How could I possibly be confined in a cage?

In stark contrast to the warmth of Yanru's room, Qingru lay in the biting cold of the basement.

She only had superficial wounds, but the cold was extremely detrimental to her leg injury.

Ever since the day she and Sister-in-law Niu were abandoned here, Second Sister-in-law has neglected them. Second Brother seems to have returned, giving them some water and rice each day, which keeps them afloat.

Sister-in-law Niu even mocked herself, "Hmph, this is our way of doing things. We feed them some water and rice so they won't starve to death, but they won't be too hungry to run away. Now it's actually happened to me, haha."

Qingru kept saying provocative things, and Sister-in-law Niu seemed to be listening, or perhaps she even understood why. In any case, she gradually felt that her second sister-in-law and second brother were going to sell her out, since her husband had been exposed, and their usefulness to her was over.

Leaning against the wall, catching her breath, Qingru, having mustered some strength, asked, "Hey, have you ever thought about running away?"

Sister-in-law Niu lifted her eyelids slightly. “Run? It’s easier said than done. You don’t know what those two are capable of. A few years ago, when they encountered some disobedient and troublesome rats, they just killed them. I don’t dare to think too much about that day, but can’t you guess from the smell? How big of a rat can smell this strong? Maybe it’s a rotting person.”

Qingru frowned. She had heard Sister-in-law Niu say this several times, but she still felt uncomfortable. Unlike her, who spoke of it as casually as if she were slaughtering chickens and pigs.

"So you're just going to sit here and wait to die? I don't need to say anything, I already guessed they'd sell me to brothels. And what about you? Where will you be sold to? You've worked with them before. If they want you to never be able to get out again and seek revenge, I think it'll be some remote, impoverished place with fierce locals, where you'll be left with no one to turn to."

Sister-in-law Niu's eyes flickered, somewhat unwilling, "What's it to you?"

"How about we cooperate? You help me escape, and I'll help you get rid of them. We'll let bygones be bygones."

"You?" Sister-in-law Niu didn't believe it. "Ha, if you had that ability, you wouldn't have fallen into my hands."

Qingru smiled. "There was a reason I fell into your trap. I believed you first. You never asked who I was, did you? I guess you were so focused on making money off me back then that you didn't care who I was. But let me tell you, just based on that set of pearl jewelry, you should have guessed that I came from an extraordinary background."

Sister-in-law Niu pondered for a moment, recalling that Qingru had indeed given her a set of jewelry, but now, it was likely all going to her second brother and sister-in-law. Also, when she first met Qingru, although her clothes were worn, they were still clearly made of fine material.

What is your family background?

"Me? I'm Commander Guo's daughter..."

"Tch, you're just bragging. Commander Guo's surname is Guo, and yours is Lü. How could you be his daughter?"

"Cough cough," Qingru's throat itched from the cold of the underground chamber. She swallowed hard before continuing, "I didn't know you well and didn't want to expose myself. Lü is my mother's surname, and you don't know how many concubines the Guo family has. I fell into the water that day because I was ambushed, otherwise I wouldn't be stranded here now."

Sister-in-law Niu was somewhat skeptical.

Qingru continued, "Didn't you see that the day Xiao Erlang went to the city gate, someone immediately came to rescue him? It wasn't for anything else, but just because the pearl earring I gave him had the Guo family's seal on it. So now, the Guo family is looking for me everywhere. Tell me, if you can save me, isn't such a great favor enough to atone for your sins? Do you really want to obey your second sister-in-law and let her sell you to some remote corner, where you can never rise again?"

Sister-in-law Niu was already 80% convinced. After thinking for a long time, she asked, "So what do you plan to do?"

Qingru chuckled softly, "What else can we do? Of course, you go out first, and when they're not looking, quickly take me and run. As long as we see people, we won't have to worry about them causing trouble."

