Crazy Detective

"This is next level!" Xu Hai said on the drive towards the Qing Dynasty Palace. "To think they would use a story of a female ghost as a clue… only the Japanese are capable of something this depraved!"

"Leader Zhao," Liu Zhanbing said as he loaded his pistol. "I don't think we're wrong this time! Since the characters and clothes all point towards the Qing Dynasty Palace, it must mean that the world-shaking treasures are there."

Yeah… Zhao Yu didn't know how to answer. Although the clues were obvious now, he still felt like something was not quite right.

"The Qing Dynasty Palace was the palace that was used until the collapse of the Qing Dynasty!" Xu Hai added. "In the period of the Russian and Japanese invasion, tens of thousands of precious cultural relics were lost!

"Who would have thought that the Japanese would really hide their gold treasures here? It's really unexpected. Too cunning!"

"It'd be great if everything could really be found!" Liu Zhanbing said with enthusiasm. "We can really make a name for ourselves! All thanks to Leader Zhao's good fortune!"

"D*mn it!" Cui Lizhu said angrily as she crossed her arms. "You haven't even seen anything yet, and you're already thinking about the end result? You haven't crossed hands with these people!"

"All right," Miao Ying said after looking at her watch. "We are almost there! We will definitely arrive before Secret Services, so all of you keep an eye out. The enemy may appear at any time!"

"If that's the case…" Xu Hai said, concerned, "Since there are tourists everywhere, should we at least evacuate the crowd first?"

"Of course not!" Liu Zhanbing said, shaking his head. "Everything is just conjecture at this point. If you evacuate the crowd, you will only cause panic. And furthermore, once you do that, you will inadvertently alert the enemy!"

Zhao Yu, who was listening to the two debates, suddenly thought of something important. This wouldn't do! He remembered his hexagram. No matter what was about to happen, the Kun in his hexagram represented a big event that was about to happen. Since he knew that, he couldn't be selfish! As much as he wanted to use this opportunity to catch the masked man, thinking about the hexagram made him realize he had to give that plan up.

"Leader Miao!" Zhao Yu said seriously to Miao Ying. "We have to change our plan! We must evacuate the crowd."

"What?!" Miao Ying frowned. "Why? Once the crowd is evacuated, we may never get the chance to catch Seraph again!"

"No…" Zhao Yu shook his head. "Think about it, let's say the treasure really was buried in the palace. Do you think they'd be able to transport such a huge amount of treasure?"

"Uhm…" Zhao Yu's words had rendered everyone speechless.

"It's like their secret base," Zhao Yu said seriously. "Their purpose is not to keep it, but to destroy it! We can't put the lives of so many people at risk."

"Th… that…" Miao Ying was at a loss.

"Even if we cannot catch the criminal, at least there is a chance!" Zhao Yu said. "We cannot afford to let something bad happen. If they even manage to get a few hostages, it will hinder us greatly."

"Hmm…" Miao Ying nodded.

Zhao Yu quickly pulled out his phone and got in touch with Li Jing. Li Jing and Zhao Yu had the same thought. She too believed that they couldn't risk the lives of innocent people and would rather shoot themselves in the foot and face criticism. They had to move the crowd.

However, this was easier said than done. Although they had decided to move the crowd, it was still the middle of the tourist season and there were many of them in the palace. The area was large, and the evacuation wouldn't be possible on such short notice. When Zhao Yu and the rest rushed to the ticket office, they saw that tickets were no longer being sold, but they did not see many people leaving.

Since this was a field operation, Zhao Yu only brought Miao Ying, Cui Lizhu, Xu Hai, and Liu Zhanbing. Although Cui Lizhu was not exactly a field operative trained to fight and kill, she played an important role in cracking the treasure case and he naturally couldn't leave her behind.

Secret Services had contacted the management office of the tourist location in advance. When Zhao Yu and the others arrived with their identification, the staff were already waiting at the door to let them in.

It was only then that Zhao Yu saw that the tourists were beginning to be evacuated. Some of them were cooperative, while others were visibly angered and rushed to the management office to ask for a refund.

Zhao Yu held his pistol and carefully watched each visitor, paying attention to their every move. At that point, the expert guide recommended by the palace came and Miao Ying hurriedly asked about the woman in the red dress and the story of the well.

"Well?" The tour guide asked, stunned. "There is an eight-treasure tiled well pavilion in the palace, but because of safety concerns, it's already been sealed! As for the red-dressed woman you were mentioning…" The tour guide shook his head. "I have never heard of her before! I have read all the historical materials related to the Cossack invasion, but none of them mentioned a story about a woman!"

"If not a woman, then what about a female ghost?" Cui Lizhu asked hurriedly. "The Japanese had a rumor that they often saw a Russian woman in red near the well. Have you heard anything about that?"

"This…" The tour guide was instantly stumped. "Are you guys really from the Special Investigations Team? How could you believe this nonsense?"

"Forget it, let's not waste our time with him!" Cui Lizhu said to Zhao Yu, shaking her head. "Let's hurry and go in, we'll have a look ourselves!"

"Let me ask you!" Zhao Yu asked the guide. "How many wells are there inside?"

"Uhm… we have over 20 wells," the guide said uncertainly. "But all of them have been sealed!"

"That's good," Zhao Yu said, raising his hand. "Hurry and lead us to them. Now!"

"Alright, alright…" Seeing how on guard Zhao Yu and the rest were, the guard wasted no time and hurriedly brought them into the palace.

"Hmm…" Cui Lizhu nodded.

Just as they were approaching the first well, two security guards came running in from the front door. They appeared flustered and one of them held a fire extinguisher.

"Oh? What's wrong? What happened?" Zhao Yu asked, hurriedly pulling them to one side as he felt something was wrong.

"We just got a report that the Chao Feng building area started smoking!" the security guard said in a panic. "I'm afraid it's on fire!"

Sh*t!

Hearing this, Zhao Yu and the rest were shocked. After exchanging glances, Miao Ying readied her gun and gave orders to the guide. "Tell your superior to speed up the evacuation, it's dangerous here!"

Zhao Yu and the rest took out their pistols. Together with the two security guards, they rushed into the depths of the palace…