“Sparrow Game’s leader wrote an article to Lan Er just this morning. He clearly wants to meet. Even the date and time is explicitly given,” Xie San remarked.

“The cat is throwing food to the mouse,” Xiao Feng said. “Still, we expended a fair amount of effort and were able to locate the owner of the mine in Chengdu. He’s still alive. Now, the mouse can also throw food to the cat, enticing it to appear at wherever the mouse wants it to appear.”

“So, what you’re trying to say is, we beat them at their own game by giving them a banquet and arresting the suspect in one fell swoop? What if we catch a scapegoat instead?” A crackling sound was produced when Hu Cheng held up his tobacco pipe and smoked from it. His sharp, falcon-like gaze twinkled in radiance.

“The mine owner safe in our hands. We’re vigorously treating his mental state. I don’t think he’ll go so far as to wield a knife and kill someone in public. Be it the real owner or a scapegoat, once we confirm his identity, we’ll definitely be able to commence the next step! What we need to do now is to seize this moment!” Wang Meng stood up and exclaimed. Righteous indignation was filling his chest, and after finishing his sentence, he was given an encouraging reward: a pat on the head by Xiao Feng.

“From the subsystem, we can see that the suspect is only targeting the mine accident that happened thirteen years ago. Today, the only remaining person is the mine owner. The rest of those responsible have already met with Yama ¹ . That is why the criminal will not give this opportunity up. He may well know that it’s a trap, but he’ll still lie on his stomach and peek inside to see whether his target is actually present. It just so happens that we can exploit this to cast a bigger net, and in the end, we can reel in our catch slowly! Is this what you are trying to say, Officer Xiao?”

Something seemed to amuse the scar above Xu Lan’s eyebrow. It was twisting and jerking as if it was even more excited than Xu Lan was!

“Yes. That is precisely my point.”

The process of law was extensive and rigorous; merciful though it may be, it would never let the guilty escape. Two groups of people have taken over the 928 case within the six months of investigating it. The criminal would finally be unmasked and the truth would come to light! Xu Lan and Xiao Feng looked at each other and smiled. All of a sudden, the room was filled with an odd coldness, startling them and causing them to shiver.

“We must take our time to properly consider how we are going to cast this huge net.” Xu Lan then let out a hearty laugh, for it was the first good news in what had been a long week. As soon as he thought of that, his smile disappeared, as if it was dragged down by a thousand catties worth of force.

Circles and drawings were aplenty on the tactics board. Equally numerous were the suggestions and plans, but none seemed adequate. Something just seemed to be missing, and that something had everything to do with life or death!

Xu Lan shook his pack of cigarettes. He bought them just before coming to the station, but all that was left was one cigarette left. He placed the last cigarette between his lips and passed the box to Xiao Zhang. He then continued discussing the plan to protect the mine owner with Xiao Feng and Hu Cheng.

“We may have a good card on our hands, but we cannot go so far as to let our target brave death just to break free of our net,” Hu Cheng remarked.

“Even if he’s aware that we know of his plan, we have to make him think that whatever he’s doing is safe,” Xu Lan said.

“Argh, it feels like a kidnap for ransom. The criminal knows that a police report has been made, but still he changes location, threatens his hostages, and does everything he can to escape the clutches of the police,” Wang Meng shouted from behind them while holding a cup in his hands.

“! ! !”

“Cough, cough! The f*ck! Xiao Feng, do you want me to f*cking kill you!” Xiao Feng got up suddenly, held the back of Wang Meng’s head, and transferred smoke from his lungs into Wang Meng’s mouth with a kiss. Wang Meng was so exasperated by the action that he jumped up and spilled the tea all over the floor.

The three of them looked at each other and smiled – they instantly had a plan. A ransom could be demanded, but it was a gamble. The higher the stakes, the more likely they were able to attract the criminal.

Those pair of pitch-black pupils did not turn gloomy because of what happened at home, rather, they were displaying even more resilience.