I am a super cop

Chapter 2907 Unpopular Route
When we arrived at the supply inn, it was already dark.

There are several inns in this place, and Lao Zhang took everyone to one of the larger inns.

The inns here are all made of stone, wood or iron sheets. They are powered by diesel engines and have relatively simple living facilities.

The innkeeper was an old acquaintance of Lao Zhang. When he saw Lao Zhang and Gu Chen and others coming in, he hurried out to greet them.

"Lao Zhang, why did you guys just get here?"

The boss was a middle-aged man with dark skin, and he spoke very politely.

Old Zhang also smiled and said, "Didn't I just bring the police comrades from Jiangnan City to investigate? By the way, how is your business today?"

"It's okay." The middle-aged man grinned and explained:

"It's not the peak season for hiking now. I estimate it will take another two months for the grass on this mountain to turn green."

"By that time, it will be hard to find a bed. Now it's OK, with a few guests coming every day."

After he finished speaking, the innkeeper quickly invited everyone to come in and rest: "Come in and sit down, it's windy outside."

After arranging for everyone to take their seats, the innkeeper arranged for his family to prepare dinner for Gu Chen and his friends.

After a while of tinkering, he returned to the Eight Immortals Table and poured some hot water for everyone:
"Drink some water?"

"Thank you." Gu Chen took the disposable paper cup and continued to ask, "Have those search and rescue team members been here?"

"He's been here and went out to look for someone else," said the innkeeper.

"Have these two women ever been to your place?" Lu Weiwei also asked.

The innkeeper shook his head: "I'm not sure about that. Anyway, since they haven't stayed at my place, we don't know if they've come here to buy anything."

"Is there any record of payment?" Yuan Shasha said.

The innkeeper smiled and said, "The signal here is not good. Usually you have to go to the top of the hill over there to barely get some cell phone signal."

"So when we buy things here, we use cash for all transactions."

"Has the person in charge of the cashier here never seen them?" asked Officer Wang.

The innkeeper continued to shake his head: "Probably he has never seen it."

"Okay." Seeing this, Officer Wang stopped asking questions and looked at Lao Zhang again and asked:
"Lao Zhang, where did the search and rescue team find the baggage?"

"It should be some distance from here, on the way to Jinding. But according to the rescue team, the bag was not dropped in the middle of the road, but somewhere off the road."

"If ordinary hikers just pass by, they may not notice it, but if it is a search and rescue team, they will see the bag after searching everywhere."

It would be best if we could have a search and rescue team to contact us, Gu Chen said.

Lao Zhang nodded silently and continued:
"They contacted me before and said that they had set up camp at a certain location and were going to look in other directions. Two of them had already gone to the direction of Jinding. Along the way was the main road, which was the ridgeline. Let's see if we can find any trace of them."

"But I think it's highly unlikely that they will find it, because the two girls may not have walked along the main ridgeline."

"What about the other two teams? Do you know where they are now?" While speaking, Lu Weiwei also opened the topographic map of Wufeng Mountain on her mobile phone.

Lao Zhang took a closer look and said slowly: "The search and rescue team that entered from the hiking entrance may be in this location now."

"The other one is the search and rescue team that came up the mountain from the waterfall entrance. They may be at this location and are the closest to us."

"But they decided to look in the opposite direction, which is to go through another point in the mountain range."

"That is under the jurisdiction of another city, and it is also the location of that city's scenic spot."

“Because they all belong to the same mountain range, the scenic spots are located in different locations.”

After a pause, Lao Zhang continued his analysis: "So I guess that the two of them are likely to give up the reverse crossing of Wufeng Mountain and choose to go to another scenic spot in the forward direction."

“But that route is rarely used and is considered a very deserted route.”

"Even during the peak hiking season, there are very few people walking, not to mention that now is not the peak season, so not many people come here to hike."

"That means they might be going in the opposite direction and not heading towards the Golden Summit?" Gu Chen said.

