Chapter 292: Celebration

"Damn, I should've run up and yanked him down right away." Wang Bo returned to the reconnaissance vehicle, having learned most of the situation, and sighed heavily.

Jiang Yuan smiled, not blaming him, and said, "So many people couldn't catch him—he's a parkour expert. Even if we chased, we might not catch him."

Wang Bo let out a deep sigh. In the end, he'd been cowardly; otherwise, his first-class athlete certification might've still had some use. He'd trained in gymnastics—though nothing as wild as parkour—and from behind, he could've possibly knocked a man off a wall in one go.

The incident had simply happened too fast. While he was still weighing risks, the suspect Qi Penghu had already broken into a light jog; by the time he scaled the wall, the chance was already gone.

Wang Bo felt he could've climbed the wall too—but that wouldn't just earn him a third-class merit or a commendation.

"I reacted too slowly," Wang Bo said, hollow-eyed.

If he hadn't overthought it and just lunged forward, he might've taken down Qi Penghu. With so many cops arriving behind him, there wouldn't have been much danger.

But realistically, after all this time, Wang Bo was still replaying it in his mind—asking him not to overthink was easier said than done.

Jiang Yuan paid no more attention to Wang Bo.

He'd never intended to charge in. Even when sparring with Uncle Qiang—who was already retired—he'd never won once. How could he possibly believe he could handle a scar-faced hardened criminal?

More importantly, Qi Penghu's murder weapon hadn't been found yet—it might still be on his person.

Earlier guesses about rebar were unproven; it could've been some modified cold weapon. From the wound analysis, it resembled the twin hammers used by Qin Qiong…

Most of all, Jiang Yuan refused to tangle with a cornered beast.

Qi Penghu might've been overconfident in his skills—or even wanted to test himself against the police.

Many hardened criminals, after pulling off a few successful crimes, develop this mindset—they think police are nothing special.

It wasn't entirely wrong. Criminals fight for their lives; most cops just clock in and out.

Even those willing to risk their lives shouldn't waste them on the life of a worthless criminal.

Only the criminal himself truly valued his own life—and yet he flaunted it recklessly.

Even sadder: in today's era, hardened criminals rarely get the chance to fight back.

In provincial capitals like Changyang, similar contingency plans had long been prepared. The real obstacle wasn't the criminal's evasion—it was his value.

Was he worth the city paying such a price?

In this regard, Qi Penghu had proven himself.

Chief Yu Wenshu immediately picked up the phone and began deploying personnel.

Within half an hour, over three hundred officers from multiple teams arrived at Qi Penghu's last known location, forming a cordon and launching a search.

Local traffic was temporarily halted and strictly inspected.

Qi Penghu then chose his most familiar tactic: abandoning his vehicle and fleeing on foot, using parkour to evade surveillance cameras.

The white-shirted officer in charge slightly expanded the cordon, continued searching, and maintained constant communication with the Image Investigation Team.

While Jiang Yuan was off recording an account, he saw Qi Penghu had been cornered inside a shopping mall.

Qi Penghu still didn't understand how this system operated: though it might seem soft, it was enduring.

He still relied on past experience, thinking he was in the old days of sparse cameras, and since he wasn't a high-value target, if he ran fast enough, he could slip away easily.

But now, especially in provincial capitals, not only were cameras everywhere, but so were the image analysts watching them.

With overall homicide rates declining, a robber-murderer like him stood out instantly.

When half the city's police began itching to make a name for themselves, Qi Penghu's only chance was to flee Changyang as fast as possible.

If he hadn't escaped the nearby commercial district within the first hour, leaving now was nearly impossible.

Of course, even trapped inside the mall, he could still hold out for a long time.

But this time, the police wouldn't indulge him.

After clearing the crowd, a large force of SWAT officers entered the mall armed with firearms—Qi Penghu had no chance left.

