Chapter 1028: Perplexed and Smitten (88)
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
When they reached a road that was much emptier, the driver dropped his facade and began speeding toward An Xiaoning’s car in a bid to ram into it.
She was not flustered at all since it was not her first time being tailed. Thus, she looked at the rear view mirror calmly and pressed the accelerator down all the way, causing her car to surge forward.
The car behind hers followed suit, hot in pursuit.
She immediately ditched her plans to go to the police station and took another route, thinking to herself that it would be inappropriate since the police station was situated in an area where human flow was abundant.
After she noticed that the car was chasing her non-stop, an idea popped up in her head.
She wanted to find out just who the person tailing her was.
An Xiaoning sped toward Heyuan Mountain while the driver followed suit, despite not knowing what she was planning to do. There was some distance between the two cars. By the time they arrived, they were greeted with the sight of An Xiaoning’s car parked in the middle of the road while she was nowhere in sight.
The four of them looked at each other in shock and dismay.
“Where is she?”
“Do you think she ran away?”
“I don’t think so. If she wanted to run away, she would’ve run home straight instead of coming to such a remote area.”
“Makes sense. Do you think she laid a trap for us?”
“That’s very likely. We must be cautious and never let our guard down.” As soon as he finished speaking, he was thrust forward all of a sudden. The three other accomplices looked over to see that he was bleeding from his chest. An Xiaoning had struck him right in his heart.
Pangs of panic engulfed the three of them, who quickly whipped out their guns and scanned their surroundings. In no time, yet another man was knocked down.
The two remaining men hurriedly ran toward the car, frightened out of their senses.
In the midst of their attempt to escape, the third man was struck fatally.
The only one remaining stumbled forward. Just as he was about to fall to the ground, his neck was wrapped by a lasso, which was tightened even further. An Xiaoning tugged the rope toward herself, causing him to fall on one knee, appearing extremely petrified.
An Xiaoning pushed the branches and leaves away from her face before jumping down from the tree. Glaring at him coldly, she walked toward him while holding the rope in her hands.
“You were tailing me and trying to ram your car against mine? Were you trying to kill me?” she questioned.
The man stared at her with fear written all over his face. “No… Ms. An, please be magnanimous and let me off.”
“You have to tell me who sent you, then.”
He hung his head low, remaining silent.
“You’re playing dumb? Then go and join your fellow brothers,” she threatened, tightening her grip.
“I don’t know… who the person who sent us is. I only know that we were given a hefty sum,” he spluttered, his hands trembling uncontrollably.
“How did he contact you?”
“Via text message?”
“What’s the number?” she probed.
He fumbled about in his pocket to retrieve a mobile phone, which he then handed to An Xiaoning. While she was looking down at the screen, the man pounced on her all of a sudden, completely ignoring the fact that he had a rope around his neck.
Completely caught off guard, An Xiaoning was pinned onto the ground. If she were an ordinary woman, she would have had a hard time pushing the burly man away from her.
However, An Xiaoning was no ordinary woman.
She pressed her palm against the man to generate a tremendous force that launched him into the air.
An Xiaoning hurriedly got up. As soon as she did, the man plunged downward and collapsed onto the ground with a loud thud. One can only imagine how excruciating that must have been.
An Xiaoning immediately ended his life before he could even speak.
She retracted her rope and gave Fan Shixin a call.
After verifying her exact location through the GPS system, Fan Shixin headed there with some other bodyguards.
By the time they arrived, An Xiaoning had already driven to the police station.
She headed to the simulation room to get a simulated sketch done based on her description of Xihou Jiaping’s and Yin Cun’s features.
Staring at the completed sketches, she found that they matched those in her memory.
“Sis Xiaoning, these two people are not in our database.”
“Okay, got it. Thank you.”
“Don’t mention it…”
After exiting the simulation room, she decided to drop by the Special Investigation Unit office to visit Ma Jianguo and the rest of the team, whom she had not seen in a long time. She made a turn around the corner and pushed the door of the office open.
The sulks on their faces vanished at the instant that they saw her. Ma Jianguo lit up in surprise and said, “Wow, Xiaoning is back. Are you going to resume your position?”
An Xiaoning closed the door and took a seat at her usual spot. “Of course not. I just happened to pass by when I was here to run an errand. Why do you guys look so listless?”
Ma Jianguo sighed and said, “It makes me sad to think about it. Ever since Yuan Mingzhu died, we haven’t had a leader. Bureau Chief keeps saying that they’re in the midst of searching for a replacement but there hasn’t been any updates. We don’t have anyone to guide us through solving cases.”
“Continue searching, then. There are so many people in S Nation, I’m sure you’ll find someone.”
“That’s easier said than done.” Ma Jianguo placed his hands onto the table and stared at her earnestly. “We’ve been discussing whether or not we should tell you this.”
“What’s the matter?”
After glancing at his colleagues, Ma Jianguo said, “But Xiaoning, you have to promise us that you won’t tell Bureau Chief even after we tell you. Alright?”
An Xiaoning nodded and said, “Alright, just what’s the matter?”
Ma Jianguo locked the door before saying softly, “Xiaoning, have you heard about those people fishing for corpses in the river in order to obtain money?”
“I’ve heard about it on the news but I’m not too sure about the details. Aren’t there professionals who specifically fish for corpses of those who have jumped into the river to kill themselves? Are they asking for a higher wage now?”
Ma Jianguo explained, “No. Two days ago, someone called the police to report about being blackmailed by the corpse-fishers who have taken the corpse of the informant’s child. The police station then sent me and another colleague to the scene so as to mediate and help the two parties reach a consensus. We know that the areas by the river and mountains are naturally more dangerous and that it’s hard for the fishers. After all, they’re retrieving corpses from the river. It’s rather inauspicious and unholy. We were guessing that they probably charged a reasonable fee of a few thousand dollars, yet…”
Ma Jianguo paused for a moment before continuing, “The parent of the corpse told me that although their son could swim, he had never swam again ever since he almost drowned. Hence, he would never approach any lakes or rivers. This time, he’d come with his friend and his friend has also verified that he did not stray too near the edge.”
“How did he die in the river, then?” An Xiaoning asked in puzzlement.
“The friend of the deceased said that they were just passing by the river when they saw two people attempting suicide. Thus, they decided to run toward the two of them. There were no ropes nearby at all so the deceased and his friend jumped into the water to save the drowning people. Yet the two people who were supposedly attempting suicide pulled the legs of the deceased and his friend in a bid to drag them down into the water. The friend was petrified and instinctively bit down on the person who was pulling his leg. He then fended for himself and frantically got out of the water. However, when he was ashore, he discovered that the deceased and the two men had all been submerged in the water.”