RYEY – Chapter 139 Cheng Qiao Takes Action

A large adult hand suddenly appeared in front of him, holding at least six or seven White Rabbit milk candies. Gou Sheng followed the hand upward and saw a strange man smiling warmly at him.

“Human trafficker.”

Gou Sheng didn’t really know what a trafficker was, only that they came to snatch children away. His parents whispered warnings into his ears every day, telling him never to leave with strangers.

Just as he was about to stand up and run, his eyes rolled back, and he collapsed on the ground. The candy had been laced with a drug that put people to sleep.

The man looked at Gou Sheng lying there and grinned with satisfaction. He pulled out a burlap sack from his basket, stuffed Gou Sheng inside, then shoved the sack back into the basket and headed toward the village entrance.

Meanwhile, Gou Dan carried the flour and the White Rabbit candies home. Spotting his gray-haired grandmother waiting in the courtyard, he ran over excitedly: “Grandma, I won first place! Brother Huan gave me a whole jin of white flour as a prize, and Sister Lele gave me seven White Rabbit candies.”

“Good boy, Gou Dan. Grandma will make big white steamed bunss for you.”

“Okay! Grandma, you hold onto these candies. I’ll go check on Gou Sheng. He tripped just now and spilled all his sorghum flour. I’ll help him pick it up.”

“Be careful of traffickers. Don’t go anywhere with strangers, understand?”

“I know, Grandma. I’m off!”

Gou Dan ran quickly back to where Gou Sheng had fallen. But aside from the sack of rice and sorghum flour scattered all over the ground, there was no sign of him.

“This is bad. The traffickers are here.”

Seeing a trail of adult footprints stamped into the snow, Gou Dan knew something terrible had happened. He bolted for the village committee, yelling at the top of his lungs.

Several children were still waiting to collect their food rations. Hearing Gou Dan’s cries that traffickers had come, they froze in terror, not knowing what to do. At that moment, Li Huan came rushing out, clutching his homemade gun.

“Gou Dan, where are the traffickers?”

“Brother Huan, Gou Sheng came home with me, but halfway he spilled his sorghum flour. I went home first to put things away. When I came back, he was gone.”

“Gone? Could he have gone home?”

“No! The sorghum flour is still scattered there, and there’s a set of adult footprints in the snow beside it.”

Li Huan patted Gou Dan’s head approvingly, then sprinted toward the village entrance at an astonishing speed with his gun in hand.

Chen Weidang quickly gathered villagers—some to search Gou Sheng’s home, some to comb the surrounding areas, and most to rush toward the village entrance.

When Li Huan arrived at the entrance, he saw Da Mao fighting with a man. Da Mao was clearly losing, blood dripping from his face onto the snow, stark and glaring.

“Grab him!”

Li Huan lifted his gun, quickened his pace, and in the blink of an eye was behind the trafficker. Realizing things weren’t going well, the man dropped the basket and tried to flee—but froze the moment he saw Li Huan.

Under the big cotton hat was a familiar face. Li Huan shuddered. It was Boss Chen—the very same man from the recent black-on-black scheme. Why had he turned to child trafficking?

“Li Ol—”

Boss Chen recognized him too, smiling faintly. So this guy lived here. He was saved—surely Li Huan wouldn’t expose him as a black-marketeer. He’d help him.

But before he could finish his words, Li Huan smashed him hard on the forehead with the butt of his gun. His eyes rolled back, and he collapsed unconscious.

“Gou Sheng! Gou Sheng!”

His frantic parents rushed over. Knowing traffickers were about, they had still foolishly let him play outside with Gou Dan.

“Where’s my boy? Where’s Gou Sheng?”

“In the sack…”

Da Mao, covering one eye with his hand, pointed at the burlap sack in the basket.

Li Huan’s eyes burned red with fury. The security team was supposed to have eight men in a squad, yet only Da Mao had shown up at such a critical moment. Where were the rest?

The slackers, upon hearing the commotion, came running back. Seeing Da Mao’s bloody face, their hearts sank.

“Old Village Head, write down all their names. Expel them from the security team. From now on, no matter what benefits come to the village, they won’t see a share. Cancel all their work points too.”

Chen Weidang nodded repeatedly, glaring at them viciously. Other squads of the security team hurried to tie up the trafficker, gagging him with a filthy rag from a manure ladle.

“Lock him in the village office. Assign a few men to guard him. I’ll take Da Mao to the county hospital. Old Village Head, call the Public Security Bureau to come arrest him.”

“The phone’s dead. Seems some line broke. The installers are still fixing it.”

“In that case, have Uncle Ye treat Da Mao’s wounds for now. Wang Xiangyang, you’re quick on your feet—run to the county Public Security Bureau. I’ll fetch my bicycle and money to take Da Mao to the hospital.”

Wang Xiangyang nodded eagerly, then dashed toward the county, thrilled—they had finally caught a trafficker! Surely the police would reward them.

“Da Mao, wait here a moment. I’ll get my bicycle and take you to the hospital. The rest of you, search the area for anyone who might have slipped away.”

As Li Huan rushed home, Uncle Niu rallied the security team, giving out assignments to sweep the area.

Li Huan’s mind was on fire with urgency. He had to warn Cheng Qiao. If Boss Chen talked, he could expose him. She needed to be prepared.

Hearing Li Huan’s words, Cheng Qiao’s heart tightened. No wonder when she had seen Boss Chen in her space earlier, his face was full of murderous aura—he was a trafficker! If so, he must also have blood on his hands.

She handed Li Huan some money and ration tickets, urging him to focus on taking Da Mao to the doctor. Then she returned to the house, closed the door, and vanished instantly.

Inside her space, Cheng Qiao anxiously searched for medicinal powders. Her master had given her a priceless ancient medical tome, filled not only with lifesaving formulas but also deadly poisons.

Cheng Qiao loved this book, often poring over it. She realized her master already had most of the required seeds, so she eagerly asked for them and planted them in the space’s soil.

The soil was powerful—every herb bloomed and bore fruit within a month. Cheng Qiao then poured her energy into preparing the formulas.

She had already succeeded in making strong anesthetic powder, hemostatic powder, and anti-inflammatory powder. For self-defense, she also made itching powder, blinding powder, silencing powder, and even lethal poisons.

She picked up a packet of poison, intending to end Boss Chen’s life, but at the last moment swapped it for silencing powder and blinding powder. Boss Chen was guilty, but it was not her place to kill him.

Her priority was protecting Li Huan. Smuggling and profiteering alone carried a sentence of at least twenty years. As village head, if Li Huan knowingly broke the law, his punishment would be even harsher. She could not afford to lose her man.

“Cheng Qiao, what are you doing here?”

A security team member stared at her as she walked into the village office.