"I know..." Li Guohua stared fixedly at the road ahead, his eyes bloodshot. "Master, I've been traveling the world for twelve years; what kind of people haven't I seen? What kind of disgusting things haven't I heard?"

"But I can't wait anymore."

"The police have their procedures, but I am a father."

"What if... what if they are watching the livestream? What if they decide to move Lele away?"

"I will just guard the entrance. I won't go in; I will just take one look..."

"I just want to confirm if it's him!"

Li Guohua's voice was extremely hoarse, carrying a sense of determination.

Su Yun opened his mouth to persuade him, but realized he couldn't persuade him at all.

Trying to talk reason to him now? Talk about the law?

That would just be nonsense.

"Fine." Su Yun sighed. "Then set up your phone properly and keep the connection alive."

"If something really happens, these hundreds of thousands of eyes will be your protective talisman."

For the next two hours, the livestream was surprisingly quiet.

No one was sending gifts, and no one was posting meaningless comments.

Everyone held their breath, watching the scenery retreating on the screen.

From flat national highways to bumpy provincial roads, and finally to the winding mountain dirt roads with no streetlights.

The sky had turned completely dark.

All around were large swathes of primeval forest, the dark tree shadows looking like clawing ghosts.

Only the two dim headlights of the van, like two sharp swords, cut through the darkness ahead.

"Brothers, this place looks really creepy..."

"In this kind of deep mountain forest, if something really happens, no one will hear you even if you scream your lungs out."

"Uncle, drive slowly; the cliff is right by the side of the road!"

Su Yun was not idle either.

He kept an eye on Li Guohua's state while preparing the audience in the livestream.

"The situation in that village is even more complicated than you imagine."

"They don't just buy children there; they also buy women."

"Many people who were trafficked there are locked in pigsties and beaten until they lose their minds."

"In such a closed environment, sometimes it is really difficult for the law to penetrate."

"This is why I had to ask Officer Qin and her team to coordinate cross-province police forces."