After a night of frenzied fighting, Ping An slept more soundly than he had in a long time, although it would have been perfect if he hadn't been woken by the stench of garbage.
“Hey, lazybones, you’re awake. It’s 4:30 PM, and you still haven’t told me what we’re doing next,” Gao Da said, looking at Ping An with a disgruntled expression.
“Did you report my safety to An Jing?” Ping An asked.
“I did. I told her you were being useless all night, didn’t catch any thieves, and still had a clump of… well, you know… stuck to your heel,” Gao Da said irritably.
“I can’t show myself yet. I need to lie low for a few days at least. That way, my opponents will start to get anxious,” Ping An said, unfazed by Gao Da’s sarcasm.
“So, what now? Are you going home?” Gao Da stood up and waved his hand.
“How dare I go home? Not to mention whether that idiot Mei Qian would turn me in! Wouldn’t I be bringing danger home if I did?” Ping An also stood up, stretched comfortably, and then said obsequiously to Gao Da, “I heard your family built a Western-style house? How about letting me crash for a few days?”
“Get lost! I’m not harboring a fugitive. That’s illegal. I’m a Communist Party member, I would rather die than live under the same roof as a criminal!” Gao Da expressed his strong disapproval of Ping An’s request.
“Old Gao, you’re an accomplice too. How about we hold hands and go sleep in the detention center?” Ping An threatened, raising an eyebrow.
“You lazybones…” Gao Da choked, so angry he couldn't get a full breath.
A day and a night passed, then another night and another day.
At 8 PM, a case analysis meeting was being held in the city bureau’s main conference room, presided over by Xiang Wenfeng.
Mei Qian, who hadn't slept for a day and a night, as the leader of the action team, was the first to present the morning’s operation. Exhausted and hungry, he not only felt wronged but also deeply uncomfortable. Before going on stage, he glanced at Gao Xiaofei, who was slouched in a chair in the back row, pretending to sleep but actually listening more intently than anyone else. Outraged, Mei Qian spoke in his hometown dialect instead of Mandarin.
After listening to a somewhat unintelligible summary of the operation, Xiang Wenfeng waved his hand helplessly, signaling Mei Qian to sit down.
The case, which seemed simple, had taken a turn with the confirmed suspect, followed by the incident of Ping An’s alleged murder. Xiang Wenfeng thought back to his conversation with Ping An the previous day and knew how terrible the hidden aspects of this case were. He also largely believed Ping An was innocent. However, with the video evidence, it would be difficult for Ping An to clear his name without concrete proof.
“How did the case get to this point? Why didn’t we get the first-hand testimony from Lin Dang? Why did everyone disappear when we searched the village, both Gao Min and Ping An? When did we become so incompetent?” Xiang Wenfeng thought harder, the situation becoming more troublesome. He muttered, “Where the hell is that wretched Ping An? Gao Min is also missing. Could she have him under control? At this crucial juncture, there’s no one reliable. Mei Qian is too young and impatient. Damn Gao Xiaofei, are you really going to wash your hands of this?”
Thinking of this, Xiang Wenfeng looked at Gao Xiaofei and said loudly, “Given the difficulty of the case, the special investigation team has decided to appoint a deputy leader. Based on the team's recommendation, Gao Xiaofei will serve as the deputy leader.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Huang Sha and others turned pale. Gao Xiaofei almost fell off his chair in shock.
“Squad Leader Gao is also a criminal investigation expert. For the next stage, oh, I forgot to mention, my old ailment has flared up, and I’m considering a medical check-up. During my absence, Squad Leader Gao will be fully in charge, presiding… hehe, presiding!” Xiang Wenfeng said with a smile.
“Team Leader Xiang, I’m currently working on a drug trafficking case. Gao Min, one of the main suspects, is a major suspect in that case. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have come to listen to all this,” Gao Xiaofei said with a frustrated look. “You sent out over a hundred people, big and small, and achieved nothing. They returned empty-handed, and my lead is broken. I can’t handle this case.”
In front of everyone, Gao Xiaofei made a clear statement: I’m not getting involved!
