sinovels Chapter 1671 Zhao Army Ascends the Ridge
Chapter 1671 Zhao Army Ascends the Ridge
Chapter 1671 Zhao Army Ascends the Ridge
Upon hearing the whistle, all the police officers, including Chen Weiyi, who were searching for evidence inside and outside Xing San's shack, as well as the security guards led by Liu Jinyong who were keeping watch and smoking nearby, rushed towards Zhao Jun.
When they arrived, they saw Zhao Jun standing on a rock by the stream, holding a wet work glove.
"Zhao Jun, are you whistling?" Liu Jinyong asked Zhao Jun as he came over, "What's wrong?"
"Team leader, Director Chen, look." Zhao Jun pinched the still dripping glove between his right thumb and forefinger and said to the two men, "I pulled this out of the water. It must have been washed down from the top and then got stuck in a crevice in the rocks."
"What's wrong?" Liu Jinyong didn't understand Zhao Jun's meaning, so Zhao Jun guided him by saying, "Team leader, look at these good gloves, how can you throw them away?"
As he spoke, Zhao Jun turned the glove over and continued, "There's not a single hole in it. Who would normally throw it away?"
Work gloves are just cotton gloves. These days, even if the gloves are torn, they have to be sewn up or patched and kept in use.
Even the wealthy Zhao family, let alone other families, followed the same principle. After all, something used for work doesn't need to be too aesthetically pleasing.
If the Zhao family is like this, then others are even more so.
Liu Jinyong, Chen Weiyi, and the others immediately understood Zhao Jun's meaning. Zhao Jun was simply saying that there was something fishy about how the gloves were thrown away.
Sure enough, Zhao Jun added, "I feel that this was thrown by that bad guy. He killed someone and got blood on his hands, then threw it into the water."
As he spoke, Zhao Jun pointed into the water and said, "There are rocks blocking it, otherwise it's hard to say where it went."
"Impossible..." Zhao Jun finished speaking, but Yang Jinbao questioned, "He wears gloves when he does bad things?"
Yang Jinbao's question stumped Zhao Jun. Influenced by the TV dramas he watched in his previous life, Zhao Jun believed that one had to wear gloves and shoe covers to avoid leaving fingerprints and clean up hair when doing bad things.
"Well, he might wear gloves then." At this point, Chen Weiyi agreed with Zhao Jun's deduction, and looked up at the upstream stream, asking Zhao Jun, "You mean, he ran upstream?"
"Yes!" Zhao Jun nodded heavily and said, "I feel that he kept going up, heading towards Zhang Guangcai Ridge."
"He went to Lingnan?" Hearing Zhao Jun say this, Chen Weiyi felt a little heavy-hearted. If that villain really had infiltrated Jilin Province, it would be even more troublesome to catch him.
After discussing it with Liu Jinyong, Chen Weiyi continued to lead his officers to look for clues near Xing Sanwopeng, while Liu Jinyong led Zhao Jun and other security guards to search upstream along the stream.
But they couldn't go too far; they had to wait for Yan Shugang to bring the forest ranger surnamed Liu to identify the site.
In reality, the banks of the stream and the area around the hut were all forested. It would be difficult to find someone hiding in the primeval forest, let alone find clues.
Zhao Jun and his team searched for more than an hour, which took a lot of time, but they didn't find their way very far.
When they heard car horns coming from the direction of the shack, Zhao Jun and the others knew that they were being called to come and meet up.
"Come on, Zhao Jun." Liu Jinyong called to Zhao Jun, saying, "Director Yan is here."
"So fast?" Zhao Jun was puzzled. It would take at least two hours to get here from Yongli Village. Yan Shugang had gone back from the forest farm before coming here, and he also had to go out and appease Wang Jiusheng's eldest son's family. Logically, it was impossible for him to have arrived so quickly.
