(Quick Transmigration) Even If You Become an Animal, You Still Have to Serve an Iron Rice Bowl - Chapter 21

Chapter 21:

“Qiuqiu! What are you doing?!” On the other end of the video feed, Qin Yan saw Shen Qiu’s movements and immediately panicked.

Shen Qiu didn’t move. He laid in the truck bed, thinking about what to do next.

Rather than dragging these men back now for questioning, it was better to follow the trail and see where they retreated to.

If these two turned out like Old K, who refused to say a word, then it would only waste more time.

So Shen Qiu decided to follow them.

He knew the camera on his collar also carried a tracker. As long as he mapped out their escape route, they might be able to directly locate the main base of the new drug operation.

Thinking this through, Shen Qiu quickly curled up in a corner, already formulating a plan.

Seeing Shen Qiu huddled in the truck bed and refusing to come out, Qin Yan realized what he intended to do, and his face darkened.

But, it was already too late to pull Qiuqiu out. The dark shadows of moving people began to emerge from the villa.

He immediately gave orders to the first and second teams.

“Do not let yourselves be discovered! Fall back quickly!”

Inside, the two men had already emerged with their goods. A tall, burly man, easily over 1.8 meters, carried something in his hands toward the back. Everyone in the police car held their breath.

The truck bed was open. If he put the items down, he would inevitably see Shen Qiu…

Shen Qiu knew that discovery was inevitable, so he had already prepared for it.

At the sound of approaching footsteps, he immediately went limp, pretending to be weak and powerless.

The burly man tossed his haul into the truck, before discovering Shen Qiu who was lying in the corner.

The big heap of silvery-gray fur was impossible to miss.

His eyes narrowed, and he cautiously drew closer. After realizing it was just a cat, he gave the truck a heavy slap.

“Get lost, you little beast!”  

Shen Qiu opened his eyes, pretending to be startled, and leapt up from the truck bed, only to stumble and fall awkwardly.

“What are you doing, Old Five?”

Another smaller and thinner man came over with a waxy yellow face. He was clearly a drug addict at first glance.

He spotted the big cat in the truck, and his eyes instantly lit up.

“A Maine Coon! I heard the boss of that club up front just spent over a hundred thousand yuan to import one from abroad.”

The burly man looked surprised. “Over a hundred thousand yuan? For a single cat?”

“Didn’t you see how this thing’s nearly as big as a small dog? They say it’s some foreign purebred breed.”

At that, greed crept onto his face.

“Looks like it’s hurt. Why don’t we take it and sell it?”

The burly man hesitated. Shen Qiu hissed at him, feigning fear.

“It’s got a collar so it must have an owner. Selling it off might bring us trouble.”

The other man was already dreaming of how many drugs they could buy with the money from selling the cat. He brushed off Old Five’s caution, grabbed a blanket from the back seat, and threw it over Shen Qiu.

Shen Qiu struggled theatrically, letting out sharp, piercing meows.

Seeing him take the initiative, Old Five didn’t delay, helping him toss the cat into the back seat. They tied a rope to his collar.

“Behave, you little beast! Or I’ll skin you alive and eat you!”

Shen Qiu cowered in the corner, trembling as if terrified, but in truth, his nose twitched constantly as he sniffed the air.

The cabin reeked of blood. His eyes darted around, quickly spotting a burlap sack beneath the back seat.

It was stained red with blood. The shape bulging inside… looked like a human body.

His pupils shrank. He shifted positions to aim the camera at it.

“Captain! Look at this! Doesn’t that bag look like it’s holding a person?!”

At the same time, the headquarters called in. They had identified the registered owner of the vehicle.

Surname Zhang, a cargo runner. The man looked nothing like the two in the video.

“His family reported him missing two days ago.”

Which meant the truck was very likely stolen and the owner…

Yang Yue looked at the bloody sack on the feed and drew in a sharp breath.

The truck started, engine roaring as it drove out of the residential complex.

The police team snapped back to attention. Qin Yan quickly collected himself and issued orders.

“Get in touch with traffic control. Continue to track this vehicle. At the same time, alert surrounding precincts and request support!”

The officers acted with precision.

