Ji Xinyue slept half an hour, then woke.
She took off her eye mask, glanced at Jiang Han sitting beside her, and asked offhandedly, "You're going to Hezi County too?"
"Huh? Yes." Jiang Han clearly hadn't expected Ji Xinyue to strike up conversation with her. "I kept hearing that the mountains and waters around Hezi County are gorgeous, and since it's summer break, I made plans with a few classmates to go hiking."
Ji Xinyue raised an eyebrow slightly, put the eye mask in her bag, took out a bottle of water and drank a sip, then said, "So you're planning to climb those mountains around Hezi County? There really are a lot of tall, fine-looking peaks over there. I've heard too that people who love hiking all like to go there."
"But..." Ji Xinyue paused, then said in a low voice, "those mountains are still quite a distance from Hezi County, and the mountains around Hezi County aren't like those developed scenic areas. Not to mention the transportation's inconvenient—if you really go climbing and it gets dark partway, where do you plan to stay?"
Jiang Han said hurriedly, "We joined a hiking group earlier and asked a lot of veterans for advice. We anticipated this situation—we brought tents." Jiang Han's manner had a touch of naivety, as if bringing tents meant they were thoroughly prepared. "Besides, this counts as training our wilderness survival skills, doesn't it?"
Ji Xinyue couldn't hold back a laugh, propped her chin on her hand, and replied, "It really does train survival skills." Once they got tricked into the little mountain village and had to run their legs off to escape—wasn't that training survival skills?
"So there are quite a few of you? All girls, or are there boys along too?"
Jiang Han answered, "All girls. Counting me, four in total. If there weren't several of us, I wouldn't dare go somewhere so remote alone."
"Aren't you afraid there are vicious wolves and tigers in the mountains?" Ji Xinyue suddenly leaned over and asked in a startling voice, "Vicious wolves and tigers—those eat people."
"That place isn't a primeval forest. Besides, in our country, anywhere there are people, I think even the most vicious wolf, the fiercest tiger, probably wouldn't stand a chance of surviving." The owner of the voice was a girl sitting in front. She sat up a bit and turned her head to talk to Ji Xinyue. "Have you never been to those beautiful big mountains? By the way, what are you going to Hezi County for?"
"I'm going to meet an online friend," Ji Xinyue said very earnestly.
This made the girl laugh. "Meeting an online friend, of all things—man or woman? Be careful you don't get tricked. I hear a lot of young girls these days go to meet online friends and end up abducted. You'd better keep your guard up."
"It should be fine, right? The online friend I know is a pretty decent person. She's not a man—she's a girl, and we hit it off pretty well. If she could've gotten away, she'd have come to find me. Since it's the holidays, I figured I'd go meet her instead. We agreed to meet inside the county town, not in any of those remote places." Ji Xinyue explained, looking truly simple beyond belief.
Jiang Han and the other girl both believed her words.
Hearing that it was a girl, with the meeting set in the county town, they no longer suspected anything. After that, they got to chatting and told one another their names. The girl who'd cut in was called Xu Feifei; there were two other girls sitting up front who didn't join in their conversation.
The several-hour bus ride passed quickly amid the chatter.
Before getting off, Ji Xinyue and Jiang Han exchanged contact information. They also asked each other how many days they'd be playing in Hezi County, and since the timing was about the same, decided to arrange to head back together.
After getting off, the two parties parted.
Ji Xinyue watched the four of them—Jiang Han and the others—walk excitedly through this Hezi County with its ancient culture, phones and selfie sticks already out. Even after half a day on the bus, they seemed neither tired nor hungry, hurrying off in excitement to tour this county town that so captivated them.
Ji Xinyue fished out her phone, scrolled to her online-friend "sister's" number, and dialed. It connected quickly, and a very pleasant voice came through the phone. "Xinyue, have you arrived? Where are you now?"
"Xiaoya, I'm here already. I don't know this place well, so I didn't dare wander. I'm right at the bus station exit. Are you busy right now? If you are, give me an address and I'll take a cab over."
