May 3rd.
A refreshing and warm breeze swept over the jade-like Erhai Lake, passing through the buildings of Dali Ancient Town before heading towards Lincang.
Lin Chuan, Shen Qianqian, and Xia Qingqing, dragging their simple suitcases, boarded the high-speed train from "Dali—Lincang," a journey of about 2 hours.
Lincang, located in the southwestern part of Yundian, lies between the Lancang River and the Nu River. To its southwest, it borders the Myanmar area and serves as a small border town adjacent to Myanmar.
Compared to the widely known Yundian tourist cities like Dali and Li River, Lincang is much more niche.
It was right in the middle of the May Day holiday, peak tourism season.
As for tourism?
The location wasn't as important, for, aside from the scenery on the road, there are the people beside you and the open heart within.
Compared to the latter two, the importance of the former was self-evident.
Therefore, Shen Qianqian and Xia Qingqing had done their travel homework meticulously, picking out this quiet and peaceful small city from the plethora of scenic spots.
Taking a stroll in this small border town in Yundian, enjoying the breeze, the laughter, and the chat—that was the very definition of a pleasant holiday.
"The Wa ethnicity has a rich culture here; I've heard their food is pretty good."
"Starlight Night Market is worth visiting, lots of delicious food there."
"We could also try on Wa ethnic clothes, Qianqian, you'd look stunning in them."
"Qingqing, let's try them on together."
"Let's get Comrade Lin Chuan to try them as well, he's tall and has a good build."
"He's going to get vain."
Once they got off the high-speed train.
Lin Chuan, with one hand pulling his suitcase and the other pushing his sunglasses up, tilted his head 45 degrees to look at the sky, his clean face looking somewhat handsome under the bright sunlight.
Shen Qianqian and Xia Qingqing walked arm in arm, murmuring excitedly about their sightseeing plans, the atmosphere very harmonious.
After checking into their hotel, the three of them casually strolled along the streets of Lincang.
In the afternoon, they walked down an unnamed street, paved with pebbles. The smooth stone slabs, reflecting the shadows of green leaves and fragments of light, swayed in the breeze. The occasional sound of a car horn wasn't disturbing at all.
Lincang was indeed as they had imagined.
The scenery was pleasant, the sky was blue, the clouds were light, and even the wind was quiet.
'Dingdong—'
Lin Chuan's phone rang.
[Mr. Lin, it's all because of you!]
—A message from Old Bai.
Hmm?
Lin Chuan suddenly stopped in his tracks, staring at the message on his phone, his brow furrowing as he muttered to himself, "Mr. Lin... it's all because of me?"
For some reason, Lin Chuan felt oddly perturbed by this message, a sense of foreboding welling up inside him.
After hesitating for a moment, he replied to Old Bai's message.
"Am I handsome?"
But there was no reply.
"Comrade Lin Chuan, what's wrong?"
Under the shades of green, Xia Qingqing, who was walking in front of him on the street, noticed Lin Chuan had fallen behind a good distance.
Shen Qianqian also turned around and saw Lin Chuan standing still with his phone in hand, his brows tightly knitted, she asked, "Comrade Lin Chuan, is something the matter?"
Lin Chuan took a deep breath, his expression darkening slightly, "I think we'll have to postpone today's schedule."
"What happened?"
The two policewomen looked puzzled and quickly walked toward Lin Chuan.
Lin Chuan showed them his phone, and Old Bai's message caught their eyes.
"Mr. Lin, it's all because of you... What does this mean?" Shen Qianqian read out loud, her pretty face showing a hint of confusion.
Xia Qingqing also slightly furrowed her brow, "What does this mean?"
Suddenly!
The two officers looked at each other, a look of realization dawning on their faces, "Criminal suspect!"
Mr. Lin = Criminal suspect.
Then, 'Mr. Lin, it's all because of you' could mean 'Mr. Lin, you're entirely made up of criminal suspects?'
