"Old..."
Zou Huaide wanted to say something, but before he could, a cold snort came from the other end, and the call was disconnected.
The beeping sound echoed clearly in the extraordinarily quiet cave.
Looking at the phone so close to him, he didn’t even have the courage to call back, fearing that by returning the call, he would anger the boss, and they would lose the three-day grace period.
"..."
For a moment, the cave was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.
All the human traffickers had expressions like they had just swallowed a fly.
At this point, Li Wangxin broke the silence, "No need to panic, everyone. We should be able to manage in three days."
As he spoke, he pointed to the calendar.
Today was the 13th.
The 12th was circled in red, and the 13th in black.
"Two weeks ago, Chaozi went to Beihai Province ahead of time to find the two kids on the list and conduct a reconnaissance. Today is the day he’s scheduled to return. Once he’s back, we head straight to Beihai Province. From the Imperial Capital to Beihai Province, it won’t take long to transfer the base. When we get there, we’ll just grab a kid and send it to the boss first."
"Although it’s a bit rushed, we have no other choice."
Zou Huaide nodded helplessly.
At this point, one of the human traffickers couldn’t help but complain, "I really don’t understand why the boss is so obsessed with those kids on the list!"
"Yeah."
Another human trafficker nodded in agreement, "Without that list’s restrictions, there are plenty of kids out there. We could grab any kid to fill the gap. We wouldn’t be in this mess now."
"Alright."
Zou Huaide interrupted, "There must be a reason for the boss’s orders. We just need to follow them. We get paid well, don’t we?"
"The boss is right."
Another human trafficker flattered him, then shifted his gaze to the photo of Lin Beichen next to the satellite phone. His eyes glared viciously as he spat, "Damn it, if anyone’s to blame, it should be this kid. It’s all his fault, messing up our plans that we worked on for over two months. Now, not only are we rushed, but the police are on our tail too!"
"Yeah!"
Another trafficker picked up, sighing, "Unfortunately, we’re about to move. Otherwise, I would’ve waited for things to calm down and gone after him myself!"
"You can run, but you can’t hide."
Li Wangxin’s face twisted into a cruel smile, "This kid is a freshman at Imperial Capital University. He’ll be here for four years. We’ll have plenty of chances later."
Just as he finished speaking—
A somewhat weary and tense voice came from the cave entrance.
"What are you guys chatting about? So lively?"
"Chaozi, you’re back. Good job."
Zou Huaide walked up and patted the man who had just entered.
The man was wearing a long raincoat. He was the same person who previously appeared at Ascension Platform, and later encountered Lin Beichen—Sun Chao.
"Zou bro."
"Chaozi, did you find the two kids from Beihai Province on the list?"
"You can count on me."
Sun Chao patted his chest, barely managing a smile, "Found them all. Did a thorough reconnaissance too."
Hearing this—
The human traffickers present instantly relaxed, their expressions turning lighter and more cheerful.
Just then, Sun Chao’s voice rang out again.
"By the way, where’s Uncle Quan?"
Sun Chao asked Zou Huaide with a puzzled look.
He had been scouting in Beihai Province for two weeks without contacting anyone to avoid exposure, unaware of events in the Imperial Capital during this period.
"Dead."
Zou Huaide sighed heavily, "A week ago, we were in the middle of an operation when he was discovered by a student named Lin Beichen. He died while trying to escape. I found out later he was struck by lightning during his escape. His death... let’s not talk about it!"
Struck by lightning???
Sun Chao’s mind flashed back to a scene he saw on his way back, his heart skipped a beat. He quickly shook his head to erase the image from his mind.
Zou Huaide continued, "The guys were just talking about this Lin Beichen."
He pointed to Lin Beichen’s photo on the desk.
"The guys hate him so much they want to teach him a lesson for thwarting our operation. Because of him, we couldn’t deliver the kids on time, and now the boss is mad. But the boss gave us three more days. Everyone’s waiting for you to come back so we can move to Beihai Province..."
As Sun Chao listened to Zou Huaide, he also looked in the direction he was pointing.
And with just one look...
He instantly recognized the person in the photo as the one he saw struck by lightning on his way back.
Lin Beichen?
Is his name Lin Beichen??
Suddenly, Sun Chao’s entire body trembled. The memory of that event surged back, attacking his mind.
His face turned deathly pale, and he couldn’t help but exclaim, "How could it be him?"
"???"
The human traffickers looked at each other. What’s going on? Why does he look like he’s seen a ghost? It’s just a kid, right?
Zou Huaide sensed something, frowning, "What’s up, Chaozi? Have you seen him before?"
"Seen... seen him."
Sun Chao nodded with difficulty, his expression stiff, "On my way back, I saw him in the mountains."
"What?!"
The human traffickers perked up immediately.
Isn’t this like finding something you’ve been searching for effortlessly?
Li Wangxin pressed on, "Chaozi, where did you see him in the mountains, was anyone with him, what was he doing?"
His eyes gleamed viciously; his smile appeared even more sinister.
Sun Chao really didn’t want to recall the bizarre scene he witnessed, so he mumbled, "Not far from the marked tree, he was alone, no one with him, just meditating in the rain."
The traffickers: "???
Meditating?
What kind of move is that?
They didn’t get it, but they didn’t care to.
What they were more interested in was Lin Beichen’s location and that he was alone.
"Isn’t that on our route when we move?"
"We thought we wouldn’t get a chance to deal with him, but here it is!"
"Let’s take him out before we leave. Deep in the mountains, no one will ever find the body."
The traffickers felt it was time for revenge.
Li Wangxin turned to Zou Huaide, speaking in a sinister voice, "When we move, we can deal with him on the way..."
Mimicking a throat-slitting gesture, he added, "A person dying in the backwoods won’t be discovered for who knows how long. By then, we’ll be far from the Imperial Capital, maybe even out of Beihai Province. It won’t delay our plans."
Zou Huaide nodded, agreeing.
While everyone was discussing, they didn’t notice Sun Chao’s fearful expression as he listened. Hesitating a moment, he finally tried to persuade, "Maybe... we should reconsider."
Instantly—
The other traffickers turned to him, their gazes cold and eyebrows furrowed, not understanding why he said that.
"What’s the matter, Chaozi?"
Sun Chao’s expression twisted with indecision, recalling something terrifying, his eyes showing fear. Swallowing hard, he lowered his voice, "This Lin Beichen is odd... I suspect... he’s some kind of hidden master."