Visiting a public cemetery at midnight is definitely not a good idea.
But this night, Ping An arrived.
After parking his motorcycle in an inconspicuous spot in Nanzhuang, Ping An checked his phone. It was already 5 AM. Whether it was because winter was approaching and the days were shorter, or because the rain that had been falling all night hadn't stopped, it was still dark.
Nanzhuang was not large. It would be impossible to hide a group of people without the local residents knowing.
Entering the village, Ping An first looked for a breakfast stall with lights on.
“Master, one bowl of black rice porridge and two sweet fried dough sticks.” The rural breakfast stall was simple and messy. As the only customer, Ping An casually found a relatively clean spot and sat down. He rubbed his hands and said to the master who was heating the oil.
“City person? What are you doing here so early?” The master nimbly served a bowl of black rice porridge, telling Ping An to have some first while he went to fry the dough sticks.
“Looking at a piece of land!” Ping An slurped the rice porridge, recalling the story he had prepared, and started chatting with the master.
“For your own family?” the master asked.
“Yes, I don’t know the current prices.” Ping An pretended to be a guest gathering information.
“How else can they be? In short, not cheap.” The master finished frying the first batch of dough sticks, took out two, placed them on a plate, and served them.
“Talking about a burial plot, you’re quite early,” the master asked casually.
“If it’s settled, I still have to go to work.” Ping An took a bite of the fried dough stick. Mmm, it was full of caramelized aroma.
“Well, it’s not easy,” the master said.
“Master, is business good at your small shop? Most of your customers are locals, right?” Ping An began to probe.
“Basically, they’re all regulars. Business has been good lately. The fertilizer plant north of the village seems to be reopening. A group of outsiders came recently, and they come to my place for breakfast every day. They’re quite generous with their money,” the master said.
“Oh? Are there no other businesses in the village?” Ping An asked.
“Besides the cemetery company, there’s nothing else,” the master said.
“Master, here’s the money for the meal. Please count it. I need to go now.” Ping An got the answer he wanted and put down five yuan casually, standing up to leave.
“Young man, the cemetery company doesn’t open until 7 AM at the earliest. No one will be there if you go now. It’s raining outside, why don’t you sit in my shop for a while before leaving?” This master was a kind-hearted person.
“No, I’ll look around nearby. I’ll check out that piece of land first!” Ping An picked up the bag containing his bow and pushed aside the door curtain to go out.
Less than 600 meters from the breakfast stall, in a small alley, a large iron gate was tightly closed. At the top of the gate, a tin sign with illegible writing was shivering in the wind and rain. If one looked closely, the five characters “Jianqiang Fertilizer Factory” in regular script could be faintly seen.
Inside a factory building behind the gate, a computer screen was lit. A hand suddenly appeared in front of the screen and clicked on a captured image of the surveillance camera hidden at the main entrance. It then pressed the space bar, freezing the image on the screen.
“You choose not to walk the path to heaven, but to break into hell! Ping An, Ping An, have you watched too many martial arts films, or do you think you’re invincible, to come alone?” A smoke ring was gently blown towards the computer screen. In the light from the screen, Gao Min’s thin face was clearly visible.
In fact, Gao Min had been fully aware of Ping An’s presence since he entered the village. After more than three years of operation, this village had become his base. It turned out that his relationship with Chen Nairong was not that of a subordinate to his boss, but a genuine partnership.
Three years ago, Gao Min and Chen Nairong, having already made a large sum of money, bought this fertilizer plant at a low price. Under the instruction of their boss from the shadows, they prepared to start their own operation to process and produce drugs. Some might ask, why choose this location in such a large city like Hechuan? The answer is quite surprising: because this is not only Hechuan’s largest cemetery area, but also the city’s largest crematorium.
It must be said that Gao Min was a true drug lord. He had his eyes on this land – the mountain cemetery. Except for a few hundred local residents, outsiders rarely came. By taking advantage of the opportunity to contract the fertilizer plant, he easily and at a high price contracted the crematorium of the cemetery area.
Why was the crematorium so important?
