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墨書 Inktalez
Chapter 90: Joy Turns to Sorrow
The misty weather gradually brightened, and the first rays of dawn welcomed the Kang Garden Community in Anping Town.
This beam of light, filled with a sense of comfort and joy, was captured in the surveillance monitor of Field Duty. At six o'clock in the morning, Four O'Clock in the Morning arrived at the monitoring location, and just fifteen minutes later, an exhilarating scene was recorded.
Song Lijuan came downstairs in her pajamas, hurriedly buying breakfast.
This suspect, who had eluded the task force's search, was leisurely living a normal person's life. The analysis of the returned footage, triangulated positioning, height, body type, and physical characteristics all aligned within seconds, causing excitement among the team members who were urgently convened. The feeling of suddenly finding clarity after wandering through a maze was simply wonderful.
"I can't believe it! We went to the Human Resources and Social Security Bureau to extract templates, and who would have thought the suspect would appear in their system?" one staff member exclaimed, unable to hide his astonishment.
Another added, "Commissioner Shen is impressive; he identified her just by looking at the surveillance footage. I've never seen anything like it."
As these words were spoken, Guan Yiqing and Guo Wei exchanged amused glances at Shen Lingchen, who looked a bit embarrassed and refrained from commenting. He reminded them, "Field Duty is already in place. Next, we must not alert her for now. First, we need to keep a close watch on her every move—eating, using the restroom—nothing can be missed. Second, we need to dig into her social relationships as much as possible; again, nothing can be overlooked. Third, let's conduct another investigation on the side; aside from physical characteristics, we should try to extract handwriting samples for further identification..."
"Commissioner Shen, you might find this information interesting," Xu Fei said as he hurriedly pushed open the door and handed over a piece of paper. Shen Lingchen glanced at it and his expression changed slightly as he exclaimed in surprise, "It actually matched from here?"
"Surprising, isn't it? On a whim, I checked and found out that her parents are employees of Haigang. The marital status I could find shows they are divorced; she is currently single with a son living with her ex-husband... I wonder if we could reach out to her ex-husband?" Xu Fei said excitedly. Overnight, his frustration had vanished; now the elite Police Force was fully mobilized.
"Don't rush; let's make sure before we stir things up," Shen Lingchen said thoughtfully. He gathered the information from yesterday and reminded them, "We could check old files from Haigang. A person's upbringing is often a major factor in shaping their character; there must be a reason for someone with this background to turn to crime..."
"Commissioner Shen, there's a new face," Guo Wei shouted.
Shen Lingchen stood up to look at the surveillance footage sent back by Field Duty. Song Lijuan was seen walking out of the building with a man; judging by the time, they were likely heading to work.
Wait a minute—didn't they just say she was single and divorced?
Xu Fei remarked in surprise, "Looks like being single doesn't mean abstaining from relationships."
"Let's investigate this person... Hmm, he looks somewhat familiar," Shen Lingchen said without acknowledging his colleagues' laughter. With his strong memory for facial recognition, he felt he had seen this face before. After thinking for a moment, he pulled out his phone to cross-reference it. Suddenly spotting a familiar face among the listed old cases from Haigang, he exclaimed in astonishment, "This person is called Pan Shuanglong; he has a theft case background... Could it really be them? It can't be that coincidental! Quickly, find a way to establish surveillance on this individual."
"Yes."
Guo Wei was issuing commands on the computer. At that moment, the screen displayed two figures exiting the apartment building, behaving like a couple, giggling as they left the community, seemingly preparing to hail a taxi.
Right, it was during work hours; it seemed he was sending Song Lijuan to her job.
Suddenly, the entire screen changed. Several shadows rushed in from various directions, surrounding Song Lijuan and Pan Shuanglong. Shen Lingchen was taken aback, his blood boiling with anger as he exclaimed, "Who issued the capture order?"
It was clear these were their own people, forming a standard encirclement. Some had already drawn their guns. Song Lijuan screamed in fright, covering her eyes. Pan Shuanglong grabbed her but instead of pulling her away, he forcefully tossed her toward the two captors. In a brief moment of opportunity, he leaped forward, kicking one of the officers attempting to block him aside and darting away like a flash.
The series of movements were swift and precise, more thrilling than any action movie, leaving those behind the screen in stunned silence.