"Not busy, not busy—I knew you were coming today, so I took the day off from my boss and have been waiting just for you. The bus station exit, right? I'll be right over. Xinyue, whatever you do, don't move—five minutes, just five minutes and I'll be there."
In about five minutes, a girl around twenty, wearing a T-shirt, shorts, and sneakers, appeared before Ji Xinyue. The girl was fairly good-looking, her smile warm and infectious, with a quality that instantly made people let their guard down.
This girl was called Mei Ya, someone Ji Xinyue had met in a game. Later they'd added each other as friends and gotten to chatting. The other was very attentive to her family situation, which made Ji Xinyue feel something was off. So she'd gone along with it and revealed quite a bit about being bullied by her stepmother. Then Mei Ya turned into a caring big sister, constantly counseling her. And she, naturally enough, treated the other as her sole confidant. In between, they'd each invited the other to come visit their place, and in the end it was Ji Xinyue who'd agreed to come.
Mei Ya was very warm, no different from online. First she took Ji Xinyue to eat, then took her around the county town, buying her some local specialties. Like this, it got to be around five or six in the afternoon.
"How about we play more tomorrow? Come on, let's go book a hotel first—you've been tired all day too."
Ji Xinyue didn't refuse and followed her to the hotel. She had nothing to fear—she wasn't worried the other would try anything at the hotel.
Of course, Mei Ya didn't seem to intend to do anything either. After entering the room, she asked, "Xinyue, this is your first time in our Hezi County, right?"
"Mm, yes. This place is really quite nice—the air's pretty good too."
"Right? Our place here is pretty nice. But when it comes to air, it's really the mountains around Hezi County, and the air in our village, that's the truly good kind."
"Your village?" Ji Xinyue asked, going along with it.
Then Mei Ya started introducing how wonderful their village was—good scenery, good people, good everything—every kind of enticement woven into her words. If Ji Xinyue really were an ordinary city girl, she'd surely have been unable to resist the coaxing and would want to go at once.
"Our village also grows a lot of fruit trees—people often come to our village to pick fruit. Xinyue, I see there's nothing much to do in the county town. How about we go play in our village tomorrow?"
Ji Xinyue's expression carried some anticipation, but she still hesitated. "Wouldn't that hold up your work a lot?"
"How could it? Our boss is easy to talk to—I took several days off from him. You're my very best little sister; you came all this way, I've got to take good care of you no matter what." Mei Ya said with a smile, "Looking at you, you definitely want to go, right? All right, it's settled then. Early tomorrow I'll come pick you up. We might even run into a lot of people all heading to our village. Now get some good rest—tomorrow there's quite a bit of road to travel."
Mei Ya left.
Ji Xinyue lay on the bed and didn't fall asleep.
She fished out her phone and sent Yun Shao a message: Preliminarily confirmed—the other party should be a trafficker. Tomorrow she's taking me to the village, and said there might be fellow travelers. Those fellow travelers should be the girls who've been tricked into going. Get ready. After I collect evidence, I'll notify you—move according to the situation.
After sending the message, Ji Xinyue closed her eyes.
Catching these people wasn't easy; the first thing needed was evidence. She carried quite a few hidden cameras on her—any tiny component, a button, a pendant hanging off a zipper, could be one. These were all produced by companies under the Ji family's name. But the ones she used the company didn't sell externally; only she and the police had them.
She didn't know why, but she was especially fond of cameras. With each world she experienced, her company's cameras grew more and more advanced. Over the years, being able to catch all the traffickers she encountered and have them sentenced was thanks to these cameras.
She'd been doing this for three years now. Her one regret was that while the criminal law could sentence traffickers, it couldn't punish those villagers who, by buying the women, aided and abetted the wickedness.
The next day, Mei Ya came very early.
She led Ji Xinyue to the front of a van. "This is our village's vehicle. Hop in. Today's a coincidence—there are a few girls from out of town who are going to our village too."
A few girls from out of town?
