Chapter 231: Yun Jiao Helps Catch the Thief

"Shut up!"

The train police were furious as well.

It wasn’t that they were judging by appearances, but what kind of thief brings a child along?

Besides, after hearing the whole story, they were more inclined to believe the couple was just causing trouble for no reason.

It was obvious they were holding a grudge over yesterday’s incident.

The old man also had an impressive bearing; perhaps there really was something valuable in his luggage that he couldn’t conveniently inspect in public.

They didn’t have the kind of surveillance technology that would become common later, and the thief wasn’t necessarily even in this carriage. Finding a thief on a train packed with so many people was an incredibly difficult task.

Furthermore, when the train stopped at the next station, the thief could easily blend in with the crowd and get off, disappearing completely. Finding them then would be harder than reaching for the sky.

For the time being, things were at a standstill.

"I can find them."

Just then, Yun Jiao, who had been quiet the whole time, spoke up.

Everyone’s eyes immediately fell on her.

Yun Jiao met the train police officer’s gaze, her clear, bright eyes full of earnestness.

"I remember that person’s scent."

Shen Yunlian and the others were worried. "Here now, Jiaojiao, don’t push yourself."

Yun Jiao shook her head. "I’m not."

Although it sounded a bit absurd, operating on the principle of trying anything in a desperate situation, the train police officer eventually picked up Yun Jiao and went to find the thief.

Regarding the people in their own carriage, Yun Jiao simply shook her head and said no.

The portly woman and her husband clearly didn’t believe Yun Jiao in the slightest, clamoring for the train police to arrest Yun Linhai and his entire group.

"You two, if you keep obstructing our investigation, we’ll escort you to the police station for a nice chat when the train stops."

The pair immediately stopped causing trouble, but their eyes were filled with indignation.

No one else could be bothered to pay them any mind.

The train police officer carried Yun Jiao and moved from one carriage to the next.

He asked her a few questions along the way, but Yun Jiao just shook her head each time.

Not until they reached the fourth carriage...

Yun Jiao, who was now holding the officer’s hand, suddenly stopped in front of a couple.

The woman, holding a sleeping child, looked up with a simple, honest face. "Officer, is something wrong?"

The man scratched his head. "Was it about me smoking yesterday? Did I bother someone? I swear, I won’t do it again."

The woman immediately shot the man a glare. "I told you not to smoke, you..."

Before they could finish, several officers, at their leader’s signal, lunged to apprehend them.

In that instant, the simple, honest expressions on their faces vanished completely as they began to struggle violently.

The man vaulted over the seat behind him, attempting to break out of the encirclement.

The woman, meanwhile, threw the child in her arms.

That single action told the train police everything they needed to know. The child wasn’t hers.

Instantly, the entire carriage descended into chaos.

An officer barely managed to catch the child, diving to the floor and using his own body as a cushion to break the fall.

Surrounded, the man moved with lightning speed and grabbed the only child in the crowd—Yun Jiao—to use as a hostage.

"Don’t you fucking move! Come any closer and I’ll kill her!"

The thief, now revealed as a human trafficker, held a dagger to Yun Jiao’s throat.

Poor, unlucky Yun Jiao, who hadn’t managed to squeeze out of the chaotic crowd and was now a hostage: ...

The officers surrounded him but dared not make a move.

"Don’t do anything rash. If you actually kill someone, this becomes a whole different situation."

"Let her go, and we’ll consider going easy on you."

"Jiaojiao!"

When Yun Linhai and the others arrived and saw the scene, the two elderly people were so terrified they nearly fainted.

’We never should have let Jiaojiao come. What a disaster!’

Everyone was panicked and tense.

The only one who was calm was Yun Jiao. With a serene expression on her pretty little face, she even had the presence of mind to wave a greeting to her family.

The lead officer, who had been keeping an eye on Yun Jiao, felt his mouth twitch at the sight.

’Is this how a hostage in a life-or-death situation is supposed to act?’

"Jiaojiao, please stop playing around..."

Mr. Yun’s voice trembled as he spoke.

Yun Jiao said, "Oh," then raised her hand and gripped the trafficker’s wrist.

The man looked down. "You little brat, you better..."

Before he could finish, a loud CRACK was followed by the man’s agonized scream.

She had dislocated his wrist.

The dagger clattered to the floor, his hand hanging limp and useless.

Before anyone could process their shock, the lead officer and his team swiftly apprehended him.

Yun Jiao walked back toward Yun Linhai and her family.

"Grandma, Grandpa, are you okay?"

"Jiaojiao, are you hurt?"

Her family swarmed around her, checking her from head to toe. They all breathed a sigh of relief when they confirmed she was unharmed.

"You scared Mommy to death."

Shen Yunlian hugged her tightly, her eyes red with tears.

When she saw that dagger at her daughter’s throat, her heart had nearly stopped.

Yun Jiao comforted them, "I’m fine. Bad guys can’t beat me."

The officers searched both the male and female traffickers and found gold jewelry on them.

The portly woman and her husband immediately rushed over. "That’s ours! That’s our jewelry!"

"No, wait, there’s more!"

"We had so much gold jewelry! How can there only be a gold ring and a bracelet? What about my husband’s thick gold chain?"

The officers were speechless. This couple was truly a piece of work.

’Who wears that much gold jewelry out in public? Isn’t that just a blatant invitation for thieves to come rob them? Especially when traveling long-distance by train.’

The people on a train are a complex mix from all corners of the country. Even with officers constantly patrolling, it’s impossible to completely stamp out petty theft.

"They must have accomplices," an officer explained. "Your other jewelry was probably passed off to them."

On top of that, these two were human traffickers.

The child the woman had thrown was one they had abducted.

’We need to interrogate them immediately and try to catch the rest of their accomplices!’

The couple, who had lost a significant amount of jewelry, continued to make an unreasonable fuss, demanding the officers find the rest of their gold.

The officers, losing patience, simply took the couple and their son away as well.

The lead officer didn’t leave. Instead, he squatted down to speak with Yun Jiao.

"Young lady, you’re really something. Once we’ve caught all the traffickers, we’ll be giving you a reward."

Hearing this, the Yun family beamed with delight.

This was a great honor!

In this era, an award from a government department was a source of great prestige—an honor for the entire family.

This was especially true for a rural family like theirs.

"Can you tell me how you found them? And how did you dislocate that man’s wrist?"

Yun Jiao replied, "By their scent."

"Everyone has a different scent."

Yun Jiao’s five senses were far sharper than an ordinary person’s. Furthermore, having been one of the Merfolk in her past life, she retained many animal-like traits.

For instance, animals often rely on their sense of smell to track prey.

And every prey has a unique scent.

It’s just like how cats and dogs use scent to tell people apart.

To Yun Jiao, every person had a unique scent; even similar ones were distinctly different.

She was also naturally alert in unfamiliar surroundings. She had been aware of the man’s presence the night before and knew when he left; she just hadn’t wanted to get involved.