Which Side Is Huang Yuxian On?

"Director Li, we can discuss other things, but please don't make things difficult for me on matters of principle. The information on the two Pro War is top secret, and I don't have much access to it to begin with. You're asking me to leak information to you; isn't that just making things difficult for me?"

Li Banfeng, holding his teacup, said, "So, you're saying there's no room for discussion?"

"There's really no way to discuss this."

"Then let's talk another day." Li Banfeng served tea to see Shen Jingye off, Shen Jingye got up and left.

Back in his office, Shen Jingye felt uneasy.

I didn't help Li Qi today, so it might be a bit troublesome if I need his help in the future.

But then I thought again, I can't let Li Qi be so willful just because I need his help, and I can't just agree to whatever he says so easily.

Distance yourself from him for two days and don't contact him. Li Qi is a smart man and should be able to understand the stakes here.

"Director Li, I'm sorry to bother you so late."

"Little Shen, what happened?" Li Banfeng yawned on the other end of the phone.

"Here's the situation: a case has occurred at the Song Immortal Hotel in Cloud Embroidery District. More than ten Dark Energy User have taken a guest hostage in room 2509. The situation is extremely critical."

"What is the background of these Dark Energy User?"

"It cannot be confirmed at the moment, but based on preliminary assessments, Birch Hermit Association."

"So it was a revenge operation. Who were the kidnapped guests?"

Shen Jingye adjusted his position, not wanting too many people to hear about this. "Based on preliminary assessment, it should be one of our superiors, Director Guan Zhengyang."

No wonder Shen Jingye called so late; this operation couldn't afford any mistakes.

"This situation is a bit complicated. What conditions did the kidnappers demand?"

"After initial communication, their condition was the release of the two imprisoned elders of the Birch Hermit Association."

"This is a bit tricky."

"Director Li, look over here—"

"Little Shen, please be careful." Li Banfeng hung up the phone.

Shen Jingye stood silently in the cold wind for a moment, a smile on his face, and then spoke, "Director Li, thank you for your help. I will seriously consider your suggestion. Yes, yes, I will consider it —————"

He knew Li Qi had already hung up the phone, but he continued talking while standing there to cover up his embarrassment.

Many eyes were watching him, and many people were waiting for news of Li Qi.

Shen Jingye hung up the phone and said to Chen Changrui, "Director Li is not in Yuezhou and cannot come to the site tonight. Tell everyone to proceed with the work according to the normal plan."

Chen Changrui looked at Shen Jingye, wanting to know what the "normal plan" meant.

Shen Jingye didn't want to pay attention to Chen Changrui; the normal solution was to have no solution at all.

Does this mean the problem can't be solved without a solution?

The Public Security Team has handled this type of case many times. Just follow the normal procedures. What difference does it make whether Li Qi comes or not?

Chen Changrui gave orders to each group to take their positions, maintain communication with the kidnappers, and not to take any action on their own.

Shen Jingye frowned and said, "Old Chen, is this how you handle cases?"

Chen Changrui remained silent. He was no longer the Team Leader of the Public Security Team. Although he was in charge of the Public Security Team's work, he should not be the one to propose the action plan.

According to normal procedures, the plan should be proposed by the newly Public Security Team Ji Shoulin, and after his initial review, Shen Jingye should make the final decision.

Ji Shoulin lacked experience and clearly couldn't come up with an action plan at this point.

If it were anyone else, Chen Changrui would definitely lend a hand, but since the hostage is Director Guan, the situation is somewhat special.

Even the slightest mistake could lead to unimaginable responsibility; Chen Changrui had similar experiences.

Every member of the Public Security Team was smart; they all took their positions and waited for the Team Leader's instructions.

The Team Leader awaited instructions from the bureau chief.

Shen Jingye originally wanted to communicate with the kidnappers in person, but the kidnappers gave him a gift first.

They cut off Guan Zhengyang's ear and threw it out the window.

The Public Security Team handed the ear to Shen Jingye Shen Jingye, who looked at it calmly.

Unrest is also unacceptable, as any subsequent action could have serious consequences.

Everyone present realized this, Chen Changrui remained silent, and the new Team Leader also stopped speaking.

The newly promoted squad Team Leader, Mijian and Tangyuan, wanted to offer some suggestions, but now they dared not speak.

Crabapple, who were waiting to launch a surprise attack, focused their attention on Shen Jingye. At this moment, Shen Jingye's attitude was more important than the kidnappers' attitude.

