Rebirth in a Courtyard: I Am a Little Hunter

As the sun sank completely, the heavy twilight, like ink spilled, engulfed the massive abandoned warehouse and the crowded shelter. The daytime hustle and bustle and heat settled into a deeper, more oppressive silence, leaving only the suppressed groans and coughs of the disaster victims and the intermittent, faint cries of children floating in the polluted air.

After Da Huang realized something was wrong, at Wei Chen's prompting, the group quickly dispersed and moved closer to the sack. Wei Chen scanned it with his eyes, his expression immediately turning icy cold! Inside was a person, an infant! Needless to say, they had encountered human traffickers. At such close range, Wei Chen didn't even need to reveal anything; he flashed to Triangle Eyes' side! He knocked Triangle Eyes down with a single blow of his baton! Chief Zhang quickly pulled out handcuffs and had him cuffed, then dragged away before the crowd could react!

The group arrived at the burlap sacks in the corner. No one would have noticed this corner if Wei Chen hadn't pointed it out.

Under the dim light of the kerosene lamp at the temporary cordon, the atmosphere was as heavy as the low pressure before a storm. Director Wang, Chief Zhang, Jin Aimin, and Wei Chen stood in a circle, all their eyes focused on the tattered sack on the ground that the old policeman from the station had carefully opened.

The sack was untied, and a pungent smell of cheap sleeping pills mixed with sweat wafted out. Curled up inside was a small, thin baby, no more than a few months old, with a pale face and barely perceptible breathing. The tiny body twitched occasionally in its unconscious state.

"It's that 'three-step fall' trick that kidnappers always use!" Old policeman Zhao, with his graying hair and extensive experience, used tweezers to pick up a damp handkerchief from the corner of a sack. The handkerchief, emitting a strange, sweet scent, was brought close to the light of the lantern for close inspection. His face was ashen, and his voice was filled with barely suppressed rage. "These heartless beasts! They only target the weakest! Taking advantage of the famine, when people are crowded together and filled with fear, they can fish in troubled waters!"

Director Wang covered her mouth, her eyes instantly reddening, her body trembling slightly: "My God... such a young child... his parents must be going crazy with worry! Those damned bastards!" She looked at the baby's pale face, her voice choked with sobs.

Chief Zhang slammed his fist hard on the wooden crate that was being used as a makeshift table, making a dull thud. His teeth ground together: "Damn it! How dare they do this kind of nefarious thing in my jurisdiction! Investigate! Dig three feet into the ground and find these scumbags!"

He abruptly looked up, his bloodshot eyes sweeping over the crowd. "Old Zhao! Interrogate him immediately! Pry that bastard's mouth shut! Deputy Section Chief Jin, Comrade Wei Chen, increase security! I suspect this isn't an isolated case! There might be accomplices in the warehouse! Perhaps… they even have a hideout nearby!"

Jin Aimin's face was as black as the bottom of a pot, his eyes sharp as knives: "Chief Zhang, don't worry! Our men are all watching! Wei Chen!" He abruptly turned to Wei Chen, "Take Da Huang and keep a close eye on those in the crowd who are acting suspiciously, especially those with children who seem off! Report anything unusual immediately!"

"Yes!" Wei Chen replied in a deep voice. He squatted down and carefully took the unconscious baby out of the cold sack. The baby was light and almost weightless, and its fragility and coldness weighed heavily on his heart.

A chilling rage, mixed with his deep-seated hatred for this evil from his past life, surged and boiled in his chest like magma. He took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.

"Director Wang, the child needs a doctor!" Wei Chen carefully handed the baby over.

"Yes, yes, yes!" Director Wang suddenly realized what was happening and hurriedly took the child, wrapping it in her relatively clean coat. Her voice was trembling with tears. "I'll go find the medic right now! God help me, please don't let anything happen to him!" She carried the child and stumbled towards the temporary medical point.

Wei Chen stood up and looked toward the darker, more crowded area where the refugees gathered, resembling a giant beehive, deep inside the warehouse.

A mixture of despair, numbness, and pain mingled together, forming a chaotic swamp of the mind. He closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, his gaze was incredibly focused, as if all impurities had been removed.

The invisible spiritual force, like the most sophisticated radar waves, or like countless fine and resilient spider silks, spread silently from him, covering that chaotic area.

Countless subtle sounds, smells, emotional fluctuations... a deluge of information flooded his senses. He needed to filter out the painful noises in this ocean of despair and capture that faint "noise" tinged with greed, calculation, and cold malice—the unique, venomous aura of human traffickers!

The makeshift interrogation point was set up in a secluded corner outside the warehouse. A lone kerosene lamp hung on a wooden post, its light flickering and casting long and short shadows of the old policeman, Master Zhao, and the triangular-eyed man handcuffed to an iron pipe, like ghosts.

The wound on the triangular-eyed man's forehead had been simply bandaged, but the blood and grime covering his face made him look even more repulsive. His eyes darted around, revealing the cunning and roguishness typical of a habitual criminal. No matter how sharply Master Zhao questioned him, he stubbornly refused to give an answer.

"Speak! Where did this kid come from? Where are your accomplices?" Master Zhao's voice was like sandpaper grinding iron, carrying penetrating pressure.

"I...I picked it up! I really did!" The man with the triangular eyes stiffened his neck, but dared not meet Mr. Zhao's sharp gaze. "I saw that sack lying on the roadside, nobody wanted it, so...I just picked it up. Who knew there was a child inside! I'm innocent, officer!"

