Chapter 112 - 112 110 The Hunters

Words : 1798 Updated : Sep 17th, 2025

112: Chapter 110 The Hunters 112: Chapter 110 The Hunters “What I saw with my own eyes, I witnessed twice,” Chen Fan said, pulling his neck in as he recalled the scenes of that day. Confessing to a crime is like urinating, once you start, even if it’s sporadic, it’s hard to stop. Encouraged by Liu Jinghui, Chen Fan slowly continued, “The first time, it was two hikers, the adventurous kind, both with big backpacks, looking very professional. They caught Hu using an air rifle to shoot birds and started shouting, scaring off Hu’s birds.” Liu Jinghui listened quietly. Chen Fan paused briefly, then went on, “I saw Hu and the others were displeased, so I went up to show off and I barked at them. They talked about environmental protection and such, saying that even frogs are protected species, let alone wild chickens...” “Who is Hu?” “I don’t know his name, I just followed my uncle in calling him that.” “Your real uncle? What’s his name?” Without much hesitation anymore, Chen Fan replied, “Chen Deling.” Liu Jinghui signaled the clerk to record everything clearly, then said, “Continue.” “Yes, I was running errands for them, trying to curry favor, and was arguing with them when I noticed Guo making a flanking move... Guo is also a reticent person, I just know him as Guo.” Liu Jinghui nodded, asking, “He made a flanking move, and then what?” “Then, just like when hunting, he had a double-barreled shotgun, the break-action kind, where you break it open at the barrel and load two bullets. Guo is the heavy gunner in the team, the shotgun is for hunting wild boars and bears.” When Chen Fan talked about firearms, he actually seemed a bit excited, licking his lips and saying, “Guo’s double-barreled shotgun uses number 12 bullets, one shot to a bear’s head can blow off half the skull.” Liu Jinghui had someone pour a glass of water. After drinking, Chen Fan continued to recall, “I was still talking when I noticed Guo had loaded his bullets, then ‘bang, bang’ two shots, both hikers were blown away.” “Guo shot both people?” “Yeah, Guo hit them in the chest and abdomen, they struggled for a while and then died.” “And then what?” “Then they made me put on gloves to check the backpacks, organized anything useful, and dragged the bodies to the side of the road, covered them with leaves or something, and carried their bags as we continued hunting...” Chen Fan’s voice trailed off solemnly. Liu Jinghui asked many more details, especially about the location of the bodies. Liu Jinghui hoped to get this case pinned down as well—if they could find any human remains at the crime scene, such as a bone, then their investigation and interrogation would be considered successful! The rest, catching the poaching criminal gang, Director Liu was relatively more confident about. No matter how crafty the criminal gang was, they were extremely powerless against the crushing force of the state apparatus. This process was like searching for a body in a septic tank; knowing it’s in the septic tank is the most important part. As for the disgusting, troublesome, and perhaps lengthy process of retrieving the body, as long as the steps before are done correctly, the subsequent steps will inevitably yield results. “What about the second time?” Liu Jinghui asked casually, his tone even. Having gotten to this point, Chen Fan could not make any more waves. Chen Fan himself knew this, leaning back, he seemed to relax, “The second time, it was also two people, two female hikers. One of them was quite pretty, looked like the school beauty from my school days.” “And then what?” “Then, it was more or less the same as the first time. They happened upon us while we were hunting, those two women were babbling on, and Hu went up to them, directly took out the woman in front.” “With what did he ‘take her out’?” “NZ75, it’s the Northern Industry’s copy of the CZ75.” Chen Fan explained as clearly as possible. In the monitoring room, Jiang Yuan searched online and found that the NZ75 uses 9mm bullets. “After the woman in front was killed, what then?” “Hu just had us drag her to the side of the road as well. Then... since the other woman was more beautiful, they made her carry all the stuff and use it on the road. By the afternoon, when the woman was too tired to walk, they raped her, and then killed her, taking away the remaining useful items and leaving the rest for me to deal with.” In just a few sentences, those in the room were stunned. Liu Jinghui’s expression remained unchanged, but his heartbeat seemed to skip a beat. Even as an experienced detective, he still felt an involuntary discomfort, and even a bit nauseous, akin to a physiological revulsion, upon hearing such things. This was not merely wanton behavior, but the height of indifference and horror. In the monitoring room, Jiang Yuan thought of the condition of the bodies. It’s very difficult to prove rape with skeletonized remains; if the perpetrators had not been caught, no one would have known that the victims had such encounters before their death. “Did you participate in the rape?” Liu Jinghui asked. “No,” Chen Fan quickly responded. “What about the others?” “Just Guo and Liu. It was their demand.” “What about Hu?” “He