"No orders were given," Guo Wei said in disbelief.
Shen Lingchen couldn't afford to ponder this further; he picked up the radio and commanded urgently, "Initiate capture immediately!"
In an instant, police sirens wailed as two surveillance points switched to capture mode. Officers moved to intercept from the sides and front. Shen Lingchen understood the agility of such streetwise individuals and barked orders into the radio: "Fire warning shots; we must apprehend him."
At that moment, unidentified pursuers and officers from Ten Squad who had just arrived drew their weapons. The screen showed figures darting through the scene, chasing after the one who had scaled the wall...
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Bang... Bang... Bang...
A series of gunshots rang out, with the final bullet striking Pan Shuanglong in the rear. His arms had already reached the wall when his body went limp, pulled down by nearby officers. With a gun pressed to his head and legs pinning his arms down, several undercover agents rushed in, forcefully restraining this suspect. They hastily slapped on handcuffs while lifting his shirt to secure him properly.
During a search of his body, they discovered multiple blades hidden within; one officer faced him had already been cut on the wrist, blood flowing freely, causing panic among the captors.
Another group of five pursuers had three down on the ground while two others were panting heavily as they caught up. They expressed their thanks but soon realized something was off when they were met with furious glares from their opponents. "Which unit are you from?" one of them demanded angrily.
"Oh... from the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Public Security Bureau," the other party quickly handed over their identification and expressed gratitude.
The person on this side, furious, asked, "Is there a record for cross-regional law enforcement? You've disrupted our entire operation."
Upon hearing this, the Shenzhen-Hong Kong team was taken aback. Such matters were usually kept confidential until after the fact. They hurriedly explained, "We've been tracking this individual for over half a year. Just yesterday, he was in Suzhou and Hangzhou. We had filed a report with the Suzhou and Hangzhou police."
"Do you know where this place is?" came the stern response, as a walkie-talkie crackled to life, demanding that Song Lijuan be taken away as well.
It was difficult to manage; one person had a gunshot wound while another had dislocated their arm and was still lying there. Both sides quickly loaded the two individuals into vehicles and evacuated the scene. Soon after, police officers arrived to set up a cordon and began collecting shell casings from the ground, methodically conducting their investigation.
At that moment, no one noticed a regular sedan passing by, where Old Cripple was pressing down his hat and signaling the driver to reverse and leave the area.
Panzi had suddenly become a prisoner. He had come on time to pick up Panzi and mentioned wanting to visit You Bisheng's former subordinates and check Xiao Mu's background. However, he watched helplessly as Panzi was captured. The unexpected turn of events left him trembling; it wasn't until he had distanced himself from the scene that he signaled for the car to stop. Leaning on his cane, he got out and tried to calm his racing heart before dialing a number:
"Panzi has fallen into trouble at the entrance of Kang Garden Community."
The other party paused for a moment before asking, "When did you return?"
"Last night," Old Cripple replied.
"The old house is haunted; something is going to happen there too. I just received word—don't go back," came the response.
This meant that something was also going to happen in Suzhou and Hangzhou. Old Cripple acknowledged this with a stunned silence before quickly getting back into the car, disappearing without a trace...
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In another city, it seemed calm...
At 7:30 AM, Xiao Mu received a call from Big Gourd, saying that Ma Ye was looking for him. He returned the call only to find it was Black Steel on the line, urging him to hurry to Eagle Logistics as there was a shipment that needed unloading.
He had split the goods twice here, once at midnight and once at noon. Now, it was morning again. He hurriedly got up, washed up, and hailed a taxi at the hotel entrance, heading straight for Eagle Logistics.
Before the rush hour, the traffic was quite smooth. Xiao Mu was still feeling groggy; he had never been one to wake up early. After drinking quite a bit with that group of rascals last night, he woke up with a dry mouth and felt terrible. Once pampered as Young Master Mu, he still had some of those spoiled habits. As they approached the destination, he got out of the car early and sat down at a roadside dumpling stall, ordering a bowl of hot soup and a steamer of dumplings to quell his hunger before moving on.
Ah, a sip of hot soup—refreshing.
Ah, two sips of hot soup—damn it, he began to resolve not to drink anymore.
