Chapter 10

Mobei University of Political Science and Law, Graduate School of Criminal Investigation.

After the group returned to the office, Murong Shui checked the files on the USB drive, her expression growing increasingly grave. “Boss! Chen Jialuo, that troublemaker, seems to come from a rather unusual family. Besides owning the largest factory in Mobei City, his father recently developed a high-end resort at Beiyang Mountain. Conservatively estimated, their family assets are among the top in Mobei City.”

Xu Tiannan pondered, “So this kid is from a wealthy background-a bona fide second-generation rich.”

“Then should we really…” Murong Shui hesitated, her voice barely audible, “Should we really get involved in this mess? What if we end up provoking them and get ourselves dragged in?”

Xu Tiannan chuckled, “What, are you scared?”

Power and money-these are fears and desires etched into human genes. Although Murong Shui was indeed afraid, she stubbornly replied, “If you’re not scared, then I’m not scared!”

Xu Tiannan smiled, “Who wouldn’t be afraid facing such a powerful opponent? No one knows how many big shots this case might implicate if we keep digging. But what scares me more is that this missing persons case will become a ‘cold case.’ What scares me more is that justice won’t be served.”

Hearing this, Murong Shui gradually regained her composure and nodded firmly. “Mm! You’re right! For the sake of justice, we have to keep investigating!”

Xu Tiannan said, “But don’t worry, I won’t just charge ahead recklessly. As soon as we find evidence in this case sufficient to file a case, I’ll hand it over to Wen Sibao. The rest will be up to the police.”

Murong Shui nodded, clenched her fist in front of her, and said resolutely, “Mm! Boss, don’t worry. If we encounter any danger during this time, I’ll protect you!”

Xu Tiannan: “…”

A few minutes later, Murong Shui suddenly stared at the computer screen and said, “Come here, everyone! I just found a key clue about Li Xiangqin’s disappearance in the files I copied!”

Murong Shui opened a screenshot from the USB drive and explained, “Didn’t we see Chen Jialuo’s car this afternoon? I noted his license plate, and just now, using Wen Baobao’s internal network access, I found the car’s traffic violation records. The most recent speeding incident happened about an hour after work last Friday. In the photo, you can clearly see Li Xiangqin in the front passenger seat.”

Hearing news about her sister, Li Xianglan immediately rushed over. Seeing the girl on the screen was indeed her sister Li Xiangqin, she exclaimed, “It’s Qinqin! That’s right! She really was taken away by that guy. Murong, please check where they went!”

Murong Shui reassured her, “Sister Xianglan, don’t worry. According to the speeding record, it was on a national highway heading south to north, which ends at the entrance to the 302 Expressway. However, there’s no record of the car entering the expressway in the Public Security Internal Network. This means Chen Jialuo took your sister somewhere along the national highway, most likely here.”

Murong Shui then opened a web map. Between the national highway and the expressway entrance, there was a conspicuous map marker labeled ‘Beiyang Mountain Leisure Resort.’

Xu Tiannan immediately understood and frowned, “Beiyang Mountain Leisure Resort? Isn’t that the new resort developed by Chen Jialuo’s family? Looks like he took Li Xiangqin there with bad intentions from the start!”

Murong Shui nodded, “Exactly. According to the resort’s official website, it’s not open to the public yet, so there wouldn’t be any other guests during this period.”

“Murong!” Li Xianglan urged anxiously, “Then quickly check the resort’s surveillance footage and see if Qinqin is really there!”

Murong Shui replied, “I’m afraid that’s not possible. The resort’s surveillance system is on their own internal network and isn’t connected to the Public Security Internal Network. So for now, we can only suspect that Chen Jialuo took your sister there. But look at this picture.”

With that, Murong Shui opened another photo of a traffic violation. This violation occurred about an hour and a half later, around 9:30 that night. Chen Jialuo’s car was heading south from the national highway back toward the city. This time, the car was speeding at an alarming 140 km/h, and in the photo, the front passenger seat was clearly empty.

Murong Shui said, “I suspect that after Chen Jialuo took Li Xiangqin to Beiyang Mountain Leisure Resort, he drove back to the city alone. He was driving so fast on the way back, which suggests something must have happened during that hour and a half to make him so panicked.”

After listening to the analysis, Xu Tiannan mused, “He took Li Xiangqin to his family’s resort, then returned alone an hour and a half later, visibly agitated? This…”

At this point, Xu Tiannan seemed to realize something and said in a low voice, “Two days after Chen Jialuo returned to the city, someone used Li Xiangqin’s phone to text her sister to say she was safe! I get it now!”
Li Xianglan asked urgently, “What is it? What did you find out? Please tell me quickly!”

