Chapter 384: Quite the Hider

Half an hour later, the deployed police dogs also arrived at the scene.

For searches like this, a nose is often more useful than eyes.

In places the human eye cannot see, special police dogs can easily lock onto a target by scent.

This would be a perfect partnership between man and animal… Yu Dazhang once again found himself in awe of Captain Hua's organizational and coordination abilities.

Would a helicopter show up later?

He'd never ridden in a police helicopter before… Yu Dazhang couldn't help feeling a little anticipation.

He knew the provincial bureau was equipped with helicopters, mainly used for emergency rescue, major case handling, and the like.

Another ten-plus minutes later, the SWAT armored personnel carriers and military trucks arrived one after another.

Eight-thirty in the morning.

The mountain search officially began.

Police cars in front, the various police units close behind, the whole procession rolling up the mountain in force.

Yu Dazhang, meanwhile, led the task force members in waiting by the roadside.

After Captain Hua's coordination the previous night, the Yangcheng police decided to cooperate with the provincial bureau officers and escort the captured suspects to Liancheng.

At nine-twenty in the morning, Yu Dazhang's team and the Yangcheng police conducted the handover by the highway, then brought the suspects back to the Liancheng City Bureau.

Once at the city bureau, interrogation work immediately began in a tense yet orderly fashion.

Seven men and one woman were led separately into different interrogation rooms.

At the same time, the computer screens in the observation room simultaneously displayed the surveillance feeds from each interrogation room.

The subsequent interrogations went very smoothly — almost without any effort, all eight of them confessed.

Facts proved that the more it was a group crime, the easier it was to crack.

According to their statements, as early as eleven years ago someone had already been grabbing those mentally disabled people at the train station.

Two of them had been doing it from that period all the way to the present.

Unlike the lookouts and the legs, they had no fixed salary; their cooperation with that organization was settled on a per-head basis.

How much they earned depended entirely on individual ability.

But even the two who'd been at it the longest didn't know exactly where the underground prison was.

They didn't even know those mentally disabled people were being used as cheap labor in Province N.

They then also gave up fellow operators in two other regions.

Just as Yu Dazhang's team had inferred earlier, it wasn't only the Yangcheng train station — this kind of situation existed in various places across Province D.

Those running this kind of illegal operation were basically all introduced to each other through acquaintances.

So once someone got caught, they were sure to bite out a few who were close to them.

As the interrogations deepened, more and more case-related information was dug up.

The busiest person on the task force was still Captain Hua.

Case information involving other provinces had to be coordinated by him with the local police.

Yu Dazhang's team's main purpose in going to Yangcheng had been to find leads; now that they'd roughly located the underground prison, there was no need to go arrest people in person.

Two in the afternoon.

News came down from the mountain — the search operation wasn't going very smoothly.

The main force, with the chief commander in charge, had combed the mountain road back and forth twice, even doing carpet searches on both sides, yet still hadn't found that underground prison.

City bureau meeting room.

Yu Dazhang and Captain Hua sat facing each other.

"Interrogating them like this isn't really helping the case progress," Yu Dazhang said irritably, rubbing the bridge of his nose:

"You could say they know absolutely nothing about the key information on that organization."

He'd originally thought these people might know some important inside information, but hadn't expected the interrogations to yield only simple details.

Even if they wiped out this entire supply channel, it would have no practical meaning for the case as a whole.

As long as the main culprits weren't caught, the case would have to stay open.

"Can't say it's no help at all," Captain Hua said in a consoling tone:

"If it weren't for these people, we wouldn't have been able to follow the trail and lock down that mountain."

He knew clearly that the reason Yu Dazhang was irritated was that the operation on the mountain wasn't going smoothly.

The search couldn't go on indefinitely.

With so many resources invested, every minute and every second was draining manpower and money — if they still didn't find it in the end, they'd have to stop.

Besides, there were people doing business on the mountain too.

Plantations and breeding operations mostly chose to run on the mountains.

And Liancheng's mountain also had a tourist attraction, with a resort, restaurants, and inns built beside it.

Closing the mountain and the roads for a long time would definitely affect the merchants' normal business.

"Let's stop the interrogations for now," Yu Dazhang said to Captain Hua:

"It's been almost five hours. If we keep going, it'll just be a war of attrition — a huge drain on our side too."

"Alright." Captain Hua agreed, then walked out of the meeting room.

Once only Yu Dazhang was left in the room, he placed his hands on the table, his fingers tapping lightly in a steady rhythm.

He'd been in a rush to interrogate because he wanted to squeeze out something useful, something that could provide informational support for the search on the mountain.

But after all this time interrogating, not a single piece of valuable information had come out.

He couldn't help feeling a bit dejected and disappointed.

"Quite the hider, aren't you," he murmured softly.

So many people went up the mountain to search, and they even brought police dogs, yet they still hadn't found anything.

Although Yu Dazhang had no experience in mountain searches, he had heard of one case before.

In 2009, a vicious homicide case occurred in G Province.

A family of five was wiped out, including two elderly, one woman, and two children.

Identified by villagers, the suspect had fled deep into the mountains.

Afterwards, the police dispatched 400 people to search the mountain for 15 hours and finally captured and brought him to justice.

This shows just how difficult a mountain search is.

So many people chasing one person, and it took a full 15 hours — and that was with police dogs deployed.

Without the police dogs, they really might not have caught him in the end.

And Zhang Chao and his people must have disguised the entrance to the underground prison; otherwise, after so many years, it would have been discovered long ago.

Just as Yu Dazhang was thinking about what method the other side might have used for the disguise, Captain Hua opened the door and came back.

"Chief Long's call." He handed the phone to Yu Dazhang:

"Just listen directly."

Found it? A surge of joy rose in Yu Dazhang's heart. He immediately took the phone and held it to his ear:

"Chief Long."

"Get ready." Chief Long's voice was somewhat urgent:

"A police helicopter will come pick you up shortly."

Got excited for nothing... The moment Yu Dazhang heard that, he knew the entrance hadn't been found — otherwise, why would they come pick him up?

They were even using a police helicopter — it was clear they were in a great rush over there.

"What do you need me there for?" Yu Dazhang couldn't help but ask.

The thing was, his going over wouldn't really be of much use.

Even police dogs hadn't found it, let alone him.

"Every place that should be searched has been searched." Chief Long's voice was filled with helplessness:

"It's safe to say we've turned the entire mountain upside down, but we still haven't found that place. It's dark in four hours, and before that, we need you to come give it a try."

After hearing this, Yu Dazhang was stunned for a moment, but he immediately understood the meaning behind Chief Long's words.

As they say, no wonder the man made it to chief of the brigade — the way he talks really has a level to it.

He laid the matter out clearly while still tactfully expressing the specific need.

Translating what he said, it was...

We've already searched everywhere. Now we seriously suspect your judgment was wrong, and we can't find it. If you've got the ability, come find it yourself.

(End of chapter)