"Comrade police officer, I really am not a poacher. I just wanted to buy a few animals, and I haven't even bought them yet. Could you let me go?"
"Exactly. The deal didn't go through, so this shouldn't count as a criminal offense, right?"
"Comrade police officer, please make an exception. We promise we'll never dare do it again. Please give us another chance."
Several buyers cried out in protest. They had failed to meet the people they were waiting for and had instead met the police. In the end, each of them wore a pair of silver handcuffs, yet they still tried to argue and clear themselves of guilt.
The civilian police did not buy their excuses. "What you did was illegal acquisition, which is also a criminal act! Those involved in serious cases will still be sentenced!"
"The police won't wrongly arrest good people, and we won't let bad people off either. Just wait for the notice."
Who knew whether these people were habitual offenders? Perhaps they had bought and sold wild animals before.
According to the buyers, they had arranged a time with the Poachers to meet and exchange the goods today. But when the time came, they still had not seen them.
Therefore, the Poachers were very likely still somewhere in the mountains.
Searching for people deep in the remote forests—especially in such terrible weather—was no easy task.
The matter had even alarmed the local criminal investigation brigade, which sent people to help search the mountains and capture the Poachers.
The team leaders were all veteran police officers with abundant experience.
It was winter, and the heavy snow had sealed off the mountains. If the Poachers truly wanted to hide, finding the two men among the vast range of mountains would still be quite difficult.
The police led black police dogs and wore thick, insulated uniforms. From a distance, they looked like brown bears trudging laboriously through the snow, forming a particularly striking scene.
Even the most agile person would become somewhat clumsy wearing so many layers and walking through the snow.
"Ugh, searching like this is basically looking for a needle in a haystack. How are we supposed to find them? This mission is way too difficult."
"Maybe those Poachers already know we're coming and hid in some godforsaken corner long ago. Who could find them?"
"It would be fine if the weather were better, but this wind cuts like a knife."
As the police spoke, white breath streamed from their mouths. The northern wind poured into their throats, carrying away much of their body heat.
Several young officers could not withstand the cold and harsh weather and began complaining.
The veteran officer, who was also their captain, Sun Zhenbang, comforted them from the side. "All right, say less. Save your strength and keep your spirits up."
Fortunately, the snow had stopped. Even so, the mountain roads remained difficult to traverse.
This mountain had never been developed at all and remained in its most primitive state. The soft snow covered most of the treacherous mountain paths. As long as they did not step into a hollow by accident, there was basically little danger.
Everyone trudged onward, one foot sinking deeper than the other.
"Woof, woof, woof—"
The police dogs kept sniffing back and forth across the snow. Suddenly, as though they had discovered something, they began barking furiously toward the northeast.
Sun Zhenbang was instantly overjoyed. "Could Er Hei and the others have found something?"
He hurriedly loosened the rope around Er Hei's collar. "Good boy, go take a look for me."
Er Hei and the other police dogs shot out like arrows loosed from their strings, quickly shrinking into black specks before vanishing into the endless snowfield.
Even an old horse knew the way home, let alone these trained police dogs, so Sun Zhenbang was not worried that Er Hei and the others would get lost.
Before long, Er Hei came running back, seemingly carrying something in his mouth.
Sun Zhenbang took it down and examined it. His expression changed slightly. Good heavens—it was unmistakably a piece of fur from a wild animal.
"There really is something ahead!"
Upon hearing this, everyone's spirits lifted. Led by the police dogs, they soon discovered the abandoned building.
"I heard the forest rangers mention it before. There really is a house on the mountain, but it was abandoned long ago. Could the Poachers be hiding here?"
The police approached cautiously and entered one of the rooms. It was unmistakably the room where the wild animals had previously been confined. Inside, they found countless pelts from precious animals, along with some corpses.
Sun Zhenbang was filled with anguish. If they had discovered this place sooner, perhaps these animals could have escaped their fate.
"It seems this used to be the Poachers' headquarters. But where did they go?"
"Could they really have received word and fled?"
It was obvious they had left in great haste. Otherwise, they would not have failed to collect even these pelts. Sun Zhenbang's gaze sharpened, as though he had noticed something.
He hurried over for a closer look. A damaged cage came into view. The lock was still perfectly intact, but a passage had been forcibly widened between two of the bars.
There were numerous claw marks and animal droppings inside the cage. An animal had clearly been confined there before.
"Captain, come over and take a look! There's something here!"
Just as Sun Zhenbang was examining the cage, a teammate's shout came from next door. He hurried over.
The other officers had discovered a burned-out campfire in another room, along with a pot. The red oil inside had frozen into a solid mass, and several empty liquor bottles lay nearby.
There were also fur coats hanging in the room. They were probably the Poachers' clothes.
Judging from all these signs, the Poachers had still been active here not long ago. Logically, they should not have fled in such a hurry. What had made them rush away so desperately?
Sun Zhenbang was deep in thought when another discovery was made outside.
The police dogs appeared to be pawing at something in the snow. To everyone's shock, part of a human hand emerged. The other officers realized something was wrong and brought over tools to help.
Soon, two frozen corpses were dug out.
The temperature on the mountain was already low, and the heavy snow the previous night had frozen the two men solid. Blue ice crystals clung to their bodies, leaving only their general outlines visible.
"They're already dead."
If there was no mistake, these two men should have been the Poachers.
That was why the Poachers had failed to meet the buyers at the appointed time. They had not received word and gone into hiding—they were already dead.
But why had they died for no apparent reason?
Sun Zhenbang vaguely sensed that the matter was not simple. He immediately ordered the scene protected and had the bodies transported down the mountain for autopsy.
Finding two living people was difficult, but finding two dead people was easy. No one had expected them to find the Poachers' whereabouts so quickly.
Why had they died? Could it have been because they had fought over an uneven division of the spoils? Had one of them accidentally killed the other during the struggle?
For now, that possibility seemed very likely.
But Sun Zhenbang thought of the damaged cage. The wild animal inside had vanished as well. Who had released it? Could there have been a third person at the scene?
All sorts of doubts surfaced in Sun Zhenbang's heart. Everything would have to wait until the autopsy results before the truth could be known.
To obtain the report as soon as possible, Sun Zhenbang also submitted a request to his superiors, stating that he wanted to participate in the autopsy.
It had originally been merely a poaching case, but if there had been casualties, its nature had changed completely.