Turning Their Strength Against Them

Another team closed straight in around them.

The detective leading them wore a finely tailored suit. Though not tall, he was fairly handsome, and he walked at the front with a deep frown.

Yan Ren went straight over when he saw him approach.

"Sir Yan, I don't recall this being Eastern District Three's jurisdiction."

"Sir Lan, we received a tip that someone was transporting drugs here. This is the Inspector's search warrant..."

"I don't care about that rubbish issued by your Eastern District Three. It's not a court warrant."

"Lan Li, think this through. I came with the Chief's search warrant. We run into each other all the time. I'm crossing the boundary just this once today. Do me this favor."

Sir Lan frowned deeply. "Yan Ren, I know you're being promoted to Inspector of Eastern District Three in the second half of the year, but this isn't your jurisdiction. How can I do you a favor when you're reaching this far?"

"If you'd at least brought a warrant from headquarters, I could take a step back. But you've brought an Eastern District Three warrant into my Harbor District. With all these men under me, if I let you have your way today, who'll show me any respect afterward?"

"So we can't work this out?"

"We can. What did you find?"

Lan Li waved a hand. "Sir Yan, I'm not stopping you from searching. If you've found anything, take the suspect away. I won't interfere. If you haven't, then I'm sorry, but let's leave it here, all right?"

Yan Ren looked at him.

"Fine, then I'll certainly..."

"Don't play dirty."

Lan Li tilted his head toward Chen Ying. "Don't tell me you don't know who he is. Sir Yan, leave people some room."

"So you can face each other another day."

Yan Ren nodded. "Brother Li, I'll do you this favor."

He turned and called to the men around him.

"Pack up. Let him go."

Yan Ren walked over to Chen Ying and took out a key to unlock his handcuffs.

"Young Master Ying, I'm just doing a job for someone. Please understand. In this world, we aren't always free to act as we please."

Chen Ying glanced at him without saying anything more.

Lan Li came over as well.

"Mr. Chen, I'm a Senior Detective in the Harbor District. My name is Lan Li. Here's my card."

Lan Li handed over a piece of paper.

"You can contact me if anything comes up."

Chen Ying took it and glanced at it. It read: Lan Li, Senior Detective, Harbor District Police Station.

Feng Huimin's father held the same position. It seemed this already made him someone with a say in the Police Force.

Lan Li continued, "You can also come to me if anyone gives you trouble. I believe another friend means another way forward."

"Thank you, Sir Lan, but I hope to be a legitimate businessman and trouble you officers as little as possible."

Yan Ren said nothing, his expression cold.

Chen Ying couldn't be bothered with him, nor did he pay any attention to Lan Li beside him. He simply watched quietly from the side.

They had nothing to say to each other.

The two teams soon packed up and withdrew, leaving a scene of devastation behind.

"Brother Ying, we've taken quite a loss this time."

"It doesn't matter. We can earn it back. At least those three packages are still at the clinic."

"Should we tell that Lan fellow outright?"

"No. Leading people into incriminating themselves is what cops do best. Don't believe a single word they say. Who knows whether Lan and Yan are working together? One plays the good cop, the other the bad cop. You bring out the goods, and they say they caught you smuggling them. Then they've got both witnesses and physical evidence."

Chen Ying closed his eyes and went over the situation again.

Wo On Sing's Uncle Generation, the rumors from Yisheng, and Yan Ren from Eastern District Three: three problems had come knocking at once. From a probabilistic standpoint, they couldn't have happened simultaneously.

So there was only one conclusion: these three incidents were essentially one.

Someone was pulling strings behind the scenes. This person had considerable influence, enough to mobilize two gang branches and the Police Force, as well as deep underworld connections that allowed them to produce three packages of Two Lions Holding the Globe as evidence.

Though Chen Ying didn't know how much the stuff was worth, judging by Yan Ren's pained expression when he withdrew his team, it was certainly no small sum.

Who could this person be?

Chen Ying first thought of Su Xiong.

Yes, though he had never met this Brother Xiong, their paths had crossed twice.

The first was when something had happened to his body's previous owner, on Su Xiong's turf. Then there was the matter of Fat Bear. Su Xiong might have thought he intended to stand up for Hua Shanrong.

But that was too much of a stretch.

Though it had happened on his turf, Granny Chen hadn't demanded an explanation, and the culprit caught afterward had nothing to do with him either.

