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

Jiang Xinyue then spoke up, reminding him, "Sanshi, that makes sense now. No wonder the trafficker had to return to Qingfeng Mountain; I suspect there are accomplices waiting in the woods to meet him."

Zhao Lei slapped his thigh suddenly: "Yes! Very likely! But who would use child abduction as a way to retaliate against me?"

Jiang Xinyue pondered for a moment: "This person must be related to Qingfeng Mountain."

"It's related to Qingfeng Mountain..."

Zhao Lei repeated it twice in a low voice, then suddenly slapped his forehead. "I remember now! A couple of days ago, Bowen was beaten up by Ma Laosan on Qingfeng Mountain. Dajun and I went up the mountain and gave Ma Laosan a good beating! Could it be him?"

Jiang Xinyue frowned slightly: "That's possible, but didn't you say you beat Ma Laosan so badly he couldn't move? How does he still have the strength to steal children?"

Zhao Lei pondered, "He might not have been the one who did it, but he's definitely involved. If this guess is true, beyond Qingfeng Mountain lies Hongyan Town, which is Ma Laosan's territory! No wonder this person appeared from Qingfeng Mountain and then disappeared into the mountains!"

Zhao Lei raised his hand and pointed to the path leading up the mountain among the three forks in the road: "This is the road! They must have gone into the mountains. They're afraid to take the main road with the child, so they plan to cross the mountain and escape to Hongyan Town."

Thinking of this, Zhao Lei stood up, dusted himself off, and turned to Jiang Xinyue, saying, "Xinyue, the mountain road ahead is difficult to travel, and these people are ruthless. Don't follow me; I'll go into the mountains alone to catch up."

Zhou Tianfu said worriedly, "Lei Zi, are you sure you can manage going into the mountains alone? I already said they have accomplices to help you. Be extremely careful, and don't let anything happen to you!"

Zhao Lei said firmly, "Don't worry, I know what I'm doing. Brother Zhou, go back and tell everyone to send men to guard all the intersections leading from Hongyan Town and Qingfeng Mountain to Hongyan Town, and stop them!"

After saying that, Zhao Lei pushed the old-fashioned bicycle in front of Zhou Tianfu: "Brother Zhou, can you ride a bicycle?"

Zhou Tianfu scratched his head, looking embarrassed: "I've never ridden this thing before."

Jiang Xinyue stepped forward and held the handlebars: "I'll ride. Brother Zhou, you sit on the back and come back with me. Let's go find Bowen, Dashan, and Dajun, and have everyone head to Hongyan Town to surround them."

She then looked at Zhao Lei and solemnly instructed him, "Sanshi, please be careful! Just keep an eye on them from a distance, and don't act rashly or fight. Our family depends on you."

Zhao Lei nodded emphatically.

The mountains ahead were rugged and the bicycles were no longer of any use, so they were handed over to Jiang Xinyue and sent back to deliver the message.

After finding Qin Bowen and his group, we can use Wang Zongbao's carriage or other people's bicycles to take the main road and take a shortcut. Maybe we can intercept the traffickers before they arrive in town.

After the agreement was reached, Zhao Lei waved goodbye to Jiang Xinyue and prepared to go into the mountains alone.

Before setting off, he first went to Li Guoliang's house next door.

The elderly man who stayed at home was familiar with Zhao Lei. Zhao Lei borrowed a wood-chopping knife from the old man and filled a pot with water.

He turned and stepped into the mountains and forests, following the trail to catch the human traffickers.

the other side.

Jiang Xinyue straddled the old-fashioned bicycle, carrying Zhou Tianfu, turned it around, and sped towards the village to find Qin Bowen, Qin Dajun, and the others as soon as possible.

Several groups of people split up and acted separately, all racing against time.

After choosing the fork in the road leading to Qingfeng Mountain, Zhao Lei hurried along while carefully searching for any clues along the way.

This mountain path is frequented by many villagers on a daily basis, and the ground is covered with all sorts of footprints, so messy and difficult to distinguish which ones were left by human traffickers and which ones were made by villagers walking around on a daily basis.

Zhao Lei was burning with anxiety, but he could only suppress it and move forward steadily.

As he walked, a few blades of grass on the road suddenly caught his eye, standing out conspicuously. Zhao Lei bent down and picked them up.

The grass had dried out from prolonged exposure to the scorching sun, but it was still clear that it hadn't been cut for very long.

Zhao Lei's heart skipped a beat, and he immediately thought of the human traffickers disguised as pig feed cutters, with small stones hidden in their backpacks. These grasses might have been accidentally dropped by the traffickers while they were on their way.

A sense of joy welled up in his heart; they were heading in the right direction, and the group had indeed entered the mountains.

Having confirmed that the route was correct, Zhao Lei quickened his pace.

As he continued along the road, every so often he would see one or two withered blades of grass, which constantly confirmed his judgment.

Before long, he reached the foot of the mountain. Zhao Lei, who was paying close attention to his surroundings, caught a glimpse of the overgrown farmland next to him, where a patch of fresh, flat grass stubble remained.

He compared the withered grass in his hand with the cut grass stalks in the ground, and instantly came to a conclusion:

This grass was cut right here.

Zhao Lei deduced that the traffickers came down from Qingfeng Mountain and cut grass in this nearby farmland, spreading it on their backpacks to disguise themselves as villagers cutting pig feed.

He looked up at the deep forest, gripped his machete, and chased straight into the woods.

Once inside the deep mountains, this place became Zhao Lei's home turf.

Decades of experience hunting in the mountains have made him feel right at home in the forests.

On the main road, people come and go, leaving behind a jumble of traces that are hard to distinguish. But in this remote mountain area, where people rarely tread, anyone who walks by will inevitably leave a trace.

Soon, Zhao Lei discovered that the piles of dead leaves in the woods had been trampled into deep footprints, and there were also many freshly broken tender branches, which was enough to prove that someone had passed through here not long ago.

Zhao Lei quickly followed the trail.

Human tracks are much easier to spot than those of wild animals.

Like wild boars, although they are not small, they are short. To find wild boar tracks, you have to look at them from 50 or 60 centimeters off the ground, which is particularly difficult.

When humans walk upright, the location of the traces they leave is immediately clear, making tracking much easier.

He gripped his machete and moved silently through the woods, closely following the trail of the people ahead of him.

After chasing for most of the day, Zhao Lei realized that this mountain path followed the lowest ridge of Qingfeng Mountain. After crossing this ridge and descending the mountain, he would arrive at Hongyan Town in less than an hour.

With that thought in mind, Zhao Lei quickened his pace, climbed over the mountaintop, and continued his pursuit downhill.

After walking for several tens of minutes, Zhao Lei was following the footprints when a child's cries suddenly drifted from ahead.

"Let me go! Let me go! I want my dad! I want my mom! I want my sister!"

"Damn it, you little brat! If you shout again, believe me, I'll chop you up right here!"

"Waaaaah... I want my mommy, I want my daddy..."

The child's cries were not silenced by the man's scolding; instead, they grew even louder.

Zhao Lei's heart skipped a beat. It was Xiao Shitou, his son Zhao Yufeng's voice. He recognized it immediately.

Zhao Lei looked up and gazed into the distance. The area down the mountain was densely wooded, and there was a ditch in front of him.

After crossing this small hill and walking along a dirt road, you can see the outline of Hongyan Town in the distance.