Reborn in 78, I made my fortune by working in the mountains, supporting three families on my own.

They dared not take the main roads or official paths.

During the day, when there are many people around, it is very easy to be exposed.

In addition, the dosage of the drug given to the child was light, not daring to be too strong and harm the child's body, for fear that the child would wake up and cry halfway and attract attention.

Crossing mountains and traversing dense forests is currently the most concealed and safest escape route.

Qiangzi, carrying a basket filled with small stones on his back, had been trekking over the mountain for several tens of minutes and was already panting heavily with weak legs.

He suddenly stopped and slammed the basket down on the ground.

"Big brother, I can't carry this anymore! Someone please take over!"

Ma Dali's gaze swept over the tall, thin, and slender man beside him.

"You carry the dried cowpeas. Hurry up, we must cross the mountain ridge as soon as possible, we can't afford to waste a moment."

The tall, thin man nicknamed "Dried Cowpea" nodded, bent down to take the heavy basket, and steadily carried it on his back.

But just as the basket was being passed from hand to hand, a soft rustling sound suddenly came from inside the basket.

Gan Jiangdou frowned suddenly and said in a low voice, "Brother, something's wrong. This little brat seems to be awake."

Bald Qiangzi immediately became alert, reached for the sedative rag hidden at his waist, and was about to step forward to administer the drug a second time.

Ma Dali immediately raised his hand and sternly stopped him.

"stop!"

"We can't increase the dosage any further. If the medicine is too strong and damages the child's brain, making him mentally impaired, then all our efforts will have been in vain!"

"No need to drug her. Just find a rag and gag her. If that doesn't work, try to soothe her gently and keep her calm."

On the other side, at the fork in the road at the foot of Qingfeng Mountain.

Zhao Lei carried Jiang Xinyue on his back, riding his old-fashioned bicycle at full speed.

The bicycle was much faster than walking, and in just over ten minutes, it covered the mountain road that would normally take an hour, and quickly arrived at Li Guoliang's doorstep.

This place is only a dozen minutes away from the entrance to the Qingfeng Mountain Range.

But before them, three completely different paths suddenly appeared.

One road leads to the farmland at the foot of the mountain, another to the deep mountains and dense forests, and yet another to the state-run forest farm.

The three intersections have similar road conditions, which can be confusing.

Zhao Lei slammed on the brakes, and the bicycle came to a sudden stop.

He looked up at the three unfamiliar forks in the road, and a huge weight suddenly lifted from his heart.

At this moment, he was completely caught in a dilemma.

Now is the critical moment for searching for the child.

One step wrong, step by step wrong.

If you choose the wrong path or go in the wrong direction, you'll completely miss out on human traffickers and little stones.

A deviation of just a few minutes could mean completely missing a clue.

If he really went the wrong way, in the vast sea of ​​people and separated by mountains and rivers, he might never see his son again in this lifetime.

A tremendous sense of panic and oppression instantly enveloped Zhao Lei's mind.

Jiang Xinyue noticed Zhao Lei's urgency from the side.

He was covered in sweat, not only because cycling had taken a lot of effort, but also because he was now standing at a crucial crossroads.

If he had chosen the wrong path, this incident might have become a regret that Zhao Lei could never erase for the rest of his life.

Jiang Xinyue comforted him, "Sanshi, don't panic. Let's think about it carefully. If we were human traffickers, which path would we take?"

Zhao Lei was so anxious that sweat beaded on his forehead when he suddenly felt someone gently wiping the sweat from his brow. He turned to look at Jiang Xinyue.

"Sanshi, stay calm. With your abilities, you'll definitely be able to come up with a solution."

Zhao Lei's voice trembled as he replied urgently, "But Xinyue, the child has been missing for almost two hours. If we delay any longer, she might have already been taken out of Qingfeng Town, and then it will be extremely difficult to find her."

Jiang Xinyue wiped his sweat while gently advising, "Lei Zi, why don't you have a cigarette? You're too anxious, and your mind gets confused. You're a skilled hunter; you can track down even the most hidden prey in the deep mountains. Isn't finding someone the same principle?"

Jiang Xinyue's words were like a wake-up call.

Zhao Lei's heart skipped a beat. That's right!

Even in the remote, uninhabited mountains, he could follow the trails to track his prey, and he could also rely on the slightest clues to capture this group of human traffickers.

Jiang Xinyue breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the light slowly returning to Zhao Lei's eyes.

She reached into Zhao Lei's pocket, took out a cigarette, struck a match, and lit it for him.

"Lei Zi, have a cigarette to calm down and think this through."

The match hissed and lit up, the flame igniting the tobacco.

Zhao Lei took a deep breath, the smoke filling his lungs, and his restless and chaotic mind gradually calmed down.

When people are extremely anxious or excited, they are prone to making wrong judgments.

Jiang Xinyue understood this principle well, which is why she tried her best to calm him down.

Just like gambling, when you start out you are clear-headed and make mostly sound decisions. Putting luck aside, calm judgment can reduce a lot of losses.

But once you've endured it for an hour or two, you become mentally exhausted, your mind becomes muddled, and you make a series of mistakes, and the situation will take a sharp turn for the worse.

Zhao Lei squatted by the roadside, a cigarette dangling from his lips, forcing himself to calm down and think.

If a child trafficker steals a child, the normal course of action is to escape from the Peace Brigade as quickly as possible.

Heading east straight to Qingfeng Town, it takes about twenty minutes to get out of the brigade's territory; this is the fastest route.

But they went around to Li Guoliang's area, which is farther away from Zhao Lei's house.

If you want to catch a bus and take your child with you, it would be much faster to take the main road in town. Why bother going into this remote and sparsely populated mountain area?

With many suspicious points, Zhao Lei had a feeling that he was about to figure out what the other party was thinking.

Just then, a figure came running frantically towards them from the road in the distance.

"Leizi! Leizi!"

Zhao Lei and Jiang Xinyue looked up and saw that the person who came was Zhou Tianfu, the eldest son of Grandpa Zhou.

Zhao Lei stood up and replied, "Brother Zhou, what brings you here?"

Zhou Tianfu was panting heavily, his clothes soaked with sweat. He had been running with all his might, not daring to stop for a moment.

Without bicycles, they relied entirely on their own two feet to get around.

He clutched his knees, panting, and said, "Lei Zi, I've come with news! The captain gathered everyone together, and after summarizing all the clues, everyone deduced that the human trafficker is after you!"

Jiang Xinyue quickly took the water bottle off the bicycle and handed it to Zhou Tianfu.

Zhou Tianfu took the kettle and gulped down two large mouthfuls, then let out a long breath before he could catch his breath.

"Lei Zi, the captain said that the villagers recalled that this human trafficker came from the direction of Qingfeng Mountain. After entering the village, he didn't go anywhere else, but went straight to your neighborhood."

Normal child abduction perpetrators would look around and choose a house that would be convenient for them. But this person was different; he deliberately disguised himself as someone cutting pig feed in the middle of the day, and his target was clear: your house.

Everyone guessed that it was specifically targeting you in revenge.

Upon hearing this, Zhao Lei frowned deeply: "Retaliate against me?"

"That's right! Think carefully, have you made any enemies?"

Zhao Lei was lost in memories.

He originally had no connection with human traffickers, but over the years he has offended quite a few people, most of whom have been sent to the police station.

It's possible that people like Lai Mazi and Zhao Chenghu, along with their resentful relatives and friends, might take this opportunity to seek revenge.