Chapter 210: Guess

Chapter 210: Your Guess

"What is this?" Yan Haifeng suddenly turned his head, his expression fierce as he stared at him.

Feng Shiyou's lips moved for a moment, stammering for a long time: "Th-this—"

Shen Qingye didn't wait for him to speak and stepped into the downward staircase first, Yue Lingchuan closely following behind.

Yan Haifeng's brows furrowed deeply, and with a nod of his head, he signaled Xiao Wu to restrain Feng Shiyou before following them down.

The passage was narrow, barely wide enough for one and a half people, but fortunately, there seemed to be lights below, casting a dim yellow glow that allowed them to see.

Shen Qingye carefully made her way to the bottom, looked up, and her breath caught in her throat.

The basement wasn't small, but it was miserly with lighting; the spacious room had only two low-wattage incandescent bulbs hanging on the walls, casting the entire space in a dim light.

It was empty inside, with no furniture or household items. All she could see were straw mats laid out on the ground, each topped with a simple grass mat and a tattered thin blanket.

On these beds lay children, about five or six years old, their expressions vacant and eyes lifeless.

Hearing their descent, the children couldn't help but tremble, some even shrinking into their blankets, trying to protect themselves. Most, however, remained motionless, staring blankly.

"What is this?" Xiao Wu's voice was hoarse, his gaze fixed on Feng Shiyou: "Didn't you say your orphanage only had twenty-three children? Then what about these twenty-odd children?"

Feng Shiyou's face was a picture of woe: "I-I-I don't know!"

"Comrade Police Officer, I really don't know!"

Xiao Ma sneered: "Your orphanage, the mechanism in your shed, and you tell me you don't know?!"

Feng Shiyou couldn't stop shivering, his heart pounding with panic. He never imagined that the seemingly gentle and frail policewoman could be so decisive, discovering this place right away.

The basement was deathly silent. Yue Lingchuan looked at the marks on the children's bodies, his brows furrowed in worry. Suddenly, he seemed to notice something amiss; his expression changed abruptly, and he lunged forward, lifting a blanket to reveal a child hidden beneath it.

He reached out to touch, and the heat was astonishing!

Yue Lingchuan turned sharply, "Call an ambulance quickly!"

Everyone was shocked and rushed over. They saw the child's cheeks were alarmingly red, eyes tightly shut, eyelashes trembling, and the expression still uneasy, as if suffering even in dreams.

Xiao Ma quickly dialed 120, while Shen Qingye and Yan Haifeng, along with others, began checking each of the children hidden under the blankets. They found that most of them had fevers, and many were delirious. If their temperatures continued to rise, their lives would be in danger.

The basement immediately fell into chaos. Some of the more conscious children watched them busily, passing the sick children up one by one, hugging themselves and trembling, unsure if they would be next.

What awaited them? Would it be even crueler treatment than before?

These children, with an average age of five or six, who had experienced things most people never would in a lifetime, did not know.

When you have a fever, you feel cold. The children had no other choice but to wrap themselves tightly in the blankets. Shen Qingye lifted each blanket one by one, feeling the foreheads of the children. Those with abnormal temperatures were handed over to Xiao Ma and Xiao Wu, instructing them to take these children to the hospital as soon as possible.

When she lifted another blanket, Shen Qingye suddenly paused.

Her fingers trembled slightly as she slowly reached toward the child's nose, waiting for a long time, hoping against hope to feel a warm breath. But there was nothing.

Shen Qingye's hand involuntarily fell to the child's cheek, which was still warm.

She closed her eyes tightly.

If they had come just a little earlier, if they had come just a little earlier...

Yue Lingchuan noticed the unusual situation here and was about to come over when Shen Qingye had already opened her eyes, having calmed herself down.

His movements paused for a moment before he turned back to his work.

There were a total of twenty-seven children, even more than those upstairs.

The children were vaguely divided into two groups: one group was covered in various marks and wounds, either running fevers or appearing listless; the other group was relatively better off, with no visible marks on their exposed skin, but they still looked at their actions cautiously, like startled birds.

When Shen Qingye picked them up, she felt their bodies were stiff. One child even tucked his head in, his lips moving slowly. She leaned closer to hear him say, "Don't hit me, don't hit me."

She took a deep breath, forcing herself to stay calm, gently stroked his head, and softly said, "Don't be afraid, I won't hit you. I'm a police officer, I'm here to save you."

The child seemed not to hear, continuing to mutter and shiver.

The gloom in Shen Qingye's eyes grew colder.

Xiao Ma quickly took the child, and Shen Qingye turned around to take the others one by one. When she reached the corner where a blanket lay, she skillfully lifted it and placed her hand on the child's forehead.

It was burning hot.

The child's hair was disheveled, his forehead damp, and his body continued to tremble as he complained of being cold.

Shen Qingye knew that such a high fever couldn't be delayed any longer. She wrapped him in the blanket, just about to pick him up, when her gaze fell on his face, and she paused.

"Qi Jiayuan?" she called out tentatively, and the child's eyelashes fluttered, as if responding.

"Qi Jiayuan? Qi Jiayuan!" Shen Qingye called out again, holding him and walking out. "Stay awake, open your eyes and look at me, okay?"

