Director Gao's influence within the criminal investigation system exceeded Zhang Yi'ang's expectations. That afternoon, nearly a hundred detectives each from the criminal investigation divisions of Ning City and the provincial capital Hang City arrived at Three Rivers Estuary. The heads of both divisions personally called him, affectionately addressing him as "brother" and stating that capturing two terrorists who had also committed robbery was an unquestionable duty. They assured him that their personnel would follow his instructions entirely upon arrival at Three Rivers Estuary, and even all travel expenses and accommodation arrangements would be handled by their respective units without needing to go through Three Rivers Estuary's bureaucratic procedures.
He assembled the two fresh forces in the unit's large conference room, briefing them that these two individuals were the masterminds behind the terrorist attack and subsequent robbery. Since the surveillance footage hadn't clearly captured their faces, he distributed the video clips showing the suspects to everyone, instructing them to memorize their builds and walking characteristics. After a quick mobilization, he deployed these officers to various key locations throughout Three Rivers Estuary.
After the briefing, everyone dispersed to carry out their tasks. Police officers from other departments of the Public Security Bureau were stunned to see Deputy Director Zhang's formidable influence—he had actually mobilized personnel from the criminal investigation divisions of the higher-level city and the provincial capital. They thought to themselves that even Qi Zhenxing wouldn't have been able to summon so many people from higher-level departments.
At that moment, Director Zhao from the office approached and stopped Zhang Yi'ang. "Deputy Director Zhang, which units do these officers belong to?"
"The criminal investigation divisions of Ning City and Hang City."
"Criminal investigation divisions..." Director Zhao couldn't hide his astonishment. "What case are you investigating?"
"A major case!" Zhang Yi'ang had learned from Director Gao in the morning that Qi Zhenxing had complained to Zhou Weidong about him, and now he harbored resentment toward Director Zhao by association.
"What kind of major case?" Director Zhao failed to notice the impatience in his expression.
"A provincial-level case. It's confidential."
Director Zhao frowned. "Deputy Director Zhang, you suddenly borrowed so many personnel without prior approval from the unit. How are we supposed to arrange accommodations for them? And the investigation expenses for so many people—"
"Their units will handle it themselves."
"This..." Director Zhao hesitated, then lowered his voice. "Deputy Director Zhang, I have a suggestion. For something this significant, even if their units are handling the cross-jurisdictional investigation matters, I think you should still discuss it with Director Qi. Director Qi is the head of the bureau. Not communicating with him about such a major matter could affect the unity within our unit."
"Unity within the unit?" Zhang Yi'ang sneered. "At least I don't go around making false accusations."
Director Zhao stiffened. "Deputy Director Zhang, what do you mean by that?"
"Someone in our unit reported me to the provincial authorities for extraction of confession by torture," Zhang Yi'ang raised his voice. "Director Zhao, don't you think that's fabricated?"
"Well..." Director Zhao flushed, never expecting that Zhang Yi'ang would find out about this.
Hearing this, members of the criminal investigation team nearby immediately rushed over. Having worked closely with Deputy Director Zhang day and night on recent cases, their camaraderie was strong, and they all came to his defense. "How could Deputy Director Zhang possibly resort to extraction of confession by torture? He hasn't even been here that long! Who's spreading such nonsense? I'll tear their mouth apart!"
"You all..." Seeing the aggressive stance of these rough men, Director Zhao swallowed the words "trying to rebel" and instead said, "These claims are definitely fabricated. I'll look into it thoroughly." With that, he turned and slunk away.
Zhang Yi'ang stood in place, frowning. Today's soft confrontation had completely torn off the veil of civility.Director Zhao would surely complain to Qi Zhenxing later, and Qi Zhenxing would eventually find a way to make life difficult for him. The best defense was to become strong enough himself. If he could resolve these cases quickly, his seniority and reputation would protect him from such petty retaliation. The key to everything was catching those two robbers!
