NOS Chapter 20
by VolareThe car door closed the instant Yu Chunming rushed out. The ordinary express train slowly started moving forward, but Guan Yao couldn’t maintain his balance. He staggered at the connection between two carriages, nearly hitting a passenger in the face with his phone.
When he turned his head again, the “train conductor” who had been walking toward him had already turned around and was running back.
“Fuck…” Guan Yao couldn’t help but curse.
He put away his phone and hurriedly said to the terrified man who had “put on the wrong clothes,” “Wait for me here.”
After saying that, he rushed out after Yu Chunming.
This carriage was a soft sleeper; further back were the hard seats. When the “train conductor” ran into the hard-seat carriage, he accidentally knocked over a little girl who was about to get up to go to the restroom.
The little girl wailed, but Yu Chunming, closely following behind, ignored her. He stepped forward, past the passenger who was helping the girl up, and reached out to grab the “train conductor’s” shoulder.
The “train conductor” quickly dodged to the side, and even grabbed a thermos and threw it at Yu Chunming’s head.
Yu Chunming nimbly avoided it, but the passengers behind him suffered. When Guan Yao came in, he saw a young man with a head injury from being hit.
“Police! I’m a police officer!” He frantically pulled out his Police ID, showing it in all directions, and then tried to pull Yu Chunming away.
But how could Yu Chunming still remember that there were three rows of innocent people sitting on both sides? He relentlessly pursued, and with a wave of his hand, punched the “train conductor” in the face, and the two of them fell to the ground together.
“Don’t film! Don’t record!” Guan Yao followed behind him, trying to stop the onlookers from taking pictures and recording videos, while also trying to help Yu Chunming restrain the man.
But clearly, this chaotic situation was not suitable for an arrest.
Guan Yao struggled to pull out his phone, and then struggled to call Han Chen: “Notify the railway department, stop the train as soon as possible!”
However, Yu Chunming couldn’t care about so much at the moment. He was reaching for the handcuffs behind his back, preparing to restrain the man.
But who knew that this man impersonating a train conductor was full of brute strength. He kicked Yu Chunming in the hip with his leg, rolled on the ground, and stood up again.
Yu Chunming broke out in a cold sweat from the pain, but immediately forced himself to get up and pounced forward to lock the man’s throat.
At this time, the train had slowly left Baihua Station.
After leaving Baihua, the first thing was a long bridge elevated above the Zhongjing River, which was under construction. The train emitted black smoke and was about to enter the bridge when suddenly there was a “click” sound from under the tracks, and the train stopped.
The man impersonating the train conductor immediately became alert. He stopped running forward and instead turned around, pushed away the passenger sitting on the left, and prepared to step on the table to crash through the window on the side.
This “Snow Country Train,” which was quite famous in the Jin A Lin Mountain area, was also the only train in the area that still had windows that could be pushed and pulled open. It was that small window that gave this man a chance to escape.
“He’s going to jump!” a passenger screamed.
Yu Chunming’s mind buzzed. He pushed aside the people sitting on that side and was about to go up and grab the suspect’s calf, but just then, an oblivious train conductor pushed his “oblivious” trolley into the carriage.
At the same moment, among the several passengers who had been particularly cooperative, an elderly man, small in stature, stood up appropriately and inappropriately.
He directly blocked Yu Chunming.
“Ah!” several exclamations came. The person who was almost pinned down by Yu Chunming jumped out of the window in full view of everyone and disappeared from sight.
The next moment, the luggage he had yanked down before jumping all rolled down, landing on a passenger who didn’t have time to dodge with a “thump.”
And that old man unfortunately bumped into the trolley and fell backward to the ground.
Guan Yao, who was trying to climb onto the table to help Yu Chunming, was also hit by the falling luggage and fell off the seat.
When Han Chen rushed over, he saw such a chaotic scene.
Five minutes later, the train returned to Baihua Station.
Fortunately, none of the injured passengers were in life-threatening condition, and only this one carriage was affected, so the impact wasn’t too bad.
Han Chen suppressed his anger and directed his subordinates to help the medical staff take the injured people off the train. On the other side, Guan Yao, who had accidentally injured his hand, couldn’t help but point at Yu Chunming and say, “Why did you alarm him?”
