Chapter 80

It was another Monday, but this one was a bit different for many people. For elementary school students like He Ping and Dong Dapeng, it was already close to Children's Day, and schools were busy preparing for cultural performances and sports meets. However, those events had nothing to do with He Ping, a problem child who had even beaten up middle school students twice. How could teachers, who had heard some rumors, possibly assign him to participate? As for Dong Dapeng, his physique was not suitable for the stage.

For the Qingshan Public Security Bureau, this Monday morning was also a bit special. They saw many people at the bureau's entrance early in the morning, most of whom were teenagers, both boys and girls, dressed in tattered clothes, with dirty faces and emaciated bodies. The rest were a dozen young adults, tightly bound with ropes and their mouths gagged, with obvious bruises on their faces and bodies.

What does this mean? The police were a bit at a loss. A bunch of pitiful children, clearly not ordinary, the words "kidnapping" and "abuse" immediately came to mind, but why so many? And what about these young adults? The case seemed very serious. The criminal investigation team leader, Zhao Chengli, and other bureau leaders furrowed their brows and decided to bring everyone in first, regardless of the situation. Since these people appeared here, there must be a reason.

Zhao Chengli, a seasoned police officer, had never seen such a bizarre situation before. Fortunately, there were surveillance cameras at the bureau's entrance, which should have captured how these people arrived. However, when he and a group of police officers checked the surveillance footage, they found that the recordings for that time were completely black, clearly obstructed by something. Most shockingly, they couldn't even see who did it, which greatly angered Zhao Chengli. The on-duty police officer was reprimanded but could do nothing about it.

The subsequent interrogations were even more shocking. The children were quite cooperative, admitting that they had been organized to steal, which was already a criminal offense. However, no one could provide a clear answer about who organized them. Nevertheless, Uncle Zhang and Aunt Zhang came into the police's line of sight. From the young adults, the police obtained more concrete information.

A major case! A truly major case! Organizing dozens of children to steal, kidnapping and trafficking a large number of children and women, and forming an underground organization—these were all serious crimes. No one expected such a major case to occur in Qingshan. The police, who had outlined a rough picture, did not look good. If this was true, not discovering this for so long would be a serious dereliction of duty!

"Investigate! We must investigate!" Zhao Chengli slammed his hand on the table and said to his team, "We don't have any major cases at the moment, right? Assign a few people to handle other cases, and the rest will be led by me to form a special task force. We must thoroughly investigate this matter and uncover all the truths! It's too heinous, worse than beasts. Prepare for a possible trip out of town to find the trafficked children based on the progress of the investigation."

"Report!" Just as Zhao Chengli finished speaking and before he could assign specific tasks, a police officer at the door reported, seemingly with something to convey to Zhao Chengli.

"Come in!" What now! Zhao Chengli was frustrated. The most important thing right now was this case—investigating and locating Uncle Zhang and Aunt Zhang, investigating how many children were trafficked, finding the trafficked children, rescuing the trafficked women, taking care of the children present, handling the young adults, and finally returning the trafficked children to their respective homes. With so many people involved, even if all the police forces in Qingshan were mobilized, it would take at least half a year to complete. One thing after another, and just as they were about to get a handle on this, something else seemed to have happened!

"Captain Zhao!" The police officer who entered held a 110 call record and said, "Just now, 110 received a report of a murder in the Kangning community in the North Gate. There is one deceased person, and the local police station has already sent people to secure the scene. The chief has instructed you to lead a team to investigate immediately."

"What! A murder? In the Kangning community!" Zhao Chengli was surprised, "Isn't the Kangning community a residential area for government officials? Is the identity of the deceased known?"

"According to the call record, the caller claimed that the deceased is named Jiang Deming, the deputy director of the city's Work Safety Office..."

Jiang Deming was dead, but this had nothing to do with He Ping. He Ping only learned about this that evening while having dinner with his parents. He Xiangdong and Yin Xiulan were chatting about it, and they had heard it from others, not knowing the specific details. It seemed that Jiang Deming's wife and son had left early in the morning, while Jiang Deming had a later work schedule and stayed at home alone. When his workplace couldn't reach him, they sent someone to his house and found him already dead.

It was said that Jiang Deming was beaten to death with a wrench, his body deformed beyond recognition, his eyes wide open in shock, and his brother, Jiang Dezhi, who had just recovered from a shock-induced hospitalization, fainted again upon hearing the news. His wife and children were said to be crying uncontrollably, their minds in a state of confusion.

Various rumors and speculations, but one thing was clear: Jiang Deming was murdered. He was killed by someone, and the murderer had not yet been identified. The police were still investigating the scene, and it was unknown whether they had found any useful clues, as the investigation was still in a confidential stage.

He Ping was a bit surprised by Jiang Deming's death. He had no intention of letting Jiang Deming off, but he never thought of killing him. For someone like Jiang Deming, killing him would be too easy. He Ping had countless ways to make his life miserable, but he hadn't had the chance to act, and now this person was already dead. Who did it? Why did they do it?

He Ping's curiosity was piqued. If it were just an ordinary murder, it would have nothing to do with him, and he wouldn't pay much attention, treating it as just another topic of conversation. But since the victim was Jiang Deming, an enemy he had intended to deal with, He Ping was now interested in investigating. Perhaps the murderer had some connection to him.

He Ping wasted no time. That night, after his parents were asleep, he quietly slipped out of the house and, under the cover of darkness, ran towards the Kangning community.

[PS: Second update of the day!]