Cangmang Asks the Way 1: Guardian of the Lamp

South City, the National Security Bureau's "Quiet Room".

Chen Mo stared at the topographical map of Xiqiao Village spread out in front of him, his fingers unconsciously tapping on the table. The digital clock on the wall showed: 20:00 PM.

An hour has passed since the scheduled start time of "Operation Spring Breeze"—the eve of the Lunar New Year on the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month. According to the original plan, "Mountain Eagle" should have submitted its preliminary observation report two hours earlier, but the communication channels remained silent.

An unusual silence is more unsettling than an alarm.

The red encrypted phone on the table suddenly vibrated. Chen Mo grabbed the receiver, and "Mountain Eagle's" urgent and suppressed voice came from the other end:

"Team Leader Chen, I'm late. Something's happened in Xiqiao Village."

Chen Mo's pupils suddenly contracted: "Explain yourself."

"At 7:10 PM tonight, a shooting occurred at the Cang family's old house. One person was killed and one was injured—no, to be precise, the body of an unidentified adult male and a fourteen-year-old boy who managed to dodge three sniper bullets."

"Sniping?" Chen Mo's voice suddenly turned cold.

"Yes. Three 7.62mm sniper rifle shell casings were recovered at the scene. The firing location was on the second floor of the abandoned mill in the west of the village, about 120 meters away from the Cang family's old house. The shooting angle was extremely professional. The first shot was intended to kill the boy who broke in to stop the thief from stealing the copper coins, but the boy dodged it; the second shot directly killed the thief, and then a third shot was fired at the boy before the thief escaped."

Several key pieces of information flashed through Chen Mo's mind: professional sniper, kill-to-the-mouth shooting, teenager dodging bullets...

"Who is that boy?"

"Cang Tianci. Cang Lifeng's younger brother, fourteen years old this year, a member of the Jixian Sports School Wushu Team, and a former provincial youth Sanda gold medalist. According to villagers at the scene, he suddenly appeared when the intruder opened a hidden compartment in the Cang family home and took out an item. The two had a brief fight, and then the sniper shot rang out." Mountain Eagle's voice still carried a hint of disbelief.

"What about the copper coins?"

"I don't know. I suspect it's being kept from us." Mountain Eagle paused, then continued, "Captain Chen, there are two other unusual circumstances at the scene: First, on the eve of the Lunar New Year, Liu Tietou's men, including 'Black Bear,' who had been injured by Cang Lifeng, suddenly caused trouble at the Cang family's house, right before or after the shooting; second, village secretary Wang Zhenkun 'happened' to be there to mediate, trying to keep everyone in the front yard."

Chen Mo remained silent for three seconds. In those three seconds, he had already pieced together the complete chain of events in his mind: luring the enemy away from their stronghold, breaking and entering, sniping to silence witnesses, and eliminating accomplices—a standard special operations procedure, executed swiftly and decisively.

Who is in charge of the scene now?

"County Public Security Bureau Chief Chen Guodong personally led the team. He has sealed off the scene, and the preliminary judgment is that 'a robbery led to a conflict, with infighting among the robbers or him being silenced by his accomplices.' But..." Mountain Eagle lowered his voice, "When Chen Guodong was investigating the hidden compartment, he specifically asked all the police officers to leave the room, leaving only him and Cang Houde inside for fifteen minutes. I observed through high-powered binoculars that Chen Guodong kept talking about something, while Cang Houde only said one sentence and then remained silent. By reading his lips, I knew he said, 'I only believe my granddaughter Cang Liuqing. Only when she comes will I tell the truth.' It seems that Cang Houde hid the copper coin beforehand and did not tell Chen Guodong the secret of the copper coin."

After listening to Mountain Eagle's report, Chen Mo fell into a brief moment of contemplation.

After a while, Chen Mo said, "Mountain Eagle, Chen Guodong's reaction is worth pondering. The fact that he did not take any coercive measures in the face of Cang Houde's refusal means that he either knows some of the inside story or at least judges that this case is extraordinary—it goes beyond the scope of an ordinary criminal case."

Mountain Eagle responded on the other end of the phone, "I think so too. When Chen Guodong left the Cang family, his expression was very serious, but he wasn't angry or impatient. He seemed to be... waiting for something."

"Wait for Cang Liuqing," Chen Mo said. "You continue to observe covertly, paying close attention to three things: First, whether any other forces are trying to contact the Cang family; second, Chen Guodong's subsequent actions; and third, the situation with Liu Tietou."

"Understood. However, Captain Chen, there's something I need to remind you of—based on my observations, Chen Guodong has been secretly collecting evidence of Liu Tietou's crimes during his three years in Ji County. He might take advantage of tonight's events to make his move."

Chen Mo's eyes narrowed slightly: "You mean, he'll arrest Liu Tietou?"

"Very likely. The sniping incident gave him enough reason to initiate emergency procedures." Mountain Eagle paused. "But Captain Chen, if Chen Guodong really makes a move, do we need to intervene? Liu Tietou may know some clues about tonight's events."

