"Achoo!" Su Xia sneezed hard, touched his nose, and a bad feeling suddenly surged in his heart.
"What's wrong! We're about to take action, don't tell me you've caught a cold!" Ping An asked from the side.
At this moment, Su Xia was making his final preparations before the action, completely unaware that his daughter had recklessly entered the vegetable market.
"I have a bad feeling, alas, Ping An, if anything happens to me, my precious daughter will be entrusted to you! You know, I have no siblings, and your sister-in-law isn't very foresighted..." Su Xia suddenly said.
"Pui pui pui! Such bad luck! Don't worry, if you sacrifice yourself, I'll raise your daughter as my wife! How about that, a loli in development! Are you angry? Are you scared to die!" Ping An teased.
"Heh, Ping An, you're 32 this year, right? If you were ten years younger, I'd really be willing to marry my daughter to you..." Su Xia said with a laugh, feeling no threat at all.
"Alright, alright, we're getting mixed up with generations! How about this, I promise you, if anything unexpected happens to you, I'll take Su Tang as my disciple! School, work, marriage, dowry, I'll cover it all!" Ping An patted his chest.
"Then it's settled! The girl is entrusted to you!" Su Xia quickly finalized the deal.
"No problem, no problem! I've already raised An An, I don't mind one more!" Ping An patted Su Xia's back, signaling him to depart.
Midnight, outside the vegetable market.
"Now, adjust the earphones and microphones!"
"Visibility is poor at night, the video feed from the cameras is too blurry, but just in case, keep it on. Ke Qing, you keep an eye on the monitors."
"Brothers and sisters, and uncles! We are not obligated to get involved in this matter. Legally, this operation is not permitted. I must inform you that you may be held accountable later! Secondly, tonight's operation is indeed dangerous. If anyone encounters danger, they can run away to protect themselves. Lastly, if anyone has any objections mid-way, they can call the police and withdraw from the operation. I will not resent it." Before the operation, Ping An looked at the three people in front of him, feeling a bit uneasy. He then remembered Su Xia's entrustment just now, and felt even more so. One was Fei Ke Qing, who was like a brother, always loyal to him. One was Gao Da, a security guard who still bore injuries and had always been steadfast. One was a captain of the criminal police who had turned over a new leaf for justice. These people, who met by chance, he had no right to demand anything from them.
"Let's do it, let's do it! If you're scared, stop blabbering!"
"When you tricked me into going undercover and got chased by black car drivers back then, you weren't this kind!"
"I'm a police officer! Even if I go bad, I'll still be..."
"Operation!" Ping An gritted his teeth and gave the order!
Gao Da was the first to quietly get out of the car, and in the darkness, he entered through the half-closed main gate of the vegetable market. Five minutes later, his voice came through the walkie-talkie – "It's safe, come on!"
Su Xia and Ping An got out of the car one after another, also in the darkness, and entered the vegetable market.
At this time, most of the shops in the vegetable market were closed, and only a few were unloading goods under the cover of night. The market aisles were empty. Ping An and Su Xia quickly passed through and saw Gao Da squatting by the roadside when they reached the warehouse.
"The main gate of the warehouse is locked! Let's climb over! There's a security room at the entrance, I'm afraid there might be guards!" Gao Da whispered.
In the darkness, three figures struggled to climb over the warehouse iron gate. Gao Da swore that there was no one in the security room, otherwise, the "uh-huh" sounds made by Ping An while exerting himself to climb the gate would have been enough to wake them up.
He pushed the door of the security room and found that it was locked from the outside, confirming that the guards were indeed absent.
"Maybe they went out for dinner. I'll stay here. If any guards come back, I'll tell you two. You two go ahead. I checked this afternoon, there are no surveillance cameras in the warehouse!" Gao Da stepped onto a stool outside the security room and nimbly climbed onto the roof. It had to be said that this was a good vantage point for surveillance, offering a direct view of the flour warehouse's main entrance and also allowing him to monitor the security situation nearby.
"Old Su, let's go!" Ping An glanced at Gao Da, who was as agile as a night cat, and confidently greeted Su Xia before heading towards the flour warehouse.
Two minutes later, Gao Da's voice came through the walkie-talkie again – "I see the main door of the flour warehouse is open, about half a meter wide. Inside, near the entrance, there are three or four people, uh, either playing mahjong or poker."
