what's in the depths

Tong Si shuddered, and immediately poked the torch over, and saw an unknown object wriggling slightly in the corner of the firewood room.

The light was dim, and it was impossible to see what it was.

"Is anyone there?" Tong Si asked in a low voice, holding a flashlight and slowly leaning over there.

After walking up to the unknown object, Tong Sicai finally saw his true face of Lushan.

A woman, in rags, with a black face, a big belly, and her limbs were bound by iron chains. Next to her were some black bedding that even the cotton wool was hardened into iron lumps, and the surroundings were full of spoiled food and excrement.

"You—" Tong Si squatted beside her, covering his nose, "Are you a villager here?"

As soon as the words fell, the woman suddenly went crazy and rushed towards Tong Si, grabbed his hair and opened her mouth to bite his hand.

Tong Si endured the severe pain and did not dare to speak out, for fear of waking up the villagers here.

The woman left a few bloody tooth marks on Tong Si's hands, and she grabbed the wooden stick on one side and began to knock on her stomach.

Tong Si was startled, but regardless of the pain, he hurried over and grabbed the woman's hand from behind to clamp it on her back, and grabbed the stick with the other hand and threw it far away.

"Calm down, calm down, I'm not a bad person." Tong Si covered the woman's mouth and patted the woman's back trying to comfort her, hoping that she would calm down.

"My name is Tong Si, and I'm a policeman from the Linshi Police Station. I have a police ID. Please calm down first. Let's talk slowly." As he spoke, Tong Si took out his police ID from his pocket and handed it to the woman.

The woman froze for a moment, then stretched out her hand and slowly took the police certificate.

Her fingernails were already very long, and the nails of several fingers were split, covered with blood, and her hair was messy and looked like it hadn't been washed for a long time, and she was in a mess.

The woman looked at the police ID in her hand, trembling all over, and then slowly knelt down.

"Criminal Investigation Bureau..." the woman murmured, hot tears could not stop falling.

Now, Tong Si can be sure that this poor woman was trafficked.

She can read and speak Mandarin very well.

Tong Si squatted beside her, gently touching her back to comfort her:

"Don't be afraid, we are here to save you."

The woman tightly covered her mouth and wept softly, her frail body seemed to be blown down by a gust of wind.

"is that true?"

The woman clutched the police ID card tightly, and pressed the ID card to her chest, sobbing:

"You guys are finally here—"

Through the conversation with the woman, Tong Si learned that her name was Shi Ning, and she was studying at a very good prestigious university in China.

One night a year ago, because of a quarrel with her roommate, she ran out of the school angrily and walked around the school moat to relax.

Shi Ning said that the atmosphere outside the school was good that night, which may be because of Christmas Eve. Many couples came out for the holidays. She walked around there by herself, thinking about who she could call.

Just as she was looking at the phone feeling lost, a woman ran towards her.

The woman looked anxious, she suddenly grabbed her hand and shouted happily:

"Feifei, I didn't expect to meet you here, what a coincidence!"

Shi Ning was wondering, when he heard the woman leaning into his ear and whispering:

"Someone is following me, help me."

Shocked, Shi Ning raised his head and looked in the direction the woman was running to. Sure enough, there were two men standing at the entrance of the alley looking towards him.

She held the woman's hand, comforted her in a low voice and told her not to be afraid, and asked the woman which building she lived in so that the two of them could go back together.

The woman said that she and her boyfriend were renting an apartment off-campus, but these days her boyfriend went for an internship and was not here. When she went shopping by herself, she met two suspicious-looking men who had been following her here.

She asked Shi Ning if she could take her home. She was very afraid, and the rented house was in the community opposite the school.

In fact, Shi Ning was reluctant at first, but she couldn't stop the woman from begging him all the time, and considering that the community was very close to the school, there should be nothing wrong, so she had no choice but to agree.

On the way, the woman offered herself a drink she had just bought from the supermarket to express her gratitude.

Shi Ning was not stupid either, she knew that the drink offered by a stranger was not drinkable, so she found an excuse to refuse.

When they got to the bottom of the building, the woman said that she didn't dare to go upstairs, and the lights in the corridor were out for the past two days, so she asked Shi Ning if he could send her upstairs again.

Shi Ning sent her there based on the theory of "help people to the end, send Buddha to the west".

The moment the woman opened the door, Shi Ning glanced at the layout inside, and he was slightly relieved.

It looks very suitable for a loving and sweet couple. The wall is covered with photo frames, all of which are photos of a woman and a man.

And just when Shi Ning relaxed his vigilance, a force from behind pushed him into the room, and then, the door closed.

Someone covered his mouth with a handkerchief from behind, and Shi Ning smelled a very strong smell of medicine on the handkerchief.

It wasn't long before she lost consciousness.

When she woke up, she was already in the mountains. Two old people who had read half a hundred kept calling themselves "daughter-in-law". Shi Ning explained that she was sold here countless times, and hoped that the two An old man can call the police for himself.

She hoped that these "simple and kind" villagers would let her go.

However, what they got in the end was their endless beatings and the endless rape of the old man's mentally problematic son.

