Chapter 1254 — Finding the Mastermind

Earlier, Yang Huaijun had kept certain things from Wei Zhao, precisely because he did not want Wei Zhao involved. He knew the man's temperament: once Wei Zhao learned of a thing, he could not simply pretend he had not. And if Wei Zhao truly acted on it, he would be walking into unmistakable danger.

But now, after hearing Qiu Lingshan's account, Yang Huaijun understood that he had badly underestimated his own captain. Before anything had even properly begun, Wei Zhao had already made an enemy of the Yu family and taken out two of their finest fighters...

So there were some matters Yang Huaijun could no longer keep hidden. The reason he had stayed in Donghai working the case all this time was that this international drug trafficking investigation was entangled with certain affairs from years ago. Otherwise, he could never have abandoned his duties in Songshan City and come all this way to help.

Ordinarily, a secondment meant borrowing a captain or a deputy captain to assist with a case; it was rare indeed for a deputy bureau chief to be seconded. The truth within it was simply this: Yang Huaijun understood this drug case rather well. He had clashed with this very trafficking ring in years past.

Yet as the investigation progressed, Yang Huaijun found himself more and more furious, and more and more helpless. Behind the trafficking ring lay secrets that no one knew.

Years ago, Yang Huaijun had returned from a mission in North Africa and been ordered to track down a great international drug lord. That mission annihilated his entire squad; Yang Huaijun alone clawed his way out of death, and very nearly perished there himself. Yet every ounce of his skill was crippled, his meridians shattered by another's hand.

At first, Yang Huaijun believed it mere chance. But only a few days ago, from the mouth of a mid-level ringleader of the trafficking syndicate newly captured, he learned of inside dealings that the world had never been told.

The ringleader's information was vague, but it was enough. For Yang Huaijun, it laid bare the intent of the mastermind behind it all. How vicious they were!

Yang Huaijun knew that if Wei Zhao learned all of this, he would surely seek vengeance for him, for the Pangolin brothers. But Yang Huaijun did not want Wei Zhao harmed on his account, because Wei Zhao was still no match for them.

Yet now, none of that seemed to matter anymore.

"Brother Jun? Why are you calling me at this hour? Are you back in Songshan City?" Wei Zhao was in the classroom keeping Feng Xiaoxiao company while she studied; he had not expected Yang Huaijun's call to come through.

"No, I'm still in Donghai. Is it convenient for you to take this call?" Yang Huaijun asked.

"Mm, go ahead?" Wei Zhao glanced around. There were only a few people left in the classroom, and beside him sat only Feng Xiaoxiao. Most everyone had gone to the sports field by now to watch the preliminary rounds of the singing competition, so no one but Feng Xiaoxiao could hear him speak.

"Lingshan came by just now, to consult me on some details of the case, and she brought a few pieces of news along with her." Between Yang Huaijun and Wei Zhao there was no room for pretense; he came straight to the point. "Her strength has risen - from the peak of the early Yellow rank to the peak of the late Yellow rank. That was your doing?"

"Yes. And it could be yours as well." Wei Zhao answered without the slightest hesitation. "That is also why I called you last time. I can repair your meridians and raise your strength to the peak of the late Yellow rank!"

"What?" Wei Zhao's frank admission left Yang Huaijun at a loss. Even knowing that Wei Zhao would never hide anything from him, raising a person's strength was not something that could simply be done - it must have cost untold hardship. And in raising Qiu Lingshan, perhaps there had been some fondness of his for her at work. But he, Yang Huaijun... even as Wei Zhao's brother, what need was there for Wei Zhao to give so much?

Yet Wei Zhao had spoken those words as though without a moment's thought, moving Yang Huaijun deeply and filling him with feeling: if he told him that matter, Wei Zhao would surely avenge him and the Pangolin.

So Yang Huaijun resolved to caution Wei Zhao not to be impulsive. Tell him he must, but before telling him, he had to prepare him first.

"The peak of the late Yellow rank... sounds rather tempting..." Yang Huaijun laughed. "Then I'll thank you in advance!"

"No need for thanks, Brother Jun. You sought me out just for this?" Wei Zhao felt that Yang Huaijun was not the sort to be so easily unsettled.

"No - that was only something I wanted to ask first. I came to you mainly because there is one very important matter I must tell you. But you must promise me: once you hear it, do not act rashly. Think before you move. Act only when you are certain; leave what you are not certain of alone for the time being." Yang Huaijun paused, then spoke gravely.

"Oh? What is it, exactly?" Hearing Yang Huaijun so solemn, Wei Zhao grew puzzled as well. "Brother Jun, what matter are you speaking of?"

"It is about the time I was wounded, and the Pangolin's death..." Yang Huaijun said, somewhat grief-stricken. "The mastermind behind it all - I think I can guess who it is now..."

"The mastermind? Was it not said to be an international drug lord?" Wei Zhao's heart gave a violent lurch as he asked.

"Yes, but there is evidence now to infer that this international trafficking organization is bound to the Yu family by a thousand threads..." Yang Huaijun said.

"Which Yu family?" Wei Zhao's heart beat harder still.

"Rest easy - not the hidden Yu family. It has nothing to do with Xiaoning. It is the Yu family of the mundane world," Yang Huaijun said with a smile.

"Brother Jun, you're joking again." Wei Zhao was reluctant to bring up old matters; he shifted the subject. "You're certain it was the Yu family's doing?"

"They should be the hand pushing from behind. These past years, the younger generation of the great families have met with accidents again and again. My guess is that if the Yu family means to grow great, they must strike down the other great families. I was the hope of this generation of the Yang family - a Yellow-rank expert at sixteen, with boundless potential to rise. So the Yu family wanted to kill me. Only, it dragged in the Pangolin and my other teammates..." Yang Huaijun speculated.

"The Yu family? Very good." Wei Zhao repeated the name, his tone flat.

"Eagle, don't do anything rash!" A chill seized Yang Huaijun's heart. He knew Wei Zhao's character. Though Wei Zhao's words were calm, he could hear that in that moment, when Wei Zhao spoke the words "the Yu family," there was not a trace of feeling in him. Back on the battlefield, that was how Wei Zhao looked before he killed.

So Yang Huaijun grew tense; he feared Wei Zhao would do something reckless.

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