Chapter 324: Are the police this over‑competitive nowadays?

So after all that hassle, is this guy just fooling himself?

He basically knows nothing; they didn't catch anyone else besides me at all??

Zhu Bajie went dumb.

Unfortunately, the polished words Xu Mo just said… turned out to be all lies, said just to trick himself into spilling all his companions' information.

Wait, how did the Police know where our hideout is? Zhu Bajie stared at Xu Mo: "How do you know where our hideout is?"

"I don't know," Xu Mo shrugged. "It was just a wild guess."

"Enough, now's not the time for you to dwell on this. Answer my earlier question quickly… You cooperated well just now; don't waste that effort. Keep cooperating for a chance at a discretionary sentence reduction."

Hearing that, Zhu Bajie hesitated.

For a moment, he didn't know whether he should keep answering Xu Mo's questions.

If he kept answering, he'd become the kind of scoundrel who betrays and abandons his comrades.

But if he refused to answer, he had already given up the names of two of his companions just now…

Although Xu Mo just coaxed out from him the names and exact home addresses of his two companions, he was tricked, not deliberately betraying his companions to seek a sentence reduction.

But those words truly came from his mouth, and his companions were indeed the ones he gave up.

He's already given up two; does he still need to give up another?

Given the current situation, their gang will certainly be wiped out by the Police; it's only a matter of time.

Since they'll be caught anyway, it's better to hand over everything he knows to the Police… at least that could allow a discretionary sentence reduction.

Thinking that, Zhu Bajie gritted his teeth.

"Police officer, I want to know—if I confess now, can I get a sentence reduction?"

"Based on your behavior, the more you cooperate, the more likely a sentence reduction. Tell everything you know; I'll write some favorable comments in the report. Whether you actually get a reduction depends on the court's judgment," Xu Mo said in an official tone.

"Then that's fine; our hideout is at…"

At that moment, the other officers also arrived in the dark.

Seeing Xu Mo seize one of the Human Traffickers, the officers' anxious hearts finally relaxed; for them, this was good news.

The only downside was they only caught one, and the other four escaped.

Otherwise, it would be hard to catch them later.

After all, this operation already scared the snakes.

As long as they're not foolish, they won't show up in the short term.

Moreover, catching one means they might learn about the others and the exact location of their hideout from this captured person.

It is worth mentioning that…

When the officers just arrived, Zhu Bajie was already telling Xu Mo the location of their hideout.

The newly arrived officers also heard it clearly.

From Zhu Bajie's mouth, everyone learned that the Human Traffickers' hideout was in a small farmyard near the intersection of Dayu Road and Xifeng Road.

"The people we kidnapped haven't been dealt with yet; they're still being kept in that farmyard. We originally planned to finish today's batch and then quit, sell all the cargo and find a place to lay low, but…" Zhu Bajie sighed as he spoke.

I kept saying my right eyelid kept twitching today—no good omen!

Had I known, I shouldn't have followed the boss's orders—what the hell was that final batch? Couldn't we have just quit outright?

The final batch fell through, and they ended up dragging themselves in—truly a nightmare!

"Then that's fine…," hearing that the kidnapped girls hadn't been sold yet, Han Fei instantly breathed a sigh of relief.

"First, go rescue those bound girls; the immediate priority is to save people. After the people are rescued, we can discuss capturing the Escapees."

Han Fei thought that rescuing people first rather than catching them, mainly fearing the remaining three Escapees would immediately contact buyers to sell the kidnapped girls for money to flee.

……

Led by Zhu Bajie, a line of police cars rushed to the farmyard at the Dayu Road and Xifeng Road intersection—the hideout of the four Human Traffickers.

"We're here; it's the small yard ahead," Zhu Bajie, with his hands bound behind his back, could only nod to point Han Fei the direction.

Calling it a farmyard, it's actually an old, rundown one‑story house, with only half a door—the other half unknown— the roof full of holes, and outside a weed‑overgrown yard with grass up to the calves.

Looking at the shabby house, Han Fei frowned and asked Zhu Bajie, "Are you sure this place is your hideout?"

This doesn't look like a place anyone could live in.

And the house is way too small!

Can this place hold a dozen people?

He doubted whether this guy was lying to him.

"Yes," Zhu Bajie nodded. "But we don't live in that small house above; we live underground. The broken house above is just a cover—anyone seeing it would think no one is there and overlook the underground."

"Underground?"

"Right, it was originally a grain storage cellar. The four of us expanded it to hold people and to live in; it's mainly hidden, with decent sound insulation, so those people can't be heard crying and screaming all day."

Zhu Bajie was escorted out of the car by Wang Dachuan.

He led the officers into the courtyard.

Pointing at the other half of the door scattered on the ground, he said, "Lift this half‑door, and you'll see the cellar door."

Hearing that, Wang Dachuan bent over without hesitation and lifted the broken half‑door.

As Zhu Bajie said, beneath the door panel there truly was a square little door.

It must be the cellar door.

Worth noting, there was a small lock on the door.

That makes sense; the upper door panel merely serves as a cover to hide the cellar, and for safety the cellar needs to be locked.

After all, people they've bound are kept down there, and it must not be discovered.

"Just so you know, I don't have the key. It's not that I'm uncooperative; the only key to this lock is with the boss, and he always opens it," Zhu Bajie quickly added as the door panel was lifted.

"It's fine, no lock is no lock, opening a door isn't that simple?", Xu Mo smiled.

He bent down, picked up a very thin and small twig from the ground, walked to the small door of the cellar, picked up the yellow little lock, and poked it with the twig.

He heard a "click", and the lock opened.

Zhu Bajie: "???"

Are police these days so competitive?

Good skills are one thing, but he can also pick locks? And he even uses a twig to pick a lock??

Can this thing also be used to pick a lock?