Author: 长洱 / Chang’er

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

---

Chapter 70

It was raining heavily outside the window. Although he couldn’t hear what Xing Conglian was saying, the vibration on his phone grabbed all of Lin Chen’s attention.

He lowered his head. In just a few seconds, countless messages poured into the WeChat group, and new messages kept appearing one after another.

[The students are leaving, and we can’t stop them.]

[When will the electricity come back on?]

[They’re starting to tear up the exam papers.]

[I’m scared too… Why did the power go out all of sudden?]

[Excuse me, what’s going on? When will the electricity come back on?]

[Shit, shit, shit. Too scary.]

[Can we really not let them go?]

[Our door is blocked. What do you want us to do next?]

—-

The screen showed a faint green light. Xing Conglian came over, took a look, and said, “They’re tearing up the exam papers… Are these kids crazy?”

“But this kind of thing makes people’s blood boil, no?” Lin Chen hugged his arms and looked coldly at the dark night in front of him.

“Blood boil?”

Lin Chen put his fingers on his lips and motioned for Xing Conglian to be silent. “Listen.”

Outside the window were muffled screams, sometimes high, sometimes low, and sometimes completely silent, as if there were no sound at all.

“You mean the screaming?”

As soon as Xing Conglian’s voice fell, there was a loud bang that sounded in the rainy night.

The sound was booming, as if something heavy had fallen from the sky, and the tail end had a metal-specific vibrato.

Lin Chen shook his head and looked into the depths of the night, but there was nothing in the distance except for the rain curtain and the unextinguished streetlights that looked like duckweed under the heavy rain.

The torrential rain was accompanied by roars that seemed to envelope the campus.

The sound that was similar to a heavy object falling reminded the students of the suicide incident today. Those cries became more manic, like those of ghosts buried underground who were trying to overturn the soil so they could rush into the world.

Lin Chen’s phone began to vibrate non-stop, with continuous messages pouring in like it was cursed.

[The door can’t stop them!]

[Did someone jump off the building again???]

[Someone is calling for help!!!]

[What should I do?]

[What should I do???]

[Is it okay to let them go? Besides, there’s a power outage!]

[I really can’t stand it anymore!]

—-

The text on the screen flowed frantically as Lin Chen spoke as if he were talking to himself. “Yes, the collective unconscious.”

After he finished, he glanced at Xing Conglian and rushed out without even having time to explain.

[Be sure to guard the door and prohibit any students from leaving.]

[Tell the students that it’s raining right now, so they need to wait to see if power will be restored.]

It was just a three-story building but was so long. Lin Chen typed as he ran.

The moment he stepped out of the eaves, the torrential rain instantly soaked him. Suddenly, a powerful force pulled from behind. Lin Chen staggered and was yanked back violently, stopping in his tracks.

“Is it useful for you to rush out right now? Calm down.” Xing Conglian held his hand tightly as he stressed his words.

“I’m calm!” Lin Chen panted heavily. The rain felt as if it were hail at this moment. “There’s a power outage and the sound of falling objects. All the while someone is inciting students to rush out of the classroom!”

“You mean someone is trying to make the students riot? I doubt you alone can control those crazy students. Okay, tell me. If the students rush out of the classroom now, what are the worst consequences?” Xing Conglian’s voice was as calm as ever. His breathing wasn’t even the slightest bit chaotic.

“Casualties, stampede…” Lin Chen’s mind spun as countless possibilities circled through his thoughts.

Xing Conglian said suddenly, “Stairs?”

“Yes, the stairs. I’m afraid someone has tampered with them.”

“Okay, I see. You go back for now. I’ll send someone to check the stairs.”

Lin Chen was about to speak when he felt his shoulder get heavy. Xing Conglian was pressing down on them as he said in an extremely calm voice, “It’s also possible that someone set up this trick to lure you out, so it’s best if you give instructions here.”

After Xing Conglian finished speaking, he let go of his hand and ran into the depths of the rainy night in Lin Chen’s place.

Lin Chen’s vision was blurred from the rain.

“I understand,” he said this to Xing Conglian’s back.

The sound of rain continued. Lin Chen walked back and sat on the steps of the stairs. Although he was dripping wet, he couldn’t feel the slightest bit of coolness.

The sound of thunder and lightning still alternated, but perhaps it was because Xing Conglian’s figure running into the rain curtain at the end was a bit too righteous that it made him feel a strange sense of calmness in his heart.

He suddenly felt that the heavy rain seemed to be a blessing from God.

[The teacher is in better condition now.]

[Holy shit, that was too dangerous just now. Crazy.]

[Can you believe that our class tore up all their exam papers?]

[Luckily, it was raining, so they were hesitant. Otherwise, I definitely couldn’t stop it.]

Lin Chen took a deep breath. His breath was filled with the coldness of the rainy night. He wrung out his shirt and wiped his hands, then touched the phone screen and typed:

[Inform the students who want to leave that it’s raining too hard right now. If it doesn’t get better after ten minutes, have them go downstairs in an orderly manner from class 1 to class 10.]

—-

When Xiao Conglian rushed to the bottom of the teaching building, he was greeted by paper scraps all torn up like confetti all over the floor.

There were also scattered pieces of paper upstairs that were mixed with the rainwater.

However, most of the students’ cries had stopped, and what remained was a dark building that stood quiet and empty in the rainy night.

Xing Conglian thought it was probably due to Lin Chen’s arrangement that played a role in this.

School security had already heard the news, and there were a few figures in the distance running through the rain curtain. It should be the police officers he called Jiang Chao to find just now.

Because of the multiple suicides, the security guards were familiar with Xing Conglian, so he didn’t even need to flash his police badge for them to recognize him and call out to him in the pouring rain.

“Captain Xing, what’s going on?”

Xing Conglian looked up at the floor. The students were testing on the fifth floor, and some were poking their heads out looking at something. The teaching building had two staircases; one on the east and one on the west, and time was tight.

He pointed to the five security guards in front of him and said solemnly, “Have you checked this building? The five of you, check the first through fifth floor of the east stairs. Try to be as thorough as possible and strive to complete the inspection within five minutes. The rest of you will follow me…”

As he spoke, he turned to the last security guard left behind. “Give me your radio and headset.”

In the corridor, only the emergency lights were on after the power failure. Standing on the bottom floor and looking up, the entire corridor was shrouded in a vague dark green light.

The sound of hurried footsteps sounded behind him. Xing Conglian quickly turned around and made a silent gesture to the three police officers that rushed over.

“Five minutes to check the stairs. Silence your phone and keep the noise as low as possible…” After he finished speaking, his phone vibrated gently.

Lin Chen had sent a text as if he had calculated it right on time.

[If there’s no electricity in 6 minutes, the students will start to leave the venue. Be careful.]

Xing Conglian turned on the flashlight of his phone and bent down to touch the ground. The light in the upper and lower stairs were dim. Because of the rain, the ground was extremely slippery. He grabbed on to the handrail and walked upstairs.

The touch of the handrail was stable. Xing Conglian shook it hard, and there still weren’t any problems.

A drop of cold water fell on his forehead. He frowned as he noticed fine drops of water condensing on the iron rail. He quickly looked down at the floor of the corridor, which was a common imitation marble color that became even more blurry in the dim light.

He moved his flashlight down, and at the edge of the stairs, something vague had fallen there.

He took a few steps forward, crouched down, and found two small plastic beads.

One was yellow, and the other was pink.

At this moment, a depressed and nervous voice came from the radio.

“There are nails on the ground. Everyone should be careful.”

Although there was no wind, in an instant, Xing Conglian seemed to feel as if the air around him was so cold it could freeze.

Nails, plastic beads… If this was coupled with students running wildly down the stairs…

He seemed to imagine blood covering the floors and the cries of painful screams as students wandered the corridor.

After stabilizing his breath, he whispered on the radio, “Pay attention to safety. Quickly clean up the stairs and leave in five minutes as originally planned.”

After speaking, he leaned down, picked up the two plastic beads on the ground, and sealed them into an evidence bag.

The crackling sound of heavy rain echoed in the empty corridor. Listening to the sound of rain, Xing Conglian felt lucky that they managed to avoid a catastrophe.

—-

For the students in the teaching building, tonight was just a small attempt to rebel against the school’s occasional stupid decisions.

Besides, it was dark, and everyone was making trouble together. The simplest truth was that the law would not blame the masses.

Moreover, it was tearing a few papers, which wasn’t a big deal. Who made the school mentally ill and summoned them out to take a psychological test on a rainy day?

On top of this, the school was truly inept. From the time they started to leave the teaching building one by one, the power never came back on.

Xing Conglian stood in the dark without an umbrella as he watched the last student leave the teaching building safely, then took out a cigarette and lighter.

“Captain Xing, don’t you need to stop the students so we can investigate?” The police officer in front of him asked in a low voice.

“Can you stop 500 students?”

Perhaps he was really unlucky. Despite flicking the lighter a few times, he was unable to ignite the sporadic flame from it.

The police officers under Jiang Chao glanced at the backs of the students leaving; their eyes were looking at them as if they were terrorists. Xing Conglian frowned and patted one on the shoulder before reaching out his hand.

“Captain Xing… I… I don’t smoke…”

After being tossed all night, he had completely lost his temper. Like his luck today, if a lighter appeared in front of him, he would be willing to thank God.

He took out the sealed evidence bag from his pocket and handed it over. Then he said, “Together with the things you found on the ground, take them for inspection and focus on fingerprints.”

After he finished speaking, he turned and left.

The rain was still falling. Despite being a spring rain, there was a sense of bleakness in the air. Xing Conglian was walking under a tree when suddenly his phone began to vibrate.

On the other end of the line was Jiang Chao’s tense voice.

“Lao Xing, the power failure was man-made. I just discovered a timed power failure device. It seems that the power can’t be restored for a while. Are you okay?”

Perhaps it was because Jiang Chao’s voice was too loud, but Xing Conglian felt that the sound of rain around him became a bit quieter.

“Ah, okay for the time being.”

Xing Conglian glanced at the shimmer of the building in the distance. There seemed to be a thin figure sitting alone at the top of the steps.

He put down his phone and walked to where he just came from.

---

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

Author: 长洱 / Chang’er

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

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Chapter 69

Towards the evening, the sky was overcast, which wasn’t a good omen.

After dealing with his men, Ren Xian returned to the conference room upstairs as promised.

In fact, as a veteran of the severe crime squad, he knew that there was a set of internal procedures for dealing with a mole. Whether it was to kill them or use them as bait, there were different considerations, and it was hard for outsiders to ask.

However, Lin Chen thought that Ren Xian would probably choose to keep everything that happened today in his heart because now he had a hard time trusting anyone else. At least in the case of Fang Zhiming, he had lost the ability to trust.

It was like having to label seeds that were unsuitable for planting and seal them in a corner of the storage room, then wait for the spring breeze to bring suitable soil.

This kind of thing, by and large, wasn’t something that couldn’t be told, but if it had never reached such an appropriate time, it had to be kept secret. Lin Chen knew this feeling all too well.

Just like now, his conversation with Xing Conglian ended naturally after they finished talking about getting a drink.

Xing Conglian, on the other hand, didn’t confirm it and didn’t even respond.

After developing a deeper friendship with Xing Conglian, Lin Chen discovered that this person was extremely cautious, which was inconsistent with his appearance. This caution came down to small details, which showed it was difficult to detect any obvious attitudes or tendencies he had before he really started to deal with things, and it only made it difficult for others to guess what he was really thinking.

The reason for this kind of caution was, of course, a secret.

Lin Chen finished writing the last subject post and handed it over to the other party for review.

After Xing Conglian finished reading it, he was surprised and said, “Consultant Lin, with just these few subject posts, I have the urge to handcuff you.”

His tone and expression were very natural, as if they hadn’t had that private conversation earlier.

Lin Chen almost sighed inaudibly.

Although he said this, Xing Conglian quickly translated the dirty and morbid posts Lin Chen had written and entered them on the laptop. Ren Xian only had to complete the work by copying and pasting them.

Before that, the captain of the criminal division had completed the planning and arrangements for the psychological test for thousands of people, including a series of tasks such as specific classroom arrangements and sequence. He seemed to be naturally good at arranging and organizing, and he was terribly efficient when he got down to business.

So much so that when Fu Hao came after class, he almost had nothing to criticize about such arrangements, and this was someone who specialized in psychometrics and had presided over many large-scale joint tests, so one would expect him to have many words regarding the test plan.

“Computer testing and pen-and-paper testing are conducted at the same time… Although it’s not advisable to control the measurement error, it’s not a big problem if you’re in a hurry. I’ll wait for our computer room to prepare, but why is there a detailed rule here that allows students who take the computer test to gather in the cafeteria first without notifying the test location in advance and then have me lead them to the computer room?”

