Chapter 667 - 667: Clues
One end of the long rope was tied to a steel pipe, which Ye Qing threw forcefully. It shot up like an arrow released from its bow, directly reaching the branches of the pine tree.
The rope hit the tree trunk, and due to inertia, the steel pipe wound several times around it, tightly coiling itself around the trunk. Ye Qing gave the rope a strong tug; it was wound tightly enough to support an adult's weight.
Ye Qing glanced at Zhao Chengshuang and said, "I'll go up first!"
Zhao Chengshuang was completely stunned. The rope, which Ye Qing had thrown with just his hands, reached a height of several meters—this required immense strength. Those nearby were equally astonished; this was something they had never even considered.
Ye Qing, ignoring everyone's shocked expressions, walked to the cliff edge and pulled the rope to test its strength. Feeling confident in the taut rope, he grasped it with both hands and, stepping on the cliff, climbed rapidly upwards with alternating hand movements.
Using a rope for climbing was a basic skill for Special Forces. Ye Qing had been highly proficient in this during his time in the army. Now, having practiced the Breathing Method from the Acupoint Seeking Technique, his strength had greatly increased, making climbing much easier for him. Using the rope as support, he quickly reached the top in less than half a minute, moving as agilely as a nimble monkey.
This feat left the onlookers below exclaiming in awe. Among the police, there were some armed officers who had undergone similar training and were well aware of the difficulty of climbing up in such a manner. Ye Qing's ability to ascend so quickly was almost defying the laws of nature, leaving everyone dumbstruck. Zhao Chengshuang simply gaped, forgetting how to speak.
Once Ye Qing reached the top of the cliff, he wasted no time and immediately began searching the area. Based on his deduction, if someone had climbed up here with Lin Huayu, there must definitely be some traces left behind.
Indeed, Ye Qing found a deep small hole on the ground nearby which seemed to be left by something sharp embedded in the ground. Additionally, the grass and vegetation nearby clearly showed signs of being trampled on recently by someone.
Ye Qing deduced that the person must have arrived at the mountain top prior, inserted a steel crowbar into the ground, and tied the rope to it as support. He did not use the nearby tree trunk for only two reasons: first, the tree was right at the edge of the cliff, and he feared it could not support the weight of two people. Second, he was unfamiliar with the terrain here; there was another tree not far away to which he did not tie the rope, which showed he didn't know what exactly was on top of this mountain.
Realizing this, Ye Qing slightly frowned. This person clearly did not know the terrain, meaning the kidnapping of Lin Huayu was not premeditated or planned but rather a spontaneous act. This indicated that the person's capabilities must be exceptionally formidable; otherwise, why would he dare to act in this manner?
This thought worried Ye Qing. If this person's strength was indeed too formidable, rescuing Lin Huayu might not be an easy task.
Despite his worries, Ye Qing did not hesitate but turned around and walked to the edge of the cliff. He untied the rope from the tree and firmly bound it to the trunk.
Below, Zhao Chengshuang had regained his senses. Seeing Ye Qing approaching, he immediately shouted, "Ye Zi, how is it? Did you find anything? Are there any clues?"
By now, he had come to fully trust Ye Qing and placed all his hopes on him.
Ye Qing secured the rope, then threw the other end right in front of Zhao Chengshuang and said, "Let's talk once you're up here!"
"Up there?" Zhao Chengshuang looked at the rope, feeling a bit embarrassed. He had been living a life of comfort over the years and no longer possessed the ability to climb it himself.
However, he was no fool and knew he couldn't climb it himself, so he immediately ordered a team of armed police to ascend first.
The armed police, having watched Ye Qing climb up so quickly, also rushed over wanting to try. As you can guess, their climbing speed was like that of snails compared to Ye Qing, with one officer taking nearly two minutes just to get to the top. This only increased their respect and admiration for Ye Qing, as they realized climbing was indeed not an easy task.
Once up, the armed police immediately tied another rope to a nearby tree, and with two ropes, the climbing speed of the police below improved a bit. After a few officers had climbed up, Zhao Chengshuang ran over, tied the rope around his waist, and stabilized himself on another rope while a few officers pulled him up. He managed to avoid climbing himself since he knew it would be embarrassing.
After Zhao Chengshuang made it up, he immediately ran into the woods where Ye Qing was carefully searching for something. Zhao Chengshuang, full of excitement, came over and promptly asked, "Ye Zi, did you find anything? Have you found anything?"
Ye Qing didn't respond verbally but casually tossed something to Zhao Chengshuang. Zhao Chengshuang quickly caught it and, upon closer inspection, exclaimed, "Isn't this my cousin's bracelet?"