Of course, some team members didn't care about the situation of either side.

He Chuunibyou feeling a bit sleepy, so he just wanted to finish the task as soon as possible and go back to sleep.

The Light Bulb focused all its attention on its position; it didn't want to take unnecessary risks or take on extra responsibility.

The kidnapper sent another message, and if he didn't receive a reply within five minutes, he would send Shen Jingye a gift.

The situation was extremely critical, but fortunately, Shen Jingye had experienced many trials and tribulations and quickly came up with a next step of countermeasures.

He dialed the number.

"Director Li, we are true friends."

How real is it?

"I will never hesitate to do what I can."

"Alright, let's not mince words."

Before long, Li Banfeng arrived downstairs at the hotel. The Light Bulb couldn't help but laugh, "Didn't you just say Seventh Master wasn't in Yuezhou?"

Tangyuan was very excited and told his men to prepare for action.

After getting a general understanding of the situation, Li Banfeng picked up the walkie-talkie and began to deploy tactics.

"Awl, go in and rescue them in a bit."

"Begonia, provide backup from behind."

"Tangyuan, guard the stairwell."

"Wotou, guard the stairs."

"Huajia, keep an eye on all the windows, don't let them jump out and escape."

"Light Bulb, if they run away, take your team members and chase after them."

"Chuunibyou, I'm assigning you two men. If the pursuit by the Light Bulb becomes difficult, lead the others to assist in intercepting it."

The Chuunibyou syndrome) was no longer sleepy and immediately discussed the positioning with the Light Bulb.

We need to act quickly. The fact that Director Li has arrived means a fight is about to begin.

The task itself is not difficult; the difficulty lies in who can handle the consequences if something goes wrong.

Now someone capable of handling things has arrived.

Li Banfeng didn't use the door; instead, he used his Unimpeded Travel through the wall and enter the building. Not only did the kidnappers not see him, but even the Dark Star Bureau personnel didn't notice.

He quickly went up to the 25th floor via the stairwell and entered room 2507.

He walked through the wall from room 2507 to room 2528, where Li Banfeng stood by the wall.

Guan Zhengyang was in the next room, Li Banfeng could hear him crying.

Li Banfeng pressed the power button on the walkie-talkie twice, which meant a countdown of twenty seconds.

Looking at his watch, fifteen seconds passed. Li Banfeng passed through the wall, drew his sickle, and silently killed the two kidnappers standing by the wall.

Then he started walking, went to the side, and killed two more kidnappers.

This time, the kidnappers spotted Li Banfeng rushed to his side.

Twenty seconds passed, and Cone and Crabapple rushed upstairs from downstairs and opened the door to room 2529 with the room key provided by the hotel.

There were many people in the room, all fighting against Li Qi.

Awl has only one task: he doesn't need to help Li Qi, he only needs to rescue the hostages.

There are three guards around the hostage, so the awl must move quickly.

He cut off the hand hanging from the headboard, picked up Guan Zhengyang, and threw it to the Crabapple by the door.

Crabapple handed Guan Zhengyang over to her subordinates, and then, together with Zhuizi, they blocked the kidnappers from escaping.

Li Banfeng withdrew from the battlefield. The fighting strength of this group of Lavsha People wasn't high, but it was still passable.

Although there are no clear levels or sects, their combat strength is equivalent to that of Dark Energy User between the third and sixth levels, making them very suitable for honing the combat capabilities of the Public Security Team.

Surrounded by Awl and Crabapple, only three kidnappers managed to escape the room; the rest were captured.

These three kidnappers are quite powerful. One of them has a fighting style similar to that of a martial arts practitioner and is outstanding in combat. The other two are close to that of Travel Cultivator and are excellent in action.

Tangyuan was lying in ambush in the stairwell, was ready and led his men to stop the three kidnappers.

If Tangyuan were to use an Ink Counting and Line Following at this moment, Li Banfeng would have Shen Jingye transfer her away from the Public Security Team.

Tangyuan has a team of over a dozen members. Given their overwhelming numerical advantage, if Tangyuan continues with indiscriminate attacks, then she is indeed unsuitable for the front lines.

Fortunately, Tangyuan didn't make a foolish choice. She shouted angrily at the kidnappers, "I'm unarmed!"

This technique is very deceptive; the kidnappers thought they were using Shared Script, Shared Rules Technique, meaning they wanted the two sides to fight hand-to-hand.

