Flip the table and divide the family property! Take his wife and daughter into the mountains and eat

Outside, the rain was pouring down, and the sky was as gloomy as an overturned black pot.

Three dilapidated Beijing Jeep 212s, sirens blaring, roared into the city hospital gate.

The wheels rolled over the puddles, splattering large amounts of mud onto the hospital ward steps.

Before the car had come to a complete stop, Wu Jianming had already pushed open the passenger door and stepped out.

More than a dozen police officers quickly jumped out of the carriage and approached him in the rain.

Wu Jianming wiped the rain from his face, glanced at the criminal police officers in front of him, and shouted, "Listen up! We just received a direct order from the Municipal Party Committee and the Command Center: the murderer in the Hongxing Factory case, who has a murder case on his hands, is currently in the cadre ward on the third floor of this building!"

He paused, his tone extremely stern: "This man is a vicious and ruthless desperado; someone could come to kidnap him or silence him at any moment! The people in the first car, guard the front door! The second car, go to the back building and the boiler room to block the passageways! The rest of you, come with me to the third floor and block the stairwells and elevators!"

"yes!"

More than a dozen police officers shouted in unison in the pouring rain, quickly drew their guns and spread out to take control of every blind spot in the inpatient building according to the plan.

Wu Jianming turned his head and his gaze fell on a burly trusted police officer. He waved his hand and said, "Big Liu, take two men and come with me. Go up and take over the scene."

Da Liu wiped the rain off his face and nodded emphatically: "Understood!"

Just as Da Liu was about to turn around and greet someone, Wu Jianming suddenly reached out and grabbed his arm, lowered his voice, and gave him a very serious instruction.

"Make sure all the brothers keep their eyes peeled and lock the safety on their guns."

Wu Jianming stared into Da Liu's eyes. "There are quite a few high-ranking leaders from the city and military district in the cadre ward on the third floor, and Old Song is there too. No matter what happens when we go in, even if the sky falls, no one is allowed to draw their gun and fire without my direct order!"

He patted Liu on the shoulder and added earnestly, "If a conflict were to accidentally escalate and injure a leader, the political repercussions would be disastrous. Not only you, but even I wouldn't be able to cover it up. Do you all understand?"

Da Liu's expression hardened. He knew the weight of those leaders inside, of course. He immediately put the half-drawn pistol back into its holster, tightened the buckle, and replied in a deep voice, "Captain Wu, don't worry, we know the rules and will never cause trouble for the bureau."

Seeing that Da Liu had put the gun away, Wu Jianming finally felt relieved.

This is enough.

Once inside the ward, the only person who could fire the gun would be himself.

Without making a sound, Wu Jianming pressed the holster on his waist, and his thumb gently rubbed the Type 54 pistol inside, which had already had its safety pulled, through the leather.

"Let's go up."

Wu Jianming turned around and took the lead on the terrazzo staircase leading to the third floor.

The dull "clack-clack" of leather shoes on the steps echoed in the empty, dimly lit hallway.

Third floor corridor.

As soon as he peeked out, two armed guards standing at the stairwell immediately blocked his way.

Wu Jianming did not force his way in. Instead, he calmly took out his police ID from his shirt pocket, handed it over, and put on a serious, businesslike expression.

"I am Wu Jianming, deputy captain of the Criminal Investigation Brigade of the Municipal Public Security Bureau."

Wu Jianming stared directly at the guard, his voice booming, "By order of Secretary Zhou Changhe of the Municipal Party Committee and the Municipal Bureau Command Center, and because Lao Ba is a serious offender, in order to prevent the criminal gang from violently silencing him, the Municipal Bureau has assigned our Criminal Investigation Brigade to immediately take over the security work in the core area."

The guard took the ID and examined it carefully. After verifying that it was correct, he glanced at Liu and the others behind Wu Jianming, who were armed with guns. His tense expression eased slightly. He handed the ID back and stepped aside to make way for them.

"Captain Wu, Director Li and Old Song are in ward 302 at the end of the ward."

Wu Jianming took the police ID and put it away, suppressing the burning anxiety in his heart and maintaining an extremely calm demeanor: "Secretary Zhou instructed that the key witness cannot be compromised in the slightest. Da Liu, you guys stay here and seal off the corridor for me. No one is allowed to come near."

"yes!"

Da Liu immediately led his men to disperse and guard every blind spot in the corridor.

Wu Jianming took a deep breath, concealed his right hand into the large pocket of his police uniform, and gripped the cold grip of the Type 54 pistol tightly with his knuckles inside.

He strode forward, his leather shoes making a dull thud on the terrazzo floor, walking step by step toward the closed hospital room door.

Wu Jianming walked step by step toward the 302 cadre ward at the end of the corridor.

The closer he got to the heavy mahogany door, the more steady and heavy his steps became, which had been slightly hurried on the terrazzo floor.

He stopped just one step away from the door.

Once he pushes open that door, pulls out that gun, and pulls the trigger, he will no longer be the "iron cop" who was once unyielding in the police force and who had caught a knife-wielding thug with his bare hands.

He will become a corrupt cop forever nailed to the pillar of shame, a mad dog that bites people for corrupt officials, a rotten corpse that will not even receive a pension or a final recognition as a martyr.

But he had no other choice.

Taking a deep breath of the damp, cold air mixed with the smell of Lysol, Wu Jianming completely suppressed the last trace of human struggle and despair in his eyes, and put on the cold, stern face of a criminal investigation captain dealing with a major case.

"Knock, knock, knock."

Three steady, firm knocks on the door.

The quiet conversation in the ward stopped instantly.

A moment later, the deep and authoritative voice of Director Li Yuanchao came from inside.

"Come in."

Wu Jianming casually tucked his right hand into the large pocket of his police uniform, gripping the gun handle tightly, while his left hand turned the brass doorknob and pushed the door open.

Because of the torrential rain outside, the lights in the ward were not turned on.

The dim, cold rain light shone through the windowpane, barely outlining the room.

Song Qingshan, wearing a faded old military overcoat, leaned against the hospital bed with his eyes closed, resting.

Li Yuanchao sat imposingly on the single sofa next to him, holding an open black notebook in his hand.

Wu Jianming's gaze bypassed these two very important figures and, like a hungry wolf, fixed directly on the innermost intensive care bed.

There lay a seriously injured patient, his body wrapped in medical gauze and his body in a thick cast.

His chest rose and fell slowly with his weak breaths, and his wrists were handcuffed behind his back with a shiny pair of cuffs.

Wu Jianming's gaze lingered on the broken body for only a moment before his heart felt as if it were being gripped tightly by an invisible hand, and an uncontrollable tremor ran through his fingertips.

Old scars.

This is the person Chen Jianguo gave a death order to kill, using the lives of his own younger brother, wife, and children as collateral, forcing him to kill him with his own hands today.

That was not a seriously injured criminal.

That was the life of his entire family.