Since there were people at the main entrance, they decided to check the back. Fortunately, the warehouse was very large, with many places to operate. This was a standardized large warehouse, designed to have four doors, but for anti-theft purposes, only one door was usually opened, with the others securely locked.
In the darkness, Su Xia and Ping An ran half a circle along the road outside the warehouse and reached the back door. A large lock hung on the bolt of the back door. However, for Su Xia, this was a piece of cake.
"Clink!" Su Xia held a piece of wire and, without much effort, the large lock was immediately opened.
Quietly removing the giant lock, Ping An slowly opened the heavy iron door, and then they both entered one after another.
Inside the warehouse, a foul smell almost suffocated the two of them. This was not the aroma of flour, but a mixture that smelled like some kind of chemical.
"Hey, this doesn't smell like flour, nor does it smell like drugs?" Su Xia sniffed carefully and whispered to Ping An, "There's a smell of glycerin too! What are they planning to do?"
Before entering the warehouse, Su Xia and Ping An had guessed that there would be a lot of things inside. However, upon entering, they found that there was only a workbench near the front entrance, and then, the entire warehouse was empty except for a stack of empty flour sacks near the back door.
"Gao Min and his gang are risking danger for this pile of empty flour sacks?" Su Xia quietly asked Ping An.
Ping An looked at the stacked flour sacks, no more than 200 in total. The trademark on the sacks was not Yan Fei, but the well-known flour brand in Hechuan, "Dahe Brand"! Apart from that, there was nothing strange.
"These scoundrels, they even dare to make fake flour!" Su Xia's family were loyal customers of "Dahe" flour. Seeing someone counterfeiting, in his anger, he took out a marker and wrote "Fake" on the bottom of the stacked flour bags.
While Su Xia was venting, Ping An carefully observed their surroundings. The warehouse was empty, with no place to hide. After Su Xia had finished his outburst, the two of them moved slowly along the warehouse wall. They could only move halfway before they had to stop, because any further and they would be discovered.
"Bad luck! Let's withdraw!" Su Xia, who was in front, whispered to Ping An, seeing their shadows about to appear on the warehouse floor. Before Ping An could respond, the lights in the entire warehouse suddenly turned on!
"Oh my, oh my, I just noticed you two arrived a while ago, please excuse my poor reception!" Gao Min walked in from the front door with arrogant steps, followed by seven or eight burly men who charged forward menacingly.
"Swish!" A steel ball hit one of the burly men in the face. The man couldn't bear the pain and crouched on the ground, rubbing his eyes.
Ping An put down his slingshot, expertly took out his bow and arrow from behind, nocked a long arrow, aimed at Gao Min, and shouted loudly, "Come on, let's catch all of you!"
At the same time, Su Xia had already taken out two stun guns and aimed them in Gao Min's direction, while softly speaking into the walkie-talkie, "Prepare to retreat! Be ready for backup!"
"Alright, alright, I have a gun. What era is this, still playing with bows and arrows?" Gao Min took out a pistol from behind. "And don't bother calling for backup, this warehouse has a jammer. Phones, walkie-talkies, all useless!"
"A lousy gun scares me! Bastard, don't forget, I spent half my life as a criminal detective. I've been through gunfights with my bare hands!" Su Xia said fiercely.
"Is that so? How brave! However, your daughter is in my hands, do you still dare to charge?" Gao Min snapped his fingers, and a burly man behind him walked to an inconspicuous cabinet in the corner and forcefully pulled off the cloth covering it. Under the cloth was a cage, and faintly, two people could be seen inside.
The burly man who uncovered the cloth took out a flashlight and shone it into the cage. Inside were Su Tang and Liu Juan.
"Girl!" Su Xia, who had been calm and collected, lost all composure the moment he saw his daughter and rushed towards the iron cage.
"Bang!" Su Xia was kicked back by Gao Min.
"What do you think you're doing!" Su Xia roared.
"I don't know what I'm doing!" Gao Min said. "Ping An, say something! Do you know what I'm doing?"
Since Su Tang and Liu Juan appeared, Ping An's heart had been filled with dread. While Su Xia was talking, he quickly tried to find a solution.
