After Wang An finished speaking, Song Ping did not take the initiative to stand up, nor did the person beside him or the two men with guns slung over their backs; none of them made the slightest move.
Song Ping spoke with a tone of defiance
"I am from LQ County, not under the jurisdiction of your DJ County. Unless the public security officers from my own LQ County are the ones saying this."
Seeing that Song Ping was not only uncooperative but was also ignoring them, Wang An's expression instantly turned cold. He spoke in a tone that brooked no argument
"You committed your crimes in DJ County, and you want the police from LQ County to handle you? Are you fucking joking with me? There are so many people watching; I originally wanted to let you keep some dignity, but it seems you don't want to leave yourself any face at all."
He paused for a moment, mainly to suppress the urge to act immediately. After all, there were too many people in the courtyard, and if Wang An were to start fighting right now, it would create a poor impression.
Given Wang An's current identity, whatever he did in the public eye had to be "justified."
Thus, Wang An spoke in a warning tone
"Comrade Song Ping, I will ask you one last time: will you cooperate voluntarily, or shall we force your cooperation? I'm telling you, if we actually have to lay hands on you, you will be solely responsible for any consequences that follow."
To be honest, Wang An felt that wearing this uniform made him a bit hesitant in everything he did. Otherwise, he would have slapped the man across the face long ago; why would he waste so much time haggling with Song Ping?
After saying this, Wang An turned and shouted to the crowd of people who had come to sell furs
"Fellow villagers who want to sell furs and mountain goods, I advise you to go to the supply and marketing cooperative up ahead, or go to the procurement station. If something happens and you get dragged into this, don't go complaining about this or that later."
In truth, many people had already recognized Wang An the moment he appeared.
This was because they had sold bear gall and other items to Wang An and his group. What puzzled them was how Wang An had suddenly transformed from a peddler into someone who arrested peddlers.
The sense of contrast was truly too strong.
It was mainly because when Wang An left home this morning, he had specifically put on a prevention officer's uniform, a standard-issue military overcoat, a standard-issue cotton hat, and standard-issue military leather shoes.
Consequently, Wang An's image was indistinguishable from that of Zhang Shuya and the others. The only thing that felt slightly out of place was Huang Zhong following beside him.
Of course, it was only slightly out of place; after all, since they were in an unfamiliar place, it was normal to have a local guide.
As soon as Wang An finished speaking, the crowd of people waiting to sell furs or bear gall—who were already quite tense—immediately felt as if they had been granted a general amnesty. They all walked out the main gate without looking back, clearly afraid of being implicated by Song Ping and his group.
Of course, the definition of "speculation and profiteering" was still somewhat blurred at this time. Even if they weren't implicated by Song Ping, if the investigation reached them, the punishment they would receive would not be small.
Once the fur sellers had all departed, Wang An turned his gaze back to Song Ping.
Seeing that Song Ping remained unresponsive, as if waiting for something, Wang An hesitated no longer and reached out to grab Song Ping by the collar.
However, just as Wang An's hand was about to seize him, Song Ping suddenly kicked off the ground, pushing himself and his chair backward together, successfully dodging Wang An's move.
As the saying goes, "One move from a professional reveals their skill."
Song Ping's exceptionally smooth movement made Wang An realize immediately that this old fellow must be a trained fighter.
Though he didn't know how high Song Ping's martial arts level was, the ability to perfectly dodge Wang An's grab meant his strength was not to be underestimated.
Unfortunately, under these circumstances, Wang An was not going to give him the chance to fight. Without hesitation, Wang An pulled out his Type 54 pistol and pointed it directly at Song Ping's head, sneering
"Do you want to resist?"
With one sentence, Song Ping froze instantly and slowly raised his hands.
There was no other choice. Now that Wang An had drawn his gun, if Song Ping dared to make another move, what awaited him would inevitably be a copper "peanut."
Crucially, as long as Wang An didn't kill him on the spot but instead shot him in the leg to prevent escape, the end result would be that Song Ping took a bullet for nothing, while Wang An would bear zero responsibility.
Even if the connections behind Song Ping were extremely powerful, the most they could do was cause trouble for Wang An after the fact; they wouldn't dare mention the fact that Song Ping had been shot.
Because at this moment, Wang An represented justice—the justice of punishing the wicked and eliminating evil.
However, the look in Song Ping's eyes as he stared at Wang An was filled with resentment and hatred, as if he wished he could kill Wang An with his gaze alone.
Wang An smiled slightly, completely indifferent to Song Ping's predatory stare.
With Song Ping suppressed by the gun, Zhang Shuya waved her hand to the people behind her
"Disarm them and take them all away."
At Zhang Shuya's command, several fully armed police officers stepped out from behind her and ran straight toward the man beside Song Ping and the two men behind him.
In this situation, any intelligent person would absolutely not resist. Wang An had already made it clear that this was merely cooperation for an investigation.
But if they resisted, things would immediately spiral in an uncontrollable direction.
Ten seconds later, the four men, including Song Ping, were all wearing "silver bracelets."
Wang An didn't forget to remind Zhang Shuya
"This Song Ping should be a trained fighter; don't let him break free and run."
Hearing this, Zhang Shuya nodded. Without any regard for the fact that Song Ping was right there, she said nonchalantly
"It's fine. No matter how fast he can run, he can't outrun a bullet."
Clearly, Zhang Shuya's words were an answer to Wang An's question on one hand, and a warning to the four men on the other.
It meant that if any of the four dared to run, they could be shot dead on the spot.
Thus, with expressions of utter resentment on their faces, the four men were loaded into the bed of a Jiefang truck.
The others also got busy, packing the furs, bear gall, and other stolen goods found in the courtyard, along with a considerable amount of cash, sealing them with official strips and moving them into the truck bed.
What the four men didn't realize was that while speculation and profiteering were the official charges, that was secondary. The primary reason they were being arrested was that someone among them had committed poisoning—specifically, poisoning Zhang Shuya's brother's family—and more importantly, they had poisoned two dogs to death.
Once everything was packed, under Wang An's lead, the five vehicles set off toward Song Ping's hometown, Anfutun. (End of Chapter)