Qiming Chapter 10

Chapter 10

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The sky was faintly white, with a lone star hanging in the sky. She woke up from the bumpy mountain road and found herself still in the car. The smell of blood filled the air around her. She loosened her clenched fingers and gently placed them between her legs.

Blood... a lot of blood.

She hadn't eaten for a whole day and night, leaving her so weak that she had no strength at all. Her hands and feet were tied with ropes, allowing her very little movement. She looked up and saw the woman with a bulging belly beside her, her eyes bloodshot with rage, her whole body trembling uncontrollably. The next moment, she wanted to strangle the woman and send her to hell. The man, worse than an animal, was driving the car, whistling cheerfully. The previous abuse had only made him more excited.

Closing her eyes brought nightmares, and opening them revealed demons.

She tried to conserve her strength and looked around. The car had reached the end of the mountain road, and ahead was the county town. She didn't know where they had arrived, but the lights in the residential houses told her there were people there, and she still had a chance to escape.

I must escape, escape at all costs. I want these two to die, go to hell, and burn in the fires.

They do not deserve a good death.

These were the only thoughts in her unclear mind, also her final thoughts in this world.

She used all her strength to slam the moving car door, but she was too weak, still bleeding a little from below, and her body was covered with wounds. After half a minute, her battered body finally knocked open the car door, and she fell out of the speeding van. At the same time, the sleeping woman woke up, and the man driving cursed, slamming on the brakes and grabbing a clumsy machete from the car.

She crawled forward with what little breath she had left, towards the moonlight, stars, and lights, crawling towards the countless lights ahead.

"You little whore, still fucking trying to run? Damn you, I'll cut off your legs and see where you run then."

Hearing the curses, she could no longer move. Terrified, she turned her head and saw the demon raising the machete, the blade coming down towards her bleeding legs.

When Xu Chengyue returned home, it was already eight in the evening. He had eaten an omelette rice dinner at the restaurant downstairs and had just stepped into his room when he received a message from Ying Xizi.

– Chengyue, have you eaten?

– Be sure to go to bed early tonight. Why didn't you answer my call?

He looked at the missed call and indeed saw an unknown number from Beijing around two in the afternoon.

He had intended to call back but thought better of it. This usually aloof and cold young woman was just his personal doctor, and they hadn't known each other for long. Why did she always act like she was his girlfriend?

He turned on his computer, connected to the Ministry of Public Security's Third Institute with his access, and searched for cases from those years. A legal program was on TV, which he kept as background noise, finding it somewhat interesting.

The 6.24 large-scale human trafficking case.

The crime spanned from August 2002 to July 2005. The abducted girls were all aged between twelve and twenty. The less attractive ones were sold to remote areas, while the prettier ones were forced to sign high-interest loan contracts, forcing them to participate in prostitution.

The entire criminal gang operated under the guise of a high-interest loan company, with annual interest rates reaching three times the principal. The abducted girls were forced to sign contracts in unfamiliar places, and those who couldn't pay the interest were compelled to become prostitutes.

The gang leader was Cao Yan, who ran a nightclub in the suburbs of the neighbouring city while engaging in human trafficking. Guan Jianhua was her driver, responsible for transporting people. In three years, a total of fifty-seven girls suffered misfortune. They were either imprisoned in deep mountains or trapped in the neon lights of the nightlife, washing their faces with tears. When the police rescued them in 2005, some had already given birth after being sold into the mountains, full of sorrow and, like those forced into prostitution, filled with distrust and fear of the world.

Some victims went mad from the torture, while others died hastily from illness.

Cao Yan's husband was Shen Shisheng, and the loan company was under his name. They were a typical couple-run operation; the wife lured naïve girls and the husband forced them to borrow money, using exorbitant interest rates to coerce them into prostitution.

Their seamless cooperation allowed their criminal activities to continue for three years until June 2005. Xu Chengyue found in the records that the accidental death of a girl who went by the alias Chunqiu ended this horrific crime.

The files included a follow-up report on Chunqiu, with a sensational title and content – "Shattered Youth, Collapsed Family."

Chunqiu never imagined that what she thought was the beginning of a beautiful youth would be the last radiance of her life.

The day the college entrance exam results came out, Chunqiu did quite well. She believed she could get into her dream school, choose a favourite major, and start a fearless, real youth. So she happily took her father for a walk, imagining a wonderful university life along the way.

This eighteen-year-old girl had everything beautiful – youthful energy, a hopeful future, and a happy family. However, her father was addicted to smoking, at least two packs a day, despite her repeated scoldings. As usual, not long into their walk, her father felt the urge to smoke again. Forgetting his cigarettes, he decided to buy a pack from a nearby shop. Chunqiu hated the smell of smoke, so she chose to wait alone.

But not long after, a demon arrived instead.

This demon seemed to be Cao Yan. Xu Chengyue read through the report, which mentioned that over the years, Cao Yan, along with a few male accomplices, used various methods like asking for directions on the street, drugging in bars, and drinking in nightclubs to lure victims. But when Cao Yan encountered Chunqiu, she was already six months pregnant, waddling with her bulging belly and sweating profusely as she asked Chunqiu to help her home.

She said her home was nearby, just a few minutes away. Chunqiu readily agreed but never returned.

It seemed that the child in Cao Yan's belly was Yuan Man. Xu Chengyue started to understand why Chen Yu was so anxious about Yuan Man's background being exposed. Not only was she the bait used to lure kind-hearted girls, but her existence also spared Cao Yan from an immediate death sentence, resulting in a mere twenty-five-year imprisonment.

Chunqiu's family was also torn apart because of this. Her mother could never forgive her father's mistake and eventually divorced him.

Saying Yuan Man was born of original sin seemed not too far off. But ultimately, she was just a tool being used, a child without a soul of her own.

Maybe the dosage wasn't controlled properly, and Chunqiu suddenly woke up when Guan Jianhua was driving her to the neighbouring city. She struggled and called for help loudly. Cao Yan and her husband took the girl to a remote wilderness and beat her brutally until she never woke up again.

In their panic, the couple dumped her body in the wild, and three days later, locals discovered the corpse, finally exposing the entire case.

That day was June 24th.

Xu Chengyue looked at the calendar; the day after tomorrow was the anniversary of this girl's death.

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

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Translator Notes

Please feel free to comment any mistakes I made so I can improve and do better as I go through the book.

Translated: June 27, 2024 by Angel

Edited: July 2, 2024 by Angel