Chapter 206: 205 Chapter Saving People Chapter 206: 205 Chapter Saving People The man was in a hurry, looking as if he had an urgent matter to attend to. When he got off, he nearly knocked over an old lady and didn’t bother to heed the curses from several young people nearby, focusing only on his own path and quickly leaving the platform.

Zheng Tan followed closely behind. He felt that if he could see Xiao Jiu, this might be his last chance to help her. If he missed this opportunity, he might never see her again.

Since he often roamed this area, Zheng Tan had some understanding of the surroundings, especially the places that had been or were about to be demolished. The direction the man took led to a private residential area, which was not included in the demolition plans—at least not for the coming few years.

Although there were no construction sites nearby, the area was undergoing road repairs, with the constant “clang and bang” during the day, which was annoyingly noisy. Aside from the noise, there was also air pollution. Residents going out all wore masks and hats, hurrying along as if they were afraid to stay in the area too long.

Zheng Tan watched the man pull out a tissue to cover his nose and quickly walk up to a house, taking out a key to unlock the door.

Does he live here?

Zheng Tan looked around but didn’t see the Santana, figuring the car either wasn’t parked here or had already been disposed of; otherwise, the man wouldn’t have taken the bus.

Looking around, the anti-theft windows were well-installed, too tight for Zheng Tan to squeeze through. He tried to find the kitchen but couldn’t locate it after walking around. However, Zheng Tan did find a toilet on the first floor.

How many times had he climbed through toilets now?

Zheng Tan felt a sense of resignation in his heart.

The stench was noticeable even from outside. He wondered how long it had been since these people cleaned the toilet; he guessed it was filthy inside. But for the girl’s sake, Zheng Tan decided to endure it for now.

The toilet did not have a window-style ventilation, but only a vent fan, which showed signs of remodeling—it probably used to be a window but had been converted to this fan. Perhaps the people living here thought that a vent fan would be more effective at keeping people out?

Even if it kept people out, it couldn’t keep a cat out.

Zheng Tan leaped up and squeezed through the space between the fan blades. This wasn’t his first time squeezing through a vent fan; he was quite proficient at it. However, the fan blades were filthy, and Zheng Tan’s body ended up coated with a layer of dust.

As expected, the inside of the toilet was a mess. Tiles on the floor were “bald” in places, and there were some yellow stains of uncertain origin that annoyed Zheng Tan—the cat with a slight obsession for cleanliness—as he fussily twitched his ears.

Forget it, just endure for now.

Shaking off the dust from himself, Zheng Tan walked towards the toilet door. It was only ajar, so he listened for activity outside. There were three people talking, but the stench was too much for Zheng Tan to bear any longer. Seeing no one outside the door, he tiptoed out.

There was a staircase between the toilet and the living room, behind which were piles of miscellaneous items. Zheng Tan hid behind the staircase; he was naturally dark-furred, and the poor lighting combined with clutter around the staircase meant that even if someone walked by, he wouldn’t be easily spotted.

He couldn’t see the people in the living room from where he was, so Zheng Tan had to rely on listening in.

There was a strong smell of smoke around. The living room was filled with swirling smoke. From the sound of it, Zheng Tan knew that one of them was the Snakehead.

However, from their conversation and tone, Zheng Tan surmised that Snakehead and his associates were not in good spirits. The recent troubles began when someone reported a gang involved in organ trafficking, indirectly implicating Snakehead and his crew. Although Snakehead had no direct connection with that gang, the incident had gone too far and disrupted several of their deals.

Organ trafficking?!

These people were actually involved in organ trafficking!

Zheng Tan was shocked. No wonder he always found the way Snakehead looked at people to be odd.

From the conversation of the three men, Zheng Tan could make out some details.

Snakehead and his associates worked as intermediaries for organ donors, sourcing kidneys from people with the required blood type through various channels. After taking orders, they would contact the donors, offer them a certain sum of money, and prepare for surgery after carrying out medical check-ups and blood typing.

Having money was one thing, but finding a matching organ in time was another major challenge. Thus, more and more people were contacting intermediaries like Snakehead—if they could get a matching organ, they didn’t care about the murky and sordid actions involved.

Zheng Tan had heard about people selling organs, having seen news reports about people selling their livers or kidneys. And from the way Snakehead and his people spoke, using some sort of argot, Zheng Tan thought it was highly likely that this group would resort to extreme measures for money.

The issue currently troubling Snakehead and his team was that an organ-trafficking gang had conned the donor party out of money, even taking more than they were supposed to during the surgery. When the donors found out, they made a scene. No one expected that they would have the audacity to not only draw the attention of the police but also attract considerable media coverage, making the situation even hotter for Snakehead and his associates.

They also mentioned Xiao Jiu, stating that their interest in her wasn’t for her organs, but for a certain deal. Someone had offered two million to find five people with AB-negative blood, preferably children, to raise privately as part of a personal blood bank. A blood contamination incident the previous year made this buyer cautious, and he trusted “blood” raised by himself to be safe. After all, they could afford it.

Five people for two million yuan, even if only one suitable person could be found, they could make four hundred thousand yuan. The temptation was great for the Snakeheads, but the buyer had many demands. In the end, they added, “The blood type must be a complete match and the donor must be absolutely healthy,” or the buyer wouldn’t purchase.

