“My sister talked with quite a few officials in town today,” Gu Peijun said, recounting the news she had gathered. “A lot of people think He Hong made a mountain out of a molehill by accusing you of attempted rape. Since nothing actually happened, they believe the town government should’ve stepped in quietly and settled the matter instead of letting it turn into a scandal. And now the town’s mobilizing half the place to search for you—people are openly complaining about it.”

He paused, then added with a note of optimism, “The mood in town is… delicate. But that works in our favor. It proves Fan Chunjiang doesn’t have absolute control over Yun She. Now that we’ve got these key pieces of evidence, we could go straight to Secretary Wang and report Xiao Yujun. That should clear your name.”

“Let’s not rush it,” Xiao Liang replied calmly, turning to Gu Xiong. “Station Chief Gu, what do you think?”

Deep down, Xiao Liang knew the situation wasn’t as simple as Gu Peijun imagined. Most people in town had no idea what the so-called attempted rape case truly involved. Their complaints were based purely on the surface of the matter, and speaking casually cost them nothing.

Fan Chunjiang might be the local strongman, but that didn’t mean people weren’t allowed to grumble about him behind closed doors.

But if the evidence were suddenly made public—if the full extent of the corruption surfaced—would those same people still speak so freely? That was another question entirely.

Xiao Liang understood the mindset of grassroots officials all too well.

He had also considered another possibility: the old man who had been injured in the mountains might have gone to the hospital for treatment. If anyone there asked around about an escaped suspect, they could easily stumble upon his case. Yet in the past two days, neither Gu Peijun nor Gu Ling had noticed anything unusual happening in town.

Xiao Liang felt a faint disappointment, though he wasn’t particularly surprised.

The old man might simply have looked into the matter briefly and decided it was too troublesome to involve himself. Or perhaps he was waiting for Xiao Liang to come to him and formally repay the favor.

For now, Xiao Liang had no intention of contacting the Fourteenth Provincial Cadre Retirement Institute. He wanted to wait a little longer—to see just how big a splash Sui Jing could make in the murky waters of Yun She.

“Officials can twist words any way they like,” Gu Xiong said slowly. “We can’t act rashly.”

He was secretly amazed that Xiao Liang could still remain so composed at this stage, yet he agreed completely: it was too early to reveal the evidence.

They already knew Fan Chunjiang and Xiao Yujun were deeply entangled in shared interests. But whether higher-ranking officials in town—or even in the county—had also been bought off was still unknown. How could they be certain the evidence would actually accomplish anything once handed over?

In the end, the decision to investigate Xiao Yujun—and how far that investigation might go—would not be made by some cold, impartial machine called the law. It would depend on real people, each with their own principles… or their own price.

Gu Xiong had lived sixty-two years and seen too many things that defied belief, too many people with no bottom line at all.

For now, patience was the wiser course.

Wait a few more days and watch how the wind shifted.

—

In truth, Xiao Liang didn’t have to wait long.

On the third afternoon after Xiao Liang had first appeared at the Xidunwei village wholesale shop, Gu Peijun suddenly rushed to the guesthouse in Sucheng Town on his motorcycle. He burst in, breathless and anxious.

“Sui Jing is still digging into the doubts surrounding your case,” he reported urgently. “Fan Chunjiang finally snapped. He’s been losing his temper several times these past two days. I just got a call from my sister—Fan Chunjiang has invited Zhao Zhishan, the deputy director of the county Public Security Bureau, down to Yun She!”

He swallowed nervously.

“Zhao Zhishan might order Sui Jing back to the county and assign someone else to your case. If we don’t hand over the evidence now, we might lose our chance!”

Xiao Liang remembered Zhao Zhishan.

During the half year he had spent locked in the detention center in his previous life, Zhao Zhishan had personally participated in two interrogation sessions.

At the time, Xiao Liang hadn’t been able to determine how closely Zhao Zhishan was connected to Chen Shen and Fan Chunjiang. But now that Fan Chunjiang had called him directly to Yun She to suppress Sui Jing, there had to be some kind of relationship between them.

Still, Xiao Liang didn’t share Gu Peijun’s worry.

If Zhao Zhishan truly wanted to remove Sui Jing from the case—whether because she had violated procedure or because he was personally tied to Fan Chunjiang and Xiao Yujun—he wouldn’t need to travel here himself. As deputy director, all he had to do was summon the head of the Criminal Investigation Brigade and issue an order.

Why bother coming in person?

“Did Zhao Zhishan come alone?” Xiao Liang asked. “Anyone else with him?”

“My sister said Yuan Wenhai came too—the deputy captain from the Criminal Investigation Brigade who escorted you earlier. His arm’s in a cast. You said he was Sui Jing’s mentor in the police force, right? Zhao Zhishan dragging him out of the hospital like this clearly means he’s unhappy Sui Jing isn’t focusing on capturing you!”

People’s hearts were hard to read.

Xiao Liang might have saved Yuan Wenhai’s life at the crash scene, but Gu Peijun didn’t believe that made him trustworthy now. What worried him even more was that Fan Chunjiang had managed to bring Zhao Zhishan down personally.

That couldn’t mean anything good.

“Sui Jing coming to Yun She and not focusing first on capturing me does break procedure,” Xiao Liang admitted, pulling on the sun-protection jacket he had bought two days earlier. “But Zhao Zhishan isn’t someone who would rush here without understanding the situation first—just because Fan Chunjiang made a phone call.”

