Gao Wu: I inherited the evil organization in the game

Chapter 645 Investigation? Sabotage?
Feng Mu paused, his face showing just the right amount of doubt and worry:

"I saw some security guards dead at the gate. Is Madam alright?"

Hou Wendong's gaze lingered on Feng Mu's face for two seconds. After a moment's thought, he lowered his voice and said:

"Madam Li is fine, you don't need to worry. The main problem is that a night watchman died inside, and..."

He glossed over it vaguely, then changed the subject, his voice even lower:

"In short, if you're smart enough, you shouldn't have come to Emerald Garden tonight. If you want to leave now, it's not too late; I can send you out again."

Perhaps it was out of gratitude that Feng Mu had indirectly saved him, making him half a savior, that he gave the other party a special reminder.

Feng Mu's face showed a look of surprise and disbelief, his pupils slightly contracting:

"Secretary Hou, are you implying that Madam Li is involved in this matter?"

Hou Wendong didn't mean it that way. Seeing that Feng Mu didn't understand, he stopped trying to persuade him. Given his status, it was already an act of "repaying kindness" for him to offer a word of advice.

He sighed and said:

"If someone dies in front of your house, can you guarantee that not a single drop of blood will splatter into your own yard? After all... it's too close!"

His words seemed to be directed at Li Hanyu, but in reality, they were also directed at himself.
He also felt a vague unease, as if he could already smell the approaching storm brewing in the air.

After saying this, Hou Wendong pursed his lips tightly and walked ahead with a gloomy expression.

Feng Mu hesitated for a moment, feigning hesitation, then lowered his head and quickly followed, his voice carrying an almost stubborn "straightforwardness," as he murmured:
"Secretary Hou, you flatter me. I, Feng Mu, do not understand these complicated principles. I only know that Warden Qian has been kind to me. Warden Qian is still unconscious. If something happens to his mother, I cannot stand idly by."

I, Feng Mu, know I am not a virtuous person, but I understand the principle of repaying kindness...

The combination of [The Deceitful Glasses] and [Proof of Loyalty lv3], along with Feng Mu's acting skills, makes every word he utters very convincing.

Hou Wendong, who was walking ahead, paused for a moment, his breathing almost imperceptible. He did not respond or turn around.

Feng Mu's image in his mind became more and more three-dimensional—a dangerous person, a smart person, and above all, a loyal person.

After Feng Mu finished speaking, he immediately fell silent, took a half-step back, and followed in silence.

Liu Yi and Song Ping'an exchanged a silent glance, their gazes unwavering, and they followed closely behind with steady steps.

The road beneath my feet seemed to stretch out in the oppressive darkness.

Feng Mu followed Hou Wendong for quite a while before passing the special envoy's villa.

The police tape around the villa was denser and wider than at the entrance, and the yellow and black striped tape whistled in the night wind.

There were many people at the entrance, and the atmosphere was so tense it felt like freezing.

Several uniformed constables, working in pairs, carried stretchers covered with white sheets out of the broken villa gate and arranged them neatly on the lawn in front of the gate.

The white cloth outlines the stiff contours of the human body, with some areas stained by dark liquid, appearing dark brown under the light. Occasionally, a pale hand or a tangled lock of hair hangs down.

A government official, dressed in the same dark uniform as the official at the entrance, was pacing back and forth in front of the villa with his hands behind his back.

His expression was extremely complex, half shrouded in gloom with his brows furrowed, and half... a tense yet relieved look.

This contradictory emotion was twisted on his face, making each turn and step he took seem particularly heavy.

He would occasionally stop and whisper a few instructions to the stretcher that was being carried out, his voice hoarse and dry.

Hou Wendong suddenly stopped and gestured for Feng Mu and the other two to wait where they were.

He walked over quickly and spoke a few words to the official in a low voice.

Soon, Hou Wendong returned, his gloomy expression seemingly lessened, but the seriousness between his brows remained.

"Let's go."

Hou Wendong didn't explain much to Feng Mu, and led the three of them to continue walking towards the villa next door.

Feng Mu could roughly guess Hou Wendong's thought process.

The fact that the special envoy's body was not found in his villa relieved Hou Wendong somewhat.

Feng Mu narrowed his eyes, but kind-heartedly refrained from discouraging Hou Wendong.

Liu Yi and Song Ping'an silently observed their surroundings, looking at the horrific scene inside the villa, the corpses wrapped in white sheets, the shattered road, and the pool of black, filthy blood under the streetlights.

Feng Mu's gaze swept across the road and stopped at a pool of blood under the streetlight.

The pool of blood was as black as ink, gleaming eerily under the light.

He didn't remember there being such a large pool of blood when he left.

Whose blood is it?

Feng Mu paused slightly, but Hou Wendong had already pushed open the door of Li Hanyu's villa, so he had no choice but to turn his head away and follow him inside.

The villa was brightly lit, with the light from various chandeliers illuminating the entire villa as if it were daytime.

Several government officials in dark uniforms sat on the expensive leather sofa in the center of the living room. They may have come with Councilor Wang, or they may have come on their own later.

Unlike the two officials outside who were pacing back and forth, they sat upright and spoke in hushed tones.

The conversation abruptly stopped when Feng Mu and the others entered.

Their gazes lingered briefly on Feng Mu before shifting away as if he were nothing.

Only Du Changle, who was in the corner, caught a glimpse of Feng Mu, and a cold glint flashed in his narrow eyes.