After hearing her rudimentary plan, Sister-in-law Niu sneered, "That's impossible. Do you know why they set up the transaction here? It's because the sons of the surrounding families were all brought back by Second Sister-in-law and Second Brother, and they're all healthy and plump. Because of this, there are practically their eyes and ears all over this area. Let alone two grown men, even a fly passing by would leave a trace."

These words chilled Qingru to the bone. They were "buying and selling" each other, colluding with each other—how could she possibly escape now?

"If you ask me, you should stay put and not move," Sister-in-law Niu suggested. "Now is not the best time to escape. The best time is when the two parties are exchanging goods. To be on the safe side, they will usually escort you secretly, especially you. But they will find a chance to put you in a car or on a boat and secretly take you to Shanghai. That will be the best time!"

Qingru frowned, somewhat incredulous. "At that time, I'm afraid the madam will be even stricter with us than my second sister-in-law. How will we escape then?"

"Even tigers have their moments of rest. Second Sister-in-law and her group are people waiting to collect money. If they don't take this job, they'll take another one. So even if they kill you, there's always another one. But the person who bought you is different. He paid for you, so naturally he won't let you suffer any losses or not make any money. He'll be more cautious. When the time comes, you can escape. At least you won't have to worry about being killed."

These words make sense, but it was because of hesitation that we lost Xin Wu Hui back then. If we don't make a decision now, there may be no hope left.

Fortunately, what Qingru was thinking was also what Xiao Erlang was thinking. He hadn't broken any bones, and after the doctor carefully cared for him and he rested well for a night, he came back to life.

Not long after I woke up, I saw a man in a police uniform striding towards me. He had a narrow waist, broad shoulders, sharp eyebrows, and bright eyes; he looked extraordinary.

"Heh~" Xiao Erlang's neck was being choked, and it was still bruised and purple. Every time he opened his mouth, his throat burned with pain.

He quickly reached for his chest, only to find it completely flat, and even his clothes were no longer the same. The young man panicked, frantically gesturing and tearing at his clothes to find the pearl earring.

Fortunately, Zhang Xun understood what was going on and quickly pressed him down to comfort him, "Don't worry, is this what you want?"

Upon seeing the pearl earrings before him, Xiao Erlang burst into tears of joy; he had almost lost Qingru's keepsake.

He gestured to express his gratitude, and then asked for directions to the Marshal's Mansion.

Unfortunately, he hadn't learned sign language, and his random gestures were completely incomprehensible to everyone. Zhang Xun brought out paper and pen, but Xiao Erlang couldn't write either.

Faced with this dilemma, Zhang Xun looked at Guo Zixing with some apology.

Guo Zixing then stepped forward and asked him, "If you can't speak, just lie down and I'll ask you questions and you can answer them."

Zhang Xun also said, "He is the deputy director of the police station and also the eldest son of Commander Guo. Don't worry, as long as you tell us the whereabouts of the owner of this earring, he will not treat you unfairly."

Guo Zixing was speechless as he watched Zhang Xun make the promise right in front of him, but he nodded in agreement.

Xiao Erlang finally calmed down. Upon hearing that Guo Zixing was the eldest son of Commander Guo, a sense of hope welled up in his heart; he hadn't made a mistake in choosing the wrong person after all. He held up the earring and pointed to himself. Seeing that they didn't understand what he meant, he couldn't help but start to get anxious again.

Suddenly remembering something, Xiao Erlang quickly jumped out of bed, pulled back the curtain, revealing Niu Dalai on the other bed. Pointing frantically at him, then shaking his earring, he pulled Guo Zixing over and struggled to say, "...ask...him..."

Guo Zixing finally understood.

Niu Da had actually woken up long ago. His internal injuries were serious, but he looked fine except for a dull pain in his chest. He woke up even earlier than Xiao Erlang and naturally heard those words. He couldn't help but feel afraid that he had offended someone powerful.

Guo Zixing could tell at a glance that Niu Da was pretending, and he didn't have much patience, so he directly poured a glass of water over him.

