Chapter 46 Find the trace
Luo Jin didn't go with them just now. She contemplated, "I'll pretend to pawn something and try it out. Maybe there is a mechanism you haven't noticed earlier."
Jiang Mo said: "I'll accompany you."
Luo Jin shook her head, "I'll go by myself, less chance of attracting attention. You... pay attention to Xiaolian, I have a feeling that she is a little weird."
She walked out of the inn and headed north. Not far away, she came to Auspicious Pawnshop.
Auspicious Pawnshop was located in the city. Today's business was good. There were people queuing at the counter. Luo Jin stood at the end of the line, observing everything as she waited.
The person in front of the line was a middle-aged woman in simple clothes. Luo Jin spoke to her in a familiar manner, "Elder Sister, this is my first time in this pawnshop. Is it fair?"
The middle-aged woman smiled bitterly, "What's the point of being fair? When n a hurry to use the money, what can be done..."
Luo Jin took out a jade pendant from her pocket, "Elder Sister, in your opinion how much can I get from this pawnshop?"
The middle-aged woman took the jade pendant, examined it, and put it back in Luo Jin's hand. She shook her head and said, "Don't hold your hopes too high. Once you enter the pawnshop, no matter how good the things are, they won't be worth the price. I guess... he might give you ten taels?"
"Ten taels?" Luo Jin covered her mouth, "I spent five hundred taels to buy this... Isn't that too unfair?"
At this time, the person in front of the counter started to shout, "This is the best brocade, How could it be worth only five taels? "
"Pawn it if you want! Next one!" The manager snorted, "I'm busy. If you don't want it, there are plenty of people who can pawn things."
Many people began to get dissatisfied, including the middle-aged lady.
"There is only one pawnshop in this city, so they dare to be so black, right?"
"How about going to the pawnshop in Wei City? There are many pawnshops and it will only take a few more hours to travel!"
"That's right. I'm waiting for money to save a life!"
Luo Jin took the opportunity to start to stir up trouble, "Yes, I pawned it in Wei City before and it was more than twice as high as this! It's still early, why don't we call a vehicle to Wei City together? We can be back before dark!"
After she said this, everyone began to waver.
"She's right!"
"Go to Wei City!"
The manager panicked and hurried out, "Don't rush. We can talk it out... We can talk it out..."
Seeing the chaos in the store, Luo Jin took advantage of the chaos to go around to the back of the store.
This was a yard- an ordinary residential yard with a row of houses. Jiang Mo had searched the houses one by one before, so there was no point for her to go in again.
She squatted down and closed her eyes.
A faint red light appeared in front of her eyes. She could sense all the insects nearby and control them. This was the ability of the Red Emperor Gu.
If there was a basement, people couldn't see it, but the insects underground would definitely know it.
Finally, her eyes locked on one of the rooms, which was a woodshed.
The door of the woodshed wasn't locked. She walked over and pushed it. The door opened.
There were bundles of dry firewood and some sundries inside. At first glance, it looked like an ordinary woodshed. There was nothing special about it.
But since Luo Jin was sure that there was a mechanism here. Everything seemed suspicious in her eyes. She couldn't help but touch and turn anything she saw.
After touching around for a long time, she came across a brick thrown on the ground. It looked inconspicuous, but when she wanted to pick it up, she discovered that it was firmly embedded in the ground and couldn't be picked up at all.
Delighted, Luo Jin tried to turn the brick.
It could be turned!
She turned it left and right several times, but there was no response. She thought that there might be a sequence. She didn't know the sequence, but the universal exhaustive method would never be wrong. If it was a place one often entered, the turn pattern wouldn’t be too complicated. Turn a few more times and there was always a chance.
She silently chanted: "Left one, right one...left one...right two..."
When she turned to the left three and right two, almost an hour had passed. Suddenly, the stone slabs by her feet slowly opened to both sides, revealing a downward passage.
She breathed a sigh of relief and looked into the passage.
There was a stone staircase at the entrance of the passage. She could go down directly along the stone staircase, but it was dark inside and she couldn't see what was going on.
Luo Jin found a flint from the firewood room, made a simple torch with firewood, and walked down the stairs holding the torch.
Not far away, she could see a stone room with a brazier in the middle of the stone room. Luo Jin lit the brazier with a torch, and the stone room was instantly illuminated. Her pupils shrank instantly and she could hardly breathe.
A pile of small cages were densely placed around the stone room, and each cage contained a child - no, perhaps some of them were no longer children.
These children were in ragged clothes, huddled in small cages. Occasionally some of them moved, but most of the time they remained motionless, like immobile puppets.
The sudden light made them cover their eyes in discomfort. After a while some of them slowly put their hands down, looking at Luo Jin with curious eyes.
"Xiaoyu!" Luo Jin couldn't tell which one contained Xiaoyu, so she called out.