Xu Tiannan thought for a moment and said in a deep voice, “Sister Xianglan, maybe my deduction is wrong, but Chen Jialuo’s actions are most likely to create an Alibi.”

Li Xianglan asked in confusion, “Alibi?”

Xu Tiannan nodded, “During the two days your sister went missing, someone kept using her phone to send you messages to reassure you. The purpose was to prevent you from filing a missing person report at the Police Station. But now…”

After saying this, Xu Tiannan glanced at his watch and said earnestly, “Sister Xianglan, you may not have noticed, but your phone has been very quiet today. You haven’t received any messages from your sister.”

Reminded like this, Li Xianglan immediately realized it and exclaimed in surprise, “Ah! That’s right! Qinqin’s phone hasn’t sent me any messages today. Does that mean we can go to your friend at the Public Security Bureau to file a case now?”

Xu Tiannan thought for a long time before finally deciding to share his reasoning. “Sister Xianglan, what I’m about to say may be hard for you to accept, but since I’ve decided to help you, I have the duty to report the possible situation to you truthfully.”

Xu Tiannan paused, then continued to explain, “The person holding your sister’s phone sent you a message every less than twenty-four hours. The first purpose was to prevent you from filing a missing person report at the Police Station. The second was to let you know she was still alive, or to legally prove that she was still alive. Third, now that more than 24 hours have passed without a message from your sister, I think it’s extremely unlikely that the person simply forgot. The most probable reason is that they no longer need to pretend to reassure you. The reason for this is… your sister is likely being held captive, or… has already been harmed.”

Hearing this, Li Xianglan felt a sharp pain in her heart, so heavy that her breath seemed to stop. Her vision went black and she collapsed.

Murong Shui immediately got up to support her, pressing her thumb against Li Xianglan’s philtrum. “Boss, you can’t be so direct! Be a little more ‘tactful’ when you tell her-at least give her some mental preparation!”

Xu Tiannan said, “We can talk about my way of speaking later. For now, quickly inform Wen Sibao so he can start the case investigation over there.”

A few minutes later, Murong Shui relayed the situation to Wen Sibao over the phone, and he agreed to immediately contact the relevant department to start the case investigation procedures.

Xu Tiannan said, “Wen Sibao will handle the case procedures. We can’t just sit here either. Every minute is precious now. Take Sister Xianglan with us, we’re heading to the Resort right away!”

……

Beiyang Mountain Resort (under construction).

Murong Shui stopped about two hundred meters from the Resort entrance. Her eyesight was excellent, and she quickly noticed something unusual at the entrance. She explained, “This isn’t good. Although the Resort isn’t open yet, there are at least two security guards on duty at the entrance, and there are cameras on both sides of the road. At this stage, only their own staff can get in.”

Sure enough, not long after, a Double-axle Dump Truck loaded with sand and gravel drove up to the entrance. The Driver got out and took off his mask in front of the camera. After facial recognition, the electronic gate light turned from red to green, and the truck was allowed to pass.

“Hey, hey! Sister Xianglan, what are you doing?”

Murong Shui reached out to stop Li Xianglan, who was about to get out of the car. Li Xianglan said urgently, “No, we can’t just wait any longer. Even if I have to break in, I must go inside and find Qinqin!”

Murong Shui tried to dissuade her, “Sister Xianglan, don’t be so hasty! Didn’t you see all those security guards inside? If you just rush in, who would let you through? Maybe those guards are even involved in Chen Jialuo tricking your sister into coming here!”

Xu Tiannan, who had been silent, suddenly said, “I’ve got an idea. Look over here!”

The two looked in the direction Xu Tiannan pointed and saw a country path. The path wasn’t very long, and at the end was a small natural lake. Night was falling, and the area around the lake was filled with the sounds of frogs and cicadas. Looking closely, they could see swarms of mosquitoes hovering over the water.

Xu Tiannan said, “Drive the car to the end of this path and hide it as much as possible. Don’t attract attention.”

After Murong Shui parked the car, Xu Tiannan told her and Li Xianglan to stay inside and not get out, then got out of the car alone.

After a while, Murong Shui was horrified to find that, due to the faint light inside the car, countless large mosquitoes from the lake were swarming over, covering the windshield densely. The sight made her skin crawl and gave her goosebumps.

But it seemed that misfortune never came alone for Murong Shui. Maybe the little white car was just too old and outdated, because after a while, some mosquitoes actually crawled in through the air vents, buzzing around inside the enclosed space. Murong Shui couldn’t stand it anymore, so she rolled down the window and shouted, “Boss, hurry up… the mosquitoes here… ah! Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey!”
Murong Shui hadn’t even finished speaking when she felt several mosquitoes fly into her mouth. Immediately, a cacophony of buzzing erupted around her ears, and what frightened her even more was that several mosquitoes, each about half the size of a fingertip, began pelting her face like raindrops. In a panic, she quickly rolled up the car window, and together with Li Xianglan, the two of them launched a fierce battle against the mosquitoes inside the car.

