Chapter 209: Nature

The Longli County Criminal Investigation Team's dormitory has no fixed capacity.

They have multiple dorm rooms with bunk beds, and someone is always assigned to clean and change the sheets and bedding; anyone can sleep wherever they like, wake up and leave without worrying about anything—it feels just like a hostel.

Jiang Yuan had been busy all day and, together with Wang Zhong, ended up sharing a bunk bed.

Other detectives were also sleeping in the dorm, their snores rising and falling in waves.

It had been over sixty hours since the crime occurred; some detectives were sleeping for the first time in days, so deep sleep was perfectly normal.

Moreover, not only had Jiang Yuan chosen this dorm, but every room in the row was filled with snoring—multiple people, multiple types of snores, like a concert, the sounds bouncing from the dorms into the hallway and back again.

Honestly, outside this place, no dog would stay in a hostel with these conditions.

But inside the Criminal Investigation Team, it felt pretty good.

Because they were just too exhausted—even if Jiang Yuan had money, he didn't even want to leave the compound to find a hotel.

The dorm didn't even provide facilities for washing or showering; smelling the stench of others, Jiang Yuan simply kicked off his shoes, lay down, and fell asleep.

The stink was overwhelming; whoever suffered later shouldn't expect anyone to feel sorry for them.

The next day.

The rising and falling snores were mixed with ringing alarms and phone calls, waking Jiang Yuan up.

Jiang Yuan sat up groggily, listened to the commotion around him, and had no desire to go back to sleep; he kicked Wang Zhong with his foot: "Let's go, see what's going on."

Cybersecurity is easier to get along with than technical investigation, and more flexible.

Jiang Yuan guessed that since neither he nor Wang Zhong had been woken, everything must be going smoothly.

If things were urgent, Hou Le would've already sold his police dog's working hours—he wouldn't let Jiang Yuan and the others just sit around smelling foot odor.

Downstairs, the detectives he met all looked energetic.

"What's the situation now?" Jiang Yuan asked Hou Xiaoyong.

"We've confirmed the location. He's in Pingjiang." Hou Xiaoyong's expression was like a fighter about to strike.

It had been three days since the crime; him leaving the province wasn't surprising.

Though returning to one's hometown might seem low-class, it's common for criminals to do exactly that.

It's really just a matter of whose back the board lands on.

When the board hits someone else, everyone loves to lecture them: "Why didn't you use your little fairy magic, why didn't you talk like the warrior god…"

But if the board lands on you, with hundreds of professional cops hunting you day and night, ready to execute you on capture—where would you run…

Of ten people, nine have never been to a place and wouldn't dare risk going there now. Just this one fact limits most escape routes to a few provinces.

Unless you're a stunningly beautiful woman or a handsome man who can drop out of the sky anywhere, most people in their twenties and thirties have lives confined to where they live, work, study, and where their grandparents live—plus maybe one or two vacation spots.

So where should he run now?

In many people's minds, at this moment, childhood memories surface: the scenes of hide-and-seek, the familiar surroundings of home, the casual childhood chatter: "I hid in **—even gods can't find me."

If someone could hide for months in a tree hollow or cave, they'd truly be impossible to find.

But in reality, most ordinary people can't even last ten days or half a month in such conditions—again, those with that kind of endurance and discipline usually get recruited by society long before they commit crimes, lured by high office, wealth, luxury cars, and beautiful women.

The few who slip through usually collapse during the process of gathering supplies and preparing to hide.

Historically, the most notorious fugitives who evaded capture for long periods were those who overcame human nature and did the opposite: like Liu Zhaohua, the century's biggest drug lord, who, under a Class-A national wanted notice and relentless pursuit by over a thousand officers, moved across six or seven provinces for nine years, married two wives—all by going exactly where the task force least expected, to places he didn't know at all.

As for Liu Zhaohua's social background, it starts at age thirteen—in 1979, he won second prize in the provincial high school chemistry competition, but due to poverty, he dropped out; later… later, Liu Zhaohua taught himself and developed a new chemical synthesis route for methamphetamine in the 1980s, similar to the drug-making methods in Breaking Bad, twenty years before Heisenberg.

If Liu Zhaohua had taught at a school in the 1980s, this achievement alone would've earned him a direct professorship, and publishing one or two papers in top international journals would've made him a top-tier candidate in provincial chemistry circles.