Was he experiencing trouble with lawbreakers?
This was a high possibility!
Shen Qianqian and Xia Qingqing were police officers with keen insight and quickly surmised the potential message being conveyed.
Thus, it was highly likely that this was a call for help.
Lin Chuan had quickly replied with a message—'Am I handsome?'
This message wasn't a self-flattering remark; although it seemed like a typical response among friends, it was actually Lin Chuan's way of testing Old Bai, to confirm his own suspicion.
However, Old Bai remained silent, not replying at all.
This made the three of them look quite grave.
"Old Bai has been catfished and is really in trouble?" As a Cyber Police officer, Xia Qingqing had encountered more online dating frauds and thus ventured a guess.
"It's possible," Shen Qianqian nodded in agreement.
However, based solely on that one message, Lin Chuan and the others couldn't confirm if Old Bai was indeed in danger.
At that moment.
Lin Chuan's mind raced, and after a moment of contemplation, he said, "I need a computer."
"There's one!"
Shen Qianqian looked around and pointed towards a mobile phone store by the side of the street.
Lin Chuan crossed the street directly and entered the store, "Hello, I need to use a computer."
The owner of the phone store was a middle-aged man, sitting leisurely in a rocking chair at the entrance, his round belly exposed, comfortably fanning himself with a palm fan.
He, hearing Lin Chuan's request for a computer, didn't ask for any details but responded with an enthusiastic smile, "Young man, you can use the one in the back as you please!"
"Thanks."
Lin Chuan, without further ado, upon getting permission, immediately booted up the computer.
The first thing he needed to do was straightforward.
—Pinpoint Old Bai's location.
For a top-tier hacker, locating someone wasn't difficult.
Determining someone's phone location usually relies on GPS, WiFi signals, cell tower information, and can also be achieved through remote phone control, social media location sharing, and specialized tracking software.
Lin Chuan sat in front of the computer, his hands poised above the keyboard.
The method he used was IP address localization combined with cell base station information, using both approaches simultaneously.
Xia Qingqing, who stood behind Lin Chuan, frowned.
She knew that Lin Chuan's act of locating and tracking someone without their permission and without approval was illegal.
However, the head of Anling Police Station, Zhang Biao, had instructed her before that any matters related to Lin Chuan could be directly reported to him.
Xia Qingqing immediately made a call to Zhang Biao.
"Comrade Xia Qingqing, are you and Lin on vacation in Yundian, what's happened?" Zhang Biao asked on the phone.
Xia Qingqing nodded, "Yes, there's a special situation I need to report to you."
Zhang Biao was startled and sat up straight from where he was half-lying reading a novel, asking anxiously, "Comrade Lin Chuan isn't in trouble, is he?"
"Lin Chuan is fine," Xia Qingqing answered.
Zhang Biao sighed with relief and continued, "What special situation have you encountered?"
Xia Qingqing quickly explained and then requested, "Lin Chuan's friend might have encountered a criminal, we're now in Lincang, Yundian, and Lin Chuan is trying to hack into the network to get relevant information, we need your approval."
"Approved!"
Zhang Biao replied immediately, "Tell Lin to go ahead and do it, I will contact the cyber police department in Lincang City, Yundian, right away, and report immediately if needed."
In front of the computer.
Lin Chuan, having heard the conversation between Xia Qingqing and Zhang Biao, said, "Thanks."
"No need to thank me, Old Bai is also a friend of mine," Xia Qingqing smiled, "Even if he didn't have a connection with us, we couldn't just stand by."
"Comrade Lin Chuan, you go ahead without worry, we'll take care of the procedures for you," Shen Qianqian also spoke up.
Lin Chuan nodded.
Indeed, these two police comrades were very responsible.
They would stand up for anyone in danger.
Lin Chuan's fingers rapidly tapped on the keyboard, the complex code causing Xia Qingqing's eyes to blur.
Before long.
