Chapter 251: The Illogical Bus Ride

What other leads were there?

Quite a few, actually. Xiao Yu was already sorting through them, considering each possibility.

For example: Shu Yuzhen had mentioned that, after they were sold, they rode a bus for a full day.

Vehicle details—there was a lead right there.

Or, how about this: She’d described the training location as being in a hot, mountainous area, likely in the south.

Regional clues—another lead.

And then there was Bian Yueze, who had run the pyramid scheme. He might not realize it, but he could still have info they needed.

Who else was sold off for 20,000 per person?

How many people were sold?

What did the transaction look like?

How did they move the victims?

Did he remember anything about that bus from back then?

And were just two men enough to escort an entire group?

There were a lot of questions. The leads were out there. It was just a matter of digging them up. The tricky part was that it had been two years. Finding old clues was going to take time and effort.

Xiao Yu left the next round of questioning to Wang Dong’s team. His brain needed a break.

The national security team had their own methods—simple and straightforward.

An hour later, they’d extracted every bit of criminal info and all possible leads from Bian Yueze. But one unexpected detail left Xiao Yu and Wang Dong completely stunned.

What was it?

“A bus?” Xiao Yu asked, looking as if he’d just seen a ghost. “You’re telling me that the bus that took Shu Yuzhen and the others away was actually a public bus?”

“Exactly.” A Team Two member held up the report, nodding. “It was a bus with no plates or identifying information but definitely a public bus.”

Xiao Yu, “…”

He exchanged glances with Wang Dong. They both knew something was seriously off.

If you were a terrorist, would you really use a public bus to transport people?

Everyone knew that buses had big windows. Anyone could see right inside. A bunch of people wearing hoods? That would definitely attract attention. Anyone who saw that would probably call the cops. And then there was another issue. Modern buses were mostly hybrid vehicles—gas and electric, oil and gas, or even oil and electric.

It was common knowledge that hybrid vehicles couldn’t run continuously for a whole day. Even with gasoline or diesel, driving non-stop for a full day wasn’t exactly realistic.

Forget the bus handling that—could the people driving it even handle it?

And using a public bus? That just made everything stranger.

Alright, let’s say the bus could somehow run non-stop for 24 hours, and they had drivers switching off the whole way.

But then there’s the real question.

A public bus, full of people wearing hoods, speeding down the road. What, are we supposed to believe that no one noticed? That no one saw this bus on the highway? That no one thought to call the police?

Come on. How exactly would you pull that off?

“Something’s not right,” Wang Dong said, immediately dismissing the idea. “A bus would be way too obvious.”

“No kidding. I figured that much, too.” Xiao Yu rolled his eyes.

Any detail like that, you only had to think about it for a moment to realize it didn’t add up. No deep analysis was needed.

“Let’s get Shu Yuzhen over to Z City,” Xiao Yu said. “Seems like she’s the only one who can shed some light on this.”

***

Five Hours Later

Z City, Hospital, Patient Room

Xiao Yu found himself face-to-face with Shu Yuzhen once again. But now, there was no sign of the hate or rage in her eyes. Instead, she looked terrified when she saw him. A round with the national security interrogation team had definitely taught her a lesson.

“Tell me,” Xiao Yu began, sitting down next to her bed and looking her straight in the eyes. “In your statement, you mentioned that two and a half years ago, you were sold by the pyramid scheme to another group. How do you know that?”

“I was wearing a hood, but I could still hear them talking,” Shu Yuzhen replied honestly.

“How did you know you were on a bus?” Xiao Yu asked.

“I remember it clearly.” Shu Yuzhen thought for a moment. “When I got on, I bumped into something. The steps were really high. I had to take two steps up…”

Xiao Yu nodded as she spoke. That fit—the steps on city buses were often pretty high, usually requiring two steps.

“Were the seats soft or hard?” he continued.

“Hard,” Shu Yuzhen confirmed. “After sitting for a whole day, my back was killing me.”

Xiao Yu glanced over at Wang Dong and nodded. Buses didn’t usually have cushioned seats. Most city buses had hard seats, confirming it was probably one of those typical city buses. But that was exactly what made it strange. 

“Did they make you crouch down at any point? Or were you just sitting normally the whole time?”

“No crouching. We just sat like normal,” Shu Yuzhen replied. “But if anyone tried to move, like going to the bathroom, they’d get beaten up.”

Huh… 

This just didn’t make sense. Xiao Yu shook his head. If it was a regular bus and they weren’t crouching, then everyone’s heads would’ve been visible through the windows.

How could no one have noticed?

Unless… Xiao Yu thought of a possibility. “Are you sure it was a full day of driving?”

“Yes, almost 23 hours,” Shu Yuzhen answered. “We had watches back then, so I checked the time.”

“A watch?” Xiao Yu’s expression turned curious. “You mentioned that when you first got taken to the pyramid scheme hideout, they confiscated your phone, wallet, and everything else. So where did this watch come from?”

“The day before we were sold,” Shu Yuzhen replied, looking puzzled herself. “Someone came by and handed out simple digital watches. Each of us got one and was told to wear it.”

A watch… 

This immediately raised red flags for Xiao Yu. Maybe it wasn’t just a watch. Could it have been a tracking device or something else entirely?

And that wasn’t the only odd thing. With the watches, Shu Yuzhen and the others could check the time, meaning they’d know how long they were on that bus.

Didn’t these people worry that if Shu Yuzhen got caught, the police could use that timing to trace their route back to the hideout?

Xiao Yu frowned. 

It didn’t add up… unless… time?

His eyes lit up. Time could be faked!

Could it be that someone wanted Shu Yuzhen and the others to see the time, so they’d think they’d been traveling for a whole day?

If that’s the case…

“The bus you were on…” Xiao Yu leaned forward, looking at Shu Yuzhen closely. “Was it bumpy? Did you feel any sharp turns or jolts?”

“Um…” Shu Yuzhen thought back, then shook her head. “It was a bit shaky at first, but not for long. After that, there was no bumping or swaying at all.”

Xiao Yu smiled.

So that was it!