Chapter 128 I guess this is someone who is active locally...

Things took such a sudden turn. They seemed to be talking in a friendly manner in the last second, and the next second they were engaged in a thrilling chase after the murderer.

Guan Xia was fine, but Meng Lan was a little confused, and after that she felt lost.

Glancing at the direction everyone had disappeared in, then turning back to look at the group still unawares as they continued down the mountain, Meng Lan asked Guan Xia, somewhat bewilderedly, "Should we…should we…wait here, or catch up with the group ahead and go down the mountain together?"

Guan Xia glanced at the time, then gazed at the distant mountains. After a moment's thought, he said, "Based on the flaws just revealed, those two men are most likely carrying a dead body. I'm afraid they came to this deep forest to bury the body. Who knows, there might be some evidence in their backpacks. Let's wait a while. With so many people chasing them, they definitely won't let them get away. We might even need to help them later."

Meng Lan's eyes, which had just cleared up a little, became confused again. "How can we help?"

Guan Xia looked at her and said soothingly, "You don't need to. Wait for those supporting detectives to come back, and then you can go down the mountain with them and have a good rest. We'll stay here, and I'll contact you when we're done, and then we can have a good chat."

When the word "chat" was mentioned, Meng Lan's eyes became serious again, but her expression was a little heavy. After a moment, she nodded and said, "Okay."

After properly arranging Meng Lan, Guan Xia walked over to Ji An, who was squatting on the ground, studying the short axe.

Ji An first lowered his head to take a closer look, then put on his gloves, picked up the hatchet, stood up, and faced the blade towards the sun to study it.

Guan Xia leaned over and asked as she looked, "Sister Ji, what did you see?"

Ji An didn't answer. After a few minutes, he said, "This axe must be quite old. The handle looks new, but I just checked it and it must have been replaced later. Look at the blade."

Ji An carefully passed the hatchet in Guan Xia's direction and asked, "Did you see anything?"

Guan Xia noticed it after just a few glances and said in surprise, "This axe looks sharp, but there's a notch on the blade. What did it chop? Bone?"

Guan Xia immediately thought about many things. Ji An said in a deep voice, "It's not just the blade. Look at the handle too. These stains look like blood to me. If my guess is correct, this axe was most likely the tool those two men used to chop some hard bones, like joints or the sternum, to dispose of the body."

Before Guan Xia could react, Meng Lan suddenly shuddered and asked, "Is this the kind of help you're talking about?"

Meng Lan didn't know what she was thinking of, and looked at Guan Xia with a look of pride and awe.

Guan Xia understood her thoughts at a glance and couldn't help but touch her head with amusement.

Ji An, holding the axe in one hand, walked towards the bushes where the two middle-aged men had appeared just now.

Guan Xia followed as usual. Meng Lan hesitated for two seconds, then followed on tiptoe with a cautious look.

Guan Xia had some experience because he had been to the scene with Xu Nian and the others before. He circled the bush twice, searched nearby, and then came back to Ji An and said, "I've taken a look at the traces. It doesn't look like a newly trampled trail. The vegetation is much sparser than the nearby ones. Some of the bushes are fallen over, and there are signs of hacking. It looks like someone violently passed through recently. I guess this is the path those two people took when they entered the mountain."

When Guan Xia returned, Ji An was looking up at a tree. After Guan Xia finished describing her findings, he suddenly pointed upwards at a section of the tree trunk and said, "Look there, there's a mark."

Guan Xia looked in the direction of Ji An's finger and frowned in surprise. "A mark? It's not surprising to have a mark in this deep forest, but why is it so high up? Generally speaking, marks are left for finding the way, so the more conspicuous the position, the better. But this one goes against the grain. Perhaps it was left there a long time ago, and then the position became so high as the trees grew?"

Guan Xia turned around and looked around at the dense forest, feeling that what he had just said was far-fetched.

Sure enough, Ji An shook his head and said, "I have some guesses. You wait for me down there, I'll climb up and take a look."

As he spoke, Ji An took off his gloves and handed them to Guan Xia along with the axe. Then he grabbed a handful of dry soil to increase the friction of his palms, carefully found a foothold, and climbed up the tree using all four limbs.

