Hu Jia felt a bit weary. He had initially thought that after escaping, he could reveal the truth of everything.
Tong Meng was the mole!
Dao Ren was the mastermind!
Sixth Master was the prime mover!
And that key, the four sentences left by his father, the cause of the murder, the direction of the case…
Hu Jia wanted to take it all out.
But just now, Tong Meng had told him that his memory would be wiped clean at midnight tonight.
In an instant, Hu Jia was stunned.
No wonder Sixth Master and Tong Meng had confidently said they would let him go, no wonder they appeared before him without any hesitation. It turned out he was just a temporary memory vessel.
"You go out..." Hu Jia said sternly.
Tong Meng closed the door casually. "I know it's hard on you. I'll give you some time."
Watching Tong Meng sway out, the color drained from Hu Jia's face.
He could already feel the dizziness. It seemed the sleeping pills were starting to take effect.
No, he couldn't just fall asleep like this.
He had to leave something behind for this week.
Hu Jia looked around. Since Sixth Master knew his abilities, there was nothing superfluous in the room, let alone any sharp objects.
There were only ropes and boxes.
However, there was now one more thing: the orange peel that Tong Meng had just peeled.
What could that be used for?
Hu Jia thought for a moment and moved towards the table.
Damn it, just one more meter, and the rope tying him had been pulled completely taut.
Hu Jia leaned back, extending his toes, and finally managed to scrape off a piece of orange peel.
Then he moved the orange peel back in front of him and picked it up.
He brought it to his nose and sniffed. A pungent aroma immediately assailed him, which somewhat lessened his urge to sleep.
But this wasn't a solution. The smell of the orange peel would fade eventually, and he would still fall asleep.
The orange peel he played with in his hand gradually lost its scent.
...
"Speak, in what way have I treated you poorly? You actually colluded with Dao Ren?" Ouyang Wen slammed the table, his angry roar audible through several offices.
"Captain Wen, believe me, I am truly framed." Gao Liang looked terrified. He had no doubt that the enraged Ouyang Wen would punch him.
"Framed? Explain! Why were you at the Yuqian Teahouse this afternoon?"
"Someone messaged me saying they saw Captain Hu there."
"Who sent the message? How was it sent?"
"As I was passing by the teahouse, I heard someone say Captain Hu was inside. I didn't think much of it and went in immediately."
"Absurd! If you're going to lie, at least come up with a better reason. This is the kind of lie that would make ghosts cry about wasted offerings!"
"It's true, Captain Wen, I didn't lie. I was set up."
Everyone in the criminal investigation team gathered together. At first, they were also shocked that Gao Liang was a traitor, but as Captain Hu presented the evidence, they began to waver.
It was that operation schedule. After Captain Hu returned to the police station and reported the mission failure, they discovered that the raid time requested by the Municipal Bureau was 1 PM, but the operation schedule stated 4 PM.
Upon comparison, it was discovered that someone had added a stroke to the '1', turning it into a '4'.
And this schedule was on Gao Liang's desk, the one right next to the phone. The only person who had access to this operation schedule was Gao Liang, because he was the one who obtained it from the judicial department.
If the notice from the judicial department itself was flawed and written incorrectly, then why were you at the Yuqian Teahouse at 1 PM? If not to deliver a message, then what?
"Also, when I wrote the application to reopen the shooting case, you were the only one who handled my application form. Later, when the key figure Feng Si was exposed, how do you explain that?"
Facing Ouyang Wen's questioning, Gao Liang was speechless.
Of course, this was not considered substantial evidence, so Ouyang Wen only reprimanded Gao Liang and then dismissively waved him away.
Gao Liang sat slumped in his chair, filled with frustration and resentment.
...
"How is it?"
"He's already been put in the car. He'll be at the Municipal Bureau entrance in a few minutes."
"Hmm. I hope he does me proud this time and finds that key for me."
"But he's about to lose his memory. He won't remember anything about the key."
"No, you underestimate him. He will definitely find a way to bring back information about the key."
Tang Yin Ge couldn't understand why Sixth Master was so confident that Hu Jia would bring back news of the key, but he wholeheartedly supported everything Sixth Master did.
Because Sixth Master was incredibly brilliant, always controlling the overall situation from behind the scenes.
Ever since Hu Jia lost his memory five years ago, the search for the key had been interrupted. For years, the Dao Ren organization had been looking for the key without success.
But half a year ago, a girl named Lü Qing Qing appeared.
This gave Sixth Master hope. With his orchestrated "suicide" pushing things forward, Lü Qing Qing gradually integrated into Hu Jia's circle. She helped Hu Jia and Ouyang Wen reconcile. Sixth Master believed that with these two brothers working together, they could find the key.
And the Li Zhen Hui father and son, someone who should have been long forgotten, Sixth Master had directly killed him, indirectly prompting Lü Qing Qing to investigate the shooting case.
And Feng Si, his hiding place had long been discovered by Sixth Master, but Sixth Master had taken no action until this outdoor training exercise, where he finally used Hu Jia to force Feng Si to reveal himself. Feng Si's appearance, to a great extent, propelled the case forward.
But later, Sixth Master realized that Lü Qing Qing and Ouyang Wen did not seem to have told Hu Jia about the investigation into the shooting case, which troubled him.
If he wanted to find the key, how could he do it without Hu Jia? After all, once the key was found, there were still those four sentences that Hu Jia needed to decipher.
Thus, Sixth Master set up the trap in Huayan Village. In this trap, it would be best to eliminate the Wang brothers, but if not, it was fine as long as they could pass on the key information of "the key."
But things went smoother than Sixth Master had anticipated. Hu Jia was granted a week of "freedom." This week not only allowed Sixth Master to figure out that the key was with Wang Xia, but also to use Hu Jia's "clarity" to make him understand the importance of the "key."
As long as Hu Jia knew about the existence of the "key," he would definitely find a way to get the message out.
Next, all he had to do was wait for Hu Jia to find the key, and he would be the mantis behind the cicada.
...
The car wheels stopped. The Municipal Police Station was 500 meters ahead.
Tong Hua opened the car door, about to throw Hu Jia out, but Tong Meng stopped his hand.
Tong Hua snorted, "What? Don't want to leave after a week? I guess so. After this separation, you probably won't have many chances to see him again."
Tong Meng ignored him. She simply brushed Hu Jia's cheek, recalling the bits and pieces of their time together over the past week. Although Hu Jia had never smiled at her in these memories, she was still content.
She remembered feeding him, giving him water, peeling oranges for him…
If only it could always be like this.
Tong Meng's eyes moistened slightly. She lowered her head and kissed Hu Jia's cheek fiercely.
Looking at the bright red lipstick mark, Tong Meng smiled. "This is a memento from me. At least for the next few days, you'll still carry my scent. Trust me, it will make your life more interesting."