Chapter 81: Brother Sen, You

Take Zhou Zizhe, for example—if he hadn’t escaped, he might be anywhere now, and could never have provided the police with any leads.

Ordinary traffickers don’t have this capability or the channels to smuggle people overseas.

But these people who spend years at sea are different.

They have shipping routes on the sea and sales channels abroad.

Keep in mind that many countries have legal special services.

So all they need to do domestically is find their sources.

Actually, Yu Dazhang’s greatest concern was that the people on the mountain had firearms.

Having done this for years, they must have prepared weapons to prevent escapes.

Given the current strict gun control in China, acquiring handguns isn’t easy.

But in the 1990s, getting a few hunting rifles wasn’t hard.

And the two service pistols belonging to the missing officers likely ended up in their hands.

At this moment, Zhang Sen’s eyes had turned red; the emotions he’d forcibly suppressed finally exploded.

“Just tell me—are you coming with me or not?” he asked, staring at Yu Dazhang.

He looked like a mad gambler.

“I’m not going,” Yu Dazhang said firmly:

“And you’re not going either.”

“There’s no time left!” Zhang Sen’s voice carried urgency, agitation, worry—everything as if he were enduring immense pain:

“Including today, my master and the others have been missing for three days.”

“The longer we wait, the smaller their chance of survival becomes.”

“Do you know, he just became a father—his child only had its full-moon celebration last month.”

“What will his whole family do if something happens to him!”

By the end, Zhang Sen’s facial muscles twisted with emotion, his entire demeanor terrifyingly grotesque.

He’s going to lose it… Yu Dazhang felt something bad was about to happen.

Zhang Sen’s current state was off—he’d clearly lost his reason.

He hadn’t expected Zhang Sen to care so deeply for his master.

No, he should say Zhang Sen was an emotionally sensitive person—someone who valued every bond deeply.

But letting emotions drive decisions in criminal investigations was a fatal mistake.

Yu Dazhang couldn’t possibly join him in this madness, especially not to walk into a death trap.

So all he could do now was try to calm Zhang Sen, urge him to be rational.

“Brother Sen, no feast lasts forever,” Yu Dazhang sighed, sorrowfully:

“You’ll get used to it eventually.”

“I…” Zhang Sen was about to retort when he suddenly felt something was off.

The words were meant to comfort, yet they sounded so strangely wrong.

Seeing it had an effect, Yu Dazhang continued:

“Even if I went up there with you, it wouldn’t help—we only have a rough idea of the village’s situation.”

“Who exactly are they? Do they have weapons? How many are there? We don’t know any of that.”

“Even if we investigate, we need a direction.”

“And right now, we have no evidence proving those two officers disappeared on the mountain.”

Although he was already certain the officers had vanished on the mountain, he couldn’t say that to Zhang Sen.

He could see Zhang Sen couldn’t wait even a minute longer.

All he could do now was stall him until the branch team arrived.

“Fine, I’ll listen to you,” Zhang Sen actually calmed down—he took a deep breath, his tone no longer frantic:

“Call the branch team. We’ll wait here.”

After saying that, he sat on the bed, pulled out his phone, swiped the screen a few times, then rapidly tapped with both thumbs.

It looked like he was typing a message. Brother Sen really listens to reason… Yu Dazhang, seeing this, relaxed.

Walking to the window, Yu Dazhang thought for a moment, then decided to report the current situation to Team Leader Wei Qian.

He’d originally wanted to tell his master, Lu Zhongxin.

But time was too tight—having his master relay the information would only cause delays.

After dialing Wei Qian’s number, Yu Dazhang quickly reported all the clues he had.

He emphasized several key points.

Someone like Wei Qian, who led the elite First Team, naturally had a mind far beyond ordinary people.

Yu Dazhang believed Wei Qian, with his intelligence, would understand.

“So all of this is your speculation?” Wei Qian asked on the other end.

“Yes,” Yu Dazhang said helplessly:

“We haven’t found any direct evidence yet.”

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The situation was urgent—he had no time to gather direct evidence.

If time permitted, the most urgent step now would be tracing the two missing officers’ movements in Fenglinzhen.

For example, which restaurant they ate at, where they stayed, who they contacted.

Once those pieces of evidence were confirmed, the branch would send support, and they’d naturally investigate Shuishouying Village.

But doing that would take at least a full day.

By then, the branch would have to report up—and the two missing officers would be nearly dead.

Although Yu Dazhang had appeared calm and detached while calming Zhang Sen, he was just as anxious inside.

“Alright, I’ll send a few nearby squads to support you first,” Wei Qian, true to his role as team leader, reacted instantly:

“Don’t act rashly. Keep investigating in town.”

Just hearing that was enough… Yu Dazhang felt relieved.

If colleagues arrived to assist, the time needed to gather evidence would shrink dramatically.

Yu Dazhang agreed, and Wei Qian hung up.

He glanced at the time on his phone.

11:30 a.m.

Let’s eat first… Yu Dazhang never advocated working on an empty stomach.

The body is iron, food is steel—one meal skipped leaves you weak; without a full stomach, how can you solve a case?

“Brother Sen, let’s go eat—”

As Yu Dazhang spoke, he turned around—but the sight froze him.

Zhang Sen, who had been sitting calmly on the bed, had vanished without a trace.

Yu Dazhang’s heart jolted—he swiftly scanned the room, but saw no one but himself.

A sense of dread surged over him like a tide; his face turned grim.

He frantically searched the room—Zhang Sen’s bag was gone too.

When did he leave?

Yu Dazhang frowned, straining to recall, then roughly estimated the time.

His call with Wei Qian had lasted about ten minutes.

In such a short time, Zhang Sen couldn’t have gone far.

Thinking this, Yu Dazhang clutched at the last straw—he quickly pulled up Zhang Sen’s number on his phone.

Just as he was about to dial, a short alert tone sounded.

It was from him… Yu Dazhang immediately opened the message.

The first line:

【I can’t be as rational and cold as you. I know the consequences of acting alone—but I can’t care anymore.】

Just reading that opening line, Yu Dazhang felt his heart clench violently—as if someone had gripped it tightly.

So he hadn’t been chatting—he’d been composing a message!

(End of Chapter)