128: Chapter 128 Someone Distributes Porridge (2/4 of the chapters are missing)

Over the next half hour, led by Aunt Wang, Chen Shanzhi and Ouyang Wanqing visited seven or eight dilapidated shacks.

Upon hearing that officials from the Jiantian Division had come to investigate a case, the refugees acted as if they had seen living Bodhisattvas.

They told everything they knew without reservation, eager to explain even the smallest details about the missing people, including how many times they had used the latrine yesterday.

However, after a round of questioning, Ouyang Wanqing's delicate brows furrowed tighter and tighter.

"How could it be like this?"

The two walked to a slightly more open dirt slope. Ouyang Wanqing rubbed her throbbing temples, her tone filled with obvious frustration: "Chen Shanzhi, this case has absolutely no leads."

"The times these people disappeared are completely irregular. Some vanished while going out to pour water in the morning, some vanished while sleeping at noon, and some even vanished halfway to carrying loads for the landlord's family!"

Ouyang Wanqing sighed: "The only commonality is that, just like Yaya, they disappeared without a sound, without even the slightest sign of a struggle. How are we supposed to investigate this?"

Seeing the usually dignified and composed Young Miss of the Prime Ministers Mansion reveal such a headache-stricken expression, Chen Shanzhi suddenly laughed.

He leaned casually against a dead tree, arms crossed: "Miss Ouyang, you call this having no leads?"

Chen Shanzhi raised an eyebrow: "I, on the other hand, think that the fox's tail behind this case has already been completely exposed."

"What?" Ouyang Wanqing lifted her head abruptly, her beautiful eyes filled with astonishment.

She stepped quickly toward Chen Shanzhi, bringing with her a breeze of faint orchid fragrance, her tone urgent: "What abnormality have you discovered?"

Chen Shanzhi did not answer directly but instead held up a finger and waved it in front of Ouyang Wanqing. "Recall the families we just questioned and the physical characteristics of the missing persons they described."

Chen Shanzhi's gaze became extremely sharp: "Among these eight missing people, three are young boys, and one is five-year-old Yaya. The remaining four are all strong, healthy men in their twenties or thirties who usually do hard labor for the landlord's family!"

"Did you notice anything strange?"

Ouyang Wanqing was stunned for a moment. She pondered for a while and asked tentatively: "You mean... there are no elderly people?"

"What is strange about that?" Ouyang Wanqing retorted, somewhat confused. "Regardless of which force is kidnapping people, they are either after money or lust. If it were me, I certainly wouldn't kidnap elderly people who are half-buried in the ground and pant after taking two steps."

Chen Shanzhi looked at Ouyang Wanqing, at that stunningly beautiful yet somewhat naive face, and sighed helplessly.

It seemed this Young Miss of the Prime Ministers Mansion had spent all her skill points on music, chess, calligraphy, painting, and having a pretty face. When it came to the logic of low-level crime, she was as blank as a sheet of paper.

"Big sister, can you please stop trying to apply your Young Miss mentality to this kind of low-class dirty business?"

Chen Shanzhi rolled his eyes and stopped playing coy, instead beginning to peel back the layers: "The point is not that there are no elderly people, but rather the 'strong' and the 'children'!"

"All the kidnapped adults are strong, healthy laborers without underlying illnesses who can carry and lift! And children are superior because they are obedient, easy to control, and can crawl into narrow spaces that adults cannot enter!"

Chen Shanzhi stared into Ouyang Wanqing's eyes and said word by word: "What does this mean? It means the force behind this went to great lengths to kidnap these people. It is not to extort money, but because they need a large number of slaves to do heavy manual labor for them!"

"Furthermore, judging by the frequency and number of kidnappings, this is definitely no small project!"

Listening to Chen Shanzhi's analysis, Ouyang Wanqing's beautiful eyes widened.

It was as if a door to a new world had been opened for her; the originally chaotic clues in her mind were instantly connected by an extremely clear chain of logic.

