Chapter 318: Case Closed! 'Eighteen Layers of Heaven

Chapter 318: Chapter 175: Case Closed! ‘Eighteen Layers of Heaven

(Author’s Note: Due to censorship regarding “monkey performers” [scammers], I am substituting a real-life case. Reader discretion is advised.)

Time: 2017–2024

Summer

Prologue: “The Eighteen Layers of Heaven”

…

…

August 1, 2017.

Summer.

Temperature: 37 degrees.

“Hey, look! The plane tickets for this group tour are way cheaper than the others!”

“Let me see.”

It was August, during the summer vacation after the college entrance exams.

Two girls huddled together, one pointing at an app on a phone screen. Their eyes lit up as they saw the cheap ticket prices.

My name is Li Miao. I’m an 18-year-old girl, fresh out of high school and waiting for university to start.

The other girl’s name is Chen Xi.

A customer service agent quickly messaged them, explaining all the important details and schedules.

The message was accompanied by a smiley face, and the tone was patient and gentle.

“But… if it’s this cheap, won’t there be a problem?” Chen Xi said, speaking her mind.

“I’ve heard these cheap tickets can be dangerous. Be careful you don’t get your kidneys harvested.”

Li Miao said dismissively, “That’s all just stuff from the news. How much of what you see on the news is actually real?”

“It’s all just sensationalism. Besides, so many people have gone to Chengluo Country without any problems. Why would I be the one to get into trouble…?”

Li Miao’s family wasn’t wealthy, but they were comfortably well-off compared to the average family.

Chengluo Country. That was their destination.

After hesitating for a moment, Chen Xi decided not to buy the cheap ticket. Instead, she spent a bit more money on a regular one.

Travel.

A spontaneous trip. It might not have any practical value, but for a young person, it was full of meaning.

Visas, passports, foreign currency, an international bank card, and even a translator device.

They prepared everything.

And as the plane took off… the dream began.

「August 3rd.」

Chen Xi stood in the airport of Guman, the capital of Chengluo Country. She looked at the empty space beside her, a flicker of confusion in her eyes.

…

…

Li Miao had disappeared.

No.

That wasn’t right.

She hadn’t disappeared. Or rather… she just wasn’t with Chen Xi. She had deviated from their original plan and ended up somewhere else.

This was the place for the group tour.

This place…

It was a travel agency, a poorly furnished one. The interior looked like a cheap hotel and reeked of spoiled food.

Her passport and ID were here, but now she couldn’t get them back.

“Give them to me! I’m going to call the police! If you don’t give them back, I’m calling the police!”

A middle-aged woman shouted.

Li Miao was also extremely unhappy. The air was filled with a foul stench, and she just wanted to leave as quickly as possible.

She was about to chime in, but in the next second…

THUD!

A dull thud echoed.

Li Miao felt something warm splash onto her face. She instinctively touched her cheek, and when she looked at her fingertips, they were stained with a crimson liquid.

It was…

…blood.

“AAAAAAAAAH!!!”

In an instant, a piercing shriek rang out.

Three men emerged from the shadows, wielding iron rods. They brutally and repeatedly struck the woman’s lower body.

THUD! THUD! THUD!

In an instant, she was a bloody mess. Ghastly white, broken bones were clearly visible.

Li Miao’s mind went blank. She felt as if she were being crushed by a vacuum.

“What are you doing!?”

“I’m going to the police! I’m going to the embassy!”

Some of the other tourists were pressed against the locked main door, pounding on it to no avail. With trembling legs, they could only turn back and threaten the men, their voices sharp with terror.

One of the Chengluo People said something in a foreign language.

Then, a man from the Eastern Country stepped out. He looked at the crowd with a cold, unsmiling grin as his articulate voice rang out.

“Welcome…”

“…to Hell.”

…

…

Have you ever heard the sound of breaking bones?

It’s a crisp sound.

Have you ever heard the sound of sulfuric acid eating through skin?

Li Miao had now.

「August 5th.」

The third day after landing in Guman.

As she watched with despairing, helpless eyes, enveloped by a sense of suffocation, a bottle of sulfuric acid was thrown in her face.

“AAAAAAAAAH!!!!!”

A piercing scream, as if torn from her very soul, erupted.

She curled up, writhing frantically on the filthy ground.

But her movements brought no relief.

People around her continued to splash acid on the rest of her body.

In a short time, the once-pretty Li Miao was transformed into something like a vengeful spirit that had been boiled in oil.

After a while, she passed out, and several people carried her away.

Before long, a new scream echoed through the room.

When Li Miao woke up, it was already August 6th.

She stared blankly around the dark, damp, filthy room. She looked at her face, then at her missing legs. Her mind went blank, her breathing grew ragged, and she began to gasp for air.

She was like a drowning person, greedily gulping for air.

Around Li Miao,

were many people with dull eyes and numb faces. They showed no reaction to her state. There was only apathy.

This was the travel agency.

An international travel agency!

And within a few days… Li Miao learned of this travel agency’s other identity.

The Beggar Gang.

They forced people to go out and beg for money.

How much could they make?

In five or six hours, ten thousand in local currency.

That was over two thousand in Eastern Country currency!

There were twenty-seven people from the Eastern Country at the agency. In a single day, they could bring in over fifty thousand.

Li Miao had calculated this. She was one of the ones begging for money.

Now, she had no lower body. All she had was a piece of tire rubber to sit on.

She crawled on the ground with one hand, holding up a paint bucket with the other, weaving her way between people’s legs.

Sometimes, Li Miao would fantasize. ‘Is this all a dream? If only it were a dream.’