Chapter 281: Catching Bai Jiangbo
The female assailant showed no concern for her own life. She stared coldly at her bleeding stomach and said in a slightly hoarse voice, "Kill me. I don’t know anything."
Cheng Yuan wasn’t one to show mercy to a woman. He struck without a moment’s hesitation!
SCHLICK!
Cheng Yuan had beheaded the female assailant!
The male assailant jumped in terror. ’This kid is ruthless!’
"My patience is limited. Tell me, who sent you! I’ll give you a count of three! Three... two..."
As Cheng Yuan counted, he pointed the bloodied Broken Blade at the male assailant’s nose.
PLOP. A drop of blood landed on the man’s face. He completely broke.
"I’ll talk! I’ll talk! It was Ba—"
BANG! Before he could finish, a gunshot rang out.
A masked man peeked out from the adjacent courtyard and blew the male assailant’s head apart with a single shot.
Cheng Yuan was furious!
’This bastard! Silencing a witness right in front of me?’
"You’re dead!"
Like a rampaging T-Rex, Cheng Yuan charged toward the neighboring courtyard, leaping onto the top of the wall in a single bound.
The man in the next courtyard knew he was doomed. As Cheng Yuan landed on the wall, the man pressed a pistol to his own temple and pulled the trigger without a second thought.
BANG!
The man collapsed in a pool of blood.
The two gunshots alerted Constable Xing and his team, who were searching nearby. Several Patrol Officers rushed over, drew their guns, and aimed their dark muzzles at Cheng Yuan.
"Don’t move! Hands on your head!"
Cheng Yuan didn’t make things difficult for the officers. He said calmly, "I need to call your Director Wu."
The call connected quickly. Cheng Yuan briefly explained the situation, "Director Wu, please explain things to the officers here."
"Okay, Brother Yuan. Put them on."
Cheng Yuan handed the phone to the team’s leader. "Your Director Wu wants to speak with you."
The team leader quickly took the phone. "Director Wu?"
"This is Wu Mengyao. Cheng Yuan is Cheng Qianqian’s older brother. You are to follow his every command!"
"Yes, ma’am!"
The team leader deferentially handed the phone back to Cheng Yuan. "Mr. Cheng," he said respectfully, "the Director has ordered us to follow your command."
"Process the scene immediately. I want the identities and backgrounds of all three assailants. Most importantly, pull their recent call logs. I need to know who ordered them to kidnap Qianqian."
"Yes, Mr. Cheng!"
Meanwhile, Cheng Yuan returned to the other courtyard, entered the cellar, and carried out Cheng Qianqian.
Cheng Yuan carefully examined Cheng Qianqian. Finding she had only been drugged with an anesthetic, he breathed a small sigh of relief.
Cheng Yuan didn’t try to wake her. He let her sleep on the earthen bed while he waited for news from the officers.
「An hour later.」
The officers reported back with their findings.
"Mr. Cheng, we’ve looked into the three assailants’ backgrounds. They’re all ordinary people with no criminal records."
Cheng Yuan was not satisfied. "What about their recent call logs?"
"Their recent calls look normal, too. There’s no mention of Miss Cheng."
"Impossible! Do they have burner phones?"
"We’ll look again."
Cheng Yuan shook his head. "Don’t bother. I’ll find it myself."
With that, Cheng Yuan activated his Double Pupil and scanned both courtyards.
He quickly spotted something in the other courtyard.
Cheng Yuan vaulted onto the courtyard wall, then in a flash, dropped down next to the entrance of the outhouse.
Two Patrol Officers were searching near the outhouse. They were even prodding the inside of the pit with a bamboo pole, but they hadn’t found anything.
Cheng Yuan pinched his nose, exasperated. "Stop that. It’s not in the pit."
As he spoke, Cheng Yuan reached for the outhouse wall and pulled out a loose brick.
A cell phone lay nestled inside the cavity.
Cheng Yuan pulled out the phone and turned to the officers. "Is the man’s body still here?"
"Yes. The medical examiner is with it now."
"Good."
Cheng Yuan went into the main house, walked straight to the corpse, and used its finger to unlock the phone. Then, he checked the contacts.
The contact list was empty; not a single number was saved. All incoming and outgoing calls were from unknown numbers.
Cheng Yuan redialed the last number. The call connected almost instantly. A gruff voice came through the line: "Didn’t I tell you to wait? Nag, nag, nag, that’s all you do! Secretary Jiang said they’ll create an opening for you soon. Just hang on a little longer!"
The voice sounded familiar to Cheng Yuan. He asked in a low tone, "Friend, you sound familiar. Have we met?"
The person on the other end was silent for a long moment. "Who is this?"
"This is Cheng Yuan. Who are you?"
CLICK.
The call disconnected.
Cheng Yuan called Wu Mengyao. "Director Wu," he said grimly, "run a trace on two numbers for me, now. They start with 139... and 130..."
"Got it."
Wu Mengyao called back a moment later.
"Brother Yuan, both are unregistered numbers."
"In Luocheng, who can get their hands on untraceable numbers like these?"
"Bai Jiangbo, Zhou Chenglong, and Xu Shihao all have that ability."
’Bai Jiangbo?’
Cheng Yuan’s pupils contracted. The henchman had managed to say one word: ’Ba—.’ And the voice on the phone... it had sounded familiar. It sounded like Bai Jiangbo.
"Director Wu, I need Bai Jiangbo’s location."
"Okay, I’m on it."
...
「Lanke Clubhouse.」
Bai Jiangbo’s face was chalk white with fear. His people had been caught. Thankfully, they hadn’t betrayed him.
Still, it was only a matter of time before the trail led back to him.
Bai Jiangbo called Secretary Jiang. "Secretary Jiang! Cheng Qianqian’s brother found my men. It won’t be long before he follows the trail to me. You’re moving too slow! You still haven’t created that opening! Who’s going to dare work for you after this?"
With that, Bai Jiangbo slammed the phone down.
Bai Jiangbo hurriedly packed a bag, threw on a pair of sunglasses, and rushed to the underground parking garage. He got into an inconspicuous little Alto and sped toward the riverfront, where he had already contacted a boatman to arrange his escape.
Unfortunately for him, the Alto was stopped the moment it exited the garage.
Wu Mengyao herself was leading the team.
"Boss Bai, you’re coming with me."
Bai Jiangbo wasn’t the least bit flustered. "Director Wu, do you have an arrest warrant? A detention order? If not, I’m afraid you’ll have to speak with my lawyer."
"Boss Bai, you have the right to remain silent. Officers, take him away!"
"Director Wu, you have no evidence against me! The most you can do is hold me for twenty-four hours. After that, you have to let me go!"
Wu Mengyao knew Bai Jiangbo was right. She quickly dialed Cheng Yuan. "Brother Yuan, I’ve got Bai Jiangbo, but I can only hold him for twenty-four hours. Get down to the Patrol Bureau, fast."
A small smile touched Cheng Yuan’s lips. "Don’t worry, Mengyao. I have all the evidence we need right here. He’s never getting out."