“Dead people, after cremation, are just a pile of ashes. If we need to receive goods, we can use urns to bring them back. If we produce drugs, we can use urns to transport them out. This coming and going, how unlucky, how safe,” Gao Min said, holding a wine glass as he sat in Chen Nairong’s office chair under the dazzling lights. Chen Nairong, standing by his side, kept nodding in agreement.
After Chen Nairong got into trouble, Gao Min rounded up Chen Nairong’s hidden personnel and assumed the role of the new boss. On the night of the supermarket explosion, Chen Nairong hid in the cellar to save his life, and was subsequently captured by Gao Min and his men. Currently, Chen Nairong was tied up in a corner of the factory.
“Boss, since Ping An came alone, why don’t we take care of him?” a subordinate stepped forward and said.
“No rush, no rush. I put in so much effort, even exposing this base, all for something interesting that’s about to happen.” Gao Min looked at Ping An on the computer screen with disdain, took a deep puff of his cigarette, and said, “This time, I’ll make Ping An fall into his own trap! He even boasts about being a detective, not even realizing he’s brought someone along – dealing with Su Xia right now is the priority. It’s too unethical. If you extend your hand, how can you pull it back?”
Ping An, who had reached the iron gate, pushed it first and found it was locked from the inside. Looking at the height of the gate, Ping An decided to climb over.
“Report! The target is suspected to be entering a factory building. I’m a bit far away, I can’t clearly see the name of the factory building,” a black car was quietly peeking out at the alley entrance. In the car sat Mei Qian and Gu Dashan.
After parting ways at the hospital, Gu Dashan knew Ping An would not go home obediently. Using the excuse of protecting Ping An from doing anything rash, he persuaded Mei Qian. After leaving only one police officer behind, he quietly followed Ping An here.
At this moment, in the command center of the Hechuan City Public Security Bureau, a crowd of people were seated. Vice Mayor Wang was on-site to supervise, and Xiang Wanfeng was directing Mei Qian and others on the front lines through the intercom. Even Gao Xiaofei, with one swollen cheek, sat in the back row, watching the live footage shot by Gu Dashan on the big screen with mixed feelings.
“The armed police outside the village and the additional personnel from the district bureau have arrived. Now we need you to get more information,” Xiang Wanfeng said into the intercom. “Ping An has gone in, you also need to find a way to get in. The lead cannot be broken! Note, I require the frontline investigators to ensure Ping An’s safety.”
The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind. Ping An, who entered the factory building, had no idea that a group of police officers were following him. In the dark factory building, Ping An dared not turn on his flashlight, so he groped his way towards several factory buildings.
Outside the iron gate, Mei Qian and Gu Dashan had already gotten out of the car and walked to the gate. After carefully looking around, they also climbed in together.
“Ping An is not visible within the factory area. The security room is ahead. Let’s go in and check it out first,” Gu Dashan reported, and then he and Mei Qian entered the security room.
The security room was empty, but a computer screen on the work desk was lit. Mei Qian and Gu Dashan leaned in to look. They found that this computer screen displayed nine surveillance feeds. In the last feed in the lower right corner, a bound man was struggling while sitting in a chair.
“Isn’t that Chen Nairong? He’s really here!” Gu Dashan spoke and was about to go to his rescue.
“Wait!” Mei Qian, who was more meticulous, grabbed Gu Dashan and pointed at the computer screen, saying, “Look, Ping An!”
In the nine-grid surveillance feed, in the middle of the bottom row, Ping An suddenly appeared. In the surveillance screen, Ping An suddenly took out his bow and nocked an arrow. At the same time, in the feed with Chen Nairong, Chen Nairong became more agitated.
“Could these two feeds mean…?” Mei Qian had just asked when Ping An in the screen released the arrow. At the same time, in the feed with Chen Nairong, an arrow shot in from outside the screen and heavily pierced Chen Nairong’s chest.
“Oh no! How could Ping An kill someone!” Mei Qian and Gu Dashan, who had belatedly realized what was happening, quickly ran out of the security room and towards the factory area.
The scene just now had been completely transmitted back to the city bureau by Gu Dashan and Mei Qian’s portable surveillance equipment. This meant that at the same time, Vice Mayor Wang, Xiang Wanfeng, Gao Xiaofei, and others also saw Ping An shooting the arrow and Chen Nairong being hit.