By the time he started eating the dumplings, his sixth sense kicked in. He felt an inexplicable prickling sensation… Oh, in an instant, he noticed something that would have been easily overlooked; when he paid attention, it was the gaze of a man across from him that pricked him. Almost reflexively, he sensed something was off about that look.
There’s a significant difference in people's gazes. Most ordinary people have dull eyes; conmen and shady businessmen have a shifty gaze; thugs and ruffians look down on others with disdain. But this pair of eyes shot out light that made his heart skip a beat—it was sharp… sharp like Baldy.
Damn it, so many cops?
He glanced around and noticed one man with a bulging waistline, another who kept glancing toward the logistics company, and yet another whose waist gleamed—no doubt it was shiny handcuffs.
This scene frightened Xiao Mu into indigestion. He usually relied on his silver tongue to bluff his way through; he certainly didn’t want to experience a real confrontation. He had already gone through that in Tongguan; when the police caught criminals, it was no game. A real clash could be terrifying.
What went wrong?
He cursed Shen Lingchen inwardly. Was the crackdown starting? How could they not rely on him? Was it going to be like last time in Tongguan where even he would be taken in?
His thoughts didn’t linger long before a Dongfeng Heavy Truck rumbled into the logistics courtyard. Someone opened the gate while others prepared to unload cargo. At this moment, those eating nearby began to stir; some tossed a few dozen bucks to the boss while others pulled out their earpieces. Just as the truck opened its compartment, police sirens blared. It turned out that several people at the food stall were SWAT Team members who dashed toward the courtyard like startled rabbits at the sound of the sirens, controlling the entrance. Soon after, a large police vehicle emerged from a nearby alley and surrounded the logistics courtyard like ants swarming from a disturbed nest.
“Wow, how brutal.”
Xiao Mu watched as those workers were pushed against the wall one by one, ordered to put their heads down. The packages from the truck were unloaded and pried open as teams of police officers entered the logistics company to begin their search.
To be fair, Xiao Mu actually had quite a good impression of Mourning Hair; he was generous and would throw money around without hesitation. Yet here he was getting arrested? It felt such a pity.
As he saw Mao Shiping being taken away in a police car, an inexplicable sense of sorrow washed over him—a feeling akin to mourning for a fallen comrade.
"What's going on? I haven't even received a message from my Gold Medal Informant, and they're already making a move here?"
A sudden doubt arose in Xiao Mu's mind. He paused for a moment, then realized the feeling of danger. If this place had been notified and they weren't just acting on a whim, he might have been caught up in it too. The police had such accurate information—what did that imply?
"Damn, could there be a Baldy in the Hideout too?"
He thought of the most straightforward possibility. After his last encounter with Baldy's crew, it seemed he wouldn't have another chance this time. With that thought, he calmly paid his bill and quietly walked along the roadside. As he turned into the Alley, he thought to himself, "Oh no, after all I've done these past few days, they won't come after me later, will they?" He quickly took off running.
...
Binhai was thrown into chaos due to the sudden gunfire and arrests in Anping Town.
The surveillance mission had turned into an arrest operation, but it didn't go as planned. They ended up heading straight to the hospital. Colleagues from different districts were brought to Ten Squad, and soon a long-distance call from Shenzhen-Hong Kong reached the City Bureau. The coordination between the two sides was intense; even if they were shouting at each other, it was already a fact that took half an hour to clarify. Pan Shuanglong was suspected of organizing thefts at Shenzhen-Hong Kong Airport, entry and exit ports, convention centers, and high-end hotels. The Shenzhen-Hong Kong Police had been tracking him for some time. This time they followed the clues to find his hiding spots and safe houses. Last night they discovered he had left Suzhou and Hangzhou. Fearing they would lose his trail again, the pursuit team executed the arrest—only to unexpectedly run into suspects from the Wang Zihua case.
The case files were transmitted directly from the City Bureau to the Ten Squad task force. Director Zheng Kegong arrived at Ten Squad from the Criminal Investigation Bureau just before nine o'clock. His face was grim as he got out of the car, biting down on his teeth to remind his comrades not to show any emotions before leading them into the rooms where several colleagues were detained.
Guns, police badges, and equipment were neatly arranged on a table.
