Chapter 270 163: The World's Secret Organizations

The key was the owner of the object itself. So, even if Xu Huo had lost it, it wouldn't have affected the case's progress.

But an organization was involved...

'This is going to be a pain.'

Xu Huo sighed, then another thought occurred to him.

Over ten years ago, Chu Xi's father... When he died, Li Jianye had also seen this kind of Stone Token.

But that person was just a human trafficker...

'Was he acting under the authority of the token?'

Xu Huo fell into deep thought.

To be safe, he took out his phone, typed out a message about the matter, and sent it to Zhang Liang. The other man replied with a simple, "Okay."

Only then did Xu Huo board the plane with his mind at ease.

A long while later, the plane took off, heading for Jiangsan City.

Outside the airport, Zhang Liang and Zhao Gang watched the plane slowly taxi away.

Zhang Liang's heart, which had been lodged in his throat, finally dropped.

"He's finally gone!"

...

...

「January 1st, 2004.」

「2:00 PM.」

"Hey, Brother Huo, when we were on the plane, I saw Group Leader Zhang and the others. Group Leader Zhang and Brother Zhao were even looking up, all reluctant to see us go!"

Haiyun Province.

Jiangsan City.

Xu Huo and the others got off the plane and slowly made their way to the municipal police headquarters.

As soon as they got out of the car, Wang Chao said this to Xu Huo, his voice filled with emotion.

"Actually, I don't think they were all that reluctant to see us go," Li Jianye piped up. Wang Chao wasn't buying it.

However, before Wang Chao could retort,

the next second, countless heads poked out from the entrance of the police headquarters and from the office building's windows, all staring at their group.

"Ch-Chief?"

A man holding a case file stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes fixed on Li Jianye.

"Chief!?"

The man's eyes flew open, his face a mask of shock.

"Chief, you're back!?"

"I'm back, I'm back..."

Li Jianye's face was etched with exhaustion, and his eyes were filled with melancholy.

'Four months...'

'A full four months!'

'Do you have any idea what he's been through these past four months!?'

Although he had returned once not long ago for the Sun Jian case,

he hadn't met with many people then.

"The director said he gave you a long vacation, Chief. It's been four months! I thought you'd been fired. The guys in the squad have been worried sick every day," the Police Officer said with a sigh.

'A long vacation...'

Li Jianye sighed. He swore he would never again believe anyone who told him to "go have some fun" or "take a vacation"...

"It's a long story."

Xu Huo just smiled at him and said nothing.

He caught sight of someone out of the corner of his eye, paused, said a few words to Chu Xi and the others, and then headed off.

He walked all the way to an office.

CREAK~

The door opened.

The door to an office in the municipal headquarters opened, revealing Chu Linhai's face.

Xu Huo plopped down on the sofa, casually took the tea offered to him, and popped a freshly peeled orange segment into his mouth, looking perfectly content.

Chu Linhai was speechless.

Chu Linhai, who had been about to speak, was suddenly at a loss for words. He hesitated, then finally said resignedly:

"You're back?"

"Halfway back, I guess."

Xu Huo took a sip of tea, thought for a moment, and said:

"Mhm, I plan on opening a few shops in Jiangsan City. Once the business stabilizes, I'll probably have to take off again."

'He still has to take off!?'

Chu Linhai sighed.

He really wanted Xu Huo to become a police officer.

But clearly, the young man loved money.

'Well, of course, if the police department could promote him directly to First-level Police Chief instead of making him start as a Police Superintendent or even a Police Officer... he'd probably love being a cop then...'

"Not going to crack a few cases?" Chu Linhai asked.

"I practically raised you from the time you were in diapers, you punk! Now I'm old and can't handle these cases anymore, and you won't even help me out!"

Xu Huo raised an eyebrow.

"Hey, Old Chu, don't be such a scoundrel."

'It was clearly Chu Xi who raised me... no, wait, it was me who raised Chu Xi!'

Chu Linhai was unmoved, his expression unchanged. "You have no idea. All to clean up the mess you made back in September."

"I don't even know how many favors I owe because of it."

