Animal Detective

Chapter 570: Chapter 472: Digging His Own Grave

Qian Feng drove, taking Shen Xin and Jiang Wengang straight to Luopei.

Jiang Wengang comforted him, "Shen Xin, don’t panic. This is exactly the time when you need to be calm. Think about it—he didn’t harm Captain Wang and the others, which means he understands the consequences."

"But he still took the risk of kidnapping Xiaoding, which shows he has demands. That’s why I think Xiaoding’s life shouldn’t be in danger."

"And don’t blame yourself. No one could have expected something like this to happen."

He had never worked in Dian Nan, but he knew Mianguang had always been a chaotic place.

But a police station!

Shen Xin remained silent. He picked up his phone and once again dialed the number Fan Liping had left behind.

It still wouldn’t connect.

The same went for Ding Yuwei’s phone.

About ten minutes after they left, Guan Baofeng sent a message.

It was the phone number of the officer with the thin mustache.

He tried calling it, but that phone was turned off, too.

Meanwhile, far away in China, Liu Baoquan had already received the news.

His initial thought was much the same as Jiang Wengang’s.

’A police station,’ he thought.

Liu Baoquan knew the Mianguang police weren’t exactly a formidable force.

Especially in the provinces, where the situation was complex and their control was tenuous.

But for a dozen or so thugs to just storm a police station in broad daylight and abduct someone... it sounded like something out of a fairy tale.

"Chunze, it’s only been half an hour since the incident. Head straight to Dehong. Tell them to get ready, then take your people across."

After all, it was another country. They had no choice but to trust in the local authorities’ abilities.

But now, it was clear that some people were just incompetent. Some things, you had to do yourself.

"Didn’t Shen Xin suggest using police dogs for tracking? That’s a viable option. We should try it."

"I’ll report this to the Ministry, contact their police headquarters, and apply pressure to make them cooperate with our operation."

Liu Baoquan rapidly issued his orders.

Only after Lu Chunze had left did he pick up the phone to contact the Ministry.

Inside, however, his thoughts were in turmoil.

’Fan Liping has truly sealed his own fate this time.’

They had discussed how to handle Fan Liping on many occasions.

There were two options. The first was for him to remain in the country.

If so, there was only one possible outcome: certain death.

But they had to consider the circumstances.

He was the son of a hero.

In years past, he had voluntarily become an informant, cooperating with them to dismantle numerous drug trafficking rings.

He had rendered meritorious service.

Otherwise, when he’d run into trouble and was being hunted down, they wouldn’t have organized a rescue mission for him.

So they gave him a chance at life by handing him over to the authorities in Mianguang.

In truth, when they chose to hand him over to Mianguang, they had already considered the possibility that he wouldn’t quietly serve his sentence.

The man had been operating in Mianguang for years; he was bound to have connections.

With the chaos and corruption rampant in Mianguang’s prisons, could he really be expected to serve a twenty-year sentence?

So, in the end, it was out of consideration for his past contributions that they gave him a way out.

But they never imagined he would be so audacious as to choose this path to his own destruction.

’We gave you a chance, and you threw it away. Now, we have no choice but to see you off.’

With that, Lu Chunze departed immediately.

As soon as he left the provincial headquarters, he made a call to the Spring City Special Police Detachment.

Spring City was home to a highly decorated special police assault unit known as the Cloud Fox team.

It was a national-level professional special police unit that had repeatedly distinguished itself in battle, carrying out countless anti-narcotics missions.

Lu Chunze planned to take this team to Mianguang for the rescue operation.

His next call was to Wan Xiaoyang, to arrange the necessary preparations for crossing the border.

He was well aware that the key was to pinpoint Fan Liping’s location.

Shen Xin’s idea of using police dogs was one possible solution.

Since little time had passed, there was a good chance of a successful track.

He therefore requested that Wan Xiaoyang contact the people in Shu Kang to bring Celestial Skill.

And Shen Xin’s birds, too.

After a moment’s hesitation, he also told Wan Xiaoyang that he could inform Pan Wenhai about the situation.

In fact, he should have Pan Wenhai bring them himself.

If it came down to a hostage situation that required negotiation, they could use Pan Wenhai—the only "family" Fan Liping had left in the world.

After hanging up, Lu Chunze dialed the provincial department’s technical division.

He told them to get ready.

Once they got the go-ahead from the other side, they were to immediately begin tracking and locating Fan Liping’s communications.

The Mianguang authorities surely had this kind of technology, but after an incident like this, Lu Chunze no longer dared to trust them. It was better to handle it themselves.

In reality, Wan Xiaoyang had already taken the initiative to inform Pan Wenhai of the situation.

Guan Baofeng had already discussed it with him over the phone.

Telling Pan Wenhai was cruel, but keeping it from him was not an option.

If it came down to a hostage crisis, they could play the emotional card of using Pan Wenhai.

Besides, if they didn’t tell him now, he would find out sooner or later anyway.

It was better to just tell him now and have him on standby.

When they finally got through to Fan Liping, they could have Pan Wenhai try to talk him down.

When the call came, Pan Wenhai was still on duty in Shu Kang, explaining to a young woman from the logistics department how to care for Teddy and the others.

"It’s just for one day, Old Pan. Don’t you worry, I’ll take good care of them," the young woman said, trying to get on his good side as she carefully used a pair of tweezers to feed a mealworm to Yifan.

Pan Wenhai had taken the next day off.

He was planning a trip to Mengle to visit the grave of his old squad leader, Fan Xiaochuan. He wanted to pay his respects and tell him the good news that Fan Liping was still alive.

