Chapter 619: Living in Perpetual Fear

Even childhood friends who grew up together might not necessarily commit illegal acts together.

Nowadays, with nine years of compulsory education, illiteracy has decreased, and legal ignorance has naturally decreased as well.

"The future he painted for me was exactly what I had dreamed of."

As Ren Yupeng spoke these words, a look of longing actually appeared on his face:

"I could obtain a brand-new identity with a real, valid ID card, and I would also receive a large sum of money, enough for me to live carefree for a very long time."

"Living a nine-to-five life, shuttling between two points every day, I have truly had enough."

He sighed deeply, seeming utterly weary of such monotonous and boring days:

"So the moment he proposed it, I was tempted."

The other party is also a master at making empty promises... Captain Xu immediately reached this conclusion in his mind.

This is almost a shared characteristic of human traffickers.

The vast majority of human traffickers are skilled at using flowery words to deceive victims into trusting them; the most common method is to lure people away at train stations or other high-traffic areas under the pretext of offering jobs.

Without the ability to make empty promises, no one would ever fall for it.

"How much money did that guy called Old Fourth promise you?" Captain Xu asked, staring at him.

"Thirty thousand per person." Ren Yupeng answered directly without a second thought:

"He pays based on the number of people; for every female student I bring over, he settles the payment for that many."

"What truly made me decide was that he gave me one hundred thousand upfront; it was precisely because of that sum that I decided to do this business."

Business? Hearing this word, Captain Xu unconsciously clenched his fist.

Fourteen deaf-mute female students were treated by the Ren Yupeng before him as goods to be exchanged for money.

Is this business?

This is utterly inhumane!

Thirty thousand per person, so fourteen people amounts to four hundred and twenty thousand.

To commit such a grave crime for four hundred and twenty thousand, it is simply...

Captain Xu suddenly felt it was reasonable again, because that sum of money was already enough.

Many criminals who commit armed robbery will stab someone to death over a few hundred yuan.

Some people will even sell themselves just to buy a mobile phone.

"Did he give you the rest of the money?" Captain Xu asked.

"Yes." Ren Yupeng nodded:

"After I drove the car to the location, he directly handed me three hundred and twenty thousand in cash and instructed me to find a place to hide and do nothing for nearly a year."

Quite experienced... Captain Xu could tell the other party possessed a certain degree of counter-investigation ability.

If they could survive for a year, this case would have long ago become a cold case and been shelved.

A line of dialogue that frequently appears in films and TV dramas: "Wait until the heat dies down before you return."

This "heat" refers to the time limit for the investigation of the case.

Except for cases with particularly heinous social impact, general criminal cases have an investigation time limit; if a case remains unsolved after a certain period, it will be treated as a cold case and shelved.

It is not giving up, but waiting for new leads in the future to continue the pursuit.

"Then why didn't you leave?" Captain Xu looked at Ren Yupeng across from him with confusion.

From the discovery of the missing school bus to the school reporting the incident, and then to the police intervening in the investigation, there was at least a six-hour gap in between, enough time for Ren Yupeng to take a car and leave the city.

Even leaving the province, there would have been time.

These past few days, the members of the special task force also believed the culprit had fled to another province; no one expected that the main suspect, Ren Yupeng, had gone nowhere and had been in this city all along.

"Guilt, I suppose."

Ren Yupeng sighed with a look of helplessness on his face:

"On the first day, I thought about fleeing to another province, but after thinking it through carefully, I couldn't return to my hometown, and going elsewhere where I knew no one and was unfamiliar with the place, it was better to just hide locally."

He paused for a moment, then continued:

"As long as I am careful, I should be able to evade the manhunt."

"I can't stay in hotels or inns; small guesthouses will definitely become a key target for your search. With no other choice, I had to use my new ID card to rent a room."

Ren Yupeng relaxed slightly and continued speaking:

"As it turned out, this method was indeed feasible; with so many people in the entire city, you couldn't possibly check house by house."

"As long as I hide in the rental room and try not to go out, I can remain hidden for a long time."

In fact, the vast majority of fugitives hide this way.