Yu Chunming quietly watched the passengers file out and replied, “He recognizes me.”
“What?” Guan Yao said incredulously, “How could he recognize you? When did he ever see you?”
Yu Chunming’s lips moved, but he didn’t say anything.
Han Chen knew what he wanted to say and laughed in anger: “Chunming, are you going to say that the person sent you a letter again?”
“You don’t have to believe me,” Yu Chunming wasn’t angry, “But just now, he ran first.”
“So what if he ran first?” Guan Yao raised his voice and questioned, “There were so many people on the train, the doors were already closed, have you thought about the safety of the passengers? What if he got agitated and was carrying a sharp weapon, and took hostages, what would you do?”
“But…”
“Yu Chunming, you were saying on the way here that it would be best to pin him down under the train. When you got to the scene, you forgot everything? Is the only thing in your mind your own case?” Guan Yao scolded.
Yu Chunming’s expression softened for a moment, and he said softly, “I’m sorry, I…”
“Ouch, it hurts!” At this moment, the old man who had blocked Yu Chunming’s path and accidentally broken his arm shouted.
Guan Yao took a deep breath: “You shouldn’t apologize to me, you should apologize to them.”
On the way back, the three of them were silent from beginning to end. It wasn’t until they were about to turn into the entrance of the Linchang Police Station that Han Chen asked, “After that… have you received any more letters?”
Yu Chunming’s hand on his lap suddenly tightened, and then he replied, “No.”
Han Chen glanced at Guan Yao’s left wrist, which was swollen into a bun, in the back seat, and said softly, “Chunming, you really did the wrong thing this time. When you go back and report to Team Leader Liang…”
“I’ll say it was my fault,” Yu Chunming replied without hesitation, “As long as it’s my fault, I’ll definitely admit it.”
It was already dark. The round trip from Za Mu Er to Baihua had wasted a lot of time, but ultimately, nothing had been gained. Everyone was a little dejected. Several young criminal police officers from the city branch couldn’t help but whisper behind their backs about how Yu Chunming, who had fallen into the suspect’s trap, was nothing special after all.
These words drifted into Guan Yao’s ears, causing him to frown, but Yu Chunming’s expression remained unchanged.
Meng Changqing, who had stayed behind at the police station, hurriedly greeted them when he saw them arriving: “How was it? Were there any results? Master, how did you get injured?”
“No results at all,” Guan Yao waved his hand, “It’s nothing, just a twist.”
“How did you twist it?” Meng Changqing said worriedly, “Master, you have to go to the hospital.”
“Go to the hospital my ass. My niece is a nurse at the hospital. If I go, she’ll worry.” Guan Yao knocked Meng Changqing on the head, “See? I can still beat you.”
Meng Changqing pulled Guan Yao with a worried face: “Master, stop joking. Something happened at the station.”
Hearing this, everyone stopped in their tracks. Yu Chunming asked in surprise, “What could happen at the station?”
Meng Changqing winced as if his tongue hurt. He lowered his voice and said, “A big leader came from above and criticized the task force’s handling of the case, and our station got scolded too. Just before Deputy Director Wang left, he told Master and the rest of you to go directly to the city branch for a meeting after you got back.”
Guan Yao patted his little apprentice’s shoulder: “Don’t worry, it’s probably just that the case has been dragging on for too long and we haven’t caught the real culprit. It’s normal for the higher-ups to scold us.”
Yu Chunming stood aside and asked, “Who was the leader who came?”
Meng Changqing was just a grassroots policeman. How would he know so much? He replied vaguely, “It seems, it seems like it was someone from the provincial department. I’m not too sure.”
Han Chen immediately turned his gaze to Yu Chunming.
“Let’s go, we’ll know when we get there.” Guan Yao didn’t speculate too much.
It was already around 8 or 9 p.m. After it got cold, there were few people on the streets of Za Mu Er, but the city branch building was still brightly lit. As soon as they walked in, they could hear the sound of a lecture coming from the conference room at the end of the first floor.
