Chapter 653: Where There Is Jianghu, There Will Always Be Those Who Seek to Be Number One

Chen Xiao didn’t respond to Lin Xi.

Instead, he opened the drawer, where he kept the name cards he had written before.

Zhu Nianying, Huang Zhao, Liu Da, Xiao He, Kang Mao, Li Hao...

These people were prominently listed.

Lin Xi looked at these name cards, her eyes still full of deep suspicion.

"Are you trying to leverage their diverse intentions, then divide them, and finally make them mess up on their own?"

"You got it half right."

"What else then?"

Chen Xiao picked up Huang Zhao’s name card and said seriously:

"I want to catch him with criminal evidence!"

Lin Xi frowned immediately.

As a seasoned captain of the criminal police now.

She knew very well that in a long-spanning missing person case like this, catching the opponent with evidence is like climbing a mountain.

Nonetheless, there’s a special piece of information in this case, which is that some have died, and some have survived.

If the surviving one is found, then there would be irrefutable evidence.

But Lin Xi was Chen Xiao’s bedmate.

Many times, she didn’t need to interpret Chen Xiao’s words to understand their meaning.

Chen Xiao’s mention of evidence wasn’t about finding Zhu Nianying or the possibly still alive Jiang Cai.

The evidence he referred to was another matter.

However, from Lin Xi’s understanding of the case, she didn’t think there was any evidence worth seeking.

Only until Chen Xiao spoke again:

"Before coming to Hai City, I met Qi Kai, Qi Wei’s father, once."

"Originally, I only wanted to get some detailed information about Xiao He from him, but I didn’t expect him to take me to a basement."

"In that basement, there was a structure resembling a hanging tower. From the hanging tower, ropes dangled down, with boxes at the ends."

"I don’t know what was in those boxes, but the information about Xiao He was taken from Qi Wei’s box."

Upon hearing this, Lin Xi understood Chen Xiao’s implication.

"Are you saying that Huang Zhao may also have an underground storage for data?"

"Nowadays, technology makes many people distrust the internet, still using the oldest ways to organize and collect data."

"So, if Qi Kai can do it, why can’t Huang Zhao? Besides, I trust my tracking skill. The person I found in one of the cells should be her. Moreover, this should be confirmed soon, especially since we found some hair in that cell, and if it matches Zhu Nianying."

"Then I can eliminate the possibility of Zhu Nianying being from the Sacred Heart Church. Removing this possibility, why did Zhu Nianying disappear in the year 2000 instead of shortly after meeting Huang Zhao?"

"Based on this, we can entirely speculate that Zhu Nianying learned something she wasn’t supposed to, leading to her disappearance as a result."

Lin Xi nodded frequently: "Calculating it this way, it’s indeed very likely."

"So I am pondering, if we find a basement like Qi Kai’s, can we find evidence of Huang Zhao’s crimes?"

Lin Xi smiled wryly: "But now you are in Hai City, and to find such an existence, you must return to Shencheng City. However, once you return to Shencheng City, what might the others think?"

"Indeed, pulling one string might move the whole body, especially since this case is now linked to the newly emerged Yang Lake Land King in Shencheng City, the potential interests behind the scenes are just too immense."

"Are you saying they haven’t truly taken action yet?" Lin Xi murmured, but she quickly became extremely serious:

"Assuming... assuming that at this crucial time, Zhu Nianying’s body is exposed and you encounter another scandal, what would it mean for Dragon Cauldron?"

Chen Xiao looked at Lin Xi in surprise: "So you thought of that too."

"You’ve explained it so clearly, how could I not think of it? Honey, I still feel your previous decision to directly notify Old Gui is somewhat hasty."

"At first glance, it seems hasty, maybe even foolish, but dear, think again, Zhu Nianying’s fate is not in our hands but theirs. Now that the news about the new land king in Shencheng City is exposed, what does this mean?"

"It means if they are interested in the new land king, they have to target Dragon Cauldron, which equates to dragging me into a negative whirlpool. Now everyone in Shencheng City knows I’m investigating the Zhu Nianying case, if Zhu Nianying’s body gets exposed, even if heaven and earth know, you know, and I know, that’s not what I want to see."

"But do you think the ordinary public thinks this way? Everyone would think, Zhu Nianying vanished for years and lived well, then once I start investigating for just a short time, she died, and I still hadn’t found her!"

"So I must be responsible for her death!"

As Chen Xiao spoke, Lin Xi realized the gravity of the situation, also understanding Chen Xiao’s intention.

However, Lin Xi still had some uncertainties in her mind:

"Don’t you think just this isn’t enough?"

"Of course not enough, this would merely show I did a bad job at solving the case, but I’m not a real police officer, so it won’t shake Dragon Cauldron."

"Then, what else might they do?"

"What if Qi Wei and the Qi Family defect at this point? What if the Zhuang Family steps in at this stage?"

Lin Xi’s eyes instantly widened: "Exposing Zhu Nianying’s body is a hit to your capability! If Qi Wei and the Qi Family defect, that equates to eliminating all of Dragon Cauldron’s external support. If Xiaoji and Black Cat use hacking to investigate the Zhuang Family, that strikes at your reputation!"

"Yes, I handed a knife to them."

Lin Xi was silent.

It took several seconds before she said in a deep voice, "I never thought investigating a missing case up to now would be this complicated!"

"All this was deliberately orchestrated by others, of course... if I hadn’t let Grandpa Guo come to Shencheng City to seize the Yang Lake Land King back then, none of this would have concerned me."

Chen Xiao said with a smile, he seemed not to be very worried.

Seeing this, Lin Xi asked: "Do you have a way to cope?"

"Do you guess why I suspect Xiaoji and Black Cat’s disappearance is related to Grandpa Guo? Why hasn’t Grandpa Guo appeared? He is also waiting for them to take action, so he can back me up from the shadows."

Lin Xi still frowned: "But if Li Hai’s support and the Qi family’s external support are lost, Dragon Cauldron won’t be able to swallow that new piece of land."

"Where there’s people, there’s a martial world. Where there’s a martial world, there will always be someone wanting to be the number one! The Qi Family won’t defect! As for Qi Wei, her role in this game has always been marginal. If she sees the bigger picture, cooperation between the two sides remains win-win, but if she schemes with the tiger, she’ll understand she’ll end up with no remains!"

Lin Xi seriously pondered Chen Xiao’s words.

After some thought, Lin Xi exclaimed with joy: "I understand now! That day, Qi Kai had every reason to have you wait aside then give you Xiao He’s information, but instead, he led you to the basement, he was showing his stance to you, also telling you he wants to be the number one!"

Chen Xiao snapped his fingers, grinning: "What else?"

"You let Old Gui report the news directly to make them vacillate, guessing your intentions. Additionally, it’s to use the news of the new land king and Old Gui’s message to urge them to handle Zhu Nianying quickly! Only when they truly take action, that’s when everything concludes!"