Chapter 16: Captured

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Wei Qingzheng did not choose to stake out Linjiang Bridge. Just as Ye Sang-sang had anticipated, he suspected it was a diversion, so he chose instead to remain beside Wang Zhi.

Nor did he wait until the afternoon of the day after tomorrow, as mentioned on the phone. He chose to make contact with Lin Zhi.

The reason Wang Zhi was wanted by Lincheng police was that he had organized prostitution—in other words, he worked as a pimp.

He knew an enormous number of people, and in Lincheng he had helped Wang Shun and Zhou Qiang sell stolen goods.

After Zhou Qiang’s death, they investigated his social connections and followed the trail through the people around him until they obtained Wang Zhi’s current address.

Once they had confirmed the records of the three men’s contacts, they had already begun preparing to arrest Wang Zhi.

The case, however, belonged to the Lincheng authorities, who already had an arrest warrant. They had to wait for officers from Lincheng to bring the necessary paperwork. This had troubled Wei Qingzheng, since all he could do in the meantime was track Wang Zhi discreetly and wait for the right moment to make the arrest.

Now that the call had come, he consulted with his superiors and moved into Wang Zhi’s home.

Officially, it was for Wang Zhi’s protection.

When the time came, they could catch the murderer while also preventing Wang Zhi, that sly fox, from fleeing.

For the next two days, Wang Zhi could live only under the supervision of plainclothes officers.

At Linjiang Bridge, Wei Qingzheng had sent members of his team ahead to keep watch and look out for anyone suspicious.

Because he was short-handed, he had no choice but to withdraw the officer who had been tailing Sun Bin.

That did not mean, however, that he had abandoned his suspicions of him.

Deep down, Wei Qingzheng still felt that something was wrong with Sun Bin and his wife.

He simply had no manpower to watch them now.

The appointed time soon arrived. The afternoon sunlight gradually sank westward, until it slowly vanished beyond the horizon.

As the hours passed, the doubts in Wei Qingzheng’s heart continued to pile up.

Wang Zhi had effectively been placed under house arrest. He sat in the living room, sprawled across the sofa with his legs propped on the glass coffee table, leisurely cracking sunflower seeds.

He already had a criminal record and had been in prison several times. Even with three criminal police officers watching him, he showed not the slightest trace of panic. He was even drafting questions in his head, preparing to test them.

In an era when communications were still poorly developed, Wang Zhi had no idea that his two “good brothers” had already died gruesome deaths.

He watched Wei Qingzheng, who had already paced across the living room three times, anxiously without realizing it himself. With a crisp crack, Wang Zhi split a sunflower seed, spat out the shell, and said, “Team Leader Wei, why don’t you tell me? Just what kind of person could threaten my life?”

He did not trust these policemen. He wanted to know who it was, then find someone to kill him.

Wei Qingzheng turned around. After lowering his eyelids in thought, he fixed his gaze on Wang Zhi. “If I knew who it was, I wouldn’t still be sitting here waiting.”

“Then there’s no such person! You’re not trying to trick me, are you?” Wang Zhi tilted his head suspiciously.

He stood up, picked up the black leather jacket draped over the sofa, and said, “I don’t trust you. If you’ve got the nerve, arrest me first. Otherwise, I’m leaving.”

As he spoke, his eyes darted about, clearly waiting for Wei Qingzheng’s response.

He knew better than anyone that these policemen would never let him leave. They intended to arrest him sooner or later.

Wei Qingzheng was no fool. Anyone who had become a criminal investigator in the early years of the new millennium had more than a few tricks up his sleeve. He naturally knew Wang Zhi was fishing for information, so he said bluntly, “Stop probing me. I’ll tell you the truth. Wang Shun and Zhou Qiang are both dead. If you don’t believe me, ask around.”

News of Wang Shun’s death had spread widely. Because taxi drivers had been questioned, nearly half the city knew about it by the second day after the incident.

Far fewer people knew about Zhou Qiang’s death, because the police had deliberately suppressed the information.

Wei Qingzheng had said it outright in order to test whether Wang Zhi knew anything about what had happened.

At his words, Wang Zhi stopped walking.

He did not care about Wang Shun’s death. Dead was dead. As far as he was concerned, Wang Shun had simply been killed by someone who had stolen from him first.

Given their relationship, the most he would do was burn incense for Wang Shun’s ashes someday.

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They had only ever been drinking companions and fellow scoundrels. Such things were perfectly normal.

But Zhou Qiang was dead too, and that made Wang Zhi sit up and take notice. He removed his jacket, turned toward Wei Qingzheng, and asked, “You think the two of them were killed by one of our enemies, and now that enemy is coming for me?”

For men who lived by violence and crime, revenge was nothing unusual.

“If you can remember who might have had a grudge against all three of you and help us close these two cases, I’ll consider recording it as meritorious service. That could reduce the punishment you’re about to receive.” Wei Qingzheng opened a cigarette case, took out a cigarette, and handed it to Wang Zhi.

With a grave expression, Wang Zhi narrowed his eyes, accepted the cigarette, and sat down. He began thinking about whom the three of them might have offended.

He ran through the possibilities in his mind and discovered there were quite a few—seven or eight suspects at least.

Wei Qingzheng was in no hurry. He lit his own cigarette and began offering Wang Zhi certain clues.

They were mainly details from the police profile of the suspect: approximate height and weight, along with habits the person might possess.

Thinking of Sun Bin, he added, “A taxi driver, perhaps. Or a teacher. Did the three of you ever offend people in either of those professions?”

By this point, he was already treating the two cases as one.

