Chapter 560 - 560: Making Contact, Jacking Up the Price

The railway police officer reached for his handcuffs. "You two, this is a crime. Even if you're the biological parents, selling your own child is still a crime. Understand?"

"We... We just can't survive anymore," the woman said through her tears.

"If you decided to have him, you should have been prepared to raise him to adulthood."

Jiang Xinghai couldn't hold back any longer. "No matter how hard things are, you can't resort to something so inhuman!"

"Young man, I know we were wrong. Please give our child back..." The man held the woman as they both broke down, wailing.

"Whatever your reasons, trying to solve this on your own was the wrong move. You need to trust the authorities... After we arrive at the station, we'll take this to the local precinct."

Without hesitation, the railway police officer cuffed the couple.

For the remainder of the trip, Jiang Xinghai held the child and followed the officer to the conductor's room.

'How could a young, able-bodied couple fall to such depths?'

'And did they even love their child?'

'Did they have any sense of responsibility whatsoever?'

'If they hadn't had the child in the first place, this tragedy would never have happened.'

He let out a deep sigh. The whole affair left a sour taste in his mouth.

However, Jiang Xinghai was still skeptical about the man's claims of hardship.

If it turned out to be true, he decided he would investigate after arriving in Shanghai. He would help the couple and their poor child.

In the conductor's room, the railway officer's questioning revealed that the couple had recently received a call from a man named Wu Da. He had offered them two million yuan to "adopt" their eight-month-old baby.

For an ordinary family, two million was no small sum.

The couple, who already had a son and a daughter, were swayed by the money. They bought tickets and boarded the train to Shanghai.

The couple also revealed that their child had been "chosen" because his blood type was a match for a child from a prominent family in Shanghai.

"Where are you supposed to meet them? I'll go with you."

Jiang Xinghai, having decided to intervene, handed the baby back to the mother.

"Young man, we'll handle it officially. You shouldn't get involved," the railway officer said, giving Jiang Xinghai a pointed look.

"Fair enough." Jiang Xinghai didn't want to overstep the line between a civilian and the authorities.

「Until 2:30 in the morning.」

The train finally pulled into the station in Shanghai. After bidding farewell to Sun Zhen, Jiang Xinghai quickly vanished into the crowd.

From what he'd overheard of the railway officer's call for backup, Jiang Xinghai had figured out the time and location of the planned handover.

He also figured out the police's plan: they would send in undercover officers to pose as the parents and then follow the trail to the real culprits.

Jiang Xinghai and Sun Zhen went to the handover location on the Pujiang Shore and concealed themselves in the woods.

He intended to help, not to interfere with the police's sting operation.

「Half an hour later.」

A man in a trench coat, accompanied by two men each carrying a black briefcase, arrived at the Pujiang Shore. They sat down on the mooring bollards.

From the woods, Jiang Xinghai and Sun Zhen naturally spotted the trio.

Since both of them were at the late stage of the Celestial Destiny Realm, they could communicate entirely through Divine Sense.

"Old Sun, go check the area for their car," Jiang Xinghai transmitted.

Sun Zhen nodded and vanished into the night.

「Four in the morning.」

A breeze picked up on the Pujiang Shore.

The autumn chill intensified, and the leaves in the woods began to RUSTLE loudly.

Jiang Xinghai's eyes flashed. He spotted a man and a woman carrying a baby, approaching in the distance.

This wasn't the couple from the train, the baby's biological parents. They were police officers in disguise.

The man was dressed in a suit, the woman in simple clothes. Carrying a baby, the pair slowly approached the man in the trench coat and his two associates.

"Excuse me, are you Mr. Wu Da?" the undercover officer asked, feigning nervousness.

"Let's see the child first."

The man in the trench coat didn't confirm his identity, instead gesturing for the woman to open the baby's blanket.

"Here are his medical records." The woman pulled back the blanket for a few seconds before covering the baby again, handing over a manila folder.

After checking the file and finding everything in order, the man in the trench coat finally smiled. "You're both very punctual. I, Wu Da, have been waiting for some time."

The man in the trench coat, admitting he was indeed their contact, Wu Da, then shot a look at his two subordinates.

The two men beside Wu Da lifted their black briefcases and flipped open the lids.

"This is two million. Enough to keep your little family comfortable for a lifetime." Wu Da stepped forward, reaching for the baby.

"Wait!"

The woman holding the baby spoke, her voice tinged with reluctance. "Two million is not enough. We want another million!"

The man moved to shield the woman and child with one arm. "That's right," he said. "Three million. In cash. Not a penny less."

"You two don't know what's good for you, do you? We had an agreement on the price. Are you trying to jack it up now?" Wu Da's gaze turned sharp.