Ye Qing nodded and said, "Huayu was definitely abducted from here. Smart of her to leave some traces behind. Chengshuang, quickly send people to thoroughly search the area and find Huayu as soon as possible!"
Zhao Chengshuang did not dare delay and immediately turned to summon everyone over to help. A group of police charged into the woods, searching much faster than Ye Qing alone could, occasionally finding earrings, rings, necklaces, and such, leading everyone towards the base of the mountain.
This base was a winding mountain road. When the group reached the roadside, no further jewelry was found. It appeared that Lin Huayu had dropped all she could, and the trail ended there.
Zhao Chengshuang was very anxious upon finding no further clues. He promptly said, "Captain He, immediately block all exits of this road and check the passing vehicles. Don't let anyone get away!"
"What are you doing?" Ye Qing quickly turned his head to stop him.
"I'm checking the vehicles!" Zhao Chengshuang said, "This road is so long, they must have driven away. By checking the passing vehicles, we can find Hua Yu!"
"Even if this road is long, in half an hour, they should have left!" Ye Qing said, "Besides, look how many vehicles are passing on this road. When will you be able to finish checking? Blocking both sides of the road will not only be ineffective, but it will also waste police resources!"
"Then what do you suggest we do?" Zhao Chengshuang asked anxiously, "It's been over half an hour since Hua Yu was kidnapped, Ye Zi, we can't delay!"
"I know we can't delay, but you can't just act recklessly!" Ye Qing frowned slightly and said, "Don't panic, let me look again carefully!"
Zhao Chengshuang looked at Ye Qing, not knowing what to say, and could only stand by helplessly. He was extremely anxious, but he also understood that only Ye Qing could help him find Lin Huayu now.
Ye Qing stood silently in place for a long while, then slowly walked forward along the road. After walking for about one hundred meters, Ye Qing suddenly stopped and slowly crouched down.
"Ye Zi, did you find something?" Zhao Chengshuang immediately ran over excitedly and repeatedly asked, "How is it? What did you find?"
Ye Qing didn't speak; he just slowly reached out and pinched a piece of red glass the size of a green bean from the dirt beside the road. The glass was too small to be conspicuous, but Ye Qing had just noticed it.
Zhao Chengshuang looked at the object in Ye Qing's hand, puzzled, "Ye Zi, what are you doing? Let's hurry and find Hua Yu, why do you care about this thing?"
Ye Qing shook his head and said, "Chengshuang, look at this, what is it?"
"It's just a piece of glass, what about it!" Zhao Chengshuang said.
"What is this piece of glass used for?" Ye Qing asked.
"Huh?" Zhao Chengshuang was stunned for a moment. A sharp-eyed police officer quickly said, "This should be the glass cover of a vehicle's rear taillight."
"Exactly!" Ye Qing nodded slowly, stretched his hand to scrape the mud next to him a bit, and found a few more shards of glass, all of the same color.
"What's exactly?" Zhao Chengshuang urged, "Ye Zi, don't keep us in suspense, just say it, I'm really anxious!"
Ye Qing stood up and said in a deep voice, "Where are there cameras on this road?"
"This road is quite secluded, there aren't many cameras, just two at the exit," Zhao Chengshuang said, "Have you found a clue?"
Ye Qing said in a deep voice, "Get someone to check right away, within the last half-hour, cars that have left here with damaged rear taillights."
Zhao Chengshuang looked at the glass shard in Ye Qing's hand, then glanced at Ye Qing, and without any further delay, he immediately turned to the person beside him and said, "Hurry up and take care of this!"
The person didn't dare hesitate, as the one kidnapped was not just anyone but Zhao Chengshuang's cousin, the sole daughter of Shenchuan City's richest man Lin Zhen Nan. Finding her would mean great merit; failing, they would all be in big trouble!
Seeing some subordinates went to take care of it, Zhao Chengshuang immediately walked up to Ye Qing and said, "Ye Zi, is this the clue you found?"
"Since Hua Yu has left clues along the way, it wouldn't make sense for there to be no clues here," Ye Qing said gravely, "I suspect she shattered this rear taillight herself as a way to leave us clues."
"Are you sure?" Zhao Chengshuang was slightly skeptical and said, "Don't be too certain, it could just be some other car that scraped its taillight here. Didn't you see the glass shards were covered by soil? Who knows how long they've been there!"
"No!" Ye Qing firmly shook his head and said, "First, this location is too coincidental, just right near where Hua Yu left clues, definitely where the kidnappers stopped. Second, if it was really another car that damaged the taillight, why are there only such small shards on the ground and not bigger pieces? We can guess, if Hua Yu broke this taillight, the kidnappers surely knew. So, they picked up those big pieces of glass. These small pieces are too difficult to clean, and they didn't have time to fuss with them, so they just kicked them to the side of the road!"