Chapter 69 – Cooperation

In the old days, besides the Eight Minor Sects and the Four Major Sects, there were two lesser-known sects in the Jianghu known as the “Deception Sect” and the “Beggar Sect.” Those who specialized in scams and petty theft could be categorized under the Deception Sect, while the Beggar Sect consisted of professional beggars with systematic training, not seeking sustenance but rather extorting money from others. These two sects were fundamentally different from the Eight Minor Sects, which relied on people’s greed and ignorance to succeed in their craft. While the performances and tricks of the Eight Minor Sects still fell within a gray area, the Deception Sect and Beggar Sect were outright illegal, representing the dark underbelly of society that even the authorities of the time sought to eradicate.

Within these two notorious sects, there was an even more despised profession—those who made a living by trafficking women and children, known as the “Scum Trade.” In theory, the Scum Trade was a branch of the Deception Sect, but after the founding of the People’s Republic, all forms of human trafficking were banned, and brothels were shut down. As a result, the Scum Trade began to lean toward the Beggar Sect, turning unsellable “goods” into disabled children designed to evoke sympathy for professional begging. In terms of sheer depravity, the crimes committed by the Scum Trade were enough to make even the most ruthless bandits feel ashamed.

The man and woman sitting across from Wei Yang were a pair of “delivery hands” from the Scum Trade who operated “outside the mountains.” Unlike those who worked within the mountains and involved the biological parents in the trafficking, these “old scum” relied entirely on abduction to obtain their “goods.” The children they kidnapped were usually slightly older and harder to sell than infants. Some of the more intelligent and aware children were even directly disposed of, sent to brothels or beggar gangs, never to see the light of day again.

Knowing the inner workings of the Scum Trade, how could Wei Yang simply ignore these two individuals? However, catching these old scum was no easy task. These people often worked in pairs, posing as a couple to avoid suspicion. Some even had specialized techniques to handle police inspections, making it difficult to catch them in the act. The limited conditions on the train made it hard for the train police to conduct thorough investigations. If these scum managed to slip through, it would be nearly impossible to catch them later, especially with the convenience of modern transportation. Changing routes was easy, which was why large-scale human trafficking cases were so hard to crack.

Wei Yang’s earlier stroll through the train had been to assess the caliber of these two old scum. The middle-aged woman aside, the young man next to her was clearly a seasoned and bold operator, calm and collected even in unexpected situations. This wasn’t the behavior of an amateur kidnapper who would be visibly nervous and clumsy. Calling the train police might not yield any results, and since the train was a short-distance one with the next stop only 40 minutes away, alerting the scum could lead to them disembarking and disappearing. Even calling Director Sun might not be enough to stop them.

Frowning slightly, Wei Yang handed his cup to Zhang Xiuqi, who was sitting beside him, and leaned in with a smile, whispering into his ear, “Brother Qi, does the Longhu Mountain Sect have any spells that can quickly incapacitate someone, causing temporary mental confusion or paralysis? Preferably something that can target a specific person.”

He spoke softly and quickly, his smile making it seem like he was just sharing a joke with his companion. Zhang Xiuqi looked up at him in slight confusion but nodded.

There really was such a spell! Wei Yang felt a wave of relief and immediately followed up, “Is this kind of spell taboo? Does it count as a Forbidden Formation?”

“No,” Zhang Xiuqi answered firmly. While Taoists couldn’t use spells to harm others, incapacitating one or two people wasn’t a big deal. It was a means of self-defense; otherwise, they’d be at a disadvantage when facing robbers or murderers.

This answer was exactly what Wei Yang had hoped for. After all, in folklore, Taoist masters were often depicted as possessing mystical abilities, with techniques like immobilization spells and the Five Ghosts Carrying being exaggerated. As long as it didn’t harm lives, such methods were acceptable. With a slight smile, he lowered his voice further, “That’s great. Here’s what we’ll do later…”

The two of them huddled together, whispering as if sharing some secret, while Xiao Jiang, who was secretly watching from the side, blushed, her imagination running wild. The old scum nearby also glanced over but quickly looked away. The earlier collision had been coincidental, and he had been wary, but now it seemed like it was just a clumsy college student.

After a while, their whispered conversation ended, and Wei Yang began chatting with Xiao Jiang again. The train rattled on, and about 25 minutes later, they entered a tunnel. The province didn’t have many mountains, and the train only passed through a few tunnels, some lasting a minute, others just a few seconds. This one was relatively long, but frequent travelers on this route wouldn’t think much of it.

