105: Chapter 102 Bad Luck

"If it's poaching, that would be troublesome, but it probably isn't. No one has dared to poach on Wudang Mountain for many years."

Li Changsheng knew that as a key tourist area, the security here had always been strictly enforced.

Who would be bored enough to commit a crime here against the wind?

Walking a little further inside, Li Changsheng, relying on his high level of skill and boldness, held a few Flying Locust Stones in his hand, feeling no fear.

Following the markings for about half an hour, Li Changsheng discovered that the markings split into two different directions here.

"It's a group operation; it looks like they split up."

Li Changsheng hesitated slightly. This time, he didn't go further into the mountain but instead returned the way he came. As soon as he walked out of the mountain, he opened his phone and called the police.

It was better to leave such matters to the professionals; he still had to focus on his health and training, and he didn't have the time to play hide-and-seek with poachers.

After explaining the location and situation to the person on the other end of the line and waiting for a moment—about half an hour—a police car arrived.

The police response here was just that fast; after all, it was a tourist attraction.

This time, it wasn't the same person as last time, but a young police officer named Hao, Hao Ren.

"You were the one who reported it?"

"Yes. Officer, I suspect there are poachers here. I found that someone had been leaving markings along the way inside. Of course, I can't rule out that they might be hikers, but that's for you officers to investigate."

Li Changsheng didn't waste words and stated his opinion directly.

Mainly, he was afraid of getting involved.

"You two go check out the situation, but don't go too far," Hao Ren signaled to the two companions beside him.

Not long after, the two officers returned with a different report.

"Captain Hao, there are indeed markings, but I found this."

As he spoke, one of the officers took out an evidence bag containing a bit of soil, on which traces of blood could be faintly seen.

In an instant, Hao Ren's pupils constricted. Li Changsheng saw it too and was also stunned.

One had to admit that professionals were simply better; he had only seen scratches on his trip, but they had already discovered bloodstains.

The next moment, Hao Ren's expression tightened, and he turned to say in a calm tone: "Mr. Li, right? Here's the situation: we will take charge of this area. Please don't go on any long trips recently; we may need your cooperation for further investigation later."

Li Changsheng naturally had no objections to this. After leaving his ID number and phone number, he left.

Li Changsheng didn't pay much attention to this small interlude. He had fulfilled his obligations, and the rest was up to them.

For several days in a row, while running, Li Changsheng could see from afar that there was still a cordon near the foot of the mountain. More and more police cars were parked there, as if a more rigorous investigation was underway.

"Could it be some major case?"

Li Changsheng thought to himself, but it was only for a moment before he turned his focus back to his training.

— — Meanwhile, on the other side. East of the village, inside a villager's house.

The door was tightly shut, and only thin rays of sunlight filtered in, dispelling some of the darkness.

In the back room, a middle-aged man and a woman, along with two children, had their hands and feet tied and were bound to chairs with tape.

Faced with this situation, they didn't dare to make a sound, watching the few people pacing back and forth in the room with fearful eyes.

They were a group of demons!

They had thought they were just a group of tourists looking for a place to stay, but it turned out they had invited wolves into their home.

"Boss, this isn't working. The Xia Country police have been alerted, and we can't go back in. We should evacuate as soon as possible!"

A slightly thin man frowned and complained.

Not only him, but several other companions in the room also looked worried, clearly thinking the same thing.

The short, middle-aged man referred to as the Boss scanned everyone, tugged at his clearly ill-fitting clothes, and sat astride a chair nearby, resting his hands on the backrest.

"You all want to leave? It's not that simple. That notebook is in the mountain. If we don't find it, how are we supposed to report back? Or are you saying we should just let the Xia Country people take it?"

As he spoke, the Boss tapped lightly on the chair back and said calmly: "The notebook must be retrieved. It records confidential information about Xia Country, which our intelligence officer obtained after going through great hardships."

"Is something wrong with that intelligence officer's brain? Why would he hide the intelligence in this big mountain?"

Immediately, one person spoke up in dissatisfaction. Of course, he didn't dare complain to the Boss; he was mainly complaining about the dead researcher.

"I heard it was a coincidence. When he came out of the industrial zone in western Xia Country, he didn't take a plane or train because he was afraid of being detected by Xia Country spies. As a result, he ended up in the same vehicle as a drug trafficking gang that was on the run..."

This time, it was Old Wang speaking, but he stopped halfway through; it was just too unlucky.

He had always been active in Xia Country. Although the other companions here had no two-way contact, he could be considered the superior contact for that person.

The reason he came this time was also because of this identity of his.

The previous surveying and mapping was actually a code between them; it was actually a search.

According to their intelligence, that spy was also unlucky; he had wanted to hail an unlicensed taxi, and it turned out to be exactly that.

In the end, he was mistaken by the police for a member of the gang, and had no choice but to flee with them into this mountain.

But the lucky part was that until the spy and the drug trafficking gang were captured, the Xia Country people did not find any evidence related to espionage on the spy.

That meant the spy had been very clever to hide the intelligence in the mountain.

But the biggest problem now was how to find that notebook.

"Do you think it's possible that the notebook has already been taken by someone else?"

Suddenly, while the room was in dead silence, a short, bald man spoke up.

"What do you mean?" The square-faced Boss frowned and looked at this person.

"You know, my task is to keep an eye on this room full of people, so I go out for fresh air whenever I have the chance to see what's happening on the mountain side."

The bald man said, looking somewhat smug, and immediately took a photo from his pocket.

"Look, I took this with my camera. These two have been hanging around the foot of the mountain for the past few days. I noticed that this person has never entered the mountain, but this person went in for about an hour."

Looking at the photo, inside were Gao Qiang and Li Changsheng.

The image was clear, obviously taken with a professional camera using zoom.

Everyone looked at the photo, feeling a bit confused, but only one person in the crowd had their pupils constrict to near pinpricks.

He certainly knew the person in the photo. How could Old Wang not recognize Li Changsheng?

This damned Xia Country person, this damned pervert, had caused him to waste months monitoring, only for him to suddenly disappear without a trace.

"Old Wang, what's wrong with you? You seem a bit agitated!"

The Boss suddenly spoke. His tone was very subtle, and his gaze toward Old Wang was exceptionally sharp.

"No! I didn't!"

Old Wang quickly defended himself, but how could he hide this from this group of seasoned agents?