“Just in case.”

—-

Just in case had almost become Xing Conglian’s new motto recently.

Rather, perhaps it was a catchphrase.

When night fell, it began to rain.

There was no regularity to the spring rain. From time to time, the entire campus was shrouded in thin rain and mist and exuded a quiet light.

But for students in the psychology department, school of medicine, and chemistry department of Yongchuan University, their night was destined to be quite the opposite of quiet.

After all, they were college students who were used to being undisciplined. No one wanted to go to the teaching buildings to answer 500 personality test questions when they should be heading back to their dorms to chase dramas or play games. They all had to fill out the answer carefully as well, which only added to the torment.

The rainy night was cold and humid, and the air was filled with the sizzling sound of electronic equipment.

For the purpose of concealment, Lin Chen could only sit in the surveillance room and observe every move in the 10 classrooms.

Like a picture that had been copied and pasted, the scene in each classroom was almost exactly the same.

At the front and rear of the classroom, there were grad students Fu Hao hired to preside over the test. After explaining and distributing the test papers, they began to play on their cellphones out of boredom.

At this moment, most of the students were bending over and holding pens as they flipped through the test booklets page by page. Some of them were yawning, and others were answering the questions at extraordinary speed. The problem was, from the angles with their heads down and their backs curving, one couldn’t tell who among them was different from the others.

“Hey, your school is really great. Even the classrooms are equipped with cameras.”

The door of the surveillance room was pushed open. Lin Chen turned his head and saw Xing Conglian walking in slowly with two cups of coffee.

“Do you see anything?” Xing Conglian asked.

Lin Chen shook his head. “The angle isn’t good. The cameras are mainly used to monitor the teacher’s class, so they’re all installed on the back wall. Just looking at their movements, it’s difficult to see anything suspicious.”

Lin Chen felt a little depressed looking at the neat backs of the students.

“Also, there are too many students,” Xing Conglian tried to comfort him. His voice was low, as if he were saying something casually.

But when these words reached Lin Chen’s ears, it was as if there had been a thunderclap in the middle of the night. He raised his head slightly and frowned, only to notice that the air around him was becoming irritating.

“What’s wrong?” Xing Conglian asked.

“You just reminded me just now the most dangerous part of the whole incident.”

“What?”

“We can’t see it.” He folded his hands on the table and stared at more than 500 students on the screen and said, “Even if some students can be screened out, there will still be those that we can’t see because they have perfectly transformed into another person.”

It was like using a single fishing net and never catching any fish in the pond. What they were doing now was fishing out species that just matched the size of the fishing net, but the remaining fish would still be swimming freely.

“It’s not easy to find some people, but at least this is a breakthrough,” Xing Conglian said.

“Have you ever thought that even if there’s a breakthrough, it may be difficult for us to touch the essence of the problem? That is, what can cause them to do such a thing?”

“But you said it’s not drugs or hypnosis. How can people lose themselves for no reason? This isn’t some kind of curse, right?”

Hearing this, Lin Chen raised his head and was speechless for a while.

The window of the surveillance room was half open. From there, they could see the vague lights in the teaching building in the distance.

Unconsciously, the sound of rain gradually became dense, and their conversation seemed to be obscured by it.

“What’s wrong now?” Xing Conglian asked.

“You’ve given me a very bad idea. I hope I won’t be caught by your unbelief.”

“Consultant Lin, there’s no need to turn to feudal superstition…” Xing Conglian shuddered and asked in a low voice, “This isn’t really sorcery, right?”

“Does psychological sorcery count?”

Lin Chen had no intention of scaring Xing Conglian, but from the man’s expression, he saw a trace of consternation that quickly blinked away. It was as if something illuminated his entire face, and when Lin Chen noticed it, it was due to a flash of lightning from outside.

“It’s not good to say it now. Let’s wait for the results to come out,” Lin Chen said before the thunder sounded.

“I hope things will be smooth sailing,” Xing Conglian said.

In short, Lin Chen felt that Xing Conglian’s recent rebellious spirit seemed too accurate.

Because after Xing Conglian finished his “praying for success”, the sound of thunder fell from the sky and was so loud that the glass window of the entire building seemed to tremble. He even heard some screams coming from the teaching building in the distance.

Then the sound of rain became violent and fell indiscriminately.

Spring rain and spring thunder were both unreasonable occurrences that came with incomparably powerful vitality. It overwhelmed the sky, and even the air began to stir.

Lin Chen stood up, looked out the window, and after another strike of lightning, the lights suddenly went out.

This was more unreasonable than a spring thunderstorm in a drama. There was no warning, as a large area of the campus in the distance was plunged into darkness. It was as if someone wiped out the chalk on the chalkboard. Including the teaching building where the psychological test was being conducted, dozens of other buildings all had their lights shut off, while other parts of the school were still brightly lit at this moment.

Through the shimmering lights, Lin Chen said to Xing Conglian, “After this matter is over, you really have to go bye-bye.”

As he said this, he took out his phone.

Due to the careful and thoughtful work from Xing Conglian, before organizing the personality test, those grad students, who were responsible for the specific implementation of the test were uniformly dragged into a WeChat group.

[Calm the students and guard the front and back doors.]

[No one is allowed to leave the classroom.]

Lin Chen sent these two lines to the group.

The students, who were still sitting in the dark classroom, were all stunned. There was a second or two of silence before cries sounded.

Then thunder exploded again, causing the timid girls to start screaming. The shrilling sound began to tear through the entire dark building like a torrential rain.

However, not all students were shouting. Most of them fell into silence as they listened to the shouts around them. First they looked left and right, and gradually, under the sharp screams, they started to anxiously whisper to each other.

“I’m so scared.”

“Not those who committed suicide…”

“Is this place haunted? Why did the power suddenly go out?”

The students exchanged their unfounded theories, and in the heavy rain and darkness, these theories existed truthfully, as if they were three-dimensional.

They even felt that the wind that passed through the hall became cooler, as if some sharp fingers had pierced the darkness and were about to strangle them.

It seemed like countless ants were crawling all over them. The students started to protest one after another.

“It’s so scary. Teacher, how can we do this with no power!”

“Can we go?!”

“Teacher, let us go!”

Anxious and irritable voices slowly fermented and rose.

Lin Chen stood in the surveillance room, overlooking the dark night in the distance.

At this moment, Xing Conglian also put down the phone in his hand. “It seems that just those few buildings suddenly lost power. School security is rushing to the power room now. This is quite strange.”

Another thunder smashed through the sky, rumbling in the distance making it hard for Lin Chen to hear what Xing Conglian had just said.

---

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

Author: 长洱 / Chang’er

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

---

Chapter 68

“How are you going to do that? Are you going to screen everyone?” Jiang Chao sighed. “To be honest, I don’t think there’s enough time to visit and investigate everything.”

“Yes, so I need to find some people to come out and talk.”

“What?”

“If we are sure that there will be a live broadcast, which means in this school or this city, there are still people who want to commit crimes. We can use a method to find out who these people are and talk to them.”

“The question is, do you have any quick ways to find someone psychologically?”

“To be precise, we’re using math.”

Lin Chen took out three pieces of paper from his pocket. Those were the three things he had been carrying around with him today, and now it seemed he was glad he hadn’t thrown them away.

“Lend me Wang Chao,” he said to Xing Conglian.

“Why are you being so polite? As long as you don’t kill him, you can use him however you want,” Xing Conglian replied with a smile.

The teenager sitting on the side raised his head from the front of the screen while chewing on a pen in his mouth, obviously still trying to figure out how to catch these perverts. “Captain, you know I can easily mutiny, right?”

Lin Chen spread three pieces of paper flat on the table and said, “In fact, through the results of the MMPI, we found that Wang Shishi, Xu Haozhen, and Jiang Liu all have similar personality traits, so we can use this to screen for possible candidates who have similar characteristics.”

“Find people who might be interested in participating in the next live death broadcast.” Wang Chao leaned back on the table. “There are 30,000 teachers and students at Yongchuan University, and you want to find three people who will participate in the next live broadcast? A’Chen, this is truly a needle in a haystack.”

“You mean, first filter out people with introverted personalities greater than or equal to 70 points?”

Lin Chen nodded. After what happened just now, he didn’t feel surprised that Xing Conglian actually remembered the key words and scoring criteria.

He glanced at Wang Chao, causing the boy to spit out the pen in his mouth, and wiped the area that was bitten with his t-shirt.

After taking the pen, Lin Chen drew a circle on the paper and explained, “Suppose this is a group of people with introverted personalities in society…” Then, he drew a small circle intersecting it on the edge of the big circle. “These are the possible perpetrators,” he said as he blacked out the intersection of the two circles. “This is the potential group of people we may find.”

“I got it! You’re asking me to hit the library first and get out the information about this test, then screen the students who scored more than 70 on it. How many people are there?”

“What library?” Xing Conglian knocked on Wang Chao’s head. “We can transfer the data through due process.”

“70 points is probably two standard deviations from the average, so it’s conservatively estimated that there will be 4% abnormal people,” Lin Chen replied.

“Then, if you only screen Yongchuan University, there will be only about 1,200!” Wang Chao exclaimed.

“Is there any way to narrow that down?” Xing Conglian asked.

“Yes,” Lin Chen answered. “Have them take another personality test.”

Several suicides in this case all showed characteristics of major changes in their personalities, which meant that if the student showed major changes in their scores on the second personality test, it would look suspicious.

“I get it,” Xing Conglian said.

“However, there’s still a small problem.” Lin Chen looked at Xing Conglian. “Assuming we conduct the personality test on the students with great fanfare, won’t we spook the snake?”

“This isn’t a big issue. Now that there’s such a serious suicide incident at the school, isn’t it normal to check on the students’ mental health?” Hearing Lin Chen’s concerns, Xing Conglian continued with a smile, “And, when you really identify the suspicious students, doesn’t this provide enough justification as an excuse to interview them?”

Xing Conglian’s words made Lin Chen a little speechless. “You’re really…”

“What?”

Lin Chen shook his head helplessly.

“An old, crafty scoundrel. He’s insidious, treacherous, and shameless!” Little comrade Wang Chao answered righteously.

Xing Conglian didn’t seem to care about these labels. He frowned slightly and asked, “How long will it take you to complete the initial screening?”

“Very fast.”

“How much time does it take to implement a secondary application?” He asked Lin Chen.

“The test time will only take about an hour, but from organizing manpower, arranging the test location, to notifying the students, the process will be relatively long, and the student base is huge…”

Hearing this, Xing Conglian glanced at the time. “It’s 16:37 right now.”

“Yes, it’s almost time for the university to close for the day. Even if the counselor is notified now and the test is arranged, it will probably be around 19:00 before the first batch of students are tested.”

“Do you have an estimate? Which department and grade are the students we are looking for most likely to appear in?”

“Well, there’s no significant difference in the scores of the students in each department, but the proportion of psychologically unhealthy students that are majoring in psychology is relatively high…”

Xing Conglian couldn’t help but laugh. “Isn’t this self-criticism?”

Lin Chen hooked the corner of his mouth and continued, “According to the data of our school, there are also students from the school of medicine and the chemistry department…”

“About how many students total?”

“Reporting Captain, a total of 3,158,” little comrade Wang Chao quickly replied.

“It means that no matter what, the test can’t be completed today, right?”

“Even if 20 classrooms are opened, only 800 students can take the test at the same time, which will take 5 hours to complete.”

“So it’ll be tomorrow morning at the earliest.”

But even if it did take until tomorrow morning, 20 hours had already passed.

Xing Conglian nodded and continued, “Can you narrow it down even more?”

“From the grade level, freshmen have just taken the entrance test, so there’s no need to take another one. Many senior students have started internships and are no longer on campus. They are directly excluded. Therefore, it’s best if we target the sophomores or juniors.”

As soon as the two of them spoke, they heard Wang Chao press a button.

“Yooooo, there are only 1,342 people total!”

It was indeed extremely pleasant to work with efficient partners. “I need to trouble you to pick out the sophomore and junior students from the psychology department, school of medicine, and chemistry department, and compile them into a list for me,” Lin Chen said.

“That’s but a trifle.” When the teenager heard this, he knocked on the keyboard a few times. He looked at the generated data for a while, then said to Lin Chen, “A’Chen, I have to say, your psychology department is really special, huh.”

“Yes, I’ve been wondering about that too.” Lin Chen shrugged his shoulders and said, “Send me the list of these people, their resumes, and their test results.”

“Sent.”

Lin Chen probably understood why Xing Conglian had taken Wang Chao with him. His work was simply too outstanding.

