Author: 长洱 / Chang’er

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

---

Chapter 65

Ren Xian didn’t know how anyone in the world could switch their minds so quickly. In just a few seconds after the Chen family left, the police officer who had been in control of the situation turned his head and targeted him.

Ren Xian was reluctant to admit it, but the moment those green eyes swept toward him, he involuntarily trembled a bit.

“This can’t be disclosed according to regulation,” he replied under great pressure.

Xing Conglian wasn’t prepared to accept such procedural prevarication. Unlike his polite and humble demeanor in front of the victims, he suddenly became forceful and strong.

“I think Team Leader Ren should be clear. If it weren’t for my friend, who happens to have such a little hobby, I’m afraid I would be in an interrogation room in the Yongchuan branch under 48 hours of uninterrupted interrogation, then be punished for drug smuggling, lose my police badge, and lose the job that I need to support my family.”

Xing Conglian spoke extremely slowly, with a strong sense of threat. When he finished, he paused for a while, as if to give Ren Xian plenty of time to think.

Ren Xian felt that it was actually he who was sitting in the cold and narrow concrete room and being pressured to spill his secrets. Even though he had two groups of special forces officers behind him, he didn’t feel a sense of security.

Although he served as a backdrop from start to finish, he was constantly thinking about the situation as he sat by the long desk. For example, the oddity in the drug smuggling case today. Was ICPO being used as a tool to catch someone who was framed, or was there something else going on?

But as the incident progressed, he realized that the muddy water he was wading in today was much deeper than in the past. If he could reverse time, he would prefer not to have seen the live photo that was sent to him, which was the start of all this trouble.

However, how could time possibly reverse?

Ren Xian raised his head and suddenly noticed the simple surveillance camera glued to the wall with duct tape. It looked like the eyes of a beast, recording everything that happened in the room.

Camera, signal blocker… He seemed to be catching on to something.

“Actually, it’s because of a clue.”

“What clue?” Xing Conglian’s face leaned forward slightly, giving people a strong sense of oppression.

“Regarding the drug smuggling case.”

Ren Xian brushed back his black hair from his forehead. His hair wasn’t long, but the roots were damp with sweat. He looked like he was finally unable to resist the pressure and was ready to explain things clearly.

He turned his head and looked at his team members, who had been sitting quietly in the corner behind him, and said, “You guys go and wait for me in the car.”

This signified that they were going to talk about important matters. The special forces officers looked at each other. They didn’t know why their boss would choose to break regulations and cooperate with these people.

However, an order was an order. They stood up in turn, ready to go out and wait in the car.

Just as one of them was about to reach the door of the conference room, Xing Conglian suddenly spoke.

“We’ll end soon. The conference room downstairs seems to be empty. You can rest there for a while.”

He raised his head, and a smile appeared on his originally slack face, showing a look of sincerity and politeness.

When the yawning Second Branch Division officers guarding the door heard this, their eyes suddenly lit up. They stretched out their hands and leaned slightly, as if indicating they would lead the way.

Looking at their backs, Lin Chen counted silently in his heart. These special forces officers were the fifth group to leave the conference room today.

Seeing the door close, Xing Conglian was like a ball that had suddenly deflated or like a youth at the end of a banquet. He suddenly relaxed, and no longer sat up straight and rigid. He lazily pulled out a cigarette and lit it without hesitation. After a flash from the lighter, he took a deep breath and then tilted his head.

As if he had received some signal, he stood up like he was boneless, stretched out his arms, climbed onto a chair, and took off the surveillance camera that was attached to the wall.

Xing Conglian took another cigarette from his pack and threw it in front of Ren Xian along with the lighter.

When the smoke rose, Ren Xian suddenly realized that today’s truly secret and most important topic was finally about to start.

“Does this drug case have anything to do with Fang Zhiming?”

Ren Xian felt a buzzing in his ears for a moment, as if someone had fired a shot right next to it, and his brain became like paste. He suddenly lost his ability to think, and his emotions would gain the upper hand. He quickly became agitated and nervous. His conditioned reflexes were fast as he quickly drew out his gun and confronted the person at the long table. “Why do you know about this?”

Xing Conglian was still smoking and didn’t have any intention of surrendering. “Your reaction tells me that it’s relevant.”

Ren Xian’s brain churned quickly. The file should be top secret. Even if it was a director or above, they didn’t have the authority to access it. Every unfinished big case had its own internal encryption method, so it was impossible for outsiders to crack it. What the hell is going on? Many possibilities circled his mind. He suddenly looked at the teenager drinking water in the corner, as if coming to a realization.

Wang Chao became so angry when he was stared at that he couldn’t help but yell, “What are you looking at me for? Am I that kind of person who just breaks laws and rules when I have nothing to do or hacks into other people’s systems when I’m in a bad mood?”

“Answer my question.” Ren Xian still held his gun and insisted.

