The old woman was not slow. Supporting the young woman as they swayed with each step, she slowly approached from down the aisle and passed the carriage where Lian Youming sat.
As she drew near, she offered an apologetic greeting to the surrounding passengers. "Excuse me, everyone. This is my daughter-in-law. She's feeling unwell."
How could ordinary folks see through the trick? People made way one after another, and a few even asked after her with genuine concern.
Watching the girl walk like a marionette on strings, Lian Youming raised his eyebrows.
It seemed he had run into a *paihuazi*—also known as *daxuba*—both slang terms for human traffickers.
This old woman had likely boarded the train at the same time he did, snatching her mark before fleeing far afield. There was no telling whether she planned to get off at Tianjin or ride all the way south.
Chuckling softly under his breath, Lian Youming picked up his luggage and followed. He could not afford to lose track of them; once out of sight, finding her again would be like searching for a needle in the vast expanse of the open sea.
Although night had fallen, it was not yet particularly late. Some passengers were already asleep, while others still sat chatting.
Lian Youming observed as he walked, keeping his expression impassive. He glanced left and right as though looking for a vacant seat, yet his eyes carefully tracked the passengers along the way.
It was often said that master thieves acted alone while petty crooks ran in packs. Traffickers like these would never operate without accomplices. Judging by the old woman's extraordinary grip, she was clearly a trained martial artist; that being the case, she was bound to have confederates providing cover on board.
Sure enough.
The further back he walked, the more Lian Youming noticed people repeatedly eyeing him—or more precisely, keeping watch on anyone tailing the old woman.
There were men and women, old folk, children, and even a pregnant woman. Some were dressed flashily, others plainly. Some carried wicker baskets, some held up newspapers, and some appeared fast asleep while secretly fingering daggers in their hands. Children were roughhousing in the aisle, but their eyes darted around restlessly.
Trading subtle glances, taking shifts, providing cover, operating in the open or lurking in the shadows—along the way, Lian Youming spotted no fewer than twenty accomplices.
There were also several women cradling swaddled infants, seemingly coaxing the babies in their arms. Yet despite the clamorous environment and the raucous sounds of nearby passengers drinking and playing finger-guessing games, not a single baby cried out.
The more Lian Youming saw, the more alarmed he grew. He had walked right into a den of thieves.
After shadowing them across three carriages, he finally saw the old woman sit the girl down next to several middle-aged women.
These women all had large, sturdy hands and moved with swift efficiency. In mere moments, they had sheared off the girl's hair, slipped her into a set of men's clothing, and smeared grime across her face until she looked thoroughly filthy.
By the time they finished, there was no young woman left to be seen—only a young lad slumped forward in sleep.
Never mind ordinary passengers failing to spot anything amiss; even if Sun Duhe were standing right here, he probably would not have recognized his own partner.
In the surrounding rows of seats around the old woman, six or seven burly men sat wrapped in heavy overcoats, eyes closed as if resting. They appeared to be dozing, but their breathing was faint and controlled, and their hands were tucked into their sleeves, concealing deadly intent.
Lian Youming had only taken two glances when a figure stepped forward, blocking his view.
"Kid, you'd best not poke your nose where it doesn't belong, and you'd best not look at what you shouldn't see. Otherwise, you won't even know how you died."
The man had a shaved head and hairless brows, round eyes, a high-bridged nose, and greasy lips from whatever he had been eating. On his head, there was only one ear.
Almost simultaneously, at least four or five glares bore down on Lian Youming one after another.
Not only that, but several people had already crept up behind him in the aisle, cutting off his retreat.
"Little runt, followed Granny all this way, have you? What's your game?"
The old woman turned around with a grin, baring two rows of rotten, broken teeth. Her smile was vicious and menacing, devoid of any earlier semblance of kindly warmth.
Unruffled, Lian Youming held his luggage and pointed toward the drugged girl. "I know that girl."
The old woman cackled weirdly. "A girl? Where's any girl? This is clearly a young lad."
Lian Youming's expression remained calm. He moved to step past, but the one-eared brute blocked his path.
The old woman gave a cold, superficial sneer. "Let him over... I'd like to see just how much nerve this young brother has, daring to wade into this muddy water all by himself."
Lian Youming walked straight up to the old woman, glanced at the sleeping girl, and said with a trace of apparent concern, "Is she all right?"
The old woman narrowed her eyes and smiled. "This is a meat pig I picked out myself. Think I'd let anything happen to her? She just took a bit of sleeping dope; she'll wake up when the time comes. Why, is she your lover? Looking at your getup, are you an educated youth returning to the city? Built so sturdy, you must've saved up plenty of cash. How about this: I'll sell this meat pig to you for a thousand yuan. Don't go thinking that's steep. Shipped down south, she'd fetch two or three thousand at least. You'd be making a killing."