Nowadays, many families have just one child, treasured above all else. They wouldn’t even let their child donate blood, let alone sell them. That’s why the Snakeheads would go to some townships, even more remote places to look, where families with several children were more common.

After completing a few organ trades in Chuhua City, they roamed around the surrounding counties and cities for a while. Through various channels and connections, they searched for a week, and only Xiao Jiu barely met the conditions. As for Xiao Jiu’s two sisters, who hadn’t been sold yet, one’s blood type wasn’t a complete match and the other had some health issues. The only brother was absolutely not going to be sold, so Xiao Jiu was the only choice. Xiao Jiu’s shortcoming was that the child was too thin; he didn’t “look good” for sale. So initially, they planned to fatten up Xiao Jiu for a while until he looked better for sale before delivering him to the buyer.

“What do you think, should we expand into the blood business in the future?” the Snakehead asked.

In the past, they also dabbled in human trafficking, but a national crackdown forced them to pause for some time. Later, they heard that there was money in organ trading, so they took up that business. This recent order made them realize there were still many “business opportunities” in that area. Taking advantage of the fact that this had yet to draw widespread attention and before blood centers had sufficient reserves of “rare blood types,” they could make a few more scores. Even if the price fell short of this deal, they would grab as much cash as they could handle—they wouldn’t complain about having too much money.

Zheng Tan, hiding behind the stairs, listened to their conversation, seething with the urge to kick something. But he was eavesdropping and couldn’t make any noise; he had to swallow his anger.

If Xiao Jiu really got sold by these people, even if he never had to worry about food and drink again, he would have no freedom and would have to undergo regular blood draws – a living “blood bag.” And there was no telling whether this would affect his lifespan.

As they talked, they received a phone call, probably someone informing them of the situation’s development.

“Just to be safe, we should leave earlier. Let’s go today!” the Snakehead decided on the spot, “Don’t forget whose turf we’re on. If they find out we dared to continue our trade here after being warned once…”

“Yeah, the Snakehead is right; let’s leave tonight! I’ll go get the car,” another person spoke up.

“I need to swing by the clinic to switch out some medicine and buy some snacks for the road,” the Snakehead extinguished his cigarette in the ashtray, stood up, took a deep breath, and said to the person going out for the car, “Be careful. I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”

The man at the door glared in response, “You better take care of yourself instead of worrying about others. Don’t get bitten by a dog again. One more bite like the last time and your arm is as good as gone.”

The Snakehead frowned; he detested dogs, and he disliked events that were out of his control. The two past “misfortunes” stuck in his mind like thorns, but he had never found a convincing explanation for them.

“Sickle, keep an eye on things too,” the Snakehead told the man who just came back.

“I know, what can that kid do anyway? Everything’s securely locked, and no one even knows we’re here,” Sickle said, “I’m going to take a shower and relax. Running around all day has exhausted me, and we almost had a mishap at the hospital today during a random check.”

Since the donors were also voluntary, they too didn’t want to be discovered. Seeing a bit of commotion at the hospital had frightened them. During the check-up, the doctor asked a few questions, and the person was so nervous that he stuttered through the responses Sickle had coached him on beforehand. Fortunately, the doctor didn’t pry further. The incident still irked Sickle when he remembered it.

Once the Snakehead and the other person had left, “Sickle,” whose nickname was Sickle, prepared to take a shower and relax before catching some sleep since he still had to drive at night.

Zheng Tan, concealed behind the staircase, watched Sickle move towards the kitchen, which had been converted into a bathing area. That explained why he hadn’t seen kitchen windows from outside or noticed any fumes – they had been sealed off.

After Sickle entered the room, Zheng Tan explored the floor but found no rooms that could be used to confine someone, so he ran upstairs.

There were three rooms on the second floor, two open and one shut. Zheng Tan sniffed at the closed door; the girl must be locked inside.

He tried to turn the doorknob, but it wouldn’t budge—locked. Considering those people wouldn’t let Xiao Jiu roam freely, it made sense.

The gap under the door was too small for even a cat’s paw to fit through, and thus Zheng Tan couldn’t make contact with the person inside. And looking at the door, it appeared very sturdy; even with his abilities, Zheng Tan couldn’t break it down without injuring himself. If Ermao were here, the lock would have been picked in less than half a minute.

Keys?

Zheng Tan searched the rooms but found nothing, so he ran downstairs.

Those people likely carried the keys with them at all times.

When “Sickle” went to shower, he left his coat in the room.

Zheng Tan rummaged through what looked like an expensive suit that belonged to “Sickle” and found a set of keys. Clearly, “Sickle” thought no one would come in to steal them. If it had been the Snakehead, with his caution, he would have probably taken the keys into the shower with him.

As something occurred to him, he looked around but saw no surveillance cameras. Then, holding the keys firmly with his front paws to avoid making noise as he ran, Zheng Tan used his hind legs to sprint up the stairs.

Accustomed to climbing stairs on all fours, Zheng Tan found it slightly awkward to use just two legs. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for it on QiDian (qidian.com) by casting your recommendation tickets and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to continue reading.)

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep