The mountain path is indeed difficult to walk on, not only is the surface sowhat rugged, but the width of the road varies at different points.
If you’re coming from the outside, you might get stuck in less than a few hundred ters.
So it’s only possible for vehicles pulled by livestock or single-rider motorcycles to barely make it through this road.
Otherwise, it looks like you’ll have to rely on manpower to get across...
After half an hour of walking, Luo Fei suddenly spotted sothing unusual and pointed ahead.
"Old Han, look."
"These village signs are very inconspicuous. We might have already entered the area of a village without realizing it. Their villages are scattered, and so far, I haven’t seen even a single village monunt."
"Yeah, I haven’t seen a notice board either."
Han Tiesheng looked around, indeed it was strange. Scattered villages were one thing, but one couldn’t rely on mory to navigate the paths.
"If you ask , the only things that reach here are water and power lines."
"No, probably just power lines. Look ahead."
As Han Tiesheng followed his gaze forward, he was stunned.
You could see, not far away, two houses leaning on a slope—one was a small house with a tiled roof, and another a two-story wooden villa.
Although the design looked modern, the materials and appearance made it seem sowhat ancient.
More absurdly, there was also a well next to the two houses, positioned beside a channel running down the mountain, looking not abandoned because there were water stains on the ground and wooden barrels around.
"My god, this is too excessive."
Han Tiesheng widened his eyes.
"This house looks older than my father! Was it completely overlooked by poverty-relief initiatives? Built in such a remote place, yet water isn’t even supplied."
"More so, it’s probably older than your grandfather."
Luo Fei said this as he continued onward.
Arriving at an overgrown platform, he suddenly pointed at the dirt slope above.
"Look there."
Han Tiesheng looked up and suddenly saw a row of grave mounds with stone markers in front, the stones piled beside them creating an altar.
It was roughly clear that these belonged to ancestors from over thirty years ago using old-style rituals.
The backwardness of this village was more dramatic than they imagined, especially since cremation has beco widespread.
No wonder there have been incidents of human trafficking here.
Whether staying to beco a son or deliberately being brought in as a bride could be understandable; when cultural standards lag, others find opportunities to take advantage, then use human trafficking as a lever to reap huge profits.
Using the hard-earned money of these people over half their lifetis for such unjust dealings.
"The current situation is indeed troubling, but we’ve walked so far without seeing other households—isn’t this odd? Have you considered, if we really entered the village limits, why haven’t we seen other villagers?"
Hearing Luo Fei’s question, Han Tiesheng thought for a mont, then his eyes turned strange.
"No, if that’s true, then we haven’t really entered the village yet. Those small tiled houses and the two-story building we saw earlier are abandoned, but they’re still there because soone is using them."
"Exactly, you’re absolutely right."
Luo Fei nodded solemnly.
"Who said this village has no marks? Those two houses are the village’s outposts for monitoring outsiders. They view themselves as part of an entity, so whenever anything happens, they choose to stand guard and keep watch there."
Hearing Luo Fei’s words, Han Tiesheng beca alert.
After scanning the surroundings seriously again, he didn’t detect any movents, so he continued forward.
However, their pace slowed as they noticed a cluster of houses not far away.
That should be the first settlent.
However, it wasn’t very large in scale.
But as they got closer, they both halted.
"Are you ready?"
"No problem!"
With those simple exchanges, Luo Fei made the first move and sprinted toward the direction behind him.
anwhile, he aid at a prominent bush and kicked towards it.
Directly kicking out a figure from within.
The person let out a miserable scream, rolled down the dirt slope, and fell to the ground. That kick was indeed powerful.
As the person tried to get up and escape, Han Tiesheng violently collided with them like a cannonball, delivering two face punches and pinning them with a hold.
"You think you can really hide?"
"Even when we were on the bus, we already noticed you. We just hadn’t planned to expose you at that ti. With so many seats, yet you insist on sitting near us, isn’t that a guilty conscience trying to probe information?"
Han Tiesheng locked them tightly, no matter how they struggled, they couldn’t break free.
Luo Fei ca over and squatted down to take a look.
It was the man with the thick beard; his eyes glared venomously, one arm kept twitching.
"Old Han, he’s quite unruly."
Hearing this, Han Tiesheng looked back and indeed found the guy was trying to fish a walkie-talkie from his pocket, smashing it fiercely to the ground.
This should be an alert sign.
If communications were disrupted, then it ant soone had been exposed here.
Seeing this tactic, Han Tiesheng felt displeased.
"Really think I’m a fool?"
Then he snatched the walkie-talkie from the person’s hand, removed the battery, and landed a powerful elbow strike on the back of their neck, causing the bearded man to grimace in pain, body twitching uncontrollably.
But he cald down quickly; continuing to struggle would an facing harsher consequences.
"Not a bad catch."
Luo Fei smiled slightly, picking up the walkie-talkie.
"You must have started keeping watch for anyone coming in a long ti ago. After all, in Binhai and Jiangzhou, successive cris have gotten police attention, so stationing people near the village bus stop to scout for strangers is due diligence."
"Hmph."
The bearded man’s face filled with anger, scoffing and turning his head aside.
"You cops, if you’ve got guts, release and see if I don’t beat you two runt brats up!"
Hearing him still spewing bravado, Luo Fei shrugged.
No choice, the guy chose self-destruction...
If it were any other ti, maybe he’d put up with it, but now the one pinning this guy was the notorious daredevil Han Tiesheng.
This ti acting tough was just a recipe for self-inflicted misery.
"Hey, you still dare act so brash with ? You’re a cop, your whole family are cops!"
Han Tiesheng cursed and smacked the man’s head hard.
"Behave! Tell ! How many people are ambushing here? Where’s the village’s trading point? Where are the abducted people?"
"Hmph, what if I refuse?"
"Do you cops dare to kill?"
Hearing his provocation, Han Tiesheng beca infuriated.
"Hey, let show you what it feels like to hurt right to your bones, you scoundrel!"
Just as he was about to act, Luo Fei raised a hand to stop him.
There’s another way to conquer violence—with impending fear. The guy couldn’t feel it yet, but he soon would.
Luo Fei smiled slightly, rested a hand on a rock nearby, and forcefully pressed down on it.
A surge of energy coursed from his palm, causing the solid rock below to crumble to pieces.
Seeing this, the bearded man’s eyes widened, filled with horror.
Then Luo Fei slowly raised his hand, placing it firmly on the man’s head with the sa posture.
"Have you seen us wearing police uniforms? Who knows we’re cops?"
"Take a guess?"
Feeling the terrifying pressure gathering on his head, the bearded man’s face paled in fright.
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