Chapter 1: Strange Phenomena in the Underworld

  Chen Zhenhua and Huang Aiguo had just started investigating the gold shop robbery case, but within one day, they experienced two dangers. This couldn't help but make the two feel that the situation was serious. Someone wanted them dead, and it should be someone who knew them very well.

  Standing beside the burnt-out car, Huang Aiguo's back was still dripping with cold sweat. If he hadn't gone to relieve himself due to a sudden urge, then at this moment, he and Chen Zhenhua would have been two corpses, and they would have been mutilated beyond recognition.

  However, they could not think of who would kill them, and this person who should be familiar with them would take their lives.

  "Twice, it happened twice today," Chen Zhenhua muttered to himself as he squatted beside the road, staring at the police car that was still smoking and had been blown into pieces.

  "I'm also wondering who would do such a thing to us," Huang Aiguo said, "I think it should be someone who knows us. These people have been watching us secretly all the time. Do you think this is very dangerous? I don't think it's those robbers from back then, because they still don't know that we're investigating the robbery case from that year."

  "Even if they knew we were investigating the case, they wouldn't think we'd come to Ubon City. The one who wants to kill us must be someone who knows our whereabouts. But who could that person be?" Chen Zhenhua thought for a moment before saying.

  "I also think it's knowing you and me, how could... won't, definitely won't be them!" Huang Aiguo seemed to have thought of someone, but he instantly denied it.

  "Who do you think it is?" Chen Zhenhua looked at him and said, "I think that the only ones who knew about our investigation were Deputy Director Yan Song and Director Tang. We had discussed this with them before, and besides, Yan Song personally informed us. If it wasn't them, I couldn't think of anyone else who would have known our whereabouts on that day, and it's clear they've been following us all along."

  Huang Aiguo nodded, his thoughts were consistent with Chen Zhenhua's, but he didn't think the director and Yan Song would do such a thing, nor did they need to, because they simply didn't have that motive. But then, who else could it be?

  The two of them started searching and came to Wubang City and entered this village. Along the way, they met a person.

  "I think I'll just put it aside for now, Brother Huang," Chen Zhenhua said with a shake of his head. "For the time being, we should focus on how to get back. Once we return to Haiying City, I'm sure it will come to me later when my mind is clear."

  Huang Aiguo agreed with Chen Zhenhua's suggestion, after all, his brain was also a complete blank at the moment.

  Huang Aiguo then took out his phone and reported the bombing of the police car to his leader. The director said on the phone that he would send a car to pick them up, but seemed to have no reaction to the bombing of the police car, which was somewhat unexpected by Huang Aiguo.

  The two of them waited on the highway for the car coming to pick them up.

  The weather is scorching hot at this time. The sun at noon is like a fireball, baking the earth. The crops on both sides of the road appear listless under the intense sunlight.

  To block out the scorching sun, Huang Aiguo and Chen Zhenhua took off their clothes to cover their heads, squatting by the side of the road.

  One by one, cars whizzed past them, and when they passed the broken police car, they would stop to ask what was going on. After hearing that it had been bombed, those drivers hastily drove away. Everyone understood that the two were in danger, so no one wanted to get involved in this unclear situation.

  However, every time a vehicle passed by, Huang Aiguo and Chen Zhenhua thought the driver would stop the car and kindly ask them to get in and take them away, but they were disappointed each time until this sedan came along.

  "What's wrong?" A middle-aged man driving a BMW sedan stopped his car and stuck his head out of the window to ask.

  "The car leaked oil and then caught fire," Huang Aiguo said. Now he didn't want to let too many people know that they had been ambushed, lest the person driving the BMW be scared off.

  The man listened to him and did not show any surprise, but instead his eyes rolled around, he didn't say a word, just slightly nodded, as if such things were very ordinary for him. Perhaps he knew Huang Aiguo was lying, because the situation of the oil tank catching fire and being bombed was different.

  "It seems that your police car is out of commission. Aren't you two afraid of heatstroke squatting by the road in this scorching weather? If possible, I'd like to help you, what do you think? Although nowadays people are generally unwilling to lend a hand to the police, especially not to the Haibin City police."

  "Thanks a lot!" Chen Zhenhua stood up and he and Huang Aiguo got on the car without hesitation.

  The BMW took off with two policemen inside, and on the car, the man introduced himself.

  "My name is Wu Yuan, I live in Wubang City, what are your names?" said the one who called himself Wu Yuan.

  "My name is Huang Aiguo," said Huang Aiguo, showing great enthusiasm.

  "My name is Chen Zhenhua," said Chen Zhenhua, who seemed very polite, after all, someone had helped them.

  "Are police officers like you always carrying guns? I think it's very cool to carry a gun," said Wu Yuan, the man in the car, as they chatted while driving on the highway.

  "That's also not true," Chen Zhenhua said. "Most of the time we don't carry guns unless we need to capture a dangerous criminal."

  "That means you don't have guns now," said Wu Yuan, his eyes rolling again.

