What New Ideas Did He Have This Time?
"What case?" Zhao Feng asked, frowning.
Wang De'an briefly explained the details of the case, which was related to a series of murders involving Guo Tianxiang that the Yang City police had been investigating. Mi Qiao was under close police surveillance because she had been traveling with Guo Tianxiang before his disappearance.
Police later discovered more problems with Mi Qiao's identity, finding that she might be involved in several extortion cases, but Mi Qiao subsequently disappeared.
With Guo Tianxiang's whereabouts unknown, the police naturally paid close attention to Mi Qiao's location, believing that finding her might lead to Guo Tianxiang. However, because the conditions were not met, Mi Qiao was not added to the online wanted list.
When the special task force in Yang City was conducting its investigation, they also went to the city where Wang De'an lived, because they found that Mi Qiao had stayed in that city for half a year a few years ago, and Wang De'an also participated in the investigation.
Mi Qiao herself wasn't involved in a major case, but because her disappearance might be related to Guo Tianxiang's whereabouts, the police spent a lot of effort looking for her.
"Are you sure it's her?" After hearing Wang De'an's words, even though he knew his friend was reliable, Zhao Feng couldn't help but ask again.
Wang De'an thought for a moment, then shook his head and said, "I can't be 100% sure either, but we can find out by checking, right?"
So the two of them temporarily abandoned their trip to the cave where the body was found and instead took out their phones to find a signal.
After finding a signal, Zhao Feng called a colleague and asked them to check the four ID numbers he had just recorded, as well as the relevant information about Taiyu Biological Laboratory.
My colleague quickly returned with the results: all four individuals were identified without issue. However, none of them worked at Taiyu Laboratory; they were employed by another organization. But when I called Taiyu Laboratory to inquire, I received a positive response: the four were sent by the investors and had only recently arrived in Citong.
These results are largely consistent with the previous inquiries.
However, Wang De'an did not abandon his suspicions. He called his colleagues in Yang City with whom he had previously worked, told them about his findings, and also provided "Chen Tianhua's" name and ID number, asking them to investigate.
The other side also got results quickly, and the reply gave the two of them a jolt—by comparing the ID photos, they were basically confirmed that it was the same person.
After further inquiry from the people in Yang City, they said they would immediately book plane tickets to Citong and would also contact the local police in Citong for assistance.
So Wang De'an simply handed his phone to Zhao Feng and asked him to connect with the other side.
Zhao Feng's rank wasn't high enough, so he could only listen briefly to the situation and plans before directly contacting his superior and partner, Lao Xu (Xu Zhao).
Upon answering the phone and hearing Zhao Feng state his location, Xu Zhao couldn't help but raise his voice. "Why did you go to Purple Huan Mountain again? Wasn't that case already clear? You had no objections during the confirmation process, so what new ideas do you have?"
Zhao Feng was a little embarrassed by Old Xu's complaints and quickly explained, "No... wasn't it my police academy classmate who came to visit today? So I brought him to Purple Huan Mountain, but we just happened to run into a few people, and then..."
He briefly recounted to Xu Zhao how he and Wang De'an had encountered Mi Qiao and the other three, and how Wang De'an had become suspicious and called his colleague in Yang City to confirm their identities. Of course, he didn't mention that he had brought Wang De'an into Purple Huan Mountain to see the place where the body had been found, otherwise Old Xu would have really gone berserk.
Zhao Feng then asked for instructions on what to do next: should they take the man down and wait for reinforcements, or should they refrain from making any rash moves?
Xu Zhao inquired about the situation, "Do you think the other three people were aware of her identity?"
"It's hard to say," Zhao Feng said.
Wang De'an chimed in from the side, "That tall guy named Gao Shu is probably a trained fighter; he won't be easy to deal with."
Therefore, the final decision was to keep a close watch on Mijo while ensuring safety, to ascertain Mi Qiao's whereabouts, and to await support from the bureau.
After being "interrogated" by Wang De'an and Zhao Feng, Mi Qiao and the others didn't think much of it. Instead, they surrounded Ye Chong, waiting for him to ask the information gathering department about the "crime" that had occurred deep in Purple Huan Mountain.
When the information gathering department reported back, they learned that the police had found the bodies of one man and two women in Purple Huan Mountain on the 15th of this month. All four of them were shocked.
"Could it be... that bird?" Zhou Rui said somewhat nervously, even subconsciously glancing up at the dense tree branches overhead.
Based on their previous observations at Wushu Mountain, it would be incredibly easy for that "giant raptor" to take down two or three people.
"Probably not," Ye Chong said, shaking his head.
"Could it really be such a coincidence? That bird appeared here, then there was that thunderstorm, and three corpses were found. I don't think it's a coincidence..." The more Zhou Rui spoke, the more uneasy he felt. Even though it was broad daylight, he still felt a sense of unease in the forest.
For some reason, he recalled his experience of going on a mission deep in the Qinling Uninhabited Zone with Dr. Fang, Team Leader Li, and other colleagues. The journey there was alright, but the return trip was truly terrifying, and he once thought he wouldn't make it out alive.
"Where was the body found?" Mi Qiao asked.
"The information we found so far doesn't indicate the location, but... those two policemen are here, they definitely won't let us get close. Let's come back another day," Ye Chong said.
Zhou Rui immediately seconded, "Yes, yes, anyway, we've collected most of the necessary samples. As for the rest... we can come over another day."
Mi Qiao looked at him strangely. "What do you mean 'almost'? There's still a lot to collect, okay?"
So, at Mi Qiao's request, they followed the established plan and collected most of the samples before preparing to return to the parking area.
But they hadn't gone far when Gao Shu, who hadn't said much, whispered to Mi Qiao, "Those two policemen are following us."
Mi Qiao glanced back instinctively, but didn't see the two officers. However, trusting Gao Shu's judgment, she asked, "Are they also heading back...?"
She was only halfway through her sentence when she remembered the way Officer Wang De'an had questioned her before, and a possibility came to mind.
"Do you have a contingency plan for this situation?" Mi Qiao asked Gao Shu.
Although the temporary investigation team got along better and better, the only one who truly knew that her identity was fake was Gao Shu, her Assistant Gao who had been in charge of her safety from the very beginning.
Gao Shu nodded. "Yes."
However, nearly an hour later, the GL8 carrying the four of them was stopped by a police car.
Gao Shu's instructions to the other three were only one sentence. "Don't resist, cooperate with the police."
Because of their cooperation, only Mi Qiao got into the police car and wasn't handcuffed, while the other three were taken to the police station in their GL8.
A few hours earlier, the plane carrying Xiang Kun also arrived at Citong Airport.
The person who came to pick him up was, of course, Xia Libing, who was still driving that old Camry.