Chapter 2403 — Stirring Up Trouble Again

"Oh? You're looking for Jianwen? He's not home. Is something the matter?" An Mingyue asked, betraying nothing.

"Where is he? We need him to cooperate with an investigation," Qiu Lingshan said.

"I see. How about I call him and have him come back?" Seeing that Qiu Lingshan would not be drawn out, An Mingyue hesitated a moment, then dialed An Jianwen's number and recounted what had happened here. Of course, he said not a single word beyond that; he trusted that An Jianwen would understand the meaning hidden in his words.

An Jianwen naturally understood his father's hint. What he could not work out was how Qiu Lingshan had arrived so quickly and come straight to their door. An Jianwen was also confident that he had done his work flawlessly and left no evidence behind; Qiu Lingshan could not have found her way here through evidence.

Even so, An Jianwen returned to the An family villa at once, and greeted Qiu Lingshan with great warmth: "Officer Song, you were looking for me?"

"An Jianwen, I imagine you're not unfamiliar with the recent string of kidnapping cases?" Qiu Lingshan asked bluntly, cutting straight to the point. With a man like An Jianwen, ordinary methods were useless.

"Kidnapping cases? I've heard of them, but no one in our An family has been kidnapped, have they?" Sure enough, An Jianwen looked at Qiu Lingshan with a baffled, innocent expression.

"An Jianwen, I won't waste words. It was Wei Zhao who sent me to find you. Those cultivator-like men the Fire Wolf Gang developed—don't tell me they have nothing to do with you." Qiu Lingshan had no intention of playing cat and mouse with An Jianwen. With a man like him, no matter what you said, he would never admit a thing, so she simply chose to question him outright.

"This..." An Jianwen had not expected Qiu Lingshan to ask that—and that Wei Zhao had sent her. His expression changed at once! Instinctively he wanted to deny it. But he knew he could not deny it! Everything he had done—the kidney harvesting, the underground fight pits, the bank robberies, and more—Wei Zhao probably knew it all. It was only that Wei Zhao had no evidence, and probably could not be bothered with him for the time being.

But this time, Wei Zhao had personally directed Qiu Lingshan to come to him. Clearly Wei Zhao was displeased about the kidnapping of Wang Xinyan!

An Jianwen frowned. He seemed to have offended Wei Zhao rather too many times lately—especially since Gu Pengzhan's car accident, Wei Zhao had found him disagreeable no matter what he did! Thinking of his father's account of Wei Zhao's exploits at the hidden families' summit, An Jianwen hesitated, and in the end chose to back down!

His standing in the Fire Wolf Gang was indeed high, but had not the Fire Wolf Gang's Protector also backed down before Wei Zhao? Besides, Wei Zhao's performance at the hidden families' summit could only be described as astonishing—even those Heaven Rank experts had not dared to make a rash move. How could An Jianwen possibly contend with Wei Zhao?

So in the end, An Jianwen chose to compromise: "Is that so? But Officer Song, you know as well as I do that although I am the Fire Wolf Group's man in charge in East Sea City, some of my subordinates may, for their own private gain, drive our cultivators to do wicked things! I hadn't noticed before. But since you've reminded me, Officer Song, it seems this was an oversight on my part! Rest assured, Officer Song. I will run a thorough check on the people in our group; anyone with the authority to command those cultivators, I will investigate one by one. If it truly was our people who took part in the kidnappings, I will show no mercy—I will personally deliver him to you, Officer Song!"

"I hope so," Qiu Lingshan said with a nod.

It was not the result she had wanted. But comparatively speaking, it already counted as a victory! An Jianwen had yielded. The man handed over might be no more than a minor underling, but that was still better than finding no lead at all!

Of course, Qiu Lingshan also knew that it was Wei Zhao's name in her words that had done the work. An Jianwen was plainly wary of Wei Zhao—that was why he had deflected. Otherwise, with not a shred of evidence on her side, only conjecture, would An Jianwen ever have backed down?

Qiu Lingshan said nothing more and left with Liu Wangli. She knew the kidnapping case might soon be solved, but the true mastermind still lurked in the shadows—the Fire Wolf Gang, the so-called Fire Wolf Group, was the ultimate hand behind it all.

"Damn it! I'd barely started making money, and here comes Wei Zhao to stir up trouble!" After Qiu Lingshan left, An Jianwen was beside himself with rage.

"Jianwen, the rift between Wei Zhao and us is wide. In the present circumstances, we truly should not come to blows," An Mingyue said. "As for the kidnappings—best put them on hold for now."

"Mm." An Jianwen was furious, but he knew the kidnapping business could not continue for the time being. It seemed he would have to turn his eyes to other ventures...

……………………

Chief Zhu first took Chen Xi back, then returned to East Sea City and went straight to Brother Gambler's casino, where he learned something of what had happened at the time.

Of course, this was also so that he could better concoct his lies once he returned; his main purpose was to sound out how much Brother Gambler knew.

But from the look of things, Brother Gambler did not know much. He had not seen how Old Six Pu and Pu Huotai died, nor did he know the true identity of Old Man Pi—which came as a relief to Chief Zhu.

After Chief Zhu returned, the Hidden Zhao family convened a family meeting at the first opportunity.

Following Wei Zhao's instructions, Chief Zhu pinned the entire affair on Wei Zhao, and made no mention of the Hidden Pi family. As for why those Zhao family men had given themselves away and been killed by Wei Zhao, he laid the blame on the casino!

Chief Zhu said the casino owner had sold out the Hidden Zhao family's identity. Of course, Chief Zhu had reversed the order of events: Brother Gambler had indeed sold out the Hidden Zhao family, but he had done so afterward, not before!

As for the real reason Wei Zhao had grown suspicious of those men—namely that Chief Zhu himself had been seen through by Wei Zhao, and that the trouble had started with him—Chief Zhu naturally did not say. If he let the Zhao family know he had been exposed, he would probably be recalled to the hidden families and could no longer stay at Chen Xi's side—and he would hardly come off well either.

"To think Wei Zhao is so formidable—he killed Pu Huotai and his personal guards," the Zhao patriarch said in utter shock. Wei Zhao's strength was considerable; no wonder he had made such a show of defiance at the hidden families' summit—he really did have the power to challenge Heaven Rank!

Old Six Pu had been a peak late Earth Rank expert, skilled in both internal and external cultivation. Even the Zhao patriarch, facing him, would likely not have gained much advantage—so the situation before him left him deeply shaken! The operation had failed, and the Zhao family had lost several of its own. As for stirring up trouble with Wei Zhao, he would not dare for anything; going would be walking into death. Only a fool would go.

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