Chapter 6: Rescue Success
The cellar was cold and dark, with a musty, rotten smell.
With the help of the light coming in from the narrow entrance, Li Yi could clearly see the scene in the cellar.
The cellar wasn't very large, only about five or six square meters in total. Near the entrance, there was a half-sack of potatoes with sprouts, and a large straw mat was laid deeper inside.
On the straw mat, several small figures were curled up—the kidnapped children.
The clothes these children were wearing were very shabby and appeared very thin. They must have been freezing in the cold cellar.
The children were covered in dust and had many dirt marks on their bodies.
Looking at their frail appearance, it was obvious they were malnourished.
Seeing that all the children were lying motionless on the broken straw mat, and that even their previous shouts had not been answered, Li Yi's heart immediately tightened.
Could it be that... these villains had already killed the children?
At that moment, Li Yi couldn't care less and rushed forward, reaching out to check the children's breathing.
Fortunately, they were still breathing!
It seemed that the traffickers were afraid the children might cry, so they had given them sleeping pills or something similar.
Seeing the poor children before him, Li Yi couldn't help but feel heartbroken. He thought of his own daughter.
In his previous life, his daughter had also been abducted by these traffickers, and she must have been thrown into a dark cellar like this—hungry, cold, surrounded by fear...
Thankfully, the tragedy of his previous life had been changed due to his rebirth, but the heart-wrenching memories still hurt.
Thinking of this, Li Yi couldn't help but want to gather all the children in his arms, even if it was just to offer them some comfort.
"Old Third! Hurry and help these children, be careful not to hurt them!" Li Yi called out.
Upon hearing his command, Wei Sanpao responded immediately!
He glanced back at Huang Saner, whose eyes were rolling around, and immediately became furious.
Before anyone could react, he grabbed a brick from the ground and smashed it hard onto Huang Saner's head.
With a scream, Huang Saner's head split open, and blood began to pour out!
If the others hadn't been holding him, Huang Saner might have faced a much worse fate.
Huang Saner had originally wanted to take the opportunity to escape, but after being hit by Wei Sanpao, he immediately abandoned that idea.
They were all ruthless people. If they noticed him trying to flee, they'd break his legs!
Kidnapping children wasn't considered a serious crime, so even if he were caught, he'd likely be sentenced to just three to five years before being released. There was no need to give these people any reason to beat him up.
Though Li Yi was in the cellar, he could hear what was happening upstairs, but he didn't stop it.
In his view, these scoundrels deserved far worse. Look at what they had done—there was no humanity in them.
He picked up a child and approached the exit, ready to hand the child up.
With the light coming from the cellar, Li Yi noticed that the little girl in his arms was pretty. This was likely the child the traffickers had discussed selling to the boss in Haicheng!
Looking at her, she really resembled his own daughter, which caused his heart to tremble.
Together, they carried the six children out of the cellar and settled them in the main house.
Li Yi then walked over to the two traffickers crouching in the corner, his eyes sharp with determination.
"Is the one who ran away called Liu Wu?"
Lin Yan looked furious and retorted, "You're not a cop, why do you care so much?"
Li Yi didn't respond. He simply smiled, nodded, then swung his hand, delivering a resounding slap across Lin Yan's face!
Lin Yan screamed and fell backward. When she raised her head again, a clear slap mark was visible on her face, and blood was trickling from the corner of her mouth.
The woman trafficker was obviously stunned by the slap, her eyes full of fear.
"Tell me, is the guy who ran away named Liu Wu?" Li Yi asked coldly.
"Yes, yes, yes," she stammered.
"Where is he from?"
"He said he was from Shancheng, but we rarely heard him talk about his family, so we don't know if it's true."
"Do you have any other place to stay in the city?"
"No."
"Really none?"
Before Li Yi could continue his questioning, the sound of sirens blared outside the small courtyard. The police were coming!
Upon hearing the sound of the police car, the two human traffickers turned pale, realizing their fate was sealed.
"Old Third, go open the door and let the police in!" Li Yi ordered.
"Yes!" Wei Sanpao quickly ran to the gate and opened it.
Two sidecar motorcycles, each with two policemen on them, were visible. Behind the motorcycles, an old 212 vehicle followed.
The man who had called the police was riding a blue-and-white three-wheeled motorcycle, looking very pleased with himself. He seemed to enjoy the feeling of justice.
Although Li Yi recognized these officers, the olive-green uniforms gave him a sense of nostalgia compared to the navy-blue police uniforms from thirty years later.
At this point, a middle-aged policeman wearing a police hat scrutinized Wei Sanpao, standing at the door.
"Did you call the police? Where are the children? And where is the suspect?"
It was the first time Wei Sanpao had to face the police with such an upright image, but Li Yi stepped forward to take charge of the situation.
"Hello, comrade. My name is Li Yi, and I work at the meat processing plant. The children are in the house. They're likely drugged by the traffickers, but they're fine."
"There are four traffickers. One was locked in the car by me, two are in the yard, and one escaped. We didn't chase him."
The policeman studied Li Yi for a moment, obviously surprised that these small-time gangsters had the awareness to be so brave and righteous.
"You did a great job. Please come back and record your statement with us. Thank you."
He then turned to his colleagues and ordered, "Take the suspects and the children away! Let's get organized."
With that, Li Yi and the others watched as the three traffickers were handcuffed and led away, and the children were taken by the 120 ambulance that had just arrived.
Only then did they feel a sense of relief.
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