Niu Da was startled and opened his eyes. Seeing a group of people in police uniforms staring at him, he couldn't help but swallow hard, his legs trembling.

"Tell me, where is the owner of these earrings? Are they still alive?"

"Live, live." Niu Da chickened out and, taking advantage of Xiao Erlang's inability to speak, hurriedly tried to take the blame for himself.

“Sir, I am a law-abiding citizen, living in Niujia Village with my wife. A little over a month ago, we rescued a woman named Lü Qingru, who is also the owner of this earring. She had injured her leg and had difficulty moving around, so we waited for her to recover before bringing her out to find her family. Who knew…”

Niu Da's story became increasingly fluent as he continued, "We're all country folk, we've never seen anything like the city before. Just then, some people came to the village to recruit female workers, saying they were coming to the city too. So we took Qingru with us to the city to find her husband. Who knew that the two recruiters were heartless? Seeing how beautiful Qingru was, they had evil intentions and even said they would get rid of us too. In my panic, I took the child and ran to the city, and then... we met you officials."

Guo Zixing looked at Zhang Xun, who nodded. What they saw was indeed as they had imagined.

Just to be on the safe side, Guo Zixing didn't believe everything he heard, but only asked, "What evil intentions do they have, and how do they plan to deal with you?"

“They plan to sell Qingru, and then they’re going to sell our whole family.” Seeing Zhang Xun’s suspicious look, he continued, “They’ll sell our daughters to the mountains to give birth, our sons to illegal coal mines, and our children to families without sons.”

These words were half true and half false. Niu Da spoke them smoothly, and no matter how anxious Xiao Erlang was, he could not immediately expose him. He could only tug at Guo Zixing's clothes and shake his head desperately.

Niu Da quickly pulled Xiao Erlang into his arms and said with a simple smile, "This child is frightened, please don't take it to heart."

The young man was so anxious that tears were almost streaming down his face, and he shook his head rapidly.

Fortunately, Guo Zixing wasn't blind. Seeing how resistant the child was, he ordered someone to take him away.

Then he asked, "Where are they now? And where are they planning to sell them to?"

Niu Da betrayed his second brother and sister-in-law without hesitation, since his second brother had tried to strangle him, so they should die together.

So he revealed everything about his second brother and sister-in-law: "...In that courtyard in the suburbs, there's a basement where someone is being held. It's Qingru. They were originally planning to sell her to a place in Shanghai called Qinhuai Tower. They should be coming to pick her up in the next couple of days."

Having learned the location and the number of people, Guo Zixing immediately made arrangements.

He then told his three sons to stay and watch over the place, while he took his men and left.

Zhang Xun wisely refrained from asking about the relationship between Ru and the girl "Cui'er," and simply said, "This person is probably suspicious; they seem to be accomplices."

"Am I stupid? Of course I saw through it too. If I were just a victim, deceived by others, how could I know so much about human traffickers? If I had that much wisdom, I wouldn't have almost lost my life. Let's go, call Chief Zhang, and together we'll wipe out this gang of thieves' hideout and set an example for the people of Sifang City!"

Guo Zixing selected a few men to ride ahead, while Zhang Xun quickly went to notify Chief Zhang to provide backup. After all, he had been a chief for many years, and even if he was greedy, he did have some ability to maintain his position.

The second brother and sister-in-law, who were being "worried" about by everyone, sneezed at the same time.

The second brother spat out a curse, "Damn it, the weather is getting colder and colder."

Second Sister-in-law was also cold, but she didn't show it as obviously as he did. "Wait a little longer. There's snow on the road, and it might be difficult for the people coming to pick us up to walk. They might be a couple of days late."

"We're not waiting anymore. If they don't come, we'll deliver it ourselves. That coward Niu Da probably can't withstand the police's methods and will give us away."

The second sister-in-law thought for a moment, then asked, "What do you plan to do?"

"Knock them out, give them medicine, and stuff them under the carriage. Just like before, you pretend to be a pregnant woman, and I'll pretend to be an old woman. We'll head straight to Shanghai."

