Chapter 110: Qin Lang’s Decisiveness

Zhou Sen had been wounded. After his injuries were treated and Bai Yulan fed him something, the pain in his chest eased somewhat, and he soon drifted into a heavy sleep.

“Wu En, keep an eye on him. If he needs anything, take care of it,” Bai Yulan instructed.

Wu En nodded.

“A-Xiang, come with me.”

A-Xiang followed Bai Yulan outside into the courtyard.

“Find out where Scar is now,” Bai Yulan ordered calmly.

“Yes, Sister Lan.”

A-Xiang knew that Bai Yulan was truly furious. For the past few years, Sister Lan had cultivated herself and kept a low profile. Everyone had begun to think she was easy to bully.

…

“Master, the military police have sent word. Gunshots were heard at South Garden. Afterward, the military police arrived, but aside from more than a dozen spent shells, there was nothing at the scene.”

After lunch, Su Xing hurried upstairs to report.

“What?” Su Wenqing was startled. Guo the Fourth had been silent for far too long, and he had already sensed that something might have gone wrong.

“Master, I’ve already sent people to investigate. We should have news soon.” Su Xing knew how serious the situation was.

“Go and find out at once. We must get to the bottom of what happened,” Su Wenqing ordered immediately. “Be quick.”

“Yes, Master.”

After Su Xing left, Su Wenqing could no longer sit still. The plan had been flawless. Once that boy walked into the trap, Guo the Fourth and his men should have been able to deal with him effortlessly.

Where had things gone wrong?

Su Wenqing could not make sense of it.

For now, all he could do was wait for Su Xing’s report. He had dominated Ice City for many years; a little disturbance like this was not enough to frighten him.

…

After returning to the police headquarters, Lin Dakuan immediately reported to Saburo Shibuya. Strangely, however, Shibuya did not ask many questions after hearing him out and simply told him to leave.

That had never happened before.

Shibuya had summoned him to the scene by telephone and seized control of the case, yet now he seemed utterly unconcerned with the case itself.

What kind of game was he playing?

Lin Dakuan had barely taken a sip of hot water in his office when Zou Shuxun and Li Shaotang entered one after another. Clearly, they had both come because of the shooting at South Garden.

Zou Shuxun had gone to the scene with Lin Dakuan and knew something about the situation. Li Shaotang, on the other hand, knew absolutely nothing.

“Big Brother, is the case difficult? Do you need help?” Li Shaotang asked. He enjoyed challenging cases, the more difficult the better.

“There isn’t a single useful clue at the scene. How are we supposed to solve it?” Lin Dakuan said.

“No casualties?”

“Not so much as a hair was harmed,” Zou Shuxun remarked sarcastically.

“Then this is a completely headless case. How are we supposed to investigate it?” Li Shaotang exclaimed in surprise.

“The case itself isn’t important. What matters is Commander Shibuya’s attitude toward it,” Lin Dakuan said. “When I reported to him just now, I sensed no urgency whatsoever about solving it.”

“Oh?” Li Shaotang narrowed his eyes slightly, his mind racing.

Whenever something was abnormal, there was bound to be a hidden reason.

The order to intervene in the case and seize control of it had come from Saburo Shibuya. Yet the person who was now in no hurry to investigate it was also Shibuya.

If there was nothing strange about the case, then ghosts truly did exist.

“There’s also Commander Nakagawa’s attitude. The military police have always fought us openly and covertly, but this time he handed the case over to us without the slightest resistance,” Lin Dakuan added.

“Could they know something and simply not want to get involved?” Li Shaotang speculated.

“That’s certainly possible.” Lin Dakuan nodded, then turned to Zou Shuxun. “Old Zou, activate all our informants. Any movement in the city, no matter how slight, is to be reported immediately.”

“Yes.” Zou Shuxun nodded.

“At present, Qin Laoqi and Su Wenqing of the Seven Stars Hall are both doing everything they can to seize the presidency of the Ice City General Chamber of Commerce. Their two factions have clashed repeatedly before and after the New Year, especially over Bai Yulan of Fragrant Orchid Hall. Could the gunshots at South Garden be connected to them?” Li Shaotang asked.

“It’s not impossible, but I haven’t heard of any serious conflict between them recently,” Lin Dakuan replied.

“That’s difficult to say…”

“Investigate it. If those two factions are behind this, we can sit back and watch the tigers fight,” Lin Dakuan said with a sinister smile. “My cheap nephew caused such a tremendous stir some time ago. I wonder how things are with him now.”

“You mean Zhou Sen?”

“Yes. Commander Shibuya places unusual importance on Zhou Se and told me to keep an eye on him for a while. I heard he was transferred out of the security division of South Hill Police Station. Shaotang, arrange a meeting with him. Find a time when I can treat him to a meal at Virtue and Fortune Restaurant.”

“Big Brother, aren’t you giving him too much honor by inviting him personally?” Li Shaotang asked in surprise.

“Do you think Zhou Sen has a future?”

Li Shaotang considered it for a moment. “Apart from being timid and lustful, that boy is quite clever and knows how to handle people.”

“Exactly. In times like these, clever men are bound to live better than fools. Being lustful is hardly a flaw—how many men aren’t? And timid men who fear death are the ones who live the longest,” Lin Dakuan said.

“I understand, Big Brother.” Li Shaotang nodded.

…

Qin Lang returned to the Peace Bridge gambling house and summoned everyone who had taken part in the operation. He ordered them to strip to the waist and stand in the freezing snow.

He might have been reckless, but he was not stupid. The shot fired at Zhou Sen had certainly not been accidental. Apart from Su Wenqing’s men, Qin Lang was the only one who knew about what had happened at South Garden.

