Having rediscovered the tracks of Wu Yang and Lin Jinnan, Captain Zhang and her team plunged into a new round of busyness and anxiety, leaving Guan Xia and the others temporarily idle.
However, no one was in the mood for casual chat. Everyone, including Ji An, seized the time to catch up on sleep. Having not closed their eyes for so long, Guan Xia had originally intended just to nap briefly. Instead, she slept for five or six hours, finally being woken by Qin Yue, who was driving, calling her name repeatedly—softly but incessantly.
Still groggy, Guan Xia thought she was hearing things until it suddenly struck her that they were in the midst of apprehending Wu Yang, jolting her fully awake and opening her eyes.
Pang Le was also roused, rubbing her eyes and asking vaguely, "What time is it?"
Ji An had woken a bit earlier than them. Glancing at the time, she said, "6:32."
"Dawn already," Zhong Xiaoyu also sat up straight, turning to look at the morning sun that had just risen not long ago outside the window.
"We really slept like logs," Pang Le said, eyes open but still somewhat drowsy, stretching awkwardly. "I was just dreaming. Dreamt we caught up with Wu Yang, but he resisted arrest and even injured Sister Ji. I was so furious I ended up killing him."
Guan Xia, who had been catching a yawn herself, immediately stopped mid-yawn and turned to look at Pang Le. The scene she described sounded suspiciously like the ending of the original novel's plot as the system had told her. Was it a coincidence?
Guan Xia only pondered for a second before Qin Yue eagerly spoke up again, "Expert Guan, Captain Zhang just sent word. Based on the license plate number you discovered, the team has tracked that vehicle leaving Nanxing Province and entering Guangqing Province around 19:00 on the 27th. They're still tracking it, but just in case, they'd like you to verify if the people in that vehicle are still the suspects. Could they have switched cars midway?"
As Qin Yue said this, she couldn't help glancing at Guan Xia several times in the rearview mirror. She was intensely curious. The vehicle in the surveillance footage had its windows rolled up with tinted film; nothing was visible. How did Guan Xia determine the suspects were inside? She didn't doubt it, but found it miraculous. Could human intuition really be that precise?
Guan Xia didn't notice Qin Yue's curiosity at all, immediately perking up and responding, "Alright. Has Captain Zhang sent over the surveillance video?"
Qin Yue replied, "It was delivered by a dedicated officer half an hour ago. I even pulled over to the side for the handover."
"The car stopped midway?" Zhong Xiaoyu was surprised. "How come I didn't feel a thing? Did I sleep that soundly?"
Pang Le was also taken aback. "I didn't feel it either."
Ji An said with a smile, "I felt it. I was half-asleep but opened my eyes for a look. Probably after going two days without sleep, everyone's physical state is nearing its limit. That's why we slept so deeply."
Guan Xia had already found the cardboard box Qin Yue mentioned, containing the newly delivered surveillance footage. She instantly shifted into a state of total concentration, quickly connecting the labeled USB drive she needed to verify to her laptop. After just one glance, she confirmed, "It's them. They're still in that vehicle. They're likely focused on making haste to board a ship and flee overseas. They didn't switch cars midway."
Qin Yue immediately let out a sigh of relief. "That's good, that's great."
Before Qin Yue's words even faded, Guan Xia's phone rang. Picking it up, it was indeed Captain Zhang.
As soon as the call connected, before Captain Zhang could speak, Guan Xia straightforwardly shared the result she had just obtained. Captain Zhang also sighed in relief, saying, "That's excellent. As long as we're sure they didn't switch cars midway, the subsequent pursuit will be much simpler."
Captain Zhang couldn't help chuckling a couple of times, then continued, "Here's the plan, Expert Guan. You've worked hard these past two days. Now that we know they won't switch vehicles, tracking their movements can be completely handed over to other colleagues. They might not be as efficient as you, Expert Guan, but there are more of them, so results won't be slow. There's no need for you all to keep following us by car, enduring this hardship. We've already exited the highway; you probably will soon too. After you exit, find a local police hostel to rest and recuperate. Once we confirm the final coastal city the suspects are heading for, we'll contact you immediately, Expert Guan. Then you can fly directly over."
Guan Xia hesitated for only a second before agreeing. "Alright. Thank you, Captain Zhang."
As Guan Xia hung up, Qin Yue's phone rang immediately—clearly Captain Zhang calling specifically to give her instructions.
Sure enough, after hanging up, Qin Yue said, "Expert Guan, we'll be exiting the highway in about half an hour too. I've been on a business trip to Xinyao City before and know of a hostel not far from the airport. How about we stay there? It's only a fifteen-minute drive to the airport, very convenient. What do you think?"
Guan Xia naturally had no objections. "Good. Let's stay there then."
None of them expected there would be time for rest at such a moment. Surprised but delighted, they all felt relieved. Lack of sleep was one thing; another reason was that after two days of constant travel, everyone, including Pang Le, was utterly bedraggled. Guan Xia felt she was practically marinated in her own sweat and desperately wanted a proper shower and hair wash.
