Old Divine-Eye Zhang, Ghost-Eyed Old Seven

Every rough stone had cracks.

Rough stones with absolutely no cracks weren't nonexistent, but they were rare.

Ordinary people couldn't see anything through those cracks.

But beneath Lin Xiaosu's Heavenly Insight Eye, he could still faintly sense the myriad phenomena within through the cracks.

One rough stone, then another—he had begun to grasp the technique of observing the interior through cracks.

And sure enough, he really did spot several fine pieces.

The kind whose exteriors looked utterly ordinary, while inside lay another world entirely.

If he had truly come today to buy rough stones, he could probably have called it a day. But he hadn't!

His steps slowly shifted toward a certain spot—a crucial spot.

He slowly set down the rough stone in his hand, braced himself against the shelf before him, and raised his head.

"Mr. Li, if you haven't found any material you like, there are a few pieces over there. I'm sure you'll be satisfied." Boss Zhang smiled broadly and pointed to the left.

"I knew Boss Zhang had hidden away the good stuff..." Lin Xiaosu chuckled softly and turned around.

As he turned, his finger seemed to casually tap a certain spot on the inner side of the shelf...

At that tap, soundless and unseen, the shelf in front of him suddenly split apart, revealing a floor panel beneath it.

Boss Zhang's face changed sharply, and the faces of the three men beside him changed at the same time...

Zhou Mei abruptly turned her head. Miao Ruolan made no movement, but her gaze suddenly focused.

Lin Xiaosu smiled. "Is this where Boss Zhang hides his good things?"

He walked toward the floor panel, which had a handle on it.

"Mr. Li, there... there really isn't anything good inside. It's just some scrap material!" Boss Zhang's smile bloomed again. "Don't dirty your hands. Let's go over there!"

"You're joking, Boss Zhang." Lin Xiaosu said, "How could something hidden so tightly possibly be scrap material?"

He reached out, gripped the handle, and yanked it up!

The iron panel weighed seventy or eighty pounds, yet Lin Xiaosu lifted and flipped it aside in one motion. Beneath it lay a pile of rough stones.

Boss Zhang still wore a smile, but at this moment, it no longer seemed very real.

The three men beside him looked at one another, not knowing what to do.

Out in the workshop, dozens of pairs of eyes lifted, filled with intense unease.

But no one made a move. Everyone seemed to be waiting to see how events would unfold.

The secret room had been discovered. No one knew whether it had been intentional or accidental.

The rough stones before them had been exposed. No one knew what would happen next.

Lin Xiaosu bent at the waist and lifted a rough stone. His gaze locked onto a crack, one almost invisible to the naked eye, but beneath the Heavenly Insight Eye, it seemed magnified tens of millions of times.

His heartbeat finally quickened...

Boss Zhang extended his hand, smiling as he moved to take the rough stone. "Mr. Li..."

"Sorry, my surname isn't Li. It's Lin—Lin Xiaosu, from the Phoenix City Detective Agency!" Lin Xiaosu said.

His tone suddenly changed. He no longer spoke standard Mandarin, but the local dialect.

Boss Zhang shuddered violently.

"You probably have another identity too—Ghost-Eyed Old Seven!"

Zhou Mei's whole body shook.

Boss Zhang was still smiling. "I don't understand what you mean..."

Lin Xiaosu said, "People never shed tears until they see the coffin—it's a common failing. Today, I'll let you see your coffin..."

Pop!

The rough stone in his hand suddenly split open. Inside was not stone, but a plastic bag. The bag fell, burst open, and white powder scattered into the air!

Boss Zhang's expression truly changed.

Whoosh!

A sharp blade swept past his side and stabbed toward Lin Xiaosu's throat like lightning. It was the lean young man who had been following Boss Zhang all along.

Polite throughout, smiling throughout.

His smile had stiffened after the secret room was discovered. Now, when he struck, his blow was precise and vicious.

At the same time, another man suddenly appeared beside Zhou Mei. A sharp blade flashed into existence and stabbed toward her.

Outside in the workshop, the machines continued to roar.

Beneath that deafening roar, this sudden disturbance would likely be buried in the noise.

The blade was less than a foot from Lin Xiaosu's throat.

The smile on Boss Zhang's face had turned savage.

Suddenly, Miao Ruolan's cheongsam flared apart beside Lin Xiaosu. Boom!

The lean young man who had already rushed to Lin Xiaosu's side flew high and far, crashing into the shelf behind him.

On Zhou Mei's side, the blade was only three feet away when a pitch-black gun barrel suddenly aimed at the man's head...

The man froze. Bang!

The gun fired!

The shot did not strike his head. It hit his arm!

His blade fell to the ground.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...

Four figures leaped up at once and pounced on Lin Xiaosu. Three held knives, while one wielded a steel bar, clearly grabbed on the spot. Yet every attack was precise and ruthless.

Miao Ruolan spun, blocking Lin Xiaosu. In an instant, she knocked down the first man, sent the second flying, and as the third thrust his steel bar through, she raised her slender palm and seized it. With a slight exertion of force, the skin and flesh of his palm split open. Amid his scream, the steel bar swept across and smashed heavily into his neck. His head tilted, and he fell unconscious. The fourth man's dagger was already within arm's reach, but the steel bar in Miao Ruolan's hand shot through with pinpoint accuracy, piercing his palm. His dagger dropped.

