Chapter 382: Died Too Resolutely

Yu Dazhang had no time to explain things to them right now.

He was calculating what was about to happen next.

First, they couldn't intercept on the highway.

One: the vehicle was moving too fast; if the other side didn't stop, it would easily cause casualties on their side.

Two: they had already followed for so long — even if they didn't follow to the very end, they at least had to learn the general location of the underground prison.

So as long as they could keep following, they would follow as far as possible.

But if the other party entered the mountains, the situation would be different.

Mountain roads were already remote; a car following behind in the middle of the night would certainly arouse the other party's suspicion.

Continuing to follow would be pointless.

On top of that, the road conditions were complex and there were too many uncontrollable factors — Yu Dazhang couldn't gamble with everyone's safety.

Therefore, he had never intended to let the other party enter the mountains at all.

As soon as the target vehicle slowed down, it meant they were about to turn onto a mountain road.

When they made the turn, the speed was also at its slowest; carrying out the arrest at that moment undoubtedly had the highest safety margin.

Most importantly, Yu Dazhang could use this to lock down which mountain road they took.

About ten minutes later, reports began coming in over the walkie-talkie one after another.

"Unit Two has closed in on the target vehicle, ready to intercept at any time."

"Unit Four has closed in on the target vehicle."

"Unit Seven has closed in…"

Hearing that all five vehicles had closed in on the target, Yu Dazhang couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement.

"Speed up, pull alongside them," he said to Qi Fang.

"Got it." Qi Fang replied, then floored the accelerator and sped toward the target.

Just as they were getting closer and closer to that box truck, an urgent report suddenly came through the walkie-talkie again:

"The target vehicle is slowing down and has its right turn signal on."

Just as expected… Yu Dazhang picked up the walkie-talkie, ready to issue the order at any moment.

Five seconds later, the report came again:

"A fork in the road spotted ahead on the right; predicting the target will turn into the right-side entrance."

"Move!" Yu Dazhang gave the order:

"Intercept the target as it makes the turn. Note: the vehicle very likely contains hazardous materials. If you spot anything abnormal, deal with it immediately."

That last line was a bit understated, but he trusted the provincial bureau officers would all understand.

Put plainly: if anyone tries anything funny, shoot them dead on the spot.

Setting down the walkie-talkie, Yu Dazhang drew his pistol from the holster, checked the magazine and the rounds, then held the gun in his hand.

Captain Hua saw this and didn't dare delay; he drew his pistol as well and began checking it.

At this point their car was only five meters from the box truck.

From the flashing turn signal, it was clear the target had already begun turning right.

Just as the front of the box truck had turned into the fork, a sedan beside them suddenly accelerated and, in the blink of an eye, shot ahead of the box truck.

Accompanied by a shrill screech of brakes, the sedan blocked the way ahead.

Since the box truck was in the middle of turning, if it forced acceleration now it would inevitably lose balance and tip over, so it had no choice but to stop.

Right after that, four more sedans rushed forward one after another and surrounded the box truck.

Car doors opened, and the provincial bureau criminal police, guns in hand, leapt out one after another.

"Don't move!"

"Hands up high!"

"Yes, you — put your hands down!"

The officers surged forward like a rising tide, fierce and imposing.

Soon the box truck's door opened, and the two men in the cab were dragged out.

By then Yu Dazhang and the other two had also come up to the front, watching the two men with tense faces.

"Search them!"

At Yu Dazhang's command, several officers immediately moved, pinned the two men to the ground, and cuffed them first.

Two other officers rushed up into the cab.

Soon, the items on the two men were searched out one by one.

Among them, a keychain caught Yu Dazhang's attention; he walked over, took it in his hand and looked at it, then handed it to Qi Fang beside him:

"Try and see if you can open the cargo box in the back."

Qi Fang took it, immediately walked to the rear of the box truck, and began trying to pick the lock.

At that moment the two officers in the truck jumped down from the cab and reported to Yu Dazhang:

"No hazardous materials found, and no flammables or explosives either."

Hearing this, Yu Dazhang let out a breath of relief.

The most dangerous scenario was ruled out; next came…

"Pull those two up," he ordered.

"Get up!" Several officers gripped the two men's shoulders, trying to haul them up from the ground.

But after a few tugs, the two lay on the ground without moving, showing no intention of cooperating at all.

Yu Dazhang sensed something was wrong and immediately said loudly:

"Pull them up, quick!"

The officers immediately worked together to haul the two men upward. It took a great deal of effort, but they finally dragged them up off the ground.

"Something's not right," one officer shouted in surprise:

"Both of them have lost consciousness. Their bodies are limp, like noodles."

Hearing this, Yu Dazhang stepped forward and, using the light from the car's headlights, carefully examined the two men.

"Death by electrocution."

His expression was terrifyingly grim. He turned to look at the team that had rushed to the front to block the car:

"When you stopped them just now, did you notice anything unusual about those two in the car?"

The two officers thought for a moment, and one of them answered:

"I saw them stuff something into their mouths. By then it was already too late for us to stop them."

Poison… Yu Dazhang's last sliver of hope was shattered.

Death by electrocution is a form of death—a blanket term for deaths that occur instantly or within seconds to minutes.

Roughly put: they died extremely fast.

It's mainly caused by poisoning or electric shock.

The current state of these two clearly shows they took a high concentration of cyanide.

Yu Dazhang reached out again and felt for their necks…

No pulse in the carotid artery—meaning the heart had already stopped beating.

Dead as dead could be.

Although he had anticipated beforehand that they might commit suicide, he hadn't expected them to be so resolute.

They really didn't leave him a single opening… Yu Dazhang sighed helplessly.

Then he went to the rear of the car again.

Qi Fang was still trying the keys one by one to unlock it.

"Don't rush."

Yu Dazhang took out his phone, turned on the flashlight function, and aimed the beam at the bunch of keys in Qi Fang's hand.

After trying two more keys, with a click, the padlock hanging on it sprang open.

"Rescue them!"

Yu Dazhang shouted, and at the same time reached out, pulling open the cargo hold's iron door together with Qi Fang.

Lu Zhongxin and Ma Jian leapt up first, with Liu Miao and another officer close behind.

In no time at all, the five people in the cargo hold were rescued one after another.

The moment he saw Zhang Sen, the heart Yu Dazhang had been holding tight finally settled. He let out a long breath, and a smile appeared on his face.

He stepped forward and untied the ropes binding Zhang Sen's hands and feet, then asked with concern:

"Brother Sen, you're not hurt, are you?"

Zhang Sen stretched his limbs a bit and answered with a smile:

"Do I look hurt to you? The whole way here I just felt a bit stuffy and suffocated."

"Good, as long as you're fine." Yu Dazhang brushed the dust off Zhang Sen again.

"The people?" Zhang Sen pushed him away and asked:

"Did you catch them?"

How should he answer… Yu Dazhang chose his words carefully, then replied:

"The ones who kidnapped you and the ones who locked you up have all been caught."

After a pause, he pointed toward the front of the car:

"The two dedicated drivers responsible for transporting you just committed suicide out of guilt."

Hearing this, Zhang Sen's eyes went wide:

"In other words, the lead is cut off again?!"

"No." Yu Dazhang waved his hand, a confident smile appearing on his face:

"On the contrary, having followed them all the way here, for us…"

"It's just right!"

(End of this chapter)