As night fell, Song Xing arrived at a small inn with two plainclothes officers. The inn was run by a middle-aged couple, assisted only by one of their parents—four people in total, with no other staff.
To apprehend the robbers, the police had issued a citywide notice that afternoon to all lodging and entertainment venues, attaching surveillance images of the two suspects.
The inn’s proprietress had noticed that two men who checked in that morning bore some resemblance to the photos in the notice. Only one had registered, and they had entered the room separately at intervals, behaving suspiciously. After discussing with her husband, she secretly notified the local police station, which immediately reported to the Criminal Investigation Division.
"They checked in separately?"
The three officers stood behind the front desk, watching the surveillance footage the owner pulled up on the computer.
"Yes, at first, only this man came with a suitcase to register. Later, my wife saw another man follow him."
Song Xing grabbed the mouse and paused the video. The inn’s surveillance was rudimentary, and the image quality was poor. Still, based on the two men passing through—especially the suitcase carried by the first, which matched Li Qian’s description—there was no doubt it was them.
All three couldn’t help but feel excited. These were the very targets the entire Three Rivers Estuary police force was hunting. For Song Xing especially, this was a chance to redeem himself after the "Foolish Song Xing" nickname he’d earned from the Liu Bei arrest. But he knew these two were skilled and armed. Taking them down with just three officers was too risky. After a moment of calm consideration, he called the station to arrange a heavy perimeter around the inn, planning to trap them like turtles in a jar.
Just then, the owner whispered, "He’s coming down."
Song Xing glanced toward the staircase and saw Fang Chao walking toward the entrance. Their eyes met briefly before Song Xing and the others quickly lowered their heads, pretending to be tax officials. "This tax payment is clearly incorrect. We’ve verified this invoice is fake. Counterfeit invoices incur double fines."
Fang Chao averted his gaze, stepped outside, and pulled out his phone, muttering, "Alright, alright, I forgot something. Hold on." With that, he turned and went back upstairs.
As soon as the man disappeared up the stairs, Song Xing’s eyes flashed. His veteran instincts told him the suspect might be onto them. He immediately whispered orders for the two officers to prepare for an arrest at any moment.
Fang Chao rushed back upstairs and burst into the room. Before Liu Zhi could speak, he said, "Cops are here."
"What?!"
"Three plainclothes downstairs questioning the front desk. I passed by, and they pretended to be tax inspectors. Bullshit! Since when does a tiny inn like this get nighttime tax audits? What, is this a Fortune 500 company now?"
"Brother Chao, what do we do?"
Fang Chao gritted his teeth and carefully pulled back a corner of the curtain to peer outside. It was pitch black—no telling if the police were lurking in the shadows.The only way now is to take a desperate gamble!
Song Xing kept his eyes fixed on the stairwell while questioning the innkeeper in detail about the layout of the hotel and its surroundings. His officers had already contacted the bureau—Director Zhang would personally lead over a hundred officers here within ten minutes. If they could just hold out for those ten minutes, the two robbers would have nowhere to run.
But just then, a sharp clang rang out as several windows at the back of the hotel shattered and fell to the ground.
Song Xing leapt to his feet instantly. "The suspects are jumping out the windows!" He immediately sent two officers to guard the alley behind the hotel while he drew his pistol and sprinted upstairs. He raced straight to the third-floor room where the suspects were staying, swiped the keycard, and pushed open the door—only to find it secured with a chain lock.
"Don't move! Police!" Song Xing roared to intimidate them, then stepped back and delivered a powerful kick to the door. The flimsy door of the cheap hotel couldn't withstand the force—the screws tore straight out of the wall, and the entire door crashed to the floor.
Bursting into the room, Song Xing found it empty. The window had been smashed open with a wooden chair, leaving only a gaping hole. He rushed to the window and looked down. From the third floor, it was a seven- or eight-meter drop—a jump would take considerable courage. The two officers below were still on guard. Spotting Song Xing at the window, they shook their heads to signal that no one had come down.
