Meanwhile, at the surveillance point near the department store, Bi Wenxiang also raised his hand to check the time. It was already 8:30 p.m. He had given Huang Lihui enough time to react. According to the plan, Huang Lihui should have already evacuated by now.
He turned to the agents beside him and instructed, "Something's not right. Usually, the target would be closed by now. Go in and take a look!"
Qin Xiangrong, the action team leader beside him, nodded and accepted the order. He led a team member out of the surveillance point and headed towards the department store. A short while later, a team member rushed out of the store and ran towards the surveillance point. Soon, the door of the surveillance point was kicked open, and the team member rushed into the store, urgently reporting, "Section Chief, the person has escaped!"
"What?" Upon hearing this, Bi Wenxiang was astonished. He took a step forward and rushed out of the room. "Let's go see!"
Bi Wenxiang arrived at the department store with his men. By then, Qin Xiangrong had already done a quick inspection and hurried up to report, "Section Chief, both of them are missing. They went up to the roof from the attic, and it looks like they've been gone for quite a while."
"Get out of here!" Bi Wenxiang ordered his men with a tense face, "Conduct a search immediately and see if there are any other clues."
With that, he walked a few steps to the counter, picked up the phone, and made a call.
Luo Xingchao, who had been waiting in his office for news, quickly grabbed the phone when it rang.
"Idiot, what are you doing? With so many people, you still let the target escape. You keep the scene under control, and I'll report to the director right away."
After saying that, he hung up the phone, then picked it up again and dialed Li Zhiqun's address.
The call connected quickly, and Luo Xingchao hurriedly reported: "Director, something has happened. Just now, Bi Wenxiang reported to me that Huang Lihui from the Military Intelligence Bureau liaison point has escaped!"
"What?" Li Zhiqun was utterly astonished!
Half an hour later, Li Zhiqun and Luo Xingchao drove together to the department store on Dongsi Street.
At this moment, the area around the department store was already filled with agents from the 76th Special Agent Unit. Li Zhiqun stepped into the department store first, followed closely by Luo Xingchao.
Upon seeing Li Zhiqun arrive in person, Bi Wenxiang quickly stepped forward, his face showing shame. He bowed and said, "Director, Section Chief, it was all my fault for dereliction of duty. The target, Huang Lihui, and his accomplices suddenly withdrew without any warning. We were caught off guard and by the time we discovered them, they had already escaped!"
Li Zhiqun's face was extremely grim. Just a few hours ago, he had personally inspected the place, full of joy and anticipation, hoping to take this opportunity to completely wipe out the Military Intelligence Bureau's Shanghai Station and repeat the scene that Wang Hanmin had done. However, before the excitement in his mind had even subsided, he received this bad news. The disappointment and sense of loss in his heart were unimaginable.
He looked at Bi Wenxiang and said coldly, "Without any warning? The duck that was about to be eaten could fly away, and two grown men just ran away like that without leaving a trace?"
Bi Wenxiang quickly explained, "I had some suspicions before, but I wasn't sure, afraid of alerting them. Later, when I saw that they hadn't closed for a long time, past their usual closing time, I sent someone in to check, but they were already gone!"
Li Zhiqun's eyes narrowed as he stared at Bi Wenxiang and asked, "Didn't you spot anyone suspicious approaching the target?"
"No, a few customers entered the shop at night, but they all paid and left without staying long. It was dark, so we didn't take any pictures. However, Feng Shinian kept checking up close and didn't find anything wrong."
Li Zhiqun pressed further, "What about the phone? Wasn't it already under surveillance? Were there any incoming calls? What was the content of the last call? Where did it come from?"
Faced with Li Zhiqun's persistent questioning, Bi Wenxiang's expression changed, immediately attracting Li Zhiqun's attention. He stepped forward, staring intently at Bi Wenxiang, and asked again, "Is there a record of the phone call?"
"Yes, I'll go get it right away!"
After saying that, Bi Wenxiang turned and ran out. A short while later, he returned with a notebook of phone records.
Li Zhiqun snatched the call log and flipped through it. With his extensive experience, he immediately turned to the last page. Looking at the contents, his expression changed instantly, and he muttered to himself, "An incoming call? To pick up matches from the Kowloon warehouse? This is a call urging me to pick up the goods."
Suddenly he realized something, looked up at Bi Wenxiang and asked, "Why isn't there a response?"
Bi Wenxiang's face showed signs of nervousness as he answered uneasily, "There was indeed no response, just a few short words, and then the call ended. I wasn't sure at the time, and I was afraid of alerting the target, so I thought I'd observe a little longer. But after waiting a while, I felt something was off, so I decided to send someone in to check, and then..."
"Useless trash!" Li Zhiqun cursed, slamming the phone record onto Bi Wenxiang's face. Bi Wenxiang shrank back in fright, not daring to utter another sound!
Luo Xingchao had been standing behind Li Zhiqun without saying a word. Seeing Li Zhiqun get angry, he quickly coughed lightly and scolded Bi Wenxiang, "Why aren't you going to investigate the source of this call and see where it came from?"
"Yes! Yes!" Upon hearing this, Bi Wenxiang felt as if he had been granted a pardon and quickly agreed, then hurried out of the department store.
Watching Bi Wenxiang leave, Luo Xingchao then spoke up to explain to Li Zhiqun, "Director, Bi Wenxiang is capable, but he is too cautious in his work, which makes him somewhat hesitant and unable to act decisively. This is also my dereliction of duty. I really didn't expect something like this to happen!"
Upon hearing Luo Xingchao plead for his subordinate, Li Zhiqun could only take a deep breath and forcefully suppress his agitated emotions; he would not speak harshly to Luo Xingchao.
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