Ji An's clothes usually don't show, but now he is climbing up with all his strength, and his beautiful and smooth muscle lines are suddenly revealed with his body movements, which makes people envious.

Guan Xia's eyes were full of desire, and she immediately made a great wish in her heart that she would start exercising when she returned, and she would find a personal trainer.

The trees in this deep mountain forest were so dense that even though Ji An moved very quickly, it still took him some time to climb to the designated position.

Guan Xia was waiting curiously for Ji An's discovery, when she suddenly heard Xu Nian's voice not far away, "Why are you here? What happened?"

Guan Xia turned around and saw Xu Nian coming over with Qi Bai and Wang Yu. The three of them were walking hurriedly and panting, obviously they had run over.

After the three people came closer, Guan Xia told them what had just happened.

Qi Bai said quickly, "No wonder there was no one behind us when we turned around. At first we thought you were walking too slowly or got caught in the vines, but after waiting for a long time and no one showed up, we knew something must have happened, so we told our colleague who was leading the way and came back to look for you."

Wang Yu asked, "Where are the others? Have they gone to chase them and haven't returned yet?"

Guan Xia said, "Though those two middle-aged men claimed to be tourists from outside the area, Sister Ji and I just looked around and speculated that they were probably locals. They frequently come and go in this mountain to dispose of corpses, so they are very familiar with the terrain. I estimate it will take a while for them to return."

Xu Nian suddenly pulled out a pair of gloves from his pocket, put them on, and held out his hand to Guan Xia, "Let me hold it. Be careful not to get hurt."

The axe looked short-handled, but it was actually quite heavy. Guan Xia handed it over and asked, "Did anyone bring the evidence bag? If you can fit it, it's best to put it in your backpack. Otherwise, it's quite tiring just carrying it. We might need to look for traces and then use them to find the burial site."

Guan Xia was halfway through her words when Wang Yu very reliably put down his backpack and after rummaging for a while he found an evidence bag large enough to hold an axe.

Qi Bai opened it very tacitly and put the axe inside, then stuffed it into his backpack and put it on his shoulder.

Meng Lan was amazed. "You guys bring these things when you go hiking and camping. You're really dedicated."

Wang Yu glanced at Guan Xia silently. Qi Bai said with some resentment, "If we were hiking and camping with others, we would definitely not bring anything. But if we were with Guan Xia, we would only regret that we were not well prepared."

After this explanation, Meng Lan looked at Guan Xia with even more awe, and she had no idea what was going on in her mind.

Xu Nian looked at Guan Xia and asked, "What did you find?"

Guan Xia looked up at Ji An, and seeing that she was still studying seriously and had no intention of speaking, she quickly recounted some details about the case that they had discovered.

Xu Nian raised his wrist to check the time, then nodded and said, "Your judgment is correct. I'm afraid we really can't get down the mountain for a while. We just studied the map, and the road we took up the mountain is completely different from the direction we took. This means that even if the murderer of the 0217 family murder case is successfully killed, it will take a long time for other colleagues involved in the mission to come here. They either have to cross the mountain or get down the mountain and take a car. In addition to escorting the two suspects, the colleagues who come to support us also have to escort the two newly discovered suspects. There really isn't enough manpower to follow the traces to the burial site."

"To sum it up, we have to stay and work overtime," Qi Bai said optimistically, stretching his arms and legs. "I knew it wouldn't be easy to be with Guan Xia and Pang Le, but what's strange is that they were there during our last team-building event, so how come nothing happened?"

Wang Yu patted his arm and said, "Use your brain and think about where we had our last team building and where we went hiking and camping this time."

Qi Bai suddenly realized and said, "Oh, right. The last time we had a team building, it was in a villa area in the suburbs. This time it was in the wild mountains. No wonder."

Qi Bai's jokes made Meng Lan less nervous and she was quite happy standing by and listening.

After discussing the newly discovered clues for a few more sentences, Guan Xia and the others finally heard Ji An's voice above their heads.

