Special Forces Medic-Chapter 814 - 687: The Brick Kiln Factory

"It's impossible to be discovered!" Ji Weihua mumbled softly. He passed by multiple times every day, and didn't spot any suspicious individuals around. How could they be discovered? "District Chief Yao, how did you know Yan Juanjuan was discovered?"

"Hua Qingyi overheard it while talking on the phone. Regardless of whether it's true, move the person to safety first." Yao Zheng shouted at Ji Weihua. This director was becoming increasingly disobedient.

"Yes, I'll handle it right away."

Ji Weihua left in a hurry and departed from the district government building. His Mazda on the table headed toward the outskirts, closely followed by a white business car behind him.

After leaving the city, the white sedan turned left onto a road leading to another province. Ji Weihua glanced at it through the rear-view mirror; the white car had followed him all the way to the intersection. He turned on the left turn signal and drove away from it.

"Ah, Ji Weihua is such an old fox. Luckily, the boss made arrangements in advance, otherwise, we would have been exposed." Wang Xi complained in the car, just about to park when Ji Weihua's car appeared from behind.

"Wang Xi, why didn't you stop?" The person sitting beside him saw they had passed the designated parking spot and pushed him in confusion.

"Stop for what? Didn't you see the car behind us?" Wang Xi grew anxious. Without the boss around, he was feeling a bit panicky — what if Ji Weihua caught up and recognized them?

"What?" The young officer next to him tried to turn his head, but Wang Xi shouted at him.

"Keep driving, and contact the boss."

"Oh, okay!" The young officer was even more tense than Wang Xi. He dialed several numbers, but in his nervousness, he hung up each time, leaving the other end furious.

"What on earth are they doing?" Xu Ming was just about to answer the phone when he heard the constant beeping sound. Facing the same issue repeatedly, he eventually decided not to answer it.

"Could there be trouble with Wang Xi's group? Call back and check." Shi Shuai felt Xu Ming was quite irritable, perhaps due to being overly stressed.

"Lao Xu is calling." The sudden ring of the phone startled the young officer, his hands flailing about, failing to grab the phone.

"Pick up! Why are you staring at me?" Wang Xi impatiently looked at him, regretting how he ended up choosing such an incompetent individual.

"Lao Xu!"

"What's with the yelling, is your phone a toy now?" Xu Ming started the call with a berating that was loud enough for Wang Xi, driving beside, to hear clearly. He sympathetically watched the young officer pull away from the phone.

"No, no, that's not it!" After Xu Ming eased a bit, the young officer began to explain. "We followed Ji Weihua out of the city, according to our pre-determined plan to stop, but didn't expect him to reappear behind us."

"Ji Weihua discovered you?" Xu Ming glanced at Shi Shuai; the boss's whereabouts were unknown at the moment.

"We're not entirely sure, but his route did match our planned assumptions."

"Tell me your location!" Xu Ming instructed Shi Shuai to get a map, and after confirming their current position, he directed them to stop in front of a household a hundred meters away. "That's the farmhouse that previously reported a case. Go in and say I sent you, got it? I'll contact them now; try to adjust your speed to arrive in ten minutes."

"Understood."

Indeed, a hundred meters away, there was a farmhouse. Wang Xi pulled over by the roadside. Ji Weihua drove past them without looking, continuing straight ahead.

"Are you waiting in the car, or coming with me inside?" Looking at the farmhouse, there was a window facing the road, from which the outside view could be seen.

"Together, let's go in together!"

"What a coward." The two opened the car doors and got out; Wang Xi glanced into the distance, Ji Weihua's car had already disappeared, and they knocked on the farmhouse's door. An elderly woman greeted them and ushered them inside after hearing their purpose.

While listening to the old woman's chatter, Wang Xi kept an eye on the surroundings, and the young cop attentively asked the old woman some questions. Since they were here, they might as well finish the work they needed to do.

"Ma'am, is there any large residence around here? This place seems quite remote; besides your family, are there any other people nearby?" Wang Xi was curious. If Ji Weihua followed them here, shouldn't he have turned back by now, given how long he's been gone? Even though the road isn't wide, there are plenty of spots for making a U-turn.

The old woman hadn't expected Wang Xi to ask a question unrelated to her case, and she stared at him blankly. "Oh, I mean, what's up ahead? Are there other people living there?"

