Xu Dayuan laughed.
"You weren’t in a good state yesterday. After talking about the portrait, you beca drowsy and wanted to sleep. Any more talk would have been aningless, so let’s have a detailed chat today. Co on, have a seat!"
Zhou Ning didn’t waste any words and quickly squeezed over to Xu Dayuan’s side and sat beside him. Xu Dayuan’s notebook was open, displaying a video.
In the video, it was still the sa storage location inside the cave. However, the entire cave was brightly illuminated as if it were daylight. Guan Jian had already donned a hazmat suit with a mask, which gave Zhou Ning a start.
As for the storage area, it had been emptied out, not just a vertical wall close to the cave side, but a section that was completely hollowed out—about three tis as big as the spot they had discovered. Moreover, there were two doors on the wall, stone doors with tal fras, which impressed Zhou Ning with their tight security.
Guan Jian’s muffled voice ca through, tinged with frantic shouting.
"All the items on the outside have been tallied. In total, there are 140 boxes of explosives, including dynamite, detonating cord, and blasting caps—all kinds of equipnt are complete. An expert examination of the inside of the stone door indicates that the artillery shells and steel cylinders are filled with sarin, amounting to 238 boxes. Judging from the packaging and the fullness of the substance, this batch of sarin has been stored here in these quantities. It has not been opened or used."
Just now, the 238 boxes of sarin, along with the 140 boxes of explosives, have been completely transported. Inside the cave, we and the ard police have conducted three thorough searches, and no other traces of human activity have been found."
Xu Dayuan turned off the video. Zhou Ning was beyond shocked.
Sarin!
They had actually found sarin here!
Not to ntion the explosives laid out on the surface, but also the more secretive stone doors behind. Such construction was no simpler than digging out a cave—238 boxes of it. That was an enormous quantity.
"Shocked, aren’t you? The clean-up work was completed last night, and the results of the chemical tests ca early this morning. Both Longyou Province and our Ludong Province have sent people, and regarding the military, specialized personnel have also been involved in the transport. This matter is now very significant."
By now, Zhou Ning had regained his composure. He didn’t care about the scale of the matter; what he was concerned about was whether the case would be handed over. If it was a particularly significant incident and a special task force was established, even if they were involved, they would be on the periphery and could not control everything. Finding out the truth about his parents’ case would be less convenient.
"Both provincial departnts have sent people over, so are we still in charge of the investigation?"
Xu Dayuan naturally knew what Zhou Ning was concerned about and smiled at him.
"Don’t worry. I think the bigger the issue, the better. When we arrived at Ganzhou, Mr. Bai, the Mayor, and Mr. Huang himself ca to et us in person. The attitude was to select so case as a model. Although there’s a part of this matter that we can’t touch, from what we see now, if we want to investigate thoroughly, we can start from two aspects.
One is the main cave you discovered, starting from the ritual twenty years ago, and the other is this Yagelangha. We control the most information and have delved the deepest. The investigation has already been launched and has been reported to various departnts. It is not sothing that can be easily taken over by others.
The people from Longyou Province, due to our investnt in Ganzhou City, will not interfere recklessly but will rather cooperate actively because it brings attention to Longyou Province. As for the people from the Ludong Provincial Departnt, are they idle enough to co over thousands of kiloters just to take over a case?"
Zhou Ning couldn’t help but laugh at the thought, which indeed made sense.
Although the case was significant, it was not within Ludong’s jurisdiction. The Ludong Provincial Departnt would absolutely feign ignorance. Who would look for trouble without reason?
As for the Longyou Provincial Departnt, as Xu Dayuan said, they would only cooperate and not take the initiative to take over the case. If soone suddenly made an aggressive move to take over or showed a strong attitude, then their motives were not pure, and in such a situation, one would wish to avoid involvent if possible.
"I understand that, apart from the necessary cooperation and the parts involving the National Security Departnt, we will prepare for the handover. Anyone who proactively cos closer or expresses a desire to take over is not doing so with pure intentions."
Xu Dayuan laughed.
"Smart, exactly. Those who are not concerned want to stay away, while those who are involved want to participate and monitor the progress. But watching is not enough; we have to give them an opportunity, right?
Otherwise, it would still be difficult to find a weakness in the case. We have to expose so vulnerabilities. For instance, regarding the special task force, I have applied to Ludong and Longyou, hoping for support from various personnel. The sa goes for Aerospace City; we hope for assistance in the investigation.
As for this Yagelangha, we’ve made significant progress in the investigation these past few days. We found out through the tourism bureau, checking which regions have developed Yagelangha temples and when these ceremonies began. So far, we know of approximately a dozen places."
Zhou Ning was stunned. A dozen places—if they were all on the scale of the one in Ganzhou, then the coverage would be substantial. Those families who had been cured of their ailnts, or parents of seriously ill children who would do anything for their offspring, they were the most loyal followers.
"Could there really be that many?"
"The public security bureaus of various neighboring cities have no records of such investigations. Instead, it’s the tourism bureaus that have so scattered ntions. I believe this is the biggest problem. If one can’t see it, could all of them be blind?"
Especially in Ganzhou City, although the local authorities were very cooperative with our investigation, to the point of being anxious and apprehensive, what was the actual situation? Mr. Liang from the canteen had been there a few tis, and even his descriptions of Yagelangha felt slightly off to him.
