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Chapter 5: Emergency Rescue
A few minutes later, Wei Sanpao rushed over, holding a car key that had a patina. As soon as he entered the door, he said breathlessly, "Brother Yi, the key was stolen by the brother, but who can drive it?"
Li Yi immediately responded, "I can!"
"Ah, Brother Yi, this is a car, can you really drive it?" Wei Sanpao asked, surprised.
Li Yi smiled without saying a word and walked out with the car key.
In this era, cars were still rare, and only a few people could drive. This was far from the later generations when almost every family owned a car and everyone had a driver's license.
As the director of a state-owned meat processing factory, Li Yi held the rank of a full-time department head, and as such, he had the right to allocate a car.
However, the car wasn't anything special—it was the most common small jeep of the 1980s and 1990s, known as the 212.
Li Yi made his way to the parking lot behind the factory, opened the car door, started the ignition, shifted gears, and pressed the accelerator all in one smooth motion.
A few minutes later, the car arrived at the entrance of the No. 3 slaughterhouse.
Hearing the sound of the engine and the car horn, Wei Sanpao immediately led the others to carry the weak-legged human trafficker into the car, and they drove straight to Lijiazhuang, west of the bridge.
Because the road was a bit unfamiliar to Li Yi, he relied on Wei Sanpao to guide him along the way.
Fortunately, the roads were clear, and there was no traffic jam. They reached Lijiazhuang in less than 20 minutes.
Lijiazhuang was a well-known urban-rural junction in Jiangcheng, with small two-story buildings scattered everywhere. The terrain was complex, and the area was known for its chaotic and mixed population, making it one of the most dangerous spots in Jiangcheng.
When they arrived near Lijiazhuang, Li Yi stopped the car and turned to the frightened trafficker, saying, "Listen carefully, kid. If you take us to the kidnapped children today, we will tell the police that you voluntarily confessed to the trafficker's den and revealed the situation of the kidnapped children."
"In this case, the police will see that you cooperated, and you'll likely only serve two or three years. Otherwise, with your crimes, you'll get at least ten years. You can decide for yourself!"
"Brother, I cooperate, I cooperate!" The trafficker was terrified and quickly agreed, not daring to defy Li Yi's demand. He had seen how the big man had brought in an iron rod, and he knew that defying him would be disastrous.
"Very good," Li Yi said. "Now, tell me, how do we go next?"
"Go straight and turn right at the second intersection."
With the trafficker's cooperation, Li Yi and the others soon reached a relatively remote alley.
"Brother, the third yard inside is where they're keeping the children, but Liu Wu has a knife, so you should be careful later!"
Li Yi turned to look at the trafficker and said, "You still have a conscience, warning us. As long as that bastard doesn't have a gun, a knife won't be a problem for me!"
Li Yi then turned to Wei Sanpao and said, "Old Third, leave a brother to watch this kid. The rest of you come with me to rescue the children!"
"Alright, Old Third, stay here. The rest of you, follow Brother Yi!"
They quickly got out of the car, and with Wei Sanpao and the others leading the way, they rushed into the alley.
Inside the den of traffickers, two men and a woman were arguing.
"Boss, even if we escape, we should take one or two kids with us; otherwise, it'll be a huge loss!"
"Yeah, Liu Wu, we've spent so much time and effort on these kids, it would be a shame to lose them. Plus, the fair-skinned girl has already been reserved by Boss Li from Haicheng, and she's worth 800 yuan!"
"Money, money, money, all you care about is money! I told you, Lei Zi's been arrested. If you don't want to go to jail, you should run now!"
"Boss, even if Lei Zi is arrested, the police won't find out right away. The kid knows the principle of confessing and getting a lighter sentence. They won't find this place for a while!"
"Humph! Better safe than sorry. You need to think carefully. With our crimes, if we're caught, it'll be at least ten years, maybe even death!"
The remaining men and woman looked worried.
You have to understand that the government crackdown had just ended. Many gangsters had been suppressed in recent years. If they were caught, it was possible they could be sentenced to death.
"Huang Saner, listen to your brother-in-law. There are children everywhere on the street. We don't need to risk ourselves for these few. It's not worth it!"
"What should we do with those children? Should we let them go?"
At this point, Huang Saner made a gesture of cutting his neck.
Liu Wu thought for a moment and said, "Murder and child trafficking are different. The police investigate them with different intensities. There's no need to worry about the children. Just lock them up here and let them fend for themselves!"
"Alright, let's go quickly!"
Just as the traffickers were packing up and preparing to flee, the courtyard door was suddenly kicked open from the outside, and five or six young men rushed in.
Liu Wu saw Wei Sanpao leading the group, and recognizing them as the ones who had taken Lei Zi, he immediately knew things had gone bad.
Quick-thinking, Liu Wu didn't warn Huang Saner or Lin Yan. Instead, he turned and ran, quickly climbing up to the roof using the ladder in the corner.
Liu Wu even pulled the ladder away, cutting off the escape route for the other traffickers and preventing Li Yi and his group from following him.
Seeing Liu Wu disappear onto the roof, Li Yi didn't expect the guy to escape under such circumstances. He was furious, but he also understood that these traffickers were sly, and it was reasonable for them to prepare an escape route. After all, he wasn't a professional policeman.
However, the primary objective here was to save the children.
Li Yi turned to Wei Sanpao and the others, who were about to chase after Liu Wu. He said, "No need to chase him. Saving the children is the priority!"
After tying up the two remaining traffickers, they quickly searched the entire yard.
But what they didn't expect was that despite their thorough search, the kidnapped children were nowhere to be found.
Li Yi immediately realized something was wrong. His heart sank, and with red eyes, he approached the male trafficker, grabbed his collar, and shouted, "Where are the children? Where did you hide them?"
Though Huang Saner was terrified, he knew that if the children weren't found, their crimes would be confirmed, and they'd spend the rest of their lives in prison.
He hesitated, then said, "I don't know what you're talking about. Let us go!"
He was met with a heavy punch to the nose, blood spurting out, and his face deformed.
"Tell me, where are the children hidden?" Li Yi demanded again.
"I don't know!" Huang Saner responded, but his refusal only earned him another punch.
Another blow sent him ringing with tinnitus, disoriented.
Li Yi raised his fist again, and Huang Saner, now terrified, stammered, "I'll tell you, I'll tell you. They're in the cellar!"
Before Huang Saner could finish, Li Yi's fist struck again, cracking his eye sockets. Blood gushed out.
"I've said it all," Huang Saner begged.
Li Yi glared at him, "This punch is just because I don't like you. If you don't accept it, I'll give you two more!"
"I accept! I won't disobey!" Huang Saner quickly yielded.
With the trafficker's guidance, Li Yi and his team finally found the entrance to the cellar under a water tank, and they jumped in.
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