Chapter 340: The Cricket Hand

Eight plainclothes officers split into two groups; two posed as Food and Drug Administration officials, two as fire inspectors.

They came once every year before the start of winter; the merchants just assumed it was a routine safety inspection and were quite cooperative.

Just like that, they went from one unit to the next.

Lin Sicheng's pace was faster, like a cursory glance at flowers while riding a horse; in nearly two hours, he had already gone through the entire cold storage area.

Looking at the dense symbols in his small notebook, he rested his chin on his hand and pondered secretly.

There were few drugs, mostly fruits and vegetables; the majority of the cold storage units were at normal pressure. A few were at negative pressure, and there was not a single one at positive pressure.

The key was that the humidity was extremely high.

Storing Cultural Relics in such an environment would not only fail to provide protection, but would instead have the opposite effect.

Then was this place just a spot that woman used to produce nitrogen?

That should be impossible.

Grave-robbing is a technical job; opening a pit once every two or three years is considered high efficiency. If it were only to produce nitrogen, there would be no need to specifically rent a unit in such an expensive place, and that Qi Song would have even less reason to come so frequently.

Thinking about it, there were only two possibilities: first, what was stored here were Cultural Relics that did not require positive pressure.

It's not that there aren't any of this type, but they are relatively rare: for example, metal artifacts already suffering from disease, paper or silk Cultural Relics already showing mold spots, and ceramics with extremely high salt content.

However, these are all means of alleviating the rate of corrosion through atmospheric pressure reversibility before the restoration of damaged Cultural Relics. If a group of Grave Robbers were professional to this extent, why would they still be grave-robbing?

Then only one possibility remained: Wang Chun sent his subordinates to move the goods away.

It's not impossible: the Police are human, not gods. That woman also had more than just Qi Song, Ren Danhua, and Yu Jichuan as her core members.

Sending a fresh face, and planning it cleverly to transport the goods right under the Police's noses, was not impossible.

Thinking secretly, Lin Sicheng closed his small notebook: "Captain Yan, why don't we withdraw!"

An "ah" sound came from the headset tucked into his collar, followed by Yan Wenjing's voice: "Not here?"

"It's possible!" Lin Sicheng nodded, "Even if there were something, it would have no value!"

The reason why the salt content of ceramics is extremely high is for one reason: the craftsmanship was substandard. Even if there were some, they wouldn't be worth much money.

This is even more true for metal artifacts with disease and textile or paper Cultural Relics with mold spots. It can be said: even if you gave them to Lin Sicheng, he would have to stare blankly, watching them rot away.

It's not that they can't be restored, but there is no equipment, and even less of an assistant who can lend him a hand.

Those who can restore them, and dare to restore them, don't exceed two handfuls in the whole country. For a Grave Robber, such things are roughly equivalent to junk. There is no need to spend such a large sum of money to specifically rent a cold nitrogen storage unit.

"Teacher Lin, do you want to search again?" Yan Wenjing was a bit unwilling to give up, "This time, you lead the team yourself!"

Lin Sicheng shook his head: what unit does a safety inspection and checks back and forth twice?

They were here to find Cultural Relics and stolen goods, not to beat the grass and startle the snakes.

"Captain Yan, there's no need. Let the two groups continue; they might discover something in the remaining half of the storage rooms that haven't been checked yet."

"Teacher Lin, can't you smell it, like the earthy scent of unearthed Cultural Relics?"

Lin Sicheng looked helpless.

His nose was indeed quite sharp, but no matter how sharp, it hadn't reached the level of being able to distinguish the difference between the muddy scent of fruits and vegetables and the muddy scent of unearthed Cultural Relics.

"Captain Yan, why don't you bring a police dog?"

If he could use a police dog, he would have brought one over long ago; why go through all this sneaking around and covering up?

There was no other way; Yan Wenjing could only comply.

