I See Murders Before They Happen

Chapter 228: Chapter 226: So Many Injuries?

Qin City is surrounded by mountains on all four sides. The mountain to the west of Wanxiang Village isn’t particularly high.

The eastern face of the mountain belongs to Wanxiang Village, and it’s planted with many fruit trees.

The western face belongs to Qin City, and at its base is a reservoir.

"A lot of people go to the reservoir to hang out," Qi Feng said. "Some go fishing, too."

"Is fishing allowed at the reservoir?" Chu Xingrou asked.

"It’s allowed in some areas, but not in others," Qi Feng said. "It’s a popular spot, so three guesthouses have been built there, none of them very large. My dad went once and said that when it gets crowded, cars park all along the roadside, making the already narrow mountain road impossible for two cars to pass each other."

"With that much foot traffic, it’d be easy for a few ’ghosts’ to blend in," Meng Shuyi said. "When were the three guesthouses built?"

Qi Feng checked the information he had on hand. "The oldest one was built six years ago."

"That’s around the time Ding Ruoyan moved away and disappeared," Chu Xingrou said.

"Kang Hong started making drugs for them in college. Later, when Changyue Garden was demolished, they moved their operation, and Kang Hong had a quiet year," Zhuang Yanzheng said. "When was Changyue Garden torn down?"

"Ten years ago," Qi Feng said, looking at the files.

"The timeline doesn’t match," Meng Shuyi said. "Are there any other locations?"

Qi Feng swiped on his tablet. "This is all I could find."

"I think we can rule out the guesthouses," Su Miaoyi said, one hand on her hip and the other resting on the screen. "Kang Hong was producing heroin. The process creates a burnt, acrid smell. It’s unlikely they’d do it in a heavily populated area; they’d be discovered too easily."

Meng Shuyi nodded.

Zhuang Yanzheng, eyes closed, also nodded. "I’ve spoken with the Qin City police. Some parts of the mountain are zoned for private use. Some people fence off an area to raise chickens, ducks, or sheep. They’ll also illegally build a small hut or two to watch over their livestock. If the authorities find out, they’re torn down. If not, they just keep using them."

"They’re all unauthorized constructions, never approved, which is why we can’t find them in our system."

"So does that mean there’s some distance between each of these farms?" Chu Xingrou asked.

"Yes." With his eyes still closed, Zhuang Yanzheng turned his face in her direction. "They need a relatively large area for the livestock, so they’re spaced far apart."

"But if they’re just one or two-room structures that could be torn down at any moment, they probably wouldn’t be built very well, and they wouldn’t be very large, right?" Chu Xingrou added.

"Correct."

"Would they really manufacture drugs in such a small space? Isn’t it too small? And not very discreet, since it could be demolished at any time."

"What about underground? What if the farm is just a front?" Su Miaoyi pointed to the mountain on the map. "This is an earthen mountain. What if they built a basement when they constructed the building? It would take a long time, and they’d have to avoid the villagers from both on and off the mountain, but if they were careful enough, it’s not impossible."

Meng Shuyi looked at her. "Investigating underground will be difficult. Even with our drones, finding something subterranean won’t be easy. Plus, we could be easily spotted if we get too close."

"Qin City is surrounded by mountains, most of which are connected." Zhuang Yanzheng’s hand reached for a pen on the table but missed. He gave up and rested his hand on the table instead. "If they decide to retreat, they can flee into the mountains and scatter, making them very difficult to pursue. Even with drones and thermal imaging, it would be a major challenge. If they dump their supplies and hide them in the mountains, it’ll be even harder to find. And those supplies are the evidence of their crimes."

"So we have to get it right on the first strike," Meng Shuyi said.

"When I spoke with the Qin City police this morning, they said there haven’t been any suspicious vehicles entering or leaving the mountain area recently," Zhuang Yanzheng said. "There were none on the day our people went to Wanxiang Village, either. So it’s very likely they haven’t retreated."

"If the person in charge here is Zhang Bai, I don’t think he’d retreat, given his personality," Yan Cheng said. "Watching him from outside the interrogation room just now, I’d say he’s moved beyond confidence. He’s just plain arrogant."

"He’s so volatile. Failure would be a crushing blow to his psyche. It’s probably because he’s been doing this for so long without getting caught that he thinks he can’t fail. A man who would brazenly show up in the old district and at the hospital at a critical time like this doesn’t seem like the type to retreat."

"That makes sense." Meng Shuyi nodded, then said after a moment of silence, "Zhuang Yanzheng, stay behind. Is Lin Yue at the bureau? Have him come over too. We’ll coordinate with the Qin City police again. Everyone else, meeting’s adjourned."

"I’ll go check with the narcotics division," Chu Xingrou said.

"Okay."

...

After leaving the conference room, Chu Xingrou called the narcotics division to ask Captain Lin Yue to come over.

Yan Cheng, Lu Zhishen, and Qi Feng crowded around Su Miaoyi to ask about Zhuang Yanzheng’s condition. "Are they really just minor burns?"

Su Miaoyi looked at them, a little stunned. "Weren’t you all there when Zhuang Yan... when Captain Zhuang and Director Meng were talking about it?"

"When it comes to his injuries, his word has zero credibility," Yan Cheng said. "To put it bluntly, even if he were to go blind, he’d insist on finishing this case first."

Su Miaoyi: "?"

"For example... he took a bullet to the waist, nearly lost a kidney. When we went to see him, he was lying in a hospital bed saying... he was just in for a few days due to anemia," Qi Feng said.

"Or the time... he was slashed in the shoulder with a machete. He refused to be hospitalized and insisted on coming back to work. When we asked about it, he claimed the guy attacked him with a nail clipper," Lu Zhishen said.

"And another time... his car was rammed during a pursuit. It rolled and went flying. He had a concussion and a broken leg, and he was unconscious in his hospital bed. When he woke up, he insisted he was just exhausted and had been catching up on sleep for two weeks," Yan Cheng said.

Listening to them, Su Miaoyi’s brow furrowed deeper and deeper. "That many injuries?"

"How else do you think he made captain of the detachment at such a young age?" Yan Cheng looked at her.

Su Miaoyi’s lips moved, but no words came out.

’He earned it with his life.’

The four of them fell silent for a moment.

Su Miaoyi said, "He wasn’t lying today. It really is a minor corneal burn. I was right there and heard the doctor say so."

The three of them relaxed a little.

"You should change your clothes too," Lu Zhishen said, glancing at her outfit.

Su Miaoyi nodded. "I wonder what the situation is at the hospital."

"Where was he injured?" Yan Cheng asked.

"The abdomen, near the liver. I don’t know if his liver or intestines were damaged," Su Miaoyi said. "I was applying pressure to the wound. He was bleeding a lot."

"Let’s just wait for news," Yan Cheng said.

"Yeah." Su Miaoyi agreed, then added, "Zhang Bai is acting strange, too. Kang Hong has been in the hospital for two days, and this is his fifth day in police custody. After all this time, he’s probably said everything he’s going to say. Besides, Kang Hong doesn’t even know the exact location of the drug lab. What’s the point of trying to kill him now?"

"Zhang Bai is definitely strange," Lu Zhishen said, looking at her. "It’s just like you said—he was served up on a silver platter."

Su Miaoyi shrugged.

’It’s true.’

’But he’s not cooperating. In his current state, I doubt we’ll get anything out of him...’