Ji Xinyue felt suspicious, and the instant she climbed into the van, she met Jiang Han's eyes. Jiang Han froze for a moment; the corner of Ji Xinyue's mouth curved—what a coincidence indeed.
She sat down in the empty seat and glanced at Jiang Han. Was this unlucky thing in the habit of clinging to her golden leg? To run into her even like this—that was really something.
"Xinyue, you're going to Mei Family Village too?" Jiang Han asked in surprise.
Ji Xinyue nodded. "Mm. What, you're going too?"
"Yeah. We're planning to go mountain climbing, and we happened to meet a kind big sister who said that right behind Mei Family Village there's a very tall mountain, perfect for hiking. And there are mountains and waters over there, gorgeous scenery—she even showed us photos. So this morning we decided to go take a look. That big sister also said we could lodge in the village first, just pay for the room. We figured it out—staying in the village isn't expensive."
The corner of Ji Xinyue's mouth curved. Of course it wasn't expensive—you could even stay for free for the rest of your life.
Perhaps because they'd met a familiar face, Jiang Han and the others, who'd been a little uneasy, chattered away in the van the whole time, not noticing that the vehicle was driving to more and more remote places.
A few hours later, the van stopped.
Mei Ya slid the door open and turned to tell them, "Everyone out—we're here."
Only Ji Xinyue subtly noticed that Mei Ya's attitude had changed somewhat.
Jiang Han and the four girls noticed nothing and hopped down with their bags. Once down, they saw the situation around them and all froze.
The reason was simple: many people were surrounding them, countless gazes falling on them, making them deeply uncomfortable. Most of these people were men in their thirties and forties, their eyes practically glowing.
"Take a look—how's this batch?" Mei Ya walked up to a few of the men and asked. "Don't go fobbing me off with thirty or fifty thousand this time. You don't run into goods this good in five or six years—miss this lot and there won't be a next time."
"Sister Mei, how much for these few?"
Mei Ya laughed and said, "The prettiest one, a hundred thousand at the very least. The plainest, sixty thousand at least." Then, one by one, she quoted the men prices for the five girls.
"Then I'll take the seventy-thousand one."
"I'll take that sixty-thousand one."
...
Even as dim as Jiang Han was, she felt something was wrong.
"What's going on?"
"What do they mean?"
"This doesn't seem right."
The girls discussed in low voices, faces all turning pale, fear creeping into their eyes.
Xu Feifei said on the spot, "We don't want to go mountain climbing anymore. Can you take us back?" She bit her lip. "I'll pay you double the fare—just take us back to the county town right now, all right?"
"Yeah, we suddenly don't want to go anymore."
"I don't want to go either—take us back, please?"
Jiang Han also found the big sister who'd earlier coaxed them into coming to the village. "Big Sister Zhang, can you take us back now? We don't want to go climbing anymore."
"Go back?" Big Sister Zhang shook her head. "Little girl, since you've come here, just settle in nicely. Be obedient and you'll suffer less. From now on, this is your home. Don't think about escaping. Best to hurry up and bear your man a son—your man will surely treat you well."
"Big Sister Zhang, you sold me? You're a trafficker?" Jiang Han's eyes reddened all at once, and Xu Feifei and the other girls were so frightened they burst into tears. After crying a couple of times, they made a desperate dash outward.
Just these few little girls, against all those strong, sturdy men, in this remote little mountain village—they hadn't run a few steps before several men caught them and dragged them back. The one who resisted most fiercely was even slapped hard, blood drawn from the corner of her mouth, and she crumpled straight to the ground.
"Let us go. However much money you want, once we're out, we'll definitely pay you. Seventy thousand, a hundred thousand, whatever—my family's rich. How about I give you two hundred thousand?"
No one paid them any mind.
"Three hundred thousand—will three hundred thousand do?"
"Five hundred thousand. Five hundred thousand—I'll give you five hundred thousand."
No one showed any sign of responding, only staring at her and still smiling.
"One million," Xu Feifei gritted her teeth. "Let me go, and I'll give you one million. I'll go back and sell the house in my name and give you all the money."