Lin Chuan locked down the cell base station information connected to Old Wang's phone: ********.
Each cell base station has a uniform coding rule.
Usually it's: city code + network code + manufacturer code + in-building or private network code + base station number.
Once the base station information was confirmed, the approximate location could be determined.
Lin Chuan frowned, "It's to the southwest of Lincang City, away from the city center, and it's not a tourist spot."
"Away from the city center, and not a tourist spot?"
Both Shen and Xia were taken aback.
By the sound of that, Old Bai was very likely in danger.
"There aren't many IP connections to this cell base station, and just now, I hacked Old Bai's phone. After sending me a message, he actively turned off the phone, which could be a dangerous signal," said Lin Chuan, based on the information he detected.
If Old Bai were safe, it would have been improbable for him to turn off his phone after sending a regular message to Lin Chuan.
Most people are in a state of 'phone always at hand' and 'low battery anxiety'.
Even when using the restroom, they'd bring along their phone; without a phone to watch a couple of videos, staring at a bare wall could make them feel restless.
Furthermore.
Lin Chuan had rich experience working in factories.
He was very familiar with the act of 'confiscating mobile phones and turning them off'.
Generally, the first thing to do with new captures or those who willingly walk in, was to confiscate their phones to prevent communication with the outside world.
Lin Chuan was unclear whether Old Bai had encountered a fraud gang, but his current situation didn't bode well.
Upon hearing this, Shen Qianqian and Xia Qingqing exchanged a glance: "Call the police."
Lin Chuan nodded.
Shen Qianqian was decisive and immediately dialed the emergency number, contacting the local police in Lincang.
Lin Chuan, meanwhile, dug deeper for information.
He rapidly hacked into the mobile phone of Old Bai's online girlfriend through the contact, obtaining firsthand information.
On the computer screen, scrolling characters formed codes that contained the key information.
At this moment, Lin Chuan's eyebrows were tightly knitted.
Xia Qingqing, as a competent cyber police officer, could clearly capture these crucial details; as she watched, a fine sweat broke out on her forehead.
Because the information on Old Bai's online girlfriend's phone was shocking.
[Boss, the twelve pigs have been caged.]
[All pigs confirmed to obey!]
[Execute the original plan!]
[18:30 the usual place to meet.]
'Pigs' 'original plan' 'usual place' 'meet up', these criminal jargons, even if Xia Qingqing didn't understand all of it, she could guess most of it.
As the king of scammers, Lin Chuan understood the internal workings of the factory areas even better than the current industry workers.
He understood the implications of these words immediately.
Internet romance, rushing to meet in person, it was indeed a fabricated lie.
"Targeting my readers, if others find out, who would dare to read my books?" Lin Chuan's expression darkened, and for the first time, anger showed in his face.
Shen Qianqian's brows furrowed slightly, seeing Lin Chuan like this for the first time, she couldn't help but tug at his arm, "Lin Chuan, I've called the police already, I believe the Lincang police will be able to bring Old Bai back."
Lin Chuan pondered for a moment, then shook his head, "I'm afraid it's too late, they are meeting at 18:30, which means they're likely to leave soon."
"It's 15:27 now."
Shen Qianqian looked at her watch and said.
Lin Chuan's expression grew serious, "I'll go in person!"
"It's too dangerous!"
Shen Qianqian immediately replied.
"Qianqian, would you back down because it's dangerous?" Lin Chuan looked at Shen Qianqian, his eyes steady.
Shen Qianqian shook her head, "I mean, I'll go with you, I have criminal investigation experience, and I've trained in combat."
"I'm going too!" exclaimed Xia Qingqing.
"That won't do, Qingqing, you're a cyber police officer, stay here and monitor their movements for me," Lin Chuan said with an air that brooked no argument.
"But how will you get there?" Xia Qingqing asked subconsciously.
Shen Qianqian raised her hand and pointed to a black motorcycle parked next to the shop, "We'll commandeer that bike."

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