Before the operation, he had taken precautions to keep it secret, but he had still informed the men personally loyal to him whom he had assembled.

Clearly, something had gone wrong within his own ranks, and the news had been leaked. As for who could have planted a spy beside him, he could guess it without using more than his toes.

“Who leaked the information about this morning’s operation? Step forward and confess. I guarantee that I’ll spare his life, and I won’t touch his family. But if I find out who betrayed me, there are plenty of corpses floating in the Songhua River every spring. When that time comes, I guarantee that his entire family will remain together—in death.”

Qin Lang swept his gaze over his men and spoke without emotion.

Everyone lowered his head. No one made a sound.

“Not going to speak? Then I’ll ask you one by one. You all know that if I want to investigate something, it won’t be difficult.” Qin Lang was seething with rage.

He did not care if outsiders plotted against him, but he absolutely could not tolerate betrayal by his own men.

These were all his trusted followers, and he had always treated them better than anyone else. Yet after all that, they had still sold him out. They were utterly ungrateful.

One by one, they kept their heads bowed, their teeth chattering from the cold, but no one dared to speak.

“You refuse to confess voluntarily? Then you can keep standing here.”

Qin Lang’s gaze grew more terrifying by the second. Like a savage wolf preparing to devour its prey, he stared at them as the seconds dragged by.

At last, one man could bear the pressure no longer. He shuddered and dropped to his knees.

“Second Young Master, I was wrong. I was the one who leaked the information.”

“Third Brother Hua, are you even human? The Second Young Master has always treated you so well. He knew that your elderly mother was paralyzed at home, so he specifically excused you from night duty so you could care for her. And this is how you repay him?”

Once he had confessed, the pressure on the others vanished. One after another, they erupted in righteous fury and began condemning Third Brother Hua.

“Second Young Master, I was wrong! I’m not fit to be called a man. Please spare me this once…”

Third Brother Hua wept bitterly, repeatedly slapping himself across the face.

“Enough. Third Brother Hua, come inside with me. The rest of you put your clothes back on and leave. If anyone dares reveal a single word about what happened today, I, Qin Lang, will keep my promise. Not one member of his entire family will survive.”

…

“There’s no one else in the office now. Tell me—who did you give the information to?”

Qin Lang drove a sharp dagger into the tea table in front of Third Brother Hua.

“Second Young Master, I… I dare not say…” Third Brother Hua stammered, his calves trembling with fear.

“Was it my dear elder brother?”

Third Brother Hua was so terrified that he seemed to lose his wits.

Qin Lang sighed. “I knew it. He’s never trusted me. He’s always been afraid that I would take his position. Since he has shown me no loyalty, why should I show him any mercy?”

Third Brother Hua trembled even more. He knew Qin Lang’s nature. Qin Lang had never been softhearted toward those who betrayed him.

“Second Young Master, you promised to spare my life…”

“I keep my word. I won’t kill you. You belong to my elder brother, and if I killed you, how would I explain myself to him? But a man like you, who betrays his master and bites the hand that feeds him, cannot go entirely unpunished.”

Qin Lang snatched the dagger from the table.

With one slash, he struck Third Brother Hua’s left arm. A shriek rang out as the arm was severed cleanly at the elbow.

Blood gushed everywhere, and Third Brother Hua fainted from the pain.

“Someone come in! Take Third Brother Hua to the hospital, stop the bleeding, bandage him, and then send him to Big Brother!”

Qin Lang opened the door and issued the order.

Third Brother Hua was dragged away. The blood was washed from the office, but the stench of it would not disappear for some time.

Qin Lang sat on the sofa, smoking in silence.

Qin Xiong had planted a spy beside him, and Third Brother Hua had leaked the details of his secret operation with Zhou Sen.

He had secretly sent men to shoot Zhou Sen. It had been a perfect scheme to kill two birds with one stone. Once Zhou Sen was dead, Qin Xiong could provoke Bai Yulan while framing Su Wenqing for the crime.

What a brilliant calculation.

He simply had not expected Zhou Sen to be wearing a protective breastplate beneath his clothes. The fatal bullet had been stopped, and Zhou Sen had survived.

Knowing Zhou Sen as he did, Qin Lang understood that the matter would not end there. Zhou Sen would soon figure out that there was a problem among the people around him.

Damn it.

He and Zhou Sen had originally been nothing more than partners who cooperated and exploited one another. But now, forced into a corner by his elder brother, Qin Lang had no choice but to join hands with Zhou Sen.

Qin Lang smoked in silence. At last, he clenched his teeth and made his decision.

After all, he and his elder brother had different mothers, and they had never shared much affection. His brother had treated him this way—why should he still cling to the bonds of brotherhood?

Their father had favored the elder brother from childhood, giving him all the best things. No matter what Qin Lang did, he had never received a single word of praise.

His elder brother had not only been given the finest of everything, but had also married a wonderful wife. Qin Lang, meanwhile, had dropped out of school as a child and followed his uncles into a life of bloodshed. Every skill he possessed had been won through risking his life. No one had ever taught him anything.

…

“Sister Lan…”

In the study, Bai Yulan was polishing an exquisite little knife when A-Xiang hurried in and leaned close to whisper a report into her ear.

“Why has he come here?” Bai Yulan asked in surprise.

“Will you see him?” A-Xiang asked.

“Yes. A guest is still a guest. If he dares to come, why wouldn’t I dare to see him?” Bai Yulan replied. “Take him to the sitting room and tell him I’ll be there shortly.”

“All right.”