Chapter 496 Save Me

**Chapter 496: Rescue Me**

That night, Jiang Yu slept in a shared sleeping area. She wasn’t used to it and tossed and turned late into the night before finally falling asleep.

She’d figured the trip wouldn’t go smoothly, but for two days straight, everything went without a hitch.

At least nothing unusual had happened in the village.

But the very lack of problems felt strange to Jiang Yu.

It was *too* smooth—like someone was deliberately holding back, just to…

“Get rid of the nuisances,” He Tingyue said, nailing it.

Jiang Yu gave a helpless laugh. “Are you calling us bad omens?”

He Tingyue playfully ruffled her hair. “I hate to admit it, but maybe that’s exactly what we are in their eyes.”

Jiang Yu leaned closer. “Have you noticed something?”

“I’ve got a hunch—”

Before he could finish, his words were cut off by a voice.

“Jiang Yu!”

She looked up. It was Chen Yu.

“Chen, do you have news?”

Chen Yu rushed over, scanning the room to make sure they were alone before speaking.

“Jiang Ting definitely went to Tongqiao Village. She had a travel permit stating she was visiting family, but it expired a long time ago.”

Jiang Yu’s blood ran cold—Jiang Ting hadn’t returned to Beicheng.

Wang Guisheng and his crew had lied.

“Chen, can we go to the police?”

Chen Yu’s tone darkened. “Actually, that’s what I wanted to warn you about. If you want to find your sister, get out of here first.”

“Why?”

Chen Yu’s breath hitched. Just as he was about to answer, He Tingyue interjected, “Captain Ding, is something wrong?”

Jiang Yu froze, then forced a smile and turned toward him.

“Captain Ding.”

Captain Ding stepped inside, his suspicious stare settling on Chen Yu.

“And who might this be?”

Chen Yu pasted on a smile. “You must’ve forgotten, Captain. I’m the engineer who handled the dam reconstruction—I even visited your village before.”

Captain Ding feigned recognition. “And this time, you’re here for…?”

He shot Jiang Yu a sharp glance.

Engineer Chen said, "These two young friends are my friends. I came to see them."

Captain Ding suddenly understood, "That’s quite a coincidence."

He seemed to have just happened to pass by, stopping for a casual chat before leaving.

However, Jiang Yu picked up on his guardedness.

"He must’ve heard about Engineer Chen coming and came to check things out. What exactly is he trying to hide?"

Chen Yu pulled her inside but didn’t close the door.

Shutting it would’ve looked suspicious.

"When I was looking into Jiang Ting’s case, I ran into some resistance. Later, I went around this person and asked my friends for information, and also found out some things about Tongle Village."

Actually, it wasn’t just Tongle Village—it included Tongqiao Village and Liujia Village too.

"Engineer Chen, what's going on?"

"During your time here, didn’t you notice there aren’t any women around?"

Jiang Yu, finally hearing someone say it, immediately nodded.

"I noticed that long ago! But Captain Ding said their customs are traditional, and women don’t go out."

Chen Yu said seriously, "It’s not tradition. I suspect their wives are locked up."

"Why?"

Instead of answering directly, Chen Yu told them what had happened in these villages.

"There’s a captain in Tongqiao Village named Wang Guisheng—have you met him?"

Jiang Yu nodded. "His leg..."

"Yeah, his leg was hacked off by his wife. Later, while fleeing, she fell off a cliff and died."

The whole village was trying hard to cover up the incident. No one knew why the woman had done this to Wang Guisheng.

Only a few outsiders claimed to have heard his wife pleading for help, saying she had been trafficked to Tongqiao Village and begging someone to save her.

Jiang Yu had a sinking feeling. So that was it—there were women here, but they were from outside. To keep them from running away, they were probably locked up.

Out here in the mountains, without a guide, trying to run without help would lead to the same fate as Wang Guisheng’s wife.

"There are other stories like this," Chen Yu continued.

But no one in the villages reported it, and outsiders didn’t want to get involved.

Plus, they had connections at the station. Occasionally, someone spoke up, but they were shut down fast.

Now Jiang Yu finally understood why Chen Yu had urged them to leave quickly—they’d walked straight into a snake pit.

"Jiang Yu, we need to get out of here."

No matter who you are, in someone else’s territory, you’d better lay low.

"We’re leaving today anyway. We were gonna head out either way."

She wanted to help others but wouldn’t put herself in danger.

No point telling Ding Jianan—they were leaving anyway.

“Jiang Yu, you’re just in time. We’re leaving today.”

“Why the rush?” Jiang Yu said, surprised.

“We’ve done what we needed to, and nobody’s comfortable here.”

The place was just too rough—even Ding Jianan couldn’t handle it.

Nobody here felt like going out much. Ye Zhu said the men kept giving her weird looks.

They didn’t seem dangerous, but it still creeped her out.

Jiang Yu pitched in with packing.

Her stuff was already packed with He Tingyue’s, so she didn’t have much to do.

“We’ll crash at a guesthouse in town tonight, then go back to Beicheng tomorrow.”

Once packed, Ding Jianan went to give Captain Ding a heads-up.

“What’s the hurry?” Captain Ding asked.

“Not a rush—just moving it up a day. Nobody’s happy here, so we’re leaving.”

Captain Ding wasn’t buying it.

He got suspicious. Too convenient—Chen Yu shows up, and now they bolt?

Did they find out?

“Jianan, you got the wrong idea about our village?”

Ding Jianan blinked. “Huh? What misunderstanding?”

She genuinely didn’t get why he’d say that.

Captain Ding’s face fell, and he let out a sigh.

Ding Jianan was eager to get back, so she dropped it and turned to go.

She’d barely reached the door when someone slammed into her.

Staggering, she turned to find a woman clutching her arm.

“Help me! Please!”

Before Ding Jianan could move, Captain Ding dragged the woman away.

“Shut your mouth!”

The woman screamed and sank her teeth into his wrist—Captain Ding retaliated with a brutal slap.

The hit was vicious, knocking her flat.

When he drew back for another strike, Ding Jianan jumped between them.

"Uncle, forget about it."

Captain Ding was still fuming, shooting her a cold look.

"Get out of here."

But this was the only time Ding Jianan had seen a woman from the village, and she couldn’t suppress her curiosity.

She hesitated for a moment, when suddenly a man with a limp appeared in the doorway, cutting her off.

"Uncle, she knows now—she can’t leave!"

If they couldn’t keep the others, they had to keep at least one. Her age didn’t bother him.

Ding Jianan’s expression darkened, a sense of dread settling in her chest.

"Captain Ding, what’s going on here?"

Captain Ding turned his face away, heaving a regretful sigh.

"I was going to let you go."

Unfortunately, Ding Jianan had to come along and witness this scene.

Now, letting her go would spell disaster for them.

"You asked for this. Don’t blame us."

The limping man seized Ding Jianan’s wrist, slapping a hand over her mouth. His powerful arms locked her in a vise-like grip as he dragged her step by step into the house.

Captain Ding didn’t so much as glance back, bending down to look at the woman on the ground, his gaze shadowed.

"See? She couldn’t save you—and now she’s trapped too."

The woman collapsed to the floor, sobbing hopelessly.