Wang Zhi began to think. A taxi driver? A teacher?

Of the two, Wang Shun had offended plenty of taxi drivers. Zhou Qiang might have angered teachers through his robberies. But the three of them had never offended both groups together.

Certainly not Wang Zhi himself.

Wang Zhi shook his head with absolute certainty. “No. The work those two did might have caused trouble with people like that. But not me. Everyone I’ve offended is from the underworld. I have nothing to do with either of those professions.”

He did not take it seriously. Anyone capable of killing him had not been born yet.

Wei Qingzheng’s actions amounted to nothing more than using him to find the murderer.

Having learned this much, Wang Zhi began thinking about how to escape.

He had no intention of being arrested and sent to prison.

“No one at all? Or are you hiding something?” Wei Qingzheng scrutinized Wang Zhi, weighing the credibility of his words.

Wang Zhi tugged at the corner of his mouth. “What could we possibly be hiding? I’ve always been a straight shooter. I wouldn’t deceive you, Team Leader Wei. But I’m curious—how did you determine that I was also one of the murderer’s targets?”

Then, as though something had occurred to him, he asked curiously, “Tell me how my two good brothers died. Maybe that will provide a clue.”

The latter question was pure bluffing. Mostly, he wanted to satisfy his curiosity so that he could brag about it to people in the underworld later.

“How we know you’re also a target is none of your concern. You only need to know that you’re in serious danger.” Wei Qingzheng did not say this because he looked down on Wang Zhi. The murderer behind all this simply possessed nerves of steel.

Criminals like Wang Zhi relied on ruthlessness to survive in society. When trouble arose, they panicked. Even Wang Shun, a hardened repeat offender, had revealed his state of mind through his past crimes.

But the murderer behind these two cases had shown no trace of panic.

Everything had been carried out in one seamless, decisive sequence.

Even the way the bodies had been disposed of displayed a composure so cold that it chilled a seasoned criminal investigator like Wei Qingzheng.

Someone like that posed an enormous threat to society. He had to be apprehended as quickly as possible.

Watching Wei Qingzheng’s expression, Wang Zhi became slightly more serious. “Sounds like we’re dealing with a real hard case.”

Wei Qingzheng lowered his eyes in thought, then changed tack. “Do you know that your brother who shared your surname was beaten to death while he slept? The only traces at the scene were the tire marks of a taxi. As for Zhou Qiang, he was bled to death in the middle of the night. His entire body was covered with countless cuts. He was tortured alive for several hours…”

There was no need to worry about what could or could not be said. If it produced a lead, revealing a little would do no harm.

He said all this because he wanted to observe Wang Zhi’s reaction.

Wei Qingzheng was a stubborn man. Once he made up his mind about something, not even several strong oxen could pull him away from it.

And right now, he believed Wang Zhi must recognize something.

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The contempt vanished completely from Wang Zhi’s face as he listened to Wei Qingzheng.

Compared with the ruthless men of the underworld, this murderer was excessively vicious. To torture someone to death—there had to be a deep blood feud between him and Wang Shun and Zhou Qiang!

Frowning, Wang Zhi racked his brain. Yet he truly could not remember ever offending someone so savage with Zhou Qiang and Wang Shun.

No.

There was someone.

Wang Zhi suddenly remembered something. His fingers trembled faintly, and his face went pale for an instant.

He remembered. But it had not been the three of them.

There had been four.

Several months earlier, the four of them had carried out a job together.

If this was an act of revenge, then everything made sense…

He swallowed hard and quickly concealed the fear rising in his eyes.

“Don’t keep hiding it. I think you already know the answer…” Wei Qingzheng suddenly fixed him with a piercing stare and demanded harshly.

The shout made Wang Zhi’s heart race. He instinctively shifted backward, putting more distance between himself and Wei Qingzheng. The cigarette between his fingers slipped to the floor.

He steadied himself, raised his eyes to meet Wei Qingzheng’s gaze, and forced a calm smile. “No… it’s nothing, Officer Wei. I really can’t remember. Please… please just let me go!”

He dared not say it.

The Central Continent had the death penalty.

If the police found out, he would face far more than the few years he was due to serve for procuring prostitution.

Looking at Wang Zhi’s reaction, how could Wei Qingzheng fail to understand?

He really did know something!

With that thought, Wei Qingzheng rose, reached out, seized Wang Zhi by the collar, and dragged him close. “Tell me. Don’t test my patience.”

Wang Zhi gave a shameless grin and let himself be held there. Spreading his hands, he said, “I really don’t know. This person is threatening my life. If I knew who he was and still refused to say, wouldn’t that make me an idiot?”

Wei Qingzheng stared at him coldly. After several seconds, he finally released him at the urging of the officer beside him and sat back down.

Wang Zhi collapsed onto the sofa.

Yet his own words had just reminded him of something.

The enemy was hidden while he stood exposed. A man so vicious had even followed him from Lincheng. He had to have this problem dealt with.

He turned possible explanations over and over in his mind. Then he raised his head and looked at Wei Qingzheng across from him. After a while, he asked, “Can you tell me why you’re certain he’ll make his move against me today?”

Sensing that Wang Zhi might be ready to talk, Wei Qingzheng answered vaguely, “Someone provided us with a lead.”

Wang Zhi’s heart lurched. His mind raced. Then he looked at Wei Qingzheng and said with absolute certainty, “Heh. You’ve been played. He isn’t coming after me at all. The person he intends to kill is someone else!”

“What!”

Wei Qingzheng sprang to his feet and shouted.

…

At that very moment.

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