Currently, they were outnumbered. Even without hostages, they didn't know if they could get out safely. Now, with Su Tang captured, it was a death blow to Su Xia!
What to do? What to do?
"Let's talk, what's there that can't be discussed!" Ping An put down his bow and arrow.
"Talk about what? There's nothing to talk about!" Gao Min seemed very wary of talking to Ping An. As soon as he heard Ping An wanted to talk, his emotions flared up.
"Hey! Isn't this sister-in-law? Why are you locked up too!" Ping An looked at the iron cage and pointed at Liu Juan, "Sister-in-law, why did my brother lock you up!"
"Shut up! You slut, you still dare to secretly let people go, you've ruined my important plans several times!" Gao Min pointed his gun at Liu Juan's head and said, "Bitch, why am I keeping you? Hurry up and die and reincarnate!"
"Hey, hey, brother, I've eaten sister-in-law's noodles before, why be like this? It's just a couple! Sister-in-law acting like that, wasn't it what you wanted!" Ping An observed that Gao Min's emotions were getting agitated and continued to provoke him with words, "Aren't you wearing the cuckold's hat yourself?"
"Couple! What couple? She's just a dog I picked up, Chen Nairong! That little bastard Niu Daixing! Heh heh, brother Ping An, if you're interested, you can try. Right here, let's see, hahahaha!" Gao Min said.
"You are truly a beast!" Ping An couldn't hold back anymore and cursed.
"Don't blame me. If she hadn't called the police, our business would have been shut down? If she hadn't opened her mouth, the money left by Chen Nairong would have been turned in? If she hadn't reminded me, how would that old bastard Niu Jian have known? Tonight, we finally caught a little girl, and this bitch dared to secretly let her go, almost costing me my most valuable bargaining chip!" Gao Min's anger grew. "Bitch, you're making me so angry, bring her out!"
The burly subordinate heard this and immediately moved to drag Liu Juan out. At this moment, Liu Juan's hands were tied behind her back, and her mouth was taped. Perhaps she had already resigned herself to death and closed her eyes, offering no resistance.
"Bang! Bang!" Gao Min, seemingly unprepared, raised his hand and fired two shots into Liu Juan's back. After the gunshots, Liu Juan slumped to the ground, her legs convulsed for a moment, and then she stopped moving.
"Drag her out and douse her with gasoline, then burn her!" Gao Min said coldly.
In front of Ping An and Su Xia, Gao Min shot Liu Juan to death like this. Watching Liu Juan's body being dragged away by the burly men, leaving a trail of blood, Su Xia's face turned pale.
"Pull that girl out!" Gao Min twisted his neck and said arrogantly.
"Gao Min! Listen to me, I'll do whatever you want! Let my daughter go! The child is innocent!" Su Xia's legs trembled, and he was on the verge of kneeling.
Su Tang, in the cage, also had her hands tied, but her hands were tied in front, and her mouth was taped. Just now, the scene of Liu Juan's murder had almost scared her to death. She was dragged out like a chicken by the burly men.
"Bring the person here!" Gao Min raised his gun and gestured for the burly men to escort Su Tang to him, then pressed the gun firmly against Su Tang's head.
"State your conditions! I'll agree to everything!" Su Xia put down his stun gun, his whole body trembling violently, and his breathing became heavy.
"How could this happen?" Ping An was also in a predicament. Everything had happened too quickly, making it impossible to react, just like the previous cases, fierce and unpredictable.
"Su Xia, once you're on our ship, do you think you can get off? You're an old criminal detective, aren't you? Isn't Hao Gang also one? From the moment you followed him to eat fish, he knew that old man collecting junk was not right! And you still dared to impersonate Fei Ke Qing's father-in-law's security guard? I just sent a photo to Hao Gang for identification, and he knew what was going on! If it weren't for my first love, do you think I would have let that old man leave alive?"
Exposed! Failed! It turned out they had seen through everything long ago! Ping An's heart sank into despair. He had thought the task force was so formidable, but he never expected their first mission to be so riddled with flaws.
"How did you catch Su Tang?" Ping An suddenly thought of a question and instinctively asked.
"I didn't catch her! This child came to the warehouse to look for someone herself!" Gao Min put on an innocent expression that was disgustingly fake.
"What?" Su Xia and Ping An couldn't believe it.