He prepared to report to the General Team and had just picked up his Police Communication when a "hiss" came over the walkie-talkie: "Captain Yan, there is a situation."

Yan Wenjing's spirits lifted.

Zooming in on the surveillance, there were many people at the entrance of the cold storage.

Half were team members; all eight plainclothes officers from the two groups were there. The other half were merchants, over a dozen men and women, blocking the entrance of the cold storage tightly.

Yan Wenjing gripped the walkie-talkie: "What's going on?"

"Captain Yan, it's the Beishui Company. They won't let us open the storage, saying we must wait for notification from the leadership. They also said that even if the storage were opened, the boxes cannot be opened: inside is all high-end seafood exclusively for government receptions. If something goes wrong, they can't take responsibility..."

"What a load of bullshit."

This is a cold storage unit; inside is seafood wrapped in ice. If it could spoil just by opening the storage for a moment, it would have gone bad on the way back.

Yan Wenjing suddenly became suspicious: could it be a guilty conscience?

Lin Sicheng was noncommittal: Beishui Company is the country's largest imported frozen seafood enterprise, the only seafood enterprise in the country to hold an Olympic catering supplier license, and even more so, the seafood supplier for key reception units under the State Council's reception office, such as the State Guest House, Jingxi, and others.

There are no small matters in diplomacy; the more such units there are, the stricter the regulations, and sometimes it is inevitable that they will rigidly apply the rules and regulations. If the leaders above don't speak, the people below really don't dare to open the storage room.

Of course, it doesn't exclude the possibility of hanging a sheep's head to sell dog meat. For Wang Chun, sending some money to pull strings and renting two storage rooms under the name of Beishui Company is not that difficult.

Almost at the office area, Lin Sicheng took a turn: "Captain Yan, I'll go take a look too."

It was in the same area, not far, just a hundred meters away. At the same time, Yan Wenjing hurried to check again:

There were seven storage units in total, not belonging to the logistics Center, but were self-built storage units of the Beishui Company. The dozen or so people blocking the door were all named employees of the Beishui Company.

It seems it really was a misunderstanding.

Yan Wenjing immediately asked for instructions; the superior's instruction was very simple: do the whole act, since it is a safety inspection, there is no reason to only check private individuals and not state-owned enterprises; even if it is just putting on a show and arguing, they must act until dark.

And so, neither side would give way, and they reached a stalemate, with more and more onlookers.

There was nothing worth watching, and Lin Sicheng didn't have the hobby of watching the fun, so he prepared to take the two Special Duty Team members acting as bodyguards to go to Shilihe to look around.

There should also be a spot where Wang Chun hides goods there; as for how to find it, Lin Sicheng hadn't thought it through yet and would have to go and see before deciding.

Thinking secretly, he had just lifted his foot when he suddenly stopped.

Faintly, a few wisps of a strange smell drifted into his nose.

It wasn't the fragrance of fruit, nor the grassy smell of vegetables, and even less the seafood smell of aquatic products.

It was like the rancid smell of cooking oil after it has gone bad, mixed with a faint trace of urine. Sniffing carefully again, there was also a hint of the smell of rotten Chinese cabbage?

The key was that it was very familiar, as if he had smelled it many times before.

Lin Sicheng sniffed hard a few times: no, this is the smell from a tomb, and it must be a large tomb.

To be precise: this is the smell of lacquerware.

Not modern paint, but ancient raw lacquer: the waxy oil smell is the characteristic rancid odor of tung oil after oxidation; the urine-like smell is the amine gas produced by the decomposition of enzyme proteins in the laccase residue; the rotten cabbage smell is dimethyl sulfide generated by the reaction between cinnabar and lacquer phenol.

If it were a handed-down piece in a normal environment, the scent would have dissipated long ago; let alone smelling it, you wouldn't even taste it if you put it in your mouth and chewed. But if it is lacquerware dug out from a completely sealed, completely anaerobic ancient tomb, such a strange odor would take at least half a year to a year to volatilize.