"They need labor to do work..." Ouyang Wanqing muttered to herself, then suddenly lifted her head to look at Chen Shanzhi: "Then do you know why they don't kidnap the many people in the city and instead insist on coming to this dirty and smelly Refugee Area to kidnap people?"

Seeing Ouyang Wanqing's "and then, and then" thirst-for-knowledge expression, Chen Shanzhi's lips curled up: "It's very simple: because of household registration."

Chen Shanzhi brushed the dust off his brocade clothes, his tone becoming extremely cold: "Although the common people in the capital live difficult lives, even a pancake seller has a name and household registration at the Jingzhao Yin's yamen!"

"If seven or eight strong men disappeared in the city one after another and their families made a scene at the yamen, even if the Jingzhao Yin were a pig, he would have to send out constables to make a show of investigating!"

"But what about this Refugee Area?"

Chen Shanzhi sneered with extreme sarcasm: "Just as Aunt Wang said, these people have no Great Jiang travel permits and no household registration. In the government files, they are simply people who 'do not exist'!"

"The people behind this come to the Refugee Area to press-gang laborers; even if they kidnapped a hundred, the government wouldn't ask a single question! This means that the massive project this group is working on is definitely a dark, extremely secretive underground operation!"

Boom! Ouyang Wanqing felt a roar in her mind. So that's it! It was actually like this!

"Furthermore, I have deduced one more thing." Chen Shanzhi looked toward the distant barren hills with a deep gaze: "Since they need a large amount of labor and can only kidnap people nearby in the Refugee Area, this means that the dark place cannot be too far from the capital!"

"Otherwise, traveling long distances with so many refugees who have no cultivation would be a major problem regarding food, drink, and sanitation; it would be too easy to expose their target."

"Therefore!" Chen Shanzhi's eyes suddenly brightened, and he said decisively: "This lair is definitely hidden in some remote village around the capital or in an abandoned villa!"

"As long as we go back and check the topographic maps around the capital to see where mountains have been closed off recently, or which villages have suddenly cut off contact with the outside world, we will definitely be able to find Yaya and the others!"

As he finished speaking, a breeze blew across the dirt slope, lifting a few strands of dark hair at Ouyang Wanqing's temples.

She stood there blankly, looking at the eloquent and confident youth before her.

At that moment, she felt her heart skip a beat uncontrollably. Is this the number one playboy of the capital?

By using only a few chaotic missing person cases, in less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, he had deduced the motive, the target population, and even the general location of the criminal lair.

Such meticulous thinking and terrifying insight... Ouyang Wanqing's beautiful eyes shone with brilliant colors.

But immediately after, a flash of extremely complex light passed deep in her eyes. This Chen Shanzhi was too outstanding.

Not only was his martial arts talent astonishing, and his poetry able to stir the talent Qi of heaven and earth, but now even his intelligence was monstrous!

If he were to inherit the Zhenguo Marquis Mansion, in time, it would surely become the most unshakable behemoth of the Great Jiang Dynasty.

And her own father regarded the Zhenguo Marquis Mansion as a thorn in his side. The more outstanding Chen Shanzhi was, the greater the threat to the Prime Ministers Mansion!

Should I... report everything discovered today truthfully to my father? If I told my father, given his methods, Chen Shanzhi would definitely not live to the day he fully matured.

But if I don't... Ouyang Wanqing looked at Chen Shanzhi's sharp-featured face. A thought suddenly arose in her heart, wanting to explore to the very end.

She discovered that she was actually somewhat reluctant to let this man die.

Just as Ouyang Wanqing was battling with her conscience, and the atmosphere between the two became somewhat subtle and ambiguous, suddenly, an extremely sharp and excited, raspy voice exploded like thunder over the Refugee Area!

"Hurry! Hurry!" "Those kind-hearted people from the city who came a couple of days ago are here again!" "They are serving porridge at the entrance of the Refugee Area again!"

Hearing this shout, the eyes of Chen Shanzhi and Ouyang Wanqing instantly sharpened simultaneously. Serving porridge? Wasn't Yaya kidnapped silently yesterday when Aunt Wang went to collect porridge? The two looked at each other and immediately followed.