Chapter 842: Found The Rice Collectors
Translator: Azza
The uncle put out the cigarette in the ashtray gloomily. "Officers, I don’t understand. This is something that people want. Why is it illegal? Isn’t marijuana sold legally in many countries?"
Chen Shi pointed to the cigarettes on the table, "Do you smoke this because you will be hungry, thirsty, or die if you don't smoke it? Your throat will clearly feel uncomfortable, you will cough with plenty of phlegm, have trouble breathing, your nose will be blocked, your stomach will be upset, and your meals won’t taste as good. Your body will reek, and you may even get cancer more than a decade later. There are obviously so many harmful effects, so why do you have to smoke as long as you’re awake? Are you consuming it or it is consuming you? You don’t understand? Why wouldn’t you understand? It’s just because you made money, so you don’t want to understand!"
The uncle buried his head in shame.
"Want to atone for your crime by performing a meritorious deed?"
The uncle nodded desperately.
"Do you know how you can perform a meritorious deed?"
"Confess everything. I'll confess. The guy next door not only takes drugs, but also commits fraud…"
"I XX you XX, I will XX you XX…" The boy scolded even louder.
The torrents of curses floated over, making them feel uneasy. Lin Dongxue got up and closed the door so that his voice would be a little softer.
Chen Shi said, "A fool in Xu Village died three years ago, and another guy died a few days ago. Do you know the inside stories?"
"Well… the fool died terribly. He was buried alive. At the time, we were all extremely scared, because the rice collectors discovered that there was marijuana circulating in the disco in the village. The fool… the fool was… by us… no, they…" The uncle pointed next door. "He was pushed out by them as a scapegoat!"
"So that's the case. Did you all continue to sell it later on?"
"We did, but we were very careful."
"I just want to say that you’re so bold to be grabbing business from this fiendish gang… When was the last time you saw the rice collectors?"
"The day before yesterday. They went from house to house, saying that the situation was tense and told us not to say anything to the police. Otherwise, this and that would happen. People in this village have always been honest and obedient, so there are many people who grow rice in our village."
"Do you know where they went?"
"Uh, leave the village and go southward. There’s a mountain called Taishi Mountain, and there’s a planetarium on it. They may be hiding there."
"Are you sure?" Chen Shi didn’t expect to get such detailed information all at once.
"I’ve been there before. If they hide, they’re most likely to be hiding there."
There was the sound of police sirens outside. Lin Dongxue looked out and said, "My brother and the others are here."
After explaining the situation, Lin Qiupu arranged for someone to stay and deal with the matter. It was getting dark soon, so the police rushed to the mountain without further delay.
Chen Shi drove while watching the GPS. The place was too remote and the map couldn’t be loaded. The last rays of the setting sun shining through the forest canopy disappeared. Following Chen Shi's suggestion, everyone got out of their cars and walked, so as to not alert them.
After walking along the mountain path for about 20 minutes, the silhouette of a huge building appeared in front of them. Lin Dongxue said, "That’s the planetarium?"
"This is probably a hydrological monitoring station?" Chen Shi guessed.
The building had long been abandoned and was surrounded by weeds. It looked extremely desolate.
Suddenly, there was a disturbance in the grass at the side, and everyone became nervous. Some even took out their guns.
They saw a man in ragged clothes crawling out. When Lin Qiupu shone a flashlight to see his appearance, he blocked the light with his hand. Lin Qiupu exclaimed in surprise, "Officer Xu?"
Officer Xu was dirty and looked haggard. He pointed to his mouth. Xu Xiaodong on the side took out a cigarette.
Officer Xu shook his head, so Xu Xiaodong took out a piece of chocolate instead.
"Idiot, he wants water. Who brought water?" Lin Qiupu said.
A bottle of mineral water was passed to Officer Xu. He gulped the water down frantically and swiftly finished the entire bottle. He choked and started to cough. Lin Qiupu patted him on the back. Officer Xu panted and said, "I… escaped." Save… Little Jia… in the well…"
"Are the people who kidnapped you still here?" Chen Shi asked.
"I don't know… they kept us…trapped in the well…"
Lin Qiupu left someone behind to take care of Officer Xu. The others took out their guns and went close to the building. There was indeed a dried up well in front of the building. When the police shone flashlights into it, there was a man in ragged clothes at the bottom of the well who started sobbing. Probably it was because someone had finally come to rescue him. That kind of frame of mind is unimaginable without personally experiencing it.
"Don't worry, we’ll rescue you immediately." Lin Qiupu asked someone to find a rope or something similar.
A policeman replied, "There are no ropes or ladders nearby."
"Go and look inside the building. Be careful, the suspects may be hiding in it."
Everyone went inside the building. After passing through the lobby, there was a long corridor. On the left were windows, none of which had their glass intact. On the right was a row of offices. The police inspected them one by one. They found leftover food and extinguished candles in one of the offices.
Chen Shi sniffed the food residues on the table, and they were still fresh.
"There’s a discovery." someone shouted in the corridor.
In a windowless room, the police found many fresh marijuana leaves which were vacuum sealed, one layer after another. There was roughly a few hundred kilograms.
Chen Shi checked the traces on the ground. "Part of it has been transported away. When we came in, I didn't see a vehicle around. They may be transferring the goods right now!"
At this moment, gunfire and an engine’s rumble came from outside.
Everyone ran out immediately. It turned out that the gunshot had been fired by the policeman who had stayed behind to take care of Officer Xu. He said, "There was a truck just now. It seemed to have seen us. It turned around and escaped!"
"Chase after! Chase after! Chase after!" Lin Qiupu shouted.
Everyone rushed down the mountain path, only to see a truck escaping. After the police found their own vehicles, they pursued behind relentlessly and they quickly got to the main road.
In the middle of the night, there were no other vehicles or street lights on the township highway. Lin Qiupu ordered everyone to turn on their police sirens. The sound of the police sirens merged into one. The police lights flashed in the night, following the truck closely, and the scene was spectacular.
It was unknown how long they chased after the truck. Suddenly, there was a bang when the truck hit a paving stone while turning. It slid and rolled to the side of the road. The windshield was shattered.
The police jumped out of their cars and surrounded it, only to see a man sitting in the truck. He was fiddling with something swiftly, with cold sweat and blood on his face. Lin Qiupu shouted, "Don't move! Put your hands on the window!"
The man gave them a disdainful smile, mouthed a curse, and then put the item in his hand into his mouth. It turned out to be a freshly-rolled cannabis cigarette.
He took a deep drag, showing a carefree expression, and suddenly fell straight onto the seat, convulsing. Seeing this, Lin Qiupu stepped forward and pulled the car door open. The man fell off onto the ground. His body convulsed and he foamed at the mouth.
"Damn it, what did he mix into the cigarette?!" Lin Qiupu opened his eyelids. "Call an ambulance quickly."
"It's too late, brother."
The man's expression gradually eased, and under the incredulous gazes of everyone, he gradually died…
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