Chapter 65: Slap

Chen Mingjiang moved very quickly.

Early the next morning, his call came through to Zhong Yuan's phone, stating that the intelligence on the Buddha Hand Gang had been prepared for him.

Zhong Yuan sent Zhong Da and Xiaohua on a trip to retrieve the documents.

Instead of using a USB drive, Chen Mingjiang had printed everything out into physical documents, likely considering that electronic files might not be convenient for him to view. The thick stack of papers felt heavy in the hand.

Zhong Yuan first skimmed through it roughly. The contents were not only comprehensive but also very detailed. Chen Mingjiang must have written down everything they currently knew, including what had been squeezed out of Lin Zhonghai over the past two days.

Although, after the events of that night, Chen Mingjiang should have confirmed that he was no longer any sort of covert operative, there was still no reservation whatsoever in this dossier. From this perspective, Chen Mingjiang was indeed a trustworthy man, at least more reliable than the one surnamed Kong.

At this thought, Zhong Yuan couldn't help but let out a sneer.

Actually, what was there to compare? The same person, at different times, might not even make the same choice in the same matter, let alone different people!

What was past could only remain past!

Zhong Yuan refocused his attention on the documents in his hand and began to study them carefully.

At least one-third of the contents in the dossier were about the second-in-command of the Buddha Hand Gang.

Hesheng, also known as Mother He, was around forty years old.

She was Vietnamese, having been sold to Thailand when she was sixteen or seventeen and entered the sex industry. Around twenty-five or twenty-six, she met Brother Kang, who had just founded the Buddha Hand Gang not long before. From then on, she began following Brother Kang. Two or three years later, Hesheng partnered with someone to open a massage parlor in Bangkok, and the young women inside were all brought over from Vietnam through her connections.

Another two or three years later, the massage parlor transformed into an SPA center, which grew larger and larger, and has now become the largest Japanese-style hydrotherapy center in Bangkok.

In the past two years, branch stores have also been opened in several other major cities in the south, and various types of massage parlors invested in by her have appeared in several northern cities as well.

At the beginning, most of the women in these massage parlors came from Vietnam or Myanmar. Ever since Hesheng took over the Buddha Hand Gang entirely five years ago, the proportion of Malaysian women in these massage parlors has increased significantly.

Since she took over the Buddha Hand Gang, the gang's reach has grown much longer. Especially during these past few years of the pandemic, the Buddha Hand Gang has made connections with numerous overseas forces. Nowadays, the human trafficking network in the southern region is basically operated by the Buddha Hand Gang—that is, this Mother He. Even the Snakehead Gang in the central region and the Dragon-Head Gang in the northern region have a lot of cooperation with her.

It can be said that at present, within southern Thailand, at least sixty to seventy percent of the human trafficking business is held in Mother He's hands.

The dossier also mentioned that Mother He once gave birth to a child when she was around thirty years old. The identity of the child's father is unclear, but it is very likely Brother Kang, the monk who had returned to secular life.

As for this Brother Kang, it is highly probable that he died two years ago, not long after the pandemic first broke out here.

Indeed, over the past two years, this Brother Kang has not shown his face again.

Moreover, according to the intelligence dug out from Lin Zhonghai by Chen Mingjiang's men, the possibility of Brother Kang still being alive is negligible.

As for Mother He's child, they should have been sent abroad at a very early age.

Brother Kang had acquired some properties in the United States in his early years. Back when Mother He was still "working" at the massage parlor, she had a close younger sisterly friend. After she left the massage parlor, this friend also left with her. Later, after Mother He became pregnant, this friend disappeared. According to Chen Mingjiang and his team's investigation, the last record of this friend remaining in southern Thailand showed that she crossed the border heading to Vietnam. However, inferring from this information, this friend most likely went to the United States to take care of Mother He's child!

Looking at this information, Zhong Yuan suddenly realized something.

Chen Mingjiang and his people seemed to know far too much detail about the Buddha Hand Gang. This level of detail was definitely unusual! Zhong Yuan guessed that they must have some kind of plans regarding the Buddha Hand Gang.

