When Zhuo Yao saw Liu Cui running over, she had a guess in her heart that something had gone wrong with 007. Otherwise, he would have reminded her about the anomaly in Zhong Yan's location.
However, what she didn't expect was that it wasn't until noon the next day that 007 reappeared.
Just as she was about to find the person, the system lamented in her mind.
【Host, I can't go back, sob sob sob…】
Zhuo Yao's expression turned grim, completely ignoring it.
【Host, aren't you going to comfort me? Host, where are you? You haven't changed worlds, how did you get out? Where is he?】
"Shut up!"
A fierce old woman grabbed one of her arms: "Come here!"
Zhuo Yao, caught off guard, almost stumbled. After she finally steadied herself, the fierce old woman had already pushed open the door in front of her and forcefully shoved her inside.
There were several other people in the room, men and women, all heavily bundled up. In a corner, four or five children were squatting, and on a tattered blanket lay two others. One looked less than a year old, and the other was the person she had been searching for all night.
"Old Ying, where did you find this one?" a woman reached out to touch her chin. Zhuo Yao turned her head away and dodged.
"She's quite good-looking. Sold to the coast, she could fetch at least one or two thousand. Oh my, and a spirited one too. I wonder if she'll still be spirited when she's sold to serve men?"
【Host, host, what is this place?】
And that woman, how dare she speak to her host like that? Was she not afraid of dying a terrible death?
"Saw her on the street. Said she was looking for her brother," the old woman glanced towards the other children in the room and said, "Come, see who your brother is?"
Zhuo Yao shook off her hand, walked over, and picked up the child on the tattered blanket who was sleeping groggily. The child's face was streaked with tears. He slowly woke up and, upon seeing her, first showed joy, then his small mouth quivered, and he started crying loudly.
"Wuwuwu… Sister, sister, they hit me, it hurts, wuwuwu…"
Zhuo Yao carefully examined his hand and then noticed a clear cigarette burn mark on his fair little arm, with redness and swelling around it, looking shocking.
The child pouted, his small, fair, and soft face filled with grievance. He couldn't help but cry to her, hugging her tightly with both his small arms, showing complete reliance.
Looking at the scar, Zhuo Yao's anger instantly surged, and she wished she could send these people to hell immediately.
The woman who had wanted to pinch her face earlier burst into laughter upon seeing this scene, "So they really are brother and sister? Then we've made a buy-one-get-one-free deal."
"No wonder they're both so good-looking. Take good care of these two, they can be sold for a lot of money."
One person chimed in, "Sister Hong, I said before that the little one was good-looking and could fetch a high price. You shouldn't hit him casually. Third Brother even used a cigarette butt on him."
Another man immediately retorted, "Who told him to bite me? He wasn't biting your flesh, so it's easy for you to say. If he had bitten you, would you have used a cigarette on him?"
"I…"
"Ah!"
A deafening scream suddenly rang out. Everyone looked at the man who had screamed, puzzled. The leader frowned, "Third brother, what are you screaming about? Are you afraid others won't hear you?"
"Ah! It hurts so much!"
The man was about to say more when suddenly, everyone in the room's eyes widened, staring at "Third Brother" in disbelief.
His body had caught fire.
Right in front of everyone, the man who had been fine moments ago suddenly burst into flames. The flames were orange-white. At first, they didn't notice. By the time they realized, the fire on Third Brother's body had almost engulfed him.
"Ah! Save me! Boss, save me! Sister Hong, Sister Hong, save me!"
Listening to his screams, the others belatedly reacted. They tried to extinguish the fire with objects, and some poured water on him, but no matter what they did, the fire on him wouldn't go out.
"Ah! It hurts so much! Save me! Let me go!"
He could no longer bear it and rushed out of the door, engulfed in flames. The others quickly followed, but when they reached the courtyard, they hesitated.
As people in the vicinity heard the commotion, they gradually came out. In a small alley in the town, a man covered in fire was writhing on the ground in agony, his screams echoing everywhere.
Those who reacted rushed to help put out the fire. However, no matter what they did, the flames on him continued to burn. Gradually, his screams weakened, and his body began to char.
The fire seemed to be burning not just on the surface but throughout his entire body, from the inside out. His body, like firewood, burned thoroughly from top to bottom, eventually turning into pieces of charcoal that slowly disintegrated.
Before the flames on his body completely extinguished, the police arrived.
"Everyone, step aside. The police are here."
"Officers, there's someone burned here!"
Several people in police uniforms pushed through. They first gathered information from the bystanders and then had the body taken away.
The body was still very hot and broke into pieces at the slightest touch. It took considerable effort to collect all of it.
Someone in the crowd said the burned person looked familiar. Others recalled and realized it was a human trafficker wanted by the police.
Immediately, those who had felt sympathy changed their attitudes, all saying he deserved to die.
Whether it needed to be verified by the police, when they learned that the house had been unoccupied but had recently become suspicious, the police seemed to sense something.
They searched the house and confirmed it was a human trafficking den, but the culprits had already fled.
Just when there was a glimmer of a lead, the culprits had fled again. The police immediately intensified their search efforts, dispatching officers to apprehend the escaped human traffickers.
The man who had gone to the police station with Yang Yun to find his friend finally seized the opportunity to ask a barrage of questions.
His friend wiped the sweat from his brow, "We are looking. The commotion in Xizhai just now was likely caused by the human traffickers. One of them inexplicably caught fire, and the body has already turned to charcoal. The others fled, and my colleagues are in pursuit."
"Then have you found the children? Is there a particularly handsome little boy, over two years old? Very fair, very..."
"No, they took all the children with them." This police officer was also exhausted. "These damned human traffickers, they still took the children with them when they fled. You wait at the station for now, I'll go out and look again."
The man grabbed his arm, "I'll go with you."
He asked Yang Yun to wait at the police station and went out with his friend to search for the children.
He had been a soldier before, so the police did not refuse his help and led him out.