Coming to Myself

The woman finally moved faster and stood under the X-ray machine.

The screen displayed a full-body perspective image of her.

Jing Ping froze abruptly.

Nothing.

Her stomach, abdominal cavity, and intestines were completely empty—none of the expected capsules filled with drugs that she had swallowed.

Yin Feng had been standing by the side of the machine, observing the woman's demeanor. At this moment, he clearly saw a fleeting look of relief cross her face.

"It's not her," Yin Feng said. "A diversion tactic!"

The woman stiffened, thinking, How did they figure it out so quickly? She instinctively glanced at Yin Feng and noticed that this policeman was unexpectedly handsome, but his eyes were cold and sharp, sending a shiver through her heart.

You Mingxu and Xu Mengshan quickly caught on. You Mingxu immediately called a colleague: "What about the remaining passengers?"

The colleague on the other end replied, "Half of them have already left!"

"Stop all of them!"

"Ah..."

Jing Ping, however, lowered his head, his mind racing like a film reel replaying the images of every passenger who had passed by earlier—the elderly, children, couples, young people... He suddenly looked up, took the phone from You Mingxu, and said, "Grab that lone woman carrying a bundle of climbing rope! Red jacket, black pants!"

The response came: "Copy that! We see her!" The phone seemed to be tossed aside, with faint sounds of exclamations and commotion.

Jing Ping looked up and saw the woman behind the X-ray machine, her face ashen. He said coldly, "Take her to the station too. Earlier, she didn't argue, fuss, or defend herself—all to buy time for her accomplice. She's an accessory."——

With the assistance of the drug enforcement police in Hunan, the initial search for the woman in the red jacket also yielded no results." Jing Ping's attention then focused on that thick bundle of climbing rope.

In the end, the police successfully separated a significant quantity of heroin from the climbing rope. This meant that the woman transporting the drugs was undoubtedly facing the death penalty, while the woman covering for her would also face imprisonment.

The drug mule was named Xiao Lan, and her accomplice was Xiao Yan, her younger sister. Initially, during police interrogation, Xiao Lan merely bowed her head and cried, refusing to say anything. Xiao Yan only confessed to the tasks assigned by Xiao Lan: accompanying her sister through this "checkpoint" in exchange for a 3,000-yuan reward. She claimed to know nothing else—neither the source of the drugs nor the identities of the suppliers or recipients.

Thus, the breakthrough had to come from Xiao Lan.

But Jing Ping was an experienced drug enforcement officer. He brought in a cup of tea, dismissed the others, and spent two hours talking with Xiao Lan. Her psychological defenses completely collapsed, and she agreed to cooperate, offering all the information she knew in exchange for a reduced sentence. She even knelt before Jing Ping, tearfully begging him to save the life of her young son, who was being threatened by the drug trafficking organization.

In her presence, Jing Ping called colleagues in Yunnan and instructed them to rescue the child. When he walked out of the interrogation room alone, his expression was grave. You Mingxu approached him, and he smiled bitterly: "On the borders, many 'drug mules' are like this—ordinary folks. Their families are struggling financially. Some take desperate risks for a payout of tens of thousands per trip; others owe money to criminal organizations and have family members held hostage, forcing them into it. Some are simply deceived."You Mingxu had heard about these things before, but not in this specific context—she had never witnessed them firsthand. Including Xiao Yan, who had covered for her sister today—if she really had drugs concealed inside her body, she was risking her life. Every capsule could rupture at any moment, potentially killing her in an instant.

"Who came up with the decoy plan today?" You Mingxu asked.

Jing Ping glanced at her—she had hit the nail on the head.

"Xiao Lan said it was Sister Yun who taught her. Sister Yun arrived in Xiangcheng yesterday."

Sister Yun?

You Mingxu was slightly taken aback. Xiao Lan's contact, the new liaison replacing Guo Xing, was another woman?

——

Several inconspicuous cars sped along the highway.

