Chapter 314: As Long as It's a Person, They Have Value

That's very possible!

In fact, all four of them had thought of this point.

Earlier, when Lu Zhongxin and Zhang Sen exchanged whispers, they had even done a specific analysis of densely crowded places like train stations.

And they had proposed several other similar locations.

For example, airports, large shopping malls, tourist attractions, and so on.

These places are likewise densely crowded, with very large foot traffic, but compared to a train station, they still fall a bit short.

Most importantly, train stations have one thing other places don't.

Namely: they don't pick and choose their visitors.

Take airports as an example.

Do you know how many people in the country have never taken a plane?

Here's a 2018 figure: at least a billion people.

It's safe to say the vast majority of people have never flown, and that includes me — I've never even taken a Spring Airlines flight.

But if you ask how many people have never taken a train, then that ratio flips.

So train stations are also places where all sorts mix together, with every kind of person imaginable.

In the eyes of people with ulterior motives, naturally they'd see it as the perfect place to commit crimes.

"What's their purpose in doing this?" Lu Zhongxin asked again.

He'd figured it out — since his disciple said to ask whenever he didn't understand, he might as well throw caution to the wind and ask freely, never mind whether the question was reasonable or not; ask first, worry later.

Master, are you just trying to argue… Yu Dazhang was momentarily lost for words.

Anyone who'd read the statement materials would surely think of this question, but it's not something you can answer just by inference.

"I'm not entirely sure either."

Yu Dazhang said honestly:

"I've made hypotheses about this before, but none of them were very logical."

"But one thing is certain — they must be doing it for profit. If it were just to satisfy some twisted personal kink, they wouldn't pull off a kidnapping case on this scale."

There was one more point he didn't mention, but he believed everyone in the room had thought of it.

To keep that underground prison running, the funds and manpower required would be far beyond an ordinary sum — something an average person simply couldn't afford.

Without a source of funding, such exorbitant expenses couldn't be sustained.

And so the question arises.

If it burns through that much money, why would the criminals commit such a crime with such enormous capital?

The answer is still: profit.

And the gains must be several times, even dozens of times, what they put in.

Only then would those people take such a reckless risk.

The office fell silent as everyone began mulling over Lu Zhongxin's question.

At this point Yu Dazhang actually relaxed — every time the group put their heads together, that was when he was most at ease.

All he had to do now was help analyze the answers his team members came up with.

With a "pa," he tossed the Huazi onto the desk.

Soon the room was once again wreathed in smoke.

Not everyone on the task force smoked — besides Yu Dazhang, Zhang Sen didn't smoke either.

A little cheetah, after all — to keep his speed, his lung capacity had to be top-notch.

Ten minutes later, Liu Miao spoke up:

"Targeting people with intellectual disabilities specifically — that actually reminds me of the 2007 black kiln case, when a large number of black kilns were exposed, imprisoning and beating migrant workers and child laborers."

"The police also carried out a strict investigation and crackdown across the entire X province, with large numbers sentenced and many within the system also dealt with."

"Even now, a major case like that is extremely rare."

Hearing this, no one spoke; everyone was thinking about something.

Obviously everyone knew about the black kiln case — after all, a case that big was known even to ordinary people, let alone criminal investigators like them.

But the problem was, the black kiln case didn't only target people with intellectual disabilities.

They were just like the compounds in northern Myanmar — whoever came in got put to work, straight onto the job.

No matter who you were, everyone was treated the same — if you didn't work, they'd beat you within an inch of your life.

In 2011, a journalist went to a black kiln to experience life firsthand, and the fact that he escaped was nothing short of his ancestors' graves smoking with green smoke.

That incident once again caused a national sensation, and then another strict crackdown was launched against the black kilns.

Two rounds of strict investigations and crackdowns — you think the black kilns vanished for good?

You're still too young.

In 2024, another black brick kiln enslavement case was exposed.

#Man trapped in black brick kiln for 18 years, freed only after losing ability to work and being discarded#

That's right — yet another black kiln case has been exposed.

Why does it keep happening despite all the bans?

It's just like the traditional Chinese medicine "leading the donkey" trick mentioned earlier — because there's profit in it.

As long as it's a person, they have value… A sentence that seems ordinary is, in the eyes of certain people, a business opportunity, is money.

In his previous life, Yu Dazhang died in 2024, so he knew that even in the later era, situations of imprisoning and enslaving workers still existed.

"That's one line of thinking, at least."

Yu Dazhang agreed with this, but also raised a question:

"If this is also a black kiln case, then why specifically target intellectually disabled people?"

"Also, why grab them and lock them up in an underground prison instead of just hauling them off to the black kiln factory to be imprisoned and put to work?"

"Most importantly, where does the profit come from? If it were just to save costs for the black kiln factory, there'd be no need to set up such an underground prison, and they wouldn't be making that much money either."

Three questions in a row, and the room fell completely silent.

At the same time, everyone felt their brains were running a bit short.

It was you who told everyone to ask about anything they didn't understand, yet the moment Liu Miao raised an idea, you fired off so many questions at once.

The more they investigated the case, the more complicated it became.

By now, the Huazi Yu Dazhang had tossed on the table was down to an empty box, so Lu Zhongxin and the others once again took out their own cigarettes and put them on the table.

Discussing a case burns through the most cigarettes.

Because it requires long periods of focused attention and active thinking, smoking helps people stay alert and concentrated.

After another stretch of silence, this time Yu Dazhang was the first to break the deadlock:

"Compared to those earlier questions, what I want to know even more is the final destination of those intellectually disabled people."

The moment those words were spoken, the four people in the room immediately shifted their gaze to him.

This was also a key point.

No—rather, this was the single most important question.

No matter what they used the intellectually disabled people for, in the end they would all face one outcome: death.

People die.

Not only do they die, but people eat the five grains and are bound to fall ill as well.

So how should these intellectually disabled people, once they've lost their usefulness, be disposed of?

They must have a closed-loop method.

Killing them or burying them would both be poor choices.

Doing it that way would inevitably leave traces and clues, which would be a hidden danger for them.

The fact that the case hasn't been exposed until now shows they have an even more covert method.

This was clearly yet another question that couldn't be reasoned out to an answer.

Still, thinking of it in advance was better than passively investigating the case—encountering similar clues would let them react immediately.

"Master, you and Brother Sen only just got involved with this case today, so it's been tougher on you. You'll need to work some overtime tonight."

Yu Dazhang put it quite tactfully, but in reality he was giving an order:

"You two go to the detention center and meet with Fang Peng. Learning about the case from him will be more direct."

"Mainly have him recall his experiences back at the Yancheng police station. When I interrogated him before, since I needed to understand the whole process, I didn't ask about it in detail."

Hearing this, Lu Zhongxin immediately agreed:

"No problem, we'll head over in a bit."

Zhang Sen, standing to the side, nodded along, then stared at Yu Dazhang and asked:

"You're not coming with us?"

"No." Yu Dazhang shook his head:

"I have other things to handle tonight. Besides, we've all already been in contact with Fang Peng, so the two of you going is fine. I have absolute trust in you."

(End of chapter)