“It’s a little girl’s… Huh? Where did the little girl go?” Someone heard Huo Zhanting’s question and answered instinctively. He searched around with his eyes, and only when he failed to spot Jiang Yan did he realize she was gone.
“Oh, I think she got off with her mother!” someone else remembered.
“No, no, that little girl boarded the train by herself. She was carrying two bundles that were bigger than she was. She really stood out!”
“Right, right, I remember now. The little girl was alone. I even remarked at the time about how strong she was.”
“Are you sure? Didn’t I just hear the older woman next to her call the girl ‘daughter’? Aren’t they mother and daughter?”
“……”
The passengers in the carriage all started talking at once, each adding a piece of the story.
From their scattered remarks, Huo Zhanting pieced together some useful information: the little girl was exceptionally strong, had an unusually big appetite, and had now been abducted by human traffickers!
Huo Zhanting had been watching this group of traffickers for a long time. They operated as an organized gang, used all kinds of methods to abduct people, and even had guns. They had kidnapped quite a few women.
What was truly beyond vile was that these traffickers didn’t just sell women and children—they also enjoyed abusing women and young children.
The women they abducted weren’t simply sold to those kinds of places. Before that, they were abused by the traffickers themselves!
The women Huo Zhanting had rescued in the past had been tortured so badly that they barely looked human anymore.
Fortunately, according to the tip he had received, the traffickers should still be on the train at this moment!
Huo Zhanting bent down and moved the large bundles blocking the way. The first time, he couldn’t budge them at all. They were simply too heavy.
It was hard to imagine that a little girl had actually carried these two bundles onto the train!
The second time, Huo Zhanting braced himself and finally pushed the two huge bundles beneath the table. Just as he was about to leave, something caught the corner of his eye—the writing carved into the wall of the train.
It had been gouged out with Jiang Yan’s fingernails.
**[Nandu, human traffickers, get off the train]**
Huo Zhanting’s expression changed drastically. He had no time to wonder how the little girl had managed to carve those words into the wall. Straightening up, he said gravely to his companions, “Let’s go. Jump off the train. The target has already gotten off!”
As he spoke, Huo Zhanting hurried forward to find the conductor and have the train door opened.
Jumping from a moving train was extremely dangerous, but Huo Zhanting couldn’t afford to worry about that now. If they failed to catch this gang of traffickers, who knew how many more victims would suffer!
Besides, just a few days ago, Commander Sun’s grandson had also been abducted by human traffickers. Huo Zhanting suspected this same gang was responsible!
That strong little girl also looked clever. She would probably leave some clues behind.
Still, Huo Zhanting didn’t place all his hopes on a little girl. Once he reached Nandu Station, he immediately contacted the local police and began searching for her.
……
After getting off the train, Jiang Yan was taken by the traffickers to a secluded one-story house.
Three other female comrades had been abducted along with her!
The house was one of the traffickers’ hideouts. Other kidnapped victims were being held in the basement.
Jiang Yan and the three women were also taken down to the basement.
Jiang Yan was the last of the women to be carried into the basement by the burly, seemingly simple-minded man.
She had kept pretending to be unconscious the entire time and never opened her eyes, so she had no idea what the basement looked like. But as soon as they approached, she heard a woman’s terrified scream.
And it wasn’t just one woman!
What the hell?
Jiang Yan cracked open her tightly shut eyes and saw more than a dozen naked women huddled trembling in a corner.
Their bodies were covered in bruises, their faces filled with terror.
Two other women were screaming as the traffickers pinned them down on a wooden table in the middle of the room and assaulted them.
The women’s screams mingled with the traffickers’ wanton laughter.
Everything about it was disgusting. Absolutely infuriating!
Jiang Yan also saw several children. Those bastards were actually doing this right in front of the children…
Animals! They were worse than animals!
Rage surged through Jiang Yan.
She had quietly left marks along the way. Her original plan had been to keep her head down and wait for the police to come rescue her.
Even in the brutal environment of the apocalypse, she had never witnessed anything like this!
How could she possibly stand by and do nothing?
**Whoosh!**
Jiang Yan’s eyes snapped open. She suddenly swung her fist and viciously smashed it into the young man’s temple, while simultaneously snatching the homemade firearm hidden inside the burly man’s clothes!