“Chunming, do you think it could be…” Han Chen was about to ask Yu Chunming, but Yu Chunming turned to the side and went into the bathroom.
“You guys go in first,” he said.
The conference room of the Za Mu Er City Branch wasn’t big, but now it was packed with a hundred or so people. The air in the room was terribly turbid. As soon as Han Chen entered, he had to lower his head to wipe the fog off his glasses.
“Has the deputy team leader in charge of this case not arrived yet?” At this moment, an authoritative voice came from the end of the conference table.
Guan Yao and Han Chen looked up together and saw a middle-aged police officer in a white shirt sitting among the crowd.
“It’s Deputy Director Yu,” Han Chen hesitated.
Guan Yao didn’t hear clearly. He turned his head to ask, “Who?”
Before Han Chen could answer, the great leader, with piercing eyes and inherent authority, had already spotted Han Chen’s figure. He stood up and nodded: “Since everyone is here, I’ll introduce myself first. My name is Yu Zhenshan, and I’m in charge of handling major criminal cases in the province.”
Guan Yao’s eyes widened suddenly.
Yu Zhenshan, the deputy director of the provincial department, the legendary big leader who was related to Yu Chunming, was now sitting in front of them, scanning every police officer present with his eagle-like gaze.
The director of the Jin A Lin Mountain Regional Bureau, the captain of the Criminal Investigation Detachment, the director of the City Branch, and Min Chao, the captain of the Criminal Investigation Brigade who had been calling Guan Yao “brother” just moments ago, were all sitting upright, eyes downcast, fearing that they would be the next to be named.
Han Chen was no exception. He took a breath of cool air and looked sideways at the door, as if hoping that Yu Chunming would hurry in.
However, what you don’t want to happen is what happens most often.
Yu Zhenshan raised his hand and pointed: “Han Chen, report on the work.”
Han Chen was already standing. After being named, he had no choice but to squeeze to the front row. He straightened his back and saluted: “Director, good.”
“Get straight to the case,” Yu Zhenshan didn’t waste time with pleasantries.
Han Chen swallowed, as if he wasn’t standing in the conference room, but sitting in an interrogation chair. He composed himself somewhat awkwardly and said, “Regarding the Mopan Mountain 9.20 dismemberment case, we have currently grasped the suspect’s physical characteristics, but the identity information and motive are still unclear.”
“After investigating for so many days, the suspect’s identity information and motive are still unclear?” Yu Zhenshan’s face didn’t show anger, but the words he spoke gave people a sense of oppression out of nowhere. Han Chen couldn’t help but lower his head, staring at the white surface in front of him in order to hide his eyes that were darting around.
“Then talk about the information you have already grasped,” Yu Zhenshan looked at the projector screen on the side, “Liang Chong reported that one of the suspects in this case is highly similar to a suspect in the Songlan 6.13 dismemberment case last year. This afternoon, was your arrest operation successful?”
“No,” Han Chen’s Adam’s apple bobbed.
“Why not?” Yu Zhenshan asked.
“Because…” Han Chen slowly exhaled, “Because a police officer within the task force made a wrong judgment.”
These words caused Guan Yao, who had been silent, to raise his head instantly. He opened his mouth to refute, but Han Chen spoke before he could.
“Director, it was Yu Chunming who made the wrong judgment,” Han Chen said, “It was he who believed that one of the suspects would board the train from Baihua Station. Therefore, we didn’t expect that it would be the other one who came.”
“Han Chen…” Guan Yao tried to squeeze forward, but someone pulled him back from behind.
“Don’t go,” Yu Chunming said softly.
He had already walked into the conference room at some point.
The fluorescent lights were bright and cold, making Yu Chunming, who already didn’t have much color in his face, look like an ice sculpture standing on the river. He stood calmly, listening to Han Chen recount his “faults,” and then calmly being called forward by Yu Zhenshan.
“You’re a police officer from the Linchang Police Station?” The director asked as if he didn’t recognize the person standing on the other side of the long table.
Yu Chunming also acted as if he didn’t recognize him: “Yes, I’m a police officer from the Linchang Police Station.”
“Then is the arrest of suspects within your jurisdiction?” Yu Zhenshan asked.