But there was no response. After a while, a child tentatively said, "Elder Sister, are you talking about... the secret agent elder brother?"
Luo Jin hurriedly walked toward the child, "You have seen him, right?"
The child nodded, "He was brought here yesterday. He said someone would come to save us... Elder Sister, are you here to save us?"
The child was a girl. Her face was obviously not that of a little girl. She looked like a little girl in her teens, but she was short and had height of only four or five years old.
Luo Jin felt a little oppressed. She took out the dagger and chopped at the iron chain that bound the cage. The short sword Blue Sparrow cut through iron like mud. The iron chain was cut off by her like tofu and fell to the ground.
The girl was stunned for a moment. She stretched out her hand to push open the iron door, but timidly retracted her hand.
Luo Jin pulled the door open, reached out, hugged Miss inside, and took her out of the cage.
The girl was thin and short. Luo Jin felt as if she was holding a four or five-year-old child.
"How old are you?" Luo Jin asked softly in her ear.
"Thirteen." Miss whispered.
Luo Jin's nose felt sour. She put the girl down and whispered: "Wait. Elder Sister will let the others out."
She walked to another cage and cut the chain with a dagger. A boy was locked in this one. He was braver. He hesitated for a moment before pushing the door open and walked out.
The girl followed Luo Jin and watched her rescue people while saying, "Elder Sister, the elder brother yesterday said he is a secret agent. He said he left a secret code and you would come to rescue us. But he was taken away..."
Luo Jin's hands kept moving and her voice was urgent, "Where did they take him?"
The girl pondered for a while, "The secret agent elder brother told me to tell you that he stole a kind of incense."
She took out a small paper bag from her pocket, "This is it."
Luo Jin took the sachet and sniffed it gently. She could smell a faint fragrance.
"You are so smart. No wonder the secret agent elder brother chose you to deliver the message." Luo Jin turned around and smiled at her, "What's your name?
The girl also grinned, "I'm not that smart... My name is AKui."
When she smiled, the corners of her mouth suddenly twitched. She squatted down and covered her abdomen.
"What's wrong?" Luo Jin quickly supported her, "Are you feeling uncomfortable? "
"No... it's okay," Ah Kui's forehead was covered with big beads of sweat, but she still tried to smile back, "It's just... my stomach hurts sometimes. I’ll bear with it. Most people here have some illnesses, I... am considered relatively good."
Luo Jin clenched her fists.
The thirteen-year-old girl was at the stage of physical development, but she was imprisoned in this small cage. Her internal organs were swollen, but were instead forcibly squeezed. She would most likely die if she couldn't survive.
There were a total of twenty-one children. Luo Jin counted them after releasing them one by one and said softly: "Elder Sister will take you out now. You have been indoors for a long time, and your eyes may not be used to the outside world. You should open your eyes slowly, okay?"
Some children still dare not believe it.
"Really? Rescue us out?"
"Now... we are free?"
Luo Jin smiled, "Yes, you are free. I will ask the government to help you find your family and arrange your whereabouts properly. Even if you can't find your family, a livelihood will be found for you. Don't worry! "
Akui looked up at Luo Jin with admiration in her eyes, "The secret agent Elder Brother said that there will be a elder sister who is a high-ranking official coming to save us. Is Elder Sister a high-ranking official? A very high-ranking official?"
Luo Jin couldn't resist rubbing her head, "Yes, a very high-ranking official. A high-ranking official who is high enough to protect you!"
She was about to go out when a figure rushed in out of nowhere and swung a sword at her.
There were many children standing behind Luo Jin and she couldn't avoid it. Her eyes turned cold at once. She swung her palm to hit the person's wrist. The long sword instantly slipped out of the other person’s hand and fell to the ground.
She turned her head and saw a burly man staring at her. There was no surprise in his eyes. He stared at her blankly. Then he swung his palm to attack her face.
Luo Jin dodged sideways before grabbing the man's wrist and twisted it hard. There was a sound of "crack" and the man's wrist fell down.
But he didn’t hesitate at all and continued to attack with his other hand.
Naturally having no sympathy for such a villain, Luo Jin wouldn't show mercy. She turned around and hit the man on the back, making him spit blood and faint to the ground.
The children behind her cheered immediately.
"Elder Sister is so powerful! You are worthy of being a high official!"
"As expected of high official. High Officials are powerful officials!"
"This big bad guy was watching us all day. Finally someone beats him!"
One child was so angry that he kicked the man's butt hard.
Akui pulled the child, "Okay, he is just a guard. Normally, he doesn't bully us, right? "
At this time, a figure flashed from outside. Luo Jin stepped forward and blocked the group of children.
When she saw the person clearly, her eyes sank slightly, "Long Ying?"
Before Long Ying could say anything, Jiang Mo followed her in. He stood at the door with a long sword in his arms. When he saw Luo Jin, he was slightly stunned.
Long Ying was also stunned, "Luo Jin? Why are you here?"
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