Chapter 21: Trying to Spread Rumors, Futile

“Get out of our way, or die!” The woman, lacking her accomplice’s strength, was agile.  Every swing of her knife targeted the child in the man’s arms.

Seeing the danger, Lu Zhengan dodged the woman’s knife, kicked her in the stomach, and quickly rescued the child.

Lu Zhengan spotted Su Yuanyuan in a secluded corner, rushed to her, and placed the child in her arms.

“Hide with the children,” he said before hurrying back to the traffickers.

Lu Zhengan, a former special forces soldier, was skilled, but the traffickers had weapons, making it difficult.  However, the passengers had been evacuated, and with the security officers’ help, the traffickers were quickly subdued, and their weapons confiscated.

The moment they were restrained, the traffickers realized Lu Zhengan was a soldier and that there were six security officers.  They knew they couldn’t escape.

Immediately, they began to wail.

“You’re murdering us in broad daylight! My wife and I were taking our child to Beijing Hospital, and these thugs attacked us, stealing our child and trying to kill us! There’s no justice!”

After the man finished, the woman cried, “These are murderers! Look how they beat us! We’re just poor people taking our child to the hospital. We don’t know why they want to kill us!”

The couple exchanged glances, their accusations perfectly synchronized.

“We were minding our own business, and they attacked us for no reason! I’m calling the police!”

The man’s face was bruised, and he cried convincingly.

Many passengers, unsure of what was happening, watched from a distance.

They didn’t know if the traffickers’ story was true, but they had clearly seen them with knives and attacking people.  It was safer to stay away, regardless.

“My child has been sickly since birth! You stole my child in broad daylight! If anything happens to him, you’ll all be shot!” The woman spat at the security officer.

The officer impassively wiped it off and handcuffed the traffickers.

“Someone reported you as traffickers.  During the commotion, your child didn’t wake up or react. What did you give him?”

“The child is safe now. You had knives and injured people.  There are many witnesses.  When the train stops at the next station, the police will take you in for questioning.”

Their skills weren’t those of ordinary passengers.  Why would they carry knives?

Whether or not the officers were thugs was debatable, but carrying weapons was a problem in itself.

The train manager had contacted the police station; the platform would be secured before the train arrived.

The traffickers gritted their teeth, baffled by what had gone wrong.

Everything had been going so well!

The train was crowded, and no one had noticed them initially.

Only after being apprehended did they notice that the mother and children from the opposite berth hadn’t returned, realizing what had happened.

“That long-tongued woman! She must have reported us! I knew she looked suspicious!  Those two kids probably aren’t even hers; she’s the trafficker! Arrest her!”

The woman, still defiant, tried to shift the blame.  If they were going down, everyone would go down.

Her accomplice, realizing Su Yuanyuan had called the security officers, started cursing.

“That damned bitch!  A wicked woman!  If you’re not hiding, I’ll kill you!”

“Watch your language,” Lu Zhengan, about to change back into his uniform, frowned at the curses.

The officers were taken aback by the traffickers’ vulgarity.  “You’ve now added assault to your charges. You’ll be taken in by the police at the next station.”

The traffickers’ mouths were relentless.  The officer decided to gag them.

He found some cloth strips.  Seeing this, the traffickers quickly said, “Officer, Officer, we confess! There are other accomplices on the train.  If we help you find them, will we get a lighter sentence?”

“Yes, yes, we can help you find the others. Just let us search the carriage, and we’ll find them,” the woman added after her husband.

The train was moving; jumping off was suicidal. If they had accomplices, searching would find them.

Lu Zhengan took the cloth strips from the officer, balled them up, and stuffed them into the traffickers’ mouths without a word.

“I observed that you didn’t exchange glances with anyone.  During the arrest, your eyes didn’t dart anywhere, and no one reacted to your apprehension.  You don’t have accomplices.”

While apprehending them, Lu Zhengan had been watching for any signs of accomplices among the passengers.

As he finished speaking, the trafficker suddenly went limp, his eyes rolling back, and began convulsing.

The officer holding him was startled. “Quickly, get the medic! He must have some underlying condition!  Everyone, disperse! Open the windows!”

Based on the symptoms, the officer suspected a seizure or other sudden illness.

Either way, they needed to clear the area and provide fresh air.

Lu Zhengan frowned, about to check, when the man suddenly jumped up and fled towards the next carriage.

He didn’t know how long until the next stop, but creating chaos would buy him time.

Even if he couldn’t escape, he’d take that woman down with him.

“Damn it, I’ll kill you when I get my hands on you,” he cursed, running swiftly.

Everyone realized he’d been faking it.

Lu Zhengan, remembering something, immediately gave chase.

Lu Zhengan was highly trained and faster than the average person, though not necessarily faster than the trafficker.

He quickly crossed a carriage but didn’t see Su Yuanyuan.

Judging by how quickly the man had returned after rescuing the child, the woman should have been in this carriage.

Had she escaped?

A cruel glint appeared in the trafficker’s eyes.  As he continued searching, he felt a sharp pain in his shoulder.

Before he could react, the world spun, and he was thrown to the ground, hitting his head and losing consciousness.

Lu Zhengan quickly tied his hands with rope and checked the carriage, relieved to find Su Yuanyuan and the children were gone.

Su Yuanyuan knew how ruthless traffickers could be.  Regardless of the arrest’s success, they might seek revenge.

After Lu Zhengan gave her the child, Su Yuanyuan hid with her children.

She wasn’t going to wait for them to find her.

“Comrade, thank you for your quick thinking,” the officer, sweating profusely, tied the trafficker’s feet.

Lu Zhengan merely nodded, his gaze falling on the conductor returning with a child.

“The child is fine; he was just drugged.  The comrade who helped doesn’t want to be identified; we’ll handle the rest.”

The conductor looked pale from the ordeal, but she had calmly evacuated passengers and maintained order.

Lu Zhengan glanced at the child: “That’s good.”

In the other carriage, Su Yuanyuan and her children hid behind the luggage rack, listening intently.

The soldier was fit and capable; apprehending the traffickers should be straightforward.

But she couldn’t risk it with her children.  She wouldn’t leave until the traffickers were off the train.

She wasn’t sure if they had accomplices; revenge would be dangerous.

Su Yuanyuan cautiously hid with Lu Siyuan and Lu Mingzhu until the train arrived at the station.

After the stop, once the train doors closed and they were moving again, Su Yuanyuan relaxed and returned to the sleeper berth with her children.