An hour and a half later, the group of ten, including the two officers driving for them, successfully checked into the hostel. The only slight inconvenience was the limited number of available rooms. Even racking their brains, the staff couldn't arrange for them all to be together. Aside from Ji An and Zhong Xiaoyu's room being on the same floor as Guan Xia's, the rest were scattered.
Once in the room, Guan Xia and Pang Le raced to briefly wrap their wounds with plastic wrap to prevent water ingress, then efficiently took turns thoroughly scrubbing themselves clean.
Emerging from the bathroom, Guan Xia felt like she had come back to life, letting out a long sigh before plopping down on a chair, idly drying her hair with a towel.
Pang Le also felt much better but didn't forget the main task. Lounging lazily on the sofa, she calculated the time. "It's now 8:25 AM on the 28th. Twenty-eight hours have passed since Wu Yang and the others fled. Two hours ago, we confirmed they entered Guangqing Province around 21:00 on the 27th. At their speed, by this time, they've probably already entered Xinglin Province and aren't far from the coast."
Hearing this, Guan Xia felt a surge of urgency. She tossed the towel aside, pulled up a national map on her phone, zoomed in, and began studying Xinglin Province.
Pang Le also leaned in to look, using her slender fingers to trace along the map. "Dingyuan Province, Jianyang City, right here. Wu Yang and the others fled from Quanle City. Based on the pattern of their escape route we've discovered, they almost always take the most time-efficient straight line. That means if they are driving out of Guangqing Province into Xinglin Province, the most likely point is Peixin City. But if they continue eastward from there toward the coast, they'd have to drive through five or six cities consecutively. It's much faster to head southeast from Fenglang City to reach the sea. Let me see... past Peixin City is Linchang City, and past Linchang City is Fenglang City. This Linchang City is quite large, though. If Wu Yang and the others really take this route..."
As she spoke, Pang Le glanced at the time and added, "At this hour, they probably haven't entered Linchang City yet. If Captain Zhang and her team act quickly enough, catching them is completely feasible."
Guan Xia had been holding her breath, feeling somewhat worried. After hearing Pang Le's analysis, she relaxed and also checked the time. "It's been over three hours since Captain Zhang's team last spotted Wu Yang's trail. If we can reach this conclusion, the expert team likely deduced this possibility even earlier. But speculation is speculation; it all needs to be verified in the end."
"It should be soon," Pang Le said confidently. "The reason we can speculate on this possibility is also because we've verified stages of Wu Yang's movement route. Our hesitation stems from Wu Yang and Lin Jinnan being utterly cunning, always playing games of deception and misdirection. But if we think from their perspective, they've already thrown out enough smoke screens. That's also why they dare not switch vehicles mid-journey. Judging from this behavior, they never imagined we could see through their smokescreen so quickly and be hot on their heels. So, I bet they will definitely try to sail from Fenglang City, no doubt about it."
Pang Le spoke with full confidence. Guan Xia pondered for a moment, felt the possibility was high, and her own confidence grew.
However, this immediately gave Guan Xia a renewed sense of urgency. She picked up her towel again to dry her hair. "If that's the case, we need to speed up. We might get a call from Captain Zhang to head for the airport at any moment. I want to eat a proper meal after my shower. I'm almost sick of eating instant noodles continuously. I want spicy hot pot, and I want barbecue too."
Pang Le grabbed her phone again. "Then what are we waiting for? I'll order delivery now. Oh, and you should send a message in the group chat too, tell them to hurry up as well, so we aren't all fed while they haven't had time to eat."
In fact, Guan Xia and Pang Le's foresight was quite sound. Captain Zhang's call came even earlier than they imagined.
Guan Xia had only half-dried her hair before rushing to eat. Of course, there was no spicy hot pot early in the morning, but Pang Le had ordered her a clay pot casserole. No sooner had she put down her chopsticks than Captain Zhang's call came through.
Her tone was more excited than ever before. As soon as Guan Xia answered, she said excitedly, "Expert Guan, we've identified the final location where the suspect intends to sail from—it's Fenglang City. He entered Peixin City just an hour ago. We are rushing there at full speed. Based on their vehicle's speed, they will enter Fenglang City around 5 PM today. We certainly won't give them any opportunity at the coastline. The higher-ups have decided on the arrest plan: we will set up a perimeter in Linchang City and apprehend them in one fell swoop, catching them completely off guard."
Guan Xia sat up straight upon hearing this, equally excited. "Then we'll book flights to Linchang City right now."
Captain Zhang said, "Don't worry about the flights. They were booked before I called you—departing in one hour. There's no traffic at this hour; driving there will take you just fifteen minutes. We'll meet in Linchang City in three hours."
Guan Xia nodded vigorously, thrilled. "Okay. See you in Linchang City in three hours."