After the boy finished speaking, he took out a tablet from his backpack and handed it to Lin Chen. “You can use this to look at it.”

“If we have this list in hand, can’t we cross-compare the circles of friends of the six deceased in this case to see if there is any overlap?” Jiang Chao asked suddenly.

“Yes, we can.” Wang Chao pulled out a piece of candy and tossed it into his mouth. “You can find someone to do it. I still have a lot of things to do.”

Even though Wang Chao looked relaxed and carefree, it had been an extremely stressful investigation so far for him.

Large-scale population screening with a tight time limit was naturally contradictory.

He continued to connect to the dark web and pressed the refresh button every few seconds, irritably, as if he were waiting for a response from someone on the other end at any second.

“If Captain Jiang has a directory, can you help him with the comparison analysis?” Lin Chen patted the teenager’s hand and spoke in a gentle voice.

“The comparison will take a while, and there hasn’t been any response over there yet, so I have to keep an eye on the post.”

It was rare that the teenager would refuse Lin Chen. He was probably eager to play a role as if he were trying to defeat something because his own abilities were almost useless in the dark web.

As if seeing through the teenager’s mind, Lin Chen shook his head and said, “You should do more important things.”

“Did you hear that? Let Ren Xian come and look at the post later. At any rate, since you were the one who taught him, his level shouldn’t be bad.” It was rare for Xing Conglian to sound so tough. “However, if we haven’t received any response within half an hour, we need to take some more extreme measures.”

“What do you want to do?” Lin Chen asked.

“Our current fishing nets are too small…” Xing Conglian looked at Lin Chen. “Mainly because you inspired me to find a needle in a haystack, assuming that the mastermind behind the scenes is using the live broadcast to make money, they can’t be too exclusive to newcomers. There are many underground forums on the dark web. We can write some topic posts and…”

“Are you trying to say that I should imitate the tone of a psychopath, write a topic post, distribute it on major websites, and widen the fishing net?” Lin Chen keenly noticed the trap.

“You’re more professional.” Xing Conglian looked a bit embarrassed, so he took the initiative to say, “I can be responsible for the translation.”

Although he was speechless, he had to admit that Xing Conglian’s opinion was still reliable. He was just about to reply when he heard the other party say, “Does Consultant Lin know where the bathroom in the office building is? Please take me there?”

Even if he was probably looking to talk to Lin Chen alone, he had to consider the mood of everyone present in the room.

Lin Chen went out with Xing Conglian. Sure enough, the captain of the criminal division didn’t have any intention to solve his physiological issue at all. He walked towards the window, opened it halfway, and then lit a cigarette.

“What’s wrong with him?”

Lin Chen was a little surprise. He didn’t expect Xing Conglian to specifically call him out to ask about Wang Chao’s psychological problem.

“He must be nervous.”

“Are you nervous?”

The question changed so quickly that Lin Chen couldn’t react.

“Not yet.”

The pale smoke rose as Lin Chen stared at it uncomfortably.

“No matter what, I hope you don’t feel too much pressure. If you have any questions, you can tell me.” Finally, Xing Conglian spoke.

At that moment, Lin Chen suddenly understood Xing Conglian’s intention, and he shook his head almost helplessly. Xing Conglian really understood.

From start to finish, Xing Conglian didn’t ignore the most critical issue. He was aware that Zheng Dongdong and Butler Chen had grievances against him and was able to use these two people to set up a massive trap. Such a mastermind seemed to be too familiar with everything about him.

“If you’re eager to know, you can buy me a drink after this case is over.” Lin Chen raised his head and looked into Xing Conglian’s eyes as he said this.

---

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

Author: 长洱 / Chang’er

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

---

Chapter 67

“Lao Xing, did you set it up early in the morning?” Jiang Chao asked in an uncertain tone, as if he couldn’t imagine how someone could plot such a deep trap.

Xing Conglian seemed to have guessed that the problem was inside the crime squad long ago. What he did was just rule out the possibility that it was Zheng Dongdong or the Chen family tipping off the culprit and give the ICPO officer time to deliver the news. After all, if there really was such a shadowy creature like a mole, they most likely couldn’t wait to tell their master that the game was almost over.

However, since the start of the game, it was completely unreasonable for anyone to plan to counter their opponent at the very last second.

Ren Xian was still stunned. Wang Chao pulled out a USB flash drive from his notebook and threw it at Xing Conglian. “This is the surveillance video just now. It monitored the emotional reactions of your subordinates throughout the entire process. Find some micro-expression analyst or something and have them take a look.” The teenager grinned while blinking slowly, showing off his white tiger tooth. “You’re welcome. This is what I should do.”

Looking at the small USB flash drive, not only Team Leader Ren but also Vice Captain Jiang, who was watching, felt goosebumps all over. He looked at Captain Xing, who was sitting at the table, and thought about whether he wanted to smoke another cigarette. “Why the hell didn’t I realize that you’re so scheming?”

“It’s all a ruse. Just a ruse.” Captain Xing smiled.

Perhaps it was because Xing Conglian’s smile was so hateful that Ren Xian finally woke up.

He got up in a daze, bowed to the other party, and said, “Thank you very much.”

“You’re welcome.” Xing Conglian nodded. The sinister aura on his face that wasn’t pleasing to anyone had long since disappeared.

Ren Xian looked him up and down. He felt like a prey being pursued by a hunter the entire time. Just when he was about to feel another chill down his spine, he heard the other party say, “There is a small matter that I have to trouble Team Leader Ren about.”

Since it was a small favor, it shouldn’t be too much trouble. “Please,” Ren Xian replied.

“Whether there’s a real mole or not, I would like to ask you to pretend to investigate Fang Zhiming’s murder during this period of time so that it can buy us some time.”

Xing Conglian was very polite in his phrasing.

Hearing this, Ren Xian nodded, feeling relieved. They probably wanted to confuse the other side and set a trap to catch the mastermind, which in and of itself was already a handful. “No problem. Please rest assured.”

When he finished speaking, he saluted them, then turned around and walked out, preparing to go downstairs to deal with a dirty matter.

Just as he pressed his hand on the door handle, he suddenly remembered something and turned around and asked, “Can I take the liberty to ask for your name?”

“Captain of the Hongjing Police Criminal Division, Xing Conglian.”

Although he knew that this was probably the other party’s name and position, at this moment, Ren Xian felt like he was being prevaricated.

Ren Xian frowned. In a trance, he looked at his young instructor. The 18-year-old was hiding behind the laptop screen while secretly making a gesture of cutting across his neck at him.

Ren Xian felt the creeps and was ready to leave without hesitation, vowing not to ask a word more, when suddenly, he heard the Hongjing Police Captain speak again.

“Team Leader Ren, it’s hard on you. You have to deal with internal matters and also have to help us.”

Ren Xian turned around and felt that he was missing something.

“With your full assistance, I believe we should be able to solve the case soon.”

“Wait, what do you mean?”

“Welcome to the Yongchuan University mass suicide case task force.” Under the sunlight, Xing Conglian smiled brightly.

—-

Ren Xian disappeared behind the door in a daze.

Jiang Chao felt some dissatisfaction. “Lao Xing, what do you mean? We have plenty of people we can transfer. Why are we getting Interpol involved? Those haughty guys have eyes that look above while they look down on us…”

Xing Conglian smiled and said, “Be prepared.”

“What?”

Xing Conglian glanced at Wang Chao.

The young man turned his laptop upside down and faced Captain Jiang.

A tragic triple jump video started to play without warning.

Jiang Chao stared at the opposite side in a daze. His eyes were slightly confused, but soon, his pupil dilated, and his face stiffened. The surrounding air seemed to become stagnant again.

In fact, the video was quite short, but watching it felt as if it were infinitely elongated. Jiang Chao used nearly half a minute to adapt to the chill on his body.

This time, it was Jiang Chao who smiled bitterly. “You can’t warn a brother first?”

“There’s no time.” Xing Conglian sighed.

“Someone is using this website to broadcast the students’ suicides?”

“Not only was it live suicide, there’s also a sex stream, and it’s simply not just broadcasting. They are also using this content to make money.”

Jiang Chao took out another cigarette. When he heard this, his hands shook. “Can’t you shut down the website?”

“Well, in theory, this website is already closed because it’s a one-time thing,” Wang Chao interrupted.

The voice of the young man calmed Jiang Chao down. It was as if he caught a lifeline, and he hurriedly asked Wang Chao, “You—you’ve been with Lao Xing for so long and are good with technology. Can you find the IP address of the live broadcast so we can catch them?!”

Like a rose petal beaten by frost, the teenager gloomily lowered his head and explained unhappily, “This is the dark web. The live broadcast uses Tor¹. Even if you find the world’s top hacker, red hacker, or white hacker², you can’t find them. Ah, unless you get an AI to do it, but then you must wait for over a decade.”

¹The Onion Router. It’s a free, open-source software for enabling anonymous communication. It directs Internet traffic through a free, worldwide, volunteer overlay network, consisting of more than seven thousand relays to conceal a user’s location and usage from anyone performing network surveillance or traffic analysis. Using Tor makes it more difficult to trace a user’s Internet activity.
²See Kinky Thoughts for a full explanation.

“Then, can you find out who hacked the school’s surveillance?”

Hearing this, Wang Chao couldn’t help but lay flat on the table. “Please reflect on what I just said, thanks.”

“Then, can you at least take back control of the surveillance?”

Wang Chao sighed. He poked his captain with his thumb and said to Jiang Chao, “That’s a piece of cake, but this iron wall won’t let me do it.”

“Why Lao Xing?”

“Well, the two live death broadcasts occurred on the campus of Yongchuan University. If we shut down the surveillance here, can you guarantee that the culprit won’t go to a different place to commit their crimes?”

“Wait, you mean there’s a possibility of more suicides?” Jiang Chao’s scalp suddenly went numb.

“It’s not a possibility. Within 48 hours, there’s certainly going to be another case.” As if afraid Jiang Chao panic wasn’t high enough, Xing Conglian glanced at Lin Chen inadvertently before he continued. “And, according to the mastermind who set us up, I’m afraid that the next live broadcast will be much more serious than the previous two.”

“Don’t scare me, Lao Xing. How serious is much more? Do I need to put Yongchuan University under martial law?”

Roughly receiving the meaning conveyed from Xing Conglian’s eyes, Lin Chen pursed his lips and said, “I suggest you don’t do this.”

“Why?!” Both of his suggestions were rejected twice. Jiang Chao slammed on the table, feeling that the two in front of him were too cold-blooded. He said coldly, “You know something is going to happen, but we’re not doing anything to stop it?”

Both Xing Conglian and Lin Chen didn’t speak.

Seeing the two of them being secretive, Jiang Chao seemed to have thought of something, then suddenly realized. “Oh, you don’t want the mastermind to know. You have checked this website and know that a more serious incident is going to happen.” He instantly figured out all the details. “You just told Team Leader Ren to pretend to keep investigating Fang Zhiming’s case. If he doesn’t do it, won’t the mastermind behind the live broadcast know that their plan is exposed and then give up on their next operation? Why do we have to see more bloodshed? In case something happens, you and I can’t bear the responsibility, Lao Xing!”

Jiang Chao said this bitterly, but such persuasion had no effect on Xing Conglian or Lin Chen.

“Facing one possibility is better than guessing what will happen in the face of two,” Lin Chen said.

“Now is not the time to discuss philosophical issues.”

“Yes, if we want, we can make the mastermind terminate their plan within 48 hours…”

“Then why not do it?!”

“Jiang Chao, have you ever thought about it? He took such a big risk and was even ready to sacrifice the ICPO mole, just to delay a little time. What does this show?”

“This means the stakes for the next live broadcast will be fucking high, and they can make a lot of money from it!” Jiang Chao felt the chill on his skin, which had just now completely turned into anger. “This means that many people may die!”

“But theirs is only one such opportunity.” Lin Chen used a less intimidating tone to calm down the person in front of him.

“Yes, Lao Jiang. If we don’t catch them this time and make them stop, can you guarantee that they won’t think of doing something bigger next time?” Xing Conglian continued, “And I promise, the reason why they dare draw this timeline means that in 48 hours, all the clues we found will be wiped. You know that there’s a group lurking in the shadows, but you can’t find them, and you don’t know when they will commit their next crime. This is more uncomfortable than having something stuck in your throat.”

“But… But now is not the time to be a hero.” Probably because Xing Conglian’s words were too convincing, Jiang Chao’s tone softened.

“Don’t worry, we will not risk the students’ lives.”

“Then what should we do next?”

