Chapter 312: Who Says We Can't Handle It?

"How's it going, doctor, is the person alright?"

"Multiple soft‑tissue contusions, some already inflamed; the wounds have been treated, and there is also malnutrition, requiring convalescence."

"Alright, thank you."

In a small clinic in the town, Lu Yang and the others brought the newly rescued female graduate student here for examination.

Upon hearing the woman's diagnosis, both veterans and new recruits were filled with righteous indignation.

"That earlier shrew really told blatant lies with her eyes wide open!"

"And they kept saying, 'provide her food, provide her drink,' but they must have kept her locked up, never letting her have a full meal."

"I just don't get it—people caught with both victim and loot, solid evidence, so why does Platoon Leader Lu refuse to have us bind the person directly and hand them over to the police station?"

"I'm puzzled too; beating them once is useless, they should have the whole family imprisoned!"

Facing the new recruits' discussion, Lu Yang pretended not to hear them and offered no explanation.

Instead, he first took the two police officers who had rushed over after the report to the upstairs to verify the woman's situation.

But LiMin understood the reasoning, glared at the chatterers, and forced them to shut up.

"What do you know?"

"Catching someone is useless unless you can actually convict them."

"They broke the law, but didn't directly partake in the crime, only acted as buyers; they claim they didn't understand, just spent money to find a matchmaker, got cheated, and can wash their hands of it."

"Unless they catch the trafficker and close the whole crime loop, at most they'll detain them briefly or just criticize and release them."

The soldiers were indignant, feeling it was utterly unjust.

But facing these villagers with no sense of law, who when enraged would even flip a military vehicle.

We soldiers, on the contrary, felt like scholars confronting soldiers, powerless to argue rationally.

Back then, if Lu Yang hadn't thought quickly and lied that Cheng YuanYuan was military family and that Kang Changyi had connections, they probably wouldn't have been able to take the person away at all.

"So, shall we just call it a day, and leave this matter as it is?"

"Everyone says soldiers must protect civilians; now faced with this, we just stand by, letting the bad guys roam free while the good suffer?"

"If we leave today, what if those shrews spend money to find people again, and innocent women suffer humiliation?"

"We just happened to encounter this; if later they're abducted back into the mountains, how will those women survive?"

"Enough, cut the chatter."

Cheng Jun spoke up to calm them: "Instructor and Platoon Leader Lu are working on a solution; stop worrying pointlessly. Everyone, at ease, attention, hold military stance for one hour!"

Meanwhile, in the clinic hallway, the two police officers who had just inquired about the situation were communicating with Lu Yang and the other.

Lu Yang honestly reported the situation and asked whether the shrew's family could be charged, but the two officers wore helpless expressions.

"It's not that we don't want to intervene; it's just we truly lack the capacity."

The older officer, a bit older, took out a cigarette from his pocket, but, considering it was a clinic, he put it back.

Lu Yang asked, "Specifically, what reasons make it impossible to intervene?"

The senior officer explained, "Langlang Mountain isn't a single peak; it's a mountain range, with poor transport—going up and down is extremely difficult. The town's police substation only has a few officers, far insufficient for the trouble."

"So you did receive a report before and went there?"

"We've been there more than once..."

The senior officer turned his back and lit a cigarette toward the outside.

The young officer quickly added, "Comrades, let me speak: we did receive an anonymous tip that someone was trafficked into the mountains, but when we went, we found no trace, and not a single villager was willing to give any leads."

"We went to the village party secretary, who flatly denied it; what can we do about that?"

"That mountain is so vast; my master and I searched for a year and still might not find a clue, so each time it ends inconclusively."

"Every time?"

Lu Yang seized the key point: "Do you mean this has happened many times?"

The senior officer exhaled a puff, turned his head: "Regarding similar reports, we've actually received several—last year, the year before, even three years ago; at the peak, we deployed at least a dozen people."

"Especially the year before, an elderly father came to report that his daughter had been trafficked into the mountains; by the time we got there, the child was already two years old."

"We tried to take the person away, but the police vehicle was flipped over; later, several comrades risked death escorting that woman down, and the worst happened!"

Lu Yang's peripheral glance noted the senior officer's smoking finger tremble briefly, yet he kept listening to the young officer.

"As a result, the child's aunt, holding the two‑year‑old, chased out, shouting that the child's mother had been taken by police, would be executed, and would never return."

"The child, hearing that, burst into heart‑wrenching cries for his mother; the female officer collapsed completely, ultimately chose to stay voluntarily and even requested the case be dismissed."

"......"

He Zhen Tao's fury burned fiercely in his heart.

Lu Yang also opened his eyes, seeing such a hideous and disgusting scene for the first time.

No wonder the village party secretary was brazen, no wonder the shrew dared to rant before so many, no wonder those villagers skillfully blocked the vehicle's departure—all of them a gang of repeat offenders!

"We know women are trafficked on Langlang Mountain, but after investigation, the victims mostly give up voluntarily."

"Some do it to preserve their reputation, some because of children, and some simply because no one can be found."

"Moreover, that village party secretary has connections both in the town and the county, and can repeatedly suppress the matters."

"If the traffickers aren't caught, villagers don't cooperate in evidence gathering, and victims, for various reasons, voluntarily drop the case, sigh..."

The two officers took off their caps, too ashamed to look at the badge.

When they joined, they believed serving the people and upholding justice was the ideal, but reality kept slapping them with loud blows.

The senior officer said guiltily, "Honestly, sometimes I'm scared to receive such reports; knowing that in the end it's most likely to end inconclusively."

"But each time we have to grit our teeth and go on duty, thinking what if? What if we can save one, what if the evidence chain closes and we can bring the bad guys to justice?"

"Forget it, telling you this is useless; even if we tell you, you can't intervene, and you're all heading back to your units soon; this mountain range is a series of cages destined to trap many..."

He Zhen Tao deeply felt that sensation of a fist striking cotton—knowing something is wrong yet being powerless to correct it.

He looked at the new recruits standing at attention downstairs, and saw bewilderment, anger, unwillingness, and helplessness on their faces.

But in the end, they are only passing travelers on this mountain; even if they have the will, they are powerless.

He Zhen Tao seemed completely deflated, truly unable to lift his spirits.

Clearly he had done a good deed, yet it only made people feel disgusted, aggrieved, and uncomfortable.

The final class of the three‑day‑two‑night intensive training was supposed to be the theme of transcendence, the most crucial lesson.

He never expected such an incident, which brutally stained the recruits' blank hearts with filth.

As a result, He Zhen Tao has already begun pondering how to provide psychological counseling to these recruits after returning.

Otherwise it would shake the recruits' inner resolve, jeopardize the formation of their worldview and future development, creating serious hidden risks.

"Who says we have to leave now? Who says we can't handle it?"