"That was cleaning up a mess for Jiangsan City!" Xu Huo shot back, cutting to the heart of the matter.

Chu Linhai winced as if he had a toothache.

He reached for a drink of water, only to find Xu Huo had swiped his cup. All at once, he lost interest in the conversation.

After a long moment of contemplation, he seemed to let it go.

"Forget it. It's not like any major cases have happened in Jiangsan City these past few months anyway."

"The minor cases were resolved on their own."

"What about the cold cases? You can't just ignore all the cold cases!" Chu Linhai pressed.

'Cold cases...'

Just as Xu Huo was about to say something, the matter related to Chu Xi's father's case from over ten years ago suddenly came to mind.

He thought for a long while.

"Cold cases, I can do," he said.

'He... can!?'

Chu Linhai froze, then raised an eyebrow. "Really!?"

Cold cases... although their priority was low compared to active cases.

But at the end of the day, they were still cases!

Criminal cases, at that!

Moreover, the victims' families were often desperate. Compared to active cases, there was an even greater need for cold cases to be solved.

In his previous life, the place where Xu Huo had lived had launched multiple campaigns to clear cold cases, which showed just how much importance the higher-ups placed on them.

"But... you have to pay me," Xu Huo suddenly added.

He couldn't keep relying on Zhang Niu for funding. The man didn't have enough spare cash to fund a third business venture.

Therefore, he was still short on cash at the moment.

"How much?" Chu Linhai asked.

"Thirty thousand per case. I won't take them often, just when I have free time," Xu Huo stated.

The priority of cold cases was low, so the price was naturally smaller, but it was quite high compared to the usual reward money.

"The same price you charge to catch cheating spouses?" Chu Linhai's eye twitched.

"Nonsense!" Xu Huo was very displeased.

"Catching cheaters pays way more than this."

Chu Linhai was speechless.

He didn't know what to say to that.

It was true. People who needed to hire a detective to catch a cheating spouse were usually aiming to divide family assets.

And someone who could afford a detective to help them divide assets wouldn't be short thirty or forty thousand.

"Done," Chu Linhai agreed. "Go to the archives and take a look first. I still need to think over the news from the Capital City."

Xu Huo nodded.

The Capital City was cleaning up Jiangsan City's mess, though it was more a matter of convenience for them.

But it would take time; at the very least, it wasn't finished yet.

As for the archives...

The municipal headquarters' archives were huge.

Much larger than the archives in Zhaozhou or Linlan City. The interior was filled with iron shelves, on which rested countless paper files and documents.

There was also an evidence room.

And as Xu Huo walked into the archives,

two familiar figures suddenly appeared before him, making him pause.

"Brother Huo?"

Wang Chao stopped short, his eyes immediately lighting up.

"Brother Huo! Perfect timing!"

He quickly pulled a bewildered Xu Huo over to Li Jianye's side.

"What are you two... doing?" Xu Huo asked suspiciously.

"Nothing much," Wang Chao said, shaking his head.

"It's a problem of Brother Zhao's."

Brother Zhao, as in Zhao Shui.

"Zhao Shui?"

Xu Huo's brow furrowed.

"What about him?"

Hearing his voice, Li Jianye turned around and said:

"A case."

"A case that can't be closed."

"It happened half a year ago. I arrested the guy myself, but I never expected that the case would still be open."

'A case that can't be... closed!?'

Wait a minute.

"You're saying you arrested the killer yourself..."

"But the case can't be closed?"

Xu Huo paused, narrowing his eyes at Li Jianye.

"That's right!" Li Jianye nodded.

'You arrested the killer, but the case still can't be closed!?'

'What kind of case is this!?'

It's even been dragged out for half a year and still isn't closed!

Xu Huo paused, a flicker of interest suddenly igniting within him.

He looked at the case file in his hands.

'This case...'

'...sounds pretty interesting!'

"Let me see."

"Here."

With that, Li Jianye handed over the case file.

And as the file was spread open...

...a bizarre incident slowly unfolded before Xu Huo's eyes.

Xu Huo's eyebrows shot up, and he narrowed his eyes.

'This case...'

'...has something to it!'

...

...