Chapter 44 02

Chapter 44.02

The interrogation continued in the victims' home.

"It all started with an old friend of my husband's!" He Yunci sobbed, glaring fiercely at Zhou Jing, her eyes filled with deep resentment.

Seeing he couldn't stop her, Zhou Jing helplessly lowered his head, letting out a sigh.

"That person was a friend he hadn't been in touch with for years. Then one day, while scrolling through his social media, my husband noticed that this friend had posted many updates. It seemed he was living in a cozy little villa, spending his days playing chess and cards, enjoying lavish meals of four dishes and a soup every day—living a truly comfortable life. He also shared promotional content about a senior wellness center, describing it as nothing short of a paradise on earth."

As He Yunci recalled the events, she wiped the tears from her face with trembling hands.

"My husband liked one of his posts, and the friend immediately started chatting with him. He said the place he was staying was affordable and comfortable, with monthly costs even lower than our regular living expenses at home. He claimed the environment was pleasant, the service was excellent, and there were dedicated medical staff—just like living at a luxury retirement community."

At this point, a hint of regret flashed in He Yunci's eyes. "At first, my husband and I didn’t pay much attention. We just casually asked about the price, and he quickly sent over what looked like official documents and a detailed price list. The numbers were indeed low—something our pensions and savings could easily cover."

"A few days later, the friend called us, his tone extremely enthusiastic. He said the wellness center had some trial openings available and that he could help us apply. The trial lasted three to five days, completely free of charge—meals, lodging, activities, and even transportation were covered. They even offered gifts when we departed. He said it was a special benefit for returning customers, with limited spots available, and urged us not to miss this rare opportunity."

He Yunci’s voice choked with emotion. "My husband was immediately intrigued. He thought, since it was free, we might as well treat it as a mini-vacation—a few days to relax and enjoy some services. So, he signed us up."

He Lin listened quietly, his expression growing increasingly solemn.

The scammers had taken a step-by-step approach, luring them in gradually rather than rushing things.

For seniors who had worked hard all their lives and longed to enjoy their later years, such temptations were undoubtedly highly appealing. These scammers had pinpointed their vulnerabilities.

At this point, He Yunci completely broke down and angrily cursed, "Those bastards! They’re all liars! That place was hell!"

Tears streamed down her face uncontrollably, and her shoulders trembled nonstop.

Li Shang offered her a tissue and gently comforted her, "Take your time. There’s no hurry."

He Lin asked, "What happened next? What did you experience?"

He Yunci steadied herself before continuing, "From the moment we got into the car, we were restrained by several people. They took our phones, blindfolded us, and then took us to a place that was nothing like what was described in the brochure."

"We were brought to a remote villa and locked in a small, windowless room—it felt like a prison cell. Those people didn’t treat us like human beings. They roughly stripped us, sprayed us with cold water, and even took photos of us in our miserable state to mock and threaten us. They said if we didn’t obey, they would post these photos publicly online for our friends and family to see."

He Yunci’s face was full of humiliation and pain.

"Any resistance from us was met with even harsher treatment—denied food and water, constant physical abuse, and no sleep at night. This kind of torture became routine."

As she described their ordeal, Zhou Jing, who was sitting beside her, also began to cry silently, wiping away his tears.

"We had no way to contact the outside world. We were completely isolated… Then, someone came in and tried to persuade us, saying that if we paid them, they wouldn’t make things difficult for us. They even said that if we paid enough, they would let us go. Even a small amount would help—at least they could report back to their superiors and give us a proper meal."

"On about the fourth day, my husband couldn’t take it anymore. He was in pain and starving, so he transferred thirty thousand yuan to them. Their attitude immediately softened, and they gave us a decent meal. But from then on, it seemed they had figured out our limits. They used both threats and incentives, constantly finding new ways to extort money from us."

As Li Shang recorded this, his pen paused. It sounded like these people weren’t just abusing them outright but were using a reward-and-punishment approach—a very calculated strategy.

He Yunci cried as she spoke, "On the seventh day, they said we had behaved well and returned our phones to us. We thought we had a chance to escape. We covered for each other and tried to secretly call the police, but to our surprise, they had tampered with our phones. The calls couldn’t go through."

