Trafficking Ring

He placed the soda bottles on the counter with a dull thud.

This immediately drew the middle-aged woman's full attention.

The woman was quick and nimble. She grabbed a red plastic bag and shoved the sodas inside in a few swift motions. She didn't say a single word throughout the process, but her eyes kept darting back and forth, sizing up Lin Mo and the girls.

"Sister, let me ask you something," Lin Mo said, his tone very polite.

The woman looked up at him, the corners of her mouth turned down. She didn't relax her guard in the slightest despite being called 'sister', but Lin Mo hadn't paid yet, and business was business.

"What is it?"

"I wanted to ask, where is the Cui family that had the accident recently? We want to go pay our respects."

As soon as these words were spoken, the relatively normal air in the small shop instantly froze.

The woman's eyes grew sharp. "You don't even know the way, so what are you going to pay respects for?"

"I'm here on behalf of my grandfather."

Lin Mo's expression was flawless as he casually made up an excuse. "The old man has trouble getting around, so as the younger generation, we run errands for him. We have to convey the old man's regards."

As he spoke, he pulled out a red hundred-yuan bill and gently pushed it across the counter.

His movements were casual, as if buying these few bottles of soda naturally required this bill.

The woman's eyelids twitched. Her gaze swept over the bill, and the tight lines on her face instantly softened, immediately bunching up into a wrinkled smile like a chrysanthemum.

"Oh my, so that's how it is. Easy, easy."

She quickly reached out her rough hand, slapped it down on the hundred-yuan bill, and expertly stuffed it into the drawer, moving so fast it was as if she feared the money would fly away.

"Walk straight down this road. When you see the big locust tree, turn left. Go to the end and turn right. That house with the pitch-black burned walls is the one."

Lin Mo nodded and picked up the plastic bag holding the sodas.

But he showed no intention of leaving.

Seeing him stay put, the smile on the woman's face stiffened. "Why aren't you leaving?"

Lin Mo shook the sodas in his hand, smiling harmlessly. "Sister, you haven't given me my change yet. I gave you a hundred. No matter how precious this soda is, it shouldn't cost that much, right?"

At his words, the wrinkled smile on the woman's face instantly vanished. Her complexion went from red to pale green, as if she had been slapped in public.

She glared fiercely at Lin Mo, extremely reluctantly pulled open the cash drawer, and began to slowly count out the change, muttering something under her breath.

Just as she was counting the money, Lin Mo leaned forward slightly, getting close to her ear, his voice lowered so much that only the two of them could hear.

"You can keep the money."

The woman's counting motion paused.

"However, you have to tell me."

Lin Mo's voice no longer held its previous politeness, carrying an unquestionable chill. "Who exactly did the Cui family buy that child from?"

This sentence was like a needle, precisely piercing through all the composure the woman had faked.

Her body suddenly stiffened, her face turning deathly pale, and the look she gave Lin Mo was filled with panic and fear.

The next second, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, she slammed all the change in her hand onto the counter, scattering the bills across the table, and then pulled the previous hundred-yuan bill out of the drawer.

"I'm not doing your business! Take your money! Take it and get out! Get out!"

Her voice was shrill, filled with a panic that masked her inner cowardice with false bravado. She wished Lin Mo would immediately disappear from her sight.

Lin Mo, however, smiled.

He slowly reached out and pulled the hundred-yuan bill away. Throughout the entire process, his gaze never left the woman's livid face.

Lin Mo hadn't expected that a random woman at a small shop would actually know something.

So he directly initiated a soul-searching technique.

A purple light, invisible to the naked eye, shot out from his eyes and precisely took control of her.

"Speak. How much do you know about the child trafficking?"

The four girls stood behind Lin Mo, watching his performance.

Xie Yuling and Jiang Yunlu were actually the ones with the least experience, so they were very surprised and curious about Lin Mo's words.

They saw the woman slightly open her mouth before saying, "The village chief... the village chief rented out a warehouse to those people to use as a transit station. They gave a lot of money..."

"What's the situation with the Cui family?" Lin Mo pressed.

"The Cui family bought one, but not to raise as a child, instead..."

The words the woman spoke were almost enough to send chills down one's spine.

"Did anyone in your village participate in the trafficking?"

Lin Mo enunciated every word, making the four girls behind him feel a bit terrified.

The woman shook her head. "That's something wicked that curses your descendants. We wouldn't dare participate. However, the village chief's family probably took part. He even warned us not to say anything, or he'd make us pay."

That was fine then, at least the entire village wasn't corrupt.

Lin Mo turned to look at the four girls. "This world is very dark. Are you prepared?"

Xie Yuling hadn't expected that her initial intention to just help an old lady would lead to encountering this kind of situation.

She looked at Lin Mo and nodded firmly.

"I'm prepared."

The others nodded as well.

Ning Qingcheng even said directly, "Then let's charge over to that warehouse, slice them up like melons and vegetables, and destroy a trafficking syndicate!"

Jiang Yunlu also nodded. Wasn't solving this kind of thing the knight-errant journey she had always dreamed of?

Only Chu Miaomiao stood behind them, listening quietly.

But Lin Mo clapped his hands and said, "No rush, let's go eat first."

Saying that, Lin Mo led them toward the car.

Ning Qingcheng couldn't help but ask, "Wait, Senior Brother, aren't we going to take care of that trafficking syndicate right now?"

Lin Mo shook his head. "I'm hungry, food comes first. Besides, there are other people coming to handle this matter. Don't forget, our goal today isn't to bust some trafficking ring, but to find the old lady's grandson."

Hearing this, Ning Qingcheng couldn't help but mutter.

"But we saw it, and we have the ability to solve it too."

Lin Mo unceremoniously reached out and patted Ning Qingcheng on the head.

"So what, you want to rush to meddle in other people's business? Let's go! Come eat with me."

With that, Lin Mo and the others got in the car.

Uncle Zhao didn't ask much and simply drove off.

Lin Mo set the GPS to a farm restaurant over ten kilometers away and directed Uncle Zhao.

Uncle Zhao didn't ask how Lin Mo knew the way and just followed the road.

While they were on their way to the farm restaurant, Liu Zheng and his group arrived belatedly.

Seeing another group of people arrive, the group of old folks looked over again.

Splitting into two groups, Xia Zhi and Shouzhen led people to the funeral parlor to examine the bodies.

Liu Zheng and Old Bai also led people to the scene to inspect the situation.

After all, Liu Zheng's crime scene investigation skills were top-notch.

However, as soon as Liu Zheng and the others got out of the car, someone stopped them.

"What are you... doing here?"

A few old men looked at Liu Zheng's group warily.

Liu Zheng directly flashed his badge. "We are here to investigate an accidental fire case."