Chapter 578
What was taken away in Chapter 578?
Wei Zixuan casually sat down opposite Zhao Liang and offered a few words of explanation.
As he spoke, he looked exhausted, his eyelids drooping so low he seemed about to fall asleep at any moment, making it impossible to discern his true emotions.
"I see. Zixuan, although you have done a good job this time, Wang Dahu is still a prisoner. You'd better have less contact with him, otherwise it will have a bad influence on you."
Zhao Liang scrutinized Wei Zixuan for a while before putting on a concerned expression and earnestly giving him his advice.
"Understood, boss. I'm really exhausted. I know I need to avoid suspicion, that's why I chose to go see him at night. Don't worry about it. By the way, Wang Ba is still on the run. I think we need to send more people to catch him as soon as possible."
Wei Zixuan subtly changed the subject, while letting out a big yawn, his eyes welling up with tears from exhaustion.
Seeing his droopy eyelids, Zhao Liang shook his head helplessly and didn't say anything more. He just waved his hand, signaling him to get lost.
The moment Wei Zixuan turned his back to Zhao Liang, the tired expression on his face vanished instantly, replaced by a solemn look.
The news that Wang Ba had sneaked back to the border city was conveyed directly to Wei Zixuan by the military through a one-way communication channel. Even his superior, Zhao Liang, was kept in the dark about this.
Zhao Liang had always believed that Wei Zixuan's busy work these past few days was all for the purpose of arresting Wang Ba as soon as possible.
Back in his office, Wei Zixuan sat down on the sofa and began to ponder the key issue with a serious expression.
After leaving Jiang Nian's place that day, he received a message from Jiang Nian, telling him to keep an eye out for anyone asking him about Wang Dahu recently.
Wei Zixuan never expected that the first person to come and ask about this matter would be his superior, Zhao Liang.
For a moment, his heart was also in turmoil, and he found it difficult to calm down.
For some reason, Wei Zixuan had a vague premonition—no matter what Jiang Nian's mission was this time, he was afraid that this city was about to be shaken up because of him.
Wei Zixuan was having a terrible headache over this matter.
Jiang Nian, on the other hand, seemed quite comfortable.
He Chenguang and his friends had already gathered around the table to play cards.
"Brother Xiao, didn't we come here to do serious business? The mission isn't finished yet, is it a bit inappropriate to start playing around now?"
Because of his slow reaction time, Li Erniu was kicked out of the card game by several people. He frowned, looked at Jiang Nian with a worried expression, and asked seriously.
The turning point came after Jiang Nian and Wang Dahu had a long talk in a room.
When the two came out of the house, Jiang Nian still had a calm and composed expression on his face, revealing nothing about his true feelings.
But Wang Dahu looked like a wilted eggplant, his shoulders slumped, completely devoid of energy.
Wang Dahu didn't greet He Chenguang and the others. He just gave Jiang Nian a deep look, then turned and left.
Seeing Wang Dahu leave alone, He Chenguang and the others were startled and instinctively rushed forward to grab him back.
Gong Jian was the first to chase after him, but Jiang Nian reacted quickly and stopped him instantly: "No need to chase, I've already reached an agreement with Wang Dahu, he'll be back tonight."
Jiang Nian's voice was flat and calm, without any ripples, as if letting a criminal go was not a big deal at all.
His reaction was so calm that He Chenguang and the others began to doubt whether they had made a mistake.
"Alright, Wang Dahu's off on his errands, let's take a break. I bought two decks of cards at the convenience store downstairs this morning, come on, let's play some 'tractor'!"
Jiang Nian casually waved his hand, pulled out two decks of cards from his pocket, and invited everyone to gather around and play cards.
And just like that, in a daze, a group of people sat together and started playing cards.
The guy who partnered with Li Erniu kicked Li Erniu out of the game after losing several rounds in a row.
Li Erniu sat beside them watching their fierce fight, and finally couldn't help but ask.
"Don't worry, everything's arranged. We just need to wait to close the net. All we have to do now is wait. We're just killing time anyway, so let's find some fun."
Seeing Li Erniu's worried expression, Jiang Nian patted him on the shoulder and comforted him for a couple of minutes. After that, she picked up the cards from the tree again and shouted that she had won again.
Li Erniu helplessly touched his nose and could only obediently sit aside and watch them play cards.
