Chapter 72 of 100

Chapter 72: Diverting the Tiger from the Mountain

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Fortunately, although everyone was talking loudly, they did not forget to observe their surroundings, especially Xiao Wu, who was driving. While recounting his heroic feat of taking on three men single-handedly in the past, he suddenly noticed two very peculiar lights ahead. They were not streetlights or lights from a house, as they were concentrated and did not disperse, like searchlights. They were also slanted towards the sky and remained stationary, which was highly suspicious.

After Xiao Wu pointed this out, everyone noticed the anomaly. Du Long took off his glasses and glanced at the source of the strange lights, saying, "That's an overturned police car... it's the one."

Everyone parked nearby and shone a powerful flashlight towards the scene. They saw a police car with its rear end on the ground and its front facing the sky, stuck in a pit. Ding Menghong used an infrared night vision telescope to search the surroundings and found no one around. However, there were two heat-emitting human shapes in the rear of the police car, which was stuck in the mud.

Ding Menghong put down the telescope and said, "The target is not nearby. The two missing police officers are likely trapped in the rear of the car. Everyone, get out of the car and pull the police car out first."

Everyone got out of the car. Except for two snipers who stayed in the pickup truck to watch the surroundings, the others walked into the field and approached the police car stuck in the mud.

This was a five-meter-wide mud pit of unknown origin. Fortunately, it had not rained recently, so the mud pit was dry. Although the police car was stuck, the rear of the car was not deformed, indicating that the trapped police officers were likely not in danger.

"Everyone be careful. Check for any traps or explosives first," Ding Menghong cautiously instructed. After searching and finding nothing, under Ding Menghong's direction, several armed police officers descended into the pit, pried open the rear of the car, and rescued the two police officers whose hands and feet were handcuffed together.

Both of them had been stripped of their shoes and socks, and their stinky socks were stuffed in their mouths. When they were rescued, they were already in a semi-comatose state. Everyone quickly pulled the stinky socks out of their mouths, unlocked their handcuffs, and splashed mineral water on their faces, waking the two unfortunate police officers.

Seeing his subordinates in such a state, Ding Menghong was extremely displeased and also felt a deep hatred towards Xia Hongjun. "What couldn't you put in their mouths? This is intentional humiliation!"

The two police officers, now fully awake, were ashamed. They put on their wet shoes and socks and answered Ding Menghong's questions with their heads hanging low: "Halfway through, the suspect said he needed to urinate. We didn't allow it, so he threatened to urinate in the car. We had to stop and let him urinate. After he finished, just as we were about to put him back in the car, he suddenly attacked us, knocked us down in two moves, took the keys, unlocked the handcuffs, and cuffed us up, stuffing us into the rear of the car..."

Ding Menghong angrily said, "Did you use excessive force on him? Otherwise, why would he use socks instead of gloves to stuff your mouths?"

The two police officers exchanged glances. Hu Xiaodong, feeling guilty, stammered, "Someone... someone told us to give him a hard time on the way. We didn't do much, just used an electric baton on his stomach a couple of times..."

Ding Menghong's face turned ashen as he said, "You guys are really something, daring to privately torture a suspect... What else did he say? Do you know where he's going?"

"Know... know..." the two police officers answered in a rush, "He said he was going to kill Li Wuwei's entire family to avenge the dead workers. He's already been gone for two hours..."

Li Wuwei was the boss of Black Gold Company, and Xia Hongjun had a good reason to target him. He also had the capability. Ding Menghong became tense. He ordered the armed police to push the overturned police car out and returned to the police car by the roadside. He picked up the walkie-talkie and reported the latest situation to Chief Ou Caiming.

Chief Ou Caiming was shocked upon hearing the report. He immediately reported it to Qin Junwei. The coal miners who were chatting with Qin Junwei all showed excitement when they heard that Xia Hongjun was going to kill Li Wuwei's entire family.

Qin Junwei frowned in thought. He found it a bit strange but couldn't figure it out immediately. In the end, he decided to take a two-pronged approach: send people to protect Li Wuwei's family and continue to have the armed police pursue Xia Hongjun.

After receiving the order, Ding Menghong immediately ordered everyone to get back in the car. The two unfortunate police officers drove back to the police station themselves, while the other cars prepared to head towards Li Wuwei's villa.

Du Long raised an objection, saying, "Captain Ding, I find this a bit strange. Xia Hongjun doesn't seem like someone who would be so foolish as to tell the two police officers his plan and leave the car lights on to guide us to them."

Ding Menghong frowned and said, "Your point is... Xia Hongjun never intended to go after Li Wuwei but used a diversionary tactic to draw our attention away and escape smoothly?"

Du Long said, "I... I'm not sure, but I think the probability of him escaping is low. If he wanted to escape, he wouldn't have let the police catch him. He would have taken advantage of the chaos to leave Wuxi County long ago. Who knows where Xia Hongjun's home is? What did he do in the military? Who else is in his family?"

Everyone had left in a hurry, and they had almost no information about Xia Hongjun. Ding Menghong found Du Long's opinion very reasonable. He picked up the walkie-talkie again and contacted Chief Ou Caiming. After listening for a moment, Chief Ou Caiming handed the walkie-talkie to Qin Junwei, saying, "It's Officer Du. He has something to say to you."

Qin Junwei took the walkie-talkie and said solemnly, "Du, this is Qin Junwei."

Du Long said, "Chief Qin, based on the scene and the statements of the two police officers, I believe Xia Hongjun set up a diversion. We need more information to determine his direction. Could you ask his coworkers about what he did in the military, where his home is, and who else is in his family?"

Qin Junwei's doubts were revealed by Du Long. He suddenly understood and said, "I see, wait a moment..."

Qin Junwei put down the walkie-talkie and asked the miners in front of him, "Do you know what Xia Hongjun did in the military?"

Everyone shook their heads. The young miner said, "Brother Xia never talked about it, but he can do anything and do it well. In the mine, he specialized in explosives and had excellent marksmanship. He was the captain of our mine protection team."

Qin Junwei was taken aback. It seemed that Xia Hongjun was quite capable. If he got his hands on a bundle of explosives and placed it anywhere... whether in Wuxi County or Yuming City, many people would be in trouble.

Qin Junwei immediately turned to Chief Ou Caiming and said, "Send people to all the mines and places where explosives can be obtained. They must be on high alert and must not let Xia Hongjun get his hands on explosives or detonators!"

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