Chapter 1275: I Want to Make You Stay (153)
This time, the door was finally opened and the lights in the yard were switched on.
An Xiaoning popped her head out stealthily to take a look, only to discover that He Yi had exited together with eight other men.
She took a look at their household register, which stated that it was a family of two sons. Where did the other men come from?
One of the men hollered at the dogs sternly, after which they stopped barking instantly.
An Xiaoning could hear He Yi speak. He said, “I’ll try again, then.”
He then left the house.
The men headed back inside the house again.
Once they were inside, An Xiaoning squinted at the dogs and fired an arrow at them with her tranquilizer gun, after which they winced and passed out.
The lights went out again.
She slowly made her way down the rooftop using her rope. She walked toward the fainted dogs and pulled out the arrows on their bodies before climbing back onto the wall, trying her best to make as little noise as possible. She then climbed up the window grilles on the second floor and onto the balcony on the third floor.
It was a house that consisted of two-and-a-half floors. The third floor was an attic.
The windows were wide open, thus allowing her to enter the attic through the window.
After managing to do so successfully, An Xiaoning made her way to the staircase slowly while plastering herself onto the wall.
When she reached the staircase leading to the first floor, she overheard their conversation.
To her surprise, they were communicating in a native tribal language instead of the official language of S Nation.
Perhaps that was also the reason why the men were speaking loudly and clearly at the top of their voice, for they did not have their guards up at all. Instead, they were just chatting in a carefree manner, knowing that no one else could understand them.
They were extremely fluent in the language.
“Whether or not we get to leave this place tomorrow will have to depend on He Yi’s competence.”
“It’s so frustrating that the fish is not taking the bait.”
“She’ll definitely take the bait this time. I have faith.”
“Big Brother, we’ve already been hiding here for a long time. We don’t even dare to go out in broad daylight. I’m almost bored to death.”
“What’s the rush? Don’t panic or get too impatient.”
“…”
The first thing that came to An Xiaoning’s mind was — Where are the original residents of this house?
Did these men kill them?
An Xiaoning headed to the balcony on the second floor and latched her rope onto the wall before gliding down slowly toward the window. It allowed her a clear view of the appearance of the men inside the house.
She scanned her surroundings carefully before pulling herself up again. She then texted Ma Jianguo and requested for him to send her the identification photos of the residents of the house.
Just like she had expected, the photos did not match the appearance of the men.
Without further delay, An Xiaoning instructed Ma Jianguo to tell Pan Zhenghui to send some members from the police tactical unit to her aid.
Ma Jianguo replied with an “OK,” and she returned to the top of the third floor and shone her torchlight at Fan Shixin. She gestured to him, and they waited patiently.
Half an hour passed.
Two police cars pulled up by the roadside.
The police officers alighted and began walking toward the house in an orderly manner.
After gaining her permission, they knocked on the door.
An Xiaoning headed downstairs again after seeing that the men in the house had exited.
By the time she reached the bottom of the stairs, the men were already subdued by the police officers. They were flabbergasted to see her.
“An… An Xiaoning? How did you end up here!?!”
“Why are you guys here, then?”
“We rented this house. Why can’t we be here?” a bearded man retorted smugly.
“Since you rented this house, why are you afraid of going out in the day? I heard your conversation just now.” She instructed the police officers, “Take them away.”
The men struggled and resisted the police officers but to no avail.
An Xiaoning instructed the rest of the team, “Check the house for any remaining persons.”
Fan Shixin helped to check as well. Not long after, a few people were brought downstairs, including women. They were all extremely agitated. An Xiaoning looked at the photos that Ma Jianguo had sent to her and verified that they were the actual residents of the house. She said, “This house belongs to them, let them go.”
As soon as the police officers let go of them, they immediately got on their knees before her and said, “Thank you so much for saving us. We thought we would end up dying here. Thank you so much, thank you.”
An Xiaoning helped the woman up and asked, “Do you guys know each other?”
Shaking her head, the woman answered, “No. It was such a disaster. We don’t know them at all and yet they just barged into our house with knives and tied us all up. It’s been more than a month since that happened.”
“They’ve already been arrested. You guys may live in peace now. Don’t worry, they won’t get the chance to threaten you guys again.”
The entire family had already turned pale because of the major fright, and their legs became wobbly. However, they still managed to walk An Xiaoning and the rest to the door while thanking them profusely.
An Xiaoning remained silent throughout the journey back. Fan Shixin could sense that she was not in a good mood, although he did know what she was thinking.
“Young Madam, do we follow the police back to the police station, or would you like to go home instead?”
An Xiaoning took a look at the time and answered, “To the police station. I really didn’t expect this to happen. I’m so eager to find out just what this He Yi is getting up to.”
“Fortunately, you were sharp and cautious, Young Madam. Otherwise, you would have definitely fallen into their trap.”
“This just goes to show that the more normal a person seems to be on the surface, the more suspicious and problematic they are in reality.”
….
The seven people were detained in the police station. An Xiaoning arrived to see that Pan Zhenghui was already waiting for her.
“Xiaoning, how did you know that there were criminals there?”
“It’s a long story. Bureau Chief, I have an honest piece of advice for you. From now on, refrain from contacting Wang Jinsheng. After all, he had even leaked the information about me bombing the tomb. Who knows what he might divulge about you in the future?”
“I’ve always… kept a distance away from him. Seriously speaking, Xiaoning, did he tell others about what happened in Shen Jia lake?”
“Of course.”
“That bastard. He just can’t keep his mouth shut.”
“He frequently contacts tomb raiders. I don’t think an immoral person like him deserves to be the captain of the archeological team. Keep this matter under wraps for the time being. We’ll see if we can collect any evidence.”
“Okay, okay. Xiaoning, rest assured, I definitely won’t breathe a word about this to others. I’m very trustworthy,” Pan Zhenghui said while patting himself on the chest.
“Order your subordinates to search the criminals for their mobile phones and hand them over to me.”