The Frustrated Prisoner

If he could, he would indeed prefer that all of this was just Jiang Hang making things up, so that he wouldn't have to worry about his two old classmates having murderous intent towards him.

He was concerned about his two old classmates, but they were now focused on figuring out how to pin the blame on him most effectively.

Just over ten minutes later, Jiang Hang saw the two people who had driven to the vicinity of the cabin through Altair's shared vision.

"They're coming. You probably won't see him again for the next ten or twenty years. If there's anything you want to say to them, you can take this opportunity to talk to them one last time."

As Jiang Hang said this, Takehiko Muto's expression became even more complicated.

And he did indeed vaguely hear the sound of a car nearby.

The sound of cars was still quite noticeable deep in the mountains on a winter night.

Upon hearing this sound, Takehiko Muto visibly became restless.

After a while, no one came to knock on the door, Takehiko Muto himself wanted to go over and find out what was going on outside.

"Don't worry, they're probably discussing how to deal with you right now. They probably thought you were asleep, which is why they came over like this."

"They're probably a bit confused to see that the light in your room is still on."

"I think they're probably planning to come knocking on the door now."

Jiang Hang pointed to the door.

Three seconds later, a dull knocking sounded on the door.

Takehiko Muto turned around in shock to look at Jiang Hang.

Is this the intuition of a master detective? How could he time things so precisely?

Jiang Hang gestured for Takehiko Muto to open the door.

Takehiko Muto gritted his teeth, and when the second knocking sounded, accompanied by Shogo Hikawa's voice, which he hadn't heard for years, calling out "It's me," he still stood up.

He wanted to see what his two old classmates were planning to do to him.

Under the snowstorm, Takehiko Muto opened the door and saw Shogo Hikawa Keisuke Yamao in front of him.

His heart sank. Before he could speak, Shogo Hikawa, who was standing at the door, asked him with a smile.

"Muto, why aren't you asleep yet at this hour?"

Shogo Hikawa tugged at Keisuke Yamao, seemingly noticing other people in the room, and then explained his purpose.

"We couldn't sleep last night, so we drove around the neighborhood to clear our heads. We happened to see that your light was still on, so we thought we'd come over and chat. Hope we didn't disturb your work?"

Chapter 584: The Prisoner's Frustration

It appears that there is no murderous intent on Shogo Hikawa's face.

It was as if they had just happened to be wandering around outside at this particular time and ended up here.

Then Shogo Hikawa pointed to Jiang Hang, who was still sitting in the room.

"Hey, Muto, is anyone still at your house?"

Their original plan was to plant the bomb near Takehiko Muto's house while he was sleeping, then find a way to create some clues at the scene that would point to Takehiko Muto when the explosion occurred, and finally detonate both bombs together, leaving no evidence to prove anything.

As soon as they arrived, they saw that Takehiko Muto's cabin was still brightly lit, disrupting their plans.

What's more troublesome is that after they knocked on Takehiko Muto's door, they found another stranger they had never seen before in his house.

It seems that Takehiko Muto was talking to this stranger about something before they arrived?

Immediately, both Shogo Hikawa and Keisuke Yamao became slightly more vigilant.

They're staying up all night, moving bombs here to retrieve their treasure.

But what could Takehiko Muto possibly have to talk to anyone about at this hour?

When asked this question, Takehiko Muto was a little nervous and didn't really know how to explain Jiang Hang to them.

Are you expecting him to say that this is Japan's most famous detective, and that he's here to arrest you?

Takehiko Muto would never say such a thing.

It was at this moment that Jiang Hang stood up and nodded to the two people outside the door.

"Hello, I'm Jiang Hang, and I'm currently a detective."

"Detective?" Shogo Hikawa's expression suddenly changed.

After all, they were doing these shady things, and the sudden appearance of a detective would naturally cause him to be a little flustered.

Moreover, they seemed to have heard the name Jiang Hang somewhere before, but the impression wasn't very deep.

After all, they've been busy with jewelry for the past six months, so how could they have had time to learn about other things?

Keisuke Yamao sneakily reached into his pocket, where Shogo Hikawa had previously used a stun gun for self-defense.

They had already divided up the tasks: Shogo Hikawa go up first to catch up with old friends, and then Keisuke Yamao would find an opportunity to knock Takehiko Muto unconscious.

This is naturally the safest approach.

They left a few guns in their car, but neither Shogo Hikawa nor Keisuke Yamao wanted to use them if possible, as any traces left at the scene would be difficult to clean up.

"Hey, Muto, what are you doing secretly hiring a detective at home late at night?" Shogo Hikawa asked, trying to keep his tone calm.

Jiang Hang then took over the conversation with a serious expression.

"I was invited by my client to investigate the habitat of organisms near Kitazawa Village and the breeding status of some rare fish after the dam was built in Kitazawa Village."

"Huh?" The people present were all a little confused when they heard Jiang Hang's words.

Even Takehiko Muto didn't immediately understand what Jiang Hang was talking about.

Jiang Hang spoke calmly and professionally, explaining to them whether the construction of the Kitazawa Dam had resulted in any ecological imbalance over the years.

"What's the point of this?" Shogo Hikawa forced a smile, wondering why his old classmate suddenly wanted to investigate this.

"After all, these incidents demonstrate the impact of the dam on the ecological environment surrounding Kitazawa Village. If enough evidence can be presented, although it seems difficult to persuade the local government to dismantle the dam at present, it may be possible to secure some compensation and support for the residents of Kitazawa Village."

"However, at present, I still have some disagreements with Mr. Muto about this matter. Before you came, I was trying to persuade Mr. Muto about these things."

Upon hearing this, Shogo Hikawa's gaze toward Takehiko Muto became even stranger.

