The long gown obscured the man's feet, preventing him from seeing the color of his socks. In Hu Jia's perception, someone wearing white socks didn't necessarily have to be Sixth Master, but Sixth Master definitely wore white socks.
He didn't know why he thought this, but after much deliberation, it was probably just stubbornness, likely related to that flashback.
Right, the flashback.
Hu Jia suddenly saw that scene again, a scene where behind raging flames stood a long gown, yes, and white socks, and cloth shoes!
Hu Jia observed them again. Both men wore masks and dark blue long gowns. Since one was sitting and the other standing, the only difference he could discern was in their footwear.
Footwear!
The seated Sixth Master wore leather shoes.
The person standing behind, serving tea, wore cloth shoes.
Hu Jia knew this judgment was arbitrary, but he had a hunch that the one in cloth shoes was the real Sixth Master.
“Now the key is with you, and the box will soon be in your hands. As for me, after working so hard for so long, you should at least let me know what I've been working for.” He hadn’t expected this Sixth Master to have a substitute, but fortunately, Wen Wu had warned him. At least now Hu Jia knew who he should focus his attention on.
Hu Jia was no longer curious about the iron box, as he already knew it contained a gun.
However, he couldn't understand why Dao Sixth Master had been obsessed with a gun for ten years, killing so many people.
Therefore, his intuition told him that Sixth Master's true objective was not this gun.
It was even possible that he didn't even know the box contained a gun.
“That’s true! It’s not a problem to tell you.” After taking another sip of tea, Sixth Master waved his hand generously, “After all, you have the right to know.”
Hu Jia watched him put down his teacup again, genuinely worried he might need to use the restroom later.
However, “I have the right to know?” Hu Jia was a little confused.
But regarding this question, Sixth Master turned to the person serving tea, “I'm tired. You answer him for me.”
Hu Jia:?
Was this act so perfunctory?
Upon hearing Sixth Master’s instruction, the person serving tea stepped forward, “Yes, have some tea first.”
After speaking, he turned to Hu Jia, “Aren’t you still investigating that shooting case? I won’t deny it, our Dao Ren did it.” The man recounted the events of that year, emphasizing the treasure.
Hu Jia had actually heard this story before, but for someone with only seven days of memory, the story was still fresh.
However, his reaction now was different from the last time he was at the Dao Ren headquarters. Last time, he was filled with righteous anger, wishing he could kill the person in front of him.
But this time, he was calm.
Of course, this was only outward calmness. If you looked closely at his hands, you would see that the side of his index finger was already bruised from his thumbnail.
Zhu Xuan and Huang Yawen were among the leaders responsible for plundering the treasure. They were targeted by this Sixth Master, who called himself a “hero.”
Heh!
One was a villain who exploited the common people, and the other was a hypocrite who acted in the name of justice while committing evil deeds.
Hu Jia sympathized with neither.
But because his father knew the location of the buried treasure, he fell victim to the Dao Ren’s ruthlessness.
This was truly unjust!
However, Hu Jia thought again, no, wait. My father was the only one who knew the treasure’s location. Why would the Dao Ren dare to act against him?
“Yes. How could we possibly act against him?” Hearing Hu Jia’s question, the man seemed to fall into a daze, lost in thought for a long time before sighing, “So, if I told you your father committed suicide, would you believe me?”
Ah?
Hu Jia’s body trembled.
He had considered many possibilities and explanations, but he had never thought of this.
“That’s bullshit! How could my father commit suicide? The autopsy report is very clear: the bullet entered from one to two meters away, and I saw the two culprits back then,” Hu Jia completely refused to believe the man. “Since you had the guts to kill people, why don’t you have the guts to admit it? Suicide! Hahaha. My father’s integrity and his responsibility as a police officer all told him that if the case wasn’t solved, he wouldn’t die.”
“The bullet did enter from one to two meters away, but regarding Shilong’s cause of death, it was suicide.” Hearing Hu Jia’s refutation, the man’s emotions seemed to stir as well, “We didn’t intend to kill him. As you said, he was the only one who knew the treasure's location. How could we have acted against him? But he forced our hand; he fired at us first. If he hadn’t acted, how could we have killed him? What do you call that if not bringing it upon himself? His actions were suicide.”
Ah?
Hu Jia was so angry he laughed.
This man’s ability to twist the truth was not ordinary.
He interpreted “using violent means to satisfy his selfish desires as suppressing the strong.”
He interpreted “treating human lives as worthless as grass as eliminating harm for the people.”
He interpreted “moving the people’s wealth from the wolf’s mouth to the jackal’s as severing the other party’s thoughts.”
And now, he interpreted “a police officer acting as bringing it upon himself.”
Interpreted “a police officer investigating a case as suicide.”
Hahaha, Hu Jia suddenly pulled a gun from his waist and aimed it at the tea-serving man, “So, you killed my father? Dao Sixth Master!”
Hu Jia was certain. This man was the leader of the Dao Ren, Sixth Master. And he was his father’s killer.
“So you saw through me long ago,” Sixth Master said.
A group of people blocked Sixth Master, while more people raised their guns at Hu Jia, along with some holding machetes.
Hu Jia stared intently at the man opposite him. He desperately wanted to pull the trigger now, but he still had a sliver of rationality.
He knew he couldn’t act impulsively.
Because once he made a move, he wouldn’t be able to escape from here.
If it were in the past, he wouldn’t fear death.
But now, he had more to care about.
He would definitely capture the person, but it didn’t have to be now.
“Don’t move!” Just as both sides were in a stalemate, a female voice called out.
Tong Meng!
The woman, holding a gun, emerged from the darkness.
Hu Jia frowned. Tong Meng's appearance here was unexpected but not surprising.
What he didn’t expect, however, was that Tong Meng’s gun was aimed at the Dao Ren.
“Brother Hu Jia, you should leave quickly. I’ll hold them off here,” Tong Meng said to Hu Jia.
Hu Jia glanced at her, “What is this play? Are you guys having internal conflict? Or are you here to stage a damsel-in-distress rescue, then take me down when I’m not paying attention?”
Tong Meng gave Hu Jia a resentful look, then broke into a bright smile, “I told you I have no talent for acting, Brother Hu Jia. You saw right through me with just one glance.”
“Get lost!” Hu Jia’s tone was impatient, full of disgust.
Tong Meng wasn’t angry. She walked beside Hu Jia as if strolling and reached out to press down his raised gun hand, “So many people, and you’re still so impulsive.”
Hu Jia didn’t give her a glance but naturally lowered his handgun.
Seeing Hu Jia obey so readily, Tong Meng reached out to take the iron box.
“Slap…” Tong Meng spun around and was directly slapped to the ground by Hu Jia.
“I told you to get lost!” Hu Jia tightened his grip on the iron box. This woman really thought she was something, daring to try and take something from him.
Tong Meng looked at Hu Jia with grief and hatred in her eyes, “Don’t regret this!”