Let them offer their loyalty!

Upon hearing that hoarse voice, Jia Wei was clearly startled.

He leapt to one side, then warily looked towards the direction the voice had come from.

What he saw was an elder looking like a thunder god, with a lean body, dark skin, but a head of white hair and beard!

The old man's eyebrows were thick and wild, like two white swords pointing straight to the heavens. His face was like an ancient pine sculpted by the years, with deep and hard-set wrinkles.

These striking features immediately made Jia Wei's pupils shrink violently, as if he had seen a nightmare!

"Liu Xiongyuan?!"

The voice seemed to be squeezed out bit by bit from Jia Wei's mouth.

He looked at the elder with some disbelief and then said, "How could you be here?"

Hearing Jia Wei's words, Liu Xiongyuan stood with his hands behind his back, silently staring at Jia Wei.

His eyes were like two bottomless ancient wells, pupils black as ink, yet within them burned a ferocious fire, unapproachable to gaze into!

"I have come to kill you."

Hearing Liu Xiongyuan's words, Jia Wei's pupils contracted slightly.

While cautiously scoping out a direction to escape, he forced a strained smile and said, "Uncle Liu, actually there is something I have been wanting to explain."

"It wasn't me who killed Liu Kai."

"It was my brother!"

Jia Wei pointed crazily at the burning jeep not too far away and berated, "It was him, all him! He killed Liu Kai and then framed me!"

He took off his mask, revealing a face not even remotely similar to Jia Shu's, then started crying while saying, "Back then, Liu Kai and I were as close as brothers."

"How could I possibly kill him?"

"It was my brother, he killed Liu Kai and framed me. Really, Uncle Liu!"

Listening to Jia Wei's words, Liu Xiongyuan's gaze remained as still as an ancient well, simply asking faintly, "Are you done talking?"

Seeing that there was no effect, Jia Wei's demeanor suddenly changed, and he pointed at Liu Xiongyuan and cursed, "You damn old fossil! I'm telling you, it wasn't me! It wasn't me!"

"You've been hunting me for so many years! Aren't you tired?"

"I've been hiding from you! Hiding from you! And yet you still found me!"

"But it doesn't matter! If you can, just kill me!"

As he spoke, he patted his face, assuming an insolent expression as he said, "You see my face?"

"This isn't my real body! No, it's not!"

"Even if you kill me, I will be reborn somewhere else!"

"What can you do to me then!"

Hearing Jia Wei's words, Liu Xiongyuan just repeated his question, "Are you done talking?"

Jia Wei: ...

Jia Wei "thumped" down onto his knees in front of Liu Xiongyuan, tears streaming as he said, "Uncle Liu, could you let me off this once..."

"If Little Kai knew you killed me, he wouldn't rest in peace even in the netherworld!"

"I truly didn't know anything about what happened back then. Uncle Liu..."

Faced with Jia Wei's series of emotional shifts, Liu Xiongyuan still had only four words for him, "Are you done talking?"

Realizing that Liu Xiongyuan was impervious to persuasion, Jia Wei dropped the act completely!

With a spring, he bolted, fleeing like an arrow released from its bow!

But just then, a gentle murmur from Liu Xiongyuan came from behind him, "It seems you are finished."

The next second, he felt a shadow suddenly appear beside him like a pestilence clinging to his bones.

Then, a punch!

Just one punch!

The leaping Jia Wei was smashed to the ground with immense force!

With a "boom!", a loud noise erupted!

Dust flew up, and a large crater appeared on the ground.

And as the dust settled, Jia Wei, spitting blood, lay limp in the crater, his bones seemingly shattered completely, his limbs twisted into irregular shapes, utterly unable to move.

His eyes were lifeless as he looked at Liu Xiongyuan, spitting blood while emitting a faint "hehe..." sound.

Liu Xiongyuan then landed on the ground, his previously lean body now bulged with power, standing like a colossal mountain peak!

His dark muscles swelled, each seeming to contain endless strength...

Step by step, he walked towards Jia Wei in the crater.

But Jia Wei's eyes grew dimmer, and the next second, they lost all light...

Upon reaching the edge of the pit, Liu Xiongyuan's muscles atrophied, and he returned to his original, gaunt appearance.

He picked up the corpse as if it were trash and dragged it across the ground, walking towards the distance.

A long trail of blood marked the path of the body, and groups of men in black, appearing like ghosts, had emerged at his side without a sound, accompanying him forward.