After quite some time, the mosquito war finally ended in the victory of the two in the car, though both of them had developed several blood welts the size of fingernails from the bites. Only then did Xu Tiannan leisurely open the car door and walk in. Though mosquitoes were also buzzing around his head, it was uncanny: they seemed to deliberately avoid him, and apart from some dirt on his body, there wasn’t a single swollen bite mark-those mosquitoes didn’t even want to stay on him.

Murong Shui’s arms were already bitten so badly that it was hard to look at. She shouted at Xu Tiannan, “Boss, you’re finally back! I was about to… about to be eaten alive by these mosquitoes… Huh? What are you holding?”

At this moment, Xu Tiannan was holding a slippery, pitch-black object, particularly disgusting. When Murong Shui got a clear look, she suddenly cried out, “Ugh… Where did you catch that Bullfrog? Quick! Get it away from me! It stinks!”

Xu Tiannan laughed, “Let me correct you on two points. First: this is called a Bullfrog, not the toad you’re talking about. Compared to a toad, a Bullfrog has a bigger belly, smoother skin, and feels better to the touch. Second: I could have easily caught a Bullfrog by the lake, but out of a principle of not killing, I insisted on finding one that had only recently died.”

Murong Shui was most afraid of such disgusting things. She shrank back, squinted her eyes, and stammered, “I-I-I don’t care if it’s a Bullfrog or whatever! What exactly are you trying to do!”

Xu Tiannan did not explain. He just looked toward the entrance of the Resort in the distance, where another Gravel Truck loaded with gravel was approaching from several hundred meters away, and immediately said, “Quick! Turn off the headlights! Get out and follow me!”

Murong Shui was a hundred times unwilling, but for the sake of the investigation, she had no choice but to grit her teeth and get out of the car. Instantly, she felt the mosquitoes outside swarming toward her in droves.

The three of them left the lakeside path and hid on a dirt slope beside the main road. Xu Tiannan casually broke off a Reed Stem from the roadside grass pile and then did something that would make Murong Shui shudder every time she recalled it for months to come.

“Boss… What… what are you doing!”

Murong Shui watched in horror as Xu Tiannan inserted the Reed Stem into the Bullfrog’s anus and pushed it into its belly. Then, he put his mouth to the stem and blew hard. The recently dead, slippery Bullfrog instantly swelled up like a balloon.

“Ahhh! Stop! I’m going to throw up! What a disgusting hobby… Ugh… ugh!”

Ignoring Murong Shui’s protests, Xu Tiannan blew a few more times, then broke the Reed Stem, spat out his chewing gum, and sealed the hollow end with it. In an instant, a greenish-black, round “Bullfrog Balloon” was placed by the side of the road.

Xu Tiannan said to the two of them, “Listen, the plan is this: from my observation, their own engineering vehicles don’t get checked when entering the Resort. So, once you two hear the signal, follow me and sneak into the Gravel Truck’s bed. That’s it. Got it?”

Murong Shui thought for a moment, “I get it, but what do you mean by the signal…?”

Xu Tiannan replied, “You’ll know when the time comes. Now give me some tissues.”

Murong Shui took a few tissues from her pocket and handed them over, then asked, “What do you need tissues for?”

Xu Tiannan gestured for silence, “That’s enough, don’t talk. You’ll see in a minute.”

Before long, the Gravel Truck got closer and closer. When the truck passed in front of them, there was a loud bang-Xu Tiannan’s “Bullfrog Balloon” had been crushed by the tire, producing an enormous explosion in the quiet night, just like the sound of a tire blowing out. The Driver was so startled that he immediately hit the brakes.

The truck stopped, but what followed was a strong stench of rotting animal carcass.

This overpowering stench was the final straw for Murong Shui; her tolerance had reached its limit. Her stomach burned, her throat felt hot, and she couldn’t help but throw up.

“Now! Get in the truck!”

Xu Tiannan had already anticipated that Murong Shui absolutely couldn’t handle such a scene, so he’d kept the tissues ready, and at the right moment covered her mouth with them. In the end, Murong Shui was half-pulled, half-dragged by Xu Tiannan into the bed of the truck, and that disgusting stomach acid she’d almost thrown up-she didn’t even know when she’d swallowed it back down.

The Driver of the Gravel Truck got out to check, found nothing wrong with the tires, cursed a couple of times, and got back into the cab.

With the sound of the engine starting again, Xu Tiannan and the others, hidden among the gravel in the truck bed, finally made their way into the Resort.