The suspects were all southern men—slim and agile—looking down as if they had committed a crime. If it weren't for the sudden support from Binhai police, this arrest could have gone awry; no one had anticipated how formidable the suspect would be. Even with five people surrounding him, they almost let him slip away.
"I'm so sorry... I'm really sorry... Leaders, we've been pursuing him since last September; it's been nearly a year," one of the leaders bowed deeply in apology.
"We've already issued alerts about suspected stolen goods; why didn't you contact us?" Shen Lingchen said with a pained expression, fearing this mess might connect back to Suzhou and Hangzhou.
The other party paused before responding, "We've been out for over three months now; we haven't returned to our unit at all. We followed him all the way from Shenzhen-Hong Kong to Suzhou and Hangzhou."
Xu Fei whispered that the guns were temporarily borrowed from Suzhou and Hangzhou police. Director Zheng Kegong couldn't really blame them; he simply said, "This is the unfortunate result of our mutual distrust. Sit down; let's discuss what happened with this Case Situation."
"It’s like this... We’ve been waiting for the right moment but couldn’t find their channels for selling stolen goods. After discovering his whereabouts in Suzhou and Hangzhou earlier this year, we began cooperating with Suzhou and Hangzhou police and kept an eye on Hua Ying Logistics Company that Pan Shuanglong visited once... This morning we received a tip-off that a batch of goods was arriving there. So we decided to act simultaneously on both ends for the arrest but didn’t expect this person to be so skilled—we almost faced an accident..." The other party explained.
Shen Lingchen listened in shock, interrupting, "Informant? You guys have put an informant in?"
"No, it's the local police who found the informant," the other party replied.
Shen Lingchen was stunned for a moment before turning and running away, leaving behind those who hadn't finished listening, bewildered.
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Guo Wei and Guan Yiqing were called out by Shen Lingchen to a small cafeteria near the restroom. They had never seen their master so serious before; his face was pale and unwell. Guan Yiqing wanted to ask out of concern but was too frightened to speak.
"I'm going to Suzhou and Hangzhou for a trip. I need to emphasize three points; listen carefully," Shen Lingchen said.
The two nodded solemnly.
"Regarding Xiao Mu, first point: keep your mouth shut; second point: keep it tightly shut; third point: still keep it tightly shut... No matter what happens, no matter who asks, no matter the situation, you must not say anything..." Shen Lingchen spoke with a stern tone, and the two stared wide-eyed, not fully grasping the seriousness of it. He shouted, "Listen carefully! This is a matter of life and death. If the suspect isn't thoroughly dealt with, the one who will suffer next is the informant."
"Yes, I understand," Guo Wei replied with a salute.
"Yes, rest assured, Master," Guan Yiqing saluted as well.
Without saying another word, Shen Lingchen hurried away, leaving the two in shock, unsure of what unexpected incident had occurred.
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The actions in Suzhou and Hangzhou were more significant than expected.
Ma Yubing's vehicle rental company was under investigation. Several police cars from the branch arrived and summoned all management and financial personnel led by him.
In the vicinity of Cangji Village, a rental house was raided, reportedly a hideout for a group extorting travelers using a new version of the Scam. Over twenty individuals were detained. This operation was led by the Criminal Investigation Team Five, with Captain Chen Shaoyang personally at the helm, capturing some small-time thugs who usually acted invincible; the handcuffs were tightened mercilessly.
The Zhengmin Road Police Station received an urgent task to detain Hu Yiming and Li Xiaoyong, leaders of a gang known as the Gourd Brothers, a name they were all too familiar with. The police force was dispatched to ambush these two at their hideout, but unexpectedly, none were caught. The usual group of petty criminals who loitered on the streets had vanished without a trace.
Even Lame Brother He Shi's home was raided, but it turned out to be a bust as well.
As rumors spread through the small community, it was said that West City Master Ma and several of his brothers were in trouble, with police actively searching the city for them.
But where were they?
Little did anyone know that under the leadership of their new boss, this group had already hit the road.
They rented a minibus for a tourist trip, heading towards Binhai City. The passengers included nine key members led by Big Gourd and four Madams led by Red Sister. They were quickly gathered by Xiao Mu and swiftly evacuated. He employed a method reminiscent of a Pyramid Scheme to transport them successfully while taking advantage of the time difference.
