Li Yang sometimes wondered why he didn't just take down Tong Meng, Tong Hua, and the others, but Hu Jia and the others disagreed.
Although Little Shrimp was meat, if you cast your net, you would alert the big fish lurking in the dark.
If they ran, it would be harder to catch them again.
So Li Yang retreated. The Knife People's headquarters was not yet suitable for exposure.
Although Tong Meng found Li Yang's tactics disgusting, she was relieved to see that he did not pursue relentlessly.
But little did she know that all her actions were being noted by the other members of the second team following behind her.
The areas she went to, and deliberately avoided a certain direction, were all recorded.
This was indirect evidence of her connection to the Knife People. Otherwise, who could explain why she always managed to perfectly avoid the Knife People's territories?
...
Who could explain?
No one could.
Just like now, this group of guards had no explanation for where the Xie family woman got the sleeping potion that made them all pass out.
Facing the sudden appearance of Sixth Master, a group of people knelt on the ground, not daring to breathe.
This was a big shot, a big shot who could end their lives at any moment.
"A bunch of idiots!" Qiao Huali was furious. He knew why Xie Xi had been a little out of control these past two days.
First, the murder case was inexplicably reopened. Then Li Yang appeared out of nowhere, but Xie Xi's reaction suggested he wasn't surprised.
At that time, Qiao Huali had wondered if he had known about Li Yang's return long ago.
Later, when Tong Meng mentioned Li Yang's peculiarities, Qiao Huali had intended to transfer Li Yang to another patrol team. But Xie Xi had intentionally or unintentionally rejected his decision.
Therefore, Qiao Huali had come today.
He had originally intended to have a good chat with Xie Xi's wife, as a wife's influence was the most powerful.
But what they didn't expect was that this influence had long since vanished like a wisp of smoke.
"Boss, we really sent people to look. Not only the whole city is searching, but the entire road back to Chongqing has been monitored," the guard was still explaining, but Qiao Huali had no desire to listen further.
Only a fool would take the main road.
Yes, only a fool would take the main road. Luo Wenwu was clearly not a fool.
After rescuing Xie Xi's wife and child, Luo Wenwu hurried out of the city with the two of them.
He knew that dragging along a woman, especially a five-year-old child, would eventually lead to their pursuers catching up.
Therefore, he chose as many secluded paths as possible along the way. According to his plan, he would find a village to hide in and wait for the storm to pass before escaping safely.
Now, they had been hiding in Jiuru Town for six days. Luo Wenwu calculated that in another two days, he would hail a cargo ship and hitch a ride.
But at the dock, he saw two familiar figures. Not that he knew the two people, but he recognized the sabers hanging from their waists.
Had the Knife People tracked them to the town so quickly?
Upon closer inspection, it didn't seem like it. The two were talking to some fishermen by the shore, and one of them was gesturing.
Perhaps he was describing height.
Seeing this, Luo Wenwu immediately realized that the Knife People had not found his trail on the main road and were now monitoring the waterways.
It seemed difficult to take a boat back to Chongqing.
Luo Wenwu frowned and turned to leave.
...
Cold Flower.
At first, Ouyang Wen didn't react.
But then he seemed to realize something, "I know what place it is."
Ouyang Wen said that Hu Jia had been sick back then, and Hu Shilong had taken Ouyang Wen to pick water pepper. As a result, Ouyang Wen slipped and slid down the slope onto a large rock by the water.
This large rock was likely an extension of the mountain, and it was as large as a bed.
At this point, everyone's mind immediately formed an image.
They also remembered the large rock, which was not far from the waterfall.
It was covered in moss.
It was like a mattress inserted into the mountain, completely exposed to view.
"That rock doesn't look like a place where something could be hidden," Guan Jinsong had a very deep impression of that rock. It looked like an ordinary terrace, and he couldn't find anything unusual about it.
"Yes, it's just a rock. I don't know what could be hidden there," Ouyang Wen said with a grave expression. "But I'm very sure that the Cold Flower Uncle Hu mentioned is there."
Ouyang Wen said that after he fell from the giant rock, he saw a small white flower growing between the rock and the mountain's crevices.
Because he was scared, he was anxious. To calm him down and stop him from being afraid, Hu Shilong told him that the flower was called Cold Flower, and anyone fortunate enough to find it would never go hungry or cold again in their life.
"Does such a thing as a Cold Flower really exist?" Hu Jia subconsciously asked, as these were his father's words.
"It was just an unknown wild flower, but at that time, it was the Cold Flower." Ouyang Wen's eyes still sparkled as he recounted this past event.
Yes, everything in youth was so memorable. For a child with no parents, Hu Shilong was that Cold Flower, who kept him from hunger and cold, and filled him with hope for the future.
"Brother!" Hu Jia softly called out to Ouyang Wen and patted his shoulder.
Some emotions did not need words; a simple pat on the shoulder was understood by everyone.
After listening to Ouyang Wen, the others looked at each other. This answer was beyond their wildest expectations.
All along, they had thought that the place where things were hidden would be a secluded spot, a mysterious cave in a mountain ravine, or buried deep in the earth.
But now, Ouyang Wen told them that it was the only possibility, which shocked them greatly.
Hu Shilong couldn't have just left things openly on the terrace, could he?
Exposing it to the air, wasn't he afraid it would spoil?
"Perhaps it has spoiled. Otherwise, why don't we see anything on the terrace?" Zhan Ruoxuan said speechlessly.
Uh, the others were even more speechless.
"No matter what, we have to go to that place again. Perhaps my father left some clues on that stone platform."
"Yes, maybe he carved a message," Guan Jinsong guessed.
"Or maybe he dug a hole," Zhan Ruoxuan added.
Uh, everyone scorned him.
Come on, you try it, you try digging a hole in this stone.
After discussing the Cold Flower, Ouyang Wen naturally moved on to introduce Wei Xiumei's case.
"Looking at it this way, Yao Jiyan clearly found a scapegoat to take the blame at the time."
"Yes, it's a shame that Yu Qianning has already been shot. There's no third party to verify this matter now."
The most frustrating thing about this whole case was that there were three parties involved, but two of them were dead.
There was no possibility of even confronting someone.
"So what? As long as the truth of the matter is not revealed, we will find the real killer," Hu Jia hated miscarriages of justice the most, especially those fabricated intentionally.
He couldn't rest until he uncovered the true culprit in the Wei Xiumei case.
Not only for the deceased, but also for Yu Qianning, who was wrongly executed.
"And Qiao Huali, how many years has he been in the Knife People organization?"
"I suspect at least five or six years, possibly even ten."
Ouyang Wen recounted what happened after Liang Yingzhang woke up. Hu Jia's face turned ashen after listening.
"So, you suspect that my father's death is related to him?"