“First, you have to arrange for manpower to be deployed at Yongchuan University. However, we can’t be sure that the next live broadcast location will be at the school. After all, there’s a big commotion now, but it’s still best to keep a watchful eye here…”

“Then what?”

“Then, I don’t know.” Xing Conglian spread up his hands and casually admitted, “We don’t have any obvious clues now.”

It was like knowing that there was a bomb that was going to explode in front of you, but there was an endless quagmire separating you from it.

Xing Conglian continued, “It’ll take a lot of time to investigate the social relations between the deceased. We can’t find the person behind the website. The only way we can find it is through the audience by means of phishing, but whether we’ll be successful can only depend on fate.”

“Are you fucking kidding me, Lao Xing?!” Jiang Chao was so angry that he felt his blood pressure soar.

Seeing that his old friend was about to die from a heart attack, Xing Conglian turned his head and looked at Lin Chen. “So, now I can only rely on Mr. Lin. After all, he’s an expert.”

“You make me feel like I’m the lifeline.”

“So, Mr. Lifeline, what are you going to do?”

“I’m going to find a needle in a haystack.”

---

Kinky Thoughts:

“Hackers” are broken down into different categories in China:

1. Hackers, generally referred to as “crackers”, are your standard hackers that you and I know them as. They engage in hacking/cracking software, websites, etc. and have malicious intent.
2. Red hackers are people who safeguard national interests and don’t use network technology to hack others (you can think of them as anti-hackers for the country). They’re called red hackers in China because the color red is associated with justice and love for one’s country (China).
3. White hackers are people who have the ability to compromise computer security but do not have malicious intent. Usually they are ex-hackers. They generally work with enterprises to improve their security weaknesses.
4. Not mentioned, but gray hackers are known as saboteurs in the eyes of hackers, red hackers, and white hackers. They used a series of sabotage methods to deliberately destroy systems and malicious attacks.

---

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

Author: 长洱 / Chang’er

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

---

Chapter 66

“Oh, the still image capture system.” When it came to technical issues, Wang Chao suddenly became energetic. “The case isn’t small and has gone through this procedure, but if it’s an internal photo of a drug manufacturing factory passed on by an undercover agent, it should be top secret. Could it be that Zheng Dongdong just happened to use this packaging bag? In fact, looking at his appearance, he probably just wanted to lock us up for a few days, but he didn’t expect things to be so serious.” As if suddenly possessed by a detective, comrade Wang Chao’s eyes lit up. “There’s also the possibility that someone knows that this packing bag will definitely be captured by your filtration system!” At the end, Wang Chao placed emphasis on his tone and even pushed up his nonexistent glasses. “So, is this all a coincidence or a conspiracy?”

“If this problem is too complicated, then go back to the original point and look at the planting case. What would happen if Zheng Dongdong only reported the case to ordinary police?”

“We’d be taken back to the bureau for a cup of tea, and then Lao Jiang would come and fish us out.”

“Now, replace that person with an Interpol officer who wants to track down clues regarding drug smuggling. How will the results differ?”

“We would be arrested by the ICPO and tortured?” Wang Chao looked at Team Leader Ren in horror. “You didn’t really have this plan, did you?”

“Why do you think he brought the entire special forces? To come play mahjong?” Xing Conglian slapped the boy on the back of the head and motioned for him to be quiet.

“Is there any difference between the two outcomes for you?” Ren Xian asked.

Lin Chen looked at Xing Conglian. This was indeed something he couldn’t understand. Assuming that there was really someone working behind the scenes, why did they take such a huge risk and use the photos returned by Fang Zhiming to lure Interpol into taking action?

“This difference lies in time.” It seemed that the answer to the mystery had already been guessed. When Xing Conglian answered the question, he didn’t even pause to think about it.

Lin Chen frowned.

“If we’re taken away by the local police, we can probably see the sun again within an hour.” Xing Conglian kept his lip tight and let go of his analysis as he spoke his opinion on the dark and treacherous thoughts behind this scheme in a frighteningly calm tone.

For a moment, the coldness and silence returned to the room, as if the warm sunlight that was overflowing through the glass window had become ineffective.

No one spoke. Lin Chen thought that he needed to ask the question again. “So, what if it was ICPO?” He looked at the team leader and asked.

“I would’ve detained you as much as I could to limit as much of your personal free time as possible,” Ren Xian replied.

“How long would that be?”

“According to regulations, 48 hours.”

“So all this is to delay us in our case?”

This conclusion was inconceivable.

A trivial crime like hiding marijuana wouldn’t cause them any real substantial harm, so whether it was the local police or the ICPO that was dispatched, the most important difference was that the latter would interrogate and detain them in spite of everything until the end of the 48-hour detention period.

So in retrospect, who on earth would want them to stop for a cup of tea and slow them down?

The answer was almost as obvious as it could be.

Of all the people sitting here, only Wang Chao and Xing Conglian understood the meaning behind this. Wang Chao chewed his gum more slowly. As if he couldn’t understand the mastermind’s brain circuit, he raised a point. “This is too risky. If we were in the process of being interrogated and we talked about Fang Zhiming or content related to the previous case, then wouldn’t the truth come out?”

With a puff, the teenager blew a bubble with his gum.

“It’s simple. The so-called Fang Zhiming and his unfinished undercover case are just two different stages of the same trap.” Regarding people like Xing Conglian, when they say their important conclusions, they would be calm, as if they were introducing a food stall on a vendor street that was the most delicious. “Stage one involves us being arrested, interrogated, and released after serving our full detention. During this period, if Team Leader Ren is lucky enough to talk to us about Fang Zhiming or some other clues, the story will automatically enter stage two…”

“What is stage two?”

“Just like what you did, you would analyze the relationship between the live suicide broadcast and Fang Zhiming’s murder and be led astray.” Xing Conglian ignored the cigarette in his hand and instead yawned.

“Captain, can you please explain clearly?” The teenager closed his laptop, took off his cap, and scratched his head furiously. What he was doing was probably what everyone in the room wanted to do. “According to you, the boss behind the scenes deliberately guided us to investigate the connection between the two cases. But why? If they dare do this, doesn’t it mean that the people who framed us and the drug dealer who killed Fang Zhiming aren the same people? Then, does Yang Dianfeng have anything to do with the jewelry robbery where the vehicle’s time was modified and the subsequent death of the witness, Cheng Weiwei? What the hell is going on?”

The teenager’s questions were like an unstoppable barrage of bullets, but the questions that came out of that small bag seemed to raise far more questions than what the teenager had just asked.

There seemed to be countless strands of fine spider silk in the air that were so sticky that they prevented people from moving or even breathing. Suddenly, Lin Chen saw a lax smile on Xing Conglian’s face.

“You’re making me dizzy by asking so many questions.” The captain of the criminal division bent his finger and tapped the head of his young subordinate. He struck harder this time, which caused the teenager to arch up and grimace in pain. “Captain, it’s very unfair for you to bully the weak like this, do you know that?”

“Do you know why I hit you?” the perpetrator asked.

“Because I asked you a question that you can’t answer, so you feel embarrassed…” The teenager seemed to be courting death.

“Then let me ask another question. Do you know why your grandfather can live to be 90 years old?”

“Because he eats vegetables every day and insists on exercising!”

“No, it’s because he never meddles in his own business.”

The teenager’s eyes widened, and he looked incredulously at his captain, who was still teasing him.

“But, Captain, there are so many clues. The bag that came from the drug manufacturing factory, Fang Zhiming’s death, Yang Dianfeng’s time modification, the entire story of the jewelry robbery, and the background of the witness, Cheng Weiwei. We have too many things to investigate!”

“Stop talking.” There was a rare stern look on Xing Conglian’s face.

Wang Chao quickly silenced his rambling.

“Think about it from another perspective. Why is that bag not a suspicious case set up by the mastermind behind the scenes? In fact, Fang Zhiming’s death may have nothing to do with the case we’re investigating now.” The surrounding air seemed to stagnate, but Xing Conglian’s words were like sharp blades that broke through the sticky spider silk. “You see, we can make countless inferences, but the only certainty is that because there are too many possibilities, we can’t pursue this clue. This is definitely a dead end and will waste countless hours and ultimately lead to no success…” He looked at the teenager solemnly, but his gaze seemed to be cast on everyone in the conference room. “So, stop your thoughts and don’t think about it in this direction, okay?”

This was an order, not a discussion.

For a moment, Lin Chen felt that this order was too uncomfortable.

For people who wanted to solve the case, there was nothing more tempting than the clues in front of them. It was like ripe fruit exuding a sweet aroma or a suspenseful novel that was about to reach its climax. It was difficult to control oneself and pull back the hands reaching out for the fruit or put down the book.

This was because, long ago, people had developed the habit of analyzing and studying various things. The inertia of their thinking made them want to uncontrollably dig up the entire street, even if they knew that this could be a maze laid by the murderer, because they wanted to see what was hidden underneath the maze.

But now, it seemed that Xing Conglian had clearly drawn a line on the ground, telling them that they must bypass it. No matter what was buried in front of them, it had nothing to do with them for the time being.

This was truly unacceptable.

But in the next second, Lin Chen felt as if cold water had poured on top of his head, and the wet and cold feeling instantly woke him up.

He was fortunate that the person sitting next to him was the yawning Xing Conglian.

After all, most people in this world were constantly analyzing and judging. Only a few people could break through the fog and clearly see the truth of the matter. It was even more amazing for people who wouldn’t bother talking nonsense and would just directly state things.

The entire planting case was a sinister thoughtful trap from the start. It wasn’t fatal, but it was cold and vicious. Under the ingenious arrangement of the mastermind, one wouldn’t realize that they were stepping into a well-designed quagmire.

In fact, there were too many ways to delay time and create accidents, such as murder, arson, car accidents, and the likes… but those methods were too heavy-handed, and it would be easy for them to perceive the intent behind them. A case of drug smuggling was the most appropriate. 48 hours was as trivial as a nail piercing a tire. It made you want to stop and address the immediate problem. If you were lucky, you could repair the tire and move on, only to find a few bear traps and iron nails sprinkled on the road ahead. You would grimace as you tried to make your way around these hazards, wanting to increase your speed so you could catch whatever brats set up these traps. By that time, you would be further away from what really mattered.

And what really mattered was the direction and time.

“If all this was done to delay our investigation, it means that the next live death broadcast will happen soon,” Lin Chen said.

“Yes, but that’s not a bad thing.” As Xing Conglian spoke, the stern look in his eyes had disappeared, and Lin Chen found that he was looking at him with a helpless expression. “At any rate, we know the time limit.”

“What the hell do you mean? What’s the time limit?” Wang Chao started to become impatient. It could be because his A’Chen’s face became as ugly as the captain’s, or maybe he couldn’t keep up with all this detective work. After all, he was simply a technician!

“I’m afraid we have at most 48 hours left.”

48 hours was the longest time that Ren Xian could detain them, and likewise, it should be the ending time of the death carnival that was yet to come.

—-

For Lin Chen and Xing Conglian, they had already clarified their direction and knew the worst possibility for the future. However, for Ren Xian, after experiencing all the absurd drama, he couldn’t avoid the most important questions: why did the poorly printed marijuana bag reappear after a lapse of 11 months, and despite the fact that the internal information of the crime squad was kept strictly confidential, how did an outsider know about the photo Fang Zhiming sent back?

Just as he was confused and thinking about whether he should speak, the door of the conference room was opened again.

The vice captain of the second division, who was always carefree, stood at the door. His face was full of joy at the successful interrogation.

“Fuck Lao Xing, you’re like a god. Chen Ping recruited that guy. He said the marijuana and goods were all given by his second assistant.”

Hearing this, Ren Xian’s eyes lit up. He didn’t expect Xing Conglian, who acted like he didn’t know about their case, to have already secretly sent someone to interrogate the suspect.

“Has the arrest been carried out?” Xing Conglian took out another pack of cigarettes like magic and threw it over.

Jiang Chao reached out and caught it, then said, “According to what you told me in the text message, someone was sent to the Chen’s company in the early morning. They were just arrested after Chen Ping gave his name, but when Lao Huang and the others rushed to the assistant office, it was empty. There was coffee on the table that was still hot!”

Ren Xian’s mood was like a roller coaster. When he heard Jiang Chao’s words, he instantly slipped into the abyss. All he could feel was cold and darkness, without a single trace of light.

“It seems as if someone tipped him off.” Jiang Chao opened the cigarette pack, took out a cigarette, and stuck it in his mouth.

Hearing this, whether it was from the residue of tobacco or something else, Ren Xian felt only bitterness in his mouth.

Xing Conglian’s net was closed tightly enough, yet that person could still get away in such a short amount of time, which only proved that there was a mole among the people who were in the conference room.