Raw Pit Goods?

Lin Sicheng twitched his nose and moved slowly.

It's getting stronger; the smell is coming from this direction...

Found it...

Not far, very close to where he was standing before, only seven or eight meters away. Now even closer, just four or five meters. Two men around thirty years old are standing outside the crowd of onlookers, one wearing camouflage, one wearing a "Xiangguoyuan" work uniform.

One is holding a coil of rope, one is pulling a small cart; both are dressed like stevedores.

No need to doubt: these two either just came out of a tomb or just came out of a treasury for lacquer-type Cultural Relics, and they are definitely the kind that just came out of the ground.

The strange thing is, the two are staring straight at him... their gazes are even stranger, as if they know him.

And it carries that kind of meaning: "a person who absolutely shouldn't be here has suddenly appeared here."

Lin Sicheng's eyelids jumped: Not good... these two are Wang Chun's subordinates, and they recognize him.

But how is that possible?

He had at least put on makeup; even if it hadn't reached the level of a complete transformation, unless they had an extremely deep impression of him, it would be impossible to recognize him after just a few glances.

What's more, the police team had done so much preventive work beforehand; even Wang Chun hadn't seen him, so where could her subordinates have seen him?

At the time, he didn't even know Wang Chun was called Wang Chun, only that she was the woman he had casually set a trap for at Panjiayuan, and the police team had already taken precautions. Not only did they block the surveillance footage in Zhao Xiuxian's shop, they even destroyed the surveillance from Qianjin Lu and Xidan Shopping Mall as well.

And every time they took action, there was not only a command vehicle nearby, but also technical reconnaissance accompanying the team. Whether it was Ren Danhua or the Yu siblings, it was impossible for them to take photos secretly without being discovered by the technical reconnaissance.

Conversely: if Wang Chun had seen him and knew that the young expert Ren Danhua was dying to recruit was the same young man she had casually scammed at Panjiayuan, she could have guessed with her toes: Ma Shan was put in by him.

With this woman's caution, she would have long since vanished without a trace, rather than being as suspicious as she is now, testing him again and again.

Then, is it haunted?

Just as he was shocked and uncertain, Lin Sicheng had a flash of inspiration: one of them is on the phone, both eyes fixed on him, muttering to himself.

Being only five or six meters away, it was hard for him not to hear clearly: "This is that expert Scavenger of Broken Pieces... isn't he only in his early twenties?"

The other is looking around, as if searching for something in the crowd.

Understood: these two don't recognize him; someone else recognizes him, and they are nearby.

Lin Sicheng glanced left and right, his gaze suddenly freezing: a bit further away, a man is holding a mobile phone.

He is not tall, submerged in the crowd. Wearing a mask, his features are not visible, but occasionally when he pokes his head out, a pair of peach-blossom eyes with slight wrinkles at the corners are revealed.

The gaze reveals a few traces of suspicion, a few traces of realization, and horror...

Lin Sicheng's heart skipped a beat: Yu Jichuan?

If he is here, then what about Yu Jiyao, or even Ren Danhua?

Sweeping his eyes rapidly, Lin Sicheng was stunned for a moment.

Found them: very far away, nearly twenty meters. At the corner of the aisle, a woman wearing a white coat and a mask is standing.

Her features are also invisible, but likewise, that pair of peach-blossom eyes, those long, narrow corners, and the terrified light in her pupils leave an exceptionally deep impression.

Lin Sicheng doesn't know what to say.

Blame Deputy Branch Chief Tu, blame Yan Wenjing: one lost the person while Tai Mausoleum, the other was deploying in the surveillance room with the technical reconnaissance, and they didn't even notice when a key figure touched right under their noses?

But sometimes it's just that coincidental: a sudden change occurs, and a Beishui Company pops up?

