1071: Going Back

Going Back

In less than ten minutes, Zhao Yu and Xu Hai had driven the Feng Ping Police Station's car from the station to the entrance of Yuan Juncheng's home. According to the GPS, Cui Lizhu's phone signal had disappeared from this location. "It's here!" Zhao Yu said. He was extremely anxious and began to search the area where Cui Lizhu had disappeared.1

"Leader Zhao…" Xu Hai said, frowning. "Something doesn't add up… if the phone was dropped or stolen, there should be some kind of response!"

"Wow, you don't say!" Zhao Yu shouted sarcastically. "Cui Lizhu is the daughter of the king of thieves, there's no way it was simply dropped or stolen! Her signal disappearing can only mean one of two things. The first is that it's been switched it off. The second is that someone kidnapped her, took her phone, and turned it off or blocked the signal!"

"K… kidnapped?!" Xu Hai's face paled. "That can't be! I think she just switched it off herself. Or maybe she found some clues?"

"There's a CCTV!" Zhao Yu said, pointing to the entrance. He had not paid attention to Xu Hai's speculations. "Hurry, go check it out!"

"Oh, okay! I'm on it…" Xu Hai rushed off to the security room.

Urgh! I've been so careless! Zhao Yu thought, blaming himself. He looked around the area to see if he could find any evidence that might have been left behind. He had really been too irresponsible this time! He should have known that Cui Lizhu would be important to this case, as she was the only person close to Tao Xian. Especially considering how this case was related to Tao Xiang. How could he have split up with her? Now that Cui Lizhu was missing, what was he supposed to do?

Zhao Yu and Cui Lizhu had come to a certain understanding after having known and interacted with each other for such a long time. He knew that she definitely wouldn't have left without saying goodbye. If she had really intended to remain hidden, she wouldn't have told him about the mansion Tao Xiang left for her or even the box in the wine cellar. As such, Zhao Yu could only assume something unfortunate had happened to her.

Cui Lizhu, please be safe! Zhao Yu thought. He was anxious and flustered. This was nothing like the time in Jin Ping when Cui Lizhu was kidnapped and had her two fingers cut off. He wasn't even as worried then as he was now. There were already more than five dead people in this case. If Cui Lizhu wasn't found quickly, her life could be in serious danger!

Zhao Yu thought hard about how the signal had disappeared from this area. Even though it was during working hours, there were still a decent number of people moving about the area. If she had been kidnapped, this wouldn't have been the place to do so, right? She would probably have been kidnapped in a more isolated location. If that was the case… Zhao Yu walked forward and looked around. Right outside of the area she had disappeared, he found a highway! A highway! he thought. Zhao Yu ran forward quickly and realized it was deserted. There wasn't a human in sight! At the side of the road stood towering pine trees that blocked the entrance from view.

Oh… Zhao Yu thought as he took a look back. He realized that if Cui Lizhu had left the area, she would inevitably have had to go out to the road. The best time to kidnap her would have been when she was walking out. In other words, Cui Lizhu had most likely been kidnapped here and the person who kidnapped her had been driving!

Glancing at his watch anxiously, Zhao Yu estimated that she would be far away by now considering how much time had passed. That meant that to find her whereabouts, they would have to use traffic cameras and Skynet equipment.

"Officer Zhao, Officer Zhao!" Xu Hai shouted as he ran over with his phone. "A silver-gray van! The brand and plate are indiscernible, but Cui Lizhu… she was taken by a van!" Unexpectedly, just as Zhao Yu was turning to face Xu Hai, Xu Hai raised his arms in shock, pointing behind Zhao Yu. "That vehicle! Isn't it the same?" Xu Hai's eyes were wide, and he was shouting in disbelief.

What?! Zhao Yu thought as he turned around in shock. A silver-gray vehicle drove past them on the highway. It was the same van! The driver seemed anxious and upon reaching the intersection, the side door of the car opened. Although they couldn't see clearly, they noticed a shadow near the bottom of the vehicle. Zhao Yu believed something had been thrown out of the van. Tsk! Once the door closed, the van sped off in a rush.

What even?! Zhao Yu thought to himself. After the van was gone, Zhao Yu was shocked to see that it had not just been an item thrown out of the van, but an actual living person. It was Cui Lizhu! She had tape over her mouth and had been handcuffed. She stood in horror in the middle of the highway.

What?!! Zhao Yu thought, shocked, as he rushed forward to help her. Xu Hai had cocked his pistol and ran onto the road, aiming at the van. However, it was too fast and had disappeared before Xu Hai could get a clear shot.

"Lizhu, Lizhu! Are you okay?" Zhao Yu asked, quickly peeling the tape off of her mouth. Cui Lizhu was scared out of her wits.

"I'm… I'm okay! Boss, catch them quickly! They could be the murderers!" Cui Lizhu said, urging Zhao Yu. She was shaking her head in shock.

Zhao Yu relaxed a little after seeing that Cui Lizhu was unharmed. "Xu Hai, take care of Cui Lizhu, I'll chase after them!" he said.

"Uhm… but… it's already out of sight!" Xu Hai said, pointing off into the distance.

"Request for help from traffic police immediately and find out where they're headed, d*mn it. We can't let these a**holes get away!" After giving the order, Zhao Yu jumped in the car they arrived in and drove off in the direction of the van.

As Zhao Yu slammed on the accelerator, he began to question what had just happened. Why had they returned? They had already caught her, why did they release her again? Had they caught the wrong person? If so, they could have left her anywhere. Why return her to the original place? Who was in that van?

As Zhao Yu arrived at a crossroads, he could no longer see any trace of the van and didn't know which direction to go. Zhao Yu picked up his phone but before he could call Xu Hai, his phone rang. It was Li Jing calling.

"Hello?" Li Jing said anxiously. "Leader Zhao, did you find her? Is everything okay?"

"Yes, we did!" Zhao Yu replied. "But I'm chasing after the kidnappers now! Quickly, let Li Beini know and ask her to monitor the cameras!" He then described the van in detail.

"Alright!" Li Jing said hurriedly. "I'll let her know now and request traffic assistance! Leader Zhao, you must catch them, they might be the murderers!"

"Got it, keep the call on!" Zhao Yu answered. "I'm at the crossroad and the suspect's van has gone missing. Check the camera at this intersection first and see where they went!" Suddenly, Zhao Yu remembered he had a tool in the system, the Copy Camera Tool. This tool let him connect to a target camera and see everything that had been filmed.

Sh*t! How could I forget that? Zhao Yu thought. He had never used it before, but quickly turned it on and aimed it at the intersection's camera.

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