"Bullshit!" Master Zhao roared, slamming his fist on the table. "You think 'Three-Step Fall' was just picked up? You think that drugged handkerchief in the sack was just picked up? Do you think I'm a three-year-old? Tell me! How did you guys divide the work? Where's your hideout?!"

"I...I really don't know what kind of drug it is...I'm just a refugee..." The man with the triangular eyes started to act shamelessly, lowering his head and looking like a dead pig that doesn't care about boiling water.

Just as the situation reached a stalemate, Wei Chen's voice rang out behind Master Zhao. It wasn't loud, but it was exceptionally clear: "Master Zhao, on the inside of his right trouser leg, near his ankle, there's a bit of very fresh yellow mud mixed with some white powder, which looks like lime. Also, on the inside of his left cuff, there's a bit of dark blue paint smudged on it. It's very fresh and looks like it hasn't dried for long."

The man with the triangular eyes suddenly raised his head and looked at Wei Chen, a flash of undisguised horror crossing his eyes! He instinctively tried to pull his foot back, but he was handcuffed and unable to move.

Master Zhao's eyes lit up, and he immediately followed Wei Chen's direction. In the dim light, there was indeed a small, inconspicuous patch of wet mud on the worn-out cuff of Triangle Eyes' trousers. Upon closer inspection, there were indeed some white specks mixed in. There was also a dark blue stain on the inside of the cuff, which gleamed faintly under the light.

"Good lad! You have a sharp eye!" Master Zhao praised, then glared at the triangular-eyed man, his voice like a hammer blow, "Fleeing famine? On your way out of famine, were there places freshly painted dark blue with lime dust still falling off? Tell me! Where did you go today?!"

Triangular Eyes' face turned deathly pale instantly, his lips trembled, and the panic in his eyes could no longer be concealed. Wei Chen's incredibly precise observation of details completely shattered a crack in his psychological defenses! Little did he know, Wei Chen's mental perception had already scanned every minute trace on his body clearly.

Just as the triangular-eyed man's psychological defenses crumbled, Big Yellow, who had been quietly lying at Wei Chen's feet, suddenly perked up its ears again! It abruptly stood up, its golden pupils shrinking into a vertical line in the darkness, staring intently at the other side of the warehouse, near an exit where miscellaneous items were piled up! A low, threatening "woof" sound rolled out of its throat once more.

Wei Chen's mental energy instantly detected it! In that direction, a powerful emotional surge, a mixture of panic, guilt, and a desperate desire to escape, rippled outwards like a stone thrown into a calm lake! There was more than one target! They had been alerted and were trying to slip away!

"Jin Ke! Zhang Shou!" Wei Chen's voice was extremely low, but it carried an undeniable urgency. "Something's up! Da Huang is alerting! There are people trying to escape behind the pile of junk in the northeast corner of the warehouse! At least two! The targets are very alert!" As he spoke, he subtly pointed in that direction with his finger while gently patting Da Huang's head.

Big Yellow understood immediately, and like a golden arrow released from a bow, it silently scurried along the shadows at the base of the wall towards the northeast corner!

Its movements were light and swift, its four paws landing silently, and its golden fur flashed in the darkness, leaving an almost imperceptible trail of light. Only its eyes, which shone like molten gold in the night, were fixed on the direction in which its prey fled.

Jin Aimin and Director Zhang exchanged a glance instantly; their years of experience allowed them to make a decision immediately.

"Old Zhao! Keep an eye on him!" Director Zhang shouted to Master Zhao in a low voice, then waved to Jin Aimin and Wei Chen, "Go! Follow Big Yellow! Stay hidden! Don't let them get away!" At the same time, he made a gesture to several police officers and security personnel who were waiting nearby to surround them.

Like cheetahs blending into the night, the group used the warehouse's massive pillars and piled-up debris as cover to quickly and silently encircle the northeast corner.

Wei Chen followed closely beside Jin Aimin, his mental energy acting like an invisible searchlight, firmly locking onto the two figures moving frantically in the darkness ahead, like startled birds. At the same time, he transmitted their location, speed, and even their panicked emotional fluctuations to Jin Aimin and Director Zhang beside him through subtle movements and glances.

"They split up! One short, stout one turned left into a small alley! The other tall, thin one hugged the wall and headed towards the scrap yard!" Wei Chen's voice was extremely low, like a whisper, but it clearly reached Jin Aimin and Director Zhang's ears.

"Xiao Wang, Xiao Li! You two, go with Director Zhang to chase after that tall, thin guy! Wei Chen, come with me! Chase after that short, fat guy! Be careful!" Jin Aimin instantly gave the order to split up, and without hesitation, he took Wei Chen and followed the direction where Da Huang disappeared, plunging into the narrow alley in the northeast corner of the warehouse, which was filled with discarded wooden boxes and tattered tarpaulins.

The alley was pitch black, filled with the sour stench of rotting garbage. Big Yellow's figure loomed a few meters ahead, sometimes visible, sometimes hidden. It didn't bark wildly, only occasionally pausing, its nostrils flaring rapidly. Its golden eyes scanned the darkness, confirming its direction before silently darting forward again. It was following the "invisible thread" left behind by the short, stout human trafficker—a trail mingled with the sweat of fear and a distinctive body odor!