By the way, if a society can't recruit talented people with high office, wealth, luxury cars, and beautiful women, then the failed scholar Hong Xiuquan, the repeatedly failing candidate Huang Chao, the laid-off worker Li Zicheng—all have something to say.

And by the way, by the way: Liu Zhaohua's final fate was returning to his hometown of Fu'an, the "dark spot under the lamp," on his wife's advice; three months later, he was discovered and arrested. He was executed; his wife got five years.

—In summary: men who listen to their wives die.

Earning tens of billions won't save you.

…

Li Weibin was a low-level criminal.

Forget overcoming human nature—he couldn't even control himself. Otherwise, with the income from his multiple home burglaries, he wouldn't have needed to be frugal; just avoiding extravagance would've let him save enough capital to start over.

Even if he hadn't lost control and stabbed the victim during the burglary—even if he'd merely injured them, or stopped the crime after injuring them and fled—he wouldn't have drawn Jiang Yuan from another county.

But nope, Li Weibin just freely unleashed his nature.

And the detectives naturally exploited his nature.

Cross-province pursuit was certainly more troublesome, but given the nature of the murder, it wasn't really troublesome at all.

Murder case budgets are never lacking; the money other task forces scrimped and saved was always meant for murder cases.

Manpower is sufficient; it's common for murder cases to mobilize hundreds or even thousands of officers. Technical needs can be escalated from county level all the way to ministerial level—if there's a real need, the request channels are open.

This system has pros and cons; from the positive side, its heavy warning effect should have deterred some criminals and saved some lives.

Li Weibin ignored the deterrence and plunged himself into an extremely difficult situation.

Jiang Yuan sat in the conference room for a while, tracking the current situation through phone calls and reports.

Soon, Hou Le brought in a map of Pingjiang Province, hung it on the wall, and stuck a few flags on it to pretend they were making progress.

Actually, it was unnecessary—arresting someone isn't like military warfare; troop deployment matters little. Besides, frontline commanders handle frontline situations—Hou Le didn't even get to remotely control anything.

Of course, that didn't stop the map's scale from being wrong, nor did it stop Comrade Hou Le from enjoying himself.

"Dr. Jiang, let's grab a quick lunch. If we solve the case tonight, we'll treat ourselves to a good meal." Hou Le's attitude had improved slightly from yesterday.

After a night's sleep, his mind had cleared and become rational; he was slowly realizing that Jiang Yuan wasn't just one of the province's top fingerprint experts and a proven bloodstain specialist—he ranked among the top in the province across multiple fields.

In short, Hou Le had made a killing trading a black sheep for Jiang Yuan.

Now, treating Jiang Yuan to a good meal felt especially justified.

Jiang Yuan, just woken up, replied to Hou Le and asked: "Is the child with Li Weibin?"

"We don't know yet." Hou Le scanned the map. "Given how fast he got to Pingjiang, he probably didn't spend much time with the child… but it's hard to say."

They currently suspected Li Weibin kidnapped the child to sell her for money—that was the most logical assumption.

Fleeing definitely requires money, and money might be even more important than pre-planned escape routes. Look at spy movies: a fugitive only needs cash and identification—weapons aren't even necessary.

How long a person can stay on the run also depends heavily on how much money they have, because food, shelter, clothing, and transport all cost money; without cash, you can't sleep well, eat well, your risk of illness skyrockets, and more contact with people increases exposure.

Many thieves are caught while trying to get money.

Meanwhile, financially capable economic fugitives—even with no experience—often escape easily, because money can heal wounds.

For example, taking a taxi: a penniless fugitive might pull out a weapon to ride for free; a wealthy fugitive sleeps on the ride, wakes up, says a few warm words to the driver, and leaves with a generous tip. When the alert goes out, the latter might silently keep quiet out of simple goodwill, while the former—even if disguised—might still be reported by a resentful driver.

But this useful knowledge can only be gained through experience, or by apprenticing or reading.

The task force isn't afraid Li Weibin has read books or had a master—they're afraid he knows nothing, has no money, acts tough, and panics when the child cries, resorting to extreme measures.

The group in the conference room had barely begun to speculate when a call came in:

"We've caught Li Weibin."

"Didn't find the child."

"Li Weibin refuses to talk."

The task force's mood shifted from elation to anger, then deep concern.

The worst fear had come true.

At the same time, Jiang Yuan's system interface flashed before him:

Task: Find Liu Yiyi

Task Content: Locate Liu Yiyi, kidnapped by Li Weibin.