At this point, someone finally responded—the middle-aged man who'd bought Xu Feifei for eighty thousand. "Girl, we don't want money. We only want women."
"You've already been bought by me. From today on, you're my wife. Be obedient, settle nicely in the village, bear me a son, and I'll cherish you well. Don't think about going back."
Xu Feifei cried out frantically, "No, I don't want to be here."
"Xiaoya, what's going on here?" Ji Xinyue also began questioning Mei Ya. "You're selling me? You're a trafficker?"
Mei Ya's smile now was still very warm. But in these girls' eyes, that smile was especially terrifying.
"Xinyue, didn't you say you weren't happy living in that home? So I helped you change to a new home. From now on, live well with your man—he'll give you warmth."
Ji Xinyue had already seen it—someone had directly handed Mei Ya a hundred thousand in cash. She lowered her head and stood in place, not raising a fuss like Jiang Han and the other girls.
"This one's not making a fuss—Old Li, you can take her back." The village chief, seeing the transactions were about done, began to speak up. "As for the other four who are kicking up such a racket, follow the usual rule—lock them in the dark room first, starve them a few days. These few days, just give them a bowl of water a day. Once their stomachs are starving, they'll be obedient afterward."
Old Li walked excitedly up to Ji Xinyue. "Little girl, come with me now."
Ji Xinyue didn't resist and followed Old Li. Old Li was a man of about fifty, dark-skinned and short of stature. He walked in front; Ji Xinyue followed behind.
As for the other girls, amid their commotion, they were locked into the dark room to starve.
"You're called Old Li, right?"
"That's right. You can call me Old Li from now on." Old Li rubbed his hands. "Little girl, as long as you're obedient and don't run away, I'll treat you well."
Ji Xinyue eyed him and said, "Do you know that buying and selling girls is against the law? Forcing women is against the law too."
"Against the law or not, I don't know. All I know is you're someone I spent a hundred thousand to buy. From now on, you're my wife. Oh, and from now on don't go by your old name. I'll give you one—take my surname. From now on you'll be called Li Juhua."
Ji Xinyue: "..."
She said nothing more.
These people in the remote mountain villages simply didn't understand any of this. They were like a herd of beasts, failed in their evolution into humans, possessing no ethics or morals at all.
That night.
Old Li couldn't hold back. Just as he was about to lay hands on Ji Xinyue, she knocked him out cold with a few blows.
She slipped out of the house and quietly prepared to leave the village. Just as she got past the village entrance, she suddenly felt something was off—her body flashed swiftly aside, rolling to the other side.
Her heart tightened. What was going on?
"I felt something was off about her before—turns out I was right. Quick, she's getting away. Good thing we were prepared. Over the years, plenty of our peers have fallen into her hands. Let's not follow in their footsteps. Catch her—we have to kill her."
How could Ji Xinyue not understand—her cover was blown.
That made sense too. She'd been doing this for three years; the traffickers should have noticed something by now.
The other party had real weapons in hand, and were prepared, too. She didn't dare meet them head-on, and like a phantom, sped into the mountains.
Every so often, she could feel a gust of force striking from behind, dodging each one by a hair. There were several of them, all armed, and they'd even fitted silencers.
Clearly, she'd offended the whole trafficking community to death—why else would they go to such expense?
Before she knew it, she'd run to the mountaintop. By now there was nowhere left to flee.
"You can't run now, can you?" Mei Ya sneered, her young face full of malice. "I had a feeling about you all along. I never imagined you were that formidable girl."
"Since you've come here, you're not leaving."
With that, Mei Ya and the other men, weapons in hand, took aim at Ji Xinyue to fire.
The corner of Ji Xinyue's mouth twisted helplessly. Was all this fuss really necessary?
A few bullets flew toward her. Thinking she was done for, she closed her eyes.
A minute passed, and the pain didn't come. She opened her eyes. Before her stood a woman in white, her back to Ji Xinyue.
And those few bullets that had flown over were uncannily suspended in midair.