According to Song Zhenguo, the day of the murder happened to coincide with their handover of goods.

"At that time, my cousin and his group caught two Red Eagles and brought them to me, intending for me to sell them, but we coincidentally ran into those five people."

"The guide hired by those four college students was someone we knew, an old hunter from the Wang Family Village. When he saw the Red Eagles in our hands, he knew it was poaching."

"So there was no other choice, my cousin and his group decided to just get rid of them for good and killed them straight away."

"They didn’t run?"

"What good would running do? We had guns, they didn’t dare make a move. One of them tried to run but got shot dead by my cousin."

"At the crime scene, there were only three victims’ bodies: the guide and two males. Where did the two female college students go?"

"Could you give me a cigarette?"

Wang Song nodded, and an officer beside him lit a cigarette and put it in Song Zhenguo’s mouth.

He took a deep drag.

Never before had Song Zhenguo found a cigarette so luxurious.

"My cousin and his group have been roaming the mountains for over a decade."

"They are utterly inhumane. If they encounter tourists in the mountains, single males are usually left alone."

"But if there are young, pretty women, they’ll take them away and kill all the men."

"Half a year ago, those five people suffered the same fate. After killing the hunter and the two male students, they abducted the female students."

"But they couldn’t have lasted more than a few days because the supplies they brought were only enough for themselves. After playing around for two or three days, they grew tired and killed them too."

"They definitely wouldn’t survive."

As Song Zhenguo spoke, his expression remained unchanged, as if discussing the death of a cat or a dog.

The disdain and indifference towards life send chills down one’s spine.

"Do you know where they are buried?"

Song Zhenguo shook his head, "I don’t know."

"After the killings, I rummaged through some backpacks, found nothing valuable, and just left."

"They followed an old hunter’s trail further into the mountains."

"Although I don’t know the exact burial site, they’ll likely be two or three days’ journey away."

"After all, when the two girls were taken, they had no gear or supplies—it’s impossible they could have lasted long."

"So, following the old hunter’s trail, they must have buried them near a campsite along the way."

While Wang Song was interrogating Song Zhenguo, Lu Chuan and his crew had finally set up their tents in the mountains.

Traveling at night on mountain paths is definitely not something pleasant.

If it weren’t for Old Chen being familiar with the terrain, the rest would certainly have gotten lost.

This campsite was by a small stream.

It was a natural area formed by small pebbles.

This was the best camping spot Lu Chuan and the others had come across so far.

Seven or eight tents were arranged in a circle, with Old Chen lighting a bonfire in the middle.

"This campsite has been visited recently," Old Chen pointed to some branches he’d buried a year ago.

"The branches I buried have been used; these dry ones are from someone else."

"Tomorrow we can only climb over another mountain, but there’s no campsite there. Afterward, we’ll have to turn back."

Li Donglin nodded; this had been planned in advance.

The mountains are treacherous, and if supplies run short, the dozen or so of them would be in trouble.

Supper in the mountains was quite simple.

To lighten the load, everyone carried compressed biscuits.

These days, compressed biscuits taste better than before, and there are also dried vegetables.

Old Chen brought jerky of some unknown meat, which smelled delicious after being boiled.

So, meals were bearable.

Accessible drinking water was another advantage.

Most campsites were near mountain springs.

The spring water here is exceptionally clean, naturally filtered and directly drinkable, free from contamination.

At around nine in the evening, when everyone was about to rest, the satellite phone rang.

It was a call from Wang Song. After concluding the interrogation of Song Zhenguo, Wang Song immediately reported the situation to Li Donglin.

"There are four of them. The leader is Song Weiguo, age fifty-one, and he has three accomplices, with three hunting rifles."

"The four have lived in the mountains for years and generally don’t come out."

"Thus, they are out of touch with outside news and unaware that we have captured Song Zhenguo."

"According to Song Zhenguo, they plan to exchange recently caught Red Eagles at a place called Sun Valley next week."

"I suggest setting an ambush at Sun Valley to capture them all in one go."

Wang Song reported meticulously, relaying everything Song Zhenguo said in full detail.

He also proposed a capture strategy based on the information provided by Song Zhenguo.

After hanging up.

Li Donglin called Lu Chuan, Chen Hu, and Li Hao over to discuss the next steps.

"I suggest we stick to the original plan: survey around this campsite tomorrow morning and move forward if nothing’s found."

Lu Chuan still wanted to find the remains of the other two individuals.

As Song Zhenguo mentioned, when they took the two female students into the mountains, they couldn’t have gone far.

It’s highly likely the remains are nearby.

The agreed time between the suspects and Li Zhenguo is next week.

They have ample time to prepare for the capture at Sun Valley.

Despite not pinpointing the exact burial location of the two female victims based on Song Zhenguo’s account,

it provided a rough area for the task force to search.

Combined with Old Chen’s judgment, the burial site is likely this valley or the next.

"Okay, everyone rest well tonight, and we’ll search this valley first thing in the morning."

"If nothing’s found, according to plan, proceed to the next location, and return directly if there’s still no discovery."

The quest to find the remains of the two female students was crucial for further clues.

There was hope it might lead to identifying the perpetrators.

But now, things had changed. With Song Zhenguo’s intel, they had confirmed the identities of the suspects.

If the capture at Sun Valley succeeds, the apprehended suspects will naturally reveal where the missing female students are.

The next morning.

Using the campsite as a base, Lu Chuan and the rest started an intensive survey.

Unfortunately, they didn’t find any clues around this campsite.

The searchers continued as planned, moving to the next valley that day.

Again, disappointingly, no valuable clues were found.

Lu Chuan and his team returned as planned, bringing back unexpectedly discovered bones.

They then started strategizing for the capture at Sun Valley.