  When Chen Zhenhua listened to him speak, he unconsciously glanced at him, and because of this glance, Chen Zhenhua saw the rotation of Wu Yuan's eyeballs, his expression was somewhat unnatural. In fact, when Chen Zhenhua saw this man, he had a feeling of unease, he always felt that this man seemed mysterious, but out of gratitude for his help, plus being a police officer - he believed that in China no one would dare to be unfavorable to the police, so he didn't take it to heart. However, now he saw Wu Yuan's mysterious eyes, which was a cunning gaze. As an admirer and embodiment of Sherlock Holmes, he should pay attention to anyone's every move, observe details more carefully, and he thought he had already done that.

  He glanced at Wu Yuan several times, but didn't speak, lowering his head to think about how to probe this man.

  Before he could think of anything, Wu Yuan shouted "We're here, get off the bus!" and his voice suddenly became rough, with a commanding tone.

  Just as Chen Zhenhua was thinking about the problem, Huang Aiguo might have been tired, so he sat in the back row with his eyes closed and fell asleep. The two of them didn't notice which direction Wu Yuan's car was heading, and when they heard the shouting and looked out this time, they found that they were no longer on the road back to Haijing City.

  "Where is this?" Huang Aiguo had just woken up, and he hadn't realized that Wu Yuan's shout was not very friendly. He looked at Wu Yuan with bleary eyes and asked, looking around him to see that the highway on both sides of this area was lined with dense forests, which seemed a bit remote.

  "I think the two of you are not deaf," Wu Yuan's facial expression suddenly turned cold, and every word he spoke seemed to be wrapped in a layer of ice, making the listener shiver.

  "A thousand mountains, birds in flight, a myriad paths, human traces erased." Huang Aiguo didn't mind what Wu Yuan said, he suddenly recited a poem and coldly laughed, "Although this place isn't 'a thousand mountains', the trees are so dense that you can hardly see the distant mountains and the road ahead; although it's not 'a myriad paths', it's also rare for people to pass by, up until now I haven't seen a single car or anyone passing through."

  "Yes," Chen Zhenhua said, "we are not deaf, but we are not fools either. May I ask why you brought us here? Are you going to rob us?"

  "You're right," Wu Yuan said with a cold smile, "People who meddle in others' affairs will never live long. I think this principle doesn't need me to explain it, you should understand it."

  "But you alone want to take on the two of us?" Chen Zhenhua said calmly, as if chatting with a friend, "A person who underestimates their own strength will not have a good outcome. I think this principle doesn't need me to explain it, and you should understand it!"

  "I really understand," Wu Yuanshuan clapped his palms three times, and seven or eight people rushed out of the forest by the road, each covering their faces, looking at the scene as if they were filming a martial arts movie.

  "How?" Wu Yuan said with a cold smile. "Do I understand or not? There are just a few people, take a look and see if I'm still overestimating myself."

  "It's indeed a great foresight," Huang Aiguo got off the car, swept his gaze over the masked people on the scene, and walked calmly towards the woods.

  Chen Zhenhua also got off the bus, he followed Huang Aiguo from behind.

  Those masked men surrounded them, holding shiny watermelon knives in their hands. Wu Yuan also got out of the car and they "escorted" Chen Zhenhua and Huang Aiguo into the forest like this.

  Everyone continued to walk into the woods in silence, Chen Zhenhua occasionally letting out a few cold laughs, while the masked man and Wu Yuan remained completely silent.

  "I'd like to ask Mr. Wu, is this a kidnapping or a robbery?" Huang Aiguo turned around and asked Wu Yuan.

  Wu Yuan shook his head and said, "You're pretending to be nonchalant when death is imminent. If you say it's a kidnapping, then it's a kidnapping; if you say it's a robbery, then it's a robbery. For us, the nature of the crime is all the same, and for you, the outcome is also the same."

  "I think so too," Chen Zhenhua said. "But I'd like to ask Mr. Wu, we haven't offended a few people, have we? Why do they want to harm us?"

  "I've said it before," Wu Yuan said with a cold smile. "People who like to interfere in others' business usually don't live long. Since it's been many years, why are you two bringing it up again."

  "What's going on after all these years?" Huang Aiguo asked in confusion.

  "I get it," Chen Zhenhua suddenly shouted, "You are the robbers who robbed the gold store five years ago!"

  "You're very clever," Wu Yuan's face became even more mysterious, he just looked at Chen Zhenhua like that, his expression seeming to smile yet not smiling, "but we aren't direct participants, we're just cooperating with them a bit."

  "It's like that," Chen Zhenhua nodded and said, "You see, we're all going to be killed by you. I want to know before I die, who is the thief who robbed the gold store? Can you satisfy my small request? Otherwise, I will definitely not die in peace."

  "I think so too," Wu Yuan said with a sly smile. "But how would I tell you two? Am I stupid? Hurry up and leave!"

  Wu Yuan burst out laughing and then urged them to move forward quickly. The masked men also shook their gleaming watermelon knives.

  "Where do you want us to go?" Chen Zhenhua asked.

  "It's almost here," Wu looked around and saw that the woods were dense all around, already far from the highway, so he said. "Let's just do it here."

  He finished speaking, took out his mobile phone and walked a few steps away, then seemed to make a call to someone, before walking back and saying: "Sorry, both of you, I've been ordered to kill you."

  Chen Zhenhua and Huang Aiguo exchanged a glance, sneering without saying a word.

  "Take action!" Wu Yuan gave orders to other masked men.

  The group of masked men raised their knives and rushed forward with a loud shout.