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墨書 Inktalez
Yuan Jun drove silently, with everyone in the car lost in their thoughts. Jiang He gazed out the window, observing the barren fields on either side. Just then, Old Shao's phone rang.
“Captain Liu!” Old Shao answered. “What have you found?”
Jiang He glanced at his phone; it had been around two hours since they left Shizhao Village.
“Just received a call from the checkpoint on the road from Shizhao Village to Jingping District,” Captain Liu reported to Old Shao. “A white Hyundai appeared at the checkpoint and didn’t stop; it barreled right through. The police at the checkpoint immediately pursued it. About a thousand meters past the checkpoint, the White Modern Car crashed into the left hillside, flipped several times, and fell into the Mountain Valley, which is over ten meters deep. The police have already sent someone down to investigate.”
Captain Liu paused for a moment. “However, according to the analysis of the officers present at the scene, given the severity of that crash, even a deity wouldn’t survive.”
“Is it confirmed that the person in the car was the Criminal Consultant?” Old Shao asked, surprised by this news. Given the Criminal Consultant's intelligence, he wouldn’t typically resort to such reckless behavior.
“It’s unclear,” Captain Liu replied. “The officers on-site couldn’t see his face; the car was moving too fast. They only noted that the driver appeared to be wearing black clothing, but beyond that, they couldn’t tell.”
“Alright, we’ll head over that way immediately.” Old Shao hung up and turned to Yuan Jun, who was driving. “Make a U-turn; we’re heading towards Jingping District.”
Yuan Jun nodded and hit the brakes.
Old Shao rolled down the window and shouted to Wang Kun in the backseat, “You all keep going ahead and remember to transport the body back to City Bureau. We need to investigate elsewhere for the Criminal.”
“Got it!” Wang Kun replied.
Yuan Jun made a U-turn and took another road.
Jiang He spoke up, “I’ve looked at the topographical map of Dragon City before; to the west of Jing'an District is a mountain range. This road is mountainous and part of a winding highway. Following this road towards Jingping District means there’s a mountain on the left and a cliff on the right; it’s quite narrow with sharp turns.”
As Yuan Jun drove towards Jingping District, it became evident that the road was getting narrower. In its tightest sections, two cars could barely pass side by side. At each curve along the mountain road were convex mirrors placed strategically so drivers could see if any vehicles were approaching from the opposite direction.
Yuan Jun spoke up, "New drivers generally wouldn't dare to take this kind of road."
Jiang He replied, "Shizhao Village is already at the edge of Dragon City. If you continue out from Shizhao Village, you'll reach other cities. Most new drivers would choose to leave via the route we took earlier, heading back to Dragon City first and then taking another road to Jingping District. It may take longer, but at least it's safer."
Yuan Jun remarked, "It seems the Criminal Consultant is well aware that the defenses here are relatively weak. After all, at a checkpoint like this, one misstep could lead to disaster, so there aren't many guards. He thinks too highly of himself by deliberately choosing to break through here violently."
Listening to the conversation between Yuan Jun and Jiang He, Old Shao remained silent.
Noticing Old Shao's silence, Yuan Jun asked, "Old Shao, what do you think? Is it possible that the Criminal Consultant could just die like that?"
Old Shao shook his head. "Impossible. He's not that kind of person. After dealing with him for so long, we all know how cautious and clever he is. I truly don't believe he would resort to a violent breakthrough and leave his life to chance. Someone like him would never seek death."
Realizing this, Old Shao slapped his thigh and exclaimed, "Oh no, it's a diversion!"
He picked up his phone and immediately dialed Captain Liu's number. "Captain Liu, immediately inform those officers who were searching down the mountain not to look for the Criminal Consultant anymore; that's a diversion tactic. They need to return and guard the checkpoint."
"Understood." Captain Liu recognized the urgency in Old Shao's voice and responded promptly.
After hanging up the phone, Old Shao turned to Yuan Jun. "That's right; this place is close to danger and can be held with just a few people. But therein lies the problem: once a vehicle breaks through the checkpoint, it draws everyone's attention to that car. Especially if it goes off a cliff, it will require a large number of officers to search for it, allowing any following vehicles to leave without hindrance."
Old Shao slapped his forehead. "Now I understand why the Criminal Consultant has been driving such an eye-catching White Modern Car; precisely because it's so conspicuous that everyone focuses on it while we overlook everything else surrounding it."
Sighing, Old Shao continued, "The Criminal Consultant is like a master magician; when performing tricks, magicians always direct our attention to unimportant details while their significant actions go unnoticed."
Jiang He interjected, "By now, the Criminal Consultant is likely already in Dragon City; calling for backup will take too long."