Ren Xian recalled that there was a signal jammer just now, so the people inside had no chance to inform others on the outside.

Of all the people who went out, Zheng Dongdong was already detained, and Chen Ping and the Chen patriarch were being interrogated, so the only ones who could leak the information were his subordinates, who had just left.

“Team Leader Ren.”

In the bone chilling cold, Ren Xian suddenly heard someone calling to him.

He raised his head and looked at the window, where the bright sunlight was overflowing, creating a dazzling sight.

In the sun, he saw a vague, lazy smile.

Then he heard someone say, “Now, you can go search all the phones and communication devices.”

---

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

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.”

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

Author: 长洱 / Chang’er

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

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Chapter 64

Lin Chen suspected that there were problems with his hearing and memory.

If he remembered correctly, last night, the melancholy teenager was sitting in front of the laptop. It wasn’t until late at night that he fell asleep like an insecure child. The only one who had the opportunity to install those cameras was Xing Conglian.

And right now, said person was basking under the sunlight with a pleasing smile in his eyes. When he blinked, his long eyelashes brushed against the surrounding light, making it as sweet as honey.

Lin Chen sighed but found that he didn’t have any resentment after being deceived. He felt as if he had become accustomed to all kinds of strange reasons.

For example, a house that was suddenly replaced by the government or a street that was supposedly bought by someone and then suddenly renovated. So, compared to the behavior of some people who always gave credit to the government for good deeds, this kind of ridiculous excuse of “being in the business and feeling insecure” seemed like a distraction.

The sun was shining beautifully in the afternoon, filled with the sounds of students running and playing outside.

With the interruption of the two, the haze of betrayal and framing by an old classmate had also vanished. Lin Chen thought it wasn’t a big deal. After all, it was impossible to be liked by everyone in the world.

However, Zheng Dongdong wasn’t as relaxed.

The conference room was quiet. Only the sound of someone’s mechanical watch ticking filled the room.

The chubby hotel manager resembled a pig awaiting lingchi*. His face was deathly ashen as he waited for his final verdict, but Xing Conglian didn’t say anything and kept gazing at him with a slight smile in his eyes.

*Death by a thousand cuts. It describes an act of execution that slowly kills the victim so they will suffer as much as possible.

Only the most experienced hunter could perfectly control the rhythm of hunting from beginning to end. He would sometimes give a little hope, then cruelly extinguish it. Little by little, he was driving Zheng Dongdong towards the edge of the cliff, torturing his fragile nerves. If he went any further, Zheng Dongdong wouldn’t be far from being sent to a mental hospital.

When the sound of a car engine came from outside the window, the sudden noise made Zheng Dongdong tremble violently.

Xing Conglian knocked on the table three times before he slowly spoke. “Manager Zheng, can you explain?”

In face of absolute evidence, there was nothing Zheng Dongdong could say.

But Xing Conglian wouldn’t let him off the hook so easily. “I really can’t understand why you want to sprinkle marijuana on my bed. Is this a special service that the Cohen May Hotel provides now?” He chuckled suddenly, and his lips were slightly raised. “Did you come up with such a great idea?”

Perhaps it was because Xing Conglian’s question was too enticing that it looked like a strange light appearing in the vast darkness. Zheng Dongdong suddenly raised his head. He looked around and finally fixed his gaze on the butler sitting at the end of the long table.

Like a madman, he stood up and knocked over all the objects in front of him as he ran towards the butler and lunged at his lap. He pleaded, “Butler Chen, Butler Chen, you have to save me! Didn’t you say there wouldn’t be any problems? Isn’t it just marijuana? Why are the people from Interpol here? Please help me!”

At that moment, Lin Chen saw cracks in the face of the Chen’s butler. He could hear it sounding like porcelain cracking.

Butler Chen’s normally combed hair was now a tangled mess. Although he was still pretending to be calm, the panic in his eyes gave him away. His lips quivered, as if he were resisting the desire to kick away the creature that was grabbing onto his leg while howling inexplicably.

However, his opponent was Xing Conglian, an experienced hunter who wouldn’t give him a chance to make a comeback.

Xing Conglian smiled a little wider, as if he had finally received the long-awaited answer, but there wasn’t much shock or surprise on his face. He deliberately ignored the two people in the corner who had staged the framing scene and turned to the other side of the long table and said to the leader of Severe Crime Unit C, who had been pretending to be air, “Team Leader Ren, can you confirm now that the so-called drug possession is purely a planted case?”

“Yes.” Ren Xian looked at Xing Conglian and thought to himself, ‘Don’t ask me to confirm this kind of trivial matter!’

Xing Conglian nodded, turned to face Vice Captain Jiang, who was stunned from start to finish, and said, “Then can I trouble Captain Jiang to detain the suspect to prevent further collusion?”

He placed emphasis on his last words, as if he were deliberately targeting them at someone.

Jiang Chao stood up when he heard the words. Lin Chen saw that as soon as he did, his cellphone seemed to be vibrating. Wang Chao smiled at the vice captain, showing his cute tiger teeth.

Jiang Chao lowered his head and looked at the text message he had just received. He still thought it was unbelievable, but he was an experienced police officer. He instantly controlled his expression and walked out of the room to call for someone. As a result, the two “doormen” he posted to guard the door followed him in and dragged out the sobbing Zheng Dongdong.

Lin Chen calculated that Zheng Dongdong was the third group of people to be taken away from the scene.

Although there was only one less person missing, the conference room seemed a lot emptier than before. The clouds had covered the sun, making the room look horribly gloomy, and the sound from the watch kept incessantly ticking. Butler Chen seemed to have aged by almost a decade within this period.

“Captain Xing, how skillful.” A hoarse voice came from the butler’s throat, like the slight and harsh sound of stone rubbing against glass. “Are you going to arrest me too?” He was still pretending to be arrogant, but his quivering lips and fingers betrayed him.

“Of course not.” Xing Conglian leaned back in his chair and said in a casual tone, “Since the suspect identified that you instructed him to frame us, then you still have a chance to defend yourself, just as you gave me the opportunity just now.”

Xing Conglian’s slightly smiling tone carried a kind of mockery that penetrated deep into the bones.

Chen Ping swallowed, not ready to accept such kindness. “I have nothing to say. Since you were framed, can’t I be as well?”

Seeing Chen Ping slightly raise his chin and listening to his quibbling words, Lin Chen suddenly felt disappointed. Even Zheng Dongdong knew what fear was. He cried bitterly, perhaps because he was afraid of legal sanction, but in the moment of collapse, he probably regretted it with all his heart. He hoped that he could reverse time, praying that nothing like this would happen. This was the emotional response that a person should have after doing something wrong.

Unfortunately, Chen Ping, the serious and stereotypical butler, the one who appeared at his doorsteps for the past three years to drive him into a dark life, still didn’t know what remorse was after his dirty methods were exposed. Looking into the butler’s eyes, Lin Chen knew that he wasn’t forcing himself to pretend, but he truly believed that he did nothing wrong.

In fact, for a long time, Lin Chen had never resented this middle-aged man who had been carrying out the will of the Chen family, because loyalty wasn’t an evil virtue. But now, he suddenly realized that those days where he was driven away or when he got fired had all become meaningless.

“Chen Ping, I don’t think you have figured out your current situation.” Finally, Lin Chen felt he should say something.

Hearing his name being called by the person he had been suppressing all this time, the butler’s face flushed from humiliation.

“Lin Chen, you don’t understand at all.”

“It is you who don’t understand!” Lin Chen couldn’t help but slam the table. He simply couldn’t use his normal speed of speech to communicate with the person at the end of the long table. “Marijuana? Do you think this is irrelevant? Do you think that as long as Zheng Dongdong bites us to death, we will lose our reputation and end up with nothing? I don’t care if you actually contacted Interpol intentionally or not. This matter is far more complicated than you can imagine. Tens or thousands of times more. Do you think Chen Zhengxue will thank you for your loyalty after he finds out about this?”

Lin Chen didn’t know why he was so angry, but this was something he hadn’t felt in a long time. Perhaps it was because his voice was too loud, or maybe he was too immersed in his emotions, but he didn’t notice that the door of the conference room was opened at some point.

A cold voice came into his mind ahead of the picture.

“Yes, I’m very happy.”

Xing Conglian also heard the voice and looked at the door faster than Lin Chen.

There, stood a middle-aged man. He was wearing a long black windbreaker, his belt was tightly buckled, and he stood straight. His hair was combed back, just like Chen Ping’s, and his black eyes were gloomy, as if there was a dead silence in them.

With almost no need to think, Xing Conglian had already guessed the identity of the visitor.

He then looked at Lin Chen, who was stunned for a few seconds. Lin Chen finally came back to his senses and slowly moved his gaze in the direction of the door and said, “Hello, Director Chen.”

The current situation had turned even more interesting.

Perhaps the head honcho of the Chen family had rushed here because his most valuable subordinate was being detained, or maybe he was just waiting nearby to watch Lin Chen being led out in handcuffs and shoved into a police car. In any case, it was quite bizarre that the head of the Chen family would be present in this conference room that had already been through quite a few dramatic scenes.

‘What an interesting coincidence,’ Xing Conglian thought as he watched the head of the Chen family step into the room, approach Lin Chen with a compelling aura, and say to him, “It’s been a long time since I saw you, murderer.”

His words were spoken with an undertone unique to paranoia, and when he addressed Lin Chen, there was a deep hatred that seemed to be forcibly repressed.

Hearing Lin Chen’s address like that, Xing Conglian subconsciously looked at him. He saw Lin Chen take a step back, lean on the long table, then finally firmly stand up, seemingly unbothered by this. “Are you an idiot? In order to frame me, you did this kind of thing. If you’re a little careless, your Chen family business will be ruined.”

Unlike the rare anger of questioning Lin Chen had done to the butler, he had calm down at this point. He spoke calmly, with the same seriousness in his tone that even if he was cursing, it would still hold the same solemnity.

“Even if the Chen family is trafficking drugs, what does this matter have to do with you, Lin Chen?” The Chen’s patriarch asked in a slow tone.

At that moment, he leaned extremely close to Lin Chen and gazed at him with vicious eyes that looked like a beast about to tear apart its prey.

Xing Conglian felt that he should stand up, but in an instant, he saw Lin Chen’s gaze cast at him. The gaze was bright and cold, as if it were tempered steel. Xing Conglian instantly understood the meaning behind it: It doesn’t matter. I’ll be fine.

The clouds had dispersed, allowing the sun’s rays to shine again. Xing Conglian wanted to laugh a little. He suddenly realized that the feeling of fighting side by side was much better than one side protecting the other.

“So, is the Chen family trafficking drugs?” Lin Chen asked rhetorically.

This question was quite shady and too direct, so the Chen’s patriarch was suddenly left speechless.

Like a regular who didn’t play cards according to the rules, Lin Chen asked, “Not only did you instruct your subordinate to frame us, you also involved the Chen family in drug dealing, is that right?”

Lin Chen was truly good at making people speechless.

All the momentum accumulated by the Chen’s patriarch was instantly dissipated. He could only grit his teeth and speak with great emphasis. “What can be done? Now that you have a protective blanket, I can hardly make a move on you. Do you want me to cut your throat with a knife?”

“A murderer must pay with their life,” Lin Chen responded.

This was a declarative sentence in the form of a confession. The underlying meaning was: A murderer has to pay with his life, but since I’m still alive, it means I’m not a murderer.

“How do you even have the face to appear in Yongchuan and right under my nose again?!” The Chen’s patriarch was finally angered by those words. He reached out and yanked on Lin Chen’s collar, pulling him closer to him.

“Because I’m investigating a case at Yongchuan University.”

It was another calm declarative sentence, but there was a hint of sarcasm in the tone.

Lin Chen was an expert among expert in getting under someone’s skin.

The Chen’s patriarch shoved him away and pointed to the door as he sneered, “My school doesn’t need your help. Immediately get the hell out of here and go back to whatever hole you crawled out of!”

After he said these words, the conference room fell silent again. However, the reason for the silence wasn’t because of the Chen’s patriarch but because of the old man who had been sitting in the corner the whole time and who had so far only said one sentence.

Now, he said a second sentence, “Huh?”

It wasn’t until now that the Chen’s patriarch, who had been in a fit of anger, finally saw the old man sitting in the most inconspicuous corner.

The old man’s eyes were half open, as if he had just awakened from an afternoon nap. Before Chen Zhengxue could react, he stood up from his chair and spoke in an extremely calm tone. “Zhengxue, businessmen like us, no matter how big our business is, must abide by the law. The police are investigating the case, and we have to follow their arrangements.”

