A live stream that dramatically transformed a depressed schoolgirl shocked netizens across the count

Chen Lang raised his phone.

The video recording interface was connected to the village police's duty terminal, transmitting location data, number of people, and on-site footage.

"They entered the village carrying a knife and a stun gun, and they even planned to kidnap people."

"Your boss is quite the planner; he's even booked several years' worth of prison meals in advance."

The scarred man lunged at him and tried to snatch the phone.

The stun gun emerged from the camera bag and aimed straight at Chen Lang's waist.

Chen Lang took a step forward to meet him.

Before the scarred man could straighten his arm, his wrist was already in Chen Lang's hand.

Chen Lang turned his shoulder and cut to his side, pressing his elbow against his joint, using the momentum of the forward thrust to send the man toward the courtyard wall.

His shoulder and back hit the wall bricks.

The stun gun fell into a crevice in the rocks, and the blue indicator light was still flashing.

The man on the right swung his knife and stabbed.

Chen Lang grabbed the scarred man by the collar and shoved him aside. The short blade grazed the scarred man's shoulder, severing the camera bag strap.

"Damn it! You better watch out!"

The scarred man had barely uttered a curse when he was kicked in the back of the knee, sending him crashing into the woodpile.

The man with the knife turned to run.

Chen Lang stepped on his front foot, his palm pressing against the elbow. The man's arm was pushed away, the short blade slipped from his hand, and embedded itself in the wooden door frame beside him.

The person with the restraints pounced on them from behind.

Chen Lang bent down to avoid his arm, grabbed the ends of the restraints with his backhand, and twisted his waist to press down. The other man went over his shoulder and slammed his back against the bundle of firewood, feeling a lump in his throat, unable to get up for a long time.

The fourth person swung his fist and closed in.

Chen Lang raised his arm to block the punch, then slashed horizontally with his foot, his shoulder slamming into the opponent's chest. The man staggered back several steps, his lower back hitting a water vat, splashing water all over his legs.

Finally, the burly man tore open his coat and pulled out a telescopic baton hidden behind his waist.

The metal rod was swung away and swept towards Chen Lang's neck.

Chen Lang used his toes to pick up the stun gun hidden in the crevice.

The plastic casing struck the burly man's hand, causing the telescopic baton to deflect half a foot and smash against the wall. Patches of plaster fell off, covering the man's head in debris.

Chen Lang took two steps closer, braced his left arm against the stick, and used his right hand to lift the opponent's elbow upwards.

The burly man's shoulder was pulled aside, followed by a knee to the abdomen. He clutched his stomach and bent over, the telescopic baton landing on the bluestone slab.

Chen Lang stepped on the rod and pressed it against the lock. The three sections of the metal rod returned to their original position and he kicked them under the water tank.

Less than half a minute.

All five people collapsed beside the woodpile and water vat.

The scarred man braced himself against the ground, trying to get up. Chen Lang stepped on the hem of his coat, picked up the restraint strap, and fastened him and the burly man together.

The remaining three weren't idle either; their wrists were all bound with the cable ties they had brought themselves.

A series of footsteps came from the alley entrance.

Two village police officers arrived at the scene, followed by a grid worker who was holding a body camera.

Chen Lang sent the video recording from his phone.

"The knife was stuck in the door frame, the telescopic baton was under the water tank, and the stun gun was stuck in a crack in the stone."

"I didn't touch anything. Take photos as evidence first."

The village policeman swept the equipment on the ground, examined the impact marks on the wall, and picked up his walkie-talkie to call for backup.

The scarred man lay on the pile of firewood, his communicator behind his ear still transmitting a message.

"Where is he?"

"Did Zhou Henian hand over the items?"

"say!"

Chen Lang took off the communicator and pressed the call button.

"Your people have already checked into the Songhe Village all-inclusive package of food and lodging."

The other end of the channel went silent.

"Go back and tell your boss."

Chen Lang threw the communicator on the ground and stomped on it until it was smashed.

"It's a festival in the village today, everyone's busy."

"Next time you send someone in with weapons, I'll send him more than just a police report."

He handed the scene over to the village police and pushed open the wooden door of the side room.

No one inside asked about the commotion outside.

Zhou Lan stood guard by the door, holding a wooden stick in both hands. Su Niannian stood next to her; having forgotten to bring the iron pot, she grabbed the bronze incense burner from the corner of the wall.

Bai Weiwei stood in front of Shen Qingci and Ye Xingyu.

Shen Qingci looked over the shoulders of the group and his gaze fell on the wall dust on Chen Lang's sleeve.

"Is everything taken care of?"

Chen Lang walked to the corner.

"A few tourists got lost, so I took them to the police station to sit for a while."

Su Niannian put the bronze incense burner down.

"Bringing knives out to play, these guys are really well-prepared."

"I brought too much luggage."

Chen Lang brushed the dust off his sleeve.

"The village police are helping them with their overweight baggage check-in."

Su Niannian glanced at him.

"Your shipping service is quite convenient; you send the person and luggage together."

Zhou Lan stared at Chen Lang for a couple of seconds, then loosened her grip on the wooden stick.

Zhou Henian sat down in a wooden chair in front of the shrine.

The old man unfastened the brooch inside his sacrificial robe and took out a brown paper bag from his chest.

The edges of the paper bag were worn through, and the seal was stamped with a wax mark from ten years ago. The square outline on the altar was this paper bag.

Zhou Henian placed it on his lap.

"I've been guarding this for him for ten years."

Gu Qingshang stood opposite him, his hands hanging at his sides, without urging him.

