Chapter 1861 - 2053: Settling Grudges (2)

The car door opened, and a tall woman stepped out from the passenger seat. Seeing her, Ling Chen greeted her with a beaming smile, "Officer Xia, long time no see."

The visitor was none other than Xia Mutong, recently transferred from East Sea City to a post in Beijing, now a rising star at the Ministry of Public Security.

Xia Mutong rolled her eyes at him and said, clearly displeased, "You only ever call me when there’s something wrong. Can’t you just call me to catch up when you’re free?"

Ling Chen awkwardly rubbed his head and replied with a shy smile, "Rest assured, I’ll definitely correct my mistake from now on."

"Alright, what’s so urgent that you needed me?"

"Here’s the thing..." Ling Chen began to explain the situation. "Officer Xia, those two are both extremely dangerous. If they take hostages, the hostages’ lives will undoubtedly be at risk. I hope you can help us find their whereabouts and rescue the hostages."

Xia Mutong frowned slightly and said, "These are merely your speculations without any solid evidence. I can’t request the bureau to deploy personnel to search this area."

"This..."

Seeing Ling Chen’s helpless look, Xia Mutong suddenly smiled and said, "Even if I can’t mobilize people to help you, I can still assist. This area isn’t under my jurisdiction, and I’m not very familiar with it. Hold on, let me make a phone call, see if I can get any information." With that, she took out her phone and dialed a number.

A few minutes later, she put away her phone and said, "I asked the person in charge of this area. It’s mostly inhabited by migrants. During a recent patrol, there were a total of 231 households here. I told him we needed to do a routine check, and he agreed to dispatch a few people to help. Those people are familiar with the surroundings here. With their help, we should be able to save some time."

"That’s fantastic!" Ling Chen grinned and said, "I really have to thank you a lot this time."

"Don’t be in too much of a hurry to thank me. If it turns out that the hostages are indeed there, then I’ll be the one thanking you."

Not long after, Xia Mutong’s helpers arrived by car, three in total. The four of them paired up with each person, forming four groups to start checking all the households in the area. Ling Chen naturally followed Xia Mutong. They started with an old building, knocking on each door. With Xia Mutong’s police status, things went much smoother, and everyone was cooperative. Within a short time, they searched the entire building without finding any trace of Su Cheng’en and Su He. Elsewhere, Ling Gengqiu and the others didn’t have any results either.

An hour later, the eight of them gathered in front of a row of bungalow houses. Apart from these few bungalows, all the households in the area had been searched. If Su Cheng’en and Su He were still here, then they had to be in one of these houses.

"Officer Xia, you stay with us. Let them go back and rest first," Ling Chen suggested.

"Alright." Xia Mutong nodded straightforwardly and explained a few things to the three assistants. After watching them leave, Ling Chen and the other three followed Xia Mutong from behind, starting to search the remaining bungalows.

Thump, thump, thump!

Knocking on the bungalow furthest to the left, an old man poked his head out. Upon seeing Xia Mutong in uniform, he asked, "Officer, is there anything you need?"

"Sir, sorry to bother you, but have you seen any suspicious individuals around recently?"

The old man shook his head and replied, "No, I’ve been in the room the whole time and didn’t go out at night. Officer, my wife and I were about to go to bed. If there’s nothing else, I’ll excuse myself to rest." Saying that, he slammed the door shut with a ’bang.’

"Let’s go to the next one."

"There’s no need." Ling Chen interjected, "The people we’re looking for are here."

Hearing his confident tone, Xia Mutong asked curiously, "How do you know?"

"When we searched other houses earlier, they all asked what was happening. But this old man didn’t even ask. Don’t you find that strange? And if he was going to bed, why was he wearing outdoor shoes? Moreover, when others saw you show your identification, they opened the door wide, but he only opened it a crack and used his body to block the view inside. It’s like he’s afraid we’ll see something in there."

After hearing Ling Chen’s analysis, Xia Mutong took out her phone and said, "I’ll call for backup."

"There’s no need. Let us handle this. Stay outside and don’t go in. Those two are ruthless; I don’t want you getting hurt."

Annoyed, Xia Mutong said, "Don’t you trust my abilities?"

"I know you’re strong, but compared to those inside, your strength doesn’t measure up," Ling Chen explained.

In their previous confrontation with the God Organization, Xia Mutong was captured and underwent an enhancement experiment. The experiment was successful, giving Xia Mutong strength several times that of an ordinary person. However, compared to Su Cheng’en and Su He, it was like a child versus an adult. Ling Chen didn’t want her to take the risk, as he knew her personality all too well.

After repeatedly warning her and until Xia Mutong promised not to act recklessly, Ling Chen finally nodded in relief.

Even though they were certain Su Cheng’en and Su He were in the house, Ling Chen and Ling Gengqiu dared not act rashly. They asked the neighbors and learned that only two people lived there: the old man and his wife they met earlier.

"Brother, what do you think we should do to resolve the situation with Su Cheng’en and Su He without harming the hostages?"

Ling Gengqiu glanced at Ling Chen and said calmly, "If it were me, it would be easy, but for you...no."

Hearing this, Ling Chen was momentarily stunned, not understanding what he meant.

"You all stay outside; I’ll go in alone." As soon as he finished speaking, without waiting for Ling Chen to respond, he kicked the door open and strode inside.

"Su Cheng’en, I know you’re in here. Come on out." Ling Gengqiu said, standing in the living room, addressing the bedroom door that was tightly closed. "It’s time to settle the scores between us."

As his words fell, the bedroom door slowly opened from within. Immediately afterward, Su Cheng’en appeared in his line of sight, walking out slowly. Making eye contact, Su Cheng’en sneered, "Your efficiency is quite impressive. Ling Gengqiu, I know you’ve set up an inescapable net, planning not to let us leave. However, I have two hostages. If you dare to make a move, I’ll kill the couple first."

Ling Gengqiu shook his head and said mockingly, "You’re getting worse as you age, resorting to such despicable means."