The unfinished building in Shujiashan is the real culprit's lair...
Wen Zichuan and his team rushed to Caoyan Lane and saw several bags of rotten vegetables in the drainage ditch near No. 79.
Ignoring the sewage flowing in the ditch, Wen Zichuan fished out the plastic bags and found that although they had been soaked for several hours, each bag was tied tightly and no water had entered, so they were not so rotten that they were unbearable to look at.
Such attentiveness is obviously Cheng Sizhou's daily habit.
"He was hijacked, or perhaps kidnapped." When Wen Zichuan spoke again, despair rose in his heart.
After buying vegetables, Cheng Sizhou was bound to go home, but someone tricked him here and took him away.
In order to find witnesses and find out what happened here, Wu Meng knocked on the door of No. 79. No one responded, so he knocked on the door of No. 78 and No. 77.
"There's no light on inside, which means no one's inside." Xu Jiaxuan pointed to a row of dark windows. "Just kick it."
A policeman nodded to Wu Meng, aimed at the slightly old door of No. 79, and kicked it open.
Number 79 is an antique shop. The counters inside are very messy, with antiques, both real and fake, thrown everywhere. It seems that they have all been moved out, but the owner left before they could clean up.
Wen Zichuan suddenly remembered what Zhou Han said, that Caoyan Lane was the place where porcelain was traded, and the transit station between Longji Mountain and Caoyan Lane was Shujia Mountain.
"Could he have been taken to Shujiashan?!" The more Wen Zichuan thought about it, the more he felt it was possible. Those porcelains had to be transported and resold, and the person involved would definitely not be just the real murderer.
The real murderer hardly needs to look for helpers, as the antiquities dealers who transport and resell the artifacts for him are his natural allies in interests.
If these people knew that Cheng Sizhou already had a complete chain of evidence, then they could only have two purposes for taking Cheng Sizhou away.
First, he would use coercion, inducement, and all other means to make Cheng Sizhou deny the evidence, so that he would have a chance to escape punishment.
Second, he wanted revenge and vented his anger. He knew he couldn't escape, so he asked Cheng Sizhou to take the blame for him before he died.
Thinking of the latter, Wen Zichuan became more and more flustered. He pinched his palms hard, took a deep breath, and forced himself to stay calm.
But he doesn't have much time left. Whether the real murderer does it himself or instigates others to do it, Cheng Sizhou is in a very dangerous situation.
"Shujiashan is in the northern suburbs, Caoyan Lane goes north... They must have taken Jisheng Avenue!" Xu Jiaxuan thought quickly, "This road has the best traffic conditions, no traffic jams, and it has to be a transport vehicle that can hide one person..."
"Van." Wu Meng squatted down, picked up a broken vase, and made a judgment.
The police have records in hand. These guys who deal in antiques need a transportation vehicle with a certain load capacity, but they can't use a large truck, so the most likely vehicles are small or medium-sized vans.
"Old Wu, can you find any vans leaving the city between 3 and 4 pm at the gate on the north side of Jisheng Avenue?" Xu Jiaxuan asked.
"Of course we can, but that's not the Yudeng District. We have to go through the application process, and it will take time to check the surveillance and license plate numbers." Wu Meng looked at the sky. Not only was it midnight, but it was also about to rain.
"Don't start by checking the vehicle, that's too slow," Wen Zichuan pulled up a map of the northern suburbs on his phone. "He must be in Shujiashan, a very remote place with few people."
Selling unearthed cultural relics is illegal in itself, and coupled with the hostage-taking and kidnapping, they will definitely avoid busy areas and crowds.
"A remote and sparsely populated area?" Wu Meng said to Wen Zichuan, "That's easy. We can go back to the institute and apply for a drone to scan the low-density areas of Shujiashan. I just don't know if the rain shadow will affect the drone's operation."
Drones use the principle of thermal imaging to search for people and are often used for field search and rescue. This should be the fastest method at this stage.
But Wen Zichuan still felt that it was too slow. If the rain fell too heavily, it would cause the drone to misjudge and would only waste more time.
He closed his eyes and covered his ears. In fact, an idea just flashed through his mind, but he was too nervous and anxious to grasp it for a moment.