I made trouble, begged, and ran, but the most desperate thing was that the whole village looked at her, and she would be beaten severely if she moved a little away from the village.

Even so, Shi Ning still did not give up, she thought of many ways, just to escape from this mountain.

But no matter how many times, the result is the same.

Finally, to prevent her from escaping again, the two old people tied her up in the woodshed with iron chains.

At this time, Shi Ning began to vomit frequently and lose her appetite. She thought that there was a reason for this family to take her to the hospital, but in the end, she got even more desperate news.

She is pregnant--

Tong Si listened to her quietly, without interjecting a word.

He looked calm on the surface, but his hands in his pockets were tightly clenched.

"Don't worry, wait for me one more day, the day after tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, I will definitely rescue you."

Shi Ning nodded heavily, holding Tongsi's police ID card tightly in her hand, as if grasping the last straw of hope.

"Then besides you, do you know any other girls who were trafficked here?"

Shi Ning nodded, but shook his head again:

"There are a lot of girls sold here, about a dozen. Some committed suicide, some were crazy even though they were alive, and some decided to stay here after giving birth because they couldn't bear the child. It’s just that no one can leave here.”

Listening to Tong Si, he felt as if a pile of stones had been buried in his chest, and he couldn't breathe. This kind of oppressive feeling, even if the whole village was sentenced, would not help.

The girls who were supposed to be the apple of their parents' eyes, who were supposed to have bright prospects and a bright future, ended up like this because they were too kind and too gullible in the words of strangers.

"By the way, do you know where Lao Zhang's family lives?"

Shi Ning looked at Tong Si suspiciously, as if he didn't quite understand what he meant.

"I heard that there is a family named Zhang here. Yesterday, I just bought a girl who was cheated. I heard that she is pregnant. Do you know where their family is?"

Shi Ning thought for a while, and suddenly her eyes widened. She grabbed Tong Si and nodded vigorously:

"Yesterday, I heard someone chatting outside the firewood room. They said that because their son had physical problems and couldn't bear children, they bought a pregnant woman directly. They also said that she was an English teacher from a middle school in Linshi..."

Tong Si took a deep breath again, he didn't know what terrible things he would do if he didn't work hard to stabilize his emotions at this time.

"Then do you know the approximate location of the house that bought her?"

Shi Ning thought about it carefully, then whispered:

"There aren't many people with the surname Zhang in this village. If it's a physical problem, I probably know it. It's about the third or fourth household from the bottom of this row of earthen houses."

Tong Si patted her on the shoulder: "Thank you for providing the information, then, you can rest well tonight, don't tell anyone about my visit, what should you do tomorrow, don't make people suspicious, the day after tomorrow at the latest At noon, I will definitely take you away."

Shi Ning looked at Tong Si with tears in his big eyes.

She stretched out her hand and handed back Tong Si's police certificate to him tremblingly.

Tong Si said: "You take it first, and return it to me after you return to your parents."

Shi Ning withdrew his hand, clutching the police certificate, tears streaming down his face.

"There are more." Before leaving, Tong Si stopped again.

"If you don't want that child, go to a big hospital to kill it after you get out. Don't attack yourself again. That will hurt yourself. You are right, you don't need to be punished."

Many people think that although Shi Ning was forced to conceive a child, the child is innocent after all, and it is inhumane to kill it.

But Tong Si had only one thought:

"You fucking tell me what humanity is. Letting a girl who was originally innocent carry this stain and live a life of inferiority and shame, is this called humanity?"

Sneaking out of the firewood room, he searched for the location Shi Ning said, wanting to see if the pregnant woman was his sister.

Tong Si was really going crazy, there was no signal on the phone, and he couldn't contact anyone. His heart was suffering, but he couldn't search blatantly.

He wiped the sweat from his brow, walked to the firewood shed of the third-to-last family, opened the door, shone a light on it, and inspected around, but found nothing unusual.

I'm a little bit disappointed, but it's a good thing if there is no one.

Tong Si exited the woodshed and continued to check the next one.

Tong Si was very naughty when he was young, and was often beaten by his parents, but his sister Tong Qi was different, she was more obedient, smart, and good at reading.

So parents will always unconsciously favor his sister more.

For example, the family bought five swimming crabs, which were quite expensive, basically one for each person, and the extra one naturally fell into his sister's bowl.

Who doesn't like to eat delicious food?

Tong Si reached for it, but was hit by his father with a chopstick. He was so wronged that he was beaten, and he ran back to his room and sulked under the quilt, but he kept reminding himself that he was a man and couldn't cry.

In the middle of the night, he heard someone open his door. Tong Si lifted the quilt and saw that his sister Tong Qi was standing at the door wearing a floral nightgown with something bulging in her arms.

Tong Si pouted, not wanting to talk to his sister.

Tong Qi closed the door gently, walked over barefoot and climbed onto Tong Si's bed, then took out something wrapped in layers of toilet paper from her arms, and when she opened it, it was a swimming crab.