On the bus, Big Gourd kept receiving calls from small-time thugs left behind in Suzhou and Hangzhou reporting that Eagle Logistics had been investigated and that Mao Ge was missing; the vehicle rental company had been checked, and Ma Ye had been taken away. As for their usual backbone, Lame Brother, he was completely unreachable now. Reports came in stating that police had also raided Big Gourd's and Erhu Lu's homes. The two were sweating nervously; all the stolen luggage from the airport was still sitting at their place.
Red Sister lamented over her lost business, which had already gone sour—not because of police investigations but because profits in the park area had become so enticing that they were no longer allowed to operate there; someone else was preparing to take over. When Big Gourd informed her that police had found her home as well, Red Sister slapped her thigh in frustration and sobbed, "Oh dear, how can we survive... We haven't even done any business yet, and now the police are knocking on our doors."
"Quiet down..." Xiao Mu said calmly. At that moment, he held significant authority; as soon as he spoke, everyone fell silent and looked at him.
They usually hadn’t done anything good, so it was truly unclear why the police were after them now.
Big Gourd gave a thumbs up and said, "Wood Master, you really know how to play it cool. If it weren't for your warning, we would have been wiped out completely. How did you know?"
"This morning Black Steel notified me about logistics; I arrived a bit late and ran into a group in striped uniforms... Damn it! If I had gotten there earlier, I might have been caught too," Xiao Mu replied with lingering fear.
"But logistics has nothing to do with us," Erhu Lu said, confused.
Xiao Mu suddenly turned to look at Red Sister. She licked her lips and remained silent; she also noticed Xiao Mu's gaze and tried to cover up her unease by saying, "I’m not sure either."
"Better safe than sorry. Mao Ge and Ma Ye are brothers; Lame Brother is close with both of them. You know what they say—if one gets into trouble, it’s bound to drag others down with them. When the police come knocking, they’ll definitely start with us small fries... When I couldn’t reach Lame Brother later on, I sensed something was wrong and decided to warn you all to evacuate quickly," Xiao Mu explained.
The tree has fallen, and the monkeys scatter; anyone can understand that. However, this time, Xiao Mu did not run away for his own sake. He had completely conquered these people. Liu Yang, who was still dreaming of a happy life tomorrow, asked Xiao Mu, "Young Master Mu, what about Brother Pan? He said he would be back in a day or two."
"Don't even think about your brother. Something must have happened to him; it goes without saying," Xiao Mu replied. The police's methods were ruthless; they would take down the entire nest in one go. He seriously suspected that this gang was finished, and he might soon find himself unemployed.
The problem was that even if he lost his informant job, he had subconsciously notified these people he usually associated with, and now they had become a huge burden. How could he arrange for them? There were more than ten of them, ranging from minors to middle-aged individuals. They were either small-time thugs or Madam. He looked at them with a troubled expression and suddenly realized he had done something extremely foolish; he didn't even have a safe place for himself, let alone how to manage this group.
Just then, Big Gourd spoke up: "Wood Master, no need to say anything else. We Brothers will stick with you through thick and thin. We share the good times and bear the hardships together. For your loyalty, I, Hu Yiming, respect you."
Erhu Lu chimed in: "That's right! The bosses all care about themselves and run away, but Young Master Mu treats us like brothers. You see, Brothers? True feelings show in times of crisis; that's what brotherhood is all about."
These two usually made people laugh with their words, but today they stirred emotions. The few Madams present were unsure whether their feelings were genuine or feigned, but all their words condensed into one heartfelt plea: "Young Master Mu, we weak women are counting on you."
Their sorrowful voices and earnest emotions made Xiao Mu feel like crying without tears.
The car sped along the highway, leaving the Suzhou and Hangzhou area behind. At the same time, Shen Lingchen was driving a police car at full speed toward Suzhou and Hangzhou. Halfway there, he received a rough report from his former subordinates about the case situation. It was Chen Shaoyang from the Suzhou-Hangzhou Criminal Investigation Team Five who led the operation. They had taken down a large group that included Ma Yubing and Mao Shiping. Hearing this made him inexplicably sad; all his careful arrangements had been ruined in an instant, and all his hard work seemed to have gone to waste...
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