Blocking out the influence of the surrounding environment, after a few seconds he asked Wu Meng: "Is there an unfinished building in Shujiashan?"
"Yes, it's in a high-end villa area. I heard that some owners recently took collective action to protest their rights."
Wen Zichuan finally figured it out. The IP address of the real murderer had frequently appeared in Shujiashan in the past two years, and the new Lantern Museum was only completed in September last year. In other words, the real murderer had been active in Shujiashan for a long time.
He used a place in Shujiashan as a transit station, but he didn't want to be discovered. The easiest place to hide was his own home.
——Zhang Hongliang bought a house in Shujiashan.
He wanted to sell the cultural relics hidden in Longji Mountain, so the "transit station" could not be an ordinary house, but a villa with its own entrance and courtyard, so that it would be concealed enough.
Shujiashan, unfinished buildings, villa areas, after gradually narrowing the scope, go directly to look for people, maybe it will be faster than using a drone.
When they were about to leave, Leng Sui arrived, followed by a dozen burly bodyguards, which inexplicably made Wen Zichuan's eyes warm.
"Teacher Wen," Xu Jiaxuan called out to him, "Didn't my family move into a new house last year? There's a machine at the government service center. If you input the household owner's name, it will display all the properties under their name."
"It's not just about entering your name, you need your ID card," the police officer next to him reminded him.
"We're not looking for the machine," Xu Jiaxuan said, looking over intently. "Don't forget, Zhou Yitang's mother is a household registration officer. She can definitely retrieve any information in the machine."
Without his reminder, Wen Zichuan had never thought that if he could find out the address of Zhang Hongliang's villa, the time of finding him could be greatly shortened.
"Let's split up into two groups, Teacher Wen." When it comes to investigating the case, Xu Jiaxuan is mature like a teenager.
"Okay, I'll call Officer Shen first. Please go over and explain the situation to her. Let's go to Shujiashan first. Once Officer Shen finds out, please let me know immediately."
"Yeah! No problem!" Xu Jiaxuan turned his head and glanced at him as he left. "It's going to rain, be careful, Teacher Wen."
The rain was getting heavier and heavier, the gray sky seemed to be torn open, and the endless rain was washing the world like a rage.
The blood flowing from Cheng Sizhou's wound was washed away by the rain, but soon it seeped all over his face again. The blood-red color made his face look even paler, and his body was covered in blood and mud, looking extremely miserable.
A group of antiquities dealers forced him in front of Zhang Hongliang and asked him to drop the accusations and admit that all the evidence he found was fabricated.
"Xiao Cheng, I'm going to retire in two years. Please let me go and don't let my old age lose its reputation."
"Think carefully. You are the only son your parents have, and your mistress-in-law depends on you for her retirement. If you die, will they be able to live well?"
"This guy's name is Wen Zichuan, right? He looks exactly like Wen Duo. If you don't agree, your relationship won't be hidden anymore, and he won't be able to keep his celebrity job anymore."
Cheng Sizhou looked at him coldly, thinking it was ridiculous. "Will threatening me be effective? The evidence has already been given to the police. If the Dengyuan police don't investigate, the Huaili police will too. Besides the police, there are countless people online who are concerned about the truth. You can't escape."
The antiquities dealer who was holding him was so angry that he punched him in the face: "To destroy someone's wealth is like killing their parents! You're looking for death, we'll give you a ride!"
The corner of Cheng Sizhou's mouth was broken, and the smell of blood filled his mouth and nose, paralyzing his senses.
After a few hours, he could no longer remember how many times he had been beaten, but the most unbearable thing was that his clothes were soaked by the rain, and he was wrapped in a heavy coldness. He could feel that he was rapidly losing temperature.
Looking up at the sky, he prayed that the rain would stop and that he could try to survive until tomorrow.
Today is Zichuan’s birthday. He doesn’t want Zichuan to remember that he died on this day every year on his birthday.
His birthday is his own death anniversary. How can he accept others wishing him a happy birthday?
Amid the noisy rain, the sudden sound of vehicle engines was particularly noticeable.
Although the light here was insufficient, the vehicle was still too large to be noticed, and it immediately aroused everyone's vigilance.
"What are you doing?!" The antique dealer shouted at the car when he saw it stopped.