Touching the tip of his nose, Li Erniu felt that this mission was the easiest one he had ever experienced—Jiang Nian seemed to care about nothing on the surface, but in fact, he had already arranged everything.
Since that's the case, why should I worry about it?
Anyway, Jiang Nian would never betray them.
With that thought in mind, Li Erniu simply relaxed and stopped overthinking.
Wang Dahu returned around 11 p.m. that night.
His complexion was extremely poor; under the light, he appeared deathly pale.
Faced with Wang Dahu's appearance, Jiang Nian didn't say much, but asked what she wanted to know.
"Has the message to Wang Ba been sent out yet?"
"The word has spread. If nothing unexpected happens, Wang Ba will send someone to rescue me in three days."
Wang Dahu nodded and answered Jiang Nian's question, but his tone concealed a hint of undisguised hostility.
"Then let's wait. We can afford to wait three days. By the way, can I borrow your jade clasp for a moment?"
Since Wang Dahu had said so, Jiang Nian didn't ask any more questions and directly reached out to ask for the things.
Wang Dahu shuddered, a hint of fear flashing in his eyes as he looked at Jiang Nian.
When he told Jiang Nian the secret of the jade buckle without reservation, Jiang Nian did not ask for the token, so Wang Dahu naively thought that she would not ask for it back.
He held onto a sliver of hope, thinking it was safest to keep the thing in his own hands.
Now that Jiang Nian had spoken directly, Wang Dahu hesitated, wavered, and was terrified, with all sorts of emotions churning in his mind.
If I hand this over, will I even have a chance to survive? Although Jiang Nian said he was "borrowing" it, who knows if he'll ever return it?
Seeing the struggle clearly in Wang Dahu's eyes, Jiang Nian suddenly smiled.
"Don't worry, I'm just borrowing it for a bit. The things are yours, I won't steal them."
Yes, he still needs Wang Dahu's cooperation during this mission, so he won't take the jade buckle for the time being.
As soon as Jiang Nian said this, Wang Dahu breathed a sigh of relief.
He knew that Jiang Nian always kept his word.
In truth, he had long since lost any room for negotiation with Jiang Nian. After all, his life was still in Jiang Nian's hands.
Wang Dahu reached out and tugged at the red thread around his neck.
A translucent white jade clasp landed in his palm.
No one knew better than Wang Dahu what the jade clasp in his hand represented. Precisely because he knew it all too well, his whole hand trembled slightly when he handed the jade clasp to Jiang Nian.
The jade buckle still retained a faint warmth. Jiang Nian looked at Wang Dahu's trembling hand and a half-smile appeared on her face.
Wang Dahu shivered, withdrew his gaze from the jade buckle, and dared not look at it again.
Late at night, Wang Yanbing left his residence quietly without disturbing anyone.
Standing by the window, watching Wang Yanbing's figure disappear into the night, Jiang Nian turned to look at Wang Dahu, who had fallen into a deep sleep from unbearable pain. The next day at noon, Wei Zixuan returned dressed in women's clothing.
Jiang Nian handed him a jade buckle.
Sitting next to him, Wang Dahu watched as Jiang Nian handed the jade buckle to Wei Zixuan, and his face instantly turned pale.
He had already guessed what Jiang Nian wanted to do with the jade clasp.
"There will definitely be some activity from the prison within three days. Keep a close eye on things, and maybe try to catch some fish while you're at it. This city is in a mess, you might be able to clean it up a bit while you're at it."
Jiang Nian solemnly instructed Wei Zixuan.
Since arriving in the border town, Wei Zixuan has been the only one contacting Jiang Nian. With the military backing him, as long as the evidence is complete, resolving the situation in this border town is no longer a difficult task for Wei Zixuan.
Wei Zixuan nodded seriously, his face equally solemn.
He knew that this move would truly cause half the sky to fall over the border town. But some things had to be done; there was no turning back.
For the rest of the time, Wang Dahu sat in his room, remaining silent except when eating, and no one knew what he was thinking.
On the third night, Jiang Nian threw a set of black clothes at Wang Dahu.
"Put it on, and I'll take you to see a good show."
Jiang Nian's tone was indifferent, revealing no emotion.
Wang Dahu was suddenly shocked—three days had passed, and Wang Ba, who wanted to rescue him from prison, should have already made his move.
What kind of scene will I see?
Wang Dahu suddenly realized that he had no desire to watch any good show.
This play might be a good one for Jiang Nian, but for himself, it's probably not so wonderful.