Old Shao nodded but fell silent again.
Yuan Jun drove silently for about an hour and a half before finally arriving at the checkpoint. The area was now manned by police officers, but everyone understood that it was too late.
Yuan Jun parked the car to the side, and Old Shao got out to ask a few people, "What's the situation? After that white Hyundai passed, did any other cars go through?"
One of the police officers spoke up, "Yes, they all went after that car, leaving me here alone. A black sedan passed by, and there was also a delivery truck carrying dogs."
"Dogs?" Old Shao inquired.
The officer nodded. "Yes, just some pet dogs. I checked all the necessary documents, and everything was in order."
"What did that person look like?" Old Shao hurriedly asked.
"That person seemed quite young, probably in their twenties, with short hair and a bit of a Yuzhou City accent," the officer replied, scratching his head.
"A Yuzhou City accent?" Old Shao asked again.
The officer nodded once more.
"Criminal Consultant," Old Shao said decisively. "Did you check the dogs in that car behind?"
"No," the officer admitted. "At that time, the white Hyundai had just rushed through the checkpoint. It was too chaotic; that group of dogs was barking non-stop. I quickly let them pass; otherwise, with several police cars parked here, they probably wouldn't have been able to leave."
Jiang He looked at Old Shao. "Is the Criminal Consultant from Yuzhou City?"
Old Shao gazed into the distance at the cliffs, seeing only darkness. "That's right. I'm very familiar with that mask from WeChat Video; it belonged to a criminal organization from twenty years ago. They are all from Yuzhou City, and naturally, the Criminal Consultant who grew up among them would speak Yuzhou dialect as well."
"But what puzzles me is why he would drive a dog transport vehicle," Shao the Elder added.
"However, he should have already arrived at Dragon City. The priority now is to find that car; perhaps there are people inside, an innocent person," said Shao the Elder.
Yuan Jun drove on, continuing forward with the others. After about half an hour down the winding Highway, they spotted a police car parked at the side of the road with its lights flashing. Yuan Jun pulled over and turned on his hazard lights, allowing everyone to get out of the car.
At the edge of the cliff, they could see flashlights flickering as they approached the wrecked vehicle.
"Let's find a gentler slope to descend," suggested Shao the Elder.
"You stay up here," Yuan Jun replied. "This road is much harder to navigate than the mountain path from Shizhao Village."
Old Shao pondered for a moment but eventually nodded in agreement. He and Guan Deng remained by the roadside while Jiang He, Yuan Jun, and Xu Yiman slid down the slope.
"We're from the Criminal Police Team," Yuan Jun shouted as they moved closer. "What’s the situation?"
Several flashlights turned toward them, and one officer said, "We found the car, but it’s totaled; the cabin is completely crushed."
In the distance, a large metal mass appeared under the beam of their flashlights.
"What about the people inside?" Xu Yiman asked. "Are they alive or dead?"
"They're definitely dead," replied the officer. "The driver's seat has collapsed. Although we can't see inside, given the severity of the crash, there's no way anyone inside could have survived. They’re probably reduced to pulp."
Jiang He understood what Xu Yiman was concerned about but chose not to dwell on it. Instead, he hurried toward the vehicle.
The group rushed past, avoiding patches of wild grass and stepping carefully around stones until they nearly crawled to reach the vicinity of the car.
The sight of the vehicle was horrific; it had fallen from a cliff and rolled multiple times before finally getting lodged in a tree. The impact had bent the tree over; otherwise, the car would have plunged deeper into the abyss. The driver's compartment was twisted into a mass, and blood flowed out through the shattered windows.
Jiang He turned on his phone's flashlight, shining it into the car through the window as he called out, "Is anyone inside still alive? Can you hear me?"
There was no response.
A police officer said, "No need to shout. Even a five or six-year-old child couldn't survive in such a confined space, especially after falling from that height."
Jiang He nodded, knowing the officer was right. However, he couldn't shake the thought of who the person in the driver's seat might be and whether they could be an innocent bystander.
Adjusting his stance to steady himself on the slope, Jiang He leaned closer to the window to look inside. The beam of his phone illuminated the interior of the car, but he couldn't find anyone in the driver's seat. Could it be that during the tumble, the person had been thrown out through the window?
Just as Jiang He was about to give up searching, he suddenly caught a whiff of a peculiar scent, one that was different from blood.
"The one in the driver's seat isn't human," Jiang He stated.
"Not human?" a police officer replied. "If it's not human, then what is it? A ghost? This car crashed straight for about a thousand meters before going over the cliff."
"No," Jiang He straightened up. "It's not human, and it's not a ghost; it's a dog."
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