Chapter 133: The Resolution

Zhang Xuan asked a few more questions, but the supervisor, truly shattered by Zhang Xuan's methods, spilled everything he knew.

"One last question: how do you intend to atone for the children you have harmed? Will you do it yourself, or shall I?"

"Is the end finally here? Only now do I realize how terrified and helpless those children must have felt after I beat and abused them. In their eyes, I must have been a total demon, just as you are to me right now. I think I finally have a taste of what they went through. Do it! Let me be free!"

"Are you repenting now? Do you even deserve to? How could you ever understand the damage you caused them, both physically and mentally? Tell me, what did those children do wrong? Why should their innocent youth be stained with such sin, or haunted by nightmares for the rest of their lives? Did they do anything to deserve this? No, they did nothing wrong. It was you. You destroyed the innocence they were meant to keep, shattered their hope for the world, and even stripped them of their lives." After finishing, Zhang Xuan threw the knife beside the supervisor. He had considered severing the man’s tendons, cutting out his tongue, or perhaps turning him into a human torso to live in eternal fear and regret, but he ultimately let the thought go.

The supervisor tremblingly picked up the knife, pointed it at Zhang Xuan, and sneered, "You demon, how are you any better than me? Do you know why I was chasing them? It’s simple. I had been scouting for a long time before I found two good seedlings. I planned to 'cherish' them that night, but when I went to look for them, they had run away. I couldn't accept that someone in my camp would dare to escape—especially someone I had just set my sights on—so I gave chase. Atonement? To be honest, I don't remember what I did to them. I only remember that every night when I was with them, I was happy, and under my 'affection,' the children were happy too..."

"Die!" Zhang Xuan roared. He stepped forward, snatched the knife from the supervisor’s hand, and plunged it directly into the man’s chest without blinking.

The supervisor looked down at the blade embedded in his chest and collapsed.

Zhang Xuan stared at the body, crouching down beside it with a heavy heart. He pulled the knife out, wiped the blood on the supervisor’s clothes, and walked over to Yang Zaixing and Nie Zheng.

"Is it over? Are we still going to the stronghold they mentioned?" Yang Zaixing asked, looking at the hollow-eyed Zhang Xuan.

Based on the trafficker's description and the route the supervisor had taken, Zhang Xuan gauged the general direction of the stronghold. "I desperately want to raze that place to the ground tonight, but with just the two of us, it will be difficult. Let's head back first. We’ll have Uncle Tong and Uncle Yang take action. I don't believe that two men with such kind hearts will sit idly by once they hear that so many children are suffering in such hellish conditions."

"Brother Xuan, could you teach me the methods you used to torture that pervert?" Nie Zheng asked.

"Why? Why do you want to learn that?" Zhang Xuan had planned for Nie Zheng to be his personal guard; such methods shouldn't be necessary for that role.

"I want to learn so that when I have the power to wipe out these evil strongholds, I can 'repay' these traffickers with these same methods. Brother Xuan, please, teach me! I'm with you from now on, so leave this kind of work to me." Nie Zheng was determined to learn. He wanted to return the pain he had suffered, the pain his friends had endured, and the pain of countless strangers back to these inhuman traffickers.

"One step at a time. Focus on your foundations first. I’ll teach you later; there’s plenty of time." Zhang Xuan walked back to the supervisor, retrieved the broken bamboo slip, and handed it to Nie Zheng. "Take this as a souvenir." Nie Zheng took the slip, unsure if this meant Zhang Xuan would only teach him once he had mastered it.

Afterward, Zhang Xuan leaned into Yang Zaixing's ear. "You two saw everything, didn't you?"

Yang Zaixing nodded. "It was cruel to watch, and even more so to hear his screams. Little Xuan, what kind of things are in that head of yours? To think of such brutal methods... just what heinous crimes did that man commit to deserve that?"

Zhang Xuan looked at Yang Zaixing. "You’re better off not knowing. I’m afraid if you knew, you wouldn't be able to stop yourself from desecrating his corpse. Let’s just go search these people for money; no sense in wasting it. That first trafficker had quite a bit on him." Zhang Xuan walked toward the other corpses with his hands behind his back.

"Fine, keep your secrets! I don't even care!" Yang Zaixing followed him toward the bodies. It seemed Zhang Xuan was slowly corrupting him. Nie Zheng tucked away the bamboo slip and watched as Zhang Xuan and Yang Zaixing rummaged through the corpses, occasionally smiling. His perception of the two had shifted once again.

Just as the two were "getting rich," a few pairs of eyes were watching their every move from not far away.