But for martial arts practitioners, being unarmed and fighting hand-to-hand are two different things; they can simply grab a wooden stick...

They can all be transformed into top-tier weapons.

But the three kidnappers were wrong; Tangyuan didn't mean unarmed, she meant completely defenseless.

She didn't use the Shared Script, Shared Rules, but rather a single phrase became a tacit understanding.

After becoming a scholar, Tangyuan became very proficient in both of these techniques.

Using the technique, the belts of both the "martial arts kidnapper" and a "Travel Cultivator kidnapper" came off.

Because their belt buckles are made of iron.

Their belts came off and their pants fell loose, severely hindering their movements. After a brief struggle, the two kidnappers were apprehended on the spot.

The remaining "Travel Cultivator kidnapper" was wearing sweatpants without a belt. He rushed into the stairwell and, after a brief struggle, was captured by Wotou.

The battle lasted for a little over three minutes from start to finish.

The Light Bulb was still complaining about the Chuunibyou: "I told you you didn't need to worry about it. With Seventh Master here, no one can escape."

"It's better to be prepared than not; we can't afford to hold others back."

Li Banfeng stood by the window, quietly observing everyone's actions.

If it weren't Guan Zhengyang who was kidnapped, the Public Security Team could have completed the mission quickly even if Li Qi hadn't come.

They have grown, not only because of the help provided by Li Banfeng, but also because of the changes made by Shen Jingye, especially the changes in their roles and their Harmonizing Agent.

Even though they did such a great job, there were still people who were dissatisfied, Guan Zhengyang was particularly dissatisfied.

Because he lost an ear.

This kid's tough; he can handle the pain. After a quick treatment of his wound, he didn't go to the hospital immediately. Instead, he started yelling at Shen Jingye, "What kind of attitude is this? What kind of work style is this? What kind of competence do you have? Is this how you guarantee the safety of the hostages? If I hadn't remained calm and restrained, would I still be standing here talking to you?!"

Li Banfeng nodded and said, "It's good that he can still talk. Take him to the station for questioning."

Guan Zhengyang flew into a rage. "Investigate who? Investigate me? What right do you have to investigate me?"

Li Banfeng said, "You have a residence in Yuezhou City, so why are you staying in a hotel at this time? Can you give me a reasonable explanation?"

"Why should I explain this to you? Do you even have the right?" This is indeed a difficult matter to explain.

All Guan Zhengyang can do now is throw a tantrum.

But Li Qi wasn't buying it. "If we can't explain it here, we'll have to go back to the station to explain. Get him in the car."

"What right do you have? I'm a victim, I need medical attention, I need a doctor! I want my ear put back in..."

Guan Zhengyang was taken to the Dark Star Bureau in a car.

Shen Jingye was a little embarrassed. "His ear really needs to be reattached quickly, otherwise it might be lost."

Li Banfeng laughed and said, "Little Shen, we're true friends, don't forget about this."

Shen Jingye understood what Li Banfeng meant. "I'll bring some documents to see you tomorrow morning."

The next morning, Shen Jingye first had the surveillance cameras turned off before entering Li Banfeng's office.

"Director Li, have you heard? A serious situation has occurred in Thousand Liang Workshop, Pro State. More than 100,000 people died overnight, and the cause is still under investigation!"

Li Qi lowered his eyes and said, "I don't need you to tell me the news from Pro State. What I need is information about the Pro War."

Shen Jingye tried to change the subject but failed, so he could only take out the document bag.

Li Banfeng took the document bag; inside were only three pages of paper.

"That's it?" Li Banfeng was furious. "Is your Director Guan only worth these three pages?"

Shen Jingye gestured for Li Banfeng to lower his voice. "You really don't know how much risk I have to take for these three pages!"

Li Banfeng opened the three pages, which were photocopies of the manuscript. The front side contained the original text, and the back side contained the translation.

Judging from the tone, it should be meeting minutes, but Li Banfeng didn't see the first page of the minutes.

The first page of the meeting minutes is crucial, as it contains a series of key information such as the meeting time, location, and attendees.

"Where did the first page of records go?"

Shen Jingye shook his head and said, "I can't get it. That page is beyond my viewing permissions. I can't even see it."

Li Banfeng flipped through the three pages of records. The first line contained a name: Nie Li'ai Shafu. The entire three pages were a record of his speech.