Mengle was far away; the round trip would take a full day.

Even though Fan Liping had been handed over to Mianguang to serve a prison sentence, in Pan Wenhai’s eyes, that was the best possible outcome.

Remaining in the country would have meant a death sentence.

A person must pay the price for their actions, so there was nothing wrong with going to prison.

And then, Pan Wenhai received the call from Wan Xiaoyang.

He felt as if he had been struck by lightning.

Wan Xiaoyang had to shout his name several times before Pan Wenhai snapped out of it, stammering, "Celes... Celestial Skill, right? Okay, I... I’ll bring him over now. Oh, and Teddy and the others. Right. I understand."

"Director Wan, I’m fine."

Pan Wenhai hung up the phone. His vision swam, and he subconsciously grabbed his desk to keep from falling.

A colleague nearby was startled and rushed to ask what was wrong.

"It’s nothing."

Pan Wenhai waved a hand and blinked hard, and the roaring in his head began to subside.

But only he knew the turmoil churning inside him.

’Just yesterday, everything was fine. He promised so sincerely that he would serve his time and truly repent.’

’And now?’

At that moment, all Pan Wenhai wanted was to ask Fan Liping why he had done it.

With his mind in a complete mess, he asked a colleague to help him load the cages into a car, and he departed at once.

By the time he reached the city bureau, night had fallen.

「Meanwhile, in Mianguang.」

Shen Xin was still on the road. He still couldn’t get through to the number Fan Liping had left.

During the drive, Guan Baofeng provided some updates.

For instance, the authorities in Mianguang had already traced the number. It belonged to an overseas company that provided global virtual number services.

It was a virtual number, which meant it would be nearly impossible to glean any useful information from it quickly.

At the same time, the operation to capture Angdu had concluded.

Song Zhi’s men had captured Angdu, but not without paying a heavy price.

Angdu had been shot and was on his way to the hospital.

His so-called strategist, Wu Wei, had also been captured alive.

The Mianguang police didn’t mess around. After a severe beating, Wu Wei confessed that after their transport operation had gone south the day before yesterday, they too had been desperately trying to gather information.

As for Fan Liping, Wu Wei described him as having always been loyal and exceptionally capable.

Now that their village stronghold had been raided, he even suspected Fan Liping of betraying them.

They also asked about the white elephant, but surprisingly, Wu Wei knew nothing about it; he had never heard Fan Liping mention it.

In any case, this was good news. Their original mission in Mianguang could be considered complete.

But there was bad news as well.

Wang Feng had failed to catch up to Fan Liping. Coordinated by Song Zhi, police from two northern districts had been dispatched to set up roadblocks on all major routes.

But they hadn’t intercepted him.

Fan Liping and his group had vanished.

This was the worst possible news.

Now, all they could do was wait until they could get through on that call to find out what Fan Liping was planning.

Shen Xin had been pondering that very question the entire drive. He had his suspicions, but only a phone call could confirm them.

At that moment, Fan Liping and his entourage arrived in a dilapidated small town.

Throughout the journey, Ding Yuwei hadn’t resisted. Instead, she silently memorized their route.

Upon arriving in the town, she continued to silently observe every visible detail.

The only problem was that she couldn’t read the Mianguang script, so she had no idea where they were.

"No need to look. This is Mo Mao. Not that you’d know where that is," Fan Liping said, completely unconcerned.

The convoy twisted and turned before finally arriving at a sawmill on the outskirts of town.

Judging by the workers’ attitude toward Fan Liping, the place seemed to be his business.

In the deepest part of the complex stood a small, two-story building.

As they approached, the trumpeting of an elephant echoed from a large, warehouse-like structure nearby.

Ding Yuwei started, her mind immediately jumping to the white elephant.

Just before Fan Liping had made his move, she had been asking about that very elephant.

’So he was lying,’ she thought. ’The white elephant is here with him.’

Fan Liping gave a few instructions to his men, then dragged Ding Yuwei upstairs.

It was a fairly spacious office.

Once inside, Fan Liping tossed Ding Yuwei onto a sofa before turning to pray.

He was worshiping a golden Buddha statue.

Ding Yuwei sat quietly, her eyes scanning every object in the room as she tried to memorize any useful details.

Fan Liping paid her no mind.

A short while later, someone brought in dinner.

Fan Liping casually unlocked her handcuffs, seemingly unafraid that she would try to resist.

And Ding Yuwei wasn’t foolish enough to try.

The place was swarming with Fan Liping’s men; her chances of escape were practically nil.

As for the food. She would eat. If she didn’t, how would she have the strength to escape later?

"Not bad. You’ve got strong nerves," Fan Liping remarked with a hint of praise.

He carried his own meal box to the desk, opened his laptop, and spoke as he ate. "Officer Ding, you’re not my target. Just cooperate, and when this is over, you can walk away safely. I’m a man of my word."

Ding Yuwei didn’t respond, focusing only on her food.

Fan Liping connected to a VPN and started searching online for keywords like "Shen Xin" and "Nanjiang."

On the way there, he had gone through Ding Yuwei’s phone and learned she was from Nanjiang.

And he got a hit.

The top result was a news report about Shen Xin giving an interview after cracking a poisoning case.

"Criminal investigation?"

Fan Liping was taken aback.

The report stated that Shen Xin was the team leader of the Cold Case Office in the Nanjiang City Criminal Investigation Detachment.

’So why would a criminal detective travel all the way to Dian Nan to get involved in drug enforcement?’

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