"Yes." Lao Zhang nodded silently and said without hesitation:

"To get to that scenic spot, you have to go in the opposite direction of the reverse route, but there is only a road to get there in our area."

“So I guess if the two girls want to go there, they will definitely pass by the supply station here.”

"That's why I contacted the search and rescue team in advance and asked them to go to every inn after they get here to see if anyone has seen them."

After a pause and a deep breath, Lao Zhang said helplessly:

"But it's a pity that no one here has seen them, and no one knows where they went."

"Anyway, the first search and rescue team to arrive at this place, the one that found the backpack, has already set off for that location."

"Then how long will it take us to catch up with them?" Gu Chen asked.

Lao Zhang hesitated for a moment, picked up his phone, looked at the specific map location, and said:

"Because their search and rescue team is searching forward, the journey is relatively slow."

"I reckon if we pick up the pace tomorrow, we might be able to catch up with them before dark."

"Then, Old Zhang, have you ever walked along that direct route?" Gu Chen asked again.

Old Zhang smiled and said, "I have lived near Wufeng Mountain since I was a child. I have walked many routes in the mountain a long time ago. Do you think I have walked them?"

"Just walk past it." Seeing that Lao Zhang knew the way, Gu Chen finally breathed a sigh of relief.

While everyone was discussing, the innkeeper came over with hot dishes and said with a smile:
"Dinner is here. These are our chickens raised here in the mountains. They are very nutritious. Come and have a taste."

"Wow! Chicken stewed with mushrooms, not bad." Lu Weiwei's eyes widened when she saw this.

Later, the boss brought some food from the kitchen.

Although it is simple, it is already a pretty good delicacy in a place like this.

Especially since we climbed more than 1000 meters above sea level in one day, we also consumed a lot of physical energy.

It is not easy to have a bite of food at this time.

So everyone finished their meal in no time.

Afterwards, everyone arrived at the accommodation. Each room was only the size of a toilet, and each room could only accommodate two bunk beds, which could accommodate four people.

With the addition of a bedside table, there is basically no extra space.

The innkeeper also smiled and said, "During the peak season, four people usually share a room. Since there are not many guests right now, you can each have a room."

"Okay, thank you." Lao Zhang also contacted and confirmed the accommodation conditions, then smiled and said to Gu Chen and the others:

"The conditions here are simple, so everyone should just make do with it. At least it's more comfortable than sleeping in a tent."

"Of course there is no problem." Seeing that Lao Zhang had made all the arrangements, Gu Chen also said with a smile. It can be said that Lao Zhang is a very competent guide. He not only leads the way for everyone, but also arranges various accommodations for everyone.

So everyone stayed in the inn for one night.

……

……

The next morning, before the sun rose, Gu Chen and his companions had already started packing their luggage. They were ready to set off immediately after breakfast to catch up with the search and rescue team that was on the way.

The innkeeper also prepared breakfast for everyone.

We had the most ordinary noodles for breakfast in the inn, with only one bowl per person and a boiled egg.

At this time, there were not only Gu Chen and his group having breakfast in the restaurant, but also other hikers, as everyone wanted to set off early.

Therefore, the restaurant is particularly lively.

On the walls of the restaurant, there are flags and signatures of many outdoor clubs, so densely packed that it makes one's scalp tingle.

"Eat quickly, then we'll set off." Officer Wang urged after he finished eating the cooked eggs.

"Right away." After Lu Weiwei finished the noodles, she immediately started peeling eggs.

After everyone finished their breakfast in the shortest time possible, many hikers also prepared to set off.

Many people gathered at the door to take a head count.

Some came in groups, while others were lone rangers who chose to hike alone.

After Gu Chen and his companions briefly confirmed the number of people, they set off under the leadership of Lao Zhang.

This time, everyone walked in the opposite direction of other hikers.

Lao Zhang also said as he walked: "Everyone is familiar with the direction to Jinding. Just walk along the ridge line."