"A group of them rushed in, took the phones away, and said we had been disobedient and needed punishment. They beat us until we were bruised all over."

"Another time, about ten days in, the guards intentionally left the door unlocked. We thought we had a chance to escape, but we were caught almost immediately downstairs. When they brought us back, they beat us again."

"This kind of torture happened over and over until, finally, we were completely broken. We didn’t dare speak or act out of line anymore. We did whatever they told us to do."

Hearing this, Li Shang wrote a few words on his notepad and showed it to He Lin: "Compliance experiment?"

He Lin nodded slightly.

These people had used these methods to test and manipulate the elderly, gradually wearing down their will to resist. In the end, even if the door was open, they no longer dared to run.

Their will had been completely broken.

He Yunci lowered her head and said, "They also threatened us, saying not to expect anyone to rescue us. They said we could die there, and no one would ever know. They claimed they had been operating for years and had connections all over. Even if we reported it to the police, no one would believe us. If we died, they could bury us somewhere no one would find us. They knew our phone numbers and addresses—we had nowhere to run."

"Later, we transferred more and more money, until we had spent all our savings and retirement funds."

As she said this, He Yunci pounded her chest, as if trying to alleviate some of the pain in her heart.

He Lin frowned and asked, "How much money did you lose in total?"

Zhou Jing, sitting beside her, spoke hoarsely, "We transferred over 1.9 million yuan total."

"How long were you kept there?"

Zhou Jing replied, "Forty-two days." He closed his eyes in pain. "Those forty-two days felt like forty-two years. Every day was filled with pain and fear. At one point, I even thought I would never make it out alive."

This was clearly a case of illegal imprisonment and extortion, involving a substantial amount of money and particularly malicious intent.

He Yunci said bitterly, "Eventually, when we had almost no savings remaining and didn’t dare try to escape anymore, they returned our phones to us. The next step was to target our friends and relatives. They forced us to use the same tactics to deceive others. They made us post those idealized photos on social media to entice others… and then they made us personally call the friends and family who had liked the posts."

Her body trembled uncontrollably. "We were forced to do it under their supervision… We didn’t want to deceive anyone, but we had no choice. We couldn’t bear the torture anymore."

This was the real reason they had been afraid to report it to the police—they had also lured others into suffering the same fate. The elderly knew what those people would go through, but in their situation, they had no other choice.

"The two of us brought four friends there, and only then did those people let us go. When we left, they gave us 100,000 yuan in cash. They told us this money wasn’t ours—it was a 'commission' for helping them recruit others. In other words, once we accepted this money, we became their accomplices."

"They said if we dared to report them to the police, we would be arrested too. We couldn’t escape responsibility for these matters. I was terrified, but I couldn’t live with the guilt."

He Yunci wiped her tears again. "They drove us back in the same car. The plants at home had died, and so had our dog… The place was a mess. Seeing our dead dog felt like a knife twisting in my heart. Looking back on those days, it felt like a nightmare. Now that I’ve told you everything, even if I’m punished later or have to return the money, I accept it. I just hope you can catch those people and stop them from harming others."

Zhou Jing also let out a long sigh. "After going through all this, I feel deeply ashamed. We’ve lived honest, principled lives and never done anything to hurt others. But in our old age, we were deceived by these people and ended up doing things we regret."

He Lin and Li Shang finally understood what the elderly couple had been through.

First, the scammers took most of their savings, pushing them to the brink. Then, they offered a small reward, turning them into so-called accomplices and completely breaking their spirits.

They made them submit—too terrified to report to the police or resist. This was the scammers’ method.

"We understand the situation now," He Lin said sincerely to the elderly couple. "It was brave of you to speak up."

The sudden praise left the two elderly people somewhat flustered.

He Lin continued, "You are victims. Even your later actions were done under coercion. The police will take this into account when handling the case. Right now, the priority is to recover your financial losses as much as possible, rescue the other victims, catch the criminals, and prevent others from becoming victims."

"So, we need you to provide the contact information of those people and the bank transfer records. We also need more details."

