Chapter 299 - 299 Things are Complicated
Jia Zhengze's incident had left Ye Qing filled with anger. Without any hesitation, he ordered Mad Dog to bring Jia Zhengze back.
Mad Dog agreed immediately, but after half an hour, Ye Qing received a call from Mad Dog. He had captured Jia Zhengze, but during the journey, they were ambushed, and Mad Dog was nearly killed. Jia Zhengze was also taken away by someone.
This news was unexpected to Ye Qing, who originally thought Jia Zhengze was just a petty swindler. However, this sudden event forced Ye Qing to reassess the situation.
If Jia Zhengze were just a nobody, no one would make a move to rescue him. Even if his friends tried to save him, they wouldn't be able to do anything too extreme. But given that Mad Dog barely escaped with his life, it indicated that the attackers were savage, and not merely small-time thugs. As a result, Ye Qing couldn't help but start to doubt that the situation was as simple as he had imagined.
Mad Dog had been slashed twice, fortunately suffering only flesh wounds. He managed to drive back to the city. Ye Qing sent Black Bear to pick him up, while he immediately contacted Zhao Chengshuang, asking him to dig up all information on Jia Zhengze.
Zhao Chengshuang had also been rather busy lately. The death of the international thief He Ziqiang in Shenchuan City had brought that big case to a close. Even though Guan Haochen, the unfortunate one, was left to take the fall, this was, after all, the first cooperation between the Mainland police and the Xiangjiang Police, and there were still some follow-up matters that needed to be handled.
The city bureau was grooming Zhao Chengshuang, entrusting him with many tasks. Once he submitted the report to the provincial department and returned to Shenchuan City, he could expect another promotion.
This is also why Zhao Chengshuang's influence in Shenchuan City's police circles was growing. As more and more people were willing to help him, upon receiving Ye Qing's call, he immediately arranged for a police officer to gather Jia Zhengze's information and send it to Ye Qing.
For an old hand like Jia Zhengze with two previous prison terms, the police had his records on file, and his information was easy to find. When Jia Zhengze's information was delivered to Ye Qing's place, Mad Dog had just been picked up by Black Bear.
Seeing Mad Dog, Ye Qing was taken aback. Mad Dog had said over the phone that his injuries were not serious, and Ye Qing thought nothing much had happened to him. But when Black Bear carried him into the house, his entire outfit was stained red with blood. He had been stabbed twice, with one deep slash across his back, almost exposing the bone.
Disregarding the files for a moment, Ye Qing quickly laid Mad Dog down on the couch and started treating his wounds, urgently saying, "You're not lightly injured at all!"
Pale-faced and weakly smiling, Mad Dog replied, "Big Brother, it's nothing serious."
Ye Qing knew he was downplaying his injuries to avoid worrying him. Considering how Mad Dog looked, he was indeed fortunate to have made it back alive.
"What exactly happened?" Ye Qing asked in a grave tone.
"As soon as I put Jia Zhengze in the car and left the village, another car hit us. I didn't know what was happening, and when I got out to confront them, the driver came up and slashed me with a knife. I realized the situation was bad, so I turned to run, but I got slashed again in the back. Jia Zhengze was pulled out of my car by the people in the other vehicle.
They were too many, and I couldn't fight them off, so I just got back in the car and fled…" Mad Dog clenched his teeth, saying, "Big Brother, I'm sorry. Once my wounds heal, I'll definitely capture Jia Zhengze for you!"
"Forget it!" Ye Qing shook his head, "It's my fault. It seems like Jia Zhengze has people backing him up, and I underestimated his strength. I should have gone myself. It was almost at the cost of your life, sigh!"
Hearing Ye Qing's words, Mad Dog felt grateful. He blamed himself for not being able to bring Jia Zhengze back, but he hadn't expected Ye Qing not to blame him, instead prioritizing his safety, which touched him deeply.
After giving Mad Dog a simple bandage, Ye Qing asked Black Bear to take him to the hospital for a proper recovery. Although Mad Dog's injuries were severe, they were different from Zhao Chengshuang's—it wasn't bone-deep, and he would heal with some rest.
With Mad Dog's situation handled, Ye Qing finally found a moment to pick up the materials on Jia Zhengze and read them from start to finish.
Everything was almost the same as Mad Dog had investigated. Jia Zhengze was indeed a Jianghu scam artist, making a living through deceit. However, the scam targeted at Wang Lili was his first time attempting such a scheme, which surprised Ye Qing.
Ye Qing also found another piece of information in the files: Jia Zhengze had a good relationship with Da Hong, and they seemed to have grown up together. However, as Da Hong got involved in better things and Jia Zhengze continued to swindle, their relationship became more distant.
But when Jia Zhengze used to swindle in the past, he had colluded with Da Hong several times, driving girls into desperation and forcing them into Da Hong's hands to sell their bodies for money.