"Little Shen, did you deliberately intercept his speech?"

"It wasn't intentional. I only have this much access. I can only access information related to Nie Li'ai Shafu."

Li Banfeng glanced at the speech, which included the following passage:

"I listened carefully to your views. I didn't expect that there would still be people who disagree with the collaboration with Chernobog, or even consider it a disgrace. I would like to ask these people, what exactly is your concept of a disgrace?"

During Goncharova's interrogation, Li Banfeng arrived at a conclusion that in Lafsha's Land of Slumber, the pure-blooded Chernobog lineage were pure-blooded Inner State people.

The Birch Hermit Association chose to cooperate with the Inner State, and this short statement essentially revealed the positions of both sides in this war.

The Inner State and the Birch Hermit Association joined forces to oppose Pro State.

Huang Yuxian's opposition to the Birch Hermit Association proves that she is on Pro State's side.

Yao Lao also stood on the side of Pro State.

Knowing Huang Yuxian's stance, Li Banfeng felt much relieved and continued reading:

"No matter how much hatred Chernobog has for us, he is still a god who rules over a region. Gods have the right to rule us, but they have no obligation to treat us kindly. If we keep holding onto hatred, how can we face our common enemy?"

We must distinguish between primary and secondary contradictions, and prioritize tasks. Our greatest enemy at present is Pro State, precisely because their repeated unreasonable and arrogant provocations against the gods have led to the gods' harsher punishment of other lands.

Pro State is a truly perfect land; it has fields for farmers, grasslands for ranchers, factories for artisans, and bustling cities for merchants.

The gods bestowed this land upon Pro State, but the people of Pro State have not learned to be grateful and cherish it.

Take a close look and see what they've turned Pro State into.

They have no government agencies, no concept of law, and all order is controlled by Lineage and gangs. They don't even have a leader in the real sense!

Can you imagine? They had no king or leader! No one taught them how to think.

No one teaches them how to act, no one tells them how to think or how to do things. What is the point of their lives?

They had only one nominal leader, and absurdly, this nominal leader was a grocer! And look at those pitiful generals, the foolish and stubborn craftsmen, the short-sighted farmers, the incoherent drunkards, the homeless travelers, and the vulgar and filthy actors!

What right does this rabble have to disturb this land? What right do they have to be the masters of this land?

This land is a gift from the gods; we must abandon hatred and cherish this divine gift with grateful hearts!

The peddler selling groceries was Peddler.

Who is the craftsman?

Is the farmer Xu Han?

Is the drunkard who's talking nonsense referring to Yao Lao?

The actor was definitely referring to Huang Yuxian.

Who is this homeless traveler?

Li Banfeng returned the documents to Shen Jingye.

Shen Jingye breathed a sigh of relief.

If Li Banfeng refuses to give it to him, Shen Jingye can't do anything about it, but this information does indeed pose a great risk to Shen Jingye.

After putting away the documents, Shen Jingye said to Li Banfeng, "The information I can obtain is very limited, and the high-level archives you are looking for are not even in the Dark Star Bureau."

This was to show Li Banfeng the actual situation; this was all he could do.

Knowing this information should be enough.

In Li Banfeng's mind, the general outline of that war had already emerged.

That war overturned people's impressions of Pro State and their understanding of Pro State.

There are many places similar to Pro State, where people may still not understand how a disorganized Pro State could win that war.

Yes, the outcome of the war was definitely a victory for Pro State, otherwise the current Pro State would no longer exist. Li Banfeng did not know exactly how they won, but he could make some relatively reasonable inferences.

"Little Shen, will there be a third Pro War?"

Shen Jingye shook his head. "How would I know? Our position will definitely not change. We still hope to resolve the conflict peacefully."

As the two were talking, Shen Jingye's phone rang; it was Chen Changrui calling.

Shen Jingye usually restrains his emotions in front of Li Qi, but this time he couldn't.

"I told you guys at the beginning of the year to be wary of Gourd Village, and what did you all listen to? Tell those people in the investigation department that they're not getting their year-end bonuses this year!"

After hanging up the phone, Shen Jingye rubbed his forehead for a while, then looked up at Li Banfeng and said, "Gourd Village has opened, and more than a dozen people are trapped."

What is Gourd Village?

Li Banfeng had lived in Yuezhou for a long time, and he really didn't know there was a village in the city called Gourd Village.

