Chapter 385: Chapter 375: The Truth

"I met your parents at their home. We went out to look for you together, but by a strange twist of fate, I arrived at the food factory before you did.

I thought I’d be able to find you there, but I never expected that it had been occupied for a while by a group of escaped convicts. They seized all the food in the factory and have been luring other nearby groups inside ever since."

"What’s the point of imprisoning so many people? Isn’t that a waste of food?" Zhao Huan cut in. ’At a time like this, wouldn’t it be better to just live off the food in the factory? Shouldn’t fewer people be better? Why are they still capturing people? Wouldn’t that mean they have to share a lot of food?’

"They’re using the people they capture as bait, I imagine," Tang Mo said calmly. ’People in this world still haven’t really seen blood, when you get down to it. They see this world as too good, they haven’t witnessed the true depths of human evil.’

"That’s right." Qi Jiaming nodded. "Why would they give food to the people they captured? They just lock them up. Whenever a Red-eyed Meat Dragon approaches, they’ll cut off pieces of their flesh to use as feed." To prevent them from dying too quickly and going to waste, they only cut non-vital areas.

"That’s like death by a thousand cuts... It’s too cruel." At such a barbaric act, the two women present—not including Tang Mo, of course—frowned deeply.

"That’s not all. They also force one person from a pair of loved ones to go out and find food for them or lure others into the factory. If that person tries to escape, they kill their companion." Lone individuals are used directly as bait, but those with partners have a bit more value. "That’s how George Lin and I were able to get out every day—by claiming I was the son of Qiao Jin’s parents. Mrs. Qiao, on the other hand, was kept there as a hostage."

Mrs. Qiao’s health was poor to begin with. On top of that, those thugs wouldn’t give their hostages anything to eat, so for the past two days, she’s just been barely hanging on.

"To think such antisocial scum exist." Zhao Huan clenched his fists. "Aunt Hua, do you have a picture of your husband? Zhao Huan, you get out the picture of the child you’re looking for." Both Aunt Hua and Zhao Huan understood what Tang Mo meant and immediately took out the photos, handing them to Qi Jiaming for identification. "Have you seen these two at the food factory?" Tang Mo asked.

Qi Jiaming examined the photos carefully. He had an exceptionally strong memory; generally, if he’d seen someone even once, he could recognize them instantly.

"I’ve seen this child. He was captured the same day I was taken to the food factory. Since he didn’t have a companion, he was sent to the bait area. As for this man..." Qi Jiaming’s expression grew odd.

"He’s one of them." After a moment of hesitation, Qi Jiaming told them what he knew.

"Impossible! My husband is a soldier, not some prisoner!" Aunt Hua shot to her feet, her expression stern. "This is about my husband’s honor."

’It has to be a mistake.’ She’d known him for so many years; she knew his character inside and out. If she hadn’t known what a good man he was, she wouldn’t have... for his sake... "His name is Yang Ming, right? It’s true he doesn’t seem to be a prisoner. I heard he originally came with a female police officer to investigate the situation, but then somehow he joined them. And what’s more..."

"And what’s more?" Aunt Hua’s face went white, the light draining from her eyes. The face in the photo matched, the name matched. She didn’t know what grounds she had left to deny it.

"And... I heard he and that policewoman are a couple. At least, at the food factory, the two of them were always seen coming, going, and living together." Qi Jiaming thought for a moment and decided to tell her everything. ’I can tell she has a special relationship with Yang Ming,’ he thought, ’but he’s a bad guy now. What if she loses her head and tries to go find him? It’s better if I pour some cold water on her now, snap her out of it. It might just save her life.’

Hearing this, Aunt Hua couldn’t stay on her feet and collapsed to the ground. Tang Mo rushed to help her up, and Qiao Xin hurried over from the other side to assist, but it was as if Aunt Hua’s body had lost all strength; she couldn’t get up. The news she had just heard seemed to turn all her perseverance over the past few days, all the hardship of her long journey, into a cruel joke. The man for whom she had given up everything had not only betrayed her, but his own ideals as well.

"Zhao Huan, what are your plans now?" The food factory was no longer the safe haven they had imagined. Going there now would be a suicide mission.

"I’ll share this news with everyone, but I’m still going," Zhao Huan said without a hint of hesitation. "It’s that dangerous, and you’re sure you can get the child out?" Tang Mo knew what Zhao Huan intended to do. He’d had this mission for a long time; now that the target had been located, he was determined to rescue him. "At a time like this, where isn’t it dangerous? What isn’t risky? If you’re that afraid of danger, you might as well have stayed home."

Zhao Huan smiled. ’Since the three of us brothers make our living this way, we can’t just back down when things get dangerous. We have to face the challenge head-on. The worst that can happen is we lose our lives, and that’s it.’

Tang Mo nodded. His words resonated with her.

"I’ll go too," a determined voice said from nearby.

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