Not long after Zhao Yuan and the others finished their meal, several police cars came roaring into the Ji Family Coal Mine. Before the cars had even come to a complete stop, Xian Hong and his team charged out.
The police had arrived remarkably fast. They had managed to cut a drive that should have taken over two hours down to just an hour and a half! It was clear they were taking this case very seriously.
Zhao Yuan walked over to greet them. "Officer Xian, you're here."
Xian Hong nodded and asked, "Where are the Ji Family Brothers and that gang of thugs you mentioned?"
"They're all tied up over there," Zhao Yuan said, pulling out a stack of papers. He handed them to Xian Hong. "These are their written confessions."
Xian Hong's expression immediately turned grave as he glanced over them.
He had already realized over the phone that this was a major case, but after seeing the written confessions, he understood it was even bigger than he had imagined. The Ji Family Brothers… they had truly committed every evil deed imaginable!
"Are these confessions authentic?" Xian Hong asked.
"I guarantee it. These guys wouldn't dare lie to me," Zhao Yuan replied.
If Xian Hong had known how Zhao Yuan had extracted these confessions, he wouldn't have doubted their authenticity for a second.
Zhao Yuan pointed to the written confessions. "Look," he said, "the crimes they've detailed include specific times, locations, and victims. For these murder cases, they've even provided the exact spots where the bodies were hidden and buried. You just need to send men to survey those locations, and you'll know if they're telling the truth. Besides, you have a whole crowd of witnesses right here."
Xian Hong nodded and immediately called over an officer. "Notify the people on duty back at the station," he ordered. "Tell them to go to these locations and see if there are any bodies buried there!"
"Yes, sir!" the officer acknowledged, pulling out his phone to contact his colleagues at the station.
Xian Hong directed the remaining officers to lead the Ji Family Brothers and their gang of thugs into the police cars one by one.
There were too many people to fit in the police cars, so they had to commandeer the Ji Family Brothers' two Land Rover SUVs. Only then were they barely able to stuff everyone inside.
As they were being loaded into the vehicles, the Ji Family Brothers shot Zhao Yuan a venomous glare.
Zhao Yuan scoffed, stepped forward, and asked, "What? Still not ready to accept it?"
The Ji Family Brothers' faces paled. They had personally experienced Zhao Yuan's methods and had no desire to go through that again.
Zhao Yuan said, "Let me tell you something. Behave yourselves once you get to the station. Don't think you can retract your confessions just because I'm not around. If any of you dares to try, I guarantee I'll make you spend the rest of your life wishing you were dead!"
At his words, all the captives couldn't help but shudder, a phantom itch already starting to crawl across their skin.
"Officer, did you hear that? He's threatening us!" Ji Lianhai twisted his head around to plead with Xian Hong and the other policemen.
Xian Hong and his men all turned their heads away in unison, pretending they hadn't seen or heard a thing.
"Fuck!" Ji Lianhai despaired. He finally understood: these cops were in on it with Zhao Yuan. Suddenly, a wave of unbearable itchiness washed over him. He desperately wanted to scratch, but his hands were cuffed. He couldn't reach.
"Itchy! So itchy! Help me, I can't take it!" Ji Lianhai shrieked, his screams chilling Ji Lianshan and the other thugs to the bone.
'Weren't those damn Golden Needles already removed? Why is it still itching? Did that bastard rig our bodies somehow, leave some kind of delayed-action trick?'
Only now did Ji Lianshan and the others realize that Zhao Yuan had them completely in his grasp. They had absolutely no way to fight back.
In that instant, their faces turned ashen. They were utterly and completely filled with despair.
The police, however, were startled by Ji Lianhai's reaction.
Xian Hong quickly asked Zhao Yuan, "What's wrong with him? It's not going to be anything serious, is it?"
Zhao Yuan smiled and said, "Don't worry, he'll be fine. The itching will stop in a few minutes."
"That's good." Xian Hong relaxed and stood back to watch the show.
Three minutes later, the intense, aching itch finally subsided. Ji Lianhai went completely limp, as if paralyzed, and had to be forcefully hauled up by the police and shoved into a car.
A few officers were left to guard the cars while the others busied themselves with confiscating weapons like knives and guns and taking statements from the miners.
In the midst of this, Xian Hong received a call. It was from the officers he had sent to search for bodies. They reported that they had, in fact, unearthed the remains of a victim at one of the locations the thugs had confessed to! They had already reported the case to the Municipal Public Security Bureau and were preparing to head to the other burial sites.
With the discovery of the bodies, the authenticity of the written confessions was beyond question.
"Zhao Yuan, you've handed us another huge accomplishment!" Xian Hong said with a sigh of admiration.
A few nearby officers joked, "Yeah, Zhao Yuan, at this rate, it won't be long before our Chief Xian gets promoted to a leadership position at the municipal bureau!"
Xian Hong shot them a glare and snapped, "Get back to work. Leadership position? Don't talk nonsense. You're not worried about making a fool of yourselves in front of Zhao Yuan?" He then turned back to Zhao Yuan. "Lu Qing is getting out of the hospital soon. Didn't you say you had a way to make sure she doesn't have any scars? When do you think you'll have time to go and take care of it for her?"
Zhao Yuan smacked himself on the forehead. He'd been so wrapped up in everything lately that he'd completely forgotten. "Officer Lu is recovering that quickly?" he asked hurriedly. "When is she being discharged?"
"I think it's today," Xian Hong said. He called an officer over to double-check, then confirmed, "That's right. She's being discharged this afternoon."
Zhao Yuan nodded. "Okay. I'll go see her and bring her the medicine as soon as I get back to the city."
"Why don't you just ride back with us?" Xian Hong offered. "I can drop you off. It'll also give me a chance to see if there's anything I can do to help."
Zhao Yuan had been wondering how he was going to get back to the city, so he smiled and accepted. "In that case, I won't be polite. I'll take that ride."
"Don't even mention it," Xian Hong said with a laugh. By now, he considered Zhao Yuan his personal lucky star.
The police quickly finished taking statements, and Zhao Yuan handed over the confiscated bank cards, passbooks, and other items.
The money in those accounts was ill-gotten gains. Even if he hadn't turned them in, the police would have eventually discovered them and had the banks freeze the funds. There was no way he could have gotten the money anyway, so he might as well hand it over voluntarily.
Zhao Yuan didn't forget to add, "There are two other bank cards that I gave to the miners. That's the money the Ji Family Brothers promised for their silicosis treatment and compensation. Make sure you don't freeze the funds in those two cards."
Xian Hong nodded. "I'll report this to my superiors. Don't worry. Since this money is compensation for the miners, it definitely won't be reclaimed. I'll also apply to the city to try and secure an additional subsidy for them."
"Thank you, Officer Xian! Thank you!" the miners hurriedly exclaimed.
Xian Hong waved his hands dismissively. "Don't thank me. If you want to thank someone, thank Zhao Yuan. I didn't do much of anything. This was all him."
The miners all said in one voice, "Zhao Yuan is our great benefactor! We will never forget him!"
And it was true. After Zhao Yuan left, many of the miners set up spirit tablets in his honor within their homes. They burned incense for him and prayed for his well-being every day, generating a lasting stream of Incense Fire Wish Power that continuously nourished him.