"What else can we do?!"
"...Surrender..."
A part of him wanted to fight, to make a run for it, but reason told him otherwise.
At least a dozen guns were pointed at them from outside. If they made the slightest move, they’d be turned into Swiss cheese on the spot!
And that damned bird was still watching from the sky.
Escape?
Where could they possibly run?
Hearing the word "surrender," the bald man, contrary to expectations, let out a sigh of relief. His nerves, stretched to their absolute limit, suddenly went slack, and he nearly collapsed in his seat.
"Okay... Okay, we surrender, we surrender..."
The two looked at each other, seeing the fear and resignation in each other’s eyes.
The scar-faced man took a deep breath and slowly raised his hands. The bald man followed suit.
CLICK.
The car door unlocked.
One after the other, with their hands held high, they cautiously pushed open the car doors and ducked as they got out.
"Don’t move!"
"Hands up! Turn around!"
Several police officers immediately moved in, their guns trained on the men as they barked orders.
The bald man and the scar-faced man obediently turned to face the vehicle, their raised hands trembling slightly.
A few officers quickly closed in, skillfully twisting their arms behind their backs. With two sharp CLICKS, cold handcuffs were snapped securely around their wrists.
The pat-down, takedown, and control were all executed in one smooth motion.
At almost the exact moment the two were handcuffed, Yang Qi’s Jeep Wrangler screeched to a halt just outside the perimeter.
"You guys stay in the car. Don’t come out."
Yang Qi instructed Xiaojiu, Bai Wan, Hu Zi, and Leopard in the back seat before pushing the door open and getting out.
He had left Ta Xue in the passenger seat. She had stabilized somewhat but was still curled up, her eyes filled with terror.
Flashing his city bureau investigation advisor ID, Yang Qi strode quickly past the outer police cordon and toward the core area.
Deng Lei was inside the encirclement, directing his officers. Seeing Yang Qi arrive, he walked over to meet him.
"Advisor Yang, perfect timing. We got them."
"Captain Deng, thanks for your hard work!"
Yang Qi thanked him sincerely, his gaze quickly sweeping over the two poachers who stood to the side, ashen-faced, before turning to the van.
"How’s Caiyun?"
"In the back. We haven’t checked her condition yet."
Deng Lei’s expression was grave. "We just secured the driver and the passenger. We were about to search the vehicle."
The words had barely left his mouth when—
"There’s movement in the back!"
A young officer near the rear of the van suddenly shouted in a low voice, instinctively taking half a step back and pointing his gun at the cargo doors.
All the officers were instantly on alert. The encirclement tightened again, every muzzle now aimed at the van’s rear.
"Whoever’s inside, come out immediately! Hands on your head!"
Deng Lei picked up his megaphone and bellowed.
The back of the van was silent for two seconds, then a man’s trembling, panicked voice called out.
"Don’t... don’t shoot! I surrender, I surrender!"
"Hands on your head! Come out slowly!" Deng Lei continued to shout.
The rear door of the van was pushed open a crack from the inside.
A pair of filthy, dirt-caked hands appeared first, fingers splayed and trembling slightly.
Then, a scrawny, hunched-over man with a scruffy beard and hair like a bird’s nest shuffled out, head bowed, moving with extreme slowness.
His face was deathly pale. His terrified eyes darted across the dark muzzles of the surrounding guns, and a meaningless croak escaped his throat.
Two officers quickly moved in, grabbing him from both sides, cuffing his hands behind his back, and leading him away to join his accomplices.
With that, all three poaching suspects were in custody.
"Search the van!"
Deng Lei waved his hand.
Several officers in white gloves quickly advanced. They first shone their flashlights into the cargo area to confirm there were no other people or obvious dangers before entering one by one.
Yang Qi and Deng Lei also walked to the back of the van to look inside.
By the combined light of day and their flashlights, they could see three iron cages of varying sizes bolted to the floor of the van. All were crudely covered with dark tarps or burlap sacks, obscuring their contents.
’It’s not just Caiyun...’ Yang Qi’s heart sank.
An officer inside the van carefully lifted the cover from the first and largest cage.
Grayish-brown fur with dark spots immediately came into view.
It was the unconscious clouded leopard, Caiyun!
She was lying on her side in the cage, her breathing faint but steady. The tranquilizer dart in her shoulder blade was still a jarring sight.
"Clouded leopard confirmed!" the officer reported.
Next, he uncovered the second, slightly smaller cage.
Inside was a curled-up water bird with ruffled feathers and a slender body.
It also seemed to have been tranquilized, its eyes half-closed. It had a long, thin beak and a conspicuous crest of feathers on its head.
The most peculiar thing was its plumage. It wasn’t the usual brownish-gray of a common mallard, but was predominantly black and white, with fine, scale-like patterns on its back and distinct black, scaly markings on its flanks.
Yang Qi stared at the water bird, recalling relevant knowledge from his mind. His pupils suddenly contracted, and he blurted out.
"A Chinese Merganser?!"
He hadn’t spoken quietly. Hearing him, a few of the surrounding officers who knew a thing or two about wildlife also cried out in alarm.
"What? A Chinese Merganser?"
"The ’Giant Panda of the water’?!"
"These guys poached one of these too?"
...
Although Deng Lei wasn’t an expert on specific species, he knew enough to recognize the name of a precious protected animal like the "Giant Panda of the water." His expression instantly grew even uglier.
Yang Qi suppressed his astonishment and looked toward the third and smallest cage, which an officer was now uncovering.
The cover was lifted, revealing an animal about half a meter long, curled into a ball and trembling slightly. It was covered from head to tail in overlapping, tile-like scales of a deep brown keratin. It had a long, pointed snout and a flat tail.
It seemed to have been startled by the commotion and was in a semiconscious state, its movements sluggish.
"A Chinese Pangolin..."
Yang Qi was stunned once again.
A collective gasp went through the crowd.
Deng Lei laughed, but there was no humor in it. It was a laugh of pure anger.
Looking at the three cages, then at the three poachers handcuffed to the side, he gritted his teeth and said,
"A clouded leopard, a Chinese Merganser, and a Chinese Pangolin..."
"Three Class I nationally protected animals!"
"These bastards... they’ve really outdone themselves!"