To Be Continued

Yang Wenqing took the confession Wu Yan handed over and quickly leafed through it.

This confession not only detailed how Liu Sheng had committed murder at Drunken Immortal Tower; more importantly, under immense psychological pressure and in a bid to seize a sliver of survival, Liu Sheng had actually confessed every detail of how his father, Liu Hong, met with him after he fled the scene, provided funds, forged identity documents, and planned his escape route.

This was no longer merely the crime of harboring a fugitive. It was outright complicity in a crime, an attempt to help a serious murderer evade legal punishment. Worse still, Liu Sheng had vaguely mentioned in his confession that his father seemed to know about certain less-than-compliant dealings in the Lineage's business—and might even have been the one directing them.

Yang Wenqing closed the confession and exchanged a glance with Wu Yan. Both understood the weight of this document. If Deputy Director Gao intended to use this opportunity to dig deeper, then the Liu Family would not merely lose a son—the entire Lineage's business could be implicated, perhaps even toppled completely.

"Come on. Let's report to Director Gao."

Yang Wenqing rose to his feet, the confession documents in hand.

Wu Yan nodded. One after the other, they left the Third Squad office and headed straight for Deputy Director Gao's office.

After knocking and entering, they found Deputy Director Gao seated on the sofa, brewing tea. When he saw them come in—especially the documents in Yang Wenqing's hand—a faint smile appeared on his face.

"Come, sit," Deputy Director Gao said evenly.

"Director Gao." Yang Wenqing presented the confession with both hands. "Liu Sheng has confessed. This is the detailed statement. The situation is somewhat more complicated than expected, and it involves his father, Liu Hong."

Deputy Director Gao accepted the documents, but did not immediately read them. He first gestured for the two to sit, unhurriedly poured each of them a cup of tea, then picked up the documents and began reading them carefully.

The office was silent, broken only by the soft rustle of turning pages. Yang Wenqing and Wu Yan sat quietly without touching their tea, waiting for Deputy Director Gao's instructions.

After a long while, Deputy Director Gao set down the documents. No obvious emotion showed on his face. He merely tapped the confession lightly with his fingers and said slowly, "This Liu Hong is truly muddleheaded. It's understandable that he dotes on his son, but this is bending the law for personal gain..."

He put on an expression of heartbroken outrage, then said to them, "Have some tea. It's quite good."

Yang Wenqing and Wu Yan immediately lifted their cups and drank.

After pondering for a moment, Deputy Director Gao looked toward Wu Yan and asked, "Have you confirmed that the suspect killed by accident? There was no premeditation?"

Wu Yan hurriedly set down his teacup and replied, "I tried every method, but he refused to admit to that."

Deputy Director Gao nodded and continued, "An accidental killing, but the nature of it is extremely vile. The key lies in Liu Hong's harboring him and assisting his escape..."

He paused, then looked at Yang Wenqing. "Since we have a lead, we cannot turn a blind eye. Here's what we'll do: first make Liu Sheng's murder case ironclad, and prepare solid prosecution materials. As for Liu Hong, bring him back to the bureau and detain him first. Find additional witness statements and evidence."

"Yes, Director Gao." Yang Wenqing set down his teacup as well.

"Go on, then. Handle this beautifully." Deputy Director Gao waved a hand, picked up his teacup again, and a trace of satisfaction appeared on his face.

Yang Wenqing rose and led Wu Yan away. Back at the office, he called Liu Rong over and instructed Wu Yan, "From now on, A Rong will work with you. The two of you will handle this case together." As he spoke, he took an arrest warrant from a drawer, imprinted it with his aura through the badge formation, then handed it to Wu Yan. "Bring Liu Hong back first."

As Wu Yan accepted the arrest warrant, Yang Wenqing added, "Wait for me tonight. We've been colleagues for so long, yet we've never had a meal together. Tonight, it's on me."

Both men looked surprised, but neither refused—nor could they.

By evening, Yang Wenqing had finished dealing with the backlog of paperwork at hand. He stood and stretched his limbs, then strolled over to the interrogation area. Through the one-way glass, he saw Liu Hong, already detained inside.

In little more than half a day, the Liu Family head—who had still carried himself with impressive bearing on the street earlier—seemed to have aged ten years. He sat alone in the cold interrogation chair, his hair slightly disheveled, his once-perfectly fitted formal robes now somewhat wrinkled.

He made no fuss. He merely kept his head lowered, hands resting on his knees. Even his formerly straight back had bent slightly, and an air of desolation seeped from every inch of him.

Yang Wenqing did not go inside. He simply called Wu Yan and Liu Rong, then led them out of the branch bureau. After crossing two streets, they arrived at a restaurant called Full House Tower. The place was not extravagantly decorated, but it was clean and tidy.

Yang Wenqing had reserved a small private room facing the street in advance. Though not large, it was quiet enough; once the door was shut, the clamor outside was completely shut out.

A waiter warmly led them to their seats. Yang Wenqing pushed the menu before Wu Yan and Liu Rong. "Take a look and see what you want. Order whatever you like."

After some polite refusals, Wu Yan and Liu Rong stopped standing on ceremony. They ordered several homestyle stir-fries, along with a pot of the restaurant's signature rice wine.

While waiting for the dishes, the three chatted idly. Once the dishes were served and three rounds of wine had passed, the atmosphere in the private room grew far more harmonious than at the start. Yang Wenqing set down his chopsticks, took out the case file newly assembled by Liu Qin from his storage pouch, tapped its cover with a finger, and said to Wu Yan, "Do you remember Chen Dayong's Corpse-Sinking Case at the Port District?"

Wu Yan nodded. "Over the past month or so, whenever I had time, I investigated those smuggling gangs, but I never found any leads."

Yang Wenqing tapped the case file in his hand again. "This case may be connected to the Wang Family father and son from Zhenyuan Mining, but that is only a guess. So I can only open an investigation into the Wang father and son on suspicion of smuggling."

He pushed the file toward Wu Yan. "Old Wu, you're experienced. Put more thought into this case. There's no need to make direct contact for now. Keep an eye on the Wang father and son in secret and see whether they've had any unusual activities lately, or whether they've met with anyone suspicious."

Wu Yan accepted the file without asking further questions. He simply answered steadily, "Understood, Captain. I know where to draw the line."

Yang Wenqing turned to Liu Rong again. "A Rong, assist Old Wu. Also, I have a task for you." He paused, then said, "Find a way to investigate the warehouses in the city... especially those in the Port District with relatively lax oversight, or where illegal leasing may be taking place. Pay special attention to unusual goods, such as yin-aspected spirit-material ores."

Liu Rong nodded. "Yes, Captain!"

"Good." Yang Wenqing smiled in satisfaction and lifted his wine cup again. "There's no rush with these matters. Conduct them in secret, and keep yourselves safe. Report to me promptly if you find anything."

After the dinner ended, the three went their separate ways. Yang Wenqing wandered alone through streets growing ever darker beneath the night.

When he returned to Room 305, Building Three, Dongning Community, the apartment was silent. Out of habit, he walked to the center of the living room and checked the Foundation-Stabilizing Formation. He found that its silver powder had almost been used up, leaving only a thin layer of gray-white dust.

I've been too busy these past few days to prepare the cultivation formation for the Second Refinement. There shouldn't be much going on tomorrow, so I can prepare the formation materials first. Yang Wenqing calculated in his heart. It would be another considerable expense, but he had earned quite a bit recently, and there were already fifty or sixty thousand in his account.