Not to mention there are many people, their attitude is unusually tough, and they caused such a huge commotion. Whether it was Yan Wenjing or the technical reconnaissance, they were all attracted by these ten or so Beishui Company workers.

It just so happens that Yu Jichuan and Yu Jiyao were mixed in among those onlookers, and covered up tightly.

Then what about Ren Danhua, is she here too?

Can't worry about that much anymore...

Lin Sicheng adjusted his glasses, his voice barely audible: "Captain, I've been exposed!"

Yan Wenjing's eyelids jumped: "Exposed, how come I don't know?"

Lin Sicheng sighed: As expected, he hadn't noticed at all?

"Two of Wang Chun's subordinates: the camouflage one with the rope, the Xiangguoyuan one pulling the cart... and two more: at ten o'clock, about fifteen meters away, Yu Jichuan in a trench coat... at one o'clock, about twenty meters away, Yu Jiyao in a white coat..."

At first, Yan Wenjing was still shocked and uncertain: there are so many onlookers, how does Lin Sicheng know these two are Wang Chun's subordinates?

But immediately, hearing the two familiar names, he was horrified: Yu Jichuan, Yu Jiyao, didn't they run away, how did they run here?

Following Lin Sicheng's guidance, the moment he found the people, the hair all over Yan Wenjing's body stood up: in the magnified surveillance, a man and a woman were staring intently at Lin Sicheng, their gazes shocked and suspicious, fearful and panicked.

Every time Lin Sicheng met these two, it was Yan Wenjing leading the team. Never mind just wearing masks, even if their entire faces were covered, he could still recognize them.

He wanted to slap himself: Yan Wenjing, what the hell have you been doing?

"Don't just stand there like idiots, catch them... if they dare to resist arrest, open fire, I'll take the responsibility..." Yan Wenjing roared, threw down the walkie-talkie, and picked up the Police Communication.

His fingers were trembling as he pressed the numbers: It's over... is it really over this time?

If Wang Chun runs away, let alone being a Captain, he'd be lucky to even be a prison guard...

Using the general channel, the moment Lin Sicheng said he was exposed, the eight plainclothes officers reacted: camouflage, Xiangguoyuan, trench coat man, white coat.

The two groups from Beishui Company and the logistics Center were arguing incessantly, spitting flying. Almost no one noticed: the four drug inspectors and four firefighters who were previously surrounding the area had exited the crowd.

Lin Sicheng walked forward unhurriedly, first taking off his hat, then taking off his glasses, then taking out a wet wipe and wiping his face.

To tell the truth, the makeup artist's technique was quite impressive, but no one expected to run into acquaintances today.

Counting it up, he hadn't actually known Yu Jichuan and Yu Jiyao for long, two or three weeks at most, but these two had an impression of him that couldn't be deeper.

Especially Yu Jiyao: born in the underworld, raised in the underworld, and serving people with her beauty, she had seen no shortage of figures.

But a peer like Lin Sicheng, young, wealthy, and with supreme talent, was almost the ceiling of all the men she had ever seen.

Precisely because of curiosity, she paid extra attention. Often, inadvertently, Lin Sicheng's figure would appear in her mind.

Moreover, she had seen the person in the flesh: perhaps it was the height, perhaps the build, perhaps the way of walking, or perhaps an unintentional glance back.

The moment the feeling of familiarity struck, she subconsciously linked it to Lin Sicheng; with just a little observation, she could recognize him...

Seeing that familiar face, that familiar smile, Yu Jichuan widened his eyes: Sure enough, Yu Jiyao hadn't misidentified him; this was that Manager Lin.

But why was he here?

Yu Jichuan didn't understand for a moment, but he at least understood one thing: this was definitely not a coincidence.

Yu Jichuan's reaction was a bit slow, but Yu Jiyao's was not: Who wears a disguise if they're a good person?

And right outside her eldest sister's Treasury?

Intercepting the Arena, snatching goods, Lower Out of Cage, Stealing Cold Rice...