Shen Jingye didn't know where to begin. "Gourd Village opens for one month each year, usually at the end of the year."

Their locations are unpredictable, making them a key target for prevention by local branch offices.

"Gourd Village opened its doors in Yuezhou today, and this place was completely unprepared. For something like this to happen on the headquarters' territory is laughable!"

"What does 'open for business' mean?"

Shen Jingye's words were rambling and incoherent, and Li Banfeng couldn't understand them at all.

"Let's talk about it on the way."

Li Qi laughed and said, "Little Shen, we're true friends."

Shen Jingye nodded. "Yes, my true friend, I owe you this. We'll settle it later."

The two traveled to Jiacheng District by car. Along the way, Shen Jingye kept receiving phone calls and didn't have a chance to explain the situation in Gourd Village to Li Banfeng.

The driver parked the car on Shunfu Road, in front of a pharmacy.

Once inside the pharmacy, the owner, Fang Dongchen, was describing the events of the incident. "That man often came to buy medicine from me, saying it was for his mother. That day, after he finished buying the medicine, he didn't go far. He stood at the entrance of my shop, looking inside through the glass door."

He always paid in cash. Once, I miscalculated the bill and gave him too little change. He stood at my door for several minutes after that.

This time I thought I had miscalculated again. We're doing honest business, we don't take advantage of people, so I even opened the door to take a look.

Every day around 3 PM, my door faces the sun directly, which is a bit dazzling. When I open the door, the person is gone in the blink of an eye.

Li Banfeng asked Shen Jingye, "Did you check the surveillance footage? Where did this person go?"

Shen Jingye first let Li Banfeng get into the car. Once inside, he turned off the surveillance equipment and said in a low voice, "We checked. According to the Shen Jingye footage, this person did enter the pharmacy, but in reality, he went into Gourd Village."

Li Banfeng couldn't understand. "What does this have to do with Gourd Village? According to his description, the other party might be an illusionist who created an illusion to deceive the landlady, or he might be a Travel Cultivator who walked too fast and the landlady didn't see him clearly."

Shen Jingye shook his head and said, "That's not how it is. The woman was inside the house at the time. She couldn't see the village. Gourd Village opened its entrance in front of her shop."

The two returned to the pharmacy, and Chen Changrui called over a taxi driver in his twenties. The driver described the situation again.

"When I passed by this pharmacy, I saw a man looking in my direction, as if he wanted to hail a taxi. So I stopped my car, turned around, and saw that the man wasn't moving to the side of the road; he was still looking back."

I wondered what he was looking at, so I rolled down the car window. Looking across at him, I saw two women dressed very scantily; their clothes barely covered much of their bodies.

The two women waved to him, and the man went inside. I could tell this wasn't a respectable place, so I quickly drove away.

The proprietress said from the side, "Comrades, don't listen to his nonsense. What do you mean it's not a good place?"

I'm a legitimate medicine seller; I have all the necessary licenses.

"I'm not making this up," the taxi driver shook his head. "I don't know if I was seeing things, but the man didn't go into a pharmacy."

Li Banfeng roughly understood.

After leaving the pharmacy, a man hailed a taxi. When he looked back, the pharmacy had changed its facade. Tempted, he wandered off into a different place.

Li Banfeng asked, "Where did the person involved go?"

Shen Jingye said, "He went missing. His family reported it to the police. The police checked the surveillance footage and videos. They finally tracked him down and found these two eyewitnesses. Only then did we realize that this matter was not simple."

The matter is not simple, but why must it be related to Gourd Village?

Shen Jingye asked the taxi driver, "What did those two women look like?"

"It's been several days, and I can't remember anymore—" The driver thought carefully for a long time, "I can't remember what they looked like, but they had particularly good figures, with thin waists, very thin waists, and large waists above and below, very large."

1,

Li Banfeng said, "Isn't what you're talking about just a gourd?"

The taxi driver thought for a moment and nodded, "If you say it's a gourd, it really does look a bit like one."

Shen Jingye covered his forehead. "I'm really worried about this gourd. I can forget about having a good year."

Li Banfeng patted the Wine Gourd: "Sister, do you know this place Gourd Village?"

The Wine Gourd said unhappily, "Little brother, didn't I tell you not to pat my lower back? People will laugh at me."

P. S.: Sister Hulu is still as captivating as ever.

Dear readers, Happy National Day! May all your monthly votes go to Salad.