Chapter Fifty-Nine: The Arrest

After returning to the office, Li Changqing took a shower, changed into fresh clothes, and leaned comfortably against the sofa, turning on the television to watch a variety show. He noticed that Tang Xiaoyu seemed to have something on her mind she wanted to say, hesitating as she glanced his way.

“What’s wrong? Do you have something to tell me?” he asked.

Tang Xiaoyu hesitated for a long time before finally taking out the medicine she had prepared and placing it on the coffee table. “I… I bought this with my own money. You’re supposed to take two tablets each time, three times a day: morning, noon, and night.”

“What is this?” He picked up the box and realized it was medication for mental illness.

“Why would you buy this for me…” Li Changqing suddenly remembered the scene where he’d grabbed his own throat. Did Tang Xiaoyu really believe he was mentally ill?

“Thank you. I’ll take it,” he said, putting the medicine away. It was the first time he’d ever seen Tang Xiaoyu spend her own money—he couldn’t bear to dampen her enthusiasm.

...

Late at night, a bar was about to close for the evening.

Xiao Jingshan, half drunk, walked out of the bar with a friend. He burped, his mood sour and resentful. “That girl… just because her family has a bit of money, she thinks she can fire me? I’ve worked at Linjiang Docks for over a decade, always diligent and loyal!”

“Xiao, as I told you, come work at our dock tomorrow. No need to get so worked up,” said a man in a suit, smiling amiably. “Besides, we could use some of those cargo resources…”

Xiao Jingshan had steady supply lines from two local factories, and he was on good terms with the bosses. If he switched jobs, those shipments would follow him to the new dock. That girl had actually dared to fire him! Sooner or later, he’d have to find a way to make her pay—perhaps organize a strike at Linjiang Docks, or report them to the authorities?

He’d worked at Linjiang Docks for many years and knew a deep, dark secret. If he ever exposed it and called the police, the dock would be shut down immediately. The only thing stopping him was the risk of implicating himself.

“All right, President Chen, I’ll head home now. See you tomorrow.” Xiao Jingshan burped again, staggered to his car, and soon a designated driver approached.

“Do you need someone to drive for you, sir?”

Xiao Jingshan opened the door and climbed into the back seat. “Wind Pavilion Community,” he said, then settled in and watched as the driver headed in a direction that was not toward his home.

He frowned. “Hey, do you know the way? You’re going the wrong direction, turn around.”

“No mistake,” the driver replied, turning his head. It was Uncle Yun.

“You?” Xiao Jingshan’s expression darkened as he realized something was wrong. He instinctively reached for the car door.

“Go ahead, jump out. At this speed, at least it’ll be quick,” Uncle Yun said calmly.

At this speed, if Xiao Jingshan jumped, he would not survive. It would be less trouble that way.

“What are you trying to do?” Xiao Jingshan’s drunkenness faded, and he surreptitiously activated his phone’s recording function. “Are you trying to kill me? Afraid I’ll talk about what’s been happening at the dock?”

Uncle Yun replied evenly, “This is a law-abiding society. I wouldn’t dare kill anyone.”

With that, Uncle Yun stamped hard on the accelerator. The car shot forward through the city streets, its speed suddenly surging.

“What are you doing? Slow down! You’ll get yourself killed too!”

“Hey! Hey! We’re going to crash!”

The car reached two hundred kilometers per hour within the city, and with a thunderous crash, slammed into a utility pole.

In his final moments, Xiao Jingshan saw Uncle Yun turn into a wisp of black smoke and slip out of the car just before impact.

Wailing sirens filled the air. Ambulances, federal police, and various agencies quickly arrived at the scene.

The car was completely wrecked, and a blood-soaked corpse lay within.

“He’s dead.” Hu Xiong furrowed his brow as he squatted at the scene, examining the body. “They acted quickly.”

Bai Chuan stood a little farther away, not fond of such messy, dirty scenes.

Because of the previous explosion at Linjiang Docks, Bureau 36 had already begun a covert investigation. The two of them had received word that a high-ranking manager from Linjiang Docks had died in a car crash—on the very day he’d been fired. The accident scene was peculiar as well.

The victim was found in the back seat, but the driver’s seat was empty. Surveillance footage from nearby showed that after the crash, no one else had emerged from the vehicle.

“Mr. Hu, this is the victim’s phone. Before he died, he recorded a conversation,” a federal officer reported, handing over Xiao Jingshan’s phone.

They played the recording, listening to Xiao Jingshan’s final conversation with a stranger.

“It’s basically confirmed. The dock’s side must have arranged this.”

“Let’s detain the dock’s owner immediately for questioning.”

Given the evidence from the scene and the phone recording, the driver had vanished into thin air—something only a supernatural force could accomplish.

That was evidence enough.

“Let’s go. We’ll arrest them at the dock,” Hu Xiong said, getting into the car and calling to Bai Chuan.

The two set off without backup, heading straight for Linjiang Docks.

The dock was eerily quiet that day. In Huang Chao’s former office, Shen Qingdai sat on the sofa, absentmindedly flipping through a magazine.

Knock, knock, knock.

Uncle Yun entered from outside.

“Miss, the matter has been dealt with as you instructed,” he reported. “But this method will obviously lead Bureau 36 to suspect supernatural involvement—they’ll trace it back to us.”

Shen Qingdai nodded with satisfaction. “Let’s wait for Bureau 36 to arrive.”

Uncle Yun frowned slightly; it seemed the young mistress had paid no heed to his earlier warning.

He said nothing further, simply standing by Shen Qingdai’s side with his hands lowered.

Before long, the security guard’s voice came from outside: “Boss Shen, two men claiming to be federal police are here, but they haven’t shown any identification…”

“Let them in,” Shen Qingdai replied, putting down her magazine. A look of anticipation flickered in her eyes. She was eager to see what sort of person Bai Chuan was—the one her father and Uncle Yun had repeatedly warned was not to be trifled with.

Hu Xiong and Bai Chuan pushed open the door and entered the office.

“May I ask which of you is Mr. Bai?” Shen Qingdai’s gaze swept curiously over their faces.

“That would be me,” Bai Chuan replied calmly. “Your company’s former employee, Xiao Jingshan, died in a car accident just now. We’d like the two of you to come with us and assist in our investigation.”

Uncle Yun’s voice was steady. “Mr. Bai, you must be mistaken. He was already dismissed—he’s not our employee.”

Bai Chuan’s ears twitched. He immediately recognized the middle-aged man’s voice from the recording—it was the man who had spoken with Xiao Jingshan before his death.

“Arrest them,” Bai Chuan said without further ado, taking out his handcuffs and approaching Uncle Yun. Shen Qingdai rose to block his path, smiling. “Mr. Bai, we are all law-abiding citizens here. To arrest someone without cause—surely that’s unreasonable, isn’t it?”