Her movements were fast and completely unexpected!
She jumped off the young man’s back and viciously kicked him in the lower back, striking directly at his spine.
**Crack!**
“Ah!”
The sound of breaking bone rang out together with the man’s agonized scream.
Jiang Yan dispatched the man cleanly, then glanced at the three women who had just been abducted.
They were simply too terrified to move!
Jiang Yan ignored them and charged straight toward the two bastards!
Seeing how vicious Jiang Yan was, the two men didn’t even have time to pull their pants on. They hurriedly grabbed the guns lying on the table and aimed them at her.
But before they could pull the triggers, Jiang Yan seized their wrists and snatched the guns away.
After repeatedly fighting for her life on the brink of death during the apocalypse, Jiang Yan’s speed had long since been honed to perfection. Over the past few days, her current body had gradually fused with the body she had possessed in her previous life, and her combat ability had already returned to the level she had reached during the apocalypse.
Besides, these men were far weaker than the zombies she had faced in the apocalypse!
Jiang Yan had just watched how the bastard used the old-fashioned gun, and she had already figured it out. She immediately aimed at the man’s forehead and fired.
**Bang!**
One shot to the head!
The recoil of the gun from this era was far too strong, leaving Jiang Yan’s thumb and the web of her hand numb from the shock. But she had no time to pause and recover.
Because at that moment, the other bastard had already aimed at Jiang Yan and pulled the trigger. The bullet came flying toward her.
When she saw the bullet, Jiang Yan remained calm and composed. She swiftly dropped to the side, narrowly dodging it, then immediately fired at the man!
**Bang!**
The bullet sank into the trafficker’s chest, killing him instantly!
Jiang Yan walked over and picked up the gun that had fallen to the floor. She didn’t look at the two women still lying on the table.
She couldn’t bear to look!
Besides, there were still other traffickers outside!
If she wanted to save these people, she first had to eliminate every last trafficker!
Jiang Yan didn’t bother with the women and children in the basement. She simply took the gun and left.
Two traffickers were guarding the basement entrance. Jiang Yan crept over and dealt with them before heading toward the main room.
The older woman in coarse clothes and her grandson were in the main room. Besides them, there were four more traffickers.
All four traffickers were men, and at that moment they were inside playing cards!
Jiang Yan wasn’t sure whether they had any more guns, so she didn’t dare act rashly. Keeping her body low, she lightened her footsteps and made her way to the doorway, pressing herself tightly against the door.
Jiang Yan’s nerves were taut as she secretly searched the room from the corner of her eye, looking for any guns.
From the position she was in, it looked as though she were eavesdropping, but it could also have appeared that one of the female traffickers was standing guard by the door.
Especially since Jiang Yan was holding a gun!
Huo Zhanting followed the clues Jiang Yan had left behind and arrived first. When he saw Jiang Yan like this, he misunderstood the situation and assumed she was one of the traffickers.
Huo Zhanting deliberately lightened his footsteps as he approached from behind. Catching her off guard—
He covered her mouth, seized her gun, locked her tightly against him, and dragged her away, all in one fluid motion!
Jiang Yan’s attention had been completely focused on finding the traffickers’ guns, so she never noticed Huo Zhanting approaching.
By the time she realized what was happening, Huo Zhanting had already dragged her away!
Jiang Yan had no idea that Huo Zhanting had mistaken her for a trafficker.
From this position, she couldn’t see the insignia on Huo Zhanting’s shoulder.
She assumed he was one of the traffickers’ accomplices!
Jiang Yan struggled with all her strength, but she couldn’t break free from Huo Zhanting’s hold. She raised her leg and kicked backward.
Unfortunately, she didn’t hit Huo Zhanting. Instead, he caught her leg between his own.
Huo Zhanting was nearly 1.9 meters tall, while Jiang Yan was only 1.65 meters. In this position, her entire body was practically pressed into Huo Zhanting’s arms.
Huo Tingshen’s iron-like arm was across Jiang Yan’s chest. Because she was struggling, his arm instinctively tightened more and more.
The position was, admittedly, a little ambiguous.