In an instant, countless thoughts popped into her mind, and Yu Jiyao suddenly shivered: Why the hell am I standing here stunned, I need to call my eldest sister?

No, call my cousin.

It was only twenty meters away, reached in an instant. Watching Yu Jiyao fumble for her phone in a panic, Lin Sicheng smiled: "Miss Yu, we meet again?"

Yu Jiyao dialed in a panic: "Don't come over... don't come over..."

But before she could finish, with a "slap," a hand struck her wrist, and the phone fell to the ground with a sound.

Immediately, a pair of pincer-like arms wrapped around her arms. Then, with a "click," a pair of shiny things were locked onto her wrists.

In an instant, Yu Jiyao's face turned white, not a trace of blood left.

Her eyes bulged outward, an expression as if she had seen a ghost: Police... he is the Police?

Her mouth had just opened, the words just reaching her tongue, when another "slap" sounded, and a piece of adhesive tape was stuck over her mouth.

Lin Sicheng's eyes lit up: I hadn't seen Su Ye make a move before, I didn't expect it to be this swift?

They were all well-trained criminal police, and the elite of the elite; adaptability and emergency response were just basic skills.

Including Liu Guojun, nine big men in groups of three formed a triangle and surrounded them.

Yu Jichuan didn't have any accidents; in fact, before he even reacted, a pair of Handcuffs were already on his hands.

The Camouflage Suit and Xiangguoyuan were a bit more alert; seeing several people in uniform approaching, they felt something was wrong and subconsciously wanted to run. But just as the Camouflage Suit turned, he took a punch to the stomach.

Xiangguoyuan reached into his waist, and just as he lifted the hem of his clothes, a tiger-like pounce pinned him to the ground. In the blink of an eye, big men were kneeling all over him.

One pressed his back, two grabbed his hands. By the time they hauled him up, a plainclothes officer made a "tsk" sound: A dagger had fallen on the ground, still in its sheath.

By the time he pulled it out and unsheathed it, all ten pairs of handcuffs were already on...

Yan Wenjing was still on the phone reporting; not knowing what the leader said, his voice trembled: "Teacher Lin, Deputy Branch Chief Sun wants you to take the call..."

Lin Sicheng took out his phone and pressed the answer button; not knowing what the person on the other end was saying, Lin Sicheng just went "Hmm~ hmm~ hmm..."

The incident happened very suddenly, but it wasn't complicated: Lin Sicheng hadn't guessed wrong, and the police leadership hadn't judged wrong either; these three siblings really did want to run away.

The only thing they hadn't considered was that Ren Danhua and the two siblings were bolder than they had anticipated: they actually planned to grab some leverage on Wang Chun before running.

The key was that it was too coincidental: they just happened to be investigating the Beishui Company, and a dispute just happened to break out. This subsequently caused a commotion, and many onlookers gathered around.

Coincidentally, the two siblings arrived at the warehouse area.

Through a series of errors and strange turns of fate... it reached this point: the arrest plan had to be moved up.

The two bosses, along with Wang Chun, were under surveillance and definitely couldn't run. But Ren Danhua, who had been given a long leash, as well as Qi Song, were very likely to become the ones who slipped through the net.

More importantly, the Treasury still hadn't been found...

Talking as they walked, by the time Lin Sicheng hung up the phone, the four suspects had already been escorted to the logistics Center.

Three technical investigators stared fixedly at the screen: but it was useless; if there were accomplices among the onlookers, they would have run away long ago.

Yan Wenjing's face was livid: Yan Wenjing, I gave you an opportunity and you couldn't use it...

He gritted his teeth hard and squeezed the walkie-talkie again: "Teacher Lin, we found it, the Baixiangguo warehouse is D23, D71..."

Lin Sicheng nodded.

The numbers were quite far apart, but they weren't far away, separated only by an aisle, and diagonally opposite each other.