The Chen’s patriarch hadn’t been addressed like this in a long time. Even if the old man’s voice was warm, the underlying meaning of his words were terrifyingly deep.

“It turns out to be Steward Xing.” Chen Zhengxue withdrew his hand and quickly calmed down. He asked, “What do you mean by that? Are you expressing your opinion on behalf of the Xing family?”

Based on Chen Zhengxue’s understanding of the Xing family, although they had deep roots, they were mostly orderly and neutral businessmen. They would never show any obvious attitude in any disputes. This was simply a manager from a branch family, so Chen Zhengxue thought to himself that this old man should just sit down and keep his mouth shut.

As he expected, the old man shook his head, got up, and walked towards the door, as if he wanted to leave this mess of a place.

But when the old man reached the door, he turned his head and looked at Chen Zhengxue and said casually to him, “Actually, this is not a statement. This old man must’ve misheard you when you said that Yongchuan University belongs to you…” The old man paused for a moment as he looked at the vast campus outside the window, as if he was recalling something. “After all, this is a university. Although we hold shares in the school, it doesn’t belong to any family. It belongs to all the former, present, and future Yongchuan teachers and students. This is something that our families agreed upon when we divided our shares in the early years.”

As soon as Chen Zhengxue was about to speak, the old man changed the subject, and the arrogance in his words overflowed. “If you want to get semantic and say who owns Yongchuan University, then it can only be said that it was built with the money of my ancestors hundreds of years ago. Yes, my master injected ten times the capital, but in the end, the main shares of Yongchuan University can only belong to our young master.”

As the old man spoke, he leaned slightly outside the window, as if he were saluting the void. After he finished speaking, he took his subordinate and left the room.

The Chen patriarch’s face was as ugly as a gray wall, resembling alopecia areata.

Standing in the corner, Xing Conglian inexplicably wanted to smoke a cigarette as the old man was speaking, but this thought was fleeting. Given the current situation, he didn’t have time to miss this chance. He looked at the Chen’s patriarch and said helplessly, “So I take it that what you said just now was a confession that you instructed your subordinate to frame us?”

“Oh? What do you think you can do to me?”

“Ah… Nothing.” Xing Conglian scratched his nose. At this moment, Vice Captain Jiang had just pushed in the door when he met Xing Conglian’s smiling eyes. “Captain Jiang, I have to trouble you again. These two people… Can you please take them to the police station for some tea?”

Jiang Chao made an expression of: What the hell did I miss? He depressingly waved his hand, and another police officer from outside entered and escorted out the two people, both surname Chen, who didn’t appear to willingly leave.

As the door of the conference closed again, there was no longer a relaxed smile on Xing Conglian’s face.

As if in a hurry, he looked at the leader of the severe crime unit, who had been watching the entire show, and quickly said, “Alright, now that everyone is gone, let’s talk. What the hell is going on?”

---

Kinky Thoughts:

So are people just queuing up at this conference room to get face-slapped?

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

Author: 长洱 / Chang’er

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

---

Chapter 63

The temperament of Wang Chao’s laptop was consistent with himself.

The carbon fiber case was covered with sticky notes, and anime stickers were plastered all over the keyboard film, clearly showing his interest. There was also a NERV* logo cut from a magazine that was glued to the upper left corner. In short, it was extremely cluttered but vibrant.

*Special organization from Evangelion.

On the laptop screen, it was currently all black except for a play symbol in the lower left corner. The rest was a reflection of Butler Chen’s face.

Perhaps because he was stimulated by the computer screen that was facing him, Butler Chen flattened the hem of his suit, pushed away the swivel chair, and walked to the door with an arrogant look as if to say he was not going to bother talking to common peasants.

However, he was stopped in his tracks.

The special forces officers from Interpol stopped him.

Two assault rifles crossed each other at the door. Chen Ping paused and tried to restrain his face from turning red. He turned around and pointed his chin at the leader of Interpol and said, “Restricting others’ freedom. Is this how Interpol operates?”

“Actually no.” Ren Xian shook his head wearily. “But I received an important lesson during my training. It roughly was, don’t fucking mess with your instructors because they will fuck up your evaluation report, and you’ll know what a hopeless future you’re in for.” Ren Xian spread out his hands, expressing helplessness.

“Hey, hey, hey. How can you say that so seriously? I’m not some vicious person.” Wang Chao laughed and hooked his finger at Butler Chen, signaling him to sit back down.

“What are you planning to do. This is Yongchuan, Xing Conglian. Let me tell you, don’t you dare be so arrogant!” There was finally madness in Chen Ping’s eyes.

Corresponding to that trace of madness, Xing Conglian replied calmly, “Me? Naturally, I just want to prove my innocence.”

The two special forces officers, guns in hand, gestured for Butler Chen to return to his seat.

Everything seemed to be temporarily quiet, like a sea under a cloudless sky without a trace of wind.

“Excuse me, you are?”

Xing Conglian turned to the leader of the operation team beside him and opened with a polite question.

“The leader of Severe Crime Unit C of the Interpol division in Yongchuan, Ren Xian.” Ren Xian didn’t know if he should salute first, but in the end, he decided to sit up straight and answer respectfully.

“Greetings, Team Leader Ren.” Xing Conglian nodded very familiarly, then pulled the conversation back to the topic at hand. He said straightforwardly, “I want to prove one thing. The drugs you seized in our hotel room were planted by someone else.”

“Please continue,” Ren Xian said.

“Since we have to prove ourselves, the timeline is very critical.” Xing Conglian’s tone was gentle, as if he were talking to an old friend. “I would like to ask Team Leader Ren, when did you receive the tip about possible drug possession in room 2801 at the Cohen May Hotel?”

Ren Xian was shocked when he heard this. In the current situation, he had switched from being the interrogator to the one being interrogated. It was reasonable that he could choose to not answer this question, but through some unknown influence, he still answered like a subordinate reporting to his superiors.

“11:44,” he said.

Xing Conglian nodded. He turned and had a slight smile as he looked at Zheng Dongdong, like a hunter looking at his prey. He asked, “So, may I ask Manager Zheng, is the surveillance camera on the 28^th floor of the hotel working normally?”

Hearing this, Zheng Dongdong felt as if he had been pierced by a sharp sword. He was extremely nervous. Like a dying prey, he looked at Xing Conglian with fear. After a long while, he replied tremblingly, “Today… Today… the surveillance cameras on the 28^th floor are undergoing maintenance.” As if to prove something, Zheng Dongdong added, “This is part of the hotel’s plan. I didn’t arrange it!”

This was the expected answer.

Xing Conglian raised his eyes slightly. His emerald green eyes stared at the hotel manager, who looked so weak that he could fall apart at any moment. He said calmly, “Oh, this means that the hotel’s surveillance cameras didn’t record the time when each of us entered and exited the room and whether any other strangers have too, right?”

“Who told you to hide drugs in your room. How can you blame our hotel?” Zheng Dongdong continued to argue.

“Oh, but I can prove that lamong the three of us, the last time we left the hotel was at 11:14.” Xing Conglian glanced at the teenager next to him, then said, “In other words, within 30 minutes, the cleaner of your hotel had complete access to our room, and in the process of cleaning it, discovered drugs, reported to you, called the police, and then gave the tip to Interpol, right?”

Before Zheng Dongdong could answer, Wang Chao pressed the play button on the laptop.

That was the elevator surveillance video of the Cohen May Hotel, which clearly recorded the time when a teenager with a red schoolbag entered the elevator.

As if catching a glimmer of light in the dark, Zheng Dongdong looked at the blurry surveillance image on the screen and shouted, “Who allowed you to hack into our hotel surveillance system? You’re breaking the law. Don’t you know this is a crime?”

Wang Chao sneered, then laughed again. “This is your hotel. Is it illlegal…?”

Xing Conglian supported his chin with one hand and moved his gaze to the old man who had been sitting silently in the corner.

As if perceiving something, the old man only said a few words. “Certainly not.”

The old man’s voice sounded old, but it was as if the wind was blowing through dead branches, releasing a sense of freedom in the twilight.

Hearing this, Butler Chen, who was sitting on the main seat, looked at the old man from the corner of his eyes in horror. He had been in the upper echelon of Yongchuan for a long time, so naturally he knew that the old man had a surname of Xing, which was the same surname as the great family that he served.

The family management system had been abandoned by the newer, emerging families. Only the old aristocracy still retained their feudal habits. Every year, the members of the side branch of the family would be sent out to inspect various places to collect rent and check accounts. Though the old man was sent to Yongchuan for inspection, it didn’t represent how high his status was in the Xing family, but in the eyes of the Yongchuan business community, he held enough weight.

A sufficiently weighted person meant that even if a sentence was lightly written, it also meant a kind of statement.

Chen Ping lowered his head and held his hand tightly. All his thinking had changed from how to deal with Lin Chen and Xing Conglian, to when exactly the Chen family had offended the Xings. Generally, ancient families always had a law of self-existence; the most important was to remain neutral and good to others. Therefore, people would hardly ever see any Xing family members make any kind of statement regarding politics, finance, or even hostile enterprises. They were always humble and polite, yet they were of a height that no one could touch.

So why did the Xing family suddenly appear here and show their attitude?

Chen Ping began to really panic.

“The hotel’s access control system should be quite reliable, unless it was violently dismantled…” When Xing Conglian said this, Team Leader Ren, who had just violently dismantled the door lock to their room, lowered his head. He retracted his gaze and continued, “So during the period of time when we were away, those who can enter and exit the room must have an access card, such as a hotel employee.”

Zheng Dongdong resembled a prey with a hunter’s knife around his neck. Because he foresaw a desperate future, he began to struggle one last time. “You—what are you insinuating? It’s clear you hid the drugs, and now you’re accusing the hotel of planting them!” His voice became louder to the point where it was so shrill, he seemed to run out of breath.

Zheng Dongdong’s performance was too tense. His nerves were so tight that they were like an extremely taut piano string that could be severed at any moment. It was clear that Xing Conglian was just stating a logical reason. The onlookers, who didn’t know the truth, looked suspiciously at the hotel manager, who seemed to be going out of control.

Perhaps it was because of those eyes that were too sharp, or maybe it was because his elite pretentiousness finally crumbled in front of the person he hated the most, but Zheng Dongdong shook his head frantically while muttering to himself, “No, no… You don’t have evidence… You don’t have evidence!”

“Oh, actually, I have evidence.”

Xing Conglian maintained his usual calmness.

Beside him, Wang Chao finally couldn’t hold back the smile on his face. Like floodgates being opened, the water rushed out of the dam and into the sun. The teenager laughed so loud that he could hardly stand up straight. “If your technique is garbage, don’t mess around with planting and framing others. Technology. What men need is technology!”

Little comrade Wang Chao stared at everyone in the room and smoothly brought up another video file from the desktop that no one could recognize. He then opened something that looked like a surveillance file and said, in a slightly apologetic tone, “The sound and picture are a little out of sync. Everyone, please forgive me~”

Under the shocked gaze of everyone, a surveillance video with four frames slowly played on the screen.

Unlike the poor image quality of ordinary surveillance cameras, the clarity of the video was so high that even the iris petals on the carpet could clearly be seen.

If anyone had ever stayed in the most expensive suite of the Cohen May Hotel, they would clearly know that what was being captured was the interior of the executive suite on the 28^th floor.

A screen in the upper left corner recorded everything that happened in the living room.

At 11:14, a teenager carrying a red schoolbag hurriedly left the room.

At 11:20, the cleaner began to enter the room and start cleaning. According to the cleaning process, she first began to clean up the garbage on the tables. Just as she was dumping the remnants of food from the dishes into the garbage bag, a slightly fat figure in a suit entered everyone’s sight.

The cleaning lady hurriedly turned her head and saw the hotel manager standing behind her. She was so scared that she was at a loss for words. She didn’t know why the manager, who was busy with everything, would suddenly come and inspect her work.

The female cleaner lowered her head and heard the manager say, “What are you nervous about? Just keep doing your job, and I’ll watch.”

The manager’s voice was arrogant and slightly shrill. Naturally, it was coming from the mouth of Mr. Zheng Dongdong, whose face was now ashen.

The picture in the upper right corner recorded the process of Zheng Dongdong leaving the living room with his hands behind his back, passing through the corridor, and arriving at the bathroom door.

He pushed open the door and shouted in a loud voice, “Why hasn’t the bathroom been cleaned yet? Look at how dirty it is in here! Come here!”

When the female cleaner heard the call, she hurried to the bathroom. She was scolded by the manager, then she locked herself in the bathroom and started to clean it.

After a moment of blankness, the door of the master bedroom in the lower left corner was pushed open.

