The Quagmire of Desire: From Gambling Addict and Village Flower to Movie Queen

Sun Xiaoyan's legs buckled and she knelt down, collapsing onto the cold cement floor. Her naked body was blindingly white under the bright lights of the checkpoint.

Liu Meiling collapsed beside her, her chest heaving violently, panting like a broken bellows.

The two women who had followed them out also arrived, collapsing beside them, unable to utter a word.

"Don't move!"

Several sharp shouts.

Several beams of powerful flashlight beams shone directly onto their faces.

Sun Xiaoyan was so dazzled that she couldn't open her eyes and could only squint.

She saw several people in police uniforms walking quickly from the guard post, carrying walkie-talkies.

"Hands up!" The policeman at the front was very tall and his voice was cold.

Sun Xiaoyan, her hands trembling, slowly raised the object.

Liu Meiling also lay on the ground, raising her hands above her head.

Two policemen stepped forward and grabbed their shoulders.

"Who goes there?" The tall policeman shone his flashlight on their faces, then down at their naked bodies and the leather collars around their necks.

Sun Xiaoyan opened her mouth, but no sound came out.

Liu Meiling gasped for breath, "Help...help...someone is chasing us..."

The flashlight beam swept across their bodies, revealing bruises and marks everywhere. There were also old marks on their buttocks and thighs from being whipped with rattan, a mix of new and old.

The taller policeman frowned, turned to the younger officer, and said, "Check it out."

The young policeman squatted down and carefully examined the collars around their necks, as well as the marks on their hands and feet.

"There are signs of confinement," he said.

Just then, the sound of dogs barking and men shouting came from the wasteland behind them.

"There it is!"

"Damn it, can't run anymore, huh!"

Several dark figures rushed toward the checkpoint.

The tall policeman immediately picked up his walkie-talkie: "Attention, there's a situation, requesting backup."

He had barely finished speaking when police sirens sounded in the distance.

It was getting closer and closer, making whooshing noises.

Sun Xiaoyan glanced back and saw that the burly men chasing them were almost at the edge of the light. When they saw the police, they suddenly stopped.

The sound of sirens was right behind us.

A police car sped into the checkpoint and screeched to a halt next to them.

The car door opened, and two men in plainclothes jumped out.

They showed their identification.

"police."

Almost simultaneously, another black sedan rushed in, screeching to a halt and nearly crashing into the police car.

Two men in black suits got out of the car.

One of them walked up to the tall policeman and took out a document.

"Comrade, we are from the Municipal Mental Hospital." The man in the black suit spoke quickly. "These two are patients who escaped from our hospital. They have severe violent tendencies and delusions. They need to be taken back for treatment immediately."

He handed over the documents.

The tall policeman took the document and examined it by flashlight.

Sun Xiaoyan's heart almost stopped beating.

Liu Meiling suddenly looked up and shouted hoarsely, "No! We're not mentally ill! They're human traffickers! They're going to sell us to Southeast Asia!"

The man in the black suit sneered, "Look, he's spouting nonsense again. Comrade, that's how they are when they have an episode; they tell everyone they want to harm them."

The tall policeman looked at the documents, then at Sun Xiaoyan and Liu Meiling, who were naked and covered in wounds on the ground, and his brows furrowed even more.

"This document..." He hesitated for a moment.

"The paperwork is complete." The man in the black suit urged, "We need to take him back quickly, otherwise it will be troublesome if someone gets hurt."

The young policeman whispered, "Captain, their injuries..."

"That's from self-harm," the man in the black suit immediately replied. "They do it like that when they have an attack, and you can't stop them."

Sun Xiaoyan trembled all over, and tears streamed down her face.

She looked at the police, opened her mouth as if to say something, but her throat felt blocked.

Liu Meiling gritted her teeth, her eyes fixed on the man in the black suit.

Just then, an undercover police officer walked over from the police car that had rushed in later.

He looked to be in his forties, with little expression on his face.

"What's going on?" he asked.

The tall policeman handed him the documents: "They're from the mental hospital. They say these two are escaped patients."

The plainclothes police officer took the document, glanced at it, and then looked at Sun Xiaoyan and Liu Meiling.

He looked up at the man in the black suit: "Which department are you from?"

"The Third Ward of the Municipal Mental Hospital," the man in the black suit replied fluently.

Who is the attending physician?

"Director Zhang Jianguo."

"What's your phone number?"

The man in the black suit paused for a moment, then recited a series of numbers.

The plainclothes policeman didn't make a phone call; he folded the document and stuffed it back into the man in the black suit.

"Alright, let's take them with us first."

The man in the black suit's expression changed: "Comrade, isn't this against the rules? We have to..."

"Rules?" the plainclothes officer interrupted him, pulling out another badge from his pocket. "Look closely, this is from the Municipal Criminal Investigation Division. We suspect these two are involved in a human trafficking case and need to take them back for investigation."

The expressions on the faces of the man in the black suit and his companion changed instantly.

"What human trafficking? Comrade, you've got it wrong!" The man in the black suit tried to argue.

The plainclothes police officer ignored him and turned to his colleague, saying, "Take them all away."

Another plainclothes policeman immediately stepped forward and took out handcuffs.

A snap.

The cold handcuffs were first put on the wrists of the man in the black suit.

The man in the black suit struggled: "What are you doing! We're operating legally..."

"Legal?" the plainclothes policeman sneered. "Forging official documents in an attempt to forcibly take away suspects—that's legal?"

The man in the black suit shut up.

Another person in a black suit was also handcuffed.

Then the plainclothes police officers walked up to Sun Xiaoyan and Liu Meiling.

He looked at them, his gaze lingering on their naked bodies and collars for a few seconds.

"Give me your hand," he said.

Sun Xiaoyan reached out her hand, trembling.

Click.

The cold handcuffs were put on her wrists.

Liu Meiling was also put on the mask.

Two pairs of handcuffs, four people.

The plainclothes officer nodded to the taller officer: "We'll take the person back first, and we'll follow up on the situation here."

The tall policeman saluted.

The plainclothes policeman turned to Sun Xiaoyan and Liu Meiling and said, "Let's go."

Sun Xiaoyan's legs were too weak to stand up.

Liu Meiling helped her up, and the two of them, supporting each other, staggered to their feet.

The handcuffs connected their wrists, and also their fates.

They were naked, handcuffed, and led by plainclothes police officers toward the police car.

Behind them, the checkpoint's headlights cast long shadows of them.

In the wasteland, the burly men who had chased after them had long since disappeared.

The police car door opened.

Sun Xiaoyan glanced back.

Liu Meiling also turned around and glanced back.

The two looked at each other but said nothing.

The plainclothes policeman gave them a push: "Get in the car."

They bent down and climbed into the back seat of the police car.

The car door closed.

The engine starts.

The car slowly drove out of the checkpoint and onto the main road.

Sun Xiaoyan leaned back in her chair, the handcuffs on her wrists icy cold.

Liu Meiling sat next to her, also wearing handcuffs.

In the front row, two plainclothes police officers drove silently.

Outside the window, the city lights rushed past.

Sun Xiaoyan closed her eyes.

Liu Meiling stared blankly out the window.

The car sped up, heading into the unknown depths of darkness.