Chapter 30: Trapped Beast

Tan Haiqing pulled a snow-white handkerchief from his pocket and pressed it to the wound on his neck, glancing at the corpse on the ground: “Leave it here. Let it freeze solid before we deal with it—don’t want blood splattered everywhere again. Go wash yourself—you’re covered head to toe, it’s disgusting to look at.”

Liu Baoshan, who had just been on the verge of losing control, nodded at Tan Haiqing’s words: “Yeah, yeah, I’ll wash up right away. Uh, Qing’er, got any booze and food left? After taking out that guy, I’m starving. Want to have a drink with me?”

Tan Haiqing threw him a flirtatious glance like a woman: “Of course I do. I’m hungry too. Let’s go have a couple of drinks!”

In the small grove beside Qingjiang River, the technical team was analyzing tire tracks left on the ground. Luo Fei, who had come with Gu Changzheng, was carefully searching the scene alongside other officers, hoping to uncover more clues.

Gu Changzheng lit a Lao Baitiao cigarette and took a deep drag; the thick smoke filled his chest, instantly clearing his mind. Liu Baoshan was cunning and brutal. Reviewing his past cases, he was a lone wolf—no record of accomplices. But this time, he clearly had accomplices, more than one—no single man could have pulled off the kidnapping, escape, and extraction. And his brazen, theatrical crime scene—like he wanted everyone to know it was him—was it to cover for his accomplices? Or was there another motive?

“Captain Gu!” Luo Fei jogged over: “We found something. The tire tracks all belong to the same vehicle. The tech team thinks it’s a panel van—it parked in the grove, loaded heavy cargo, then left.”

“Can you estimate how much weight was added when it left?”

“Yeah, about 600 kilograms—exactly the weight of the money.”

Gu Changzheng nodded at Luo Fei: “Very likely. This Liu Baoshan has a well-coordinated, experienced team behind him.” Liu Baoshan must have social connections the police never knew about.

“Find that vehicle—it’s a crucial lead,” Gu Changzheng said. “Luo Fei, tell the tech team to compile every possible detail on the suspected vehicle and send it to the command center. Use city traffic and surveillance cameras to locate it.”

At Jun’an Cold Chain Logistics Park in Jiangnan District, Liu Baoshan lay fast asleep on a small bed inside, fully sated from food and drink, and after an intense bout of activity—he was utterly relaxed.

Tomorrow morning, he would slip out of Zizhen City hidden inside a refrigerated truck. The money would be shipped in batches via cold-chain vehicles to the border. The panel van used to transfer the money boxes had been fitted with new license plates and tires upon arrival at the park and now sat quietly within the compound. Everything was ready. Liu Baoshan slept soundly. By this time tomorrow, he’d be on the southwestern border.

Outside Jun’an Cold Chain Logistics Park, several vehicles arrived silently. They stopped at the perimeter, and Gu Changzheng stepped out of one. Surveillance footage had revealed a panel van entering police radar; after layered tracking, it vanished inside this logistics park.

After identifying himself to the night guard, Gu Changzheng led five detectives and a squad of armed police officers quietly into the compound.

Jun’an Cold Chain Logistics Park housed over five hundred businesses. Vehicles entering were captured by cameras at the main gate, but most internal cameras were offline. The property management claimed they’d been broken for a long time and were awaiting approval and funding for repairs. Gu Changzheng was furious—no choice but to split his team and inspect vehicles one by one.

Only when the search began did Gu Changzheng realize the park held at least eight or nine hundred vehicles—dozens, maybe hundreds, matched the suspect’s panel van.

Gu Changzheng sighed at the scene: “Pair up. Divide the area and start searching. Luo Fei, contact reinforcements—tell them to turn off headlights when they’re 500 meters out. No noise. Don’t spook the suspects.”

Luo Fei whispered: “Understood.”

Twenty minutes later, hundreds of detectives and armed police formed an impenetrable ring, surrounding the 50,000-square-meter logistics park.

The search proceeded in silent darkness.

In the small room beneath the “Haiqing Freezer” sign, Tan Haiqing was not asleep. While cleaning the leftover dishes from the small table, he noticed meat and vegetables beneath Ren Jiahe’s seat—some chewed roughly, others untouched. He realized: when he’d been hidden, only he and Liu Baoshan had been in the room. Liu had ample opportunity to pretend he’d eaten large quantities of food, while poisoning everything except the alcohol and the pig’s head. Ren Jiahe had been wary of Liu Baoshan from the start—he’d never touched food offered by him.

“Heh!” Tan Haiqing sneered inwardly. The man was alert, calculating—but he grossly overestimated his own strength. Even without my skills, he couldn’t have escaped death. From the moment Liu Baoshan set his sights on him, this outcome was inevitable. “It’s your fate,” Tan Haiqing murmured softly.

He checked the time: it was 4 a.m. Ren Jiahe’s corpse had been frozen for nearly two hours—perfect for dissection. No blood would splash, and it wouldn’t be too hard. He mentally planned how to cut the body most efficiently, like preparing a slab of pork.

The vehicle search yielded no progress, frustrating Gu Changzheng. He knew the van had to be inside—somehow modified. Otherwise, how could so many men inspecting every matching vehicle find nothing?

Modified? Gu Changzheng suddenly understood. After entering the park, the van first moved the money boxes, then was modified. But in this environment, major changes were impossible. So what could be changed?

“Tires!” he thought.

“Luo Fei!” he called to Luo Fei, who was inspecting vehicles. “Have every team start over. Recheck every single vehicle. Ignore everything else—only look at the tires. Find which ones are new. Hurry!”

Half an hour passed. Of the 893 vehicles on-site, sixteen had new tires. Six were sedans—eliminated. Of the remaining ten, three matched the panel van’s size.

“Have the tech team inspect the three vehicles—find which one’s tires have no disinfectant residue.”

“Got it! Captain Gu, you’re a genius!” Luo Fei exclaimed in sudden realization.