He turned to Gu Peijun.

“Take me back to Yun She. Whether this matter ends cleanly or not… will depend on the next couple of days.”

Gu Peijun stared at him, confused.

Fan Chunjiang had enough power to summon a deputy director of the county police bureau, and Gu Peijun felt disaster closing in. Yet Xiao Liang seemed convinced that this was the very opportunity they had been waiting for.

Xiao Liang patted his shoulder reassuringly.

His confidence came from more than just the hot-blooded Sui Jing and the mysterious Fourteenth Cadre Institute.

There was also Yuan Wenhai—his final insurance.

The reason Yuan Wenhai had not yet stepped forward was partly because Sui Jing was charging ahead on the front line. But more importantly, as a veteran criminal investigator with more than a decade of experience, Yuan Wenhai was far more strategic in how he played his cards.

—

“Tell me something—what exactly were you thinking?”

Standing inside Mayor Fan Chunjiang’s office in Yun She Town, Zhao Zhishan, deputy director of the Shishan County Public Security Bureau, glared at Sui Jing as she explained everything she had done over the past three or four days.

He didn’t bother lowering his voice despite the others present.

“The suspect tells you he’s in Yun She, and you just run here? Did it ever occur to you that you might be getting played? You didn’t find the suspect here, yet instead of reconsidering, you started suspecting the victim had detained him? Who taught you investigation logic like that? Did Yuan Wenhai teach you nothing?”

Yuan Wenhai sat silently on the sofa in the corner, studying the decor of Fan Chunjiang’s office.

The leather sofa beneath him felt soft and smooth—not the cheap local stuff produced in Dongzhou.

In the corner by the window stood a tall cabinet holding a crystal-clear glass fish tank. Even from four or five meters away, he could see several palm-sized goldfish weaving happily through the water plants.

Life at the grassroots level really had its perks, he mused. You could indulge yourself without worrying too much.

Zhao Zhishan didn’t want to be overly harsh with Sui Jing. After all, the former bureau chief had personally arranged for her to join the Criminal Investigation team. Even when scolding her, he had to show some restraint.

But when he noticed Yuan Wenhai leisurely admiring the office decorations, irritation flared in his chest.

“Yuan Wenhai!” he snapped. “What exactly do you do all day? Is this how you train your apprentices?”

Yuan Wenhai immediately raised his arm in its cast across his chest and spoke with exaggerated grievance.

“Director Zhao, look at this arm of mine. I sneaked out of the hospital today—my wife nearly filed for divorce. But since you gave the order, I rushed right back to Yun She. You can’t say I’m not doing my best.”

He shrugged helplessly.

“As for this situation… I don’t think it’s entirely Sui Jing’s fault. She’s young and inexperienced, sure. But before she came to Yun She, she called me to discuss it. I was lying in a hospital bed at the People’s Hospital, still groggy from anesthesia. My head was spinning—I didn’t think it through and just agreed. So if you’re going to scold someone, Director Zhao, scold me. That’s fair.”

But Sui Jing hadn’t yet learned how to quietly swallow injustice. Nor could she understand the worldly tact behind Yuan Wenhai’s attempt to shield her.

After Zhao Zhishan’s reprimand, her cheeks flushed with anger.

“I’ve been verifying the facts with the parties involved these past few days,” she argued. “From what I can see, the victim’s testimony isn’t solid. Several details in her account don’t match up, and the physical evidence is far from conclusive. Even if we can’t prove it’s a false accusation, the grounds for filing the case are extremely weak.”

“You still think you’re right?” Zhao Zhishan snapped.

He stared at her indignant face.

“You got carried away and ran to Yun She without even confirming where the suspect made his phone call from! The man is a fugitive who lies through his teeth, and you let him run circles around you. Instead of catching him, you turned around and started harassing the victim again and again. Do you think once you put on that police uniform, it can never be taken off?”

“Sui Jing!”

Seeing that she was about to argue further, Yuan Wenhai cut in.

“The suspect made two phone calls home on the morning of June second,” he said. “Both came from Dongzhou City—one from a small shop on Xuetian Street, the other from a public phone booth nearby. Both locations are very close to his house.”

He paused.

“That means the suspect was in Dongzhou City at the time, not in Yun She. He lied about that. Which means we need to reassess everything he said during those calls.”

Besides Mayor Fan Chunjiang, several other officials had gathered in the office.

Qian Haiyun, the only remaining officer at the Yun She police station, was present, along with Ge Jianguo, director of the town’s comprehensive security office.

Technically, the Rural Economic Management Station had nothing to do with the manhunt. But Du Xuebing, the station chief, insisted on attending because the suspect had once worked there.

Everyone stood around watching Zhao Zhishan reprimand Sui Jing.

But what they really wanted to know was how he intended to organize the next stage of the search.

Chen Shen was still in the emergency room fighting for his life. With him gone, Qian Haiyun was the only official police officer left at the Yun She station.

Even though the town had mobilized plenty of manpower to help search for the suspect, the operation still required the police to take the lead.

Zhao Zhishan rubbed his temples, clearly annoyed.

Then he turned to Yuan Wenhai.

“Yuan Wenhai,” he asked, “can you hold out a bit longer and keep handling this case?”

Yuan Wenhai lifted his cast again with a troubled expression.

“Director Zhao… look at my condition,” he said helplessly. “Wouldn’t it be better to assign someone else?”

He sighed dramatically.

“My wife really will divorce me this time…”