"Qi Jiayuan, don't fall asleep, just hold on a little longer. We'll be at the hospital soon..."

The child's eyelashes fluttered in struggle, and he opened his eyes slightly, dazedly looking at the anxious face swaying before him. His lips moved, murmuring softly, "Mommy..."

Shen Qingye paused in her steps, looking down at the child with a hazy expression in her arms, her voice softening considerably, "Yes, it’s me, I’m your mommy."

She quickened her pace outwards, "Xiao Yuan, don’t go to sleep yet, can you talk to mommy for a bit?"

Qi Jiayuan's eyelashes twitched wearily, "Xiao Yuan..."

"I am Xiao Yuan, not Xiao An..."

"I am Xiao Yuan..."

"..."

After sending all the children upstairs, the ambulance still hadn't arrived, but the local police had already gotten there first. Xiao Ma made the necessary arrangements, and when Shen Qingye brought out the last child, he instructed some of the people to take the children to the hospital, where they would meet up with the ambulance on the way.

Some of the children were so feverish that every second counted.

The rest of the team went to Feng Shiyou's office to search—such transactions, if involving money, couldn’t have left no trace. But they had already searched Chai Gui’s place, and given the other party’s brazen attitude, it was unlikely the evidence was there. It was more likely to be here.

As the police car carrying the children sped away from the area with its siren blaring, everyone's tense nerves finally relaxed a little.

Xiao Ma suddenly turned around, grabbing Feng Shiyou, who was handcuffed to one side, by the collar, and shouted angrily, "Those kids were running a fever, didn’t you know?"

At this point, Feng Shiyou was still being stubborn, feigning innocence, "Officer, I didn’t know, I really didn’t know anything!"

Xiao Ma could no longer contain his anger and punched Feng Shiyou in the stomach, "Didn’t know? The kids were right here, under your nose, and you tell me you didn’t know?!"

Feng Shiyou grunted in pain, cold sweat breaking out on his forehead, but he maintained a defiant attitude, managing a weak smile, "Officer, what are you doing, trying to force a confession out of me?"

He chuckled, "I don't know, and even if you keep pressing me, I still won't know."

The crowd's expressions darkened, and Little Ma clenched his teeth in anger, about to say more when a surprised voice suddenly came from the back courtyard:

"Director Yan, we found an iron box in Feng Shiyou's office!"

Before anyone could see who had spoken, Feng Shiyou's face turned pale.

Shen Qingye narrowed her eyes, "What? So nervous?"

"What's inside that box?"

Feng Shiyou tugged at the corners of his mouth, as if trying to smile, but seeing two young police officers running over with an iron box, he couldn't manage it.

Yan Haifeng, however, instantly broke into a broad grin, reaching out to take the iron box and feeling its heavy weight, his eyebrows arched. "Good job, boy. Where did you find it?"

The young police officer chuckled and scratched his head, "When we first arrived, we heard there was a basement here, so we thought he might have some hidden mechanism in his office where he kept important things. We started searching around the office, and this guy—" He nudged the policeman beside him, who smiled shyly, "He's always lucky. He just felt around randomly and eventually found a loose wall tile in the bathroom. With a little push, the surrounding tiles slid away, revealing a small hole. That's where we found the box."

Yan Haifeng patted his shoulder, his joy evident, "Well done!"

As he spoke, he glanced down at Feng Shiyou, tapping the iron box casually, "Judging by your reaction, this must be quite important to you. Let me guess what's inside?"

"Given how heavy it is, there must be gold in there... at least ten pounds, I'd say."

Feng Shiyou's eyelids twitched, and Yan Haifeng's pleasure grew, "Besides gold, what else could be in there?"

"The details of your transactions? Records of people you've dealt with? Or accounts?"

"Feng Shiyou, the item is now in our hands. A password lock won't do much good. It would only take me a few minutes to open it."

He looked down at him condescendingly: "Are you sure you won't say?"

Feng Shiyou raised his head and stared at him for a moment. After a brief pause, he suddenly smiled:

"I gave them fever reducers, but they couldn't make it on their own. What could I do?"

Shen Qingye was initially taken aback, then she realized he was answering Little Ma's question from earlier. But this realization only fueled her anger even more.

For such young children, with high fevers, all he did was give them a simple fever reducer?

If the child was lucky and strong enough to survive; but if the child was weak...

Just like the one she had seen earlier.

Her hands, hanging by her sides, clenched into tight fists. Little Ma couldn't hold back and punched him again: "Beast!"

Feng Shiyou hissed in pain, enduring it as he said: "Officer, isn't this considered private torture? This isn't according to the rules, is it?"

Little Ma replied coldly: "Don't worry, dealing with scum like you, I have plenty of methods. I'll make sure you feel the pain, yet no injuries will be found when you get to the hospital!"

Shen Qingye took a step forward, her face calm and stern: "So, where did you bury those children who died from your torture?"

Feng Shiyou caught his breath, recovering from the pain, then lifted his eyelids to look at the female officer who had ruined his plans, sneering: "Do you want to know, Officer?"

"Guess."