Chapter 192: Lack of Evidence

Star City, Police Department, Criminal Division.

The entire building of the Criminal Division’s offices was still brightly lit even though morning had already come. A lot of police officers were passing in and out of the building, while police cars also came and left with their flashing lights on.

On the second floor of the building.

The office was filled with curling smoke, the pungent smell irritating people’s noses. Deng Jianmin—the director of the City Public Security Bureau, clamped his cigarettes and deeply frowned as he looked at more than 20 police officers of the Criminal Division.

“Our superiors have decreed that we must solve this case within three days. I don’t care what methods, get me the murderer as soon as possible!” Deng Jianmin spoke with an unsightly expression.

Cheng Xuemei forced out a smile and said, “Director, we too want to solve this case ASAP. But this case is way too special, while we don’t have the files of these people in our archives. If we really can determine that they are foreigners, then we can contact the Interpol. Only then can we get more clues.”

“I’ve reported this situation, and I believe we can get in touch with the Interpol soon. As long as we can be sure that they’re foreigners, it means that these people are international assassins as suspected. I think their target is living in South Gate Town since they died nearby its front entrance. Have you copied the CCTV footage for the residents who have gone out of the complex?” Deng Jianmin said.

“We already did that, Sir!” Cheng Xuemei replied.

“Then play and put it on the screen for the suspicious target.” Deng Jianmin said.

“Understood!” Cheng Xuemei complied.

The monitor screen played the footage. Since the video was set to fast play, ten minutes later, the image of Tang Xiu and Gu Yin leaving the complex was played on the screen.

"Wait!"

Cheng Xuemei’s face slightly changed and immediately shouted with a deep tone.

“Captain Cheng, did you find anything?” Deng Jianmin asked with a confused expression.

Cheng Xuemei spoke to the person who played the footage, “Rewind the video, and focus on the two who just came out before.”

Deng Jianmin watched the screen as his brows knitted a few seconds after and said, “That young man is kinda family, where have I seen him before?”

“Chief, he’s Tang Xiu.” Cheng Xuemei spoke with a deep tone.

Deng Jianmin’s pupils shrunk as he suddenly stood and spoke with a deepened tone, “That major case before, the killing of those A-level wanted criminals, he was suspected to be involved. In the kidnapping case at school, he was the one who acted and killed the criminal. But how can he also appear in this South Gate Town case?”

Cheng Xuemei shook her head and replied, “He lives there. And it looks like the little girl he was holding should also live together with him. The time on the footage is only half an hour from when the three assassins were killed.”

“Continue playing the surveillance footage.” Deng Jianmin said with a deep tone.

Along with the playing back of the video on the screen, everyone present frowned. Not long after, Tang Xiu walked with the little girl back to the villa complex, as they then watched the footage until the three assassins were killed, but Tang Xiu himself didn’t come out again.

“It’s not him?” One of the Criminal Police officers shook his head.

“As far I know, Tang Xiu is an expert martial artist. He can climb up the wall to leave the villa complex. Who can be sure that he’s not the one who killed those three assassins?” Cheng Xuemei replied with a sneer.

The other member of Criminal Police said, “Chief, we’ve gotten all CCTV videos for the entire area of South Gate Town. And according to the people in charge from the Property Management Office, there is nearly no black spots in the monitoring scope. And Tang Xiu wasn’t seen in the video leaving the villa complex in all of the footages, so we can exclude him from the suspect list.”

“Just keep watching.” Deng Jianmin said deeply.

3:30 AM

All of the monitoring video footages in South Gate Town had been played. In the end, Tang Xiu indeed didn’t leave South Gate Town.

“If Tang Xiu isn’t involved in this case, then who is it? We’ve screened all the residents that came out of the complex and excluded nearly everyone.” Cheng Xuemei said with a puzzled expression.

Deng Jianmin tapped the table with his fingers for a long while as he then slowly spoke, “Captain Cheng, go to South Gate Town tomorrow, ask Tang Xiu to work with us and gather information from him.”

Cheng Xuemei forced out a smile and said, “Director Deng, Tang Xiu’s disposition is… Well, he’s quite hard to get along with. Also, we have no evidence that he’s the one who did it. So I think that it’s quite improper if we rashly ask him to coordinate with us. The most important thing for us now is to gather some clues. Once we’ve determined the target, we can continue the investigation further.”

She hadn’t forgotten the previous case where she asked Tang Xiu to cooperate with her investigation, only to find nothing. And this time, she also had the same hunch, that even if she was to find Tang Xiu, she still wouldn’t get any useful information from him.

“No matter what, you’ll go there; regardless of he’s the murderer or not! More or less, he’ll still be intimidated. There have been too many major cases in Star City recently. If this keeps going like this, not only will I not last any long in my Bureau Director position, even all of you will also be punished severely!” Deng Jianmin said.

Cheng Xuemei couldn’t help but rub her forehead out of a headache. But she could only nod under Deng Jianmin’s order.

