Even in the middle of the night, the study of Yu Xuewen, the Party Secretary of Huaining County, was still lit.
The room was filled with smoke, all from Yu Xuewen's cigarettes.
"Bang!"
At the sound, Yu Xuewen shuddered, a flash of wild joy crossing his eyes, but quickly his hand holding the cigarette began to tremble slightly again.
"Hiss..."
Yu Xuewen took a deep drag of his cigarette, then exhaled a smoke ring. After a moment, he took out his phone and dialed the number of Huo Bo, the Director of the Public Security Bureau.
"Hello... who is this?"
Huo Bo on the other end of the line was clearly bewildered. What could be wrong at this hour?
"This is Yu Xuewen!"
With just one sentence, Huo Bo immediately sat up, his voice becoming much more alert.
"Secretary Yu, is there some kind of emergency?"
Huo Bo asked quickly.
"I think I just heard some gunshots. Get up quickly and check if something's happened at Wenyu Tourism Company."
Yu Xuewen said calmly.
Huo Bo on the other end of the phone was visibly taken aback, but after only three seconds, he replied, "Okay, Secretary Yu, I'll go check it out right away!"
When the top leader speaks, this lowly bureau chief can only obey.
Even if he were called back for a meeting in the middle of the night, let alone going to Wenyu Tourism Company, he'd go!
No one can disobey the top leader's orders.
However, Huo Bo had just gotten out of bed and dressed when he received a call from a subordinate.
"Chief, I think I just heard gunshots, on Zhengnan Street!"
What?
Really?
Huo Bo's eyes widened instantly. He hadn't paid attention to Secretary Yu's words; after all, the secretary sat in his office all day—how could he understand what gunshots were?
But his subordinates were different; they had actually fired guns and could definitely tell the difference. The fact that the other party could say it meant there was a high probability of it!
Most importantly, Wenyu Tourism Company was right on Zhengnan Street!
Could it really be such a coincidence?
Was Secretary Yu's guess that accurate?
Or perhaps, did Secretary Yu know something inside?
"I'm coming right away!"
Huo Bo didn't dare delay, immediately replying and rushing off.
...
After finishing his call, Yu Xuewen was still smoking, even more heavily than before. The entire room was filled with smoke, so thick that you could barely see anything more than a meter away.
"Qin Mu, don't blame me!"
"Only if you die can these secrets continue to be hidden."
"You can only blame yourself; why did you have to keep quiet!"
...
Yu Xuewen muttered a few words, immediately shifting all the blame onto Qin Mu.
This was all part of a shocking conspiracy orchestrated by Yu Xuewen. On one hand, he suggested that the provincial Party committee's organization department forcibly conscript Qin Mu; on the other hand, he wanted to kill Qin Mu, making it appear as a suicide out of guilt, thus pinning all the problems and crimes in Huaining County on Qin Mu.
In this way, there would be no way to prove anything!
Even if the discipline inspection commission investigated, they wouldn't find anything. Qin Mu's death would allow Yu Xuewen to continue hiding and avoid exposure.
This was Yu Xuewen's entire plan!
His ultimate goal was to make Qin Mu take the blame and protect himself.
After all, how could anyone investigate if the person was dead?
Even with so many reasons for himself, Yu Xuewen's hands still trembled uncontrollably, his face was slightly pale, and his eyes were unfocused. All of this was enough to show that Yu Xuewen was very panicked.
Thinking about it carefully, it's actually quite normal.
That was a county head, a provincial-level cadre, already considered a mid-level leader. Killing him like that would make Yu Xuewen very panicked.
Several previous county magistrates had taken the blame for him, but at least they hadn't died; they'd only gone to jail. Qin Mu's fate was completely different, the nature of his actions entirely different.
All he could do now was use all his connections to get the provincial and municipal discipline inspection commissions to conduct a preliminary investigation. If the investigation was too thorough, and some secrets were exposed, that would be disastrous.
…
Yu Xuewen's plan could be described as perfect.
He had prepared 'evidence' of Qin Mu's crimes beforehand. Although it was fake, if Qin Mu died, there would be no way to verify it. With Yu Xuewen regaining power, very few officials in Huaining County would dare to tell the truth to the discipline inspection commission.
Then, by creating the illusion of a suicide out of fear of punishment, there was virtually no chance of a comeback.
Yu Xuewen had considered many possibilities for the plan's failure, such as Qin Mu not going to Wenyu Travel Company, or not opening the safe and triggering the alarm, but he had never imagined that Qin Mu could escape the bullets.
For this plan, Yu Xuewen had specifically hired a professional assassin with superb marksmanship. With thorough preparation, armed and facing an unprepared Qin Mu, failure seemed impossible.
But precisely this impossible scenario unfolded.
The assassin was confident, but the moment the shot was fired, the person in front of him vanished.
"Bang!"
The next second, a figure suddenly appeared to his side. He tried to fire again, but couldn't; the other person had grabbed his hand, rendering him immobile.
"Someone from Zhanlong?"
Qin Mu stared at the assassin and suddenly asked.
Those few words sent a chill down the assassin's spine.
"You...who are you?"
The assassin stared wide-eyed at Qin Mu. He didn't understand; had he given himself away?
Zhanlong was the unit he had previously served in; in terms of strength, they were top-tier. How could the other person say that so easily?
"With your skills, I can tell at a glance that only a place as useless as Zhanlong could produce trash like you!"
Qin Mu sneered. "Go turn yourself in, or don't force me to find Xu Datou from Zhanlong and have him arrest you personally!"
Hiss…
A top-tier special forces unit, called trash by this kid?
As for Xu Datou, he's the chief instructor of the Zhanlong brigade, a figure of formidable reputation. Who exactly is this guy?
"Clatter…"
Before he could ask, the gun in his hand had already scattered, becoming a pile of parts on the ground.
"Who exactly are you?"
The assassin's heart trembled. Seeing the other party about to leave, he quickly asked.
"Flying Eagle Brigade!"
Those four words immediately filled the assassin's eyes with terror, because this name was extremely famous within the domestic special forces circle.
To be precise, the outside world had no idea such a team existed, yet they were the sharpest blade in the nation's hands!
No one dared to act tough in front of the Flying Eagle Squad!
But right now, the assassin had no other choice. The other party demanded he surrender; if he dared not, the War Dragon Squad would arrest him, and there would be no use in fleeing to the ends of the earth.
Unless… he killed the other party, ending it all!
Glancing at the pistol parts on the ground, the assassin abruptly bent down and began assembling them.