There was no better solution at this point, so the second sister-in-law immediately got to work, dressing up and urging her second brother, "Go and see, bring those two up here for a good meal, we won't feed them on the way. And what about that Li Niang, what do you plan to do, kill her or sell her?"

The second brother thought for a moment and said, "Take it with you. After we deal with the Qinhuai Tower incident, we'll find Aunt Mei to deal with Liniang. We'll take this money and go to Southeast Asia. Wife, I'll take you there to live a good life. Nobody there will know about our past, and you can be a real woman."

The second sister-in-law pushed away her second brother who was leaning closer, touched her barely noticeable Adam's apple, and for the first time, a look of sorrow appeared on her gloomy face. "It's a pity I can't give you a child and be a real woman."

The second brother said nonchalantly, "Who wants a child? I only want you. Besides, isn't it easy to have a child? Whatever kind you like, I'll get you one."

Second sister-in-law smiled sweetly and urged second brother to take care of "serious business".

The entrance to the underground chamber was opened once again, and a rush of cold air, along with fresh oxygen, poured in.

Qingru gasped. Suddenly, Sister-in-law Niu's face brightened, and she crawled over and said with a fawning smile, "Second Brother, did you take me out? I've been taking good care of her these past two days. Look, she's still alive and well."

As she spoke, Sister-in-law Niu twisted her stiff body, trying her best to show a seductive expression, and pulled her clothes down a little, revealing the two large mounds that had attracted Niu Da the most.

The second brother slapped her hard across the face, yelling, "Pah! Shameless! Do you think I'm the kind of person who'll eat anything? You shameless bastard, trying to seduce men!" He then kicked her several more times in a fit of rage.

Then they dragged Sister-in-law Niu and Qingru, one in each hand, to the doorway. First, they pushed Sister-in-law Niu up, then Second Sister-in-law pulled her away, then Qingru was pushed up, and finally Second Brother came up by himself.

Seeing the grime that Qingru and the other girl hadn't washed for a long time, and the unpleasant smell that had filled the room, the second sister-in-law took a few steps back, frowned, and ordered her second brother, "Throw them in a bucket and wash them thoroughly, lest someone smells it on the way and ruins things."

So Qingru and the other woman were thrown into a large tub of warm water and washed without any dignity, like livestock, as if they were not human beings, but fat pigs waiting to be slaughtered.

Qingru was so hungry that she had no strength to speak, and naturally she had no strength to resist. Sister-in-law Niu was sore all over and fearful of the coercion of her second brother and sister-in-law, so she kept quiet.

Once everything was ready, Qingru and Sister-in-law Niu were drugged and stuffed into the carriage, ready to head to Shanghai.

The second sister-in-law's heart raced, and she suddenly felt uneasy. "Husband, I have a bad feeling about this."

The second brother, driving the cart, turned around and asked, "What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"

"No," the second sister-in-law couldn't explain why she felt a pang of anxiety, and hurriedly urged, "Let's go, I feel something's wrong."

The second brother, being a martial artist, had sharp ears and eyes, and upon hearing this, he strained his ears to listen. Unexpectedly, he actually heard the sound of a troop of horses' hooves.

They immediately panicked. Regardless of whether the other party was targeting them, the priority was to avoid a direct confrontation.

Guo Zixing hurried along, investigating each of the locations Niu Da had mentioned, and indeed discovered many clues. There were signs of people being imprisoned in those basements, and around several courtyards, there were also several families who had bought children, all of which matched what Niu Da had said.

The more Niu Da's words were confirmed, the more anxious and angry Guo Zixing became. These people were actually doing business under his very nose, and neither he nor even Commander Guo knew about it! They must be arrested and executed to warn the world.

At the same time, they should publicize the power of the Guo family and eliminate this villain who is roaming the country.

Guo Zixing was unaware that he was only a kilometer away from Qingru at that moment, and if he had been just a little faster, he could have saved her.