SOTC Chapter 50

“Liu… Team Liu?”

Xue Yan’s stunned expression at this moment was like that of an ordinary person winning the lottery. He couldn’t help but be shocked by this because the person who arrived at the meeting point with Zhang Rui was actually Liu Chuyun.

When Liu Chuyun got out of the passenger seat, Xue Yan’s eyes widened.

Fortunately, Sun Tao was relatively calm. As Liu Chuyun walked towards him, he was able to greet him calmly and steadily.

“Team Liu, why are you here?”

“I came to see you.”

Unlike before, after Liu Chuyun stepped down from his position as captain of the Criminal Investigation Brigade, he became much more peaceful, and even his tone of voice was completely different from the past.

“Yulin County is really full of hidden talents. First, there was Gu Zheng, and now there’s you and Xue Yan. If I were Li Yigang, I’m afraid I wouldn’t be able to sleep soundly.”

“What do you mean, Team Liu?”

Sun Tao continued his habitual pretense of ignorance. Liu Chuyun smiled when he saw him like this and said,

“It’s just the literal meaning. I couldn’t be sure who else besides Li Yigang was involved with the large-scale mafia group entrenched in Yulin County. You have proven your innocence with your actions, so I wanted to have a good chat with you two.”

Liu Chuyun’s words were quite profound. Xue Yan and Sun Tao had just discussed Liu Chuyun, and now they were both unsure, so they looked at each other.

In the end, Xue Yan broke the deadlock and said to Sun Tao,

“Lao Sun, why don’t you get out of the car and talk?”

“Wait, I want to know why you were monitoring Xiao Zhang?”

Sun Tao didn’t take Xue Yan’s cue, but instead questioned Liu Chuyun directly.

“I wasn’t monitoring him. I was just waiting for you two to come back in the parking lot. I happened to see Zhang Rui secretly getting into the car with equipment. Zhang Rui is Xue Yan’s subordinate and is still in the internship stage. There’s no reason for him to investigate the case on his own, right? So I guessed that you two must have discovered something, so I followed him here.”

Liu Chuyun spoke these words very plainly, which made Sun Tao couldn’t help but retort.

“It’s rare for Team Liu to speak so nicely. I always thought that besides scolding people, Team Liu, you didn’t know anything else.”

“So, can you get out of the car and talk?”

Liu Chuyun continued to look at Sun Tao calmly.

After a moment of hesitation, Sun Tao finally nodded and said,

“Then let’s get in the car. Lao Xue, you let Xiao Zhang drive, and we’ll have a good chat in the back seat about this matter.”

Sun Tao finally agreed. Although he still had some reservations about Liu Chuyun in his heart, things had come to this point, and it was impossible to muddle through. If Liu Chuyun’s joining was really problematic, then he would definitely need to come up with new countermeasures to deal with this investigation.

But…

“Three years ago, the Provincial Bureau received a letter of accusation, saying that the internal corruption of the Yulin County Public Security Bureau was very serious. From Director Li Yigang down, everyone disregarded human life. The letter mentioned a case, about the demolition and construction of a real estate project in Yulin County that year. The whistleblower claimed to have suffered violent demolition. The construction team demolished their factory without any notice, and the whistleblower’s husband was still in the factory building at that time. They had made a scene at the county police station, but it was useless, so they wrote this letter of accusation. I wonder if you two know about this.”

Liu Chuyun hung the words “Provincial Bureau” on his lips as soon as he opened his mouth, which made Xue Yan feel a chill down his back.

But he really didn’t know about this, so he immediately shook his head and said,

“I haven’t heard of this. Lao Sun, have you heard of it?”

“The whistleblower’s husband? So, the whistleblower is a woman? I haven’t heard of this, but a few years ago, a woman did make a scene outside the bureau. It’s normal that Lao Xue doesn’t know. Lao Gu is so desperate in investigating cases that he wishes he could live in the wilderness every day. I’ve been in the office for a long time, so I know about this. But I heard from Director Li that the woman was out of her mind because her husband was accidentally hit by a falling steel bar during the joint development with the developer, so she was stimulated and went crazy.”

Sun Tao said thoughtfully.

“The Provincial Bureau inquired about this matter with Li Yigang that year, and the answer they got was the same. But when you wanted to find the whistleblower, that person had already disappeared. The leaders of the Provincial Bureau felt that this matter was very suspicious, so they transferred you to Yulin County to investigate whether the contents of the letter of accusation were true, and then asked you to find the whistleblower.”

“Then did you find her?”

Sun Tao continued to ask.

“Found her.”

When Liu Chuyun said this, his expression finally became particularly serious.

“The whistleblower’s name is Zhao Man, with a junior college diploma. She was only 29 years old when she died. Her husband was the owner of a plastic shell manufacturing factory. There were two factories in Yulin County, connected together, which happened to be within the developer’s planning area. About two months after her husband’s death, she drowned in a certain place on the outskirts of Yulin County. According to forensic identification, Zhao Man’s death was purely accidental. The deceased did not suffer any coercion before death, and there were no similar traces left on the body. Later, because many people proved that the deceased was in a state of madness before her death, possibly because she was stimulated by her husband’s death, so this matter was also reasonably attributed to an accident.”

“Then what does Team Liu think?”

Sun Tao asked again.

“I have read Zhao Man’s letter of accusation. The wording is appropriate, and the logic is clear. It doesn’t seem like something that a person in a state of madness can write. However, this matter has been arranged seamlessly. No matter whether I think there is a problem or not, without any evidence, I can’t continue to investigate or overturn the previous investigation.”

“I can understand that, then what happened next?”

Sun Tao nodded.

“Then?”