No wonder this guy was acting so furtively; it turns out he really hadn't given up on the idea of dismantling the dam.

However, he and Keisuke Yamao exchanged a glance, both feeling that this seemed to be more advantageous to their situation.

See? Takehiko Muto is so obsessed with dismantling the dam that he's even thinking of hiring a detective to help investigate these seemingly unrelated things.

It seems that Takehiko Muto is desperate to find a reason to dismantle the dam, but he finds that even hiring a detective doesn't help.

Wouldn't that further prove that the other party would stop at nothing to dismantle the dam?

Thinking of this, Shogo Hikawa, secretly pleased, went over to comfort Takehiko Muto, telling him that so many years had passed and he shouldn't dwell on such things anymore.

It would have been better if he hadn't brought this up; once he did, Takehiko Muto, who had been able to keep his composure, immediately lost his composure.

He snorted heavily and then shook off the other person's hand.

"I don't need someone like you to comfort me."

"Back then, your family was the first to agree to the construction of the dam, and you even took the compensation money and ran off to Tokyo."

"Who knows what you're up to by coming to our village every day after you went to Tokyo?"

Shogo Hikawa's expression immediately turned somewhat annoyed, and at the same time somewhat embarrassed.

All these years he's been running back to Kitazawa Village just to sneak around Keisuke Yamao and find out the location of those jewels.

Who could have imagined that the other party had hidden it so deeply? Now even Keisuke Yamao himself can't get it out. He can only try to blow up the dam first, release the water, and then he can get those jewels out.

Although Keisuke Yamao himself may be aware of this, it is still somewhat embarrassing for a bystander like Takehiko Muto to bring it up directly.

"Hmph, I've said it so many times. When the dam was built, we didn't have much room for negotiation. Getting a generous compensation was already the limit. You have to be pragmatic."

"Isn't the situation in Kitazawa Village quite good now? Oh, it's much wealthier than before. Otherwise, how could you stay here peacefully as a woodcarver?"

"You might as well do as the detective suggested and have him investigate and find out some useful results first, and then ask for some extra compensation. That way, the other villagers will be more grateful to you."

As he mocked Takehiko Muto, hearing these harsh words and recalling what Jiang Hang had said earlier—that the two of them had come to kill him and then caused him trouble— Takehiko Muto's eyes couldn't help but turn red.

He disregarded the current situation and immediately raised his fist, wanting to teach these two guys a lesson.

Seeing how reckless Takehiko Muto was, Jiang Hang gently rubbed his head.

This guy is just too straightforward.

They came here to kill you in the first place. If you make a move now, aren't you just giving them another chance?

Sure enough, the moment he made his move, Keisuke Yamao, who was standing behind Shogo Hikawa, also made his move immediately.

Now, after eight years of tempering in the prison—a microcosm of society far more brutal than reality—he is far more ruthless than he was eight years ago.

He immediately pulled out a stun gun, intending to subdue Takehiko Muto first.

As for that so-called famous detective?

Let's just take them all down together.

Anyway, we can just pin the blame on that idiot Takehiko Muto.

If you have someone to blame, blame yourself for coming here and taking on this commission.

As Keisuke Yamao thought this, Takehiko Muto delivered a heavy punch to Shogo Hikawa's bespectacled face, which gave off a refined yet monstrous vibe.

Meanwhile, on Keisuke Yamao, a sharp, intense pain also came from the wrist of the hand holding the stun gun.

He stared in astonishment ahead.

All he saw was a hand casually gripping his wrist.

The owner of that hand was the detective with a slight smile on his face.

"This afternoon, when I overheard my client talking about you, he already hinted that he really wanted to give Mr. Bingchuan a good beating. I didn't expect you to come looking for me tonight. Isn't this just offering yourself up to get beaten up?"

"So let them resolve their long-standing conflict themselves. Isn't it a bit too hasty of you to use a stun gun right off the bat?"

"I've been in prison for eight years. Hasn't anyone taught you these things in prison?"

Upon hearing this, Keisuke Yamao felt a sense of unease.

When Shogo Hikawa came up and knocked on the door, he had already announced their identities, so it wasn't surprising that Jiang Hang recognized them.

However, Jiang Hang immediately revealed that he had spent eight years in prison.

Even though it was Takehiko Muto who brought it up, the other party's current appearance suggests that he knows more than just that about me.

Who exactly is this detective named Jiang Hang?

"Who are you?" Feeling the increasing force on his wrist, he couldn't bear the pain any longer and his fingers involuntarily loosened, dropping the stun gun to the ground.

"Didn't we just say that? Or has your memory deteriorated from being in prison for so long?"

Jiang Hang released the other person's wrist, then picked up the stun gun and introduced himself to the other person again.

"I am Jiang Hang, and I am currently a detective."

"However, I can explain in a little more detail."

"Besides that, I am also an advisor to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, and this morning I received an invitation from the Governor of Hokkaido to attend a road opening ceremony, where I was almost blown up by a bomb."

Seeing that Keisuke Yamao's expression was becoming increasingly incredulous, Jiang Hang continued, "Well, it was almost there, really only by that little bit."

Jiang Hang made a gesture that said "a hundred million".

"It's a pity you were unlucky enough to run into me. You must have been incredibly frustrated when you realized you were frantically pressing the remote control but nothing was happening, and you watched the train leave the tunnel."

Keisuke Yamao's eyes widened.

How did they even know these things?!

And how was the other party able to find out so quickly?

It all happened this morning, so why did the other side pinpoint Kitazawa Village so quickly?

Why would the other party appear in Takehiko Muto's room now? Did they already know that they were coming to kill him and frame Takehiko Muto?

But how could that be?

Where exactly did we slip up that allowed the other side to track us down in such a short time?

Is the other person really just one person?