"But the road that leads to another scenic spot is obviously much longer than the one to Jinding, and few people walk this road. If you don't download the walking track, many people will get lost."

"But luckily you don't have to worry. I, Old Zhang, am a walking map. I am familiar with all the environments here, and I have walked this road many times."

"Lao Zhang, you're really a good guide." Listening to Lao Zhang bragging while walking, Lu Weiwei couldn't help but teasing.

Old Zhang smiled and continued to lead everyone into the mountains.

We walked across a higher ridgeline, where there was alpine grassland on one side and continuous coniferous forest on the other.

Walking in the middle is a visual feast, and while walking, Gu Chen's team is constantly searching for the whereabouts of Zhao Wenli and Zhuang Qing.

Unlike the ridgeline hiking route leading to Jinding, the road here is very clean, without any garbage, and the path is also covered with weeds.

Lao Zhang walked to an open flat area and quickly explained to everyone:

"This place should be where they camped before. At first I thought they walked a long way, but I didn't expect they only walked such a short distance."

"Then we should be not far from the search and rescue team members, right?" Yuan Shasha asked.

"They shouldn't be far away. They probably set out early in the morning. Considering the time it took us to get here, I estimate it will take about two hours to catch up with them."

"You've said too much." As soon as Lao Zhang finished speaking, Gu Chen pointed to one of the farther hills and said:

“They should be there.”

"Huh?" After hearing what Gu Chen said, Lao Zhang hurried to look and really found some search and rescue teams wearing conspicuous clothes on a distant hilltop.

After observing for a few seconds, Lao Zhang confirmed, "Yes, it's them. I didn't expect them to walk so slowly. I don't know what they are doing. Let's catch up and see."

"Then let's speed up." Seeing Lao Zhang say this, Officer Wang also urged.

Everyone quickened their pace and tried to catch up, but the search and rescue team ahead was moving slowly.

An hour and a half later, everyone had arrived at the search and rescue team's resting place.

Gu Chen and others hurried forward.

Seeing this, the leader of the search and rescue team hurried over and greeted Gu Chen: "Hello."

"Hello, do you have any new discoveries?" Gu Chen asked.

The leader of the search and rescue team responded: "Not yet, but there are some fresh footprints along the way. I think they should be left behind. Of course, we are not sure yet."

After he finished speaking, the team leader took one of the small bags and handed it to Gu Chen, saying:

"We found this on the side of the road. There was a camera in it."

Upon hearing this, Gu Chen quickly put on white gloves, then took the bundle and began to open it.

Soon, the camera inside was discovered.

So Gu Chen turned on the camera again and started looking at the photos in it.

Just like the photos everyone sent over before, the first few photos are normal shots, including scenery and solo photos of Zhao Wenli.

But the dozens of photos that followed were taken randomly without any plan.

It makes one's scalp tingle.

Lu Weiwei also came to Gu Chen's side, looked at the photos, and said:
“Can you tell which places these photos are from?”

"I'm not sure, but we found it near the inn, and the direction where the camera was discarded is right along the route."

"So we feel that these two girls are likely to go the straight route."

"So we just kept searching along this road to see if there was anything else they had left nearby."

"Is there any result?" Yuan Shasha asked.

The leader shook his head: "No, we haven't found any problems yet."

"We also found some messy footprints on the road. Although this route is usually not used by many people, there are still some people who like to wear it properly."

“After reaching the top of the Golden Summit, we took this road all the way to the inn, and then took this small road to the other scenic spot.”

"So the footprints here don't mean anything."

Hearing what the leader said, Gu Chen said calmly: "If they took this route, then we can still look for them along the way. The key is how many days it will take to get from the inn to the scenic spot?"

"Two days." A member of the search and rescue team said, "It will take at least two days to walk from the inn to the scenic spot in another area."

"So long?" Lu Weiwei was puzzled when she heard this.

"Then they were most likely lost on this route. After all, it's an unpopular route and there aren't many people on the road."

……