"No, we'll hold our positions." Chen Mo quickly made a judgment. "If Chen Guodong is clean, his actions are to our advantage; if he has problems, then his actions will expose his intentions. You just need to observe and record, and don't interfere with the local police's normal law enforcement—unless there is a situation that endangers the safety of the core members of the Cang family."

"receive."

---

On the bed, Cang Tianci sat cross-legged, eyes closed, hands lightly pressing against his dantian.

The room had returned to silence, but the air still seemed to carry the stinging sensation of gunpowder and blood. With each breath, he activated the Hidden Dragon Technique, trying to suppress the turbulent emotions within him, only to have them violently shattered at some point—the whistling of bullets tearing through the air, the burst of blood from a stranger's chest, the chilling touch of death arriving without warning.

He "saw" his own movement as he lunged at the man, the precision with which his fingertips touched the man's "Shenmen" acupoint on his wrist, and he "saw" the sudden surge of horror and despair in the man's eyes. It wasn't about victory or defeat on the stage; it was the boundary between life and death. He protected the copper coin, but watched helplessly as a life was extinguished before his eyes, harvested from the shadows by an even more ruthless comrade.

"Power...is it for protection, or...can it also bring destruction?"

This thought surfaced uncontrollably, clashing violently with all his past understandings of "seeing the way" and "seeing through the scales." His master taught him to "discern qi and recognize opportunities," to "use stillness to control movement," but never how to confront the "evil" lurking in the shadows, willing to sacrifice its own kind to achieve its goals. This evil was colder and more thorough than Wang Yaowu's arrogance, Zhao Xiaohu's treachery, or Hei Pi's ferocity.

The inner lamp flickered in the sea of ​​consciousness, its light seemingly dimmed and uncertain by the darkness that had just passed. But deep within its wick, a more concentrated and fervent flame was quietly sprouting from the ashes of fear and confusion. It was not mere anger or courage, but something deeper—about the weight of life, about the cost of protection, about how to hold onto the lamp in one's heart amidst this vast world, so that it may illuminate the true "Tao."

Outside the window, the snow fell silently.

---

Liu Tietou Sand and Gravel Plant, Futian Township.

At 01:40 a.m., Chen Guodong personally led the arrest team to surround the factory area. But when he rushed into Liu Tietou's office, he found only a cold corpse.

Liu Tietou lay face up on the boss's chair, a conspicuous bullet hole between his eyebrows, the blood already congealed. He had been dead for no more than three hours.

The office was unusually tidy—there were no signs of ransacking, no signs of a struggle, not even a scrap of paper on the desk. All the filing cabinets and drawers were empty, the computer case was open, and the hard drive was gone.

"It's been thoroughly cleaned up." The criminal investigation captain lowered his voice. "The murderer is very professional; not only did he kill someone, but he also took everything that might have left clues."

Chen Guodong crouched down and carefully examined the body. The muzzle was small; it was a professional small-caliber silenced pistol, fired at close range. Liu Tietou did not resist before his death, which likely meant he knew the killer or was suddenly subdued.

"Check the surveillance footage," Chen Guodong ordered.

"All the surveillance cameras in the factory area have been destroyed, and all the hard drives have been removed," the technician reported. "The security guard said there was a five-minute power outage around 3 a.m., and the surveillance system stopped working after the power was restored."

Chen Guodong stood up and looked around the luxurious office. A huge calligraphy scroll with the words "Success Upon Arrival" hung on the wall, and several pieces of antique-style porcelain were displayed on the mahogany bookshelf, all showcasing the owner's nouveau riche taste.

But it's too clean.

It was abnormally clean.

How could a triad boss who had been entrenched in Futian Township for over a decade have no ledgers, records, or any sensitive documents in his office? The only explanation is that someone had thoroughly cleaned up the place before the police arrived.

Moreover, the cleanup was very professional—not only were physical evidence taken away, but electronic records were also destroyed.

Chen Guodong walked to the window and looked at the flashing police lights below. He knew he was too late. The other side had not only silenced him but also erased all evidence that might point to their protectors.

"Director Chen," the criminal investigation captain walked over, "we found this in the woods behind the factory."

He handed over an evidence bag containing a cartridge case—a 9mm pistol cartridge case with obvious marks from a silencer.

"The ejection point was about 20 meters from the back window of the office. The initial assessment is that the murderer fired from there," the captain said. "But strangely, the window glass was intact. The murderer must have opened the window to shoot, or... Liu Tietou opened the window himself."

Chen Guodong took the evidence bag and examined the cartridge case carefully. The production batch number on the bottom of the cartridge case had been deliberately ground off, but there was a very fine engraving on the edge—like some kind of mark.

"Send this directly to the Municipal Bureau's Technical Department, without going through any of the county bureau's channels." Chen Guodong handed the evidence bag back. "Also, send someone to secretly question Liu Tietou's core subordinates, especially the strangers who have been in contact with him in the last two weeks."

"yes!"

Chen Guodong knew that with Liu Tietou's death, many leads would be lost. But the evidence he had collected over the years was still enough to uproot Liu Tietou's criminal gang—it was just that those higher-ups protecting him were now much harder to uncover.