“Alright, meeting adjourned!” Xiang Wenfeng said with a completely official tone, looking down at Gao Xiaofei, and then let out a "哼哼" sound.
After the meeting, in Vice Mayor Wang’s office.
Xiang Wenfeng, Gao Xiaofei, Huang Sha, Mei Qian, Gu Dashan, and other key members of the special investigation team were present.
“Leader, I am truly not suitable to continue being fully responsible for this case. Past events have proven my shortcomings, especially my opportunistic approach to this case. Philosophically speaking, this does not align with the scientific development concept…”
“Gao Xiaofei! Don’t try to cover up your mistakes with fancy words! When I was studying Marxism-Leninism, you were still a child! Are you lecturing me on politics now?” Vice Mayor Wang’s refined demeanor vanished, revealing the swearing temper he had when he was the executive deputy director in charge of criminal affairs. “Listen to me, at this stage of the case, I only require your full cooperation. In the face of the larger picture, if you still have misguided notions like factionalism between the city bureau and the provincial department, then you can obediently go be the director of the drug rehabilitation center!”
As expected, when the old man got angry, everyone in the room immediately became much more subdued. Xiang Wenfeng and Huang Sha, from the provincial department, had also heard the nickname “Wang the Loudmouth” and were now listening respectfully to their leader’s instructions.
“Gao Xiaofei will immediately join the special investigation team and fully pursue Gao Min and that wretched Ping An!” Vice Mayor Wang took a sip of tea and asked, “How is the technical investigation progressing? Is Ping An truly the murderer of Chen Nairong?”
“Apart from the video, the analysis of the arrow’s trajectory, the physics, and the forensic deductions all fail to definitively prove that it was Ping An’s arrow that killed Chen Nairong,” Xiang Wenfeng said. The key was to bring Ping An back for a proper interrogation.
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“Then hurry up and find a way to arrest Ping An!” Vice Mayor Wang looked at Xiang Wenfeng and said, “Squad Leader Xiang, don’t think I don’t know about your previous relationship with Ping An. Are you hiding something?”
“Nothing of the sort, leader. I merely asked Ping An to cooperate with our special investigation team at the time,” Xiang Wenfeng replied.
“Then where do you think Ping An is?” Vice Mayor Wang asked casually. “You haven’t contacted him since?”
“How would I know where he is? He’s not going to call me to tell me!” Xiang Wenfeng said.
Just then, a mobile phone rang.
“Whose is it?” Vice Mayor Wang first checked his own phone, and when he realized it wasn’t his, he asked.
“Mine…” Xiang Wenfeng took out his phone, looked at the caller ID, saw it was an unknown number, and answered it.
“Squad Leader Xiang, it’s Ping An. I’ve had a busy day, are you asleep yet?” Ping An’s voice suddenly came from the other end of the line!
“Hello! Ping An!” Xiang Wenfeng’s mind reeled, but he quickly switched to speakerphone.
“Old Xiang, listen to me first. Last night, when I beat up that bastard Gao Xiaofei, I accidentally left a small notebook in his office. Go and get it back for me quickly…” Ping An, as if nothing had happened, was still assigning tasks to Xiang Wenfeng.
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“Ping An, you are a wanted criminal. Why did you kill Chen Nairong? Surrender immediately! The Sky Net…”
“Net my ass! It’s ‘Heaven’s net is vast,’ not ‘Sky Net.’ You can’t even pronounce it correctly! Damn it, everyone else is misunderstanding, and you believe it too? Have you forgotten what you told me? Where’s your cover?” Ping An’s retort silenced Xiang Wenfeng. Now, hearing Ping An say this, he felt like he had fallen into the Yellow River and couldn’t wash himself clean.
“Don’t talk nonsense. The surveillance video is conclusive. You shot the arrow, and then Chen Nairong…”
“Did you get hit by a door? If you were that pig Gao Xiaofei, I wouldn’t say anything, but how did your intelligence drop to this level? What about the video? Is what you saw the truth? I can’t even be bothered to watch that video. Haven’t I used that kind of move in novels before?” Ping An attacked Xiang Wenfeng without mercy.