“Whew…” After seeing this sequence of events, the police officers sitting in the hall were all incredulous – how could Ping An have killed Chen Nairong? Anger? Impulsive killing? Oh dear, this was terrible. With such solid evidence, even if Ping An wasn’t sentenced to death, he’d spend his life in prison!
The police officers of all ranks in the city bureau were in an uproar. However, Mei Qian and Gu Dashan in the factory area were quietly approaching the factory. Mei Qian, walking ahead, had mixed feelings. With that video, Ping An was finished. Would he have to be a traitor and arrest Ping An himself?
In a factory corridor, Mei Qian and Gu Dashan discovered Chen Nairong slumped in a chair at the end of the corridor. Gu Dashan squatted down and felt Chen Nairong’s pulse, shaking his head at Mei Qian.
“Report, we have found Chen Nairong. He was bound all over, with an arrow in his chest. He is dead.”
“Where is Ping An?” Xiang Wanfeng’s voice suddenly came through the intercom.
“He’s gone, probably fled. I suggest the main force move now and search the entire area for Ping An,” Gu Dashan said coldly into the intercom.
“Be careful!” Xiang Wanfeng did not issue any further specific orders, meaning that the special task force had implicitly agreed to their current actions and handed over the frontline command to them.
“Give the order!” Gu Dashan nudged Mei Qian beside him. At this moment, Mei Qian was still in a daze. He felt something was wrong, but “seeing is believing” forced him to issue new operational directives.
“All teams, begin operations. Seal off the entire village. If Ping An is found, arrest him immediately!” Mei Qian, as the frontline commander of this operation, issued simple deployment orders.
At the command, the action teams hidden in various places moved out. The large factory area was controlled in a moment, but strangely, Ping An was nowhere to be found. The frontline action teams swore they had searched the entire fertilizer plant, and even the entire town, twice, without finding any suspicious personnel or Ping An.
“Quiet, listen to me. Your brother is in serious trouble this time. If possible, please tell Lin Dang why your brother came to Nanzhuang? Whom was he going to meet?” Mei Qian, lost in confusion, found a secluded spot and called An Jing.
“Gao Min is in Nanzhuang. Chen Nairong was controlled by Gao Min earlier. Gao Min’s subordinates wanted Lin Dang to be buried with Chen Nairong…” An Jing’s anxious voice came from the other end of the line. “What happened to my brother?”
“What happened, what happened, he killed someone! Almost in front of all the police! What should we do now?” Mei Qian said helplessly. “Ten hours ago, the police issued an arrest warrant for Gao Min on suspicion of drug trafficking. Why didn’t Ping An tell us he was going to see Gao Min? Why?”
The rain that had fallen all night finally stopped as dawn broke. The dark clouds gradually dispersed, and the morning sun shone on the land. An old village man, riding a pedal tricycle loaded with a coffin, was slowly driving along a small road when he was startled by armed police who appeared out of nowhere.
“Go, go quickly!” After checking the old man, the leading police officer shouted loudly towards the outside of the village.
From 7 AM to 12 PM, in the heavily sealed village, despite the police’s continuous search, not only was Ping An nowhere to be found, but even traces of Gao Min’s activities there were not discovered. After the forensic and technical investigators conducted their on-site work and left, Mei Qian announced their withdrawal.
“Captain Mei, I have one question: was it a bow or a crossbow that Ping An used?” In the city bureau, Mei Qian was contemplating how to eat a bowl of cold fried noodles when the forensic doctor Wang Jian rushed in excitedly.
“It seemed to be a compound bow? What’s wrong?” Mei Qian put down his rice bowl and thought for a moment.
“The wound feels off,” Wang Jian said, rubbing his chin.
“Another question, when Ping An shot the arrow, did he aim for a while, or did he shoot it out with a whoosh?” Wang Jian asked, gesturing with his hands.
“There were no extra movements, it was shot out with a whoosh,” Mei Qian said.
“Then I’m relieved,” Wang Jian said, touching his chest, somewhat happy.
“Wait, explain what you mean by relieved?” Mei Qian was getting more and more confused.
