Chapter 71: A Calculated Move Against the Unwary

Zhang Sen glanced at him in surprise after hearing that.

I said go straight to where the officers lost contact, and you said we can't take a shortcut.

Then right after that you tell me to cut straight through.

Good lord, and you call that not taking a shortcut? You just skipped the two existing investigation sites entirely.

Actually, Yu Dazhang's thinking was simple: first confirm their movement trajectory, then head straight for the next stop.

Starting from the very beginning would take too much time, and right now the primary objective wasn't the trafficking case, but finding the missing officers.

Those two officers must have uncovered something, which is why they chased the trail southeast from the industrial park.

First follow their route, then slowly simulate their case-solving line of thinking.

No need for a perfect overlap, just close enough.

This time a total of ten teams were deployed, each one including officers from the First Brigade, so the detailed investigation work would naturally be handled by them.

If they really turned up important leads, he and Lu Zhongxin would keep each other in the loop.

About two hours later, they drove into a small village.

By then the sky was darkening, so the two found a small eatery and grabbed a quick meal.

"We'll stay here tonight," Yu Dazhang suggested.

"Stay here?" Zhang Sen asked, somewhat surprised:

"Is there even a place to stay around here?"

Yu Dazhang picked up a napkin from the table, wiped his mouth, and said unhurriedly:

"A village like this usually has at least one farmstay that offers lodging. We'll stay there."

When paying the bill, Zhang Sen made a point of asking the owner.

Sure enough, there was one household in the village that offered lodging, and the price wasn't bad either.

Actually, whether it's a village or a hamlet, there's always a local doing business.

A small convenience store, a small eatery, and a farmstay — these three are practically standard.

Once they arrived, the two paid a deposit and checked in.

To be fair, despite the remote location, this little farmstay was surprisingly proper.

Not only did they ask both of them for their ID cards, they also carefully recorded the ID numbers.

Once in the room, Yu Dazhang took out his phone, opened the digital map, then sat on the bed staring at the screen, lost in thought.

Zhang Sen noticed, walked over to his side, and asked:

"What are you doing?"

Actually, he didn't quite understand Yu Dazhang's approach.

If you took the industrial park as the starting point and the officers' last reported location as the end point, drawing a line between the two, this small village was already past that line.

They had just driven past the officers' last reported location.

"Confirming the route," Yu Dazhang looked up and explained:

"The two points I mentioned earlier are like the shaft of an arrow, and where we are now is the arrowhead."

What is he even saying? Zhang Sen felt like he was playing word games.

What do arrow shafts and arrowheads have to do with the case?

Seeing Zhang Sen staring at him with those puzzled little eyes, Yu Dazhang had no choice but to switch to another way of explaining:

"Even if we reach the officers' last reported location, where do we go from there?"

"Just keep heading southeast along the direction, obviously," Zhang Sen answered matter-of-factly:

"That's what you meant before, right?"

"Exactly," Yu Dazhang nodded and continued asking:

"Then how do we make sure we haven't strayed from the correct route?"

"Well, that..." Zhang Sen was stumped.

He'd been doing anti-fraud work at the Second Brigade all these years and really hadn't run into any major cases.

Actually, what he was best at was pursuit and covert disguise — after all, he had the talent for it.

But when it came to using his brain to crack cases, he was far behind.

It wasn't that he was slow-witted, just that he lacked experience in that area.

After a moment's thought, he said:

"We should stop, find a populated place, and ask around about their movements. If we can confirm they've been here, it proves our route isn't wrong." "Not bad, Sen-ge," Yu Dazhang gave him a thumbs-up:

"Exactly what I was thinking. You're the elite of the brigade, alright."

"Why do I feel like you're insulting me?" Zhang Sen looked at the kid's smiling face and felt something was off.

Yu Dazhang quickly waved his hands:

"No, no, absolutely sincere."

He hadn't expected Zhang Sen to catch on so quickly, with such clear logic to boot.

Well, truth be told, Yu Dazhang had always assumed Zhang Sen was the type who was all brawn and no brains.

After all, he was fast on his feet — no one can be good at everything.

"I know what you're trying to do now," Zhang Sen's eyes lit up.

People are strange sometimes — most of them can't take a compliment; the moment someone flatters them, they lose themselves.

Please... bookmark... 6... 9... book... bar...!

But there's a small group of people who, once praised, suddenly become especially sharp-minded.

Zhang Sen belonged to this latter type.

Having just received a rainbow of flattery from Yu Dazhang, he suddenly felt his thoughts flowing smoothly.

"You deliberately followed the southeast direction to find this small village, intending to rest here while also inquiring about the whereabouts of the missing officers."

Zhang Sen spoke with increasing fluency:

"The characteristic of a small village is that there are few people, and they are concentrated."

"Almost all places of business are within the village; ask around casually, and you can know whether they have been here."

"Take the farmhouse we are staying in right now, for example."

"I just noticed they have a habit of recording guests' identity information, so..."

Having said this, Zhang Sen stood up and looked toward the door.

"I will go find them now and ask for the notebook where they record the information."

Seeing him about to leave, Yu Dazhang hurriedly grabbed his arm:

"Brother Sen, no, calm down first!"

Relying solely on a sharp mind is not enough for solving cases; the most important thing is to be able to settle one's heart.

Yu Dazhang noticed Zhang Sen was somewhat impatient; this was somewhat unlike his usual style.

Someone capable of disguising himself as an old woman, hunching his body to wait for the right moment, should theoretically be very patient and deep.

He absolutely should not be in such an emotional state at this moment.

At least, Yu Dazhang had never seen him so impatient before.

"Sit first." He pulled Zhang Sen back down to sit, then whispered:

"If it were as simple as you say, I would have revealed my identity and asked for the notebook during the registration just now."

"Right." Zhang Sen looked at Yu Dazhang in confusion:

"Since you thought of it so early, why didn't you ask for the notebook just now?"

"Because we cannot expose our identities," Yu Dazhang explained.

"Assuming the two missing officers are in danger, they must have been ambushed or tricked."

"Don't forget, both of them were carrying guns; in a direct confrontation, no one could stand against them."

"Even if the opponents had guns, they could not have controlled both of them."

"Therefore, we must first ensure our identities remain unexposed; this point is extremely important."

When saying the last sentence, Yu Dazhang deliberately increase the weight of his tone, his eyes revealing a warning.

These words also set the rules for their two-person team.

Investigate in secret!

Absolutely must not be watched.

With preparation against unpreparedness; how can one be prepared without being on guard... Since they had come, Yu Dazhang would not allow himself to make such a mistake.

"You really have many cunning tricks," Zhang Sen said, stunned.

"This is not called having many cunning tricks," Yu Dazhang corrected:

"This is called thinking thrice before acting."

"So what do we do next?" Unknowingly, Zhang Sen had already grown accustomed to Yu Dazhang's arrangements.

And Yu Dazhang was simply waiting for him to ask this question.

He saw him gently pat Zhang Sen's thigh and whisper:

"Tonight, you go steal that notebook."

(End of this chapter)