Of course, he was anxious because soone at ho was ill, so there was a sense of clutching at straws. You should know that the strictness of managent in a multi-ethnic concentration area is not sothing our cities can compare with, so such laxity and lack of alertness would not be normal, would it?
Moreover, that cave you visited, though it may be quite hidden on the northern slope and rarely visited, what about the southern slope? It’s so close to the Thirty-three Skies Grottoes, and the slope is so gentle. Yagelangha was even held there. Had no one ever noticed?
The most important thing is the case files within the Public Security Bureau. Those files wouldn’t just fly away on their own, which at least suggests that after your parents’ incident, soone inside was easily able to take the case files and cleanse any related traces. I checked the register at that ti; there was absolutely no record of this.
Zhou Ning nodded his head.
"I asked Fang Dongsheng. He was transferred to the Ganzhou City Public Security Bureau in 2005. He had been a criminal detective for several years and beca the head of the detective team three years ago. As for the deputy head, the previous one went into early retirent, claiming to have cancer. He occupied the position for several years and went to Jing City for surgery before he retired due to illness.
This Guan Jian is currently acting as the deputy head. We don’t have much contact with other people, but I’ve noticed that the Ganzhou City Bureau is very young; there are many people in their twenties and early thirties. At present, only Mr. Liang from the canteen and Mr. Huang Yubin, Mr. Huang of the traffic police team, are older, but I don’t know about the others."
Xu Dayuan lit a cigarette and threw the pack to Zhou Ning.
"Last night, I convened the third task force eting. You were unconscious and not aware of the situation. We have established several investigative approaches. I think it would be great to get results, but if we don’t, at least all these people will have been sent away.
One is the missing persons in the Tianshan area, another is the rcury sale channels, and another is all the information concerning Yagelangha, from the fixed patterns to various aspects, and all the regular perforrs and sellers. We want to collect as many photos as possible, and by compiling them from different places, we can perform comparisons."
Zhou Ning heard this and realized that they were indeed diverting personnel.
"Do we have enough people with us?"
"Not enough, so I’ve applied to the provincial departnts on both sides, hoping to mobilize more police force to assist. The responses have been received. Within forty-eight hours, personnel will be in place. Mr. Hu personally went to the provincial departnt. There was just one command: the case must be cleared up, no matter how much ti has passed.
On this side, I’ve put Huang Yubin in charge as the deputy head of the task force, mainly responsible for investigating rcury, missing persons in the Tianshan area, and Yagelangha. These are certainly the most crucial aspects. And for the contacts with the local ard police, Fang Dongsheng is responsible for all of that.
I told them that there’s no problem with the work; I only had one request: I hope that the departnts involved will cooperate fully. Those sent to help are here to work. Oh right, a special team from Aerospace City will co later to participate in the investigation throughout, and I’ve already agreed to it."
Zhou Ning extinguished his cigarette butt. Xu Dayuan’s arrangents were certainly extensive. It must also be the result of a discussion with Mr. Hu. The trap had been set, and now it was ti to see if the fish would take the bait.
From Zhou Ning’s few interactions with Huang Yubin, he hadn’t found any issues with the man. Of course, it wasn’t easy to say now, considering there was so much to investigate on this side.
"What do we do now?"
Xu Dayuan smiled.
"There’s no shortage of work. But in the task force, don’t tell you’re a forensic doctor and don’t do anything else. Our personnel are limited. In a while, I’ll have a mobilization eting. Everyone who had been with the Ganzhou City Bureau from the end of 1993 to the first half of 1995, we’ll scrutinize them all thoroughly.
I want to know, when your father was the deputy head at that ti, who were in power? Could they all have been silenced? There are no case files, and not a single one of them reacted, or was it that the incident involved more families than just your father’s?
Don’t look at like that. I know you’re wondering about those four people I ntioned last night. I’ve already organized the information, and Mr. Hu has sent people to investigate. And don’t worry, the personnel are borrowed from Dayao City, all familiar faces."
This statent indeed brought a sigh of relief to Zhou Ning. Wu Chunming, Huang Youdao, Cao Pingzhang, and Da Wang’er, especially this Da Wang’er, Zhou Ning had a very deep impression of him, a person who was starkly different from his appearance.
"That’s good. Sending unfamiliar faces over, I think it’s better. After all, those with intentions are definitely watching Qindao. Any little movent, and they’re fully prepared."
Xu Dayuan patted his thigh and stood up.
"You’re right. Now the enemy is in the dark, and we are in the light. Whether we want to lure the snake out of the hole or strike its vital point, first we need to find the snake. I think the identities of these four people provide a breakthrough. I an, it’s unthinkable: people with moles on their lips at the exact sa spot, and their faces practically identical. I believe it’s not possible."
These words brightened Zhou Ning’s eyes; Xu Dayuan had struck a chord with what Zhou Ning was thinking.
"I believe that even if two people look alike, they wouldn’t have more than a 90% match in facial recognition, considering the differences in weight, age, environnt. I always feel that, perhaps, it’s the sa person, just with multiple identities."
Xu Dayuan nodded his head.
"Agreed."
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