Nominal: Hou Liangping blocking the door? He was slapped away!

In the suburbs of Jingzhou, at a safe house, the afternoon sky was overcast. Two escort vehicles were parked on the dirt road outside the courtyard wall, their engines still running.

Lin Huahua led the criminal police officers back from behind the house, their boots covered in mud. He was transferred from the city bureau; he was a man of few words, meticulous in his work, with a walkie-talkie on his waist, and could spot several blind spots with a single glance.

"The perimeter is cleared." He put the walkie-talkie back. "We've deployed men in all three directions. Another wave won't be able to get in."

Qi Tongwei didn't respond immediately. He squatted down in front of the finance manager, who was slumped against the wall, his face still covered in chili water stains, and his legs shaking uncontrollably.

"Where's the USB drive?"

The finance manager, trembling, pulled something out of his inner pocket and handed it over. Qi Tongwei weighed it in his hand and then passed it to Lu Yike.

"I have your statement too," the man said in a broken voice. "I haven't missed a single word. Please, don't let anything happen to my daughter."

Qi Tongwei stood up. Blood seeped through the stitches on the inside of his left arm again, a small patch of dark red staining the white gauze. He pressed it with his right hand, remaining silent.

Lu Yike was taking inventory of the equipment of the four men in the eastern suburbs. Iron pipes, hydraulic shears, pepper spray, and window breaker hammers were all laid out on a plastic sheet for photographing. When she turned to the fourth man's boots, she stopped.

"Director, look at this."

She pried open the lining of the boot sole, revealing a metal plate inside. It was round, blank, with an incomprehensible pattern engraved around its edge.

Qi Tongwei took it and examined it against the light for two seconds. "It doesn't look like something from here. List it as new evidence and seal it separately."

Lu Yike labeled the bag with a number. She looked up at the arm: "You've broken it again."

"We'll talk about it when we get back."

Lin Huahua leaned closer, her phone screen lit up. "I checked the access control and elevator logs for those 47 minutes in the evidence room. One card swipe record was manually erased."

The courtyard quieted down for a moment.

"The system won't delete it by itself." Lin Huahua pointed to the blank space. "The person who can access the backend and erase this has higher privileges than Zhao Qinming."

Qi Tongwei went over the three things in his mind. The transfer route, the location of the master tape, and the access to the evidence cabinet—Zhao Qinming only had access to the first two. The third was another pair of hands.

"Zhao Qinming is just the tip of the iceberg." He handed the phone back. "There's an even deeper rat in the provincial department that hasn't shown itself yet."

Lin Huahua swallowed hard but didn't reply.

Qi Tongwei glanced at the sky, then turned and walked towards the car. "You keep an eye on things here. Lu Yike, put the evidence into the warehouse according to procedure, and send that badge separately. I'm going out for a bit."

"Where to?"

"Ask someone who knows."

……

In the eastern part of Jingzhou City, in an old alley, Qi Tongwei parked his car at the alley entrance as dusk fell.

The courtyard gate was half-closed. Gao Yuliang squatted by the flower stand, replanting orchids. A pile of freshly dug soil lay to the side, his hands covered in mud, and he didn't look up.

"The person was saved?"

"It's saved."

Gao Yuliang pressed an orchid seedling firmly into the soil before straightening up. He wiped his hands on his apron and glanced at his arm.

"It crashed again."

"It's nothing."

"Sit down." Gao Yuliang pointed to the stone bench, poured a cup of cold tea, and pushed it towards him. "Haizhou won't force himself on this time."

Qi Tongwei didn't touch the cup of tea. "How can you be so sure?"

"You charged in twice, lost the logistics park, and pinned down the assassin. Charging in again would just be walking into the line of fire." Gao Yuliang chuckled, his wrinkles crinkling together. "They're not stupid."

"So, what's the next step?"

"Two hands." Gao Yuliang held up two fingers. "One hand is procedural strangulation, that suspension order from Sha Ruijin was the beginning. The other hand is infiltrating your place. Did you find out about the back office of the evidence cabinet?"

Qi Tongwei's eyes flickered. "Just found out."

"So I advise you not to rush into taking Haizhou. First, get rid of the rats in your own house." Gao Yuliang picked up his tea. "If the house is drafty, no matter how well you fight outside, you're just providing evidence for others."

Qi Tongwei was silent for a few seconds. "The bag with the sealing wax, the thread with Director Qin—"

"I've sealed it off." Gao Yuliang's tone suddenly turned serious. "Until Shen Zhong returns, anyone who touches it will die. I've said this once, and I don't want to say it a second time."