“But the video clearly shows you shooting first, and then in another video, Chen Nairong…”
“Go to hell! You’ve lost the last shred of respect I had for you. Do you have to watch the video in the order they arranged it? Haven’t you investigated whether the surveillance cameras were tampered with?” Ping An became increasingly angry, even resorting to curses.
“No…”
“What do you mean no? I saw Gao Min in the corridor. That scoundrel had a gun pointed at me. I shot an arrow blindly, and then I heard Chen Nairong screaming like a pig behind me. When I looked again, Gao Min and the arrow I shot were gone!” Ping An explained what happened that night, cursing as he went.
“Do you have any proof?” Hearing this seemingly absurd but potentially plausible explanation, Xiang Wenfeng decided not to dwell on Ping An’s curses for the moment.
“Yes! I’m telling you, I suspect the arrow that was used to assassinate and frame me is the same arrow my father lost. If that’s the case, then all these cases are exactly as we deduced. You want proof now, right? I’ll tell you, if you can get the surveillance cameras and the footage in order, you’ll know.” Ping An said.
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“Ping An, you are still a suspect. I demand that you surrender immediately!” Xiang Wenfeng gradually calmed down.
“No, I’ve gone underground with great difficulty. I need to investigate some things. Oh, and go and keep an eye on Su Xia. Whether it’s arrest or detention, don’t let him get away.” Ping An said.
“Su Xia? Su Xia has lost contact, we can’t find him!” Xiang Wenfeng gave a bitter smile.
“Make sure to keep an eye on him, he’s in danger!” Ping An hung up after saying this.
The phone call ended, and the people in the office were still pondering Ping An’s words.
“Gao Xiaofei, go to your office and find the notebook. The rest of you can leave. Team Leader Xiang, do you have anything you need to tell me?” Vice Mayor Wang looked at Xiang Wenfeng, his eyes filled with a deadly glare.
Gai Zhuang, the second crime scene where Niu Jian was killed.
In a small village about seven or eight kilometers from the construction site, in a three-story old-fashioned “farmhouse,” Ping An lay on Gao Da’s hard wooden bed, eating a bowl of wontons with relish.
“Why did you tell Xiang Wenfeng everything?” Gao Da asked, lying on the rocking chair beside him, holding a teacup.
“To remind them not to focus too much energy on me. I’m innocent.” Ping An sighed comfortably after finishing his wontons.
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“Kid, you said the arrow that killed Chen Nairong was lost by your dad? That was about ten years ago, right?” Gao Da asked.
“Indeed, fifteen years ago. I’ve been looking for that arrow for fifteen years,” Ping An said.
“But I don’t understand, why would Gao Min and his gang threaten you with that arrow? What if you didn’t have the remaining arrows from your dad, or what if you didn’t bring a bow and arrow at all? How could they have set this trap for you then?” Gao Da asked.
“It’s useless. There must be my fingerprints on that arrow. When I shot an arrow in the corridor and then realized it was gone, I knew Gao Min was trying to frame me,” Ping An said. “What I find strange is, in that situation, why didn’t Gao Min just shoot me and be done with it?”
“Ah! Kid, you’ve hit the nail on the head. Why frame you instead of killing you?” Gao Da said. “Listen, there are two neighboring families in our village who had a fight over grazing land and became enemies. One family, to get revenge, secretly killed one of their own black sheep and then quietly put the black wool into the other family’s sheep pen. The other family didn’t have any black sheep, so the police later suspected them.”
“And then?” Ping An asked.
“The police weren’t stupid. Through interviews, they found witnesses, and the truth came out! Later, someone asked why he framed the other family. If you wanted revenge, why not just poison their sheep?” Gao Da winked. “Do you know what he said? He said he wanted to show the villagers! To let everyone know the other family stole sheep, caused trouble, and was restless. The villagers would then avoid that family. That was his goal.”
“Old Gao, you mean Gao Min did all this for others to see?” Ping An immediately grasped the key point.