On it, Zheng Dongdong was tiptoeing into the master bedroom. He had put on white gloves at some point, and he pulled the blanket away in disgust. He took out a bag from his pocket, tore it open, and poured the green leaves inside on the bed. He then pulled the blanket back up and walked out of the room as if nothing had happened.

Not long after, the female cleaner finished cleaning the bathroom and came to the master bedroom. The moment she opened the blanket, Zheng Dongdong happened to walk into the room again.

He saw the dry green leaves on the bed, and his face became tense. Acting like a real professional, he pushed the female cleaner away, squatted down on the bed, picked up a handful of broken leaves, put them close to his nose, and sniffed them. Then he pretended to be shocked as he shouted, “It’s marijuana! Call the police!”

As he spoke, he took out his phone and took a photo of the scene very professionally.

At this point in the video, Zheng Dongdong’s fragile nerves finally broke as the surveillance footage ended with the hotel manager’s vengeful smile.

In the conference room, it was as quiet as an ice cellar.

Lin Chen looked at everything in front of him and could only feel that this seemed to be a plot point in some absurd drama.

Zheng Dongdong actually went into the hotel room where they were staying and secretly planted marijuana to frame them. Was it because Xing Conglian knew this from the beginning, so that was why he had been so calm from the very start?

However, it was just marijuana. The level of this drug shouldn’t be worthy of having Interpol dispatched, right?

Furthermore, marijuana was a contraband. Where did Zheng Dongdong get this stuff, and where did he get the idea to plant them in their hotel room so he could frame them?

There were too many questions, but all these were not as important as the one that made him feel most incredulous. “Why are there surveillance cameras in our room?”

Naturally, a hotel wouldn’t install cameras in private places like a hotel guest room. This surveillance video had almost no blind spots and was obviously designed by either Xing Conglian or Wang Chao. He suddenly remembered the weird siren that ran non-stop in the conference room not long ago. The alarm device on the door lock was probably not something that came with the hotel access control.

How many security measures did these two people add to the place where they were staying?

When he heard this question, Xing Conglian reacted quickly. He pinched the back of Wang Chao’s neck and pulled him up in front of Lin Chen and said solemnly, “Why are you planting so many tricks in the place where we live?”

The teenager turned his head and looked at his captain with an incredulous gaze, as if he couldn’t believe there was such a brazen person in this world.

At this moment, Xing Conglian smiled. Wang Chao’s head just happened to be blocking his face, so the threatening meaning behind his smile became unscrupulous.

“Because I’ve been in this business since I was a kid, so I’m especially insecure… Hehe.” The teenager quickly turned his head to look at Lin Chen as he said those words.

---

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

Author: 长洱 / Chang’er

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

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Chapter 62

Rong Rong didn’t drink the glass of water Lin Chen poured for him.

Young people were always like this. They had too much fear and distrust of the world, and because of this, they could easily lose their way.

Looking at the confused and vigilant face of the young special forces officer, Lin Chen sat back into his position. This was not his area of expertise to deal with. Fortunately, Xing Conglian was here.

On both sides of the long, rectangular table, there were waves of people who were also confused about the situation.

It was unknown why the leaders of the college, who originally came to deal with the aftermath of the students’ suicide, were still sitting there. They should’ve left with the parents of the students, but in face of the armed special forces and the handsome criminal division policeman who was now controlling the audience, they didn’t dare to move. Besides, they wouldn’t die even if they stayed, right?

Compared to the butler sitting at the head seat with a grim face, Xu Guoqing felt extremely embarrassed. He had a feeling that he shouldn’t be sitting next to the butler, sensing through some strange premonition that he was close to the center of a storm and would easily become a cannon fodder. However, he didn’t seem to have the chance to move.

Jiang Chao had just returned to the room. According to Xing Conglian’s instructions just now, he transferred some people from the bureau, mainly clerks who didn’t have tasks, to guard the door. Luckily, the door panel was thick, and the people outside wouldn’t hear any sound coming from inside. Yet Jiang Chao didn’t know why he thought about such a thing. However, he felt that something that might need to be kept secret was about to happen soon.

Everyone was sitting on edge, and no one spoke.

Lin Chen propped up one side of his face with his hand and played with the paper cup full of water in front of him. From the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of Xing Conglian waving at him to have a seat by his side.

At that time, the teenager had just hung up from his inquiry call to the front desk of the hotel, and his whole face was frowning.

“Captain, need me to do something more?”

“What do you want to do?” Xing Conglian asked rhetorically.

“Oh, for example, isn’t there a problem with the school’s surveillance system? Do you need me to fix their firewall and catch the little hacker? Or find out which idiot posted on the forum to hack A’Chen!” When Wang Chao said this, he looked provocatively at Mr. Butler sitting in the main seat of the long table. The corners of his eyes were full of pride.

“Keep doing what I arrange for you to do.” Xing Conglian held down the boy’s head and pressed it in front of the computer screen. “Don’t get distracted,” he added.

Lin Chen’s hand that was playing with the paper cup paused slightly. It was rare that even he was a little confused by Xing Conglian’s intentions.

If he didn’t want to fix the surveillance, naturally, it meant he wanted to let those who were secretly monitoring the school continue to observe the situation here for a while longer. After all, once the firewall was repaired, it would directly tell the person who was behind the scenes that they already knew what they were doing. Deep down, Lin Chen even suspected that Xing Conglian wanted to contain the live broadcast of death on the campus of Yongchuan University. If the surveillance cameras were no longer accessible, god knew where those crazy kids would go to commit suicide.

At that moment, Lin Chen suddenly felt a little uncomfortable, and he turned his head sideways.

Xing Conglian was sitting in the backlight. The warm sunshine gave him a shaggy golden edge, which blurred his face so that even his eyes looked a little darker green.

Lin Chen thought that Xing Conglian was really good at dealing with complex situations, and his focus was oftentimes a bit scary. For example, sacrificing some small things to take care of the overall situation. Such a similar decision was likely to have happened before.

Thinking of this, Lin Chen suddenly turned his head and asked Xing Conglian in a low voice, “How on earth did you see that?”

Based on their tactical actions alone, Xing Conglian was able to tell the origin of these officers. This was obviously an unreliable answer. Most tactical movements around the world were more or less the same, so how could there be such a big difference?

In order to whisper, Lin Chen had to get close to Xing Conglian. When he heard this question, he inadvertently leaned his head a little closer.

“Because the ICPO are very good at bullying.” He spoke in such a low voice that Lin Chen had to focus hard in order to make out what he was saying. “They are limited to international treaties. Among all people who have the right to carry out their official duties, ICPO tends to pay more attention to the bylaws. If I were to arrest someone, I wouldn’t talk that much nonsense.” Xing Conglian slightly exhaled, and Lin Chen could smell a light tobacco scent from him.

It was an experienced answer.

Wang Chao, who was eavesdropping on the side, couldn’t help but sneer and laugh out loud.

As the time passed, the sun gradually moved westward, drawing the shadow of the trees a little longer.

The door of the slightly old conference room finally opened again. The squeaking sound made everyone inside who was starting to get drowsy jolt awake.

Walking in the forefront was a heavily armed special forces officer with a calm temperament and cold eyes. Lin Chen could tell from the way all the special forces officers in the room stood up in awe that this was their leader. Behind him, another group of officers stood upright like tall trees, and they filled the small room to the brim.

Lin Chen looked at the two people beside him. Xing Conglian remained silent, apparently not ready to talk. Instead, Wang Chao sat up straight and raised the brim of his hat, afraid the visitors couldn’t see his face.

As a result, when the special forces leader looked around the room, his eyes paused on the teenager’s face, and he let out a very soft “huh”.

Time seemed as if it slowed at this very moment, like a slowmo in an action movie.

Everyone had their eyes wide open and looked at the cold and arrogant Interpol leader. He straightened his combat uniform, stood up straight, and put his hands together, giving a standard military salute in the direction of where the teenager was sitting.

Then they heard a cold and arrogant voice coming from the leader’s mouth.

“Good day, instructor.”

This seemed like a strange plot that only happened in TV dramas. A mid-ranking Interpol officer, obviously not young, saluted and addressed an extremely young boy as instructor.

The teenager smiled triumphantly and didn’t try to hide it at all. He pretended to cough seriously, raised his eyebrows at Mr. Butler, and then waved his hand like he was a big brother and said, “All here. What are you doing in a daze? Sit down.”

Chen Ping’s face was so gloomy that it seemed like it was dripping water.

Obviously, there weren’t 12 extra seats in the room. Ren Xian walked to the conference table, pulled out an empty chair, and sat down. He waved his hand, and the officers behind him naturally walked to the wall one by one.

“Sit.”

Ren Xian gave instructions, and all the officers sat down on the ground.

Naturally, Ren Xian never thought he would meet the teenager here. When he saw Wang Chao as part of the residents of room 2801, he didn’t make the association that it was the same underage instructor who had mercilessly crushed him in the cyber security training course.

That was two years ago. In order to accept the final assessment before being promoted to team leader, he came to the Interpol headquarters in Lyon, France. A group of 50 of them were dragged into a shitty wilderness village where they were subjected to a variety of cruel training and never-ending assessments. Among them, the one in charge of network security training was a 16-year-old juvenile instructor. He still remembered that boy having a really pure smile on his face as he played with them like they were in the palm of his hands.

If his promotion training two years ago was a nightmare, then his unfinished arrest right now would also be one. Ren Xian took off his tactical gloves and had already begun to calculate what he was going to write in his report for their actions today in order to not look too humiliated.

With the special forces officers moving aside, Lin Chen looked up and saw three figures standing behind them.

Zheng Dongdong’s chubby face, which was originally pale, was now even paler, as if it had turned into a transparent film that could break at any moment when poked.

The exchange between Wang Chao and Ren Xian was short and concise, but anyone who heard it would understand that the situation in the conference room had now flipped 180 degrees.

Behind Zheng Dongdong, there were two other people, as if they were master and subordinate. Lin Chen could clearly see that when the old man entered the room, Butler Chen’s body trembled and Xing Conglian’s expression changed slightly.

The change in expression was fleeting. The original four-sided situation had now become more chaotic because of the new arrivals.

After everyone was seated, Xing Conglian finally made his move. He patted Wang Chao on the shoulder, and the teenager stood up aggressively, grabbed his red backpack, and poured out all the bits and pieces inside.

As if to reflect his status, he grabbed two things specifically and threw them at the Team Leader Ren. With his head held high, he said, “It’ll fit, right? Load it up.”

Ren Xian glanced at the parts in front of him and found that it was a signal blocker that could block cellphone signals, wireless signals, and even monitor signals… But looking at the degree of damage on that thing, it seemed like it was a toy used by a boy and carelessly thrown into a backpack. This made him quite speechless.

However, Wang Chao’s movements didn’t stop there. He pulled out a broken camera that was held together with some duct tape from his backpack, found an angle where it could take a panoramic view of the conference room, and installed it.

When he did all this, Ren Xian had finished installing the signal blocker.

The teenager returned to the laptop, confirmed that everything was working, and then nodded to Xing Conglian.

Finally, the captain of the criminal division, who hadn’t said a single word, moved. He leaned forward slightly, causing many people in the room to take a deep breath.

Indeed, humans were truly creatures that were sensitive to authority and order.

“Vice President Xu and a few deans who are present, today has been hard on you. I hope that the police will still get your cooperation from Yongchuan University in the future,” Xing Conglian said, making a gesture of invitation, indicating that the people who were just addressed could leave.

Xu Guoqing was relieved. He didn’t know why he could leave the room so easily, but looking at the situation with the police, special forces, and camera, could he still wait for dinner if he didn’t run away? When he opened the door, he turned around and looked at Lin Chen with a little more awe.

After Xu Guoqing’s group hurriedly left, the door panel shook again. Lin Chen was very clear about Xing Conglian’s intention.

He purposefully let them stay so the executives of the school could witness the interaction between Wang Chao and the Interpol leader and then let them go at the right time. This was naturally intended to hammer the school executives and the dog legs of the Chen family. Xing Conglian was making it clear that he hoped the investigation would now continue smoothly in the future.

To come up with something like this, such a mind had to be quite deep and delicate to the extreme.

As if he had a hunch that the real drama was about to start, Chen Ping also moved. He put his hand on the armchair and began to preemptively get up. “Captain Xing, what great official authority. Am I to take it that people can only leave with your consent?”

Chen ping expected Xing Conglian to be polite, but instead heard a very calm voice responding from the other end of the room.

“That’s right.”

“May I assume that you’re restricting my personal freedom?”

“That’s the truth.” Xing Conglian lightly supported his hands against his chin as he spoke casually.