These two rooms had been checked by eight plainclothes officers, and Lin Sicheng had looked at the sign outside the door; there was nothing unusual.

At this point, one could only try to remedy the situation.

Secretly turning his thoughts, Lin Sicheng entered the warehouse.

Three layers of doors: one for airtight buffering, one for air pressure transition, and one for cold bridge blocking. Entering the third layer, he first scanned it twice, then sniffed twice.

Fruit, both rooms were full of high-end fruit, with boxes stacked to the ceiling: Sanhe Muskmelon, Sunshine Rose, Dandong Strawberry.

But the smell was wrong; there wasn't much smell of Ethylene, and the fruit smell was even fainter: this indicated that previously, only nitrogen had been turned on in the warehouse. Including these fruits, they had just been moved in.

On the contrary, the smell of lacquerware was quite strong.

But unfortunately, there was only the smell, but no items; presumably, they had already been transported away.

Why hadn't he smelled it before?

Three layers of doors; let alone Lin Sicheng, even bringing a police dog over would be useless...

Lin Sicheng sighed and squeezed the mic: "Team Leader Yan, the items are not here!"

Yan Wenjing didn't speak; some strange sounds came through the earpiece: creak-creak... creak-creak...

Immediately after came a roar: "Yao Xing, go find the Person in Charge of the logistics Center and get me a private room!"

Lin Sicheng paused: "Team Leader Yan, don't be impulsive!"

"Thank you, Teacher Lin, I understand!"

What do you understand, what do you understand?

Lin Sicheng sighed and hung up the phone.

"Move!"

The two Special Duty Team members looked at each other.

Anyone sent here by Wang Chun to stake out the place was at least a trusted aide. Whether they had human lives on their hands was hard to say, but their crimes definitely wouldn't be light.

For a criminal like this, do you expect him to talk just from suffering a little physical pain?

If you push him too hard, he'll only bite back blindly.

What they were worried about wasn't the criminal, but Yan Wenjing: such a huge blunder had occurred, and he was in a state of hot-headedness; how could he possibly know how much force to use?

If something were to go wrong, even if the two of them were just bystanders, they would still have to take the fall.

As for Lin Sicheng, he wasn't even Police, so what did it have to do with him?

Thinking this over secretly, they quickened their pace, and the three of them hurried to the logistics Center.

Just then, one of them was being escorted over, prepared to be locked in a solitary room.

Yan Wenjing followed behind, his face gloomy and his eyes cold and sharp.

Lin Sicheng stood in the middle of the corridor, not moving an inch: "Captain Yan, if you dare to act recklessly, Vice President Sun can dismiss you on the spot!"

Yan Wenjing moved his lips, not knowing how to quibble.

Five minutes ago, the Vice President of the General Team had just warned him: if he dared to act recklessly, he would have Lin Sicheng put Handcuffs on him.

His eight subordinates, as well as the two Special Duty Team members beside Lin Sicheng, would be able to revolt on the spot.

Yan Wenjing's lips trembled slightly.

Lin Sicheng stared at him: "Don't be impatient, and your method isn't very effective either, just like Ma Shan..."

The tone was very light, yet it pierced into Yan Wenjing's chest like a knife.

His face turned pale, as if he had grabbed onto a life-saving straw: "Teacher Lin..."

Lin Sicheng shook his head: he didn't even know who this person was, so how could he trick him?

It might be possible to trick Yu Jichuan and Yu Jiyao...

Thinking this over secretly, he looked at the suspect in front of him. It was that "Fragrant Fruit Garden," thirty-five or thirty-six years old, with a sturdy build.

There were calluses on his hands and spots on his neck; he was a typical "Grave Robbing" practitioner.

Huh, that's not right... why are this person's hands cracked like tree bark?

This is... cricket hands?

Lin Sicheng's eyes lit up: "Captain Yan, report to the leadership, we are going to Shilihe... now!"

(End of chapter)