Free Web NovelChapter 57: Chapter 57: Qiao Siyuan Abducted
"What?! You’re telling me someone abducted Qiao Siyuan!" Huo Qing shot to his feet in the police station, his voice laced with anger.
’Qiao Siyuan was abducted... Could it be that the suspects weren’t just him and his cronies, but an entire organization?’
Huo Qing staggered slightly. He took a deep breath and looked at the colleague before him. "Do we have surveillance footage of the incident?"
"We do, Captain Huo. On the way to transport Qiao Siyuan to the execution grounds, they were passing the roundabout on Wuhua Avenue. Our team had just reached it when a car crash happened."
"Before we could even get a clear look at what was happening, that car exploded. Xiao Zhang and his team got out to check on the situation. As it turned out, the officers guarding Qiao Siyuan in the van had all been shot and killed. Qiao Siyuan was gone."
Huo Qing clenched his fists. "Damn it. In broad daylight... Let’s go check out the scene."
As Huo Qing headed outside, he saw Lu Xingye rushing over, having obviously heard the news. "Brother Huo, I’m coming with you."
Huo Qing looked at him. "What about Jiang Li? Have a couple of our colleagues keep a close watch on her safety. Qiao Siyuan definitely isn’t the type to let things go."
"Okay."
Lu Xingye followed Huo Qing outside, pulling out his phone to call Jiang Li. After several calls went unanswered, a text message popped up on his screen.
[I’m heading back now.]
"Jiang Li says she’s heading back."
Huo Qing frowned. ’All of this is too much of a coincidence,’ he thought, pulling out his phone to call Zhou Tiancheng.
"Hey, Old Zhou. Jiang Li said she’s heading back, so keep an eye out. Her damn ex-boyfriend was just abducted, and I’m worried she’ll be targeted for revenge."
Zhou Tiancheng listened to Huo Qing, his eyes on a news report about an explosion. "Got it. I’ll have someone keep an eye out."
"Right. It’s busy here, so I can’t talk. Hanging up."
Huo Qing hung up and led his team toward the explosion site.
The area was already cordoned off, and other officers had begun to examine the scene.
Lu Xingye glanced at the surrounding security cameras, then at the overturned car on the side. He looked down at his tablet, scrolling through the surveillance feed, watching the vehicles that were present at the time of the incident.
The closest vehicles were still at the scene. ’The only other possibility is that someone planted a bomb here beforehand.’
Lu Xingye rewound the footage, locking the time to when the court hearing had started. He viewed the scene again. A sanitation worker was sweeping with a broom near the flower planters.
Lu Xingye took a screenshot, circled the person, and sent it to his colleagues, telling them to find the man.
In the video, a van was driving normally. The next second, an out-of-control semi-truck barreled toward it, ramming the van into the flower planters. Less than a minute later, an explosion occurred.
Their vehicle stopped, and two colleagues got out to assess the situation, call the police, and dial 120 for an ambulance. The surrounding area was filled with loud screams and crying.
Lu Xingye’s gaze remained fixed on the van escorting Qiao Siyuan. Then, he noticed two additional shadows inside it. He paused the video and zoomed in.
The image was too blurry to look like human figures, and the subjects were bundled up tightly.
Immediately after, the escort van also exploded. Qiao Siyuan and the two figures vanished. And just like that, it was all over.
Lu Xingye walked over to where the van had been, crouching down and starting to reconstruct the perpetrators’ route in his mind.
He stopped at one spot and looked up. A surveillance blind spot. ’To be able to wrap everything up so quickly,’ he thought, ’they must be a very experienced crew.’
Lu Xingye’s mind immediately flashed to the car crash back in C City. The speed had been mind-boggling.
He pulled out his phone and called Zhou Tiancheng. "Brother Zhou, I suspect the people behind this explosion are the same ones responsible for that car crash."
"My preliminary theory is that they abducted Qiao Siyuan because of Jiang Li—they want to get revenge on her. If she gets to you, you absolutely have to keep a close watch on her."
Zhou Tiancheng’s expression grew solemn. "Alright, I understand. I’ll send you the files on that car crash case now."