Su Xiong had enemies practically everywhere in Hong Kong and Kowloon. There was no need for him to add another.

And most important of all was the timing.

If Su Xiong really had gone mad, the best time to strike would have been those first few days after Chen Ying returned to school, not now.

He looked like the likeliest suspect on the surface, but careful analysis suggested it wasn't him.

Yes, the biggest issue was the timing.

Chen Ying constructed a mind map in his head and began using Bayes' Equation from his previous life to establish connections between these incidents through their correlations.

It had nothing to do with his resurrection or meeting Mr. Wen. The most recent related incident was Rongyi Street.

Yes, that was it: the enormous dark shadow on Rongyi Street.

The spirit medium, someone raising ghosts... was it that thread?

No. A rough hypothesis took shape in Chen Ying's mind.

Uncle Qing returned just then.

"Young Master, nothing happened at the shop. The young mistress is at the little house. Mr. Wen accepted the goods, but only two packages. He said the stuff could be used in medicine and would be sent to the Lingnan Jiedu Office. I took the other package over."

"There won't be any trouble at the little house, will there?"

"Rest assured, Young Master. Our little house has protections in place. Outsiders can't get in."

"We need to go back to the little house too."

Chen Ying thought for a moment. "Uncle Qing, I'm afraid I'll be putting you to a lot of trouble over the next few days."

"Wait a moment, Young Master. I'll start the car."

"Brother Ying, about the warehouse..."

Hua Shanrong looked at the rice scattered everywhere with deep regret.

"Spend money to bring people together. People come first. Wait here for me. I'll be back shortly."

Preoccupied, Chen Ying got into the car. Uncle Qing drove fast, and they soon reached the little house.

Uncle Qing waited outside while Chen Ying ran straight upstairs. Wu Jie wore a long white dress and held a Bronze Lamp.

Her eyes lit up with delight when she saw Chen Ying return.

"You're home early today, husband."

"Where's Granny?"

Chen Ying frowned deeply.

"Granny just left. She'll be away for the next few days. The Lingnan Jiedu Office said they'd found the Drought Demon's location and wanted her to come help."

"I'm afraid someone's engineered this."

Not worrying about whether he was overthinking things, Chen Ying gave Wu Jie a rough account of what had happened that day.

"They've come at us layer by layer. On the surface, they're targeting me, but I'm afraid Granny is their real target."

Anxiety stirred in Chen Ying's heart.

"Surely not?"

"The most sophisticated arrest plan is to summon someone to a meeting. We have to find a way to warn Granny."

Chen Ying paced around the sitting room.

"Should we warn Mr. Wen as well?"

"No. Right now, we don't know who we can trust or who's behind this. As long as Granny stays safe, we'll be safe."

"I have to stay at the little house for now, but I'll find a way to contact Granny."

Wu Jie frowned deeply. "But what is this person after, going to such lengths?"

"They want to remove someone in their way. This person must be planning something big."

Chen Ying looked at Wu Jie. "Our first priority is to make sure Granny stays safe. Then we need to find out who this person is."

"What do you mean, husband?"

"You contact Granny. I'll go out to kill people and set fires."

Chen Ying looked at Wu Jie.

"I need to borrow Uncle Qing."

"But..." Wu Jie thought for a moment. "Wouldn't it be safer for you to wait here with me until Granny returns?"

"We have to fight our way out with our own fists. Since they've made their move, each part will link to the next. If we don't break out and fight them now, I'm afraid even this little house won't keep us safe."

"But..."

"Our greatest advantage is that we're half a step ahead of him and have spotted his moves. That's all the more reason we can't slow down."

Chen Ying paced in the sitting room.

"If this person dares take on Granny, he must be highly capable, with clever arrangements and a calculating mind. Hiding in the little house means waiting to die. Yes, he's deliberately held something back to make us drop our guard. Fine. The more he does that, the more we need to counter speed with speed and throw the situation into chaos first."

"Chaos?"

"Exactly. Turn his strength against him and unravel this thread by thread."

Chen Ying had a rough plan in mind.

"Bring me that package of Two Lions Holding the Globe. I'll head to Dragon City first. He has three lines of attack, overt and covert, advancing separately to strike together. I'll give him a Burning Red Cliffs and force him to expose a weakness."