"Zhong Lin, don’t worry. We haven’t found Little Stone’s body or any of his clothing fragments. He might be okay."
Mei Weixuan, supporting Zhong Lin, spoke comforting words.
Xing Kui examined the surroundings, bit down on his steel teeth, and in a low voice said, "Young Master, preliminary estimates suggest there are at least a hundred corpses here, both male and female, young and old. Most were killed by the boars; the bodies are incomplete."
"Most? What do you mean?" Mei Weixuan asked.
Xing Kui took a deep breath, "Quite a few bodies were killed by people, with no bite marks, just a single knife wound... straight into the heart."
Mei Weixuan’s mind buzzed, and the grip on his sword hilt creaked.
"Someone is using humans to feed the mutant beasts?"
"Damn, damn it, who is it? I want to kill him, tear him to shreds."
Mei Weixuan’s eyes almost spewed fire, his voice roaring with fury.
Killing does not concern him; this is a world where the weak are prey to the strong, either you kill me, or I kill you.
But using humans to feed beasts is absolutely unacceptable, it’s the baseline of being human.
"There’s also some good news," Xing Kui continued, "We did not find Little Young Master’s body or any of his clothes. He might not be dead."
Zhong Lin calmed his turbulent Qi-Blood, his voice icy cold, "Are there many children’s remains among the corpses?"
In front of the pile of bones, Zhong Lin had already seen several small bones, obviously belonging to children.
Zhong Lin’s expression became even darker, and a chilling killing intent emanated from him.
"Xing Kui, seal off this area, send someone to notify the Prefectural Governor."
"Brother Mei, please ask the three major families to come. A mutant beast has appeared in the city; they probably won’t be able to sleep either!"
"I’ll go right away."
Mei Weixuan also understood the gravity of the situation and did not dare to hesitate.
"Everyone else, go back to the Hundred Herbs Hall and bring all the human traffickers here. They must know something." Zhong Lin said with a beastly grin.
On the roof of a collapsed and desolate house in East Town, a massive figure, hidden in a tattered burlap cloak with only a pair of sinister eyes exposed, silently lay on the ridge, watching the backs of Zhong Lin and the others as they left.
This figure repeatedly gripped the long knife in his hand, but even as Zhong Lin and the others departed, he did not make a move.
"Tonight’s commotion is too big, staying here is useless, this place has been exposed, and the boars have been killed, what a pity."
As the words fell, several figures hidden in the darkness swiftly darted out from the black shadows, quickly disappearing into the desolate house.
Just stepping into the Hundred Herbs Hall, a familiar voice suddenly came, and Little Stone hurriedly ran towards Zhong Lin with his short legs.
Zhong Lin squatted down and picked up Stone in one swift motion, a look of surprise and joy at recovering the lost filled his face.
At this moment, Zhong Lin deeply understood the existence of a wonderful phrase in the world called "false alarm."
"Where did you run off to? You scared me to death, do you know that?" Zhong Lin shouted angrily.
Instantly, tears flowed from Stone’s eyes.
"I’m sorry, Second Brother."
Deng Yunsheng also walked out at this time, dragging a man with a face full of soil and tossed him at Zhong Lin’s feet.
Zhong Lin recognized him as one of the human traffickers from earlier.
"Mercy, Young Master, mercy! I really didn’t know Little Young Master was your brother, otherwise, even with ten dog-guts, I wouldn’t have dared to abduct him."
The man knelt at everyone’s feet, kowtowing incessantly, each thud sounding loud and clear, and soon his forehead was bleeding, but he dared not stop.
"Young Master, Little Young Master was found with him. He drugged and placed Little Young Master in the cellar. If we hadn’t brought a hunting dog, we might not have found Little Young Master."
As Deng Yunsheng spoke, he fiercely kicked the man, the enormous force breaking his leg bone.
The man screamed in agony, rolling on the ground, looking very miserable.
Rage surged in Zhong Lin’s heart. He had underestimated this group; they really could act! They even tricked him and Mei Weixuan, making them think Little Stone wasn’t in their hands.
At this moment, Deng Yunsheng was also filled with hatred. He kicked the wailing human trafficker on the other leg, accompanied by a cracking sound, breaking the other leg too.
At this time, Liu Zhao wished to tear the trafficker apart; they had brought trouble to the Hundred Herbs Hall, courting death.
Zhong Lin handed Little Stone to Gu Yourong and said solemnly, "Senior Sister, you take Stone to the backyard first."
Gu Yourong also realized that the upcoming scene would definitely be bloody, nodded, and carried Little Stone to the back.
"Liu Zhao, he’s yours. Get everything he knows out of him."
"Yes, Young Master, don’t worry,"
Liu Zhao’s face twisted with a sinister smile, looking at the middle-aged man as if viewing a corpse.
This dog bastard almost got him killed. If Little Young Master had really gotten hurt, it would have been impossible for him to escape blame.
Saying this, Liu Zhao grabbed the middle-aged man’s nape like a kitten and dragged him towards a distant room.
Zhong Lin stepped into the room, where a group of burly men surrounded a small, helpless human trafficker, pressing them down again and dragging them in front of Zhong Lin.
"Young...Young Master, Little Young Master has been found. It was all that dog bastard Sun Erlv’s doing; it has nothing to do with us!"
"Yes! Yes! It has nothing to do with us."
"Young Master, you said you would let us go..."
Zhong Lin’s right hand made a silencing gesture, and the noise instantly ceased, with everyone staring at him intently.
Zhong Lin, with a mask of feigned amusement, said, "Earlier, several of you mentioned someone took on a big job recently, didn’t you?"
No sooner had Zhong Lin finished speaking than the shivering traffickers started barking at each other, desperately trying to offer someone else up as a scapegoat.
"Right, right, Young Master, it was Ma San who took on a big job."
"Fatty Zhou, you’re spouting bullshit; you’ve got plenty of two-legged sheep in your fold."
"Young Master, old crooked Dong recently made a fortune; he must have taken some big jobs too."
Anyone who rose to prominence in Tianyang County wasn’t simple, especially this group involved in human trafficking. The moment Zhong Lin and the others returned, they sensed the murderous intent on them, especially noticing the bloodstains on Zhong Lin.
Such chaotic scenes caused Zhong Lin to furrow his brows.
Suddenly, Xing Kui, who had remained silent on the side, drew his long knife from his waist and swung it like lightning.
The next second, one of the traffickers who had just been shouting and fighting, his throat suddenly erupted in a dense spray of blood.
In terror, he clutched his neck, but the blood was not staunched and poured out like a fountain.
"Help...help, help...help."
He collapsed to the ground, struggling desperately and screaming his guts out, like a fish on land, but his breath grew weaker and weaker, his struggles waning until he died.
The traffickers fighting each other amidst the cries quickly quieted down, leaving only heavy breathing, and faintly the sound of chattering teeth.
"Can you speak properly now?"