Guided by the flashlight beam, Guan Xia descended the ladder into the sewer opening, each step on the rungs placed with extreme care.
She had initially expected a hidden world below, but a quick glance around revealed that, likely for the sake of concealment, this place was little different from any city sewer apart from being relatively cleaner. It was just as narrow, only a few meters wide, and the ceiling was so low that even Guan Xia, who was not tall, had to hunch over slightly to move forward.
Guan Xia shone her flashlight down the two directions the tunnel allowed. Without needing the young male officer to guide her, the faint, echoing murmur of conversation from not far away already indicated Captain Zhang's location.
"Let's go," Guan Xia said, directing her light toward where Captain Zhang was and urging them onward.
The young male officer waited another two seconds, ensuring Guan Xia and Pang Le had adjusted to the dim underground environment, before awkwardly hunching over to lead the way. "This section is deliberately difficult for camouflage. Please bear with it, Expert Guan. Once we round the bend ahead, the path gets much easier."
Walking on the grime-caked, sticky floor, each step felt like treading on countless bacteria to Guan Xia. But there was no time to dwell on that now. Her full attention was fixed on the young officer's back ahead, fearing she might lose sight of him if she glanced away.
Fortunately, it was as he said. After only a few dozen meters of arduous progress, just as Guan Xia began to feel an ache in her perpetually bent back, they turned a corner and climbed a step. The passageway immediately widened.
The step was steeper than a normal stair. From a distance, it was completely unnoticeable. So, despite being only tens of meters from the sewer entrance, this hidden passage would be hard to find unless one was specifically looking for it.
Upon stepping up, Guan Xia instinctively scraped her shoe soles. The tunnel remained dim, but her flashlight beam now faintly illuminated Captain Zhang and the others.
"Captain Zhang is over there," the young officer said, finally able to straighten his back with a sigh of relief, pointing ahead. "When I went out to wait for you, Expert Guan, Captain Zhang had already found the hidden door. But there's a mechanism; the door only stays open briefly before shutting quickly. I don't know if Captain Zhang has made any new discoveries since."
Filled with excitement for the impending major discovery, the young officer couldn't wait for Guan Xia's response and set off leading the way again.
Guan Xia had no questions, so she simply listened without replying. After another two minutes of walking, they finally reunited with Captain Zhang and her team.
Spotting Captain Zhang, Guan Xia eagerly pushed forward. "How is it, Captain Zhang? I heard from our guide there's a mechanism on the hidden door. Have you figured anything out?"
Without needing Captain Zhang's instruction, the people surrounding her automatically made room, offering two good vantage points. As Guan Xia approached, she noticed a young female officer, roughly Pang Le's height, standing to Captain Zhang's right front. Her right hand was pressed against a spot on the wall. Before Captain Zhang was a stone door, now open, revealing a metal door with a hard, industrial sheen. It looked welded shut, seamless, its style completely out of place in the sewer, especially the fingerprint scanner on it, which immediately drew the eye.
Taking in the scene, Guan Xia's focus locked onto the fingerprint scanner. Only when Captain Zhang spoke did she snap partially back to attention.
Captain Zhang said, "We've mostly figured it out. See where Little Liu is pressing? That's a movable panel mechanism. You can press it briefly or hold it down. Both open the hidden door, but a brief press only gives you thirty seconds—enough for a few people to rush through. Holding it keeps the door open. We suspect this hidden door is one of the organization's frequently used entrances or exits."
Guan Xia moved closer to the metal door, bending down until she was almost touching the fingerprint scanner. She studied it under the flashlight beam for a few seconds. "The number pad on the scanner shows no signs of wear. It seems this place really is their lair. Access is strictly for core members via fingerprint—that explains the tight control."
Captain Zhang nodded. "We think so too. If we breach the door quickly, we might catch them all in one swoop. And the scanner's database... for us, it's practically a list of suspects' fingerprints."
Guan Xia felt a surge of excitement. Although Wu Yang's current whereabouts were still unknown, this lair alone was a massive find. It could ensure the capture of perhaps eighty percent of the organization's core members at once.
After an indeterminate wait, the long, empty sewer tunnel finally echoed with sounds from others approaching.