The orchid swayed in the evening breeze.

"But today, I can loosen my grip a little." Gao Yuliang stared at him. "The person on the tattered page of the black book, the 'person Sha Ruijin met that day' written by Chu Pingshan, is very likely the same person as the Qin surnamed middleman that Zhao Qinming mentioned."

Qi Tongwei tightened his grip on his knee with his right hand. "You knew all along."

"I guessed. But now you have a statement and a car license plate, and if you put the two together, this hand will soon be exposed."

Qi Tongwei stood up. "I don't have enough tools. If I investigate the internal network, any overt activity will alert the enemy."

Gao Yuliang walked slowly towards the flower stand, his back to him. "The Political and Legal Affairs Commission has an authority you've forgotten: the investigation of assets involved in a case. The evidence room and the intranet logs can all be included in the scope of the case. By taking this route, bypassing the Provincial Party Committee Office, no one can say you've overstepped your authority."

Qi Tongwei pondered those words. "I understand."

He turned to leave, but was stopped at the gate of the courtyard.

"Tongwei".

Qi Tongwei stopped.

"Don't risk your life for evidence this time." Gao Yuliang's voice drifted over from the flower stand. "You're the director now; you have to use your power."

He didn't turn around.

"You used to be a knife in someone else's hand. Now the knife is in your own hand, so don't point the blade at yourself anymore."

The night wind blew into the alley. Qi Tongwei pushed open the door and stepped into the darkness.

Chapter 315 Two-pronged attack, Luzhou in a predicament, Haizhou in control

Northern Front, Field Command Post. The light bulb in the tent flickered. Shen Zhong pushed aside the rolled-up briefing sent by Handong and pulled up the strategic intelligence database.

An old document marked "sealed" popped up on the screen—a high-level anti-corruption report, its date several years ago. He flipped to the middle page, where the code name "Director Qin" matched the one that Handong had uncovered this time.

Not a coincidence.

Shen Zhong didn't approve the briefing; instead, he wrote a note to Zhou Weiguo first.

Half an hour later, in Jingzhou, Qi Tongwei's phone rang. It was a encrypted text message from Zhou Weiguo, relaying Shen Zhong's original words.

"Handong will catch its own rats. I'll handle the core issues at Qin's office. Just don't cross the line and touch the page about the capital."

Qi Tongwei placed his phone face down on the table. The military and local authorities each manage their own section; neither should overstep their bounds.

Lu Yike and Lin Huahua were both there.

"Splitting the line." Qi Tongwei looked up. "Lu Yike can use the Political and Legal Affairs Commission's investigation authority to focus on the undercover agent in the provincial department. The evidence cabinet's backstage is the breakthrough point."

"clear."

"Lin Huahua, Zhao Qinming, continue the interrogation. How many cards did he switch? What's the pattern of the connections between each card? Don't miss a single one."

Lin Huahua responded.

"I'll keep an eye on where the money in Haizhou is," Qi Tongwei said, standing up. "The three lines are all operating independently. There are rats in the house; every time they cross paths, something slips through."

……

Luzhou, New Energy Industrial Park. He Xia stood outside the construction site fence, her face pale.

All the tower cranes on that supporting project of Huari Heavy Industry have been shut down. A subcontractor was reported for "failing to meet environmental standards," and the environmental protection department issued a stop-work order that same day, stamped with an official seal.

"Who reported it?"

"anonymous."

"Even anonymity requires supporting documentation." He Xia frowned more and more as she flipped through the stack of papers handed to her by her subordinate. "I've never heard of this testing agency."

She took out her phone and dialed Shen Zhong's number, but it rang for a long time without being answered. She knew about the period of silence on the northern front, but she still clung to the front line.

The call ended, so I dialed Qi Tongwei instead. "Director, something's happened in Luzhou. Huarui's supporting facilities were shut down by an environmental complaint. The whole process is too clean; something's fishy."

There was a pause on the other end of the phone. "Haizhou's influence has spread to Luzhou."

"That's what I think too."

"Sun Liancheng is checking your qualifications. Have him contact you," Qi Tongwei said. "Hold on and don't let them force you to stop production."

……

Luzhou Municipal Government, conference room. Sun Liancheng slammed a shareholding structure diagram onto the table.

"It's been investigated. This subcontractor stripped three layers of equity, ultimately pointing to a shell company called Coastal Fund. It's essentially the same company as Haiheng in Jingzhou."