So after all this time, was this cop trying to trick me?
He actually knew nothing, and they hadn't caught anyone else besides me??
'Pigsy' felt like an idiot.
He had been fooled by how convincing Xu Mo had sounded earlier... He never expected those words were all lies, meant to trick him into revealing information about his accomplices.
But something wasn't right - how did the police know where their hideout was? 'Pigsy' stared at Xu Mo: "How did you know where our hideout is?"
"I didn't," Xu Mo shrugged. "I was just guessing."
"Alright, now's not the time to dwell on that. Hurry up and answer my previous questions... you were cooperating so well before, don't throw away all that progress. Keep cooperating and you might get a lighter sentence."
Hearing this, 'Pigsy' hesitated.
For a moment, he wasn't sure whether he should continue answering Xu Mo's questions.
On one hand, he didn't want to be the kind of person who betrays his companions and goes back on his word.
But on the other hand, he had already given up two of his accomplices...
Although it was Xu Mo who had tricked him into revealing his two companions' names and addresses, and he hadn't subjectively wanted to betray them for a reduced sentence.
But those words had indeed come from his own mouth, and he had indeed been the one to give them up.
Having already given up two, what difference would one more make?
From the looks of things, their gang was definitely going to be caught by the police anyway, it was just a matter of time.
Since they were going to be caught either way, he might as well tell the police everything he knew... at least this way he might get a lighter sentence.
Thinking this through, 'Pigsy' gritted his teeth.
"Officer, if I confess everything now, can I get a reduced sentence?"
"It depends on your cooperation. The more you cooperate, the more likely you'll get a reduced sentence. Tell us everything you know, and I'll put in some good words in my report. As for whether you actually get a reduced sentence, that's up to the court," Xu Mo replied diplomatically.
"That's fine then. Our hideout is at..."
Just then, the other police officers arrived in the darkness.
Seeing that Xu Mo had caught one of the human traffickers, the officers felt relieved - this was good news to them.
They were fortunate to catch at least one instead of letting all four escape.
Otherwise, it would have been much harder to catch them later.
After all, this operation had already alerted them.
Unless they were stupid, they wouldn't show themselves again anytime soon.
Moreover, catching one meant they might be able to get information about the others and their hideout from this captured member.
Notably,
When the officers arrived, 'Pigsy' was just telling Xu Mo their hideout's location.
The newly arrived officers heard everything clearly.
From 'Pigsy's' confession, everyone learned that the traffickers' hideout was in a small farmhouse near the intersection of Dayu Road and Xifeng Road.
"The people we kidnapped haven't been sold yet, they're all still being kept in that farmhouse. We were planning to finish this last job today and then quit, sell off all the merchandise and lay low somewhere, but..." At this point, 'Pigsy' sighed.
He should have known something bad would happen when his right eyelid kept twitching!
If only he hadn't listened to the boss about doing one last job - why couldn't they just quit?
Not only did the last job fail, but they also got themselves caught - it was truly unbelievable!
"That's good..." Han Fei felt relieved when he heard the kidnapped girls hadn't been sold yet.
"Let's rescue those kidnapped girls first. The urgent matter now is saving people. We can discuss catching the fugitives after we get the girls out."
Han Fei wanted to prioritize saving the victims over catching the criminals, mainly because he feared the remaining three fugitives might immediately contact buyers to sell the kidnapped girls to get money for their escape.
...
Led by 'Pigsy', a line of police cars arrived at the small farmhouse near the intersection of Dayu Road and Xifeng Road - the traffickers' hideout.
"We're here, it's that small courtyard up ahead," 'Pigsy', with his hands cuffed behind his back, could only nod his head to point Han Fei in the right direction.
Though called a farmhouse, it was really just a dilapidated single-story house in disrepair, with only half a door - the other half missing who knows where. The roof was full of holes, and outside was a small yard overgrown with weeds reaching up to their calves.
Looking at the rundown house before him, Han Fei frowned and turned to 'Pigsy': "Are you sure this is your hideout?"
How could anyone live in such a place?
And the house was so small!
Could it really accommodate more than a dozen people?
He strongly suspected the man was lying to him.
"Yes," 'Pigsy' nodded. "But we don't live in the house above. We live underground. The broken house above is just a disguise. When people see this rundown place, they'll assume no one's here and won't notice what's underground."
"Underground?"
"Yes, it used to be a cellar for storing grain. The four of us expanded it to hold people and live in. It's mainly for concealment, and the soundproofing is good - prevents people from hearing all the crying and screaming."
'Pigsy' was escorted out of the car by Wang Dachuan.
He led the officers into the small courtyard.
Pointing at the other half of the door lying on the ground, he said: "Lift up this half door, and you'll see the cellar door."
Hearing this, Wang Dachuan bent down without hesitation and lifted the broken door.
As 'Pigsy' had said, underneath the door panel was a square small door.
This must be the cellar door.
Notably, there was a small lock on the door.
This was understandable - the door panel above was just for concealment, mainly to prevent others from discovering the cellar, but for safety, the cellar itself needed to be locked.
After all, they were keeping their kidnapped victims down there, and they couldn't risk anyone finding them.
"Just to be clear, I don't have the key. This isn't me being uncooperative - there's only one key to this lock, and it's with the boss. He's always the one who opens it," 'Pigsy' quickly explained when he saw the door panel lifted.
"No problem, we can easily open a door without a key," Xu Mo smiled.
He then bent down to pick up a very thin twig from the ground, walked to the cellar's small door, took hold of the yellow padlock, and poked it with the twig.
With a 'click', the lock opened.
'Pigsy': "???"
Are police officers this competitive these days?
Being skilled in combat is one thing, but picking locks too? And with a twig??
How can that even be used to pick a lock?