Chapter 22: Taking On the Mission (Part I)

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For now, the top priority was to find the trafficker who originally bought the child from Li Guisheng. As for the elderly man in front of them, it seemed he truly did not know or understand anything. However, since they had come all this way, they couldn’t leave empty-handed; they had to take away at least some clues before departing, Liang Song thought to himself.

So he said to the old man, “Comrade Lao Shang, since we’ve come here and our superiors have sent the two of us to investigate and gather evidence, we’re certainly not familiar with this place. Since you know it well, why don’t you give us a tour? Of course, we’ll follow your wishes—if you don’t want us to go somewhere, we won’t.”

“Alright, alright, of course, police officers,” Lao Shang replied politely.

“Please, lead the way.”

At that moment, Liang Song returned to the car and took out a body camera, preparing to wear it. Seeing this, Lao Shang quickly stopped him.

“Police officer, are you planning to record video?”

“Yes, is there a problem?” Liang Song responded.

“No problem, but I don’t recommend recording. There’s really nothing worth filming here,” Lao Shang said.

His words immediately aroused Liang Song’s suspicion. He looked directly at Lao Shang and asked, “Are you saying you don’t want me to record?”

“Not at all, not at all. Police officer, I spoke carelessly just now. If you want to record, go ahead. Yes, record if you like. But I have one request—please don’t film inside that hospital. My brothers are staying there, and one of them has some issues here,” he said, pointing to his head.

“Besides, you saw just now: you said it was for investigation, so you asked my brothers to leave here. After they left, they all went to that hospital. You saw it with your own eyes. If you go there to film or tour, it really wouldn’t be appropriate. It might cause unnecessary trouble or misunderstandings,” Lao Shang added, folding his hands earnestly.

Hearing this, Liang Song smirked and said, “Alright, I’ll listen to you.”

“Thank you, thank you. Please, follow me.”

So Lao Shang began leading the way. Liang Song turned on his body camera and started recording the video, following Lao Shang on the walk.

The area was actually quite small: aside from a dilapidated, abandoned hospital and a few nearly collapsing single-story houses nearby, there was nothing else. Surrounding everything were vast fields of crops, stretching as far as the eye could see for several miles.

Within a few minutes, they had finished the entire tour. Lao Shang even took them back to where they had parked.

He then went to the driver’s door, gently opened it, and looked politely at Liang Song and Zhang Heng.

“Officers, if there’s nothing else, please feel free to leave. I won’t see you off any further. Please take care.”

At this, Liang Song and Zhang Heng remained silent.

Seeing this, Lao Shang said again:

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“Officers, if you want to visit and investigate the hospital, come back tomorrow. I guarantee that whether you want to investigate, tour, or record video tomorrow, my brothers and I won’t stop you.”

Hearing this, Liang Song smiled wryly and said, “Lao Shang, we live in a society ruled by law. Your brothers surely understand the consequences of breaking the law, right? They must also know the repercussions of getting involved with gangs and criminal organizations.”

“Of course, Officer Liang. You’re absolutely right. We definitely know not to break the law, and we certainly won’t join any gangs. You can rest assured,” Lao Shang replied.

“Good. We will come back tomorrow to continue our investigation, and there might be more officers with us. I hope you maintain the same attitude as today.”

“That’s natural. Of course,” Lao Shang said.

“All right, you can go back now. No need to see us off. We’ll be leaving.”

“Okay, okay.”

Lao Shang stepped aside as Liang Song and Zhang Heng got into the car, started the engine, and drove off. Lao Shang waved them off from behind.

After driving for about half an hour, Liang Song and Zhang Heng suddenly encountered an astonishing sight up ahead.

A pile of rubble completely blocked the road. Judging by the way the stones were arranged, it was obvious to any keen observer that this was a deliberate obstruction.

Liang Song quickly stopped the car.

Looking around, they saw that this was the only passable road. On one side of the road were wheat fields with fully grown stalks, and on the other side was a ditch beneath the road. Clearly, neither side was passable.

And now the road ahead was blocked.

Questions immediately flooded their minds:

First, who had placed these stones here?

Second, was this obstruction related to them?

Third, someone was definitely trying to prevent them from passing freely.

As the two pondered, suddenly, a loud popping sound came from beneath the car.

“Boom!”

It sounded like a tire explosion, and their entire vehicle tilted slightly to the left rear.

“It’s a flat tire,” Zhang Heng said.

“I know,” Liang Song replied.

“Damn it, this has to be their doing,” Liang Song shouted angrily.

“Let’s get out and check it out.”

“Zhang Heng, stay in the car. I’ll go down and take a look.”

“Okay.”

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Liang Song opened the car door and got out.

He went to the rear of the car and indeed found the left rear tire flat. He saw a nail stuck in the tire clearly.

Looking further back, he spotted a neat row of nails placed on the ground. Only one nail was missing—the one that had punctured their tire.

Seeing this, Liang Song’s anger grew.

“Brother, someone’s there,” a voice came from a distance.

Liang Song looked up and saw two burly men dressed in black with their faces partially covered approaching. One of them held a volley of throwing daggers.

The two stopped immediately upon noticing Liang Song, crouched down, and aimed the daggers at him.

Seeing their hostile approach, Liang Song prepared to return to the driver’s seat to grab his pistol for self-defense.

“Brother Liang, what’s wrong?” Zhang Heng asked, watching Liang Song move toward the vehicle.

“Get down! Hand me the pistol—quickly!” Liang Song shouted.

Zhang Heng scrambled to find the gun.

Just as Liang Song reached the driver’s door and was about to get in—

“Bang!”

A volley of throwing daggers struck Liang Song’s thigh.

He collapsed to the ground.

“Bang!”

Another dagger hit his back.

Zhang Heng panicked but had already touched the pistol.

He tried to open the door to get out, but Liang Song, lying on the ground bleeding, called to him:

“Don’t get out, Zhang Heng.”

“Throw me the gun! Throw it to me!”

“Brother Liang!” Zhang Heng cried urgently.

“Throw it! Quickly!”

Hearing Liang Song’s command, Zhang Heng threw the pistol down to him beneath the car...