Tong Si looked at his sister in surprise, and saw his sister wiped her hands on her nightgown, and then said in a childish voice:

"Hurry up and eat, if your father finds out later, you will be beaten again."

At that time, Tong Si, who was still angry with his mouth puckered, suddenly burst into tears.

In fact, when his father beat him with chopsticks, he wanted to cry, but because of face, he endured it all the time.

Seeing Tong Qi in the end, the tears couldn't be held back.

In my impression, what Tong Qi said the most is:

"Hurry up and eat, you will be beaten up if your father finds out."

"Put it back quickly, if Dad knows that I pretended to be him to sign for you, we will both be beaten."

"Eat quickly, if your brother-in-law knows that I'm coming down to bring you supper, you'll be hungry."

I thought that I doted on Tong Qi more, but I didn't know that Tong Qi was the one who doted on him the most.

Tong Si took another deep breath, and slowly opened the door——

Before I could check it myself, there was a frightened inhalation sound from the corner.

And this sound made Tong Si's whole heart hang up.

He hurriedly raised the flashlight, and didn't care too much. He ran to the source of the sound with long legs, and the flashlight shone——

At that time, Tong Si was seriously thinking about how many years he would be sentenced if he killed this old Zhang.

The woman cowering in the corner was none other than his sister, Tong Qi.

Tong Si was still thinking, what if he killed his brother-in-law together?Sentence for several years.

"Sister! It's me!" He pulled the trembling woman, feeling as if his heart was being pierced.

Tong Qi cautiously raised his head and looked at the person next to him.

In the darkness, the light of the flashlight gradually dimmed, but Tong Si's angry and distressed expression was very clear.

"Of course, but, save me, save me!" Tong Qi suddenly sat up in shock, raised her hand and tightly grasped Tong Si's arm, her messy hair hanging by her ears, her face was pale and bloodless.

Seeing his sister's dirty and terrified appearance, Tong Si felt all the blood rushing to his brain.

He hugged his sister tightly, touched her back and comforted her softly:

"It's okay, I'm here, don't be afraid, I'm here."

Tong Qi's cries became louder and louder, a beam of light suddenly shot out in despair, and then his dear brother walked towards him around the holy light like a knight guarding a princess. This feeling was both sad and happy.

"Did they beat you, did they give you food?"

Tong Qi shook her head: "Didn't beat me, gave me food, but I don't want to eat."

"How did you get kidnapped here, where is my brother-in-law?"

Tong Qi wiped away her tears, sobbed continuously, and her voice was intermittent:

"Just... I went to the pregnancy test early yesterday morning, there were a lot of people... I just... I sat outside with your brother-in-law and waited. I forgot to bring a water glass. I was thirsty. Let your brother-in-law go...to buy water, your brother-in-law As soon as I left, an old lady came to me to ask for directions, and said... She said that her daughter-in-law had given birth, so she came to check, but she couldn't find the inpatient department. I told her for a long time and she didn't understand, so I took her After passing by, it turned out to be in the woods behind the inpatient department, I was stunned, and then came here..."

After Tong Si heard it, he immediately exploded.

"Sister, listen to me, I'm here to investigate the matter of human trafficking this time, we will close the net the day after tomorrow, although I really want to take you away now, but I can't ruin the plan, just wait for me for another day, okay? "

With that said, Tong Si took off a police gun from his belt and stuffed it into his sister's hand:

"Tomorrow, if they're going to do something to you, pull the safety catch, pull the trigger, and it'll be fine, you know?"

Tong Qi shook her head with tears in her eyes:

"I won't, I dare not!"

Tong Si held Tong Qi's face in his hands, brushed off the sweat-soaked hair for her, and then placed a light kiss on her forehead:

"Hey, just do as I say, safety catch, trigger, shooting his leg will not be life-threatening, remember?"

Tong Qi held the police gun, his hands trembling uncontrollably.

After a while, she buried her head in Tong Si's arms and nodded slightly.

------------

When Tong Si rushed back to the investigation point, he saw that Zhu Yuhan had woken up and was sitting there, holding a binoculars.

Looking at Tong Si's red and swollen eyes, he didn't say much, and took out a bag of compressed biscuits from his bag and handed it over:

"You haven't eaten for a whole day, so your body will be overwhelmed."

Tong Si looked at the bag of biscuits for a long while, then raised his hand to take it.

"This time, it's justifiable. I won't report your AWOL to the report, and I won't make an exception." Zhu Yuhan leaned closer to the binoculars, his eyes fixed on the intersection.

Tong Si bit the biscuit mechanically, without saying a word.

"How is your sister, okay."

Tong Si was stunned for a moment, then nodded slowly: "Fortunately, I just got frightened."

"After you left just now, I happened to wake up at night, and saw a van with a license plate from a foreign country driving by and parked at the back of the mountain. I even took a picture."

Zhu Yuhan took out his camera, found the photo and showed it to Tong Si:

"The speed of the car was too fast, and the people inside were not clearly photographed, but judging by the license plate number, it coincides with the area where the suspect Sun Taibao often moves, so I suspect that all the victims of recent transactions are in this car."