What do you mean by saying that the corpses I sew are all ominous creatures?

But he was a smart man and knew that someone who could be so highly regarded by an old fox like Jin Wanliang, and even have his decision-making power handed over to him, was definitely not simple.

"Hello, Boss Chen." Ma San bowed slightly and greeted me politely.

I didn't put on airs, just smiled at him and said, "Brother Ma, you're too kind. Just call me Chen Yang."

"This isn't the place to talk. Let's go inside."

"Yes, please come inside. Mr. Chen, Mr. Jin, please come in."

Ma San quickly stepped aside and ushered us through the tin door.

Behind the door was a spacious warehouse, with some unidentified goods piled up in the corner, and a simple office partitioned off in the middle.

The office contained several old sofas and a coffee table, and a detailed topographical map of the Yunnan-Guizhou region hung on the wall.

We went into the office and sat down. Ma San personally poured us tea, then pulled over a folding chair and sat opposite us.

"Ma San, I won't waste any more words."

Jin Wan picked up the teacup, took a sip, and his expression turned serious.

"It's hard to explain over the phone. Now, give Boss Chen a full account of all the details before and after Lao Hei went missing."

Don't miss a single word.

"clear."

Ma San nodded, took out a thick notebook from under the coffee table, opened one of the pages, and his expression became serious.

"Boss Chen, Boss Jin. The last time Lao Hei spoke to me on the phone was eight days ago at 4:20 pm."

Ma San looked at the notes in his notebook and said in a deep voice.

That afternoon, he led his men to the village outside the Lan family's residence to pick up the goods, as planned.

After the goods were loaded onto the truck, he called me to let me know he was safe.

I leaned back on the sofa, my hands crossed on my knees, and asked, "What did he say on the phone? Was there anything unusual about his tone?"

Ma San frowned, carefully recalling the scene at that time.

He gently placed the teacup on the table and shook his head somewhat helplessly.

"Boss Chen, Boss Jin, to be honest, there's nothing unusual about the phone calls."

Old Hei has been in the underworld for so many years, he's seen it all.

His tone was no different from usual at the time, and he even joked with me on the phone.

He said that after this business deal was completed, I should treat him to a meal at the best restaurant in Kunming.

I looked at Ma San without saying anything, just listening quietly as he continued.

"The only thing worth mentioning is that Lao Hei set off that night a full hour later than we originally planned."

Ma San held up one finger and gestured.

"The roads in the mountains are difficult to travel at night. For safety reasons, they should have set off from the receiving point outside the Lan family's residence before 3 p.m.

But I didn't receive a call from Lao Hei until after 4 PM, saying the convoy had just set off.

I picked up my teacup, took a small sip of tea, and asked:

"He was an hour late? Did he say why?"

"I casually asked what was going on."

Ma San nodded.

"Old Hei said it was because the Lan family delivered the goods late, which caused some delays."

However, this kind of thing is quite normal in our industry.

Sometimes, the inventory checks, loading, or the timing of the contact person might not be right, resulting in a difference of an hour or two.

He sounded quite relaxed, so I didn't ask any further questions.

Jin Wanliang sat to the side, sighed, and said, "This kind of thing does happen often."

The Lan family has many rules and regulations, and their inspection process for shipments is very complicated. A delay of one or two hours is within the normal range.

"Ma San, please continue."

I picked up my teacup and took a sip, while silently making plans in my mind.

One hour.

One hour is enough time for many people with ulterior motives to complete a lot of arrangements.

Ma San flipped through the notebook in his hand, pointed to a line of notes, and said:

"Then, at 12:15 a.m., I received a text message from Lao Hei on my phone."

The message was simple: he said the convoy had arrived safely in Luohua Town and was going to rest at a small hotel called Yuelai Hotel.

I'll also fill up the gas tank for the car.

He also told me to prepare to receive the goods, saying that at this rate, the goods should arrive at my warehouse in Chuncheng around 2 PM today.

"After I received the text message, I replied that I received it, and the text message also showed that it was sent successfully."

But by 10 a.m. the next day, I figured they should be coming down the mountain soon, so I called to ask where they were.

When I tried to call back, the call was already unreachable.

Ma San's face showed a hint of anxiety: "At first I thought it was because the signal was bad in the mountains, so I didn't take it seriously."

But by 2 p.m., the convoy still hadn't shown up, and I couldn't get through to anyone on the phone. That's when I realized things had really gone wrong.

He opened his laptop, picked up the iced tea on the table, and drank it all in one gulp, seemingly trying to calm his anger.

"After realizing I couldn't contact Lao Hei, I immediately took a few trusted brothers and drove to Luohua Town myself."

Ma San looked at me, his eyes revealing a deep sense of helplessness and confusion.

"Luohua Town is a relatively underdeveloped place, located at the edge of the Shiwan Mountains."

Aside from the main street in the town center and a few important intersections, which are monitored by traffic cameras, all the other winding alleys are blind spots for surveillance.

"When I got to the town, I didn't dare to search openly. Instead, I asked an acquaintance at the local police station who had eaten with us before."

After smoothing things over with some connections, I got him to check the town's surveillance footage.

Ma San swallowed hard, leaned forward slightly, and emphasized his words:

"The surveillance footage shows that Lao Hei's convoy—three long trucks—smoothly drove into the main street of Luohua Town at 12:25 a.m."

Both the license plate number and the black man sitting in the lead car matched the information.

"and then?"

I pressed him for details in a low voice, even though I already had a guess about the outcome, but I still wanted to hear him finish explaining the details.

"And then? Then they just vanished into thin air!"

Ma San spread his hands with a wry smile.

"We were in the monitoring room, watching all the footage from that time period onwards several times."

The surveillance cameras on the main street watched the convoy drive in, but afterwards, the three large trucks were never seen coming out again.

Those were three large trucks fully loaded with goods! Not three bicycles!

They simply vanished without a trace in a small town, leaving not even a tire track.

After hearing Ma San's words, the office fell silent.

I know that Jin Wanliang was already aware of these details.

He brought me here so that I could hear firsthand accounts of the investigation and make a more accurate judgment.

I leaned back on the sofa, my fingers unconsciously tracing the outline of the scalpel on my cuff, quickly connecting these seemingly ordinary clues in my mind.