Lu Qi said he never doubted him; he knows very well that if it hadn't been for Xu Chunliang that day, he might have been strangled to death by the big snake. He just can't figure out what kind of person has the ability to make those two big snakes behave obediently and help him carry out the theft.
Xu Chunliang recalled that Lu Qi came to the store to buy ointment that day. There's a chance he had suspected something, so he made an excuse to come to Huichun Hall to investigate.
In fact, this can be understood. After all, not many people can tame two big snakes completely; it's just that he was careless at that time and didn't realize there was a case behind it. The person orchestrating this must be very familiar with handling such events.
The scene replayed in his mind, where the female snake's belly was somewhat swollen, and the male snake was probably responsible for intimidating the crowd and diverting attention. After everyone was scared off and fled the specialty store, the female snake calmly moved into the warehouse through the ventilation shaft and swallowed the phones one by one.
Their tasks were initially clear: the female snake responsible for the theft should have retreated first, but Lu Qi and Li Zhong's timely police arrival threatened the male snake's safety, leading the fleeing female snake to attack Lu Qi.
This is when the plan deviated from the Snake Handler's control, and after Xu Chunliang stepped in, the direction of events completely changed.
Xu Chunliang told Lu Qi that generally speaking, the Wang Jin snake isn't prone to heterophagy and wouldn't willingly swallow phones; someone must be behind it controlling them, and he was very curious about the whereabouts of the two snakes—who did the police ultimately hand them over to, and who was responsible for their release?
These were points Lu Qi hadn't considered before, and Xu Chunliang's reminder made him realize the case is even more complex than he imagined. Usually, such incidents are handled by the fire department's emergency response. They would arrange professional Snake Catchers to catch the animals and hand them over to the forestry bureau for handling. So much time has passed since then; however, those two snakes should have already returned to the mountains. Solving this case might be impossible.
Xu Chunliang gazed out the car window, where the colorful neon lights painted the world with oddities. It seemed this world wasn't as simple as it appeared.
Early Saturday morning, Xu Chunliang received a call from Lu Qi asking if he was busy, suggesting he accompany him to see the place where the forestry bureau releases animals, considering Xu Chunliang's expertise in snake and insect habits, which might help the investigation.
Xu Chunliang agreed since he was idle during his break.
Half an hour later, Lu Qi and Li Zhong drove a police car to his door to pick him up.
Li Zhong drove the car while Lu Qi sat in the back with Xu Chunliang.
Lu Qi briefly relayed the aftermath concerning the two Wang Jin snakes to Xu Chunliang; after Xu Chunliang subdued the two big snakes that day, they handed them over to the city's forestry bureau.
A professional Snake Catcher named Fan Yajun accompanied them, who is an employee of the forestry bureau. After a routine health check on the two Wang Jin snakes, he took them to the Qinglong Mountain Nature Reserve for release on the same day.
"Does he have any issues?"
Lu Qi shook his head and said, "This person has a good reputation at the unit, works diligently, and has been selected as a city-level labor model multiple times."
"You can't always judge by appearances."
"He has an alibi, and he wasn't the only one to go for the release. We also investigated his whereabouts during those few days and found no suspicious points."
Xu Chunliang said, "Perhaps it was a group effort?"
The driver Li Zhong couldn't help laughing after hearing this: "Xiaoxu, you shouldn't study medicine; you should become a police officer."
Lu Qi didn't think it was funny; Xu Chunliang's words weren't without reason. Although the event's handling seemed to follow procedure, the investigation revealed some unusual points, like being released at the Nature Reserve on the same day. Typically, captured wildlife is artificially fed for a few days to ensure its health status is normal before release.
It's hard to suspect Fan Yajun just based on this point, as the release was approved by the forestry bureau, and Fan Yajun was not alone in going to Qinglong Mountain. There were three other staff members, and special personnel oversaw the handover at Qinglong Mountain Nature Reserve. After completing the release, the four from the forestry bureau immediately returned, and none of them have left the city since that day.
Li Zhong feels there's no point in visiting the release site; so many days have passed already, and nobody knows where the two snakes are now. He doesn't believe Wang Jin snakes could have swallowed phones; even if they did, could they have completely expelled them later? But Lu Qi insisted on going, so as his partner, he had to accompany him.
Qinglong Mountain is twenty-five kilometers from Dongzhou City, with an elevation of over four hundred meters; in Pingjiang Province's mainly flat terrain, it counts as a sizeable mountain.
They followed the map navigation to find the Qinglong Mountain Nature Reserve office, having made arrangements in advance. The ranger who participated in the release activity, Zhou Meng, was already waiting there.
Seeing the police car arrive, he quickly came out to greet them.
Zhou Meng entered the forestry bureau following his father's role. Nowadays, inheriting positions is rare, but Zhou Meng's father was honorably injured in a firefighting action seven years ago, and the organization made an exception for Zhou Meng to take over to commend his father's heroic actions.
Zhou Meng boasts an impressive height of 1.92m, with dark skin and a sturdy build, warmly extending his hand to shake theirs one by one, welcoming their arrival.
When shaking hands with Xu Chunliang, noticing he's not in police uniform, Zhou Meng, based on his understanding of life, thinks anyone not in uniform is typically a big leader. Puzzled, he wonders why this young guy, looking younger than him, acts as a leader?