He Lin placed his hands on the table, mentally retracing the entire process as he spoke. "For example, what were the exact dates this happened? Can you describe the car that picked you up? How long was the drive? What did you eat? How many people did you encounter there, and what did they look like? Where was the money transferred to? The more details you can provide, the easier it will be for us to find these people."

Li Shang took notes as the elderly couple recalled and filled in the information.

The car that picked them up was a black BYD electric vehicle with modified windows—tinted black so the interior wasn't visible from the outside.

The drive lasted over forty minutes. They were restrained and blindfolded the entire time, so they had no idea which route they took.

They were held in a modified villa with all the windows were blocked.

The room only had simple beds, and there was a fairly large osmanthus tree in the yard.

The food they ate was likely ordered from nearby restaurants, and it seemed like Cantonese food. If they paid too little, they would get leftovers and cold meals; if they paid more, they would receive full meals and could even order specific dishes.

The villa was quite spacious, holding about seven or eight elderly people captive, each confined to separate rooms. They had heard agonized wails from the neighboring room, the sound utterly heart-wrenching. Once, there was also crying from a room upstairs.

The doors were locked every day, and the main gate was locked too. The courtyard walls were over three meters high, with guards on watch, making it impossible for the elderly to escape.

While there, they most frequently interacted with some young men dressed in white shirts. These men were responsible for distributing food and water, pressuring them to keep spending money, and sometimes even hitting them.

However, these white-shirted men also seemed to be watched by higher-ups. The elderly never saw them using mobile phones or leaving the premises.

Those who had access to mobile phones were called "leaders" by the men in white shirts. Most of these leaders wore suits and could come and go freely from the villa.

Every time they made phone calls, sent messages, or transferred money, it had to be done under the watch of these suit-wearing leaders.

As for the transfer method, those people had them register and log in to a shopping website to buy virtual goods. Each time, the bank would require facial verification, but as long as they clicked "confirm," the transfer would go through, and the money in their bank accounts would vanish.

He Lin frowned; it sounded like these people were organized, with a tightly structured, clear division of labor, and a hierarchical system.

The number of people trapped was also significant, suggesting the scale of the case might be larger than they had imagined.

After leaving the elderly couple, the two quickly compared notes with Wu Yunsheng's side.

The investigation had finally reached a breakthrough.

In the following days, they went back to other elderly who had withdrawn their cases, gradually collecting more information.

Through patient questioning and careful guidance, they persuaded several more elderly individuals to muster the courage and share their experiences.

By Wednesday, the department held a progress meeting on the case, pooling all the information.

The descriptions of the process, the abuse suffered, and the people encountered by the elderly were mostly similar.

Li Shang frowned slightly as he reviewed the information: "Their accounts sound similar, but there are many subtle differences…"

He opened a map of Yuncheng for everyone to see: "Based on the travel time from their homes to the destination as they described, there shouldn’t be any overlapping areas."

Wu Yunsheng asked, "Could it be because their phones were taken, leading to inaccurate time estimates? Or maybe the driver took a roundabout route?"

Li Shang shook his head: "There’s more. The housing structures differ, the trees in the yards vary, and even the food and packaging of the food containers are different. So, there might not be just three or four such places holding the elderly in the city—there could be more."

After hearing Li Shang's analysis, everyone fell into deep thought.

After the meeting, He Lin and Li Shang didn’t waste any time. They took the relevant materials to see Director Chen.

After listening to their account, the old man frowned: "It seems this case is bigger than we thought."

He Lin replied frankly: "With just the few of us, this case will be tough to handle. We need more manpower support."

Director Chen thought for a moment and said: "You collaborated well with the Criminal Investigation Department on the last case. They’ve previously dismantled several pyramid scheme dens and have contacts with relevant informants, so they have experience in this area. I’ll talk to them later—let’s have your two departments collaborate again this time."

He quickly made a call to Jin Tingrui’s side to get it arranged.

Then Director Chen sat back and said in a matchmaker-like tone: "Look at your two departments—the Criminal Investigation Unit has ample manpower and strong operational capabilities, while your department is small but elite, solving cases swiftly. Work well together in the future."