SOTC Chapter 54

“Answer the phone quickly… answer the phone quickly…”

The time was 11:53 PM.

At this moment, Yang Xu was standing in the underpass where Gu Zheng and Sun Tao had met, holding a brand-new cell phone in his hand.

This was the emergency contact method that he, Gu Zheng, and Xu Qing had agreed upon earlier, to be used in case of unexpected situations.

Gu Zheng always carried his phone with him, but to avoid being tracked and monitored, he would never use it unless absolutely necessary.

Unless…

“What happened?”

A dozen seconds later, the phone in Yang Xu’s hand was answered.

When Gu Zheng’s voice came from the other end of the phone, Yang Xu almost felt an urge to burst into tears.

“Gu… Boss, Sister Qing… Sister Qing has been taken away by Zhao Yangfu.”

Silence…

A terrifying silence suddenly enveloped this dark and desolate underpass.

Gu Zheng’s voice was interrupted for a long time, until after a long while, he suddenly said, “Don’t come anywhere, just wait for me outside the underpass.”

Twenty minutes later, when Gu Zheng appeared in the underpass, his face was extremely dark.

Yang Xu’s fear had not been alleviated by the passage of time. Until the moment Gu Zheng arrived, Yang Xu’s body was still trembling uncontrollably. He could only lean against the moss-covered stone wall of the underpass, relying on the coolness transmitted from his back to force himself not to lose the ability to think due to fear.

“What exactly happened?”

Gu Zheng was no longer in the mood to ask about Yang Xu’s situation, because no matter what, at least he was still alive, but no one knew anything about Xu Qing’s situation.

Yang Xu told him exactly what had happened in the apartment, down to the details. Although he didn’t see how Zhao Yangfu treated Xu Qing, he could roughly understand from the sounds he heard.

Gu Zheng’s fist clenched and unclenched, and the expression on his face became increasingly terrifying.

He kept taking deep breaths, desperately suppressing the terrible impulse in his heart.

“Boss Gu, Boss Gu, listen to me. This might be a trap, this is definitely a trap. Don’t be impulsive, you can’t be impulsive. If you are, both Sister Qing and I will be in danger.”

Yang Xu was afraid of Gu Zheng’s expression. He had thought about all the possible outcomes of this matter, even more than anyone else.

“I know.”

After that final heavy exhale, Gu Zheng’s expression gradually calmed down.

“Your thinking might be a little chaotic right now, Yang Xu, can you help me think about a question?”

“Go ahead, Boss Gu, what do you want me to think about?”

Yang Xu nodded at Gu Zheng like a pecking chicken.

“I want to know what Liu Yuxi is trying to do. There aren’t so many coincidences in this world. He specifically waited until after I left to take Xu Qing away. Why?”

“I think the main reason is that Boss Gu, you are too hard to deal with. Whether it’s tracking or forcibly arresting you, there’s a high probability that you’ll escape. So, they grabbed Sister Qing while you weren’t around. That way, as long as you know about this, you’ll save Sister Qing no matter what, right?”

“I will definitely save Xu Qing, no matter what the reason, I must bring her back.”

Gu Zheng said without hesitation, and then clenched his fist.

However, that wasn’t the end of the sentence. After hesitating for a long time, he slowly added another sentence.

“But if you come back now, it’s the same as walking into Liu Yuxi’s trap.”

“That’s right, Sister Qing told Zhao Yangfu before that you would never come back, but she was actually saying that to Liu Yuxi. Sister Qing is amazing, she’s much better than me. She had already thought that if you didn’t know she was kidnapped, then Liu Yuxi wouldn’t be able to use this to threaten you. So, Boss Gu, you really can’t be impulsive, there will definitely be a way to rescue Sister Qing. Boss Gu, I’m speaking from the heart here, I think as long as you’re alive, Sister Qing can live. If something happens to you, then Sister Qing… definitely won’t survive.”

Yang Xu finished these words tremblingly, and then looked at Gu Zheng.

“Are you saying that Xu Qing wants me to pretend that I don’t know she’s been kidnapped?”

Gu Zheng’s expression was a little hesitant at the moment.

Because this statement completely contradicted his usual way of doing things as a police officer, but Yang Xu’s words weren’t completely unreasonable.

Liu Yuxi didn’t know about Yang Xu’s existence, otherwise he wouldn’t have left such an important witness alone and only taken Xu Qing away.

That is to say, even if he didn’t believe what Xu Qing said, if he really never went back to the apartment again, Liu Yuxi would have no way to pass the message out.

That, on the contrary, was a loophole in the kidnapper’s logic.

They hoped to force those who cared about the kidnapped person to do things they didn’t want to do by threatening the kidnapped person’s life.

But if those who cared about the kidnapped person couldn’t receive this information…

“Boss Gu… I know you care about Sister Qing a lot, but at a time like this, caring too much can lead to chaos. I’ll say it again, if something happens to you, Sister Qing is definitely not going to survive. If you let Liu Yuxi know that you refuse to save her for the sake of justice, then Liu Yuxi will definitely torture Sister Qing even more cruelly to force you to submit. But if you don’t know about this, he has no way to notify you, then… wouldn’t he be very depressed? Torturing Sister Qing would be meaningless. Killing Sister Qing, in case Boss Gu, you jump out again, then Liu Yuxi will be completely helpless.”

“…”

Gu Zheng’s expression looked particularly conflicted now.

After all, no one had ever encountered such a situation. In all the cases he had handled, there had never been a situation where the kidnapper couldn’t notify the kidnapped person’s family.

This might also be beyond Liu Yuxi’s imagination.

“Boss Gu… Boss Gu!”

Yang Xu was a little anxious when he saw Gu Zheng staring blankly, and quickly called out twice in a low voice.