“Think about it. Niu Jian, Wu An, Ren Liu’s deaths. The killers didn’t bother to conceal anything. If I had killed someone, I would hide the body and delay as long as possible. But the deaths of those few people seemed deliberately done for show,” Gao Da said. “Kid, are you sure you’re not just putting on a show with your investigation? Could you be used by someone else?”
“Old Gao, you mean because I investigated, and found clues, the subsequent deaths occurred? And the people who killed them were all… were all forced by me?” Ping An broke out in a cold sweat thinking about this.
“Do you feel it? Niu Jian’s death was for you to see, was Wu An flustered? Wu An’s death was for you to see. Ah, Ren Liu deliberately got caught, Ren Liu’s death was for you to see. Chen Nairong risked finding you, Chen Nairong was ‘killed by you,’ and you became a wanted criminal…”
One link after another, one case triggering another!
This was the unique feeling Ping An had since he got involved in Niu Jian’s case. In fact, he had always felt that each new case was triggered by the previous one. Now, upon careful reflection, even his thinking and clues for solving cases might have been deliberately designed by the other party – when new evidence should appear, new evidence would be given to you; when you should discover new problems, new problems would be created for you.
“Now, I need to re-investigate from Niu Jian’s case! This time, I’ll be in the shadows, and I should be able to find more clues,” Ping An said to Gao Da after thinking it over. “Old Gao, tomorrow morning, you’ll still be my eyes. I want to go back to where Niu Jian was murdered and take a closer look. I’ve always wanted to know why Niu Jian was murdered there.”
“If one path is blocked, go back and try again!” Gao Da comforted him.
Riverfront Third Supermarket, opens half an hour earlier than other supermarkets. Other supermarkets open at nine, but they open at eight-thirty because they have the best and freshest seafood. Around 6 AM every day, a truck of seafood is delivered here. Besides the inventory in the freezer, most of the seafood is put on display while fresh. Opening half an hour earlier means the seafood can be sold fresh earlier.
“These mantis shrimp look fresh. Two catties, please!” At the seafood counter, Gao Da, disguised as an elderly man, was carrying a basket and buying shrimp in a proper manner.
“Old Gao, we’re here to investigate. Why are you buying groceries?” Ping An, acting as his obedient son, tugged at Gao Da’s clothes and said with dissatisfaction.
“Really fresh, very beautiful. I’ll cook shrimp for you at noon!” Gao Da was unconcerned and carefully selected fresh shrimp.
“Don’t mind me, you do your investigation, I’m following you, it won’t cause trouble. If there’s any situation, I’ll remind you,” Gao Da said softly to Ping An after buying the shrimp.
“Then I’ll slip away!” Ping An pulled down the brim of his baseball cap and, taking advantage of the crowd, quietly slipped into the staff passage behind the seafood counter.
The staff passage here leads directly to the cold storage behind the supermarket. After Niu Jian’s head was found here last time, the supermarket’s sales dropped significantly for three consecutive days. Now that things had finally returned to normal, no one in the supermarket dared to mention the head for fear of bad luck.
Ping An, who had sneaked into the cold storage, shivered as he meticulously searched. However, over a month had passed since Niu Jian’s head was discovered, and there were no traces left.
Emerging from the cold storage, Ping An didn’t rush to blend back into the supermarket. In fact, standing openly by the cold storage attracted less attention. Ping An saw supermarket staff busy coming and going, but no one paid him any mind, so he began to inspect the exterior of the cold storage. After the discovery of Niu Jian’s head last time, he had been in the hospital for more than half a month due to the explosion and hadn’t observed the scene closely. Now, taking a closer look, he realized that if he went further into the cold storage, it led to a public parking lot, and next to the parking lot was a station for City Line 8. In front of the station were a row of lockers with facial recognition functions.
As Ping An was observing his surroundings, he suddenly heard a woman’s crying and a man’s voice.
“Sister, this is the last time. After this time, don’t come again. Our supermarket is a business. You come here to burn joss paper every seven days, how can you do business?” a man’s voice said.
“Don’t worry, after I burn the paper for my husband for the seventh seven-day period, I won’t disturb you anymore,” a woman said with a tearful voice.