Thinking of this, Zhong Yuan suddenly recalled those "hostages" he had seen in that small room on that night.

Connecting this with the fact mentioned in the dossier—that the Buddha Hand Gang under Mother He's takeover is involved in at least sixty to seventy percent of the human trafficking business within southern Thailand—it means that the sources of people involved in the human trafficking businesses handled by the Buddha Hand Gang nowadays likely no longer consist solely of Vietnamese and Malaysians!

In fact, this much was already evident from the time Thanway dared to kidnap them.

These people had long set their sights on Chinese people.

The few "hostages" that Chen Mingjiang and his team rescued that day should also have been Chinese, and perhaps their identities were unusual as well. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been enough to prompt Chen Mingjiang to take action with the "regular army."

Zhong Yuan thought again of the scene they had seen back in the valley at the border between Xuan City and Myanmar, as well as the three Chinese children he had rescued. It was clear that the Buddha Hand Gang, or rather the dark and evil forces across southern Thailand and Myanmar, had been targeting Chinese people for quite some time, and their current methods and routes had become extremely sophisticated.

Of course, driving all of this was probably not just as simple as those dark and evil forces alone.

Zhong Yuan suddenly thought of Kong Zhendong.

He had一直 (always) been unable to figure out the underlying purpose behind Kong Zhendong's phone call last night.

Yet at this moment, a flash of inspiration suddenly struck his mind.

If what he had just guessed was all true, then the higher authorities back home must have already taken notice of this situation.

In other words, Kong Zhendong was very likely appointed by the authorities above to start investigating this matter. And at this time, he had delivered himself right to their doorstep.

Therefore, for a "sharp blade" who happened to be right in southern Thailand and had already made connections with Chen Mingjiang, Kong Zhendong’s personality meant he would absolutely not let such an opportunity slip away.

The moment this thought arose, Zhong Yuan almost instantly confirmed this speculation.

Complex emotions surged into his heart once more, causing him to let out a laugh.

Zhong Da, who was holding another portion of the documents and reading them nearby, turned his head toward him in surprise upon hearing the sound: "Brother?"

Zhong Yuan reined in his emotions and waved his hand, saying: "It's nothing!" With that, he checked the time; it was almost twelve o'clock. Therefore, he added: "Pack up our things, go downstairs to buy some food, and we'll pull out!"

Hearing this, Zhong Da and Xiaohua didn't ask anything else. Acknowledging the order, they each stood up and began packing their belongings. They didn't have many things, mainly just the suitcase that Chen Mingjiang had given them.

The items inside the suitcase had previously been divided into three portions, with a part already placed in the vehicle. Now, stuffing the remaining items back into the suitcase fit the purpose perfectly.

Zhong Yuan and Zhong Da left the hotel first and casually packed some food from the street side. Not long after, Xiaohua also dragged the suitcase out of the inn.

The three of them got into the car one after another.

According to the plan, the next stop should have been Nakhon Si Thammarat Province.

However, out of caution, Zhong Yuan intended to first head north toward Surat Thani Province for a detour before turning toward Nakhon Si Thammarat.

Nakhon Si Thammarat bordered Trang Province, and Wangla Town, where they had stayed for a few days previously, was located right at the border between Nakhon Si Thammarat Province and Trang Province. The person in charge of Nakhon Si Thammarat was a man called Master Qian, around the same age as Lin Zhonghai, in his forties. However, despite his surname Qian, he was not of Chinese descent, but Vietnamese.

It was said that back then, Mother He's ability to follow Brother Kang owed a great deal of credit to him behind the scenes. Now that Mother He had completely taken over the Buddha Hand Gang, this Master Qian enjoyed deep trust from Mother He and belonged to the rank of "major general" under Mother He's command.

If Zhong Yuan could take down this person along with the Buddha Hand Gang's operations in Nakhon Si Thammarat Province, it would not only be a major blow to the Buddha Hand Gang, but also an absolute heavy slap in the face for Mother He personally!