didn’t participate either,” Chen Fan whispered. “Old Hu just likes hunting.” “So, you witnessed two murders but saw four people get killed?” Liu Jinghui summarized Chen Fan’s testimony. Chen Fan nodded, then added, “Yes.” “What did you do afterwards?” Liu Jinghui asked. “I took the unwanted supplies and trash they left behind, carried it to a deep pool of water, and weighed it down with stones. I also dragged the bodies down the hillside and buried them with soil.” At this point in his confession, Chen Fan’s account matched the cases of Su Qin and Sun Jingyi that the special case team had on hand. Although the details of the initial Li Sanqiu case were still unclear, the framework of this series of crimes was already basically in place. Liu Jinghui pressed on eagerly, hoping to obtain more information. Meanwhile, outside, the police were organizing into teams. Some were heading to the old hunting trails on Mount Wulong, searching for the whereabouts of the items Chen Fan had mentioned, and many more were preparing for the arrest. With Chen Fan’s descriptions, the face of the gang grew increasingly clear. They were a group of old hunters living in the mountains, five in total. Since hunting was banned in many places and guns were confiscated, they had come together to hunt privately and sell their game for money. They targeted endangered protected animals specifically because they could sell for higher prices. Gradually, they began receiving more orders and earning more income. With their growing profits and fueled by their interests, the gang spent most of their time in the mountains throughout the year. They were like anglers, but hunters instead. And they killed people. Because of his uncle, Chen Fan took on the job of supplying the hunters. Food, drink, utilities, medical supplies, tents, and more had to be supplied from outside the mountains, including a range of fixed suppliers for guns and ammunition. Like Chen Fan, who consistently supplied air rifle parts and bullets and helped with reloading. The interrogation was ongoing, and Jiang Yuan stepped out of the monitoring room. The room was too crowded; the air felt stale and suffocating. In the courtyard of Wen Township Police Station, police officers from various units were interacting with each other. Different police categories from different units, like detectives, public security, inspectors, and political officers, were chatting happily, oblivious to each other’s knowledge of the case. Most people here were unaware of the specific case details, and there was no need for them to know. Their task was clear: to perform checks, searches, and make arrests, all of which they were very familiar with. As Jiang Yuan strolled by, he suddenly felt somewhat out of place... “Jiang Yuan.” Wei Zhenguo suddenly appeared, happily grabbing his arm. “Captain Wei!” Jiang Yuan exclaimed, surprised. Encountering a colleague from the police station in such an environment felt unexpectedly comforting. He immediately realized that since he was back in Ningtai County, and with Liu Jinghui assembling forces for such a significant case, it would certainly include personnel dispatched from Ningtai County Bureau. Wei Zhenguo was in a good mood as well and patted Jiang Yuan’s shoulder vigorously, whispering, “You’ve worked hard, and you look thinner. Everyone says you’ve earned merit, but you haven’t even come back. How is it, working with the detective king? Fun?” “A bit tiring, but okay,” answered Jiang Yuan, whose emotions were on the edge. The moment he heard “you’ve worked hard,” his eyes felt inexplicably moist. But seeing a familiar face was still both comforting and joyous. Wei Zhenguo, an experienced man, could tell from Jiang Yuan’s expression that he had seen too much ugliness. Young people, especially those new to policing, who came from a more conventional education, were at their prime. Even if they encountered messiness online, they might not empathize fully. But having lived through it, it was different; they were undergoing the transformation from a rookie cop to a veteran. Forensic doctors saw this even more directly and acutely. One never truly acclimates to the darker facets of society. Criminals always seem to commit repulsive acts just when you think you understand and have seen it all! Wei Zhenguo gave Jiang Yuan’s arm a forceful pat. “Come on, let’s have a smoke.” He pulled Jiang Yuan along and called over some other officers, like Mu Zhiyang, whom he knew relatively well. Several detectives from Ningtai County Bureau gathered under a pomegranate tree, puffing away around the bright red pomegranate bonsai. In a short while, the bonsai pot became littered with an accumulation of cigarette butts. The detectives seemed cheerful as if they had transformed their surroundings, and when they started sharing recent stories from their units, each of them wore a relaxed smile. Among them, Jiang Yuan smoked the Changbai Mountain cigarette handed to him by Captain Wei. His heart inexplicably calmed. He suddenly realized that he wasn’t the only one with pent-up emotions. Nor was he the only one standing on the front lines against darkness. They were in this together.

Chapter 112 - 112 110 The Hunters

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