Xu Mengshan drove one, with Jing Ping in the passenger seat, while You Mingxu and Yin Feng sat in the back.

Truth be told, Yin Feng had zero interest in drug busts like this. This was frontline work—even if he wanted to investigate the connection between the Kaiyang Group and the Punisher Organization, he could simply gather information afterward. After all, he was just a scholar.

But now, the scholar had to change into lightweight clothing and even applied for a firearm. What could he do when his future wife was charging ahead? Moreover, there was that annoying "close male friend" nearby. He had to plant himself here just to make everyone else uncomfortable.

Thinking this, Yin Feng's mood lifted again.

You Mingxu, however, didn’t want him to come along. Seeing him sitting there calmly, she lowered her voice and said, "Stay downstairs later—don’t go up."

Yin Feng glanced at her. "Worried about me?"

"You’re in the way."

He stared straight ahead without responding.

You Mingxu insisted, "Listen to me."

But he replied, "You Mingxu, one day, you’ll listen to me in everything."

You Mingxu didn’t feel angry. Instead, scenes from the past suddenly flashed in her mind—him sitting bolt upright in a chair, hands on his knees, nodding vigorously at whatever she said. Obedient as a puppy. Yet his eyes seemed to hold stars.

Now, he had returned to his true nature, and it turned out he was such a hard-to-handle old man.

Jing Ping’s ears, honed in the primal forests, picked up every word of their conversation despite not wanting to listen. He felt a strong urge to punch Yin Feng and had a premonition that such a day would inevitably come.

Xiao Lan and Xiao Yan had confessed everything they knew.

The "Sister Yun" was around thirty-three or thirty-four years old, from Yunnan. How long she had been involved in drug trafficking, Xiao Lan didn’t know, only that she was also a ringleader.

Sister Yun had come to Hunan on business this time, bringing along her subordinates to transport a batch of goods. Xiao Lan was one of them. As for what specific business Sister Yun had, Xiao Lan wasn’t sure. She only knew Sister Yun had arrived in Xiangcheng yesterday, accompanied by two highly skilled subordinates.

Originally, Xiao Lan was supposed to meet Sister Yun right after getting off the plane to deliver the drugs and receive payment. Jing Ping had her maintain normal phone contact with Sister Yun’s side to buy time while he led a team to raid Sister Yun’s hideout.

So this operation carried extremely high risks—the drug dealers were likely armed.

Several police cars quietly pulled up outside a budget hotel. It was confirmed that the suspects were in a specific room number, with three people inside.A line of heavily armed police officers silently ascended the stairs. The staff on the target floor had already been cleared out. However, there were still several guests who had already checked in on the same floor. Jing Ping intended to resolve the situation quickly, trying not to alert the guests.

Jing Ping took the lead, followed closely by Xu Mengshan, with Yin Feng trailing behind You Mingxu.

You Mingxu still felt uneasy and glanced at Yin Feng.

Yin Feng leaned close to her ear and whispered, "If you leave me alone downstairs and something dangerous happens, what should I do?"

You Mingxu suddenly felt that if he really encountered danger, he would deserve it. She replied quietly, "Stay out of the way and be smart."

"Okay."

All were well-trained police officers. They moved with light steps, slowly closing in on the target room. Yin Feng gradually fell to the back, watching from a distance. His phone vibrated—he had received a detailed structural diagram and map of the hotel from Guan Jun. He quickly scanned it a few times, committing it to memory just in case. What if You Mingxu needed it? Could anyone else remember it for her?

The corridor was dimly lit with a soft glow, and every police officer was as tense as a drawn bowstring. In Yin Feng's eyes, You Mingxu was probably the most exquisitely crafted and compact one. He noticed her neck held straight, her entire demeanor radiating a cold intensity. Yet, her waist was slender and her legs long. Yin Feng suddenly found this version of her quite sexy.

A scene flashed through Yin Feng's mind.