Captain Zhang straightened up, listening toward the noise. "I hear the heavy sound of equipment scraping against the walls. Must be the fire brigade bringing tools down."
She frowned, glancing around. "Little Liu, Leizi, escort Expert Guan back out first. Once the fire brigade enters, armed police and SWAT will follow fully geared. We have no idea what's behind that door. For everyone's safety and to not hinder their operation, we'll pull back first. We'll enter after they've secured the area."
Despite her curiosity and excitement, Guan Xia knew she'd only be in the way now and agreed without objection.
The young male officer who had guided them asked, "What about you, Captain Zhang? Aren't you coming with us?"
Captain Zhang listened intently for a few more seconds and shook her head. "You go ahead. I'll brief the fire brigade and then regroup with you."
She added further instructions, "If you're not exiting the sewer, Leizi, make sure you and Expert Guan move well back. We suspect there might be an arsenal inside the lair. I'm worried about hearing damage if you're too close."
Guan Xia felt Captain Zhang was treating them like fragile objects, worrying about such details even at a time like this, afraid they might get the slightest bump or scrape.
Naturally, she wouldn't refuse the consideration. She listened quietly as Captain Zhang finished instructing the young officer, who then waved them on urgently.
Hearing a series of heavy footsteps drawing rapidly nearer, Guan Xia feared they'd block the passage. She quickly took several large strides out of the tunnel, catching only a glimpse of the blurry figures of the fire brigade a few meters away, before following the young officer's lead deeper into the narrow sewer channel.
This time, there was no hidden spacious passage. Guan Xia and the others were forced to walk hunched over for who knows how far, until they could no longer hear any sounds from the other end. It was then that the young male officer stopped and said, "Let's retreat to here. I roughly calculated earlier; it's about eighty or ninety meters from the secret door. That distance should be enough for us to handle most emergencies."
The young male officer was really tall. As he spoke, he simply squatted down and waved at Guan Xia, saying, "Expert Guan, you all should squat down too. Judging by the thickness and hardness of that iron door, who knows how long the fire department will take. If we stand hunched for too long, by the time we really need to enter, we probably won't be able to straighten our backs even in a spacious area."
Although Guan Xia and Pang Le were somewhat put off by the sewer environment, at a time like this, they had to overlook such minor discomforts. Fortunately, the ground was just dirty but relatively dry, with no sewage flowing around. After the others squatted down, they hesitated for only two seconds before following suit and squatting as well.
The waiting time was truly dull and hard to endure. Guan Xia simply turned to the young female officer called Little Liu and asked, "Comrade, I'd like to ask, how did you discover that secret door?"
The young female officer surnamed Liu had a striking appearance, with sword-like eyebrows and phoenix eyes, giving her a very heroic look. Her personality was as straightforward as her looks, and she answered readily, "Expert Guan, just call me Little Liu like Captain Zhang does. Wenwen and I discovered it together. We were in the first wave of people who came with Expert Guan for the carpet search. We paired up and walked probably eighteen thousand if not twenty thousand steps in one afternoon, covering almost the entire hillside without finding anything suspicious. Then Wenwen had a sudden idea. She thought since this organization was so bold as to hide in plain sight, was it possible they also chose the entrance to be in plain sight? And what place on this mountain is the most ordinary and inconspicuous? We just tried our luck, checking every sewer entrance we could find. We were lucky and found that hidden passageway after checking only three sewers."
While the young female officer surnamed Liu was speaking, a delicate-looking young female officer beside her kept smiling shyly. After she finished, the other officer added a few words.
The similarly young female officer named Wenwen said, "The idea to search the sewers was mine, but it was Liu Ying who found the secret door. Her eyesight is exceptionally good. After we entered that hidden spacious passage, it didn't take long for Liu Ying to spot a small stone block at the end of the passage that was a slightly different color from the surrounding wall. She pressed it tentatively, and the stone door popped open."
Guan Xia looked at Liu Ying, then at Wenwen. Feeling both admiration and emotion, she thought that indeed every female officer who could work at the municipal bureau at such a young age was outstanding.
Once this topic was opened, and without involving any need for secrecy, the five or six people squatting together soon started chatting animatedly.
