Chapter 690: Chapter 655: Guessing the Identity_1
Zhou Ning took a deep breath. He knew Xu Dayuan wouldn’t turn against him; after all, their job was to make these people expose their flaws—otherwise, it would be tough to clean up thoroughly. The most effective way to eradicate an abscess once and for all was to let it burst all at once—only by digging deeper could they remove the rot and heal the flesh.
He glanced at Mr. Zhao and gave him a signal, holding his phone behind his back with the name Qu Heping displayed on the screen. Mr. Zhao didn’t linger and quickly went inside to look for Mr. Qu to report all evidence, knowing that Mr. Hu and his team were eagerly awaiting this news.
Huang Yubin and Xing Shusheng across from them were confused by Xu Dayuan’s suddenly serious demeanor. However, without giving them much time to react, he spoke directly.
"I picked up something on the way here. Bai Qishan can’t escape; we’ll have a special case meeting at eight o’clock, followed by the hearing. We need to eat something first. Would you two care to join us?"
Huang Yubin looked at Xing Shusheng, and seeing him shake his head, Huang Yubin also declined with a friendly gesture.
"Go ahead; we’ve been awfully tired these past few days. I’ll take Director Xing and the others to the conference room to prepare for the meeting. We’ll see each other later."
Xu Dayuan nodded and was about to leave when Huang Yubin added:
"Oh, by the way, Mr. Huang, as the deputy leader of the special case group, I’d like to ask about the three areas you’re in charge of. Have you looked into where the mercury was purchased? Have you found the origin of the missing persons in the Tianshan region? And have you clarified the details regarding Yagelangha?"
Huang Yubin was taken aback.
"This... this... this..."
He opened his mouth but couldn’t articulate a second word after a prolonged struggle.
Xu Dayuan knew that he wouldn’t be able to summarize it well. The establishment of the special case group was for the investigation of what Zhou Ning and his team had discovered when they fell into that hole, especially the case of the eight children murdered twenty years ago—the group’s initial purpose.
As for the treasures discovered later in the coffins, the ammunition and the sarin, and the subsequent connections to Zhou Xiangrong’s murder and the loss of files at the Ganzhou City Public Security Bureau, drawing in spy activities involving many people from Ganzhou—all stemmed from this origin.
Moreover, Xu Dayuan had been constantly reporting to the leadership of both provinces. Although many issues involved the National Security Department, this case was intricately tied to Longyou Province and it was impossible to discern how many were implicated. After all, according to their deductions, Zhou Xiangrong’s superior had already defected back then.
Hence, the case had been delayed from being transferred due to its complex nature. In just six days, the nature of the case had changed repeatedly, and the materials reported by both provinces were being continuously updated, causing the response from the ministry to lag as well.
However, it was only a delay, not a halt in reporting. Xu Dayuan had already informed Mr. Hu of the discovery that Qindao was deeply involved. Their initial cooperation had already turned into them taking the active lead, particularly as it involved the city destruction plan and citywide poisoning. If implemented, the casualties among the populace would be beyond estimate.
Xing Shusheng chuckled upon seeing Xu Dayuan.
"Director Xu, don’t be too hard on Mr. Huang. If he had your abilities, we wouldn’t have needed your help in the first place."
Huang Yubin appeared slightly embarrassed.
"We have indeed conducted investigations, but given the age of the case, many details are unverifiable. Take the mercury, for example—unlike now, it didn’t require registration or various permits for sale back then. Many clandestine workshops existed, especially around Mingjia Mountain of Hui County.
Back then, illegal mining was common, and I believe that the materials came from these people. Based on our estimates, they only used a few hundred pounds of mercury, and any illegal mine here could easily supply ten or more tons.
As for the missing persons, we have come across some old files, including cases of missing persons that Ganzhou helped investigate, and they generally pointed to several private psychiatric hospitals and orphanages in the Tianshan area. However, we are still investigating these leads.
Our investigation into Yagelangha hasn’t yielded much; we only found related records from tourism bureaus. It seems to be a fairly ethnic festival. Of course, we can’t rule out that someone is using the form of the festival to push other agendas. Since the investigation here is getting intense, I rushed back to help."
Xu Dayuan smiled again, seeing Mr. Zhao outside the dining hall signaling with two fingers. He nodded and said:
"Indeed, we’re swamped here. If you hadn’t come back today, I would’ve had to call to rush you. Many of our findings have already gone beyond our control. We need the assistance of multiple departments for this investigation. Why don’t you head to the conference room first, and we will join you in about fifteen minutes after we finish eating?"
The two were taken aback by Xu Dayuan’s sudden change but promptly nodded their heads in agreement and headed to the conference room upstairs.
Upon reaching the cafeteria, the group found a corner and quickly finished their breakfast. Everyone tacitly refrained from discussing too much, as Mr. Qu had already formed a group and shared a detailed update, along with screenshots.
Then Mr. Hu was forcibly added to the group, and upon joining, he sent several question marks. Xu Dayuan couldn’t help but laugh and gave Mr. Qu a thumbs up.
"You’re ruthless, kid!"
As he spoke, he typed a message.