"The forest farm sent him a Mosga." Liu Jinyong said to Zhao Jun as they walked, "Send him back to the village, and take him to the Third Work Section the day before yesterday."
When talking about the third work section, Liu Jinyong pointed upwards and said, "After that, Secretary Zhou will arrange a car to pick him up there."
"That works," Zhao Jun thought, impressed by the forest farm leaders' efficiency, while glancing back at the higher ground.
The "Third Work Section" that Liu Jinyong mentioned is the location of Zhao Jun's forestry protection team. Zhao Jun visited it once before the year when the forestry protection team was first established, but hasn't been back since.
At this moment, Zhao Jun suddenly thought that he could go to the Third Work Section to take a look, and he could also gather all the forest rangers and try to get information from them.
However, Zhao Jun did not mention this matter at the moment. When they returned to the hut, they saw that everyone was on the slope to the east of the hut.
Zhao Jun rushed over and saw that Yan Shugang had indeed arrived. At this time, he was with two security guards, as well as Zhang Jimin and a forest ranger surnamed Liu, and they were cooperating with the police station to identify the scene where the yellow leaves were found.
The slope below is shady, with some unmelted snow piled up under the cover of cypress trees. Further down, there is no shelter, and the ground is a little muddy, but most of it has been dried by the wind.
There are no footprints here, but if the culprit came from the 54th Forest Section, and if he left those yellow leaves behind, then according to the direction, he was heading towards Xinlengchang.
Chen Weiyi was about to search in the direction of Xinlengchang when Yan Shugang raised a question, saying, "Chief Chen, after committing a crime, he can't just run that way, can he? How careless can he be?"
Yan Shugang has been working as a security guard in the forest area for many years, so he is very experienced. Although he has never encountered a case of a mountain dog being killed, he has encountered two cases of mountain dog huts being stolen.
Both murders were committed by acquaintances, so Yan Shugang guessed that the killer was most likely from the surrounding villages.
Yan Shugang knew that people who had done bad things usually either ran home or simply left home and ran far away.
Yan Shugang felt that it was unreliable to wander around the old forest with a bag of yellow leaves. Not only would it be easy to be discovered, but no normal person would do that.
Hearing Yan Shugang say this, Zhao Jun immediately became interested, because Yan Shugang's idea coincided with his own.
"Director Yan, in your opinion, which way did he run off to?" Chen Weiyi asked Yan Shugang. Yan Shugang thought for a moment and said, "If it were me, I would either go home, or..."
As he spoke, Yan Shugang looked in the direction of the Third Work Section and then asked Zhao Jun, "If we keep going that way, is it the big ridge at the border of our two provinces?"
Yan Shu had only been transferred here for a short time, and he wasn't very familiar with this mountain area. But just now, when he came down from the third work section, after asking the driver for directions, he had this suspicion.
"Yes, Director Yan." Zhao Jun responded, while Chen Weiyi turned to look in the direction of the third work section, and then said to Yan Shugang, "Director Yan, the timing of that yellow leaf falling is too perfect."
As Chen Weiyi spoke, he took the yellow leaves handed over by the forest ranger surnamed Liu and said, "They're all rolled up and ready to be sold for money. Even if a mountain runner loses his life, he wouldn't lose these."
Chen Weiyi's words were somewhat exaggerated, but even Zhao Jun had to admit that what he said made sense.
Then Chen Weiyi added, "This yellow leaf fell here, either it really fell from that person, or he's just trying to fool us."
Hearing Chen Weiyi say this, Zhao Jun and Yan Shugang immediately had no objections, because he was a sensible person who didn't need anyone to teach him how to do things.
“Then you decide, Director Chen.” At this moment, Yan Shugang said, “Whatever you say, we’ll do. When I came here, Secretary Zhou said that everyone in the forest farm will fully cooperate with you.”
