Xiao Weiguo never expected that he would encounter such a thing just by casually surveying the terrain.
However, he was secretly glad that he had encountered this situation.
If it were anyone else, they would either encounter danger or be intimidated, and the treasures in the tomb would probably lose the chance to see the light of day again in this lifetime.
The group returned to the village headquarters without stopping, and Xiao Weiguo dialed the county public security bureau without hesitation.
There were at least seven or eight people on the other side, all vicious criminals who had been operating underground for years. He was afraid that the police force of just one township police station would not be enough.
Given the gravity of the case, the county bureau staff immediately reported it to the bureau chief, Liu Changhe, after receiving the call.
Upon hearing that the person who reported the case was Xiao Weiguo, Liu Changhe immediately organized all available police forces without saying a word, dispatching a total of four jeeps and one large truck.
Led by Liu Changhe himself, with about forty elite men, including Hu Haidong from the county's special task force, they headed directly to Xiaotun.
An hour later, the two sides met at Xiao Wei's brigade headquarters.
Upon seeing that it was Gao Changhe who had come in person, Xiao Weiguo hurriedly and happily went to greet him.
"Uncle Liu, with you personally taking charge, these people are definitely not going anywhere."
Liu Changhe laughed heartily.
"Haha, you're quite alert, kid. Come on, come inside and tell me the details."
Hu Haidong, who was following behind him, also waved to Xiao Weiguo quietly as a greeting. Xiao Weiguo smiled and nodded in response. In this kind of occasion, it was not appropriate for the two of them to have too much conversation.
"Come on, come inside. Tell me the details, and we'll discuss how to carry out the arrest operation."
Several key personnel from the public security department followed Liu Changhe, Xiao Weiguo, and Xiao Wenjin into the brigade headquarters.
After standing in a circle around the desk at the brigade headquarters, Xiao Weiguo recounted in detail what had happened at noon that day.
Finally, he said.
"Judging from the fact that each of these people only has one steel chisel, they are definitely not a national geological survey team, otherwise, their equipment would not be so simple."
Then things become clear: since those people were lying, they must have been doing something shady. If they weren't tomb raiding, then what were they doing?
Gao Changhe was silent for a moment before speaking.
“Wei Guo, you’ve been a bit rash this time. Judging from what you’ve said, those people are very likely a well-organized tomb-raiding gang that frequently commits crimes. These people are extremely dangerous to ordinary people; there’s nothing they wouldn’t do for money.”
Xiao Weiguo chuckled and patted Jiao Bai on the shoulder.
"I have burnt white."
"Well."
Liu Changhe rolled his eyes at him.
"But we can't be careless. No matter what we do, ensuring our own safety must always be our top priority. Understand?"
"Okay, okay, I got it."
Xiao Weiguo gave a somewhat perfunctory reply.
"Well, to avoid unnecessary trouble, Comrade Jiao Bai, I'd like to borrow you for two days. You don't mind, do you?"
Before Xiao Weiguo could speak, Liu Changhe raised his hand to stop him.
"Alright, I'll take that as your agreement. Comrade Jiao Bai, as a citizen, you have an obligation to cooperate with our investigation. Until this case is fully solved, you will be under my command."
Liu Changhe made the final decision, leaving Xiao Weiguo with nothing but a forced laugh.
Then, after discussion, the police officers made a decision.
To apprehend all these individuals in one fell swoop, all police officers were divided into four groups and surrounded the village from all sides. To avoid alerting the suspects, all police cars remained in the village, and the arresting officers proceeded on foot to conceal their movements as much as possible.
After everything was arranged, the operation began immediately, and a net was cast around the tomb raiders.
Out of curiosity, Xiao Weiguo volunteered to be the guide for one of the group and went to the scene as well.
However, to everyone's disappointment, when they cautiously arrived at the scene, they found that there was no trace of them.
After walking around the area, I found many small holes made by steel rods in the ground.
"Damn it, did these guys discover our whereabouts and run away before we arrived?"
Xiao Weiguo was a little confused, but Liu Changhe quickly dismissed the idea.
“We’re coming from all four directions, with not much space in the middle. Even if people spot us beforehand, it’s impossible for them to escape without being exposed at all.”
So what's the situation now?
After analysis by several scouts, it was determined that they only operated for a period of time around noon when no one was around, and then withdrew in the afternoon when the villagers started working in the fields.
"What do we do now? If they run away like this, where are we going to catch them?"
Some police officers were very anxious, as they were about to achieve a great success, but unexpectedly, the cooked duck flew away.
"Fly? Fly to where?"
Liu Changhe let out a cold laugh.
The group's purpose was clear: to rob tombs. He had already contacted the geological department, and there were no scientific research activities near Sponsor, so it was fairly certain that they had lied to Xiao Weiguo.
They haven't achieved their goal yet, so how could they fly away? The fact that there's no one around now is just to avoid being seen.
Immediately, Liu Changhe issued an order for all members to evacuate the area quickly to avoid being discovered and alerted by those people.
Reserve this area and set up an encirclement around it in the surrounding farmland. Monitor the area 24 hours a day.
If people want to avoid crowded times, when are there the fewest people?
Of course, it's at night; that's when they really do their work. This is the consistent pattern of tomb raiders.
Based on the cannon blast that occurred in the middle of the night in his previous life, Xiao Weiguo largely agreed with Liu Changhe's plan.
These people would definitely operate at night. It's unclear whether their accidental encounter with Xiao Weiguo during the day was due to their carelessness or Xiao Weiguo's good luck.
So, a group of police officers prepared arrest tools and dispersed in the surrounding farmland, completely surrounding the area.
Xiao Weiguo originally wanted to join the arrest operation, but after crawling around in the field for a while, he realized that this was a job he was not capable of doing at all.
The weather was stifling and hot. Lying on the ground, the lush crops completely blocked out the wind; there wasn't a breath of air, it was like a steamer, and it wouldn't take long to cook a person half-cooked. Furthermore, according to regulations, smoking was prohibited while lying in ambush, especially at night. How could Xiao Weiguo, a mere smoker, possibly endure this?
He simply turned around and left Jiao Bai to Liu Changhe, then went home to wait for news.
After returning home and having dinner, Xiao Weiguo didn't go back to the county town. Instead, he spent the night with Xiao Jiangao and Hu on the kang (a heated brick bed).
In the middle of summer, I won't get cold anywhere, as long as I have a place to sleep.
His small house had already been occupied, so he had to squeeze in here with Xiao Jianhu.
Amid the excited and heated discussion between the two teenagers about the case, the group gradually fell asleep.
The night passed just like that. Xiao Weiguo waited all night, but when dawn broke, he still hadn't received any news.
Just as he was about to go out to Dongpo's place to take a look, Liu Changhe and Jiao Bai returned.
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