"Mr. Hu, after we returned from Zhou Xiaozhou’s home with the evidence this morning, we noticed that the police on guard at the Ganzhou City Bureau had changed. They’re not the ones we arranged yesterday. Xing Shusheng and Huang Yubin were both present, and Huang Yubin’s reaction is completely different from when we first came to Ganzhou. I don’t know if it’s related to our investigation.
Also, regarding the special task force members from the department you mentioned, when will they arrive? If they come, we will no longer intervene, as after all, the interrogation of Bai Qishan hasn’t yielded any results, and the nature of the case has completely changed now. It requires the National Security Department to conduct an internal investigation.
We here are unable to find out who was Zhou Xiangrong’s superior back then, as well as the real identity of An Liwei, and the whereabouts of that An Lishuai. As for Bai Qishan’s boss, Hyena, and that assassin, I suspect they are in Ganzhou, or even within the Ganzhou City Bureau. They also need to be captured by the special task force."
Mr. Hu: "I’ve already reported it since I received your call. The information I have is that a special investigation team has been formed by two commissions, and they have already set out. They are expected to arrive in about two hours. We also have coordinated actions here, but I can’t disclose the specific plans. Stay alert and watch out for desperate moves."
After reading the message, everyone put away their phones. Xu Dayuan and his colleagues headed out first, while Zhou Ning cleaned up the trash on the table. Mr. Qu, being closer, quickly handed over the trash bin, and they tidied up together as Zhou Ning bowed his head.
"Mr. Qu, set up one of those signal jamming devices here. I remember you created one before. Having a one-touch jamming ability on demand would be useful, especially now since there are too many people here, and all the important physical and human evidence is present. Just in case..."
"Director Zhou, I understand, don’t worry. I’ve placed several control terminals in the main building and the smaller building, and even the cafeteria and those dilapidated small storage rooms have them. If anything arises, I can cut it off in one second."
Zhou Ning nodded, feeling slightly less anxious.
The results of the interrogation in Qindao, Mr. Hu only mentioned them while in the car to Xu Dayuan. If those two hadn’t confessed anything, they wouldn’t have talked for so long, with Xu Dayuan constantly affirming. Surely he wanted to prevent the conversation from leaking, but what exactly did they find out?
Zhou Ning was very curious, especially thinking of the man with the triangular eyes, hooked nose, thin lips, and a face full of pockmarks, between 182-184 cm tall and weighing around 110 pounds. This sense of familiarity was puzzling to Zhou Ning.
While thinking, Zhou Ning followed Xu Dayuan into the north gate of the main building, where two young men were coming towards them, grabbing each other’s arms. They hurriedly greeted Zhou Ning and his group.
"Boss, have you had lunch? Do we have any tasks coming up?"
Zhou Ning gestured dismissively.
"The work that needed to be done here is finished. Now we wait for the report from Mrs. Cui. Also, the samples collected yesterday, were they sent to the province and Qindao?"
Zou Jialong and Pang Tianhang nodded their heads, with Pang Tianhang speaking first.
"The courier company I contacted—this morning I checked the delivery info; both have been dispatched, one will arrive this morning, and the other should reach Qindao by afternoon."
Zhou Ning grunted.
"You both come upstairs with us then; we’ll listen in on the special case meeting."
The two hurried upstairs, while Zhou Ning slowed down his pace. From the rear, Zou Jialong and Pang Tianhang, both slender and tall young men, seemed even more similar when seen from the back or side.
He quickly took out his tablet, which had the surveillance screenshots taken by Mr. Qu yesterday, and the apprehension photos sent to Xu Dayuan the night before. Seeing Zhou Ning’s actions, Mr. Zhao came from behind and raised his hand to block Zhou Ning’s phone screen.
"Don’t look at it here; let’s go over there."
After speaking, he dragged Zhou Ning around the corner on the second floor and directly into the observation room. Fang Mu saw this from behind and hurriedly caught up, pulling on Xu Dayuan’s arm and whispering something to him. Xu Dayuan instructed Fang Mu to lead their team inside to join Liu Yufei, and the meeting would wait until his arrival.
Xu Dayuan quickly joined Zhou Ning in the room where Zhou Ning was comparing data. When Xu Dayuan entered, Zhou Ning lifted the tablet to show him.
"This is the apprehended Zhu Xingmin from yesterday, and the images of last night’s meal delivery driver. These two are strikingly similar: 182-184 cm tall, thin, with triangular eyes, high cheekbones, hooked noses, thin lips, and a face full of pockmarks. The only difference between them might be a limp.
Based on our analysis, the assassin who targeted me has a leg issue and is left-handed, matching the characteristics of the delivery driver in the footage. In my memory, both these images are very close to the appearance of Huangmao.
The only difference is that Huangmao is even thinner, and I didn’t see whether he had a limp because he rushed into the room behind Wang Guanli. He even fell down once, and he kept bending down to pull at Wang Guanli while escaping."
Mr. Zhao’s eyes widened in shock as Zhou Ning spoke hurriedly and chaotically, but he understood.
"You’re saying, this assassin is likely related to the now apprehended Zhu Xingmin, possibly even his brother, and the Huangmao who broke into your house back then could be this assassin?"