With a whoosh, the train entered the tunnel, and the carriage immediately darkened, with only a few dim yellow lights illuminating the interior. The air pressure increased, making people’s ears feel uncomfortable. Many instinctively looked out the window. At that moment, Zhang Xiuqi’s hand, resting under the table, moved slightly. His long fingers curled and extended, forming an odd hand seal. As he did so, a small piece of yellow paper that had fallen under the seat fluttered and then shot up, attaching itself to the foot of the young man in front of them. After a brief pause, it burst into flames.

The yellow paper was only three inches long and burned in an instant, turning to ash. As the paper burned, the man sitting above it suddenly jumped up as if struck by thunder. The train had just exited the tunnel, and his abrupt movement drew everyone’s attention. Before anyone could curse him for being crazy, the man began foaming at the mouth, his eyes rolling back as he collapsed to the floor, his limbs twitching uncontrollably.

This caused a wave of exclamations. Anyone would be startled to see someone collapse, especially in such a confined space. While others were still in shock, Wei Yang stood up and quickly ran to the fallen man’s side, shouting, “Is there a doctor? Call the train attendant! Find a doctor!”

This snapped people out of their stupor, and several passengers rushed to find the train attendant. Without hesitation, Wei Yang unbuttoned the man’s collar and felt his forehead, then turned to the middle-aged woman sitting nearby, “Ma’am! Does this man have any medical history? Has he had any seizures before?”

The middle-aged woman was completely dumbfounded. Who could have expected her partner to collapse so suddenly? She had been trained to handle police interrogations, but this kind of emergency was beyond her experience.

Seeing the woman’s hesitation, Wei Yang pressed on, “Ma’am, don’t panic. Are you and this man married?”

“Yes…” The woman instinctively answered under Wei Yang’s intense questioning, but then quickly corrected herself, “No, no, he’s my brother…”

Wei Yang frowned slightly but didn’t let it bother him, “Is he your biological brother? Has he had epilepsy since childhood, or did he eat something unusual before boarding the train?”

The woman was clearly flustered, “I don’t know, I’m not sure…”

“Aren’t you his sister? Has this never happened before?”

The rapid-fire questions left the woman no room to breathe. Faced with such aggressive interrogation, her panic only deepened, and she stammered, unable to form a coherent response. By now, more passengers had gathered to watch. Sensing the right moment, Wei Yang decisively said, “Ma’am, why don’t you let someone else hold the child for now? We need to contact the train police and figure out how to handle this.”

At this, a kind-hearted elderly woman nearby chimed in, “Yes, saving a life is the priority. I take care of my grandson every day. Let me hold the child for you…”

Something in those words seemed to strike a nerve with the middle-aged woman, and her face twisted in terror, “No, no need. We don’t need the police…”

“This is a matter of life and death!” Wei Yang’s voice was stern, and as he glanced up, he called out loudly, “Ah, the police are here!”

Indeed, several people were approaching from the front of the carriage, but in her panicked state, the woman couldn’t tell if they were train police or just attendants. She trembled violently, shrinking against the wall and burying her face in the child’s clothes, “No, it’s not me. I don’t know him…”

That was exactly what Wei Yang wanted to hear. In a flash, he lunged forward and grabbed the woman’s wrist, “What did you say? Isn’t he your brother? Then who is he, and what’s your relationship?”

The woman winced in pain, her face a mask of panic as she struggled to look up. Her grip on the child loosened, and the child began to slip from her lap. Wei Yang acted quickly, catching the child and taking two quick steps back, “Whose child is this? Yours or his? What’s your relationship? Police! Over here! Something’s not right!”

This final shout shattered the woman’s composure. She looked at the child in Wei Yang’s arms, her lips trembling, and finally let out a wail, “It’s not me! It was all arranged by them! I had nothing to do with it!”

With her companion lying unconscious on the floor and the child snatched from her arms, the woman’s sudden outburst of “It’s not me!” made even the most oblivious passengers realize something was wrong. A murmur of suspicion rippled through the crowd. At that moment, the man on the floor groaned, the foam at his mouth stopping as he weakly tried to open his eyes. Wei Yang immediately barked, “Did you kidnap this child?”

His voice carried an authoritative tone that brooked no argument. The man, just regaining consciousness, jolted awake. Opening his eyes, he saw a crowd surrounding him, his foolish partner wailing, and the child in someone else’s arms.