Following the sound of their voices, Ping An saw a middle-aged woman squatting on the ground outside the back door of the cold storage, burning paper money. A man in a supermarket uniform took a few glances at the paper money and quickly left.
This woman looked so familiar. Where had he seen her photo before? Ping An fell into deep thought, looking at the middle-aged woman.
“Old Niu, rest well down there. I’ve suffered so much. I’ll join you in a few days.”
“Old Niu, we didn’t look after our son well. I’m coming to join you. Don’t argue when you meet, father and son. We were at fault for not raising our son properly!”
“Old Niu, you were so stubborn, insisting on collecting evidence and reporting them. You wouldn’t back down even when you died. Now, your son is gone too. What’s the point of me living?”
Thinking of it, Ping An realized the middle-aged woman was Niu Jian’s wife, Niu Daixing’s mother. Ping An had seen her photo on Gao Xiaofei’s case analysis board.
“Why is she here? Could it be to observe the seventh seven-day period for Niu Jian?” Ping An muttered to himself.
Niu Jian’s wife, completely unaware that Ping An was observing her, continued to cry, talk, and burn paper money.
“It’s all that damned Wu An’s fault! You treated him like a brother, but he wanted to harm you. He deserved to be blown up!”
“Old Niu, those people didn’t keep their word. After you died, they didn’t let Little Niu go either. My son, why was he shot by the police?”
“They all blame you for not educating your child properly, letting him be exploited by others.”
“Now, you’re dead, and your son has been shot by the police. What’s the point of me living alone!”
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The scene before him was desolate. A middle-aged woman from the countryside, her husband gone, and her hoped-for son shot by the police, could only weep in this unfamiliar place.
“Sister, please accept my condolences!” Unknowingly, Ping An stepped forward and offered Niu Jian’s wife a tissue.
“Thank you. Did I disturb your business?” Niu Jian’s wife took the tissue, looking a bit embarrassed.
“It’s okay, I’m not a businessman. I, I also came to see off Master Niu.” As he was about to say something else, Ping An suddenly changed his wording.
“Alas, you all know, your Big Brother Niu hated evil his whole life. He sought justice for himself and demanded it from others. To say he was involved in drug trafficking, I absolutely don’t believe it. To say he was murdered after reporting them, that’s possible. I only regret that the murderer desecrated his body, splitting my old Niu’s body into two.” As expected, Niu Jian’s wife mistook him for a former colleague of Niu Jian and began to cry again.
“Sister, what about Little Niu?” Ping An deliberately asked.
“It’s a sin! It’s a sin! He was bewitched by a vixen, fooled around, and got hooked on drugs. His father, for this reason, hardened his heart and went to report those people, and then, and then…” Niu Jian’s wife couldn’t continue and burst into tears.
“Sister, who exactly was Master Niu going to report?” Ping An asked after comforting her for a while.
“Alas, I still don’t know who you are. You and your Master Niu…?” After crying for a while, Niu Jian’s wife suddenly looked at Ping An with suspicion.
“Sister, I won’t hide it from you. My name is Ping An, and I’m a reporter for the Riverfront Daily. Master Niu Jian initially wanted to report through me. I received several calls from him, but in the end, he never told me who he was going to report,” Ping An thought for a moment and decided to reveal his identity.
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“You, you, I don’t know anything. I told the police, I told the government, I really don’t know anything. Please don’t ask me anymore…” Upon hearing Ping An’s name, Niu Jian’s wife hesitated for a moment, then immediately began to feign ignorance. She abandoned the incense burner at her feet and pushed Ping An, trying to leave.
“Sister, according to your son Niu Daixing, wasn’t it I who betrayed your husband? Don’t you hate me?” Seeing Niu Jian’s wife’s reaction, the observant Ping An instantly saw through the trick – the Ping An who was reported by his son was the betrayer of Niu Jian! In that case, shouldn’t enemies greet each other with insults? Even if she didn’t dare to confront him, she shouldn’t show such a frightened expression, as if she had done something wrong and was trying to escape.