“Oh, it’s nothing. It’s just that I’ve basically concluded that Ping An didn’t kill anyone,” Wang Jian said.
“Solid evidence!” Mei Qian almost choked.
“I also went to the scene just now. I saw that corridor. Chen Nairong died from a sharp object piercing his heart. According to the autopsy, the arrowhead and shaft penetrating the pectoral muscles into the heart were about 120mm. This penetration power is comparable to an ordinary handgun. Based on the two surveillance cameras, the distance between Ping An’s standing position and Chen Nairong should be about 30 meters. At this distance, unless a gear-assisted kinetic energy enhancer was used, such great damage could not have been caused. Moreover, according to your observation, Captain Mei, Ping An did not gather strength when shooting this arrow. From a mechanics perspective, I believe it would hit Chen Nairong, but it shouldn’t kill him. Bows and arrows usually don’t have such great killing power,” Wang Jian said.
“These don’t seem to be evidence,” Mei Qian thought for a moment and said.
“But I know that Ping An, your boss, wouldn’t kill anyone,” Wang Jian said.
“You know Ping An?” Mei Qian asked in surprise.
“Captain Mei, you don’t think your boss Ping An only has good relationships with leaders like Director Yan and Captain Gao, right?” Wang Jian said. “He actually prefers to hang out with tech geeks like us.”
This small interlude gave Mei Qian, who felt everything was a mess, a glimmer of hope. Although he didn’t know why Wang Jian was so certain that Ping An hadn’t killed anyone, at least someone was willing to believe Ping An was a good person.
The ideal was grand, but reality was harsh. As Mei Qian lamented, the arrest warrant for Ping An was officially issued. And where was Ping An at this time?
“I was framed!” Under a flyover in the urban area of Hechuan City, in a small “house” made of discarded cardboard boxes, Ping An was slurping a box of noodles.
“You’re an idiot, why didn’t you wait for me and go in first!” The old man who spoke was none other than the one riding the farm tricycle out of the village, or rather, we had already met this old man – Gao Da!
It turned out that after Ping An was attacked at the hospital, he felt that these cases were not as simple as they appeared. To further investigate the case, in addition to himself who was in the open, he needed a pair of eyes to watch from the shadows. So, Ping An found Gao Da, who was working for An Jing, and with a “generous salary” of ten thousand yuan, he made this veteran reconnaissance soldier his eyes in the dark.
Gao Da did not disappoint. By tracking Gao Min and Liu Juan from the shadows, he discovered them transferring a large sum of money in a warehouse, which led Ping An to expose Liu Juan in time. Later, he disguised himself and followed Ping An to the amusement park, where he witnessed Ren Liu entering the circus with Ping An and Gao Xiaofei, thus concluding that Ren Liu’s arrest was deliberate. Faced with Su Xia’s accusation, to confirm if Su Xia really had a problem, Ping An arranged for this old general to feign drug addiction and be arrested by the Hebian District Public Security Bureau, where he learned about Su Xia and the “100,000 yuan” from the detention center.
Just as Gao Xiaofei suspected, Ping An’s daily movements were strictly controlled by him. Why could Ping An obtain clues that even the police couldn’t? This was precisely due to the contribution of Gao Da, the veteran reconnaissance soldier.
Initially, Ping An did not expect anything from Gao Da. However, he was surprised that this old soldier, despite his unremarkable appearance, was a convincing actor. From collecting junk to driving a black car, to selling gluten, he always managed to quietly record the most useful information where no one else could see. However, these cases involved too much, and there were some situations that Ping An couldn’t think of, let alone Gao Da. For example, Lin Dang went to investigate on his own and got into trouble, which made Gao Da feel guilty but helpless.
The previous night’s visit to Nanzhuang, given Ping An’s personality, how could he have gone alone? While he was selecting his bow and arrows, Gao Da was eating in the dining hall downstairs. These two had planned for a while before acting hastily. However, even these two smart people made mistakes. They had calculated every possibility except for Ping An riding a motorcycle. But Gao Da only had a tricycle, and it was pedal-powered.
