The woman moved faster now, standing under the X-ray machine.

The screen displayed a transparent image of her entire body.

Jing Ping was suddenly stunned.

Nothing.

Her stomach, abdominal cavity, and intestines were empty—no sign of the expected drug-filled capsules that should have been swallowed.

Yin Feng had been standing at the side of the machine, observing the woman’s demeanor. He noticed a flash of relief cross her face.

“It’s not her,” Yin Feng said. “This is a diversion!”

The woman’s expression froze. How did they figure it out so quickly? She instinctively looked toward Yin Feng, only to find this police officer unexpectedly handsome, but those eyes—cold and sharp—made her heart tremble.

You Mingxu and Xu Mengshan also realized what was happening. You Mingxu immediately called her colleagues: “What about the remaining passengers?”

The colleague on the other end answered, “Half of them have already left!”

“Stop them all!”

“Ah…”

Jing Ping, however, kept his head down, his mind rapidly replaying images of every passenger who had passed before him like a movie. Elderly, children, couples, young adults… He suddenly raised his head, took the phone from You Mingxu, and said, “Catch the single woman carrying the bundle of climbing rope! Red windbreaker, black pants!”

The response came quickly: “Understood! We see her!” The phone seemed to be tossed aside, with faint shouts and commotion in the background.

Jing Ping looked up at the woman behind the X-ray machine, her face ashen. He said coldly, “Take her to the station too. She didn’t argue or resist earlier because she was buying time for her accomplice. She’s an accessory.”

—

With the assistance of Hunan’s narcotics officers, the initial search for the woman in the red windbreaker yielded nothing. Jing Ping’s attention focused on the thick bundle of climbing rope.

Finally, the police successfully separated a significant amount of heroin from within the climbing rope. In other words, the drug mule was certainly facing the death penalty. Her accomplice who provided cover would also face imprisonment.

The drug mule was named Xiao Lan, and her accomplice was Xiao Yan, her younger sister. Initially, during police interrogation, Xiao Lan just lowered her head and cried, refusing to say anything. Xiao Yan only disclosed the task her sister had assigned her—to accompany her sister through this “checkpoint” for a reward of 3,000 yuan. She claimed to know nothing else about the source of the drugs or the identities of those above and below in the chain.

Therefore, the breakthrough had to come through Xiao Lan.

But Jing Ping was an experienced narcotics officer. He brought in a cup of tea and dismissed everyone else. He talked with Xiao Lan for two hours until her psychological defenses completely collapsed. She agreed to cooperate for a reduced sentence and revealed all the information she knew. She even knelt before Jing Ping, crying and begging him to protect her young son who was being threatened by the drug organization.

Right in front of her, Jing Ping called his colleagues in Yunnan to arrange the rescue. When he left the interrogation room alone, his expression was grave. You Mingxu approached, and he gave a bitter smile: “At the border, many ‘drug mules’ are just like this—ordinary people originally. Some risk everything for the tens of thousands they can earn in one trip because of poor economic conditions; some owe money to criminal organizations and have their families held hostage, leaving them no choice; and some are simply deceived.”

You Mingxu had heard about such cases but, not being in this particular unit, had never witnessed them firsthand. Including Xiao Yan, who covered for her sister today—if she had concealed drugs inside her body, she would have been risking her life. Any capsule could have burst at any moment, killing her instantly.

“Who came up with this diversion tactic today?” You Mingxu asked.

Jing Ping glanced at her, knowing she’d hit upon something important.

“Xiao Lan said Sister Yun taught her. Sister Yun arrived in Xiangcheng yesterday.”

Sister Yun?

You Mingxu paused slightly. Xiao Lan’s superior, the new contact person replacing Guo Xing, was another woman.

—

Several inconspicuous sedans sped along the highway.

Xu Mengshan drove one, with Jing Ping in the passenger seat, while You Mingxu and Yin Feng sat in the back.

In truth, Yin Feng had absolutely no interest in drug enforcement. This was frontline combat, and even though he wanted to investigate the relationship between the Kaiyang Group and the Punisher Organization, such matters could be understood after the fact. After all, he was just a scholar.

But now, this scholar had no choice but to change into casual clothes and apply for a firearm. What could he do when his future wife was rushing into danger? Moreover, with that annoying blue-eyed confidant nearby, he had to stick around to make everyone uncomfortable.

Thinking this way, Yin Feng felt pleased again.

You Mingxu didn’t want him to come along. Seeing him sitting there composed, she lowered her voice and said, “Stay downstairs later, don’t come up.”

Yin Feng glanced at her: “Worried about me?”

“You’re in the way.”

He stared straight ahead, silent.

You Mingxu said, “Listen to me.”

He replied, “You Mingxu, one day, you’ll be the one listening to everything I say.”

You Mingxu didn’t feel angry; instead, her mind suddenly filled with past images—him sitting straight in his chair, hands on his thighs, nodding vigorously at everything she said. As obedient as a puppy. Yet those eyes seemed to hold stars within them.

Now that he had returned to his true nature, he turned out to be such a difficult older man to handle.

Jing Ping’s ears, trained in primitive forests, picked up every word they said clearly despite not wanting to. He felt like beating up Yin Feng. And he had a premonition that day would come.

Xiao Lan and Xiao Yan had revealed everything they knew.

This “Sister Yun” was around thirty-three or thirty-four, from Yunnan. How long she’d been involved in drug trafficking, even Xiao Lan didn’t know, only that she was also a leader.

Sister Yun had come to Hunan on business this time, also bringing subordinates to transport a shipment. Xiao Lan was one of them. What exactly Sister Yun’s business was, Xiao Lan didn’t know. She only knew that she had arrived in Xiangcheng yesterday with two skilled subordinates.

Originally, after landing, Xiao Lan was supposed to meet Sister Yun with the drugs and receive payment. Jing Ping had her maintain normal phone contact with Sister Yun’s side to buy time while he led a team to raid Sister Yun’s location.

So this mission carried extremely high risk—the drug dealers likely had guns.

Several police cars silently stopped beneath a budget hotel. They had confirmed the suspects’ room number, with three people inside.

A group of armed police officers silently climbed the stairs. The floor’s staff had already been cleared out, though several guests remained on the same floor. Jing Ping planned for a quick resolution to avoid disturbing the guests.

Jing Ping took point, with Xu Mengshan right behind him, and Yin Feng following You Mingxu.

You Mingxu was still worried and glanced at Yin Feng.

Yin Feng leaned down to her ear: “If you leave me alone downstairs, what if I encounter danger?”

You Mingxu suddenly decided that if he did face danger, it would serve him right, and whispered, “Stay back and be smart about it.”

“Mm.”

All well-trained police officers, kept their steps light as they slowly approached the target room. Yin Feng gradually fell behind, watching from afar. His phone vibrated with a detailed structural layout of the hotel sent by Champion. He quickly scanned it, memorizing it in case of need. What if You Mingxu needed it? Could anyone else remember it for her?

In the corridor’s soft lighting, each officer was like a tightly drawn bow. To Yin Feng’s eyes, You Mingxu was probably the most delicate and smallest of them all. He noticed how straight she held her neck, her whole body emanating an air of coldness. Yet her waist was slim and her legs long. Yin Feng suddenly found this version of her quite sexy.

An image flashed through Yin Feng’s mind.