Zhou Tiancheng walked further into the office while still on the phone. The main culprit in that previous incident was Cheng Jiasuo, the son of the developer Cheng Kaicheng.
Cheng Jiasuo, twenty-five, was young and reckless. He had committed multiple rape-murders prior to this, but Cheng Kaicheng had always cleaned up his son’s messes, using money to bury the incidents. Under their repeated interrogation, Cheng Jiasuo had confessed.
He said he’d been high on drugs that day, gotten carried away, and that’s why he’d run someone over. The trafficking ring they’d busted only consisted of the dozen or so people at the scene. They had found out about making money overseas, so the like-minded group had gathered to start their trafficking operation.
The post-arrest investigation had confirmed as much.
Zhou Tiancheng pinched the bridge of his nose, Lu Xingye’s words echoing in his head. He stood and looked at Zhao Shuo. "Zhao Shuo, go bring Cheng Jiasuo here. Interrogate him again, thoroughly."
"Got it." Zhao Shuo put down what he was holding and made the call. A second later, his expression changed drastically.
He turned back to Zhou Tiancheng, his face white as a sheet. "Captain Zhou... the person on the other end said that at 12:32 p.m., during lunch, Cheng Jiasuo stabbed a major artery with a chopstick. He’s dead."
Zhou Tiancheng shot to his feet. "That’s one hell of a coincidence."
"Zhao Shuo, take some people and investigate again, carefully. Go through the entire Cheng Family circle with a fine-tooth comb. I’m going to call Lu Xingye."
Zhou Tiancheng walked into his office. His subordinates were efficient; the surveillance footage of Cheng Jiasuo’s suicide was sent over in no time.
On the monitor, Cheng Jiasuo, sporting a buzz cut and a striped uniform, sat staring blankly at the dining table. A patrolling prison guard had just walked past him. The next second, Cheng Jiasuo snatched the chopsticks from the table and plunged them into his own neck with incredible speed.
Zhou Tiancheng made a call. "Did Cheng Jiasuo meet with anyone recently?"
"No."
Zhou Tiancheng was baffled. ’If he didn’t see anyone, how did he get the news?’
"Send me a copy of all the surveillance footage of Cheng Jiasuo from his time inside."
After hanging up, Zhou Tiancheng called Lu Xingye. The moment Lu Xingye answered, Zhou Tiancheng heard a cacophony of noise from the other end.
"Xingye, Cheng Jiasuo is dead. As for Jiang Li, I’ve had Qinghe keep in contact with her."
"Got it." Lu Xingye hung up and went to inform Huo Qing. ’To think that even after hiding Jiang Li so carefully, those criminals still found a connection.’
Every police station in B City was swamped.
In a forgotten corner of B City, Qiao Siyuan was trussed up and tied to a chair, a blindfold covering his eyes.
Qiao Siyuan’s legs were trembling with fear. "Wh-who in the world are you people?"
He had thought he was a dead man for sure, but then an explosion had rung out. The police around him seemed to be under attack, and then he was abducted.
The person in front waved a hand. The blindfold was pulled from Qiao Siyuan’s face, and a blinding light assaulted his eyes. He took in the surrounding scene: an abandoned building.
"Wh-what do you want?" Qiao Siyuan asked, his voice trembling as he looked at the man who stood before him with his back turned.
The sound of a lighter flicking open echoed, followed by the man taking a deep drag. A hoarse voice cut through the air.
"Qiao Siyuan. From a remote mountain village, where you were the resident hoodlum. A petty thief from a young age. At twelve, you had your first ’taste,’ and after that, it became an uncontrollable habit."
"Afterward, when things came to light, you and your mother let your father take the fall and go to prison. You moved to C City. Your grades got better and better. You saw the looks of admiration in everyone’s eyes and began to disguise who you really were."
"At fifteen, you stumbled into Chen Qiang and his crew’s hideout. To avoid getting killed, you agreed to help them..."
"You’re twenty-five now, and you’ve stayed out of trouble for ten years. I’m just curious about one thing... Who was it that sent you to prison?"