"Thank you, Secretary Zhou, and thank you to our forest farm," Chen Weiyi said politely. Yan Shugang quickly replied, "Director Chen, you're too kind. We're all just doing our jobs. You've been stationed at our forest farm for many years and have helped us a lot."
"It's all for work, hehe..." Chen Weiyi glanced at Zhao Jun as he spoke, then asked, "I heard that the newly established forestry protection unit in our forest farm is in the third work section?"
Chen Weiyi has worked in this forest area for many years and knows the terrain much better than Yan Shugang.
"Yes, Director Chen." Zhao Jun replied hurriedly, "We work in the Third Work Section."
“Team Leader Zhao, it’s easier now that it’s your territory.” Chen Weiyi said to Zhao Jun with a smile, “Go and investigate, ask the old people living in the nearby shacks, or our forest rangers, and see if any suspicious people have been there in the last two days.”
After Chen Weiyi finished speaking and saw Zhao Jun nod, he then said to Yan Shugang, "Director Yan, we don't have enough manpower. Could you please help me sort things out towards Xinlengchang? Regardless of whether they're trying to fool us or not, this is all we can do for now."
Yan Shugang nodded in agreement, and Zhao Jun had no objections. Zhao Jun remembered watching a TV series in his past life; it seemed to be about a major case that occurred in 86, which was only reopened in 95 when the public security system implemented DNA testing.
As for trace and fingerprint detection, Zhao Jun didn't know if it existed these days. But even if it did, he figured it wouldn't be available in such remote mountain villages.
With such a large mountain area, a full search is impossible. Therefore, what Chen Weiyi just said is the best solution at present.
Everyone returned to the shack and got into the car. They split into two groups: Chen Weiyi led the police officers from the police station, and Yan Shugang led the security guards present. They headed towards Xinlengchang to investigate.
Zhao Jun, along with Zhang Jimin and a forest ranger surnamed Liu, headed towards the Third Work Section.
When they arrived at the third work section, it was already 1 p.m. Chen Liangyou was quite surprised to see Zhao Jun.
Surprised, Chen Liangyou quickly called the old cook and asked him to cook some noodles and two eggs for Zhao Jun.
As for the two forest rangers, Zhao Jun sent them home. Neither Zhang Jimin nor the forest ranger surnamed Liu expressed any dissatisfaction.
Since Mosga was still there, Zhao Jun asked Mosga to take the two of them back to Yongli first, and then Mosga would go back to the forest farm.
This saved Zhang Jimin and his companion from having to turn back, which made them very happy.
As Zhao Jun saw the two off, he asked Zhang Jimin to pass on a message to Song Fu'an, the captain of the forest ranger team, instructing the rangers near the Third Work Section to come here for a meeting the next morning. Since each village had its own commuter cart to the Third Work Section, Zhao Jun wasn't making things too difficult for them.
After the two left, the noodles were served. Zhao Jun stopped the old cook and told him and Chen Liangyou about Wang Jiusheng's murder.
The Wang family already knew, so there was no point in hiding it anymore.
Chen Liangyou and his companion were shocked. When did such a ruthless person appear in the Yong'an Forest Area?
“Okay, nephew, I understand. You keep eating, I’ll turn on the loudspeaker right away and call all the workers over, then you can ask them.” Chen Liangyou got off the kang (a heated brick bed) as he spoke. He and Zhao Youcai were like brothers, and Zhao Jun called him uncle. Regardless of their relationship or from a work perspective, he was willing to cooperate with Zhao Jun.
After Zhao Jun finished eating his noodles, the workers had mostly gathered. Zhao Jun went over and asked everyone if they had seen anyone who seemed to be in a hurry, acting suspiciously, or looking like a thief; if they had seen anyone carrying a backpack, bag, hammer, or pickaxe, or anyone who shouldn't be in this area.
Zhao Jun didn't tell them about Wang Jiusheng's murder, not because he couldn't, but because there was no need to.
He didn't say anything, so no one knew what had happened, and they all looked at each other in confusion.