Zhou Henian opened the seal and took out a copper key and a folded piece of paper.

The paper has yellowed, but the words on it are still legible.

If the Gu family comes to rescue people, give her the account book.

Signed Cheng Shou-zhuo.

Gu Qingshang's breath hitched.

She didn't reach out, but lowered her voice.

"Was this left by Mr. Cheng himself?"

He put it in my hand the night he left.

Zhou Henian gripped the wooden staff and tapped the third floor tile below the shrine.

Zhou Lan squatted down and inserted the wooden stick into the crack between the bricks.

The floor tile was pried open, revealing an iron box underneath. The lid was covered in rust, but the area around the keyhole was spotless.

Zhou Henian handed the copper key to Gu Qingshang.

"You open this lock."

Gu Qingshang took the key and squatted down in front of the metal box.

Insert the key into the lock.

With a click, the latch popped open.

Inside the tin box was a black ledger wrapped in two layers of oil paper. The cover of the ledger read "Yunxiu Cooperative Medicinal Herb Acceptance and Project Expenditure," with four more words added below.

The He family in Shanghai.

A red line runs across these four characters.

Gu Qingshang peeled back the oil paper and turned to the first page.

The record begins in March ten years ago.

The origin, weight, processing method, and inspector of each batch of medicinal materials were all clearly listed. Cheng Shouzhou's half of his vermilion seal was only stamped after six of these records.

After turning a few pages, the accounts changed.

Transportation fees, hush money fees, consultant fees, and trial stay subsidies.

The same batch of medicinal herbs was billed three times. The receiving account bypassed two companies and was finally transferred to an overseas organization called "Intercontinental Life Consulting".

Gu Qingshang pressed down on that page.

"I've seen this company in the He family's old files."

"It's from the He family."

Zhou Henian looked at the string of account numbers.

"It was registered under He Tingshan's name ten years ago, but his identity cannot be found on the official record."

He Tingshan.

He Wenzhou's father.

The sound of drums pierced through the door panels, and the incense ash on the shrine slid down the edge of the stove.

Zhou Henian leaned back in his chair and placed his right leg on the wooden stool.

"The day your grandfather called off the project, everyone in the Gu family was cursing him. The contract was signed, the medicinal herbs were delivered, and the He family's money had been transferred. All that was left was to send the first batch of people to the mountains for trial stays."

Gu Qingshang raised his head.

"What did Grandpa find out?"

"He discovered that the money was not clean."

Zhou Henian pointed his wooden cane at the middle section of the account book.

"The project was advertised as a traditional Chinese medicine treatment, but the He family secretly included a drug observation clause in the contract appendix they sent."

"There was no approval, no informed consent, and if people couldn't hold on any longer, there wasn't even a way out."

Ye Xingyu gripped her sleeve and took half a step closer to Shen Qingci.

Shen Qingci stared at the account pages, her shoulders tense, and remained silent.

Su Niannian placed the bronze incense burner back on the table, the base making a dull thud.

"To put it bluntly, they're using living people as test subjects?"

Zhou Henian nodded.

"The list includes elderly people and patients transferred from other hospitals."

"When Gu Chengzhang found out about this, he stopped the project that very day and sealed off the Class B pharmacy. He originally planned to take the original contract to Shanghai to demand an explanation, but the news of the trial stay participant's liver damage spread first."

Gu Qingshang turned to the page with the red paper tucked inside.

The accident record from that year is posted on it.

The patient took weight-loss drugs without authorization, and the submitted medicinal materials passed the test. The report was issued four days after the project was suspended.

Two lines of handwritten annotations were left next to the report.

The first line is from Gu Chengzhang.

Warehouse B is sealed off, trial stays are suspended, and all personnel are evacuated.

The second line is written in red pen.

The incident is underway. The report has been suppressed. Warehouse B will be emptied tonight.

The signature consisted of only one character: "贺" (Congratulations).

Gu Qingshang pressed down on the ledger pages, causing several creases to appear on the paper.

She didn't flip through any further.

Zhou Henian raised his wooden cane and tapped the bottom of the iron box.

"Don't stop, there's more down there."

A thin file folder was pressed under the ledger.

Gu Qingshang pulled out the file bag.

Inside were thirteen lists of trial residents, each name followed by their medical history, medication records, and transfer locations.

On the seventh list, a name was circled in red.

Cheng Shouzhuo.

The identity section reads: Project Medical Consultant.

The proposed solution consisted of only six words.

Keep the person alive to silence them after the accident.

Outside the side house, village police escorted the scarred man through a narrow alley. The metal buckles on the restraints clanged against the brick wall.

Gu Qingshang stared at those six words, his lips moved, but he didn't say a word.

Zhou Henian's voice drowned out the footsteps outside the door.

"Your grandfather stopped the project to protect people."

"Protect Cheng Shouzhuo, protect those trial residents, and also protect those members of the Gu family who haven't yet been involved in any deaths."

The old man raised his hand and pointed to the last page of the list.

"He saved a group of lives, but someone took advantage of the accident to burn down the forest protection station, injure Cheng Shouzhou, and smuggle seven other people out of Cangshan."

Gu Qingshang flipped to the end.

Next to each of the seven names was the same blue lucky charm stamp.

Transport unit: He's Medical Overseas Project Team.

Destination: Switzerland.

Her hand stopped on the paper.

The Swiss medical channel that the He family is now using to force her into a marriage alliance was already mentioned in this account ten years ago.

Zhou Henian looked at her and spoke, word by word.

"Miss Gu."

"The Cheng Shouzhou you are looking for is the first person to escape."

"The remaining seven haven't returned yet."