Gu Zheng came back to his senses at this time. He looked at Yang Xu for a long time in the moonlight before he began to say in a deep voice:

“I can accept this statement, but this matter cannot be delayed indefinitely. We must have a plan that can not only bring Liu Yuxi to justice, but also rescue Xu Qing unharmed, and in the process, Liu Yuxi must not be aware of it. This matter is easier said than done. To be honest, even if Zhao Yangfu hadn’t taken Xu Qing away, I wouldn’t have been confident that I could bring him to justice, let alone now that we’ve become more and more restricted.”

“Then why did he have to kidnap Sister Qing? If Liu Yuxi’s actions were so seamless, he should have nothing to fear, right? Doesn’t that make sense?”

Yang Xu finally began to break free from the state of extreme fear.

On the one hand, it was because Gu Zheng was already standing in front of him, and on the other hand, after this period of getting along, Xu Qing had also become a very important person in Yang Xu’s heart.

No matter how afraid he was, Yang Xu still tried his best to calm himself down. At least until Xu Qing was safe, he didn’t want his role to be just a burden.

“You’re right, so what is the reason that prompted Liu Yuxi to take this action? So far, apart from Lao Sun, no one knows that we have obtained conclusive evidence of Zhao Yangfu’s involvement in the murder, and Lao Sun would never reveal this matter to anyone. I trust him completely on this point.”

Gu Zheng nodded thoughtfully. Sun Tao was an old criminal police officer and would never do anything that would be detrimental to solving the case.

“Then let’s assume that Liu Yuxi didn’t take the risk because of this matter. Then the only reason that prompted Liu Yuxi to take this action is that Sister Qing went to Yuzhou Culture’s news database to collect information about the Agricultural Credit Cooperative, right? That was the last thing Sister Qing did that might have made Liu Yuxi feel threatened, but the problem is that we didn’t find any information related to the Agricultural Credit Cooperative. The previous conclusions were all drawn by Boss Gu based on the clues.”

“No, I don’t think you’re right about that. Liu Yuxi had already begun to suspect Xu Qing from the beginning. Didn’t they send people to our door to look for our traces? It’s just that we anticipated it beforehand. Liu Yuxi didn’t dare to act rashly when he couldn’t be sure because he had a fluke mentality. The key should be with Lao Sun. Because we discovered Wang Nongxin’s real death scene, a pawn he had placed in the Public Security Bureau exploded. The murder of Lin Shu must not have been in Liu Yuxi’s original plan, but was simply a response forced by Lao Sun’s actions. But in this way, a flaw was left behind. I bet that Lao Sun has already found clues to the murderer who killed Lin Shu. And against this background, Liu Yuxi must make a decision, even if it means taking the most risky approach, he must end these cases as soon as possible.”

“So, he plans to use Sister Qing to force him to submit?!”

Yang Xu’s exclamation didn’t come from his inner surprise, but because the case in Yulin County had reached the most critical crossroads.

The clearest situation now was that the fastest way to close the case was to establish the truth that Gu Zheng had committed the murder, and to prevent Gu Zheng from ever being able to speak again.

Gu Zheng nodded knowingly and said in a deep voice:

“Yes, it’s just that Xu Qing left me the last room to maneuver, so that I wouldn’t be pushed into a dead end.”

“Boss Gu, have you figured out what to do?”

“I’ve figured it out, but this matter requires your absolute trust in me…”

Gu Zheng looked at Yang Xu and said hesitantly.

“It’s already come to this, what’s the point of talking about trust? Could it be that if something happens to Boss Gu and Sister Qing, I can be safe and sound? Forget it, just consider this year as my year of bad luck, Yang Xu. Boss Gu, just tell me what your plans are, I will definitely do whatever it takes.”

Yang Xu patted his chest forcefully, showing a rare look of responsibility.

“I need you to turn yourself in.”

Gu Zheng smiled and casually said this.

Then Yang Xu was stunned. He stared at Gu Zheng for a long time, and said uncertainly:

“Turn… turn myself in?”

“Yes. I need you to turn yourself in. Chen Fan’s case is related to Zhao Yangfu, and Lao Sun has now obtained decisive evidence of Zhao Yangfu’s involvement in the murder. In this situation, you don’t need to say too much, just tell the things he told you to me. And Lao Sun and Lao Xue will definitely guarantee your safety, are you willing?”

After Gu Zheng explained his request in detail, he once again confirmed with Yang Xu.

“I…”

“I…”

Yang Xu’s face was full of struggle. He stood there muttering several times, and finally slapped his thigh fiercely and said loudly:

“I’m going all out! I’ll turn myself in, I’ll turn myself in first thing tomorrow morning.”

“No, not tomorrow.”

Gu Zheng shook his head upon hearing this.

“I didn’t find Lao Sun today. This matter must wait until Lao Sun returns before I come directly to him to turn myself in, so as to ensure that there is no mistake. And before that, I have to find a place to hide first, and then wait for my news with this phone.”

“I… can go to the place I hid before, but Boss Gu, you…”

“I have something more important to do, so I can only wrong you for a few days for now.”

“I’m fine.”

Yang Xu shook his head vigorously.

“I won’t let anyone find me, but Boss Gu, you must pay attention to your safety no matter what. If something happens to you… then I really have no hope.”

Yang Xu said worriedly.

Gu Zheng took a deep breath, and then nodded seriously at him.

“I know, then let’s leave it at that for today. While it’s still not bright, let’s act together.”

“Okay.”

In a piece of darkness, two people in the same boat finished their final conversation, and then disappeared into the darkness one after another.

But this was not the end of everything, because dawn would eventually come.

Just a little while ago, when that fish-belly white color appeared on the distant horizon.

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