"Hey?" Suddenly, someone in the crowd raised their hand and said, "Zhao Jun, I saw someone yesterday. I don't know if it's the person you're looking for!"
"Hey, Uncle Qi, who are you looking at?" Zhao Jun looked and saw that the speaker was Qi Zhongwei, the uncle and cousin of Qi Shengli, the head of Yongsheng Village.
"I didn't see his face clearly." Qi Zhongwei pointed behind him and said, "Around four o'clock yesterday, I went to the outhouse and saw a guy carrying a burlap sack, lifting things up the ridge. I could only make out a vague outline of him. I didn't see anything else on his lower back, but it looked like what you said, like a small pickaxe or a hammer?"
A burlap sack is a bag made from burlap sacks by hikers. It has two straps stretched along one side with strips of cloth, and can carry up to 100 pounds. The burlap sack is tied with a rope at the top, so it is also called a "one-tight sack" locally.
The person who stole the yellow leaves would definitely have had to pack them in a bag. Add to that the fact that they were carrying a hammer, pickaxe, or similar tools, and it's likely they were with someone.
Of course, it could also be from mountain biking.
Zhao Jun glanced in the direction Qi Zhongwei pointed, then turned back to Qi Zhongwei and said, "Thank you, Uncle Qi."
After saying this, Zhao Jun clasped his hands in a fist salute to everyone and asked, "Uncles, grandpas, and brothers, is anyone else here to keep an eye on things?"
The crowd buzzed with discussion, but everyone said they hadn't seen anything. Some even asked Zhao Jun what had happened—had something been stolen from the forest farm, or had someone's house been burglarized?
Zhao Jun was preoccupied with the person Qi Zhongwei had mentioned, so he mumbled a few words and dismissed the others.
Back in the shack, Zhao Jun asked Chen Liangyou, "Uncle Chen, whose shacks are all up the ridge?"
As soon as Zhao Jun finished speaking, Chen Liangyou said, "There are two old men!"
"Huh? Who are they?" Zhao Jun asked. Chen Liangyou replied, "One is Old Song, and the other is Old Xu."
After saying this, Chen Liangyou pointed out the window and said, "Before the New Year, your dad was hunting and even had to stay in one of those shacks."
"Oh!" Hearing Chen Liangyou say that, Zhao Jun remembered. Before, Zhao Youcai and the forestry bureau's tiger-hunting team had been chasing the black tiger, and they had been staying in the old mountain dog sheds all the way.
Later, in the spruce forest of Shangling, Zhao Youcai shot and killed Xiong Guizi, and made a fortune from a golden bear gallbladder.
Remembering this matter, Zhao Jun hesitated for a moment before standing up and saying, "Uncle Chen, I'll go upstairs."
"Huh?" Upon hearing this, Chen Liangyou quickly replied, "Jun, I can't leave. I'll arrange for two people to go with you."
"No need, Uncle Chen," Zhao Jun said with a smile. "I'm not doing anything. I just want to see if I can find his shack. If I do, I'll ask those two old men if they saw anyone go by. If not, I'll remind them to be careful when they sleep tonight."
"Alright then." Hearing Zhao Jun say that, Chen Liangyou said with emotion, "You're a good-natured kid."
Zhao Jun smiled and got up to leave. Chen Liangyou saw him out of the house and said to Zhao Jun, "I heard from your father that their shack is built up here. You'll see it when you get to the bottom of the bluestone cliff."
Zhao Jun responded, said goodbye to Chen Liangyou again, got into the car, drove up the firewood transport road.
After walking about seventeen or eighteen li, Zhao Jun saw a man ahead carrying a bag on his back and a pickaxe at his waist.
Zhao Jun drove up to the man and honked his horn as the man turned around. The man stood to the side of the road, waiting for Zhao Jun to stop and get out of the car before asking him, "Are you Master Xu?"
(End of this chapter)