Song Xing hesitated, puzzled. The chain lock meant the suspects had been inside, yet they hadn't jumped. So where had they gone?
Unless they were still in the room!
The realization struck him just as two figures lunged from the bathroom. Each clutching a blanket, they pounced on Song Xing, knocking him to the ground. They wrapped him in the blankets and began beating him mercilessly with an ashtray. Song Xing's gun hand was pinned beneath the thick layers, and in the chaos, he fired a shot. The bullet tore through the coarse, stiff cotton padding but failed to hit either suspect. Muffled by the blankets, the gunshot was barely audible. The two men wrestled the weapon from his grip.
Outnumbered and trapped under the suffocating weight of the blankets, Song Xing struggled fiercely but soon exhausted himself under their relentless assault.
The two men rolled him up tightly in the blankets, quickly tied him up with rope, and bundled him into a makeshift mummy. Then, they heaved the "mummy" out the window.
The two officers below had been keeping watch, staring up at the empty third-floor window. They thought that even if the suspects survived the jump from that height, they'd surely be injured. Suddenly, a blanket-wrapped human shape tumbled out of the window. Realizing the suspects had cleverly used the blankets to cushion their fall, the officers sprang into action.
Seconds later, the bundle slammed heavily onto the ground. The officers rushed forward, guns drawn, shouting for the suspects to freeze. To prevent resistance, they first delivered a few hard blows through the blankets before hastily unwrapping them—only to find a dazed and battered Song Xing inside.
"Why... why did you hit me?" Song Xing groaned. Though his tough bones had spared him from fatal injury, his entire body ached from the impact, leaving him temporarily immobilized. Trembling, he pointed weakly upward. "Still... upstairs. Go!"
With no time to apologize, the two officers turned and sprinted back into the hotel.The two officers had just run off when Song Xing, lying stiffly on the ground and gasping for air, suddenly saw a massive suitcase appear from the window above him. The next second, the suitcase plummeted straight toward his head in free fall.
"Ahhh!" Song Xing screamed, but his body was numb from the fall, leaving him unable to move. In a desperate bid for survival, he mustered all his strength to roll aside twice. With a loud thud, the suitcase landed right beside his head, nearly crushing it flat.
The next moment, the two robbers jumped out of the window one after another, each holding a bedsheet as a makeshift parachute, landing safely on the pile of bedding below. Fang Chao picked up the suitcase from the ground, and the two immediately bolted.
"Stop right there!"
Song Xing tried to intercept them, but as soon as he pushed himself halfway up, Fang Chao kicked him back down, leaving him howling in pain.
Despite the commotion, the back of the hotel only faced a narrow alley. A few bystanders came out to look but quickly retreated into their homes at the sight of the fleeing criminals, too afraid to intervene.
Minutes later, Zhang Yi'ang and reinforcements from all directions arrived at the scene.
Song Xing had been beaten by the criminals, thrown from the third floor, assaulted by his own subordinates, and finally kicked down by Fang Chao. Yet, against all odds, he managed to stand up and report the situation to his superior.
"Chief, the two suspects fled eastward dragging a large suitcase."
Hearing that they had escaped, Zhang Yi'ang flew into a rage. "Didn’t I order the three of you to hold your positions and wait for backup to surround them? Why did you act on your own?!"
Wang Ruijun smirked from the side, shaking his head at Song Xing. "Old Song, you can’t always hog the credit for yourself at critical moments. And look what happened—you let them get away!"
"I—the situation was urgent. The suspects realized we were cops and tried to escape. We had to act first."
"They realized?" Wang Ruijun snorted. "Did you tell them you were police?"
"No."
Wang Ruijun raised an eyebrow. "Exactly. It’s not like you had 'police' written on your face. For an experienced detective like you to mess up like this, your disguise must’ve been terrible. Reckless ambition—shame on you!"
"I—" Dizzy and disoriented, Song Xing was left speechless.