****

Life oftentimes feels bleak and uneventful by many. But for some others, they find that life was exciting and colorful in particular fashions. They could be successful, experience failures, fortunes and misfortunes, as everything was to fulfil and enriched life as it could be.

It’s already been two months after Tang Xiu returned from the Immortal World. But too many things had happened that he had to pass through. Sometimes, he also wanted to stop and take a break, but the turning wheel of fate was beyond what he could control. It pushed him forward, dragging him to advance without him being able to resist. However, as brave as he always was, the 10,000 years of life he had lived through in the Immortal World had tempered his heart as though it was a stone.

Inside the villa’s storehouse…

Tang Xiu was refining one medicinal drug, Corpse Dissolver.

In the Immortal World, this type of drug was used to completely destroy corpses and left no trace. A drop of it could destroy the corpse into a puddle of foul water, even the clothes wouldn’t remain.

Only after early morning did Tang Xiu come back to his room and slept until noon. After he woke up and took a bath, he went to the living room in the first floor and found Long Hanwen sitting there whilst drinking tea. Quietly sitting at his opposite side was Long Zhengyu, who was reading documents.

“Ah, when have you arrived, Uncle Long?” Tang Xiu approached and greeted them.

Long Hanwen narrowed his eyes as he looked at Tang Xiu, saying, “I just got here, since I had to collect some information first. Anyway, this house is very good. Got yourself comfy here?”

“It’s good!” Tang Xiu said.

Long Zhengyu kept the documents in his hands. He handed it over to Tang Xiu and said, “Never thought that my father would send people to gather the things you asked. It’s very thorough, so it can add to the information I’ve gotten this morning. Anyways, my father also wants you to see the contract we agreed to last night.”

Tang Xiu took the documents about the Zhang Family and read them carefully. He had no choice but admit that he was very insignificant compared to the Zhang Family. The assets calculation alone, the Zhangs had more than 20 billion and also had some trump cards within their arsenal. But even with the information provided by Long Hanwen, there was nothing about their home or their hidden trump card.

Shortly after, from Long Hanwen, Tang Xiu also read the contract that was made last night. His expression turned particularly strange after reading it as he chuckled, “Ah, opportunities truly can only be grasped by people who already prepared themselves. It seems that Uncle Long has prepared it quite well! I don’t know much about this contract, but I can see the problem within it. If the Zhang Family were to sign this contract and are short of liquid funds, I think they will run into a big trouble.”

“You can figure it out?” Long Hanwen’s brows slanted as he asked.

“Yea, I’m talking about this contract. I have nothing to say about the other clauses though. But there’s something bothering me. Your Long Family and the Zhangs are rivals; there are even some friction between your younger generation. Do you have any assurance that the Zhangs will sign this contract?” Tang Xiu asked.

Long Hanwen said with a light laugh, “Hahaha. Regardless of the world being at peace or chaotic, people will always chase profits and benefits. And what’s a businessman to begin with? They are nothing but people who’ll pursue profits. Zhang Fengxian, the head of the Zhang Family, is a fickle man. He has no friends. He can even sell his family members if it can give him some interests and profits. And from this contract, presuming that it can be completed, this would net a profit of at least one billion yuan for the Zhangs. Do you think Zhang Fengxian won’t be tempted by this? Also, this contract only includes the first phase of the joint cooperation, while there will also be subsequent projects following this. With such a huge prospect of profits, Zhang Fengxian would be a fool if he doesn’t sign this.”

“That makes sense. But there’s one more critical problem as of now. It’s about the Hu and Xue Families. I heard some news that the Hu and Xue Families’ strength are not as strong as the Zhangs’. But if the two were to join forces with them, I’m afraid that it will become quite troublesome.” Tang Xiu said.

“This problem is also a concern that I’m worried about. So, the reason as to why I wanted to see you this time is that I wanted to hear your opinion on this. Since you want to set a trap, you might have a plan ready.” Long Hanwen said with an unflinching expression.

Tang Xiu shook his head and said, “I know nothing about business wars. But I do have a short term plan to smear the Zhangs’ reputation. Anyways, the Zhang Group have been listed in the stock market, haven't they? If their corporation’s reputation is damaged, I think their stock price will depreciate big time. Also, I can guarantee that at the beginning of the execution of the plan, the head of the Zhang Family, Zhang Fengxian, as well as some other important figures of the group will be missing. In this situation, where corporation big shots are missing, I believe that our plan will run smoothly.”

“Are you sure?” Long Hanwen asked with a deep tone.

“I don’t have a 100% assurance, but 99% is a sure shot.” Tang Xiu said without hesitation.

With a sinking tone, Long Hanwen replied, “That being the case, we’ll agree to the deal. Now tell me, are there any forces joining us in this aside from our Long Family and Chen Zhizhong?”

“I’m not sure whether the Ouyang Family will join or not, but for now, we have four forces in this. Your Long Family, Chen Zhizhong, and my two friends- Miao Wentang and Shao Mingzhen.” Tang Xiu said.

Long Hanwen was shocked, “You’re friends with Miao Wentang? The Miao Family’s head of Haiqing Province and the Big Boss of Miao Group?”

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