"Heh, that's good. It seems you newcomers are also quite sharp. Oh, right, I have a task for you today: to receive a new batch of girls. You know what to do, right?"
"Yes, Master!" we all replied.
"Alright then, Big Guy, go out with them and arrange to have them brought here. Remember to be careful, and don't get noticed by the police!"
For some reason, when I heard the word "police," another voice suddenly appeared in my mind: "Don't get involved, find a way to deal with them."
But this voice was quickly suppressed: "What nonsense are you talking about? We're from here, how can we betray the Master?"
"But do you know what we did before? We can't help these people!"
"You're talking rubbish. We've always been here, and we belong here. We're not leaving."
In the end, my other voice was persuaded. After breakfast, we left the mountain villa with the Big Guy. He drove a truck and took us back to the area near the cave. Then, more people brought a group of girls out of the cave, and we were to escort them onto the truck to be taken to the villa.
I noticed that these people were doing this repetitive work every day. If they brought dozens of people a day, that would be hundreds a month. We helped a few girls carry their luggage onto the truck. Some of them even had luggage, as if they were going to work somewhere.
After they were on the truck, the Big Guy said, "You can drive now. Who among you can drive? I still have some things to do here!"
Gao Mingqiang raised his hand and volunteered, "I can! Let me drive!"
The others had no objections, so he got into the driver's seat. We arranged for the girls to get on the truck, and then we set off for the villa. The road was smooth, but then, one of the girls on the truck started to convulse. She was right next to me. I saw how frail she was; she twitched on the ground a few times and then stopped responding.
The people next to me, including Liu Yuning, were terrified. Xiahou shouted towards the front, "Stop the car quickly!"
Gao Mingqiang stopped the truck, got out, and came back to ask us what was happening. But when he saw the body, he exclaimed, "We can't handle this. Should we call the police?"
A strong man said, "Mr. Gongsun said that if we encounter this situation on the way, we should take the body back to the villa."
If this strong man hadn't spoken, I wouldn't have realized he was even on the truck.
For some reason, as soon as this strong man spoke, none of us had any intention of objecting. Gao Mingqiang immediately got back into the driver's seat and continued driving. After some time, we returned to the villa along the mountain road.
The strong man lifted the body and I saw him take it inside a black fence behind the villa. I don't know what was hidden there, it looked quite mysterious, but we didn't think much of it and soon entered the villa. At this point, we found the girls and Mr. Gongsun having another meeting. During the meeting, the strong man who carried the body came in. He whispered a few words to Mr. Gongsun, who immediately became excited and said to the girls, "That's all for today. I have other things to attend to. You can do whatever you want. If you're bored, you can go to the sports area or the beauty salon at the villa. Our facilities are fully equipped, so you won't feel bored."
With that, Gongsun Jiayi left. We walked with the girls, and they didn't seem to want to leave, standing there waiting, as if for Gongsun Jiayi to return.
We, however, didn't feel the same way. We decided to go back to our rooms to rest. Back in the room, Liu Yuning and I wanted to sleep, but we couldn't. Suddenly, I heard someone by the bed speaking to me: "Young Master, wake up quickly!"
A pill was then put into my mouth. I felt a jolt throughout my body, and my mind cleared up considerably. I knew it was a 'Bihui Dan' (Pill to Ward off Evil). He Xiaoyu had arrived.
I sat up abruptly. At the same time, He Xiaoyu put a Bihui Dan into Liu Yuning's mouth, and she also woke up, asking what was going on. My mind was flooded with memories, playing like a movie: from getting on the K21 Ghost Metro, to the cave, and then all the scenes at the villa.
I turned to Liu Yuning and explained everything. She then realized what had happened and said, "It seems we were all drugged and in a daze. We've only just recovered."
"Yes, thank goodness for you, He Xiaoyu. How did you find us!"
"I've always been by your side. I only found an opportunity to help now. There are too many people here. If they found me, it wouldn't be good. I suggest you don't let them discover you've recovered and investigate thoroughly. That way, you can unravel the mystery of this place."
"That's a good suggestion. But Xiaoyu, what will you do now?"
"I'm fine. Don't I look ordinary today? They'll definitely think I'm just one of those girls."
"That's true. It's much more convenient for girls here."
"Haha, Young Master, your outfit is really interesting. If it weren't for outsiders, they'd really think you were a girl!"
"That's called a 'cross-dresser' (nǚzhuāng dàlǎo). They've even got the potential to be an internet celebrity!"
"Both of you, stop teasing me. Let's focus on the task. This villa doesn't seem simple. I don't know what Gongsun Jiayi is doing here. I always feel that this couple is very strange."
"Yes, this doesn't seem like a simple human trafficking case."
We chatted while He Xiaoyu stayed with us. Although most people here shared rooms, they were all girls, so three of us together wouldn't raise suspicion. We decided to let He Xiaoyu protect us, in case we fell into a daze again and someone needed to wake us up.
In the evening, Gongsun Jiayi arranged for everyone to gather in the lobby. On stage, he and Yin Chushuang seemed to be having another meeting. This time, they had brought some new recruits, about 20 or so girls. They looked just like us before, dazed and confused.
The problem must have originated from the subway, because we saw some poisonous mist spreading from it earlier.
We stood quietly among the crowd. We had discussed in the room earlier that we wouldn't help others recover for now, just the two of us. Having too many people would be inconvenient for such a secret operation.