"Be good, tell your dad yourself why you came here. Uncle also really wants to know! Hahahaha!" Gao Min tore off Su Tang's mouth tape.
"Dad, run! They're making bombs! Don't worry about me!" Su Tang yelled hysterically.
"Bang!" Gao Min slapped Su Tang across the face.
"What are you saying! Say what you should say!" Gao Min roared.
"Damn you, don't touch my daughter!" Su Xia's face turned red, and he half-crawled on the ground, pounding the floor with his fists.
"Su Tang! Su Tang! Look at me, I'm your Uncle Ping An. Tell me, how did you get here!" Ping An half-crouched down, looking into Su Tang's eyes. "Good child, don't be afraid, don't worry, I will definitely save you!"
"Mr. Ke! This is all his scheme! You've all been tricked by him!" Su Tang looked at Gao Min helplessly, then at her father, tears slowly falling from her eyes, but she still said bravely, "Uncle Ping An, they don't know, but you know! Mr. Ke! Mr. Ke!"
Mr. Ke! These three words struck Ping An like lightning. He never imagined that the person he had been tracking would appear! He had always suspected that this bunch of messy cases were related to him, and now it turned out to be true! At this moment, his surprise was no less than the predicament he was in! Ping An was speechless for a moment, not knowing what to say.
"What Mr. Ke! The famous detective Conan from Japan?" Gao Min seemed to have never heard the name, raised his pistol, and said, "I'm asking how you got here! Not who you've met!"
"Gao Min, don't make it difficult for this child. Let's talk! Why hurt each other! We've probably been manipulated by someone! Ping An said, seeing the situation spiraling out of control. "Gao Min, think about it, why am I involved? Have I been a threat to you all along? Why are you targeting me! I never intended to cause trouble! Why did it turn out this way! Because of that Mr. Ke's calculations! If this continues, we will inevitably end up in a lose-lose situation! Damn it, use your brain! How about I surrender, I'll be your subordinate, I have a lot of social connections! I'll personally help you transport drugs! What do you say? If we join forces, no one in Hechuan City can defeat us..."
"Brother Min!" Just as Gao Min was listening intently and the situation seemed to be easing, a burly man came from outside the door and whispered a few words to him, seemingly reporting on the burning of Liu Juan.
"There's no time! You're a reporter, you really can talk a lot! Now we need to do serious business!" Gao Min suddenly raised his gun again and aimed it at Su Tang's head.
"Gao Min!" Su Xia screamed.
"You two listen, I'll trade Su Xia's life for this girl's life!" Gao Min said.
"I'll give it to you, kill me!" Su Xia crawled a few steps forward, looking at his daughter in terror.
"Don't interrupt! I haven't finished speaking, listen carefully. I want you, Ping An, to shoot Su Xia yourself. How about it? Once Su Xia is dead, the girl stays, and we'll leave immediately!" Gao Min said arrogantly, shaking his pistol.
"What?" Ping An was stunned. Why should he kill Su Xia?
"Shoot Su Xia dead, and I'll let the person go immediately! Didn't you hear clearly!" Gao Min roared.
"I can't do it!" Ping An looked at Su Xia, who was crawling forward and begging, and shouted loudly.
"Bang!" A gunshot rang out without warning.
"Ah!" Su Tang cried out in pain!
"No, no!" Su Xia knelt on the ground, flailing his hands, tears streaming from his eyes.
Gao Min's shot grazed Su Tang's calf. The bullet cut a short bloody mark on her pants.
"Shoot or not! The next shot will be at her face! Also, don't even think about it. With your archery skills, before you can shoot me dead, I'll kill this girl. I'll count to three!" Gao Min's face contorted, and he cunningly hid behind Su Tang.
In the dark warehouse, although the straight-line distance was less than ten meters, facing his old friend's daughter, Ping An had no confidence in shooting Gao Min to death with one arrow. If he missed or didn't kill him, it would be dangerous. Moreover, what if this arrow didn't hit Gao Min...
"Su Xia..." After quickly assessing his chances of success in his mind, Ping An called out softly. Before he could speak, he was interrupted!
"Kill me! Hurry up!" Su Xia suddenly turned around, faced Ping An, tore open his shirt as if he had gone mad, exposing his chest.
"1!" Gao Min began to count!