"Up ahead is the brick factory!" The old woman was a bit hard of hearing; a few years ago, her son-in-law was killed, and her daughter was so devastated she attempted suicide multiple times without success. She has since remarried, leaving the old couple to rely on each other. Their son works far from home and rarely visits, leaving a grandson to live with them. With a few acres of land, they manage alright; their children at least send some money back. Life is decent, except for the son-in-law being stabbed to death at the brick factory. It's a matter she can't let go of; her reports went unanswered several times. After hearing from neighbors about a new precinct chief, she decided to try again. Her persistence left Xu Ming feeling emotional, originally planning to deal with these small cases after handling the big ones. Unexpectedly, it proved useful.

"The brick factory is up ahead?" Wang Xi felt particularly sensitive about this factory, always expecting something to happen, so he went outside and called Xu Ming to brief him on the situation. He intended to visit the brick factory soon.

"Wait for the boss to come and we'll go together!" Xu Ming seemed afraid they would act recklessly and brought Xiao Lin into the conversation. They weren't afraid of anyone except Xiao Lin, whom they highly respected. Now, they weren't even considering him.

"Lao Xu, you quickly inform the boss. I fear if we delay any longer, it'll be too late, so I'll head over first to get a sense of the situation; Ji Weihua doesn't know me anyway." Wang Xi hung up the phone after speaking. When Xu Ming dialed again, he found the phone turned off, making him so angry his beard bristled.

The car couldn't be driven anymore; Ji Weihua certainly memorized the license plate and perhaps already notified the transportation department for investigation. Fortunately, it was borrowed, avoiding suspicion. Wang Xi returned to the room to request a motorcycle taxi from the old woman.

"You're going by yourself?" The young cop blocked Wang Xi's way, looking at him with big round eyes, looking quite adorable.

"You wait here for the boss, I'll go check it out first."

"No way, it's too dangerous for you to go alone."

"It'd be more troublesome if you went. Wait here." Wang Xi moved the vehicle back a bit and waved at the old woman standing at the door. "I'll go get a sense of the situation first; this colleague will stay here. Other associates will come later, so don't worry too much, ma'am!"

With that, he dashed off, leaving the young cop and the old woman exchanging looks.

The brick factory wasn't as close as the old woman said; it was actually quite far. Wang Xi, riding the motorcycle taxi, feared running out of gas halfway, which would be a heavy burden. He approached a gas station upon spotting one.

"Boss, where's the brick factory?" Wang Xi, speaking with an out-of-town accent, handed a cigarette to the gas station attendant, wearing a sincere smile.

"Kiddo, you must be from out of town!" Wang Xi, originally from the south, settled in Yanjing a few years back, managing to learn some northern dialect. His tongue just wouldn't roll, so he gave up. The half-baked accent amused the gas station attendant.

"Yeah, I heard the brick factory is hiring, so I thought I'd give it a try." Wang Xi randomly made up a reason, and pulled out money from his wallet. "Will a full tank of gas get me there?"

"It's not far, just past the market ahead, cross a bridge, and you'll see a big chimney; that's the place. This gas is enough for several round trips." Gas station service is particularly good nowadays; they even cap the tanks after refueling. "But kid, I'm saying, you look quite decent, why insist on working at that brick factory? It's not a place just anyone can handle." The attendant suddenly lowered his voice mysteriously. "A few days ago, a hearse came out of there. Kid, given you're nice, I'd advise you to find work elsewhere."

"Really? My friend said the pay is good there, with meals and lodging covered." Wang Xi leaned back in shock, his hesitating expression drawing a sigh from the attendant.

"I think you might have been tricked, but since you know someone inside, go see for yourself, and stay alert, don't be foolish."

"Okay, thank you!" Wang Xi pushed the motorcycle taxi onto the road, then grinned, restarting his journey.

According to the attendant's directions, it seemed the brick factory indeed had some issues, prompting Wang Xi to rev the throttle even harder.

After passing the gas station, a medium-sized agricultural market could be seen. On both sides were shelters set up as vegetable markets, bustling now with more shoppers around four o'clock. Passing through the middle leads to a bridge, and about ten minutes from there was the big chimney mentioned by the attendant, still emitting thick black smoke—they were still operating at this hour, which was quite unscrupulous.

Parking his vehicle on the side, Wang Xi opened his phone to take photos, inputting his current location and sending it out. Approaching the factory's edge, he received a text from Xu Ming, chuckled twice, and turned off his phone again. (To be continued. If you like this work, feel free to visit Qidian.com to vote for recommendations and monthly votes; your support is my greatest motivation.)