Putting aside Jia Zhengze's file, Ye Qing fell silent for a while, then stood up and left Tian Sheng. He mounted his motorcycle and headed straight for Hongfei Road. With Jia Zhengze's whereabouts unknown, the only clue lay with Da Hong. He had to see if there were any leads there.
As soon as he arrived at Hongfei Road, Ye Qing saw from afar a crowd gathered at the intersection, with police cars surrounding the area. His heart skipped a beat, and he immediately felt that something was amiss. Hurriedly, he parked his motorcycle at the entrance of a nearby shop and squeezed into the crowd to have a look.
On the ground at the Hongfei Road intersection lay two bodies, covered with white cloths. Several police officers were collecting evidence nearby, indicating that the two individuals were already dead.
"Stop looking, there's nothing to see here. Disperse, all of you!" two police officers were trying to scatter the onlookers, but obviously, this was impossible. The crowd continued to whisper amongst themselves, discussing the incident that had just occurred.
"That truck was going way too fast to stop. Those two were hit and went down immediately; they didn't even have a chance to dodge."
"Ah, in this day and age, driving a vehicle is like being in a rush to reincarnate. Why drive so fast? Two good people just gone like that – it's truly sinful!"
"I don't think it's sinful—this is retribution. It's rare for trucks to come into the city, and besides, Hongfei Road is so narrow that even small cars drive slowly. Who would dare to drive fast here? Coming across such a car accident at Hongfei Road, this is what you call Heavenly Retribution. Considering all the things Da Hong has done, this is retribution for sure!"
Listening to the crowd's comments, Ye Qing had a basic understanding of what had happened. It seemed that among the deceased was Da Hong. Moreover, the driver responsible for the accident had fled the scene right after, with no one even getting a clear look at the perpetrator.
Ye Qing frowned. To others, this car accident indeed seemed mysterious, but they wouldn't think too much of it. However, to him, there was definitely a problem with this accident.
In the afternoon, he had found Wang Lili here, and through her, learned about Jia Zhengze. He then sent Mad Dog to capture Jia Zhengze. Unfortunately, Mad Dog was ambushed en route, and Jia Zhengze was taken away by someone. Now in the evening, Da Hong, who was closely associated with Jia Zhengze, had died in a car accident on his own turf—without question, there was a problem here.
Ye Qing suddenly realized that this matter was much more complicated than he had anticipated. After all, arranging someone to abduct Jia Zhengze and another to kill Da Hong in such a short time frame was not an easy task. Only someone with immense power could carry out these actions.
Wang Tiezhu and his family were at the very bottom of society, and even if they had enemies, they would not have significant ones. Ye Qing had reason to suspect that this was done to get revenge on him, as he treated Wang Tiezhu as a friend. Since these people could not get to him, they started targeting the unfortunate Wang Tiezhu.
So, who exactly was behind this?
According to what Wang Lili said, this incident occurred four days ago. It was precisely when Ye Qing made enemies with the Lin family, and his grudge with the Fierce Tiger Gang had only just begun. As for Fu Bang and Tianqing Gang, there was no involvement between them and Ye Qing at the time, so it certainly couldn't be them.
If it were the Fierce Tiger Gang behind this, then after the Tiger King's death, nobody should have continued handling this matter. However, Jia Zhengze was abducted, and Da Hong was killed by a car, which means someone wanted to cut off all the clues and prevent him from investigating further. This indicates that it wasn't the Tiger King's doing.
Now that Boss Lin is also arrested, he can be ruled out too. With this reasoning, only a few of Ye Qing's other enemies in Shenchuan City remain.
The first person Ye Qing thought of was Yang Shitao, but after his last scheme was exposed and he fled in utter failure, why would he bother killing and silencing witnesses? So, this person too can be ruled out, leaving the families of those young prodigals who died in Qianwan Bar.
Amongst them, the families of several major prodigals even formed an alliance in Shenchuan City, joining forces against Ye Qing. They had already made a move once before and nearly brought down Mu Qingrong's company. If not for Lin Corporation's timely intervention, Mu Qingrong would have likely gone bankrupt.
Could this incident be the work of that alliance again?
Ye Qing's brows furrowed tightly. Thinking of what had happened to Wang Lili, anger surged in his heart. No matter who was behind this, if it was aimed at him, it was somewhat understandable. However, targeting innocent, vulnerable people was something Ye Qing could not accept.
"No matter who is behind this, I will repay you a hundredfold!" Ye Qing vowed silently in his heart.
At the same time, in the hospital, Wang Lili was taking care of her mother in the room. The events of the past few days felt like a nightmare to her, and she had no desire to recall them. Her only hope now was for this incident to pass quietly and for her brother not to find out, as she didn't want her family to suffer disgrace because of her.
Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Wang Lili looked up to see that, unbeknownst to her, a file bag had appeared beneath the crack of the door.