Guan Xia spoke little and listened more, but Pang Le was different. She fully utilized her social butterfly nature, adapting seamlessly and fitting right in. In no time, she had blended in with the rest of the young people.
It was hard to tell how long they had been chatting. Just as Guan Xia's legs were getting a bit numb from squatting and she was increasingly shifting her weight from one leg to the other, a series of crisp gunshots, interwoven into a continuous burst, suddenly rang out.
Because of this sudden surprise, everyone was stunned for a moment, then subconsciously stood up in unison. Everyone was focused on the gunshots, completely forgetting their cramped surroundings, and one after another, they bumped their heads.
Guan Xia felt sure she was going to get a bump on the top of her head from that, but no one had time to care. She casually rubbed the spot with her hand and asked rapidly, with some tension in her voice.
"Gunshots, and such dense gunshots at that. It seems the armed police and SWAT have stormed in. Just don't know how many criminals are hiding inside."
“Captain Zhang's speculation was right after all. This organization's lair really does have an arsenal. These people are too audacious. Jianyang City is a provincial capital! How did they get so many guns and hide them right under our noses?”
That large group company, although its main business is games and animation, has subsidiaries that are quite diverse. It seems they have a decoration company and a logistics company as well. As long as they have the channels to buy them, of course they have the means to smuggle them in.
Apart from Guan Xia and Pang Le, the others discussed this animatedly. Judging by their expressions and tone, they were only slightly nervous, mostly excited, showing no worry for Captain Zhang or themselves.
Guan Xia wasn't sure how long the gunfire lasted. She just listened as the continuous bursts of gunshots grew sparser and fainter, until finally they stopped completely, allowing the sewer to return to a quiet where you could hear the shallow breathing of the people around you.
Under the beam of the flashlight, everyone exchanged glances. Pang Le was the first to speak up, "The gunfire has stopped. The armed police and SWAT operation must be over. Should we go over now? Or wait a bit longer, until Captain Zhang calls us before going over?"
As she spoke, Pang Le muttered another question, "There should be signal in the sewer, right?"
Surrounded by their own people on all sides, Guan Xia had forgotten about the signal issue. Now reminded by Pang Le, she took out her phone to check. As expected, no signal.
Liu Ying also took out her phone to check and said, "No signal. Probably because we're too deep inside. I remember Wenwen and I had signal when we called Captain Zhang after finding that secret door."
Guan Xia glanced at the time. It was already past six in the evening. No wonder her legs felt so numb; they had been waiting for over forty minutes without realizing it.
Putting her phone away, Guan Xia heard the young male officer whom Captain Zhang called Leizi ask, "Expert Guan, how about you all stay here? I'll go take a look. If the armed police and SWAT operation is over and it's safe, I'll signal with the flashlight, and then you can come over."
Including Pang Le, everyone looked inquiringly at Guan Xia.
Guan Xia thought for a few seconds and decided, "Let's all go together. The gunfire stopped several minutes ago. I believe the environment is safe now."
Since the intuition given by the system showed no reaction, it meant there was no dangerous situation.
The others also leaned towards going over directly, so no one objected. However, the young male officer called Leizi still insisted on carrying out Captain Zhang's order to lead the way and protect everyone. Except for Liu Ying, who had some minor objections, the rest couldn't be bothered to argue with him about it and let him lead the way back to that hidden spacious passage.
Although the harsh sewer environment made walking difficult, fortunately it was built very straight with no turns. None of them were afraid of getting lost, and they smoothly returned to their original location.
As soon as she approached the vicinity of that spacious passageway, Guan Xia caught the strong scent of blood. The broad corridor had already been cordoned off. At both entrances to the passage stood two fully armed armed police, who meticulously checked the credentials of the young male officer leading the way before stepping aside to let their group pass.
The tightly sealed iron door she had seen earlier had been completely removed and was now discarded haphazardly to one side, revealing a chaotic but brightly lit expansive hall inside.
Before Guan Xia and the others arrived, over a dozen officers wearing gloves were already bustling in and out. Guan Xia spotted Captain Zhang immediately. She was standing in a corner, head bowed as she studied a map. She only noticed Guan Xia when she walked right up to her. Captain Zhang glanced up briefly and said, "Expert Guan, you're here. How are you? Did the noise shock your ears? Any ringing?"
