Chapter 270: You Ask Me? Who Do I Ask?!
The next day.
Zhang Xiaofeng, who had been smoked with sweat odor and foot smell in the guard post all night, returned to the barracks listlessly.
“Damn it, doesn’t this bunch of guys know about hygiene?!”
“And those big-headed soldiers, don’t they have any self-awareness at all?!”
“Feet so smelly, and they still take off their shoes!!”
The first thing he did upon returning to the barracks was to go to the bathroom and take a thorough bath.
If he stayed another half day, he suspected he would be pickled through!
After taking a refreshing bath, Zhang Xiaofeng felt a bit more spirited, then hurriedly arrived at the assembly point. Before he arrived, the platoon leaders and company commanders under him were already there.
“Xiao Zhao.”
“Here.”
“Who else hasn’t come.”
“Officer, except for Company Commander Liu, everyone else has arrived.”
“Company Commander Liu still hasn’t come.” Zhang Xiaofeng’s face darkened somewhat. No need to doubt it, something must have happened.
The other two company commanders couldn’t help but start stirring up trouble again, saying sarcastically:
“He didn’t come all day yesterday, and not today either. Looks like Company Commander Liu really earned Regiment Commander Zhang’s trust.”
But before he could finish stirring up the fire, he was sharply interrupted by Zhang Xiaofeng: “Shut up! What are you making noise for! You think you’re very idle, huh!”
“Do you want me to arrange some errands for you, so you’re not idle enough to pout your ass here?!”
What time is it now, and they’re still engaging in infighting!!
Simply stupid to the extreme!!
“.”
The two company commanders immediately didn’t dare to speak. They didn’t rise to their positions through ability; they got there by stuffing money and sycophancy.
Let them eat, drink, whore, gamble, and smoke opium? Fine. Make them stand guard?!
Get real!
With their bodies hollowed out by alcohol, sex, and opium, standing guard for half a day yesterday had already tormented them to ecstasy and agony. They didn’t want to suffer that again.
“Alright, from now on, don’t be sarcastic in front of me when there’s nothing. Get out of here!” Zhang Xiaofeng impatiently waved his hand to shoo them away, then called Xiao Zhao over:
“You go, find out for me if anyone went missing last night or something like that.”
“Officer, you mean”
“No nonsense, go quickly!”
On the other side.
Zheng Chaoyang found Cao Weida: “Cao Ye, the higher-ups asked me to tell you that they already know about that matter and have decided to spend money on redemption.”
This result was not beyond Cao Weida’s expectations. Without making a big fuss, the best way to get both the people and the medicine back was naturally redemption.
Although this made the Communist Party very frustrated, the situation was stronger than people. This was the safest and most reliable method.
“Also, I want to apply to transfer out of the Confidential Section and join the patrolmen ranks.”
This was beyond Cao Weida’s expectations. He asked doubtfully: “What does this mean? You’re doing well in the Confidential Section, why suddenly transfer to patrolmen?”
The Confidential Section wasn’t something anyone could enter. Zheng Chaoyang got in first because he graduated from the police school, naturally having that foundation.
Second, he stuffed money to Bureau Chief Xu, and only then barely entered the Confidential Section.
Not only were the benefits and treatment in the Confidential Section better than ordinary patrolmen, more importantly, one could access intelligence in the confidential room!
And no need to be exposed to wind and sun outside like patrolmen every day. How many people were desperate to get in but had no chance.
Now suddenly wanting to transfer out, how could it not surprise him?
“Sigh, staying in the confidential room every day is relaxed but also very boring.”
“Tell the truth!”
“Alright, I need to maintain first-time contact with you at any time, so I must transfer posts.”
Ever since Cao Weida became restless, he had done quite a few things.
Take this incident for example: if Cao Weida needed help but it was inconvenient to contact at a critical moment, wouldn’t that be terrible?
To ensure Cao Weida’s safety, and more conveniently establish contact with him, after much deliberation, the organization decided to have Zheng Chaoyang withdraw from the Confidential Section and transfer to the patrolmen sequence.
After all, people in the Confidential Section have discipline, making it inconvenient to frequently contact Cao Weida.
Zheng Chaoyang added: “Moreover, to serve under your command.”
That’s right.
Cao Weida nodded, “Alright, no problem. You submit the transfer report, I’ll talk to Bureau Chief Xu.”