I don't know if it's too late to refuse now.
Before Wang Dahu could voice his hesitation, Jiang Nian dragged him out the door.
What a joke! Jiang Nian was just informing him about this, not discussing it with him.
Jiang Nian directed Wang Dahu to drive, weaving through the city in a maze of turns. Fortunately, it was late at night, and there were very few cars on the road, so no one noticed the speeding car.
Soon, the car stopped not far from the prison.
Jiang Nianxuan's location was good, near a grove of trees, pitch black, and no one would notice that a car was parked there under the cover of night.
Wang Dahu sat in the car, his gaze fixed on the prison not far away through the window, lost in thought.
Jiang Nian pulled out a laptop from somewhere and started fiddling with it.
Within two minutes, the laptop lit up, displaying surveillance footage from inside the prison.
Reason told Wang Dahu not to look, but his inner desires kept reminding him—he had to open his eyes wide and see clearly, not missing any details.
After confirming that the prison surveillance footage appeared on the computer screen, Jiang Nian stared intently at the screen, as if watching a captivating movie.
He deliberately zoomed in on one of the surveillance windows, and Wang Dahu could clearly see that the image was pointing directly at the room where he used to live.
At this moment, everyone in the prison was fast asleep, and all was quiet.
After staring at the scene for a long time, Wang Dahu began to mutter to himself—perhaps Jiang Nian and he himself were wrong, and Wang Ba probably wouldn't make a move tonight.
With this hopeful thought in mind, Wang Dahu stopped looking at the computer screen and instead turned his gaze to the window.
Seemingly sensing Wang Dahu's unease, Jiang Nian suddenly smiled.
His smile was full of sarcasm, yet he didn't utter a sound. Looking at him suddenly from inside the unlit car was quite eerie.
Just then, the image on the computer screen suddenly changed.
A tall man in a police uniform appeared in the surveillance footage.
He quietly approached the room where Wang Dahu used to live, took out a key, and gently opened the door.
With a quick sidestep, the man entered the house.
The door closed again; what happened inside couldn't be captured on the security camera.
Wang Dahu caught a glimpse of this scene out of the corner of his eye, and his body instantly stiffened.
If this person had come to save him, he would feel better; the real fear was that this person hadn't come to save him at all. This suspicion was the root of Wang Dahu's anxiety at this moment.
Waiting always feels exceptionally long.
Although less than five minutes had passed, it felt like an eternity to Wang Dahu.
The man came out quickly.
He kept his head down, his face obscured by the surveillance footage, but one thing stood out—
On the man's hand, a red thread pierces a jade buckle, making it particularly eye-catching in the picture.
In an instant, Wang Dahu felt his entire body drenched in cold sweat, his clothes clinging tightly to his body, icy cold.
He involuntarily shuddered.
"The jade clasp...did that person take it?"
Even though the surveillance footage clearly showed it, Wang Dahu still subconsciously asked Jiang Nian for confirmation.
He desperately wanted to hear a different answer from Jiang Nian, and he desperately wanted Jiang Nian to tell him that the jade buckle had not fallen into the hands of anyone else.
"Didn't you see it with your own eyes? You've been a criminal investigation captain, after all. Your mental fortitude isn't that great. I advise you, stop struggling and accept your fate."
Jiang Nian's words sounded like he was trying to comfort Wang Dahu, but to Wang Dahu, they sounded incredibly awkward. Wasn't this a veiled attack?
Wang Dahu fell silent.
Now that the jade buckle has been taken away, it should be of no use to Jiang Nian, right?
From the moment Jiang Nian took the jade buckle to bringing him to see this good show on time, Wang Dahu was certain that it was all part of Jiang Nian's plan.
He held his head in his hands, his heart filled with despair.
"Alright, you're a grown man, acting like this. Anyone who didn't know better would think I'm bullying you. Take this and keep it safe. Only with this will Wang Ba not dare to touch you."
Jiang Nian took something out of his pocket and stuffed it into Wang Dahu's hand, his tone tinged with impatience.
The familiar touch stunned Wang Dahu. He stared at the jade clasp tied with a red thread in his palm, his face filled with disbelief.
The person in the surveillance footage was clearly holding the same thing.
He examined the jade clasp several times, turning it over and over, to confirm that it was indeed his own.
But if the jade clasp really is still in his possession, then what did the other person take away? (End of Chapter)