This was no time to worry about ears. Guan Xia brushed off the question and asked directly, "Were all the criminals in the hideout captured?"
Captain Zhang replied casually, "Nine dead, six seriously injured, the rest with minor injuries. We don't know if any escaped, but I called Captain Hu, who stayed outside, before the armed police special forces moved in. I told him to make sure his people guard every sewer manhole cover at the top and bottom of Longbei Mountain. So, even if some did slip away, they should be caught by our people outside."
Guan Xia nodded in agreement and was just about to say something when Captain Zhang pulled her closer, shifting the entire map in front of her. Speaking rapidly, she said, "Never mind that for now, Expert Guan. Take a look at this quickly. Which direction is Wu Yang and Lin Jinnan most likely to have fled through this hideout?"
Guan Xia looked down and saw that Captain Zhang was holding a map of Longbei Mountain. It detailed every surface structure, every road on the mountain, even marking the roads connecting to the city below. Unfortunately, it wasn't a map of the mountain hideout itself. If it were, they could simply use sheer manpower to search every passage and find any traces Wu Yang and the others left.
Without a detailed map of the hideout, the fear was that there might still be hidden passages. If they pursued the wrong direction, it wouldn't just be a waste of effort for this large group; failing to capture the targets would be a catastrophic disaster.
Faced with this map, even with her system's advantages, Guan Xia felt like a skilled cook without rice—there was little she could do. She was just about to say something to temper Captain Zhang's high expectations when a figure hurried over. The person had barely stopped, still catching their breath, before speaking urgently, "Captain Zhang, Captain Zhang! An armed police squad at the forefront of the pursuit sent word. While chasing the suspects, they discovered a hidden passage based on bloodstains. We found some traces inside the passage, suspected very likely to have been left by Wu Yang and the others during their escape."
Such an uplifting piece of good news immediately made Guan Xia and Captain Zhang forget all about the map. Captain Zhang rolled up the map carelessly and handed it to someone nearby. Following the messenger at a brisk pace, she said, "Why didn't you report such important news via walkie-talkie? Making a trip wastes time."
The messenger explained, "The passages in this hideout are really designed in a chaotic, haphazard way. We couldn't figure out how to describe the location precisely on short notice, afraid we'd give you the wrong directions in the rush. So I figured I'd just run over. But don't worry, Captain. That armed police squad and two of our guys have already entered the passage and are pursuing ahead. We'll just follow behind; it won't waste much time."
Captain Zhang had only mentioned it in passing, without intending to reprimand, but her expression softened a little after the earnest explanation. Finding the brisk walk still too slow, she simply broke into a run with her team. As she ran, she said, "Just the few of us isn't secure enough. Little Liu!"
Captain Zhang called out to Liu Ying and spoke rapidly, "You stay here and contact Captain Hu. Tell him to send another team down to follow our pursuit route. After contacting Captain Hu, also inform Director Gao, report our latest progress. Also, we might need backup at any time, so Director Gao needs to organize more personnel to be on standby."
After issuing these decisive orders, Captain Zhang sped up again, almost sprinting at full speed toward the discovered passage suspected to be Wu Yang's escape route.
Guan Xia had worked with Xu Nian on solving many cases, but this was the first time she had run with such all-out effort. Fortunately, she had never slacked off on her physical training, and the distance wasn't too far, allowing her to barely keep up without falling behind.
Stopping to catch her breath, panting heavily, Guan Xia realized they had run into a storage room. It wasn't large, piled high with cardboard boxes of various sizes and daily necessities covered in a fair layer of dust.
Now, those stacks of boxes taller than a person and piles of daily items had been roughly pushed aside, revealing a narrow opening only wide enough for one person to pass through.
Beside the opening was a trail of not-yet-dried blood, clearly left by a criminal in their hurried escape.
The short run had left Guan Xia gasping like an ox. Before she could even take a few more breaths, she saw Captain Zhang push aside the messenger who wanted to go down first to scout, and without a second's hesitation, she promptly crawled into the opening and started climbing down.
Guan Xia seized the moment to take a few deep breaths, only managing to calm her breathing slightly. After the messenger immediately followed Captain Zhang down, she became the third in line and quickly climbed down after them.