"Damn it, hurry up! Ping An! Do you want to watch Su Tang die?" Su Xia crawled a step towards Ping An and shouted.
In a moment of haste, Ping An's vision was filled with a black fog. He truly couldn't comprehend how the situation had escalated to this point. Su Xia's shouts echoed in his ears. He instinctively wanted to raise his bow, but his hands wouldn't obey him.
"2!" Gao Min raised his pistol and slowly pressed it against Su Tang's face. The scorching hot barrel made Su Tang close her eyes in pain.
"Ping An! Please, please, please, please, please..." Su Xia kept shouting, looking into Ping An's eyes.
He saw the tears in his eyes.
He saw the hatred in his eyes.
"Please, help me, really..." The tear-filled eyes, sincere and innocent, a gentle plea, a slow shake of the head. The fear of death swept through the entire warehouse at this moment, leaving only the love of a parent shining a faint light in the darkness.
He understood his meaning.
This parting, would be forever.
Draw bow! Nock arrow! String pulled to full moon!
Ping An had shot countless arrows in his life, but only this one, he wished he would miss!
Although the distance was less than two meters, Ping An felt he couldn't aim accurately.
His trembling hand tightly gripped the thin string.
Tears blurred his vision, making it impossible to see the person in front of him.
"Ah—" suppressed and desperate, this became the last straw that broke Ping An.
He let out a long roar and then collapsed to his knees.
An unfulfilled ambition leads to an early death, making heroes weep!
Only this long roar, helpless, desperate.
"3!"
After the long roar, the death knell sound finally came.
Ping An straightened and clenched his teeth, but he just couldn't release the arrow.
At the moment the "3" sound was uttered, Su Xia suddenly lunged at Ping An. In an instant, Ping An stared blankly at Su Xia's determined and calm eyes, and then found that the arrow nocked on the string had suddenly been snatched away.
The string twanged, the arrow had not been fired, but it had hit the target.
With a bizarre technique, Su Xia snatched the long arrow and stabbed it into his own throat, then knelt directly in front of Ping An.
Fifteen years ago, a man who sought to clear his innocent name, used this eerily familiar scene to vindicate himself.
Fifteen years later, as warm blood splattered onto Ping An's face, it felt like a scorching burn, slowly eroding the rational adherence in his heart.
"Dad!" Su Tang's cry was like a bullet piercing Ping An's heart.
He tightened his grip on the last shred of reason, holding his breath.
"Let her go!" Ping An roared.
"Okay, okay, okay! We'll leave now!" Gao Min, his scheme successful, still hid behind Su Tang and didn't come out. He slowly retreated to the warehouse door. Several burly men shouldered the flour sacks placed at the back door of the warehouse and quickly exited. Gao Min waited until his subordinates had all left, then pushed Su Tang and disappeared into the night.
Ping An watched Su Tang escape unharmed, his body went limp, and he lowered his head. His lowered head bumped into another person's head, and a long arrow shaft gently stroked his face, as if whispering, as if bidding farewell to everything.
...
"You are reporter Ping An? I've heard of you. My name is Su Xia. I'm the poorest deputy section chief in all districts of Hechuan City."
"Can't help it, I'm poor at home. To pay for my daughter's dance lessons, I almost quit smoking. Don't laugh at me, I smoke 6 yuan Red River cigarettes when no one's around!"
"I'm truly sorry, I've invited you to dinner several times, but it's not that I don't have time, it's just that I really don't have money."
"After I send my girl off, I'll take your sister-in-law and go on a trip. I've wronged her my whole life."
"Ping An, I probably won't be able to pay back that 100,000 yuan for a while. You're a bit old, why not be my son-in-law? You wouldn't have to pay the money back... Alas, don't joke, I'm serious. Someone like you who relies on his brain, just a few keystrokes and money comes in. You just don't want to do business, otherwise, with your connections, what business would Chen Nairong have?"
"Alas, Ping An, if anything happens to me, my precious daughter will be entrusted to you! You know, I have no siblings, and your sister-in-law isn't very foresighted..."
Who is the voice I hear
Like a whimpering little river in a dream
Whose footsteps do I see fading away
Blocking the sad eyes of farewell
What I don't understand is why you are willing
To let the dust carve your appearance
As if in a world long forgotten
Once I had your name and my voice