24: Chapter 24 Urban Legends

Officer Yan Qinyu didn't even know how long it had been since she last rested. She rotated shifts at the police station every day, sleeping on the station's cots.

However, the station's cots were typical bunk beds, the shared kind; when you were tired, you went up to lie down for a while, and when you woke up, you got back to work.

Sometimes, because it was so busy and the station's cots weren't enough, she had to bring her own simple folding bed.

"Little Yan, let's put this case aside for now. There's a more urgent matter recently; let's handle this first."

Director Lu Feiming patted Officer Yan Qinyu, who was still busy at the computer, and sighed.

He didn't want to trouble this female officer either, but there was no choice; the station was severely short-handed, and even that kid, Police Officer Zhang Wei, had been sent out constantly.

"Is that so? Director, what kind of case is so urgent?" Officer Yan Qinyu asked in surprise.

Although she was exhausted, as long as there was work, she was still full of Origin Qi.

"It's this. It's been in the newspapers recently. Do you know about the human trafficker, Mei Yi?"

As he spoke, a newspaper was placed on the desk.

Mei Yi?

Officer Yan Qinyu really didn't know; she had been too busy lately to pay much attention. She picked up the newspaper and looked at it. The more she read, the redder her face became with anger, her fingers crumpling the newspaper.

"How can such people exist? Doesn't she have children of her own? And this is too rampant!"

(This is a true story. This person has almost become an urban legend. It was reported in Shenzhen last year, yet she has remained uncaught for many years; she can truly be called an urban legend.)

"Sigh, indeed. We now strongly suspect that this person is part of a professional human trafficking ring. In particular, this 'Mei Yi' might be a nickname; she acts as an intermediary and has even established a sales network."

Director Lu Feiming also rubbed his temples. There had been too many things happening lately. Previously, there might not have been any major incidents for a year, but this year, one thing followed another.

"This is the information I just had the Information Division compile. Take a look. This gang started operating in 2016, and since then, their presence has been felt almost every year. They are extremely arrogant."

"Moreover, they operate nationwide. This time, it's because we received a report claiming that someone saw a criminal suspect resembling Mei Yi. So… this will be hard on you, Little Yan. Could you look through more surveillance footage and work some overtime?"

"Uh… Okay… Okay."

Although Officer Yan Qinyu was overflowing with a sense of justice, as soon as she heard she had to look at surveillance footage again, her eyes went dark. For the past few days, because of the previous case, looking at surveillance footage had given her psychological trauma.

—

It was still early, and Li Changsheng wasn't in a rush to sleep. Since he fixed his bedtime at eleven o'clock, he couldn't disrupt his biological clock.

One must know that those who frequently have chaotic schedules and shifts are often more prone to illness, and their hair loss is faster than average. (Really, readers who have such experiences should either stick to night shifts or day shifts; don't adjust frequently.)

Pop! Pop!

Playing cards were constantly thrown from his hand, hitting the bullseye with absolute precision. Because the force was too fierce, one could see the corners of the cards deeply embedded in the wooden bullseye.

Previously, Li Changsheng could only barely penetrate about two centimeters, but now he could guarantee three centimeters. By using the third level of Plucking Flowers and Flying Leaves—focusing his awareness on the point of exertion—he could reach a depth of five centimeters.

"If this were in ancient times, would this count as having mastered a hidden weapon?"

There was Jing Ke assassinating the King of Qin before, and Master Du Xinwu assassinating Empress Dowager Cixi later.

It is said that during the late Qing Dynasty, because Master Du Xinwu was dissatisfied with Empress Dowager Cixi's dictatorial power and because his fellow villager and friend Tan Sitong had been killed, he snuck into the Forbidden City in 1899 to assassinate Cixi.

Taking advantage of the frozen moat of the Forbidden City, he climbed over the high walls and snuck in. While Cixi was watching a play, he used a "Flying Locust Stone" to strike at her.

It's just a pity that at that moment, Cixi happened to be leaning over towards a palace maid holding melon seeds. The Flying Locust Stone didn't hit Cixi but instead struck the palace maid.

The palace maid died instantly. With one strike unsuccessful, Master Du Xinwu had no choice but to flee far away.

A Flying Locust Stone is actually just a stone with sharp edges. Li Changsheng felt that if he used it, he could achieve considerable results too.

After all, playing cards are still too soft. If it were a Flying Locust Stone, relying on his own force, hitting a vital point could also kill with a single strike.

However, Li Changsheng felt that playing cards were more convenient to carry. He could carry dozens at a time; he didn't have the habit of carrying a pile of stones with him.

Huh!

"Isn't that Auntie Liu's grandson? Why is he outside alone so late?"

Before going to sleep, Li Changsheng was leaning on the balcony hanging out freshly washed clothes, and his gaze couldn't help but fall on the child in the residential complex.

—

"Brother Zhang, you didn't alert anyone, did you?"

Wang Ziling looked at the large burlap sack tucked at his companion's waist and quickly asked.

Brother Zhang was a bald man, one meter eight tall. He smiled and shook his head, explaining: "The elder sister is chatting with the child's elder over there. That auntie is quite ridiculous; if someone finds her to chat, she can talk for a long time, not even knowing her own child is gone."

Brother Zhang, whose real name was Zhang Pingwei, decided that this time, in order to serve high-end clients, they couldn't snatch children from poor areas anymore. They had to take children from rich families like this; they were raised beautifully, and selling them would fetch a high price.

"Then let's hurry up and leave. The elder sister is probably evacuating too. Let's go meet up."

"Hmm, that's right. A few days ago, the elder sister was seen by someone with ulterior motives. Let's leave directly after finishing this job and wait for the wind to die down before coming back."

Zhang Pingwei nodded with a smile. Regardless, they operated in various places. If it didn't work here, they would just go wander in other places. When had they not earned a fortune?

The two nodded at each other and walked together toward the dim alleyway of the residential complex.

There were many, many such alleyways in Shenzhen. After all, like Guangzhou, there were all kinds of urban villages in every part of the city, and urban villages had many dark alleyways. These were the best convenient corridors for them.

Both were wearing courier uniforms, and combined with the large burlap sack on their backs, they looked just like couriers delivering packages. Even if they ran into pedestrians, they could remain calm and composed.

"Brother Zhang, there's someone ahead."

After turning through an alleyway, Wang Ziling saw a figure at the end of the alley wearing sweatpants and a hoodie, with a hood over their head, facing away from them.

"Don't worry about it. It might be some guy who forgot his key and can't get in."

Zhang Pingwei said indifferently. This was very common in Shenzhen; after all, there were many migrant workers, and from time to time, one could see some unlucky person who forgot their key waiting downstairs for someone to open the door.

However, as the two gradually approached, the figure opposite waved their hand, looking like they were trying to block their path.

"Something's not right. This kid seems to want to stop us."

At this moment, they were thirty meters apart. Although they couldn't see the other person clearly because of the dim light, the waving motion was very obvious.

Zhang Pingwei frowned; he hated unexpected factors.

"We're not going this way. Let's go this way."

There were many roads in all directions in this alleyway, so they didn't necessarily have to go this way.

Just as the two turned around and were about to walk the other way, whoosh!

Suddenly, the person with their back turned spun around violently. The next moment, a sound of breaking air rushed toward them.