Chapter 1 Going South

The car had already left the city limits of Tongcheng and entered Qidong County. In fact, it was no longer heading north, but south.

According to Lao Zhang, the police were setting up roadblocks and making arrests on the main traffic arteries to the north, but Boss Zhou trusted Monkey’s nose more.

To put it mildly,

Monkey had been throwing up since it smelled the scent;

if you didn’t follow the southern direction it pointed,

you'd feel embarrassed.

After passing Qidong and crossing the bridge, they would soon reach the outskirts of Shanghai.

"They're smart too, knowing to go against the grain, haha."

Zhou Ze smiled, and while waiting at the toll station, he picked up a bottle of mineral water, took a sip, and handed it to the monkey in the back.

The little monkey took the mineral water with its two paws and began to rinse its mouth and wash its face.

"Thank you for your hard work."

Zhou Ze even comforted it.

After passing the toll station, Zhou Ze continued south.

The old Taoist held the little monkey, his face a little heavy. First, his anger increased as he got closer to the child-trafficking couple.

Second, he felt uneasy. He still found the words Boss had told him earlier a bit frightening.

What to do after catching them?

I forgot, I'm a ghost.

What does that mean?

Unlike the old Taoist's unease, Zhou Ze now seemed to be in a good mood. He never had such a good mood when Lao Zhang forcibly dragged him to investigate cases.

"Feeeel...ing...reeeaaaallllly...gooooood..."

"I'm driving, can you not pop up suddenly?"

"Whhhyyyy...bother...wiithhh...thissss...matter..."

"No reason, I'm an orphan myself."

"Heh...heh..."

Obviously, the voice didn't believe it.

Because it didn't think that Zhou Ze had gotten over his own experience as an orphan.

Zhou Ze had actually gotten over it in his previous life, let alone having experienced so many things in this life.

"Iron-head, I don't know how to explain it. Can you help me analyze it? I have a feeling now that when I face certain people and things;

and, when facing some people and some things around me, I always have a feeling in my heart that seems to be telling me whether this thing should be done or not.

It's like someone is guiding me in the dark."

For example, when facing Lao Zhang, the recent incident was actually Zhou Ze going with the flow.

"Hmm..."

"Hmm?"

"That's it?"

"Hello?"

Zhou Ze shouted in his heart. He had said so much and so detailedly, and all he got was a "Hmm"?

"Heh...heh..."

"What are you laughing at?"

"Doon't...bee...too...big...for...your...britches..."

"I'm not."

"You're...just...a...watch...dog..."

"Okay, okay, can you change something up? You keep calling me a watchdog. Honestly, I'm getting numb to it."

"Baaaaaastard..."

"Idiot!"

"It's...goooone..."

"No, the idiot just replied to me."

"..." Ying Gou.

The old Taoist felt that the boss, who was driving, suddenly became terrifying.

While driving, runes began to appear on his body,

and his aura began to become very strong.

Hiss,

how terrifying!

Was he too excited from driving?

The little monkey was so scared that it forgot its nausea and curled up in the old Taoist's arms.

Zhou Ze roared:

"Can you be more stable? I'm driving, I'm driving!"

After a series of struggles,

Zhou Ze breathed a sigh of relief,

and leaned back in his chair.

On the highway, the speed had dropped to twenty kilometers per hour.

"Take...him...to...see...blood..."

Ying Gou's voice came again.

"Take who? Take the little monkey or the old Taoist? Or should I call someone else over?"

Zhou Ze's series of questions did not get a response from Ying Gou.

That voice was silent again.

Zhou Ze looked in the rearview mirror to observe the little monkey and the old Taoist sitting in the back. Who was Ying Gou referring to?

Zhou Ze thought the little monkey was more likely.

"Squeak squeak squeak!!!"

The monkey suddenly pointed in another direction.

"Understood."

Zhou Ze understood,

turned off the highway from the front exit.

………………

"Are you sick? Who told you to use a knife? Who told you to use a knife? Huh? Huh? Huh!"

The woman frantically pounded the man's chest.

The man grabbed the woman's hand,

and said fiercely:

"Who am I doing this for? If that woman hadn't desperately held onto the child, would I have done this?

I'm telling you, that bitch is a maniac!

It's not her child, why is she so excited!

Do you think I wanted to stab her to death? Do you think I wanted to? But in that situation, if I didn't get rid of her, how could we get out?

We would probably have been caught by now, do you believe it!"

"Kidnapping children doesn't carry the death penalty! You're turning me into a murderer, you bastard!"

"Don't worry, I'm the one who killed her, it has nothing to do with you. Even if the police catch me, I'll say you were a hostage held by me, forcibly taken away by me, and you were also being trafficked by me.