"Enough," Zhang Yi'ang cut in impatiently, first ordering the others to pursue the suspects before turning back to Song Xing. "Where are your two officers?"
"They went after the suspects."
"And what are you doing here?"
"I just sat down to catch my breath while waiting for you—"
"At a critical moment like this, while everyone else is risking their lives, you sit down to catch your breath? Must be nice being a detective, Song Xing!" Zhang Yi'ang glared at him fiercely.
Those around joined in the criticism. Last time, he failed to press the elevator button during Liu Bei’s arrest, letting him escape. This time, despite hundreds telling him to wait for backup, he stubbornly charged ahead to claim the glory—only for the suspects to flee. While his subordinates chased them, he sat on the ground resting. Even a police dog would’ve known to give chase—yet here he was, worse than a dog.Song Xing was dazed and disoriented. He had just narrowly escaped death, yet all his injuries were internal—not a drop of blood on him. How could anyone believe that? Struggling to piece together his words, he finally managed to explain that he had rushed into the room, was attacked by the assailants, and then thrown down wrapped in a blanket. Everyone analyzed the situation and concluded it all boiled down to "Foolish Song Xing." Knowing full well that police were stationed downstairs, instead of immediately searching for the criminals upon entering the room, he had foolishly lingered by the window, giving the assailants the chance to attack him from behind. A veteran armed officer, failing to even scratch the criminals, having his service weapon snatched, and being thrown out the window—even sending Li Qian to make the arrest wouldn’t have ended this badly.
Faced with the collective criticism, Song Xing bit his lip in frustration. "I’ll go after them right now. I swear I’ll bring those two back!" But as soon as he took a few steps, the pain in his leg flared up, sending him tumbling to the ground. Yet, shockingly, no one stepped forward to help him. Other officers even sneered, "Captain Song, no need for the 'self-inflicted injury' act in front of the chief."
Half an hour later, Song Xing’s two officers and other detectives returned to the hotel one after another, dragging a large suitcase behind them.
"Chief, the suspects were too fast—they vanished in no time. Other teams are still conducting a dragnet search. We found this suitcase abandoned near a trash can."
The suitcase was heavy. As they laid it down and unzipped it, everyone present froze in place. Upon closer inspection, some immediately recognized its contents: "Isn’t this Liu Bei’s body? So they’re the ones who killed Liu Bei!"
After the two suspects fled, the police deployed a massive dragnet operation centered on their escape route. Meanwhile, multiple checkpoints were set up on all roads leading out of Three Rivers Estuary. Every vehicle leaving the area that night would be thoroughly searched, and the vicinity around the bus station was no exception.
Hours passed, and though the two hadn’t been captured yet, their identities had been confirmed.
Previously, their crimes had gone without clear identification mainly due to their exceptional counter-surveillance skills. Their activities left no direct clues, and since neither had a criminal record, they naturally didn’t appear in any ex-convict databases. But this time, it was a hotel room—covered in their fingerprints. Forensic officers collected the prints and cross-referenced them with the national citizen database, quickly uncovering the truth.
The leader of the two criminals was Fang Chao, a 28-year-old from Jiangsu, unemployed, who had attended a diploma mill abroad after high school. The other, Liu Zhi, was from the same hometown, a year younger than Fang Chao, and the two had grown up together. Liu Zhi had served as a scout in the military but hadn’t held a steady job since his discharge. After reuniting with Fang Chao upon his return from abroad, neither seemed inclined toward honest work, and they soon began collaborating on crimes.Additionally, Zhang Yi'ang had ordered a thorough search of all the criminals' belongings. In the parking lot behind the hotel, they found Lin Kai's off-road vehicle. The GPS tracker had already been removed, and the car had been repainted—likely a quick job done by some small workshop after the criminals stole it. Inside a suitcase left at the scene, they discovered Liu Bei's corpse. As for why Fang Chao and Liu Zhi had killed Liu Bei, opinions varied. Some speculated it was due to underworld grudges, others thought it was a spur-of-the-moment decision, and some even wondered if Ye Jian's murder was connected. No consensus could be reached. However, to Zhang Yi'ang's disappointment, Zhou Rong's USB drive was not found in the hotel, indicating the two had taken it with them. Whether it was Liu Bei's body or the whereabouts of the USB drive, all answers now hinged on the capture of the two men.