Lian Youming pondered for a moment, then looked at the crowd surrounding him. "Could you have them back off a bit? I'm timid. It's frightening."
The one-eared man rasped, "Granny, why waste your breath on him? We've already shown our hand. How much cash he's got, we'll know the second we frisk him."
Upon hearing this, the old woman snapped, "Forgotten how you lost that ear of yours? How many times do I have to tell you—our line of work demands finesse! You turned a slick train-running gig into highway robbery! Word gets out, and our peers in the trade will laugh us out of the business!"
"Judging by what you say, kidnapping requires finesse too?"
While the old woman and One-Ear were speaking, Lian Youming chimed in with a pleasant smile. In the next breath, he pressed his right hand onto the shoulder of a nearby woman; she went limp instantly and slid under the seat.
Looking at the accomplices slowly closing in on either side, Lian Youming took a seat and waved a hand with a chuckle. "Don't rush, don't rush."
As he spoke, he casually scooped up a handful of roasted soybeans from the table and held his fist out before the old woman. Under her mocking gaze, his five fingers rubbed and ground together. A rapid succession of muffled pops burst from between his knuckles.
Four or five seconds later, watching the fine bean flour drift down from the youth's fingers, the smile on the bound-foot old woman's face slowly froze. Her aged eyes narrowed into two tight slits.
Lian Youming spoke with gentle warmth. "Earlier, did you say this was a girl or a young lad? Say it again. I didn't hear you clearly."
A smile lingered on his face, but murderous intent surfaced in the depths of his eyes.
"Nobody move!" Her features turning grim and sinister, the old woman raised a hand to signal the others to stay put. She fixed her gaze on Lian Youming. "To think that at such a young age, you'd possess such remarkable skill. Since you're a hero of the jianghu, I can give you this meat pig. We'll call it making a friend. You go your way and we'll go ours—the water from the well doesn't meddle with the river. What do you say?"
Lian Youming shook his head.
The old woman frowned. "What do you mean by that?"
Lian Youming said flatly, "To put it another way: no deal."
The moment his words fell, a screwdriver slipped from the old woman's sleeve. She whirled around and pressed it hard against the girl's neck, snarling ferociously, "So what if you're from martial circles? Don't go thinking I'm scared of you!"
Lian Youming remained completely composed, speaking in an unhurried drawl, "Now that really lacks finesse. Let me put it to you this way: I'll give you lot one chance. When the train pulls into the next station, turn yourselves in, and I might leave you a path to live. But the moment hands are thrown, don't blame my fists for being merciless."
He might have let petty thievery slide, but having stumbled across the abduction of women and children, he was resolved to put an end to this gang today no matter what, lest they bring endless ruin to others.
Beneath the dim, yellowish light, hearing those four casually uttered words and taking in the youth's deadly earnest expression, the old woman narrowed her eyes and slowly lowered the screwdriver.
She did so for no other reason than that Lian Youming's left hand had slipped into his pocket at some unknown moment, bulging in the unmistakable shape of a handgun aimed squarely at her.
The old woman's cheeks twitched, and she hissed, "Boy, jianghu affairs are settled jianghu style. Blades, fists, and kicks are fair game, but no one ever brings out guns!"
Lian Youming waved a hand at several men, gesturing for them to step aside, and shooed the peasant women over as well.
After checking the girl's breath and finding nothing amiss, he withdrew his left hand from his pocket.
Under the light, there was no gun in Lian Youming's hand at all—he had merely formed the shape of a pistol with his thumb and forefinger.
"Coward!"
Right at that moment, a train attendant walked over from the distance.
Ignoring the old woman's livid face, Lian Youming immediately sat up straight, shielding the girl on the inside. The old woman and her cohorts likewise slipped back into their seats, looking completely normal as though nothing had happened.
It was not that Lian Youming did not want to alert the authorities, but rather that several infants were still held by the people opposite him. He feared that the moment he opened his mouth, these criminals might leap out the windows to escape, putting the children in mortal peril.
If they grew desperate enough to fling the babies, the consequences would be unthinkable.
Besides, turning them over to the police might actually leave them alive...
As the attendant walked away, Lian Youming met those ferocious, predatory glares and bared his teeth in a grin. Had he kept a straight face it would have been one thing, but this grin revealed an utterly savage visage. The murderous gleam in his eyes was completely unmasked, and the red mole between his brows grew increasingly crimson, like a bead of fresh blood.
His blood had stirred; his intent to kill had awakened.
Chapter 53