"Hu Jia, don't rush, Uncle Qiao might not know about this," Lü Qingqing said, catching up to Hu Jia, who looked furious.
"Then tell me how those three policemen appeared? Where did their uniforms come from?" Hu Jia thought about it and could only attribute Luo Wenwu's disappearance to the blade bearers.
"Is it that hard to get three police uniforms? Think about it, with Wenwu's skills, three men might not be able to subdue him. But he's still tied up now, which means there were more than just three people at the scene." Li Qingqing wasn't afraid of Hu Jia arguing with Qiao Huali; she was afraid Hu Jia would lose his judgment in his anger.
Hearing this, Hu Jia finally calmed down a little.
"That's right, boss. Those residents all said many people surrounded them, but after it was over, there seemed to be fewer people. It looks like someone deliberately stirred things up, disguised as onlookers." Yu Yue also quickly advised.
"Indeed, what we need to do now is find the blade bearers' headquarters, locate Wenwu's whereabouts, and rescue him when the opportunity arises," Ouyang Wen also advised. He didn't want the recently eased relationship with Qiao Huali to crumble again.
"I know, but we don't know where the blade bearers' base is right now. What if Uncle Qiao knows something?" Hu Jia said.
Huh?
"You were in such a hurry to see Deputy Director Qiao just to ask this?" Guan Jinsong was stunned. He turned to look, and everyone had the same expression.
It seemed he wasn't the only one who had misunderstood.
"Yes, what else would I be doing?" Hu Jia asked, surprised.
Uh, nothing, nothing.
"But it probably won't help if you ask Uncle Qiao," Lü Qingqing mused. "If you were a blade bearer, would you tell a police officer your secrets? Even if he was coerced, even if he was bribed?"
Hmm.
Lü Qingqing's question hit the mark.
Everyone suddenly realized. That's right, who would reveal their secrets to someone who could betray them at any moment?
Hu Jia also frowned. He hadn't thought of this beforehand, but now, Lü Qingqing was right.
Among all the people controlled by the blade bearers in this police station, Qiao Huali was the least likely to know the blade bearers' headquarters.
Thinking this, Hu Jia felt a bit deflated. "What do we do next?"
"Don't forget, we have another objective."
"Which is?"
"The restaurant and the bookstore."
Right. Hu Jia smiled. How could he have forgotten these two places?
Ever since they discovered these places were blade bearer strongholds, they had been monitoring them. And the people sticking to these places didn't need to be suspected.
Because it was either Guan Jinsong, Zhan Ruoxuan, or Zhou Fengjiu.
"We've been taking turns monitoring these two places. We've observed two people appearing there. One is taller, and the other is more robust."
Zhou Fengjiu, who had spent the most time monitoring these locations, spoke first about her findings. "The taller one likes to go to the restaurant, and the more robust one likes to go to the bookstore."
"You suspect they're meeting privately?" Hu Jia carefully considered Zhou Fengjiu's words. "Is there any evidence?"
Zhou Fengjiu shook her head. "We haven't obtained any conclusive evidence yet. But we've noticed a suspicious pattern. These two people don't usually go to the bookstore and restaurant. But if one of them goes, the other will definitely show up."
I see.
If it was a coincidence once or twice, then three or four times was definitely planned.
"We previously suspected that these two places were connected by a secret passage through the walls, and it seems to be true now. So, my idea is to identify these two people, control one of them, and force them to reveal Wenwu's whereabouts. Even if the other person doesn't know, they might reveal something else."
Guan Jinsong picked up the conversation. They had initially planned to just grab one of the two and interrogate them, but they were afraid of alerting the enemy.
Because they needed to confirm who held a higher position between the two, as the person with higher status would know more.
If they alerted the enemy, the other party might abandon these two strongholds, making it difficult to find new ones later.
"Okay, I'll introduce you to someone. His name is Tang Deku, and he collects protection fees for the blade bearer organization." Hu Jia thought of Mou Jixuan's old friend. Hu Jia had approached him before, and they had reached a preliminary cooperation agreement. However, due to later business, and his poor memory, Hu Jia hadn't contacted him for a long time.
If Luo Wenwu hadn't been abducted by the blade bearers this time, Hu Jia wouldn't have flipped through his old notes and would have forgotten about this person.
Tang Deku?
When had Hu Jia planted a seed in the other party's eyes?
But, it wasn't important.
What was important was that this person could be helpful.
...
Meanwhile, on Zhan Ruoxuan's side, things seemed to be progressing smoothly.
He climbed over the courtyard wall and immediately saw the lit room. Beneath the window lattice, two dark shadows were flickering under the candlelight.
Zhan Ruoxuan quietly crept closer, climbed onto the roof, and lifted a tile. The two people below were Qi Ge and Master Gou.
"You're getting bolder and bolder. If that guy Lu Jiao sees you, it won't just be you who's in trouble, I'll be implicated too."
Judging by the conversation, Master Gou seemed to have some resentment towards Qi Ge.
"Hmph, just wait. That kid always ruins my plans. I'll kill him when I get the chance," Qi Ge said, full of indignation when he mentioned Lu Jiao.
"Forget it. I'm only in it for the money; I don't do killing," Master Gou repeatedly shook his head.
Qi Ge chuckled. "Enough about him. Come, look at the treasure I found today. This is a good piece of jade." As he spoke, Qi Ge took out a jade pendant from his怀, and Zhan Ruoxuan recognized it as the one he had pawned today.
Indeed, this person had a thief's heart.
It seemed that Master Gou was also an accomplice.
He took the jade pendant from Qi Ge and examined it repeatedly, rubbing it with his fingers a few times. "Hmm, it is indeed a good thing!"
Qi Ge smiled. "I told you so. How about it? Want to get in on this?"
Master Gou clicked his tongue twice, appearing hesitant. "This is difficult to do; the materials alone are hard to find."
"Hey, we're old friends. Why are you still playing games with me?" Qi Ge's mouth almost stretched to the back of his neck when he heard Master Gou wasn't refusing. "You take sixty, I'll take forty!"
Master Gou placed the jade pendant on the table. "It'll take some time. Are you sure you have enough time?"
Qi Ge patted his chest. "Absolutely. That kid said it's his family heirloom. If he wasn't desperate, he wouldn't have pawned it."
Master Gou nodded. Since it was a family heirloom and he was desperate, it was likely this item would eventually become a forfeited pledge.
Zhan Ruoxuan, lying on the rooftop, clenched his fists. These two actually thought of a substitution trick!
Clearly, they intended to use a fake to trick the real one. However, it was unclear whether this fake was meant to deceive him or to be used to deceive the pawnshop's true owner, Fang Guobin.
But no matter who it was targeted at, such oppression and deception could not be tolerated!
Seeing the two still murmuring inside, Zhan Ruoxuan moved swiftly out of the courtyard. Lu Jiao quickly stepped forward. "How was it? Any evidence?"
"Hmph! Get him!"