Squeezing into the Confidential Section from outside would definitely be troublesome, but releasing from inside was much simpler.
With his friendship with Xu Hancheng, this small matter, Xu Hancheng would naturally give face.
“.”
“Officer, I found out. Feng Ergou, company commander of 1st Regiment 2nd Battalion 2nd Company, didn’t come to assembly today.”
While saying this news, Xiao Zhao’s lips couldn’t help but tremble,
“I inquired, Feng Ergou and his wife’s younger brother disappeared together.”
One Liu Dadan missing without reason might not mean much, but Feng Ergou suddenly missing was extremely similar to Liu Dadan.
Two consecutive nights, two company commanders disappeared. Even a fool would know something was wrong.
“I specifically went to Feng Ergou’s home. His woman said they slept in the same room last night, but when she woke up, Feng Ergou was gone.”
“Officer, do you think it might be related to those Taijun’s disappearances.”
“Alright, stop talking!”
Talking more would be scary!
Zhang Xiaofeng gritted his teeth. Originally exhausted from not sleeping all night, he now surprisingly had no sleepiness at all, because a chill rising from the soles of his feet lingered around his heart, making his whole body shudder.
“You watch the team, I’ll go find the regiment commander!”
This matter couldn’t be concealed anymore. He didn’t care about one Liu Dadan’s life or death.
After all, in these times, everything is scarce except people who want promotion and wealth!
What he feared was that if this continued, he didn’t know which day the next one to disappear without reason would be him!
Concerning his own life, he had to be proactive. He immediately ran to the regiment headquarters and found Regiment Commander Zhang Pinghe, reporting the matter without hiding anything.
In the end, he said worriedly: “Big Brother, if this continues, all the grassroots officers in our team will have to be replaced!”
“You can’t cover fire with paper. I’m afraid of unrest in people’s hearts then!”
Upon hearing this news, Zhang Pinghe was obviously startled too, with worry involuntarily appearing on his face.
He naturally understood the implication. If this continued, it wouldn’t just be unrest in hearts. Now it’s company commanders, next would it be battalion commanders?
Then after that, would it be him, the regiment commander?
No, this patrol errand can’t continue, at least not letting the Security Brigade do it alone. If dying, must drag the little devils along!
“I’ll go find the brigade commander right now.”
He didn’t hesitate at all, immediately got up and headed to the brigade commander’s office.
Brigade headquarters, inside the brigade commander’s barracks.
Brigade Commander Cui Qi sat on the sofa smoking, puffing clouds and mist, humming a tune, obviously in a good mood.
Two days had passed, the patrol team was as usual, no one missing without reason. He thought his method had worked.
In his view, this was all due to his wise and mighty decision, feeling very clever!
Otherwise, why did the little devils’ teams have frequent incidents, while his team was unscathed?
Doesn’t that explain the problem?
But just as he was secretly complacent, a voice suddenly came from the door: “Report!!”
“Come in.”
Seeing the person who pushed the door in, Cui Qi smiled broadly: “It’s Pinghe ah, what matter.”
Zhang Pinghe didn’t speak immediately, but turned to close the door.
Then quickly walked to Cui Qi’s side: “Brigade Commander, something happened.”
Cui Qi, who had been secretly complacent, suddenly felt a thud in his heart. As Zhang Pinghe narrated, his expression gradually stiffened.
He had just been feeling wise and mighty, and now told him something happened?!
This wasn’t slapping his face!
Fortunately, no one else knew about his gloating, otherwise it would be really embarrassing!
Seeing the brigade commander silent, Zhang Pinghe said urgently: “Brigade Commander, we can’t continue like this, otherwise the team will be hard to lead!”
“Also, I heard many little devils have secretly gone to Longquan Temple to seek peace charms. It’s said even Major Zhan Tai Bo Neng sought one, yet they make us patrol. Isn’t this obviously not taking our brothers’ lives seriously!”
“Alright, stop complaining.” Cui Qi frowned and interrupted, his hand unconsciously reaching into his pocket to touch the peace charm inside, thinking that keeping it in the pocket might not work, later he needed to find a small bag to hang it around his neck.
“But.”
“Alright, I know what you’re worried about. I know about this, you go back first.”
After sending Zhang Pinghe away, Cui Qi no longer had his previous good mood, his face heavy as he lowered his head in thought.