Meanwhile, Shen Qiu squatted quietly in the corner. After identifying what was inside the cabin, he began listening to the two men’s conversation.

The burly one was called Old Five. The thin addict was nicknamed Skinny Monkey.

They kept cursing Old K as they talked.

“That useless bastard Old K, half a month is gone and not a single case study was done. When we get back, the boss will definitely punish us.”

Skinny Monkey lit a cigarette, restless, and reached for a gun in the back. Old Five stopped him.

“Not on the road. Too risky.”

Skinny Monkey swore, shoving the weapon back.

Shen Qiu listened for a while, but no crucial information surfaced. He turned his head away, deciding to conserve his strength.

There was a tough fight ahead. 

The truck left the highway outside Haishi, driving for half a day before turning onto a muddy road.

The police trailed behind while deliberately delay for about fifteen minutes.

“Captain, we’ve left Haishi’s jurisdiction. Should we apply for cross-district cooperation?”

Qin Yan glanced at the video feed. The truck rattled nonstop, yet Shen Qiu was still calmly grooming his fur.

He nodded.

“I’ll speak to the bureau chief myself. Keep your eyes on the feed. If necessary, stop Qiuqiu!”

Yang Yue grimaced and doubted whether they could actually stop Qiuqiu.

The truck drove for another two hours, passing village after village and heading deep into the mountains.

The rough mountain road shook Shen Qiu so much he felt like his brain was about to slosh out.

At last, around 10 pm, the truck stopped.

Shen Qiu looked outside. It was a shabby-looking village, yet strangely, it was still ablaze with lights at this late hour.

Several men immediately approached the truck. Only after Old Five revealed his face did they drop their guard.

“What are you doing here at this hour?!”

Old Five grinned and offered them a cigarette.

“Ran into some trouble. Came back early to report to the boss.”

The man didn’t take the cigarette. He eyed Old Five and Skinny Monkey with suspicion and came over to inspect.

Spotting Shen Qiu in the back seat, he grew instantly wary.

“What’s this?! Don’t you know live animals are not allowed here?!”

He reached for Shen Qiu.

Skinny Monkey refused to let go. This cat could fetch serious money.

He quickly laughed, tugging the rope in his hand.

“Brother, brother, let’s talk this out. You know we’ve been working under the boss for a long time. We know the rules. But this cat’s a luxury item. I was planning to sell it. Could you cut us some slack?”

Old Five chimed in, the two of them coaxing the other until they were able to barely slip through.

The guard looked at them with a sneer and ordered them to wait outside before driving inside alone.

Shen Qiu took the chance to survey the surroundings, making sure Qin Yan and the others saw everything through the video feed.

It was called a village, but in truth, every home had been turned into a factory. It was highly likely that every household was involved in “the stuff.”

He lowered his head, thinking about when he could slip away and scout around, ideally capturing their production process as evidence.

The two men and the cat waited for half an hour in the dark before the guard returned.

His expression was still arrogant. He motioned at them to get in.

“The boss wants to see you. Bring the cat too.”

At those words, both Old Five and Skinny Monkey trembled in fear.

Shen Qiu, who was being held in Skinny Monkey’s arms, could feel him shaking.

This “boss” was clearly the mastermind behind everything.

Excited, Shen Qiu itched to see what kind of person he would be.

The two men and the cat boarded a van that drove deeper inside.

Shen Qiu made sure to angle the camera to capture the outside as much as possible.

After seven or eight minutes of jolting, the van stopped at the foot of the mountain.

There stood a blue-and-white factory building, its entrance guarded by men armed with clubs and machetes.

They inspected Old Five and Skinny Monkey thoroughly before letting them through.

As for the oversized cat, no one gave him a second thought.

That gave Shen Qiu a tremendous advantage.

Once inside, he looked around carefully, then fixed his gaze on the factory ahead.

The place was blazing with light, bright as day.

Even entry required an escort.

Such a high level of security… Shen Qiu flexed his neck and began calculating how best to escape should anything go wrong.

~~~

T/N: We’re almost getting to the climax! 

Also, as a heads-up, I’ll probably chunk up Chapter 23 since it’s about 10k words. There’s no way I’d be able to quickly finish the entire chapter. 

2.5k characters to 1.5k words | Translation Time: 2 hours