The entire procession was solemn and respectful, as if part of a funeral...

...

Meanwhile.

At the Garden Villa in City Center Garden.

After a long period of quiet contemplation, Yan Chen slowly lifted his head, looked towards Qiu Tu, and then spoke with a touch of emotion, "Qiu Tu."

"Do you know?"

"I feel like you have changed a lot recently. You've become so different that I hardly recognize you."

"It's as if you've had an epiphany overnight, starting to understand politics and human nature."

"Sometimes, I even suspect you've become someone else. I want to have you captured and checked by the Security Department."

Qiu Tu was not the slightest bit alarmed—he was a captain in the Security Department, after all! And Qin Shuman was aware of his possession, so there was no way any investigation could lead back to him.

Thus, his gaze was nothing but sincere, "The Bureau Chief is joking. Perhaps it's just a little bit of learning by osmosis from being around the Bureau Chief."

Hearing Qiu Tu's response, Yan Chen chuckled coarsely, a voice as harsh as a smoker's cough.

He pointed at Qiu Tu, "You see, the old you could never have said something so pleasant."

After uttering some cryptic and peculiar remarks, Yan Chen then added blandly, "Since the Diciplinary Department and City Hall wish to make you the Deputy Director of the Political Department, I... actually don't have any objections."

"After all, you're my soldier. With you in the Political Department, I can feel more at ease."

"It's better than them arranging someone else to pull the wool over my eyes."

Upon hearing this, Qiu Tu wasn't surprised in the least.

Yan Chen was a quintessential political creature.

In front of such a being, there were only interests, no stances.

If the benefits of his own promotion outweighed those of appointing someone else, then he would consent to his rise. If the benefits were lesser, he would refuse.

Everything was that simple.

Thus, having calculated Yan Chen's psychology, Qiu Tu dared to come forward openly to negotiate.

From the results, it appeared he had indeed not misjudged Yan Chen.

Having achieved the most crucial objective of the night, Qiu Tu relaxed completely.

Next, he just needed to endure a bit longer to complete his other "task" for the night: fabricating an alibi and framing Yan Chen.

Ever since learning of the relationship between Jia Shu and Huang Shangzong from Tang Feifei and Liu Fuping, Qiu Tu had been pondering how to kill Jia Shu while attracting as little attention from Huang Shangzong as possible.

After much thought, Qiu Tu decided that the most traditional and simplest method was best: creating an alibi and framing someone else.

Creating an alibi was easy—Qiu Tu met with Yan Chen that evening, not at the scene of the attack on Jia Shu.

Thus, at the very least, he was removed from the ranks of the suspects.

As for the framing...

When Qiu Tu visited Yan Chen that night, he had secretly brought a small recording device, capturing their entire conversation.

This included the part where Qiu Tu informed Yan Chen of Jia Shu's impending death, yet Yan Chen chose not to warn Jia Shu—documenting the full sequence.

This recording not only proved that Qiu Tu had no intention of killing Jia Shu but had even reported the situation upwards. It also proved that it was Yan Chen's delay that led to Jia Shu's death...

Qiu Tu's entire plan for the evening was tightly interlinked in a seamless chain.

Following that, Qiu Tu picked out a few minor pieces of information about Tang Feifei and Commissioner Jiang to share with Yan Chen.

In this way, they talked for nearly half an hour more.

Suddenly, the door to Yan Chen's study was knocked upon with an urgent "bang bang bang". Secretary Bai then pushed through the door and briskly walked in.

Clearly in possession of urgent news, he didn't even wait for Yan Chen's nod before bypassing protocol and approaching Yan Chen.

However, both Yan Chen and Qiu Tu had guessed what the news might be, so they exchanged a glance and remained silent.

Approaching Yan Chen, Secretary Bai whispered, "Bureau Chief, the Political Department has just reported that the car transporting Jia Shu was ambushed on leaving Xinjie City."

"The assailants used high-caliber rifles to spray the entire vehicle with bullets and set it ablaze."

"Jia Shu and Commissioner Huang's driver are both dead."

Upon hearing Secretary Bai's report, Yan Chen had yet to respond when Qiu Tu's thoughts drifted afar...

His mind turned to Jia Wei...

---------

Today there are 3 chapters of 10,000 words. I've been a bit busy these last few days, so the third chapter will probably update between 22:00 and 23:00. During the double points period, I'm asking for your Monthly Ticket!