Changing transportation on the spot was impossible. So, Gao Da, cursing as he watched Ping An drive away, patiently rode his tricycle towards Huangzhuang. When he arrived at Nanzhuang, he immediately discovered the police operation. The old man was not nervous. Relying on his superb reconnaissance skills, he entered the warehouse first, took away the impulsive Ping An, and then “borrowed” a coffin, put Ping An inside, and quietly evaded the police’s sentries and successfully broke through.
“I can’t quite figure it out. I clearly shot at Gao Min, who was pointing a gun at me, so why was it Chen Nairong who was shot? I’ve never even met him,” Ping An said to Gao Da, lying comfortably on the “bed” made of cardboard boxes after putting down his box of noodles.
“Truth becomes falsehood, falsehood becomes truth! If you really didn’t shoot Chen Nairong, then the other party probably used an illusion. I was listening to the police calls with a modified walkie-talkie at the time. They said there was surveillance footage as evidence. Think about it, what’s going on?” Gao Da said.
“What else could it be? It’s a trap set by Gao Min. But it’s good this way, that bastard has exposed himself, and this case will have some direction,” Ping An asked. “You followed me last night, do you know what’s going on with Su Xia?”
“Su Xia probably discovered me. She’s been deliberately hiding since the day before yesterday,” Gao Da said. “Should we tell Xiao Fei and the others that you’re wanted by the police now? You’re not free to act, and it’ll be troublesome if you get caught.”
“No need. I finally managed to clear him. Let him focus on breaking the case. What I need now is to move from the open to the shadows so I can show my skills,” Ping An said. “Old Gao, your mission is complete. You should go back now. Someone needs to keep an eye on An Jing too.”
“Alas, I’ll stay with you. It’s better to solve this case cleanly than anything else,” Gao Da said, turning his eyes. “If you feel bad about it, I can accept another ten thousand yuan.”
“Alright, when this case is over, I’ll open a private detective agency and hire you at a monthly salary of 20,000 yuan, how about that?” Ping An joked.
“Oh, I’d rather stay with An Jing. If you really have the intention, can you get my son into a newspaper as a reporter?” Gao Da said, with a fawning expression.
“Get lost, what can your college-graduated precious son do?” Ping An flatly refused and ignored Gao Da, turning over and falling into a deep sleep.
Nanzhuang spent a night, and things were not the same. Su Xia arrived later than Ping An. When Ping An was having breakfast in the village, he had just learned from a group of hoodlums that after Chen Nairong’s accident, the latest shipment came from Nanzhuang. After finding the location, Su Xia quickly drove to Nanzhuang, only to find the village swarming with police. At this time, his identity was inconvenient to enter, so he lay low in an internet cafe outside the village.
After lunch, the police gradually withdrew. Su Xia thought that since the police had left, there was no need to investigate the place. Just as he was about to leave, he accidentally overheard important intelligence in the restroom – Gao Min was still in the village.
Gao Min, who intended to frame Ping An and flee, had actually not escaped. He didn’t have a good teammate like Gao Da, who could blend in with his appearance and age. Seeing the police rush into the factory area, he quickly moved with his men to the adjacent crematorium and hid in the cremator, thus escaping unscathed.
“Boss is amazing, he wasn’t caught with such a show!” In the internet cafe restroom, two hoodlums were talking.
“Stop talking. The boss asked me to bring you a message. Don’t receive any more goods for now. The police didn’t seize much cargo this time. The boss wants the brothers to lie low for a week and see how things develop,” said one of the older ones.
“I understand!” The younger one quickly replied.
“Also, borrow two clean cars. The boss’s car might be being watched by the police.”
“No problem, when will the boss leave?”
“Will half an hour be enough for you to borrow a car?”
“Enough!”
“After borrowing the cars, drive them to the back door of the crematorium, then leave the car keys in the car and leave. By tomorrow morning at the latest, I’ll call you, and you can come into the city to pick up the car.”
“No problem!”
“Here, this 2,000 yuan is the car rental fee from the boss. Take it.”
“This is too much. How can I earn the boss’s money?”
“The boss is much more generous than Chen Nairong or Ren Liu. Take it!”
“Hehehe!”
After hearing this conversation, Su Xia was overjoyed – luck was truly on his side!