Ping An, who had seen many people, sensed something was wrong in an instant. If she had attacked him or cursed him, he would have understood. However, her expression and demeanor were clearly problematic.
“Great leader, my son has already been shot. Please be magnanimous and don’t pester me anymore. I’ll kneel down for you, please, please…” Seeing that she couldn’t escape, Niu Jian’s wife suddenly knelt down and kowtowed repeatedly, catching Ping An off guard.
“Sister, it’s come to this, and you still won’t tell the truth? The police asked you, didn’t they? Why didn’t you tell the police the truth? What are you afraid of? And why do you say you’re sorry to me? How are you sorry to me?” Ping An grabbed Niu Jian’s wife’s arm and said sternly, “Tell me the truth, and I’ll help you find the real culprit, avenge Master Niu Jian, and avenge your son!”
“I’ll tell you, I’ll tell you. Please stop bothering us and let us go. We’ll never dare to do it again…” Niu Jian’s wife’s defenses finally crumbled, and she began to reveal the full story of Niu Jian’s report, intermittently.
It turned out that Niu Jian had been the captain of the “Lei Feng” taxi fleet in Riverfront City years ago. Relying on quality service and diligent work, he had become a wealthy homeowner in the town within twenty years, starting from a poor village. It cannot be denied that during the golden age of the taxi industry twenty years ago, Niu Jian worked diligently to get rich and persisted in providing high-quality service to passengers. He was successively rated as an “advanced taxi driver” by the industry and was named the captain of the “Lei Feng” taxi fleet by the taxi industry management agency.
As the captain, Niu Jian not only made a lot of money and moved from a remote mountain village to the town, building a three-story house, but he also gained the admiration of his fellow taxi drivers and received unimaginable respect. His material needs were met, and his spiritual needs were also satisfied. The red plum cigarettes priced at 2.5 yuan were replaced by Hongta Shan cigarettes priced at 8 yuan, and then by Liqun cigarettes priced at 13 yuan. His always obedient son would occasionally receive 50 yuan in pocket money from him. Later, when minor disputes occurred between taxi drivers, he would start to intervene and judge them. Thus, Master Niu became Captain Niu, and Captain Niu became Big Brother Niu. With Niu Jian’s deliberate or unintentional cultivation, a group of young men who followed him “around” gathered by his side.
As he became an elder brother, his stature grew, and his temper became more volatile. Sometimes, even when his own brothers were clearly in the wrong, he would find fault with them. Over time, the once understanding model taxi driver became a “tyrant” in the industry!
With the advent of ride-sharing services, the taxi industry suffered a severe blow. For the sake of loyalty and his own survival, Niu Jian often led taxi drivers in organizing strikes and blocking ride-sharing drivers for “lessons.” During this period, among those who had always been at odds with him, one was particularly important: Wu An.
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According to Niu Jian’s wife, Wu An was also a taxi driver in the past. However, unlike the “bosses” like Niu Jian who owned cars, Wu An did not own a taxi and could only work for “bosses.” Later, Wu An somehow offended Niu Jian, and at Niu Jian’s instruction, no taxi owner dared to give their car to Wu An to drive. With no source of income, Wu An came to hate Niu Jian and could only associate with a group of drivers who operated “black cars.”
During this period, Niu Jian’s taxi drivers and the “black car” drivers frequently clashed over territory and routes. Later, after ride-sharing services were launched, “black car” drivers acquired the guise of “ride-sharing drivers” and, with the help of the internet, continuously encroached on the passenger transport market, intensifying the conflict between the two sides.
Two years ago, Niu Jian meticulously planned and arranged for his subordinates to pose as passengers, using several “fishing” operations to help the passenger transport law enforcement department seize many “ride-sharing drivers” who lacked operating qualifications, with conclusive evidence. Among them, Wu An’s car was seized most frequently. During that period, Wu An was caught five times in a row after picking up passengers and was fined over 30,000 yuan in total for five seizures within a month.
Perhaps due to the fines, Wu An, unable to afford to offend Niu Jian, quietly withdrew from the “ride-sharing” market.
Niu Jian was very pleased with this outcome, but he did not expect that his misfortune would soon follow.