After a long while, he suddenly stood up and headed straight to the Gendarmerie Headquarters after leaving the brigade headquarters.
What exactly was said in between, no one knew.
Only when Cao Weida went out to make trouble again that night, he found changes in the patrol team again.
One patrol team of thirty people: five little devils, twenty-five security team members. The patrol range also changed from around the previous guard posts to patrolling a street segment.
“Liu Dadan and Feng Ergou’s disappearances have been discovered?”
Cao Weida thought thoughtfully. Previously, when selecting targets, he deliberately screened to avoid the same regiment, to prevent early discovery as much as possible.
But now it seemed it was futile.
“Since that’s the case, then I won’t be picky.” The corner of his mouth curled up behind the face veil. Unaffected by this change, he headed straight in one direction to infiltrate.
Although today’s patrol team’s range was expanded a bit, it was only on the main roads. The nearby alleys remained completely unaffected, still unimpeded for Cao Weida.
“Diao Jingguo, Security Brigade battalion commander, bullying the people, disregarding human life, lives in Daji Alley.”
This was his target tonight.
Half an hour later, at the corner of a siheyuan in Daji Alley, a pair of eyes quietly peeked out.
“.”
Two days later in the morning.
Brigade headquarters.
‘Bang’, a cup was smashed to pieces.
“Bastard! Scum!!”
Cui Qi was full of anger, yet couldn’t hide the fear in his eyes.
These two days, he had already notified officers from regiments, battalions, companies, even platoons, and the patrol team to pay special attention to their own safety at night.
The patrol team had no losses, but for two consecutive days, still one or more officers went missing every night!
The night before last, even a battalion commander went missing, causing an uproar in the Security Brigade.
A check today revealed two more company commanders missing last night!
Now, all officers big and small in the entire brigade were panic-stricken, not knowing who would be next.
As brigade commander, Cui Qi was also extremely frightened. Now battalion commanders had gone missing, would regiment commanders be next?
One step further, would it be him, the brigade commander?
Previously it was one by one disappearing, but last night suddenly two.
A chill rose uncontrollably in his heart, an invisible fear lingering around his heart for a long time.
“This damn guy, why suddenly target my Security Brigade to slaughter?!”
“Beiping’s Taijun… there are so many little devils, go find them!”
The pressure he endured these days was unprecedented. These two days he hadn’t slept a peaceful night, always feeling something lurking around him.
At that moment, Zhang Pinghe ran in.
“Brigade Commander, we have a clue!”
The brigade commander shuddered all over, immediately standing up eagerly: “Speak!”
“Brigade Commander, I suspect these days’ incidents are not some evil spirit at all, but someone pretending to be a ghost!”
“Hm?! Elaborate!”
“Yes! Brigade Commander, I carefully checked and found that all the money in the homes of the missing officers had been scraped clean!”
Zhang Pinghe said resonantly: “If it were really a ghost or something, what would it need money for!”
“Makes sense!” Cui Qi’s spirit lifted. Right, if there was really a ghost, taking lives would suffice. What use for money?
Even if wanting money, it would be from the dead!
Zhang Pinghe continued: “Also, you should know about the Gendarmerie Headquarters’ search and arrest of the murderer before. Many Taijun stationed in China met tragic ends. They mobilized many people to search, though not all found, but some were.”
“Those corpses all had their necks twisted off, and were silently transported away unnoticed!”
“Such methods don’t seem like something unclean could do, but more like man-made!”
“It’s just that the murderer now has some new method we don’t know, able to kill people silently in a short time!”
Cui Qi nodded heavily. After this analysis, the gloom in his heart dissipated quite a bit.
He naturally knew about the large-scale search in the Outer Fifth District before, which involved not only patrolmen but also many Chinese collaborators.
Since it wasn’t done by unclean things, there was nothing to fear!
As long as it’s human, there are always ways to guard against and investigate.
“But, I still can’t figure out how the murderer killed the Taijun patrol squad and moved the corpses in such a short time?” Zhang Pinghe asked Cui Qi with a puzzled face:
“Brigade Commander, you’ve seen much and know much. Do you know any method that can do this?”
Cui Qi couldn’t help but curse inwardly.
I know shit!
You ask me, who do I ask?
He said seriously: “This murderer is elusive, with brilliant methods, able to kill people silently and move corpses. Perhaps it’s not one person, but a gang.”
“Only a gang crime could make this possible!”