“Hey, why are you so nervous… No wonder why you went gung ho when you caught a little clue and casually spilled the beans just from a slight press.” Little comrade Wang Chao didn’t mean to hold back his punches as he continued to provoke the team leader.

“A little clue?” Ren Xian’s voice was extremely cold, like crushed ice. Seeing his piercing gaze, Wang Chao couldn’t help but shrink his neck a little.

“I have been waiting for this clue for 326 days.”

“Oh, so about eleven months,” Wang Chao casually stated.

At that moment, he felt Lin Chen pat him on the back. “326 days ago was May 11^th of last year.”

On May 11 of last year, a fully loaded bus crashed into the Yongchuan River. All passengers aboard, including a narcotics officer named Fang Zhiming, died.

Wang Chao quickly realized that this was related to death and revenge. He quickly scowled and apologized sincerely, “Sorry.”

Ren Xian still maintained his action of preparing to shoot, but everyone present knew that it was impossible for him to pull the trigger. He felt that everything that happened today was ridiculous. He went out in the morning and bought a cup of coffee from the shop downstairs like usual, then went upstairs to continue analyzing files. Like many long and hopeless stories that suddenly encountered the God of Fate, he saw the alarm go off at noon.

It wasn’t an alarm of a terrorist invasion from the Interpol of the Yongchuan Branch, but a red dot in the lower right corner of his computer that was flashing. This meant that the interception network they had set up had intercepted some important intelligence.

And the ostensibly important intelligence was actually a low-resolution cellphone photo. The photo showed a suite at the most luxurious hotel in Yongchuan. Under the large, snow-white bedding, dark green leaves were scattered like piecemeal. Just when he thought it was just another silhouette of some young, rich master’s lascivious life, he suddenly saw a colorful bag. The bag was disguised as a certain global milk tea brand. The font was blurry, and the plastic quality was poor, as if it came from an underground factory.

When he saw it, Ren Xian trembled with excitement. The subsequent plot was like the cops and robbers in movies that could be seen anywhere. He mobilized his men, determined not to let such a clue slip away. The team split into two groups and launched a surprise arrest, with one targeting the residence and the other the workplace, but this movie turned out to be a vulgar comedy. After that, he sat and watched the underhanded planting and framing by a stupid pawn, which was then followed by a boring feud between the wealthy. This all made him drowsy, until just now, when the plot had jumped back to the main story and was unexpectedly advancing forward at an extremely fast speed.

In fact, if time permitted, Ren Xian would have discovered that the people sitting in front of him had just saved the life of one of his colleagues’ daughters not long ago. Although, for protection reasons, the truth of what happened in that reed forest was recently sealed, there was nothing in the world that was impervious. He had actually filled out the reports for access to the documents and submitted them to the local police in Hongjing. He just needed to wait for approval, and he would get all the details of the whole hijacking case.

But everything now was still right, and it wasn’t too late yet.

Such a wonderful arrangement didn’t always necessarily come from the hands of fate.

Xing Conglian knew this very well. “The case we’re investigating has little significance to Fang Zhiming’s case.” He finally finished smoking his cigarette. As if he had just finished a long period of reflection, he finally decided to give a glimmer of hope to the team leader, who seemed to be in quite a predicament. “The case we’re investigating involves a deceased person who was a witness and the only survivor of a jewelry robbery. Her name is Cheng Weiwei.”

“So?” The team leader was somewhat bewildered. There was a deceased witness, a jewelry robbery, and a drug case. All these elements seemed to be a bit too messy.

“You see, there’s a story that’s connected through people. The criminals used a method in the jewelry robbery that Cheng Weiwei experienced, which was the same method used to murder Fang Zhiming.”

Ren Xian’s brows finally furrowed. His finger holding the gun relaxed, and he stuffed it back into his holster. He bent down and picked up a cigarette that had been previously thrown on the ground, lit it, and began to take a puff, like a vagrant.

“Fang Zhiming is an undercover police officer under me. A year ago, his participation in the investigation finally made progress. Then, because his identity was leaked, he was forced to terminate the mission and return to the country.”

“Fang Zhiming’s undercover location wasn’t in the country?”

“Yes.”

Ren Xian took another puff from his cigarette. Both he and Xing Conglian knew that what they were exchanging wasn’t information, but trust.

Xing Conglian nodded and said, “I won’t ask about the details of that case. I only doubt one thing. From Zheng Dongdong’s planting to your reaction to carry out an arrest, the time it took was less than an hour and a half. It’s impossible for Zheng Dongdong to report directly to Interpol. He has no such means. Your reaction speed is too fast. So, what exactly made you so nervous?”

Xing Conglian’s words made Ren Xian’s face completely pale. Indeed, a dark case would remain dark, but if a bright light were to suddenly appear, then the first thing one had to do was hide and study carefully to find out what this light was.

Ren Xian took a deep breath and replied, “During the mission, he sent back some internal photos of the drug production factory, including the packaging bags, which are exactly the same as the marijuana bags found in your bedroom.”

---

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>