Yu Chunming replied, “The crime scene is in my jurisdiction, so I was transferred to the task force to be responsible for the deployment and planning of some operations.”
“Then why was the arrest unsuccessful this afternoon?” Yu Zhenshan continued to ask.
Yu Chunming was silent for a moment, and then explained, “We originally believed that the suspect had used the victim’s ID card to rent a house and had most likely purchased a plane ticket, so we deduced that he would use this method to escape from Za Mu Er. This morning, according to the information returned by the railway department, we arranged police support at Za Mu Er Railway Station, Za Mu Er Changlian Airport Railway Station, and Baihua Station, hoping to control the suspect under the train. But unfortunately, the suspect was more cunning than we imagined. His actions of buying a ticket this morning were just a diversion, setting a trap for us.”
Yu Zhenshan’s gaze moved over Yu Chunming’s body. No one knew what he was scrutinizing, including Yu Chunming himself, who didn’t understand what Yu Zhenshan meant.
So, he continued: “Not predicting this outcome was my negligence, and at the same time…”
“Then why did the other suspect appear at Baihua Station? Was that also your negligence?” Yu Zhenshan interrupted Yu Chunming.
Several city branch leaders sitting on the side couldn’t help but look at Yu Chunming.
Although Yu Zhenshan was serious and cold, he never interrupted his subordinates’ reports, let alone publicly say such questioning words. Clearly, Yu Chunming seemed to be somewhat different.
“How did you judge that the suspect in the Za Mu Er Mopan Mountain dismemberment case and the suspect in the Songlan 6.13 dismemberment case last year were the same person?” Before Yu Chunming could answer the previous question, Yu Zhenshan’s next question followed closely. He began to flip through the case files in front of him, and then accurately found the answer that Yu Chunming might provide, “Did you judge based on height and build, or based on the large amount of chemicals stored in the suspect’s residence?”
“Both,” Yu Chunming replied.
“Then at what stage did you begin to suspect that they were the same person?” Yu Zhenshan stared at him.
Yu Chunming didn’t speak.
Yu Zhenshan asked indifferently, “Was it the first moment after the dismembered body parts were discovered in Za Mu Er?”
“No,” Yu Chunming immediately denied.
“But that’s not what I heard in the previous report,” Yu Zhenshan ruthlessly exposed Yu Chunming’s lie, “You suspected it the first moment after the dismembered body parts were discovered in Mopan Mountain, which means that all of your subsequent inferences were based on this baseless suspicion, is that right?”
“But the facts prove that my suspicion was correct.” Yu Chunming suddenly raised his voice, causing everyone present to lose color, but he didn’t care. He still said firmly, “I have a witness, and now the surveillance footage on the train is also material evidence. I have both human and material evidence…”
“The witness you’re talking about is the conclusion you drew from illegally interrogating the involved personnel?” Yu Zhenshan seemed to know everything. Even the small matter that didn’t cause a big stir couldn’t escape his eyes, which greatly surprised Guan Yao.
Yu Chunming wasn’t surprised at all. He pursed his lips and admitted in front of everyone, “Yes, I illegally interrogated the involved personnel.”
“Which regulations did you violate?” Yu Zhenshan asked as if he was interrogating a criminal.
Yu Chunming also seemed to be a criminal. His eyes flickered slightly, and he finally lowered his eyes: “I illegally handled a criminal case that was not within my scope of authority, I illegally recorded the suspect’s confession, I…”
“You’re also suspected of falsifying evidence,” Yu Zhenshan said without leaving any room for maneuver.
Guan Yao clearly saw Yu Chunming’s body shake and a hint of shock appear in his eyes.
“Because of you, the entire Linchang Police Station may be implicated.” Yu Zhenshan’s light sentence made Wang Zun, who was sitting in the room, change his expression immediately, and that wasn’t the end of it. Yu Zhenshan continued, “Also, regarding the operation this afternoon, the train was densely packed with people. Did you inform your superiors before implementing the arrest?”
“If I had informed my superiors, the person would have run away on the spot.” Yu Chunming paused for a moment, and then said that sentence again, “Because the suspect recognizes me, he knows I’m a police officer.”