Before the dagger hit the ground, Miao Ruolan flicked up her toes. The dagger traced a beautiful arc through the air. Whoosh!

It embedded itself in the workshop floor, sinking two inches deep into the boards!

The dozens of workshop workers rushing forward suddenly saw that gleaming, cold dagger before them and froze.

But immediately afterward, twenty or thirty people charged at once.

The entire workshop and storage room descended into complete chaos.

Dozens of workers transformed into killers, madly rushing at Lin Xiaosu and the other two. They knew their deepest-hidden crimes had been exposed. Their only option was to kill the three of them immediately and prevent the information from leaking.

Killing carried risks, of course, but when weighing two evils, one chose the lesser. If they killed them, there was still a sliver of hope.

If they didn't kill them, they were dead for certain!

Unfortunately, the people they had encountered were all monsters!

Zhou Mei had a gun. Shots rang out in rapid succession, bringing down four people.

It also kept everyone else from daring to approach.

Miao Ruolan had no gun, and everyone naturally assumed she would be easy to kill. But once her Ancient Martial Arts came out, she swept through the entire field. Not one person who reached her could withstand even a single move.

And Lin Xiaosu?

He remained where he was and did not take the initiative to attack.

But stones flew from his hands one after another.

Every stone struck a person with perfect accuracy. Once hit, they inevitably went down.

To the left, a figure suddenly appeared. It was Boss Zhang. He sprang out from behind a shelf, a gun startlingly clutched in his hand!

His gun barrel pointed at Lin Xiaosu as he roared, "Die!"

Whoosh!

A stone flew out!

Boss Zhang's right wrist was pierced through!

His gun fell to the ground. The gun he had struggled so hard to find had not even fired a single shot.

"Don't move! Hands up!" A commanding shout rang out from the perimeter.

It was accompanied by a crisp gunshot.

The entire workshop was like a bowl of cold water poured into a pan of boiling oil...

A burst of clamor, several rounds of fighting, several gunshots...

More than thirty police officers stormed into the workshop...

Miao Ruolan spun and knocked down the last man, then saw Captain Zhang's face filled with killing intent.

Zhou Mei had just fired the last bullet in her gun. Caught between two attackers, front and back, she was somewhat flustered. Suddenly, both figures fell at once. Miao Ruolan appeared before her, while Captain Zhang appeared behind her.

The three of them headed left together. There, a man clutched his right wrist, blood streaming between his fingers, his face deathly pale. It was Boss Zhang. Beneath the shelf before him lay another gun.

"Where's Lin Xiaosu?" Captain Zhang swept his gaze around.

"Don't worry. He won't be in danger," Miao Ruolan said.

Captain Zhang nodded and turned to Boss Zhang. "Ghost-Eyed Old Seven, we finally meet!"

Boss Zhang's tangled hair trembled slightly, but his eyes slowly closed.

"Talk! Where is the information on your operations in Phoenix City?" Captain Zhang asked in a low voice.

"You can forget about getting anything out of me, forget it!" Boss Zhang screamed hoarsely...

"There's no need to get it out of your mouth," a voice said. "I've already got it!"

Captain Zhang raised his gaze and saw a man walking out of the wrecked workshop. Snow-white suit, pale yellow shirt, calm and composed, drifting toward them as if borne on the wind. In his hand was a red ledger.

Boss Zhang stared fixedly at the ledger in his hand, his lips trembling slightly...

His eyes were filled entirely with disbelief.

"Don't forget, I'm a detective." Lin Xiaosu lightly patted his shoulder. "Finding your secrets wasn't as difficult as you imagined!"

"Lin... Lin Xiaosu! You'll pay the price! Our people will kill your whole family!" Boss Zhang ground his teeth, his expression incomparably savage.

Lin Xiaosu smiled faintly. "That's exactly why I needed to find your ledger—to wipe out your people cleanly!"

He handed the ledger to Captain Zhang. Captain Zhang took one look, and his eyes lit up...

Inside was a complete chain of illegal-goods transactions, with the key figures being the Five Tiger Generals...

There were detailed records of what goods had been supplied at what times, who the suppliers were, and who handled the exchanges...

There were also the protective umbrellas already dragged into the water. Everyone Wang Donghe had spent three years investigating was listed in it. Beyond that, there were many new names—some of which even made Captain Zhang's heart jolt in alarm...

That was how underground organizations worked.

Breaking through from the outside was fraught with difficulties. Even if one found their outer-ring personnel, it was still hard to breach the organization's true core.

But once they broke through from within, from the topmost level, it was like pouring hot soup over snow. Everything about this criminal organization would be exposed beneath the sunlight.

Lin Xiaosu and the other two left the jewelry store.

Everyone in the jewelry store was crouching against the wall with their hands on their heads, while police cars outside continued arriving one after another, sirens wailing.

South City was completely shaken.

Even the bridge was jammed with traffic.

Zhou Mei drove the extremely luxurious Sorens Dream Shadow back to the wedding company.

They changed back into their clothes, removed their disguises, returned the car, and spent a total of 3,800.

Naturally, Zhou Mei paid the bill. It could be reimbursed.