"The markings don't look new," Ji An said, raising his voice so they could hear clearly, practically shouting, "but they're not as old as we thought. I estimate they're only five or six years old. Plus, there are traces of new and old marks repeatedly engraved to deepen the markings. Add to that the flaws revealed by those two people just now, and I suspect this is a local criminal organization. They might not be too numerous, but they won't be too few either. We have to be careful. Perhaps other members of the organization will send someone to look for those two people if they see them haven't returned for a long time."

After Ji An finished speaking, he lowered his head to search for a while, then climbed down again.

Qi Bai said in surprise: "Sister Ji, you have practiced rock climbing before. This posture and speed don't seem like an amateur."

Ji An nodded perfunctorily, took out his phone and placed it between the group. "Look, this is the high-definition photo of the mark I just took."

Now even Meng Lan came over curiously, and studied it carefully with Guan Xia, almost head to head.

Meng Lan was about to ask something in confusion when Wang Yu nodded thoughtfully. "Sister Ji's judgment is correct. From my observation, these markings were indeed left in recent years, and they have repeatedly deepened over time. This shows that the criminal organization has been active in this area for many years. According to the criminal logic of ordinary criminals, they are no less than three kilometers away from this wild mountain, but no more than fifteen kilometers away."

Meng Lan finally couldn't help but ask, "Why?"

Xu Nian casually replied, "The suspect's psychological safety zone after committing a crime."

After saying this, Xu Nian took out a map and studied it for a while before saying, "The area between three and fifteen kilometers covers the nearest Shanchang County. It's quite an area. Just look at the path we took down the mountain, and there are three villages nearby."

Qi Bai sighed, "Another tiring job."

But after sighing, Qi Bai immediately said in a relaxed tone, "Fortunately, we are from the next city, and this case does not fall within our jurisdiction. We can only help out for now. Once we find the burial site and other local colleagues come to support us, we can retire with our success."

Wang Yu had other ideas. He glanced at Xu Nian and asked, "Captain Xu, judging from the clues we've found so far, this case is probably quite serious. Is there any chance for us to get involved?"

Xu Nian thought for a moment and shook his head. "If it weren't for the murderer of the 0217 family murder case that was discovered earlier, we would have a chance. But now the mountains are full of local colleagues, and there's also the deputy director in charge of criminal investigation who rushed over from the Municipal Bureau. Even if Director Ren stepped in, our chances are slim."

Wang Yu was a little disappointed, and Qi Bai comforted her, "Why should you be disappointed? We have Guan Xia. Think about it, since you met Guan Xia, which case you have investigated was not complicated? If you can't get involved in this case, maybe the next one will be even bigger than this one."

Wang Yu's eyes lit up again, but Guan Xia rolled her eyes at Qi Bai and cursed him softly, "You're such a badass."

Qi Bai chuckled, "You guys have investigated enough cases, but I've been idle for over a month. My leg has finally healed, and I just wish there was a case for us to investigate right now."

Speak of the devil, and he appears. As soon as Qi Bai finished speaking, Guan Xia heard some noisy talking from afar.

As they got closer, Guan Xia could clearly hear Zhong Xiaoyu's voice. "You still want to run? This mountain is full of police and armed police. Where can you run to? You even wanted to use knives on us. Do you regret it now? Luckily, we held back. Otherwise, you wouldn't be able to walk down the mountain on your own. You might not even be able to wait for an ambulance."

As Zhong Xiaoyu continued to curse, a group of people finally emerged from the bushes and appeared in the sight of several people.

Guan Xia was the first to rush over. He nervously looked at Pang Le and Zhong Xiaoyu for a few times and asked, "How are you? Are you not hurt?"

Zhong Xiaoyu proudly put his arm around Pang Le's shoulders and raised his chin, saying, "How is that possible? With Pang Le and I's skills, they were the only ones injured. We weren't even injured, let alone a hair. If you don't believe me, check it out."

As she spoke, Zhong Xiaoyu grabbed Pang Le's shoulders and forced her to spin around. Pang Le rolled her eyes speechlessly, and after turning back to face Guan Xia, she smiled and said, "Don't worry, I'm fine. What I said before has come true."