"Don't, don't do it." A young plainclothes police officer got out of the car. "I'm his friend. I'm here to see him."
Zhang Hongliang sneered: "Friends? What friends?"
The police officer was holding an umbrella and looked very nervous: "My college classmate, I'm also from the Lighting Normal University."
Several antiquities dealers looked at each other and thought that since this place had been discovered by someone, the "discoverer" would have no chance of leaving.
Zhang Hongliang waved his hand, and four or five more people came out of the unfinished concrete house, all holding "weapons" in their hands, intending to seize both the people and the car.
"Don't, don't arrest me." The young police officer hesitated, "Tell me the truth, I was sent by Teacher Wen Zichuan. He asked me to make a deal with you."
Hearing Zichuan's name, Cheng Sizhou suddenly woke up from his chaos and confusion. He repeatedly confirmed that Zichuan had sent someone instead of coming in person.
Otherwise, how uncomfortable would he be in such heavy rain?
"What deal?" the antiquities dealer asked warily.
The police officer pulled a white aluminum box from the car. "Here's 50,000 yuan in cash and a card with 3 million yuan on it. The password is today's date. Teacher Wen said, 'You release Cheng Sizhou, and before the police react, take the money and leave quickly. He'll transfer another 2 million yuan to the card later.'"
Five million is not a small amount of money. If it were someone else, it would probably be a cover-up. But if a popular star were to receive five million, it does seem somewhat believable.
Zhang Hongliang narrowed his eyes. At this point, they were already in a very passive position. Cheng Sizhou was as tough as his master. If they tortured him to death, he would have many more murders on his hands. It would be better to take the money and flee abroad. Maybe there would be a chance to make a comeback.
"How about it? Five million to buy his life." The police officer asked loudly.
I heard that someone offered five million to make a deal, and all the people hiding in the unfinished buildings came out. They were selling cultural relics and antiques, making a living by skirting the law. Their goal was to earn a lot of money quickly. Now that there is so much money, it is impossible for them not to be tempted.
Wen Zichuan and Leng Sui were squatting at the bottom of the slope about seven or eight meters away, with a piece of plastic sheet covering their bodies. Leng Sui didn't know what was wrong with them. They were so panicked as soon as they got out of the car that they had difficulty breathing.
He tore a hole in the plastic sheet and counted the seventeen people on the other side through the hole in the concrete house. Fortunately, he brought enough people with him, so he would not fail to save others and have to sacrifice himself.
"He's injured..." Wen Zichuan leaned against the mud, pressing his abdomen hard, and his words came out in a weak voice.
"Don't make a sound." Leng Sui covered his mouth, and liquid colder than rain fell on the back of his hand. He was completely helpless when he saw Wen Zichuan crying, "Don't cry, I'll go save him."
They had discussed when they came that the cars would be too conspicuous and would be parked outside the villa area; Wu Meng and two policemen would drive a car to make a deal, delay time, and find out the details; when they relaxed their vigilance, Leng Sui would lead people to encircle them from both sides, first ensuring that Cheng Sizhou was rescued, and then covering everyone's escape.
The police officer said he was afraid the cash would get wet in the rain, so he took a few more steps and placed the box on the platform.
He opened the box and found the banknotes neatly arranged inside. Several antique dealers saw the money and shone their flashlights on it again and again, fearing that it was fake.
"That's quite generous. Doesn't he want to use public opinion to force the police to solve the case?" Zhang Hongliang stared at the police officer without moving.
"You know the whole story very well. For our teacher Wen, forwarding the information is just a favor. How can solving the case be more important than his life?" The police officer smiled awkwardly.
"In that case, five million isn't enough. How about thirty million?" Zhang Hongliang lowered his gaze. "Video him now. I'll let him take a look at this guy. If he doesn't want to give it, he'll definitely regret it."
The policeman hesitated. He knew that this group of people were greedy, but he didn't expect them to be so greedy.
"Don't... call him..." Cheng Sizhou fell to the floor and uttered with difficulty.
Unfortunately, no one paid any attention. Zhang Hongliang and all the antiquities dealers stared at the police, waiting to facilitate this astronomical deal.
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The author has something to say: I'm sorry for posting it a little late. The recent chapters are all about key plots, so I'm a bit slow to finish them.
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