At dinner time, Yu Wenshu invited Jiang Yuan to the Criminal Investigation Brigade, and everyone celebrated the successful resolution of the Qi Penghu case in the cafeteria.

Police officers, whether familiar or not, came up to Jiang Yuan, clapping him on the shoulder, toasting him with tea until their stomachs were full.

"Solved the case in one day—Jiang Yuan of Ningtai lives up to his reputation."

"No need to prove it—this guy solves cold cases too. This one's child's play."

"Child's play? Yu Zhi would be the first to disagree. Didn't he personally call Jiang Yuan back? Jiang Yuan was on vacation—he dropped everything the moment he heard we had a case. He's not even one of us, but acts like family."

"And he caught the suspect right on the scene! This kid's got balls—he came back to watch our investigation. What's he thinking? Does he take us for statues?"

"Now it's settled: home invasion, murder, resisting arrest, assaulting officers—plus his prior crimes and fugitive status. This guy's dead."

"Jiang Yuan of Ningtai—truly fearsome."

"Hahaha."

Everyone laughed with glee.

Homicides were now held to impossibly high standards, bringing immense pressure—even for a provincial capital's Criminal Investigation Brigade. Other cases might be judged on merit, but failing to solve a homicide meant heavy criticism.

Even if many here wouldn't be directly affected, they still hoped for a resolution. Collective honor—though abstract—had real weight.

Jiang Yuan felt embarrassed by the praise and kept declining: "The killer was just careless. If he'd prepared better, we wouldn't have caught him so fast. Coming back to the crime scene? That's pure foolishness."

"Qi Penghu didn't even finish high school—he's not smart enough to think complexly. Just a brute," someone said, indirectly agreeing with Jiang Yuan.

Yu Wenshu shot him a disapproving glance and said coolly, "Don't casually call the killer stupid. If he's stupid, what does that make us for failing to solve the case? All those cold homicides—no one's ever caught them…"

At the mention of cold homicide cases, everyone fell silent.

For senior officers, solving cold homicides was thankless work. Most cold case teams were staffed by low-ranking officers.

Most importantly, the clearance rate for cold homicide cases was genuinely low. While current cases could be solved by throwing resources at them, cold cases had no such luxury.

From this, everyone began to speculate about Jiang Yuan's recent cold homicide cases…

Everyone at the table felt a shiver of excited awe.

He Guohua sat far away, watching the leaders at the main table shift expressions, and quietly typed in the "Shannan Fingerprint Exchange Group": Changyang City—Shuidong District—Trace Evidence He Guohua: 【Jiang Yuan solved a current homicide case! Let's celebrate!】

Shannan Li Zemin: 【Jiang Yuan solving a current homicide case? Totally expected.】

Changyang City—Shuidong District—Trace Evidence He Guohua: 【This case was tough. Chief Yu specifically called Jiang Yuan back. Lucky he came—if not, tracing relationships would've exploded…】

Shannan Li Zemin: 【What's the story?】

Changyang City—Shuidong District—Trace Evidence He Guohua: 【The killer was a coworker of a coworker—he was just brought to the site to gamble. Lost money, heard wages were coming, timed his entry, and robbed on the spot. You see, cases like this—random, no clear links—how far back do you trace relationships?】

He arrived right on time and immediately moved to rob them. We're talking about cases like this—random, unpredictable—tracking down relationships could take you back generations.

Provincial Bureau—Fingerprint Unit—Yang Ling: 【So calling Jiang Yuan was the right move.】

Changyang City—Shuidong District—Trace Evidence He Guohua: 【Exactly. And this guy's a fugitive, does parkour, but he's dirt poor. If he'd had any money—even a car—he could've fled a day early. Then we'd just be chasing.】

Qi Penghu had always lived around construction sites—even if fleeing, he had to pack his belongings first.

Otherwise, police would immediately suspect him. In fact, most fugitives on the streets are economic offenders—because of money.

With money, even fugitives can rank themselves in tiers.

—To be reviewed

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