What on earth had happened? The seasoned scum couldn’t make sense of it, but his peripheral vision caught the blue uniforms of the train attendants. His mind a whirlwind of confusion, he instinctively tried to leap up and snatch the child back from Wei Yang. But before he could move, his wrist was seized, and his arm was twisted behind his back. With a thud, he was slammed to the floor, his face nearly smashed.

The Little Celestial Master had acted so swiftly that no one had time to react before the man was pinned to the ground, his face contorted in pain. Wei Yang couldn’t help but smirk as he handed the child to the elderly woman who had offered to help earlier. He then approached the train attendant, quickly explaining the situation and summoning the train police to take the two suspects into custody for questioning. The boy was taken by the train staff, who planned to disembark at the next station to take him to the hospital for a check-up and to search for his biological parents.

The carriage was in chaos after such a dramatic incident. The elderly woman who had held the child kept lamenting, “The child was feverish! He didn’t even wake up with all this commotion. Those despicable scum must have drugged him! I’ve heard about child trafficking before, but seeing it in person is even more infuriating! Those bastards deserve to be shot!”

Many passengers echoed her sentiments. Everyone had family, and the outrage against human traffickers was universal.

“By the way, how did that man suddenly collapse? He seemed fine afterward. If it hadn’t been for that, who would’ve guessed they were traffickers?”

“It’s karma! Hah, if humans don’t punish them, heaven will!”

This talk of “karma” quickly gained traction among the passengers. Meanwhile, in another carriage, Wei Yang adjusted his baseball cap and smiled faintly. That earlier incident hadn’t been divine retribution but a genuine Longhu Mountain Legacy—a type of Soul Shaking Technique.

When a person’s soul is startled, it can cause confusion, leading to unconsciousness or even soul separation. Recovery could take days. This Legacy artificially concentrated yang energy, using a yellow talisman as a catalyst to create a soul-shaking effect, causing the victim’s three souls and seven spirits to temporarily lose coordination, resulting in a collapse.

However, this talisman only temporarily incapacitated a person for a few minutes and couldn’t cause lasting harm. For Wei Yang, those few minutes were enough. He had also taken the opportunity to call Director Sun. Once the train arrived at the next station, local police would take over, hopefully uncovering the entire criminal network. The Soul Shaking Technique’s effects would linger for a while, making the old scum’s psychological defenses particularly fragile—ideal for interrogation.

As for him and Zhang Xiuqi, they’d have to disembark one stop early.

Amid the chaos, Wei Yang had quietly put on his baseball cap, grabbed their luggage, and slipped into another carriage with Zhang Xiuqi. Catching criminals was a good deed, but dealing with enthusiastic onlookers and media attention afterward wasn’t something he relished. Even Xiao Jiang had been giving him an intense look that made his skin crawl. Wei Yang didn’t want to be in the spotlight, nor did he want Zhang Xiuqi to be gawked at. While everyone was focused on the scum and the child, they made their escape. However, with only so many carriages on the train, it wouldn’t be hard for people to find the “heroes.” Better to get off before things escalated.

A slight movement on his leg caught his attention—Lao Ye had poked his head out of the travel bag, yawning before nibbling on Zhang Xiuqi’s sleeve. Wei Yang smiled, fishing a shrimp from his pocket and offering it, “We’ll be switching to a bus soon, Master. Hang in there.”

Lao Ye slowly opened his mouth, swallowing the shrimp in one gulp, his tiny eyes glancing at Wei Yang with a look that seemed to say, “Foolish humans.” Wei Yang couldn’t help but pat the turtle’s head, feeling the tension in his chest ease. With Lao Ye and Zhang Xiuqi by his side, there was no need to dwell on the past.

As the train let out a long whistle, Wei Yang stood up, holding Lao Ye securely in one hand and reaching out to the young man beside him with the other, “Brother Qi, it’s time to change trains.”

A faint smile played on his lips, devoid of doubt or hesitation. Zhang Xiuqi took his hand and stood up.

In another carriage, Xiao Jiang was furiously editing her Weibo post, her face flushed with excitement. The scene she had just witnessed was straight out of a movie! Wei Yang’s calmness under pressure and Zhang Xiuqi’s swift takedown of the criminal were both incredibly cool! Were all folklorists this handsome these days?! She regretted not getting a photo with her newfound idols!

As she tapped away on her phone, Xiao Jiang didn’t look up, missing the sight of two figures walking hand in hand on the platform, disappearing into the distance.