Liu Chuyun looked at Sun Tao and said in a deep voice,

“What else do you think will happen then? The entire Yulin County seems to have a black hand manipulating everything we can see. All the cases can be cleverly disguised seamlessly, and all the evidence can be eliminated the moment it appears. Under this circumstance, I can’t trust anyone, until in these few cases, your and Xue Yan’s performance made me feel that at least you two are trustworthy, so I took the matter of Xu Qing on myself.”

“Then I’m so grateful for Team Liu’s trust.”

Sun Tao still had some reservations about Liu Chuyun’s attitude, but he couldn’t be blamed for that.

Just like what Liu Chuyun said just now, under this circumstance, trust is simply a luxury.

Especially when he is getting closer and closer to the truth, every step must be more cautious.

Xue Yan also didn’t take Liu Chuyun’s cue. He was using his own experience-accumulated intuition to examine Liu Chuyun.

“Do you think I’m lying?”

The prolonged silence made the atmosphere in the car particularly stagnant.

“I think the problem now is not whether you are lying or not.”

Sun Tao suddenly said at this juncture, shaking his head at Liu Chuyun as he spoke.

“If Team Liu also hopes that these cases will come to light, then what needs to be done now is to maximize the guarantee that the investigation of the cases can proceed smoothly. By smoothly, I mean that no mistakes will occur in the process, that is to say, all possible unexpected situations should be eliminated.”

“Including me, right?”

Liu Chuyun looked at Sun Tao, then at Xue Yan, and suddenly a bitter smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

“You agree with my statement, but you also hope that I can understand the degree of danger of this case. This is not a group of ordinary criminals.”

“Of course, they are not ordinary. How could ordinary criminals repeatedly falsify murder scenes? Lao Xue and I are clear about this. But we don’t care. Since we are wearing this uniform, then the matter of danger is already insignificant. It’s Team Liu, actually, I have something that I’ve been holding in my heart all the time. Since you’re here today, I have to ask you, Team Liu.”

“Is it about Gu Zheng’s matter?”

Liu Chuyun actually guessed what Sun Tao wanted to ask, which made Sun Tao couldn’t help but be stunned, but his expression still didn’t change at all.

“That’s right, it’s this matter. Whether it’s me, Lao Xue, or the brothers outside the team, we all think this matter is very strange. Even if Team Liu, you don’t know Lao Gu’s character, you should at least know the cases that Lao Gu has solved over the years. Such a person, saying that he would protect criminals, or even commit crimes himself, do you think this is possible?”

“Gu Zheng.”

When this name was mentioned, Liu Chuyun once again showed a bitter smile.

“This is what you see in your eyes, but I can’t make such an irresponsible conclusion. Chen Fan’s case is not simple. I was sure of this the moment I first saw the investigation report submitted by Gu Zheng. But the problem is, what exactly are we going to investigate? Is it the case itself or the black hand hidden under the surface that is manipulating everything? To say something discouraging, I have never encountered such a tricky case before. There is a problem with the Yulin County Public Security Bureau. This is an obvious thing, but I can’t be sure who really has a problem. Li Yigang was furious after seeing Gu Zheng’s report. This matter may really just be an oversight in Gu Zheng’s work, but Yang Xu’s disappearance is real. Under the premise of not being able to judge the truth of the facts, I can’t lean to any side. The series of changes that followed were beyond my expectations, but at that time, all I was thinking about was to let this pot of boiling water cool down first, and then peel off the layers to find the truth.”

“Flawless, just like the series of cases that happened in Yulin County, they are all flawless.”

Sun Tao laughed. He casually patted Xue Yan on the side, as if asking casually,

“Lao Xue, what do you think?”

“If you have an opinion, just say it. Why are you asking me?”

Xue Yan’s answer was also straightforward, which made Sun Tao look helpless.

“Okay, then I’ll talk about my opinion. Team Liu, thank you very much for today. Xu Qing is not a dark line that you buried, but it is really a dark line that I buried. If the stagnant water in Yulin County is not stirred up, no one will know what’s at the bottom of the water. Team Liu, you are here to investigate the case, and I also believe that you are here to investigate the case. Then how about this, let me and Xue Yan investigate this case, and we will report to you as soon as we have results. Lao Xue and I don’t want any credit, it’s all yours. But today’s matter, please Team Liu, you go home and rest first, and then wait for our report, can you?”

“Then we’ll let you get in the car here.”

Liu Chuyun was also straightforward, but this was probably because Xiao Zhang didn’t know where to drive at all. After Circle for a long time, he didn’t even get on the highway.

“Okay, then let’s do that first. Da Zhang, I’ll pull over to the side, Team Liu, sorry about this.”

Not long after Sun Tao finished saying this, Zhang Rui parked along the side of the road.

The three of them watched Liu Chuyun get into the car, and then they didn’t know where they wanted to go along the road.

It wasn’t until a few minutes later that Liu Chuyun’s figure completely disappeared at the end of the road that Sun Tao finally breathed a sigh of relief.

And Xue Yan also asked anxiously,

“Lao Sun, this Team Liu…”

“Everything I said just now was false. It’s not that I don’t believe Liu Chuyun, but this matter can’t have any accidents. Okay, Da Zhang, drive to the destination.”

Sun Tao supported him, but Zhang Rui hadn’t recovered from the initial shock.

Hearing Sun Tao shout like this, he was startled, and even hastily turned his head and said,

“Team… Team Sun, where are we going?”

“Oh, I forgot that you haven’t told me where the destination is yet. Then like this, let me drive.”

Sun Tao also suddenly reacted, he was indeed too nervous.

When everything can’t allow for any mistakes, even a person who is usually enthusiastic will start to lose his composure.

This is not only reflected in Sun Tao, but also in Gu Zheng.

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