Then, the whole thing, including the past, will have nothing to do with you!"

The woman suddenly stopped making a fuss,

and instead raised her head with a bit of embarrassment and secret joy,

looking at the man's face,

and said softly:

"Really?"

"Nonsense, you're my woman, do I not have this much responsibility?"

"What are you two chatting about? The steamed buns are ready, let's eat some to fill our stomachs first."

An aunt wearing an apron knocked on the door and called out.

"Coming, Aunt Pang!"

The woman got up and opened the door to go out.

The man also got up, but looking at the woman's back, a hint of disdain appeared in his eyes,

"Silly woman."

This wasn't the countryside, nor was it a rural area. Perhaps, ten years ago it was considered a rural area, but after the renovation, everyone moved into the government-planned detached villas.

Row upon row, column upon column, collective resettlement. Many houses on the first floor still retained old-fashioned stoves and kitchens.

The woman and the man sat at the table, each with a steamed bun in their hand.

In many places, steamed buns are solid, but the steamed buns in the Jiangzhe area have fillings inside.

For example, shredded radish, red bean paste, etc. There will also be shredded meat mixed in. In the eyes of northerners, these are buns, but in the eyes of locals, as long as they are not pure meat fillings, they are all steamed buns.

The man and woman were eating with great relish, seemingly really hungry.

"More congee."

Aunt Pang brought two bowls of congee and placed them in front of them.

"Thank you, Auntie."

The couple ate happily, they had been thinking about escaping since last night, and only now could they finally eat.

Aunt Pang also put down a plate of pickles, took a bowl, put two steamed buns in it, and walked to the inner room.

Inside, an old man was sitting there, wearing a large cotton coat, curled up in a chair. There was also a crutch next to the old man.

"How did they get here?"

The old man asked.

"They should be passing by, the two of them are in a hurry."

"Hmph, they're probably being chased by the police."

"That's what I think too." Aunt Pang nodded.

"Tell them to get out as soon as they finish eating." The old man said unhappily.

"Anyway, it doesn't matter if they eat this one meal."

"Awooo, awooo, awooo!!!!!!"

At this time, a burst of screams came from the bed in the inner room.

"Go check on your son, he's playing again." Aunt Pang urged.

"This debt-collecting ghost!"

The old man stood up, leaning on his crutch, and walked to the inner room.

In the cotton batting on the bed lay a thin middle-aged man, playing with an Ultraman toy in his hand, but another Ultraman toy had fallen off the bed, and he couldn't reach it with his hand.

It was cold outside, and he didn't want to get out of bed, so he could only keep shouting to send a signal.

"I really owed you a debt in my last life, that's why I let a bastard like you be reincarnated into my family!"

The old man raised his crutch unhappily and poked at his son in the cotton batting on the bed.

"Awooo! Awooo! Awooo!"

The son shouted while drooling, but he wasn't afraid, just giggling foolishly.

The old man had no choice but to bend down, pick up the Ultraman toy from the ground, and throw it on the bed.

The thirty-something-year-old son grabbed the toy and curled back into the cotton batting to play again.

The whole room

was filled with the smell of urine.

The old man coughed a few times angrily,

thought for a while,

and poked his son a few more times with his crutch.

"Awooo! Awooo! Awooo!"

The son was confused, why are you hitting me again?

"You useless thing, you're really a good-for-nothing!"

The old man shook his head and sighed,

leaning on his crutch, he returned to the chair by the door,

put down his crutch,

he sat down on the chair,

leaning against the wall,

and curled up again.

Aunt Pang went downstairs,

to the basement.

The small buildings here were all built according to a unified format, and every household had a small storage room below.

Aunt Pang took out the key, opened the door, and immediately covered her nose. Compared with the smell in her son's room, this place was simply the epitome of fresh air.

Aunt Pang grabbed the two steamed buns in the bowl and threw them inside. A long-haired woman immediately pounced over, picked up the steamed buns, and began to gnaw on them. The woman had a dog chain on her body, tied to the wall at the back.

"Creak!"

Aunt Pang closed the door again and walked up with the empty bowl.

The old man curled up, sniffing.

"Ah, when will this end? It's such a waste of food to keep feeding her, at least let me have some hope."

Aunt Pang seemed very helpless, glanced at the inner room, and continued:

"Our son is really stupid, he can't even do that thing."

The old man sighed helplessly, wasn't it!

This son was just a born debt collector!

This couple had been burdened by this silly son for their entire lives!

Aunt Pang looked at her old man again and said:

"I'll stew some crucian carp soup for you tonight, so you can replenish yourself.

If our son can't do it, you have to work harder."

The old man seemed frightened and quickly shook his head:

"How old am I? How can I do it once a day? I have to rest, I have to rest."