Chapter 75: The Magical Little Mountain Village

“These days, still people living on the mountains?” Yu Dazhang feigned an expression of utter ignorance.

Gathering information requires skill.

Especially when speaking with strangers—direct questions inevitably raise suspicion.

The best approach is to find an entry point, chat casually for a while, then gradually steer toward the topic.

There’s an idiom for it: sidelong glances.

Applied here, it means probing indirectly.

Indeed, the woman didn’t doubt Yu Dazhang’s words—instead, it sparked her appetite for gossip:

“You’re clearly a city-raised person. Even now, there are countless mountain villages in China. You don’t think all 1.4 billion people live in cities, do you?”

Though she didn’t answer directly, Yu Dazhang caught the key point.

Mountain village!

From her tone, he could tell she was lecturing him—there were people living up there.

There was another village.

Having gotten this far, Yu Dazhang naturally didn’t stop.

Extracting more information meant he might uncover more clues.

Besides, he’d already spent the money—he was the top donor now.

“Uh… that thing you just mentioned…” Yu Dazhang steeled his expression, donning an utterly lewd grin:

“The village girls… the kind you can have fun with—are they also up on the mountain?”

He even felt his own words burn his tongue.

Everyone says city folks are wild… right now, Yu Dazhang wanted to scream on behalf of city dwellers:

The main nightlife venues in cities are KTVs, bathhouses, and massages.

Even combined, they couldn’t match the thrill of just one activity here.

Was this what they called eating wild game?

“You? Forget it.” The woman sneered again:

“Even if I found you one, it wouldn’t work. They do this to earn money, not to risk their lives.”

“Look at your weight—you’d flip over and crush the girl into a photo.”

How cruelly she spoke… Yu Dazhang swallowed his anger, switching to an outraged tone:

“Fine, I’ll pay more—just tell me, are they on the mountain? If not, I won’t touch them.”

“No one on the mountain—all of them are from town.” The woman was honest, no false advertising.

Yu Dazhang wasn’t satisfied—he pressed further:

“I only want mountain girls. Do you have any connections?”

Such an odd request left even this seasoned woman stunned.

Over the years, she’d met all kinds—but never anyone who only wanted mountain girls.

Was he really that wild?

Even the land-based options weren’t enough—he had to go up the mountain?

Enjoy the scenery while you’re at it~

What a life.

The woman nearly gave Yu Dazhang a thumbs-up. After a stunned pause, she whispered:

“To be honest, I’ve lived here over thirty years and never once climbed the nearby mountains. If you want fun, stay in town—or go elsewhere.”

Yu Dazhang sensed she didn’t want to talk about the mountain—probing further would raise suspicion. He held back.

After leaving the restaurant, Zhang Sen moved to get the car, but Yu Dazhang grabbed his arm:

“We can’t use our car—let’s walk to the roadside and try hailing a taxi.”

“You’re afraid someone’ll recognize our license plate isn’t local?” Zhang Sen guessed.

“Something like that.” Yu Dazhang nodded:

“We’re getting closer to them—better stay cautious.”

“You mean…” Zhang Sen’s eyes widened:

“My master and the others are in this town?!”

The thought thrilled him—he clenched his fists, breathing faster.

His eyes darted around frantically.

“I just said we’re getting close,” Yu Dazhang sighed.

“Staying alert is good—but you’re being paranoid now.”

Earlier, during his conversation with the woman, Yu Dazhang had pretended to be clueless. He knew full well many still lived on the mountains.

Not just now—even in 2024, China still had about six hundred thousand mountain villages.

You read that right—not six hundred thousand people, but six hundred thousand mountain villages.

Here, “mountain village” means a village on the mountain. If you count all villages in China, there are over two million natural villages.

You probably can’t imagine how many people never leave their villages in their entire lives.

Even more astonishing—some of these villages still live in primitive conditions.

To put it simply: if you’re reading novels on your phone, to them it’s utterly unbelievable.

The two then took a taxi into town and checked into a hotel as their temporary base.

There, Yu Dazhang learned the mountain village’s name: Shuishouyingzi Village.

Strange, isn’t it?

Who’d think a mountain village would have such a name?

Please… collect… 6…9…shu…ba…!

At first hearing, you’d think it was a seaside fishing village.

Barely five minutes after entering their room, a knock came at the door.

Yu Dazhang opened it—it was the middle-aged woman from the front desk.

She looked mysterious, her voice dripping with secrecy:

“Want a girl? Super fresh, guaranteed local.”

Guaranteed ripe… Yu Dazhang felt like she was hawking watermelons.

This town was incredible.

Had the girls from the old Eight Great Alleys all fled here?

Even eating and checking in—people came right up to sell you services.

After firmly refusing, Yu Dazhang shut the door tight, preventing any persistent salespeople.

"Sen-ge, it's your turn now." He stared sternly at Zhang Sen.

Seeing Yu Dazhang’s serious expression, Zhang Sen straightened instantly:

“What do you need me to do?”

“Your specialty, of course—play an old granny.” Yu Dazhang pointed to Zhang Sen’s shoulder bag.

He knew it was packed with all the disguise gear.

“Change here—then we’ve got real business to attend to.”

Hearing “real business,” Zhang Sen asked no questions and got to work immediately.

Yu Dazhang had no interest in men’s makeup—he flopped half onto the bed, staring at the white wall as his mind raced.

This town had problems—serious ones.

Businesses dared openly knock on doors to peddle special services—and even invented new tricks.

That meant this wasn’t a recent phenomenon.

If it had been going on long-term, what the hell was the town’s public security team doing?!

Had they just given up entirely?

Even if the security team missed it, what about the police station?

After all, cracking down on prostitution was part of their duty.

Earlier, during his chat with the restaurant owner, Yu Dazhang had even entertained an immature thought.

You could imagine how far this underground service industry had developed.

If those two missing officers had come to this town, would they have noticed?

They would have.

But they wouldn’t have taken it seriously.

After all, their main mission was to solve the human trafficking case.

So this was a point they deliberately ignored.

If so…

Yu Dazhang suddenly widened his eyes.

They have a fatal flaw!!

(End of Chapter)