"It's over. Everything's ruined, and now we're wanted criminals."
Under the heavy cover of night, Fang Chao and Liu Zhi lay sprawled out on the grass by the riverbank, utterly disheveled. Liu Zhi chewed on a blade of grass, limbs splayed carelessly, unconcerned about being spotted. They had narrowly escaped the police, but it hardly mattered. All their belongings left in the small hotel were gone, the body in the suitcase had been discovered by the police—who would surely pin it on them—and their fingerprints and other biological traces were all over the hotel. It was only a matter of time before the police identified them.
Fang Chao chain-smoked, staring at the river, lost in thought.
"Brother Chao, at this point, we're dead either way. Let's just grab whatever we can, rob a few people, get some cash, and run to Vietnam or Myanmar. Damn it, we can never go home again!"
"Hold on!" Fang Chao took a deep drag from his cigarette and paused. "We're not there yet."
"Not there yet?" Liu Zhi scoffed, curling his lip. The words sounded like a death row inmate pleading with the executioner in the final minute: "Officer, look, I have a mental illness certificate—does that mean you won't shoot me?"
Fang Chao abruptly sat up and pulled a USB drive from his inner pocket. "This thing!" He stuffed it back, his brow darkening with anger. "Do you know why the police came after us today?"
Liu Zhi growled, "It must've been that damn hotel owner who snitched. Before we run, we should kill him first!"
"What's the point? He doesn't even know us. The police must've been checking hotels with our info, and that's how they found us."
"But why were they looking for us? Did... Zhou Rong report us?"
"Obviously!"
"But we have his USB drive! How dare he call the cops!"
Fang Chao sighed. "I miscalculated. Zhou Rong is the richest man in Three Rivers Estuary. The police are in his pocket. If the USB drive falls into their hands, it's as good as back in his. That's why he dared to report us! If I'd known, I should've just killed him that night."
Liu Zhi punched the grass. "We have to get revenge!"
"You're damn right we do. First, we'll use the USB drive to extort money from Zhou Rong—but we won't return it. Before we run, I'll upload its contents online under some porn title, so everyone downloads it. Let the whole world see what's on this drive!"
Without delay, Fang Chao pulled out a handful of SIM cards from his pocket, selected one, and inserted it into his phone. He dialed the number Zhou Rong had given them. Moments later, Zhou Rong's voice came through: "Hello?"
"Boss Zhou?"
"Who is this?"Fang Chao sneered coldly, "Boss Zhou, have you forgotten us so quickly? Don’t you want the USB drive anymore?"
Zhou Rong immediately snapped to attention, "Give me back the USB drive. How much do you want?"
"Ten million."
"Ten million?"
"Take it or leave it. If you agree, we’ll proceed. If not, we’ll upload it online. After this call, we’ll destroy the SIM card, and you won’t be able to reach us." Fang Chao spoke with unwavering confidence.
"I..." The tone left Zhou Rong no room for negotiation. After a few seconds of consideration, he realized that if he lost contact with them now and the contents of the USB drive were made public, he would have nowhere to hide. Ten million was a hefty sum, but it was still an acceptable loss compared to the alternative. He quickly agreed, "Fine, ten million. How do we make the exchange? How do I ensure I get the drive back?"
"Prepare the money by tomorrow. I’ll let you know the details of the transaction."
"Tomorrow? It’s impossible to withdraw such a large amount of cash on such short notice."
"You’re a big shot. If you can’t manage it, then there’s nothing more to discuss."
"I... I agree."
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