Chen Ping only felt anger rushing to the top of his head. He slammed the table and scolded, “Now the police are investigating for drugs. Why do I have to stay here? Am I also a suspect? Can the police detain people so casually without evidence?”

“I certainly can, and I have evidence.” Xing Conglian smiled. He knocked on the table, signaling to Wang Chao, who naturally turned the laptop screen around.

---

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

Author: 长洱 / Chang’er

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

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Chapter 61

Anyone would get angry when they were called retarded.

Fortunately, Rong Rong liked to surf the internet, and he was also young, so he probably knew that the line “Are you mentally retarded” was more like a mutual greeting between two brain-dead anime lovers*.

*Clarity: It’s basically saying the line “are you retarded” is more so addressing are you brain-dead (because all you think about is anime/the 2-D world and nothing else).

This only made him even more angry. What a joke! He represented the law enforcement department and didn’t need a reason. He could just flick the arrest warrant in front of the suspect and directly drag them away, not to mention he was holding a gun and pointing it at them. This kid must have a lot of balls to dare crack a joke in this situation… Rong Rong glanced at the boy in the corner again. He was wearing a cap and a black t-shirt with the logo of an indie rock band printed on it. His eyes were bright, and his cheeks were moving as if he were chewing gum. There was a lemon mint sweetness in the air.

Perhaps it was the bright eyes of the young man, but Rong Rong suddenly felt something wrong with this situation. In previous arrest operations he had carried out, he had come to the conclusion that the calmness of the prisoners was often proportional to their ferocity. In other words, only truly vicious criminals would be calm and relaxed in the face of a group of armed pursuers, as if they were planning to invite you to have a cup of tea.

Then Rong Rong heard someone ask him, “Would you like some water?”

He followed the sound and saw a young man in a white shirt. He had dark hair and spoke calmly. Perhaps he raised the question because he was standing by the water cooler. Before Rong Rong could answer, the man had already poured him a glass.

Rong Rong felt his back go stiff. He moved his gaze and looked at the last guest in room 2801.

A black gun was resting on the forehead of the last guest, so he had to take two steps forward to see the man’s face clearly.

It was a policeman. Indeed, the intelligence had long stated that among the guests at 2801 there was a famous police officer. Naturally, where would an ordinary police officer have the money to stay in a top hotel like the Cohen May, so it must be a crooked cop. Rong Rong calmed down and suddenly became emboldened. He looked into the policeman’s eye.

He couldn’t tell what color it was, as it was an aquamarine mixed with a lake green. The eyes were calm, as if the sea were absolutely still without any winds or waves.

He heard the man say, “Put down the gun.”

It wasn’t “wait” or “slow down”, but he said, “put down the gun”.

It was an order, not a request. Although the voice was warm, it was still an order. No matter how vicious criminals were, they wouldn’t dare say such arrogant things to the police.

Rong Rong wasn’t prepared to waste any more time. He raised his palm to his ear and gave the order to his subordinate to make a direct arrest.

But the low, gentle voice rang out again.Iit wasn’t addressing him, but asking the teenager in the corner.

“Wang Chao, have you called yet?”

“Call what?” The teenager was obviously taken back, then he quickly reacted. “No!”

“Then why would the ICPO come?”

“Didn’t you say it was because we were hiding drugs?”

“Oh.”

The conversation ended there, very simply and casually. Rong Rong could feel coldness running down the back of his spine at the end of the word.

Not only him, but every other special forces officer in the room, subconsciously examined each other’s outfits and shoulder straps. However, all their configurations on their bodies were the same as the local special forces in Yongchuan, without any flaws. This was in consideration to hide their true identity, but the person who was leaning back in the chair easily saw through them.

Rong Rong clutched his gun tightly. He was nervous.

As the man said, he was from the ICPO and was affiliated with the Interpol Yongchuan Division. Because of the sudden incident, he was on a mission to arrest the suspect involved in a drug case, but the suspect refused to go with him.

While this sounded like a joke, it turned out to be a fucking fact.

The policeman leaning on the back of the chair seemed to read his mind and thoughtfully explained. “It’s actually a matter of tactical movement. Since you’re trained in different areas, there will be differences.”

Who cares about that anymore!

Rong Rong stabilized his breathing and decided not to dwell on the details. He glanced at the name on the arrest warrant and said, “Captain Xing, is it? Please come with me.”

“Sorry, I think I have the right not to cooperate.”

Rong Rong sneered. “Captain Xing, since you can guess our identity, then you should be very clear about the severity of the crime you committed. I hope you’d better not resist any further.”

“Oh… That’s not the reason,” Xing Conglian said politely. “Article 3 Chapter V of the ICPO Administrative Regulations clearly stipulates that Interpol must obtain the consent and approval of the local police when performing official duties for the Secret Service Administration of various countries. In case of emergencies such as a red warrant, you need to notify the local police in writing afterwards and obtain permission… But I believe my case does not meet these two items, right?”

This time, the man stretched out his words, so it took a while for Rong Rong to fully sort out the meaning.

Simply put, it meant “you don’t have the right to arrest me because you have broken the rules”.

Rong Rong looked at the policeman named Xing Conglian again.

His hair was shaved very short, and there were stubbles of the same length on his chin. He looked unruly and unrestrained. When he was speaking, it seemed as if he regarded the assault rifle pointed at his head like a branch swaying under the spring breeze, and everything that was going on was just an indifferent episode.

Rong Rong frowned. Judging from years of experience, such a temperament often only appeared in real giants. He pursed his lips. In his current situation, he couldn’t advance or retreat.

At this moment, the teenager in the corner suddenly became energetic.

“It’s really the ICPO. Are you guys that idle that all you do is catch drug criminals?” Wang Chao jumped up from the ground, also ignoring the guns pointed at his back, and pointed to Rong Rong’s face and arrogantly said, “Take a good look at this face. Remember, find someone whose rank is higher!” Then he raised his head and proudly added, “Fucking retard!”

Xing Conglian was indifferent about this response. He stretched out his hand and patted Jiang Chao on the shoulder. “Captain Jiang, please send the students’ families back first so they can rest.”

Although he said this, his gaze was fixed on the butler, surnamed Chen, who was sitting at the front of the table.

Jiang Chao was startled, not knowing what was going on from start to finish.

Strangely enough, perhaps it was because of Xing Conglian’s tone and posture, which weren’t normal, that he stood up and subconsciously went to guide the parents of the students to leave.

As people exited the area, the room suddenly decreased by half.

Looking at the door that was still slightly moving, Rong Rong simply couldn’t understand who was currently in charge!

—-

Intercontinental Cohen May Hotel, Room 01, 28th Floor.

The search in the room had come to an end, and Ren Xian stood by the window, overlooking the vast lake outside.

The suite was a mess. All drawers were opened. The clothes and bedding were thoroughly checked, and there were two shirts scattered on the ground. The expensive crystal lamp was obviously untouched but seemed to be gently shaking.

As the leader of the team, he knew very well that this arrest and search operation was too sudden, even reckless, but the tip was too solid. He had been pursuing this case for three years, so of course he couldn’t let go of such obvious clues, and he was positive that he could find what he was looking for.

Sure enough, there was a rapid sound of footsteps behind him. Ren Xian turned his head and saw his subordinate handing over a sealed evidence bag. He glanced at the contents of his pocket and his eyes darkened, and then he announced the withdrawal of the team.

Zheng Dongdong stood outside the door of room 2801. He felt proud because he only took a small risk to achieve a dream, which was truly worth it.

The door of the room was opened again, and the armed special forces rushed out. The faces of those people were cold, and the guns they were holding were even colder, which only made Zheng Dongdong feel even happier.

He took a step forward and introduced himself. “Hello officer. I’m the general manager of the Cohen May Hotel. My name is Zheng…”

“Oh, Manger Zheng. It’s nothing serious. This is a search warrant for a serious case issued by Interpol. Please check it.” Ren Xian interrupted the chubby man in front of him, took out a piece of paper, and handed it over.

When he heard the word Interpol, Zheng Dongdong’s face changed, and he suddenly panicked. He took the search warrant and read it several times, then started stammering. “This… How could this be…”

“Is there any problem?”

“No… no, no, I… We will definitely cooperate with the investigation.” Zheng Dongdong bowed, only to feel a cold sweat sliding down his neck. In his conception, any organization with the word “international” would be big enough to scare people to death, but things shouldn’t obviously get this big, at least not on an international scale. All this seemed to have deviated from the established arrangement.

However, things often went in a worse direction.

As he was about to straighten up, a very old and cold voice came from the end of the corridor behind him.

“Who asked you to cooperate with the investigation?”

Zheng Dongdong’s spine stiffened so severely that he couldn’t even turn around.

How arrogant. Ren Xian snorted coldly as he followed the sound of the voice.

He saw an old man walking from the end of the dark corridor. He was dressed plainly, in black shoes and gray linen clothes, with the buttons on his front lapel tightly buttoned. He resembled a local elderly man from the neighborhood, except that such a man would not have his walking posture and sharp eye. Ren Xian quickly loaded a bullet.

“Isn’t it the obligation of the public to cooperate with a police investigation?” Ren Xian raised his gun as he asked politely.

But the old man seemed indifferent to the muzzle that was pointed at him—even more indifferent to his modest and courteous question. “This is a hotel. The guests of our hotel are like our children, and as the staff, we are their parents. This is our duty.”

“So if the parents violate the law, should children not place righteousness above family*?” Ren Xian didn’t know who this old man was, but he couldn’t help but ask rhetorically.

*(大义灭亲) Idiom referring to in order to maintain justice, relatives of those who have committed crimes will not show favoritism so that they receive the punishment they deserve.

Hearing this question, the old man only glanced at Ren Xian and said, “Young man, are you bored? What does it matter to you if I fire a subordinate?”

Ren Xian was speechless.

Hearing this, Zheng Dongdong’s head pressed even lower so that he could hardly straighten up.

As if to put the last straw that broke the camel’s back, a stewardess in high heels came running from a distance. When she saw Zheng Dongdong, she didn’t even care about the weird atmosphere around her and hastily said, “Manager, the guests of room 2801 just called the hotel desk and said that our hotel violated their legal rights and interests. Please go to Yongchuan University to explain this matter clearly. Otherwise, they’ll sue us into bankruptcy.”

As soon as this statement came out, not only Zheng Dongdong and Ren Xian, but even the old man who was about to fire his subordinate, felt this was odd.

Sue them into bankruptcy? What kind of joke was this?

Ren Xian frowned and looked at his watch. At this point in time, Team B should have the suspect under control, so why was the suspect still able to have free access to their phones? As he thought about this, a sound came through from his wireless headset to explain it to him.

“Boss, ah, we bumped into a tough guy today. Tough guy said that we violated the regulations when performing our official duties, so he won’t follow us. Please also come to Yongchuan University. Otherwise, they’ll sue our headquarters. How can they be so arrogant, ah?”

“Copy that.” The chattering was still ongoing in the wireless headset as Ren Xian terminated the call.

He glanced at the poor Mr. Manager and then at the old man. He was obviously pondering the situation in front of him. After a while, he turned and ordered, “A’Rong, send the evidence for examination. The rest of you follow me to Yongchuan University.”

Hearing these words, a smile seemed to appear on the old man’s face. “Then let’s go together, Mr. Zheng, Officer Ren.”

---

The author has something to say：

I originally wanted to finish this chapter with more… but it seems I can’t finish writing it… my poor hand speed…

Then let’s talk about. Interpol has no transnational law enforcement power. The only body in the United Nations that has the right to exercise military action to maintain international peace and security is the United Nations Security Council!

It is indeed inconsistent with reality here, but the ICPO was pulled out for the consideration of some possible future content. Our police officers cannot take the blame. The image of the police should be positive, but the blame must be carried by someone…

In fact, if it weren’t for the river crab*, I wouldn’t be writing about the North and South families… In short, blame this weird idea on the river crab!

*It’s a euphemism for censorship in China.

I feel like I’m rambling again……

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Kinky Thoughts:

To address what the author is saying, in real life, Interpol is not an actual law enforcement agency and has no power to arrest anyone (which is contrary to what they are doing here in this fictional novel). Rather, they are mainly an international organization that functions as an administrative liaison among law enforcement agencies among the countries that are members and provides communications and database assistance.

The author is saying she doesn’t want to paint the police in a bad light (showing how inept they are because of their action), so eventually she’s going to have someone else take the blame for why Interpol is acting this way (probably related to the four elite families).

The reason why she had to introduce these four elite families in the first place was to get around censorship (or else this novel wouldn’t be published), most likely because of some arbitrary censorship law in China that probably has something to do with not saying bad things about law enforcers *shrug*. Despite that, there are still so many words that are censored out that it makes translating difficult, nonetheless.

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