bestfiction Chapter 438 Undercover!
Chapter 438 Undercover!
The night breeze carried intermittent whispers of several people talking in hushed tones.
One of them crouched by the pit, his voice filled with urgency and unease:
"Third brother, hurry up, let's get out of here as soon as we're done digging this hole. I'm getting really uneasy, I don't want anything to go wrong..."
The one in the pit, called "Third Brother," spoke in a muffled, nonchalant voice, panting heavily.
"What a coward! This godforsaken place is deserted except for us. Besides, even if someone does come, what are we afraid of in this pitch-black mountain? What good are our weapons anyway!"
"You don't know anything! Better safe than sorry!"
The man lying in wait cursed again, his voice even lower, "Look at all this 'good stuff' we've pulled out. Enough for our families to live comfortably for the rest of our lives. Know when to stop, don't be too greedy..."
"Alright, alright, I know, stop nagging like a woman..."
The third brother in the pit muttered impatiently, but his hands didn't stop moving.
Zhong Yuemin observed carefully and immediately assigned tasks. He sent Haiyang and a few men to take down the lookout in the distance, while he and Ning Wei each led a team to flank the tomb raiders, turning the place upside down.
Unsurprisingly, the tomb raiders never expected that a special forces unit would suddenly appear in this haunted Savage Gully. They'd walked right into their line of fire, and were swiftly subdued. They didn't even get a chance to pull out their homemade guns to fight back; they didn't even get a clear look at their attackers.
He tried to argue, "Who are you people? Why are you arresting us?"
"hehe,"
Haiyang sneered, "Don't you know why we arrested you? You've got some nerve, coming here to rob tombs."
"Who...who robbed the tomb? You're making false accusations!"
Another tomb raider stubbornly argued his way out of the situation.
“We…we are from a nearby village. This…this is where our ancestors who moved here years ago are buried. We are…we are moving their graves to a different place, yes, moving their graves!”
"Move the grave?"
Zhang Haiyang was amused and annoyed. He ripped open a woven bag and, by the light of his tactical flashlight, revealed several bronze artifacts covered in verdigris and ancient patterns. He picked up a palm-sized bronze jue (a type of ancient Chinese wine vessel) and waved it in front of the tomb raiders.
"Do you recognize this thing? Look at the rust color and the texture. It would take at least a thousand or eight hundred years to develop into this."
"What? You know all your relatives from thousands of years ago, and you even know where to 'move' their graves? I think you lot should just quit grave robbing and become experts at an archaeological institute with that kind of ancestry-tracing skills!"
Zhong Yuemin didn't participate in the verbal argument; he was squatting next to the pile of "spoils of war," carefully examining them with a flashlight.
There were indeed quite a few items, including bronzes, broken lacquerware fragments, some jade pieces whose original appearance was no longer discernible, and many pottery jars covered in mud.
With a slight frown, he realized that although most of these cultural relics were not in top condition, their quantity was considerable, suggesting that this group had been active here for some time and had quite an appetite for them.
"Alright, Ocean, why waste words with them?"
Zhong Yuemin stood up, dusted off his hands, and spoke in a calm tone.
"Tie them all up tightly, gag them, and don't camp here tonight. End the training exercise early, pack your things, go down the mountain tonight, and hand them over to the local public security bureau along with the stolen goods. Don't cause any trouble in this deep mountain forest."
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Three days later, Zhong Yuemin was invited to Commander Li's office again. This had become a regular monthly event, with conversations lasting an hour or two. This kind of "treatment" was something that even officers at the division level, let alone ordinary officers, might not enjoy often.
In the office, Chief Li personally brewed tea and handed him a cup, which he quickly stood up to accept with both hands.
"Sit down, sit down," Commander Li waved his hand, picked up a cup of tea, and sat down on the sofa opposite him. He casually took out a cigarette from the tin box, lit it, and looked at Zhong Yuemin through the wisps of smoke with a half-smile on his face.
"It's not like it's your first time here, why are you being so polite with me!"
Then, quite pleased, he said:
“Well done, Yuemin. The ‘Old A’ team has been established for less than half a year and we haven’t seen any big moves yet, but we’ve already caught a whole bunch of rats.”
An hour ago, the head of the local public security bureau called me personally to express his gratitude.
Commander Li flicked his cigarette ash, his tone approving.
"This group of tomb raiders is no ordinary criminal. According to the police, they are a gang of habitual offenders who have committed crimes in several provinces. They are skilled in their methods and have a strong sense of counter-surveillance. The local authorities have been chasing them for a long time without success."
"Now look what's happened! We've run right into your line of fire, caught red-handed. Even I, as the superior, get some credit for it—I'm beaming with pride!"
Zhong Yuemin followed the leader's instructions.
"You flatter me, sir. This is entirely due to your and your superiors' skillful command and wise decisions, which created an opportunity for us to learn. We were just lucky, like a blind cat stumbling upon a dead mouse, simply following orders."
Don't give me that!
Chief Li chuckled and scolded, then pointed at the person.
"You smooth talker, all that flattery and bootlicking you've used on me? You little rascal!"
"Alright, besides the commendation, there's another important matter I wanted to discuss with you today!"
He stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray, his smile fading, and said in a deep voice:
"According to the interrogation of that group, the items they stole were not sold individually by themselves, but were all sold through a fixed middleman. This middleman... has a special identity; he is from Hong Kong Island."
Zhong Yuemin's eyes flickered slightly as he listened quietly.
"The police's message is that at this stage of the case, we can't just focus on arresting a few grave diggers."
We must trace this line further upstream, ideally uncovering the background of that middleman on Hong Kong Island and their sales network, aiming to dismantle them all and retrieve the previously moved artifacts intact.
But since it's not inland, it's quite sensitive. Sending police directly would involve complicated procedures, could easily alert the suspects, and would be subject to many obstacles. It also can't be done openly.
Commander Li looked at Zhong Yuemin with sharp eyes.
"Therefore, they hope we can cooperate by sending skilled personnel to impersonate these tomb raiders and contact and negotiate with the middleman."
I recommended you, and the police reviewed your file and your performance this time, and specifically requested your services.
Zhong Yuemin touched his nose and asked the leader,
"Sir, what if the police don't have anyone? Do we need to send more people?"
Chief Li said:
"I don't know about that. They have their own considerations. We're not forcing you. If you don't want to, you can just decline. We're just discussing it with you."
Can you bring people?
"Two or three should be enough!"
Zhong Yuemin thought for a moment, "Okay, I'll go then, and bring Zhang Haiyang and Ning Wei with me."
Chief Li smiled and pointed at the person.
"I knew you couldn't stay here. Good, go out and have some fun. But I have to remind you, things are special over there. Don't do anything reckless. Cooperate well with the police officers and don't cause any trouble."
Zhong Yuemin nodded, thinking to himself that that was his territory!