Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio
“Well…” Lei Qingyi opened his mouth, then shook his head.
“I couldn’t get that part out of him, but he said someone snatched Xunxun.”
“Snatched?” Lu Yi narrowed his sharp eyes dangerously. How could she have been snatched? He had heard of cases where wallets, gold and silver jewelry and phones got snatched. It was the first time he heard of snatching children, instead of kidnapping them.
“I’m not sure either. In any case, the guy over there had put it like this.”
Lei Qingyi confirmed that he had not misheard. It was “snatched” alright; the person used this particular word. He was certain.
In the hospital was a special ward where several police officers in their uniforms were standing outside. A man was lying in the room, his head completely wrapped in bandages and his face scrunched up in pain.
However, he certainly was not someone important, nor was he rich or powerful. He was merely an ordinary person. He could even be said to be someone from the lowest class of society. From swindling, stealing to having illicit affairs, he did anything he could; furthermore, he was a human trafficker.
He had conveniently abducted a child of good worth this time. However, before he had the chance to sell the “goods” off, a hole was smashed in his head and the bones in his thigh had also been fractured. How did that skeleton thin woman launch such a fierce attack? Pounding his head furiously was not all she had done; she stabbed his thigh with a dagger and even stepped on his face.
He had only kidnapped a kid.
That was it. He had only kidnapped a kid and done nothing else.
He spoke as though it was nothing worth paying attention to. Of course, it was not his child but someone else’s. He had never given birth to a baby, never raised a kid nor had he ever loved a child dearly. He could not have known that it would be a terrible shattering of the heart had one lost his or her children. It was a fate worse than death.
He kidnapped and sold children who grew up cherished as the apple of their parents’ eyes, some still being breastfed. He had never once thought of the child’s family or the child’s parents. He had never contemplated on whether they could live on after this incident. He did not care if the family was separated and entirely gone because of the child.
He was now still rejoicing over the fact that he was not beaten to death. Even though there was a large cavity on his head and his thigh was fractured, at the very least, he was still alive. Very soon, however, when the doors flung open and a man emanating a murderous aura walked in, he who was good-for-nothing almost knelt down.
“Where is the child?” Lu Yi asked the man blandly.
“Haven’t I told you already? How many times do you want me to repeat in a day?” The man’s entire body was aching, but the people would not leave him in peace. Did they not know that he was a patient? He was in pain right now and he needed rest.
Lu Yi walked over, towering over the child trafficker who had a leg elevated.
“Tell me, where is the child?”
“How would I know?” The child trafficker became annoyed again, “You’ve asked many times. What a bother you are! I’ve already said that the child was snatched by a skeleton thin woman. She even beat me to this state. That f*king son of a b*tch! Where did that b*tch come from?”
Right as he was about to continue cursing, a large hand reached out and seized his chin. The clench caused his head to ache violently.
“I’ll ask you one more time.” The voice simply came from hell as each word was enunciated with an icy tone.
“Tell me, where have you brought my daughter?”
The child trafficker wanted to curse again, but his eyes widened abruptly as his head was forcefully thrown onto the pillow. Whimpering sounds came out from his mouth.
“Tell me!” It was these two words again, as light as a feather, yet heavily pounding on the child trafficker’s heart.
The child trafficker was truly frozen in fear. For a long time, his mouth was gaping as his eyes went wide, his teeth chattering to make clicking noises.
“I advise that you’d better speak the truth.” Lei Qingyi did not care anymore. He sneered, “Did you really think that you’re a patient, eating and sh*tting here for free?”
“If the child isn’t found, I’ll immediately have you eating sh*t.”
The child trafficker was frightened to the point that cold sweat perspired on his forehead unceasingly. Each drop seeped into the pillow, and his clothes were almost soaked through.
For the first time, he became aware that he might have provoked and snatched a child from someone whom he should not have done these things to.
However, he was telling the truth; he had always been telling the truth. The child was snatched away by the skeleton thin woman. Otherwise, he would not have been caught. Moreover, he had a cavity on his head and a broken leg. How could he send the child to somewhere else?
His wounds had hurt to the point that he was wailing for his parents, but no one sympathized with him. He still did not know whose child it was he had taken, or who he had offended.
It would be difficult for him to be released in the future. Perhaps he really had to stay in prison throughout his lifetime, until he was old and dead.
Lei Qingyi walked over and pressed on Lu Yi’s shoulder, “Calm down. Even if you beat him to death now, you still won’t be able to get information about Xunxun. I’ve already had someone draw a portrait of the woman he’s talking about, and now the whole city is searching for this person. If she’s still in Sea City, she’ll definitely be found.”
However, he still could not understand this. Dog-eat-dog affairs were common for the business circle. Was it possible that the same thing would happen among human traffickers?
Not long after, Lu Yi had a portrait in his hands. “Is this all?”
Lei Qingyi rubbed his face.
“Yes, that’s all. What else do you want?”
“Do you think she can be found with this?”
Obviously, Lei Qingyi was not dumb, and he was definitely not foolish either. He turned his head and asked the artist, “Do you think she can be found with this?”
The artist was evidently embarrassed as well.
“I had no choice, Director. It’s as how that human trafficker had described her. He didn’t see the woman’s facial features clearly, so this is what the result is like.”
There was a portrait of an indeterminable gender on the large white paper, with only a black frame drawn to represent the eyes, and that person was even wearing a face mask. The human trafficker absolutely could not remember what that woman looked like. He could only recall that she was wearing a face mask. Many people were wearing them, however. Face masks used to be worn only during winter, but now people wore them all year round. If they really searched the city using this portrait, anyone could become a suspect.
Lu Yi threw the portrait on the table, turned and left.
Lei Qingyi lowered his head, picking up the portrait to crumple it into a ball, and threw it into the trash.
It seemed that this lead turned out to be a dead end. They needed to think of another way.