Guan Xia was a little surprised, and at the same time tried hard to recall what flags Pang Le had set before.

Before Guan Xia could figure out what was going on, when she saw the two middle-aged men being controlled and pushed out, she understood what Pang Le meant by the fulfillment.

I saw that the honest-looking middle-aged man had a dagger stuck in his upper arm. The dagger looked very familiar. It was the one that Zhong Xiaoyu gave to Pang Le in the cave before.

Because some of them seemed like flags, Guan Xia remembered very clearly that Pang Le said at the time: I have a hunch that this dagger will be useful to me today.

Guan Xia looked at Pang Le, then at the honest middle-aged man, and felt like laughing for some reason. Pang Le's intuition was really accurate. He had to use his premonition, and it really came into play.

Guan Xia couldn't help but ask in a low voice, "What's going on? Why did you resort to knife-surgery?"

Zhong Xiaoyu nodded at the criminal police who came to support them and said, "Look at what they are holding. It's not us who want to use knives, but those two people wanted to fight back. They are quite cunning. The position of the dagger is very tricky, and they also want to launch a sneak attack. In desperation, Pang Le threw the dagger as a hidden weapon and hit the arm. That's how everyone was able to return without any harm. It can be said that they are lucky. If they were really ambushed, they would not be arrested but killed. Don't forget that they are carrying guns."

Guan Xia looked at the two criminal police officers walking behind the two middle-aged men. They were both holding a gun in one hand and a dagger with a sharp blade and blood grooves in the other. He couldn't help but feel a little scared.

When Guan Xia asked about the situation, Xu Nian also walked towards Jiang Yingyao and asked nervously, "How is it, Brother Jiang? Are you okay?"

Jiang Yingyao smiled and shook his head. "It's okay. There were so many people here, all holding guns and daggers. I was just there to make up the numbers. I was useless. Zhong Xiaoyu pinned one down by himself. The other one looked honest, but he was actually a fierce bandit. He didn't struggle much before he was pinned down. Pang Le was also nearby, so it wasn't even a close call."

Xu Nian finally breathed a sigh of relief, patted Jiang Yingyao's shoulder vigorously, and walked aside to communicate with the criminal police who came to support.

Xu Nian returned more than ten minutes later. He glanced at Meng Lan before saying, "They've already reported the two newly arrested suspects. The headquarters responded that all four must be taken back, and the rest of the people must be safely escorted down the mountain. These two things are top priorities. There are extra personnel available to be used on this newly discovered case. Although we're tourists, we've been transferred from other regions at this special time. Until other local colleagues arrive, we're responsible for protecting the scene and then trying our best to track down the burial site based on the traces we've found."

Guan Xia asked with some confusion, "Those two people won't talk? If we can pry them open, we won't have to go through so much trouble. We can just take them to the scene."

Jiang Yingyao shook his head. "We've already tentatively interrogated those colleagues on the way back. They were tight-lipped. Even with their injuries, they didn't say a word. No matter what we asked them, they didn't respond at all. I guess we'll have to invite interrogation experts from the Municipal Bureau or even the Provincial Department to get a confession."

Qi Bai said, "I knew it wouldn't be that simple. Let's get started. It's almost noon now. Finding the burial site sooner will save our colleagues who come later from working after dark."

Xu Nian glanced at the time and said, "Then let's start by sharing all the clues we've found."

As he spoke, Xu Nian glanced at Meng Lan as he thought of something. "Oh, right, I've already communicated with those colleagues. Meng Lan, just follow them down the mountain. You don't have to chase the team ahead. They will be responsible for taking you to your designated location, such as the bus station or a car rental station. You can choose whichever is more convenient for you."

Meng Lan first looked at Guan Xia with a somewhat conflicted expression, then carefully said "Be careful", nodded to Xu Nian, and then chased after the criminal police who came to support her and walked away.

As soon as Meng Lan left, everyone spoke without restraint. Wang Yu quickly recounted what Guan Xia and Ji An had just discovered, then spread out a map and talked about their speculations about the case. Then they divided into groups of two and started working.