"Li Laoqi, from Jinshan Village, lives on this side of the lake."
The man, trembling with fear from Li Chonglou's intimidation, tried to argue with a pained expression, "Officer, I'm just a second-hand dealer. Is it really necessary to be this dramatic?"
"Behave yourself. What 'officer'? You watch too many Hong Kong movies. Call me comrade!" Li Chonglou kicked him in the backside and cursed, "Second-hand dealers are equally guilty, but you have a chance to redeem yourself."
"Rat out the counterfeiting factory, and that's better than anything else."
With a mix of coaxing and scaring, Zhou Yacheng and the others could barely suppress their laughter.
He's really good at pretending to be a police officer to deceive people.
This only works on the guilty conscience of someone like Li Laoqi; a normal person wouldn't be fooled.
But that's enough. If Li Laoqi had a bit more courage, he wouldn't be hiding in the countryside scamming his neighbors.
After being kicked a few more times by Li Chonglou, Li Laoqi was so terrified that he had no time to distinguish between real and fake.
He spilled everything he knew.
It turned out that in the mountains about ten kilometers away, there was a former third-line factory. After the factory relocated, the premises were rented out.
Under the guise of opening a guesthouse, they actually had no business, so the boss, Huang Cheng, set up a counterfeit money workshop.
He had made a lot of money over the years.
He even closed down the guesthouse entirely, specializing in counterfeiting money and then recruiting agents to distribute it throughout the mountains.
He specifically instructed them not to go to big cities.
"It seems this Huang Cheng is no ordinary person. Let's go meet him, lead the way!" Li Chonglou's lips curved into a smile after listening.
As he had guessed, Li Laoqi was just a small fry.
The real boss was someone else.
Hiding in the mountains, making a fortune in silence, and no trouble for years.
Either he was extremely well-hidden, or he had connections protecting him.
Or perhaps everyone here was indifferent, and even if they knew, they wouldn't dare to offend him and report him.
Whatever the reason, Huang Cheng likely had something valuable.
Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to create such lifelike counterfeit copper coins out of thin air.
"Then, then... what about the money he scammed me out of?" Tian Meng asked anxiously, blocking the door, "We can't just let him get away with it."
"How much money did you scam him out of?" Li Chonglou glared at Li Laoqi.
"I... twenty-seven thousand..." Li Laoqi mumbled, his face contorted in a cry, "Comrade, I've already spent all that money. I... I can't afford to repay him..."
"Tian Lingli, give thirty thousand to your uncle. I'll pay you back later." Li Chonglou didn't bother arguing with him over such a small amount.
After giving the instruction, he ignored Tian Meng's profuse gratitude and dragged Li Laoqi away from the hotel.
The car couldn't fit six people; it would be overloaded.
They had to leave Tian Meng in the town to find his own way home by taxi.
Li Chonglou, with the remaining few, headed straight for the third-line factory.
Shortly after they left, the hotel receptionist picked up the phone and dialed a number: "Brother Gou... Li Laoqi seems to have been caught."
"Yes, yes, yes, a few outsiders... Inform Boss Huang."
"I understand. If they're not afraid of death and dare to come here, they'll never leave the mountain." A sinister, hoarse voice crackled from the other end of the line.
The mountain road, about ten kilometers, took about half an hour.
Third-line factories were all former military enterprises, and they were mostly built in deep mountains.
This was for safety and concealment, given the special environment at the time.
Now, most of them were abandoned, but they still retained the appearance of decades ago.
The ones here had black tiles and gray bricks.
From a distance, they exuded an ancient, weathered aura.
Following Li Laoqi's directions, Li Chonglou turned the car onto a gravel path. After a bumpy ride, they crossed a stone bridge.
As soon as the car passed, several burly men rushed out and blocked the stone bridge with barricades.
"Brother, something's wrong. These people seem to be waiting for us." Zhou Yacheng's heart jolted.
"You just noticed? In a place like this, where you can't see a single person from the outside, they must have prepared in advance." Li Chonglou remained unperturbed and shot a glance at Li Laoqi, who was sitting behind him, "You tipped them off, didn't you?"
"No... it wasn't me, comrade, believe me. Even if I had the guts, how would I have the opportunity?" Li Laoqi's eyes darted around as he quickly explained, "It's probably that hotel."
"Boss Huang has many connections around here. I don't know who his people are."
The reason he arranged to meet at that hotel was because it was property owned by Huang Cheng's subordinates.
He knew it clearly.
If he was caught there, Huang Cheng would definitely be notified in advance.
Li Chonglou was walking into a trap.
As long as he was caught by Boss Huang, he would be safe. As for the fate of Li Chonglou and the others, it would be the usual outcomes.
Knocked unconscious, killed, or even more cruelly, sold abroad.
Places like northern Myanmar would have their organs removed and sold individually.
But no matter what happened, it would be irrelevant to him.
"Chonglou, weren't we too reckless? We've stirred up a hornet's nest now." Huang Jian said with a hint of bitterness, looking from the car at the countless workers wearing masks and cotton coats emerging from the factory buildings.
Before coming, he had already thought that this place would surely be a gathering place for criminals.
It wouldn't be easy to infiltrate, but Li Chonglou's previous display of strength hadn't made him too worried.
However, the current scene was far more intense than at the ancient site.
These workers, each holding steel pipes and crowbars, exuded a menacing aura, clearly the thugs under Huang Cheng's command.
There were even some who appeared to be underage children among them.
*Creak!*
As soon as he finished speaking, Li Chonglou slammed on the brakes, stopping in an open space.
He turned back and instructed, "You all stay in the car."
Then he opened the door, got out, and dragged Li Laoqi out with him.
He shouted towards the gathering crowd, "Tell Huang Cheng to come out. I'm here to do business."
"Don't listen to his nonsense. He's a police officer, here to arrest..." Li Laoqi's eyes flashed with malice, and he shouted a warning.
Before he could finish, Li Chonglou kicked him in the back of the knee, causing him to collapse to his knees.
He warned, "Behave, or I'll sentence you to life imprisonment!"
"A police officer from out of town, coming into the mountains of our Shuyu County, kid, are you looking for death?" At this moment, a slightly hunched but powerfully built young man stepped forward.
He had a ferocious look, appearing both brutish and defiant. Ordinary people would feel intimidated just by making eye contact with him.
"Brother Gou... save me, Brother Gou..." Li Laoqi cried, tears and snot streaming down his face in pain.
"Save your ass! You moron, what did I tell you before? Bringing police officers into my den, you blind fool." The man's face was contorted with rage, his eyes overflowing with sinister intent as he cursed, "Today, not only these outsider police officers will die, but you will die too!"
This was their stronghold. Inside were countless pieces of evidence and fake copper coins. If the police got their hands on them, they would be doomed.
Li Laoqi, this spineless weakling, had actually brought people here.
He was so angry his lungs almost burst.
Hearing this, Li Laoqi's eyes were filled with despair, and he almost collapsed to the ground.
Li Chonglou, holding him by the collar, said calmly, "See? If you want to live, you still have to rely on me."
After speaking, he shouted to the man, "Ah Gou, I'm not a police officer. I tricked Li Laoqi. Go call Huang Cheng out. We need to talk."
With that statement, everyone present looked on in shock.