He didn't look at it for long, then turned his face away and continued talking to the official beside him, his warm, Buddha-like smile remaining unchanged.

Feng Mu did not step into the living room, but stopped at the entrance of the corridor in front of the living room door.

Hou Wendong gestured for Feng Mu to wait in the corridor, while he quickly walked towards the innermost room.

Feng Mu stopped as instructed and stood respectfully in the shadows at the entrance of the corridor, like a loyal dog waiting for its master's summons. Behind him were two subordinates who were equally silent, like statues.

Feng Mu's attention did not linger too long in the living room, although in that brief glance, the faces of every official in the room were clearly imprinted in his mind.

"When we get back, we just need to find out the identities and positions of these people. Most of them are probably Wang's cronies."

His mind raced, and his gaze quietly slid to both sides of the corridor.

Several doors were ajar, letting in narrow slits of light. Low voices could be heard coming from inside, along with the monotonous, continuous scratching of pens on paper.

They were police officers from the police station, taking statements from the bodyguards and nurses inside the house.

The questions and answers playing out in each room were largely the same:

The constables questioned and recorded the information as they went:
There was a fight outside, making such a racket, didn't you hear a thing while you were inside the villa?

The bodyguard or nurse replied in a deep voice:
"I didn't quite hear that. The soundproofing of the villa is excellent; it uses the highest-grade materials."

With the doors and windows closed, the sounds coming in from outside were very muffled. It sounded like... like firecrackers going off in the distance? Or maybe something had fallen over? I didn't really pay much attention.

The constable had a stern face and a meticulous expression:
"Has anyone gone out to check the situation outside? Even just a glance through the window?" The bodyguard or nurse answered just as meticulously:
"We didn't go out, and all the windows in the villa were blocked, so we really... didn't see anything about what happened outside."

It wasn't until we were about to see the three women off that we saw two bodies lying under the streetlights outside, which horrified us.

"You only saw two corpses?"

The constable pressed on, pen poised above the notebook.
"Where is the others? Have you seen any suspicious persons? Or heard any other unusual noises?"

The bodyguard or nurse's resolute answer:

"No!!!"

The constable remained silent for a moment, then finally closed his notebook and said expressionlessly:

"Thanks for your cooperation."

The bodyguard or nurse nodded, equally expressionless.

Such conversations were repeated in every room on both sides of the corridor.

Whether it was the bodyguards sent by Councilor Wang, the bodyguards sent by Lu Chenjia, or the medical team sent by the hospital, everyone's answer was almost identical.

Clearly, everyone had colluded to give a false testimony. Well, it can't really be called collusion, because none of them were the murderers; they were just tacitly pretending to know nothing when questioned.

This was not only at the behest of Li Hanyu, but also at the behest of Lu Chenjia and Wang Xinfa.

They're all like foxes; before the situation becomes clear, the answer they submit is naturally the safest and most standard "correct answer."

Even if the constables had a thousand suspicions in their hearts, they didn't dare to ask a single question and cooperated fully in completing the interrogation record.

After the statement was taken, the constables left quickly, as if they had been granted a pardon, their backs even showing a hint of panic.

Anyone who didn't know better would think they were the ones being interrogated.

As Hou Wendong stepped onto the stairs leading to the second floor, his steps unconsciously became lighter.

The door at the end of the second-floor corridor was ajar, and a refreshing aroma of tea mixed with the rich smell of cigars wafted out from the crack in the door.

Hou Wendong stopped in front of the door, took a deep breath, and gently knocked three times.

"Come in," came Wang Xinfa's deep voice from inside.

The room was brighter than the hallway, yet it felt inexplicably more oppressive.

Three single sofas are arranged in a semi-circle, with an oak coffee table in the middle. On the coffee table is a set of blue and white porcelain tea set, and steam rises from the tea.

Li Hanyu was sitting on the outermost single sofa. When she saw him come in, she forced a smile.

Lu Chenjia occupied the sofa on the right, his black suit jacket casually draped over the back of the sofa, and the cuffs of his white shirt rolled up to his elbows, revealing his well-defined forearms.

He held a lit cigar between his fingers, not smoking it, but letting the smoke slowly curl around him.

Wang Xinfa sat in the main seat, and at that moment he took off his glasses and slowly wiped the lenses with a soft deerskin cloth.

Hou Wendong felt a chill run down his spine. He knew the various habits of the congressman and knew that whenever the congressman wiped his glasses, it meant he was suppressing his anger and wanted to kill someone.

The room was eerily quiet, except for the regular, clear "click" of the second hand of the antique wall clock.

Hou Wendong almost held his breath as he quickly walked to Wang Xinfa's side and bowed slightly.

Wang Xinfa continued wiping the lenses, glancing at him with a dark and unreadable expression.

Hou Wendong, however, understood immediately, cleared his throat, and said:

"The police have conducted a preliminary search of the special envoy's villa. Several bodies were removed and identified as those of the domestic maids who worked at the villa."
The special envoy has not yet been located.

Li Hanyu's hand holding the teapot loosened almost imperceptibly, then immediately clenched again.

Wang Xinfa finally stopped wiping.

Instead of putting on his glasses immediately, he held the lenses up to his eyes, squinted at the light, and examined them carefully, as if checking for any remaining dust.

Then he asked in a deep voice:
"The special envoy isn't in the villa. Where is he? Is he dead?"

Hou Wendong lowered his head even further:

"Replying to the councilor, it's unclear at the moment..."

The police have mobilized all available personnel and are trying to find them, including expanding the search area, but so far... there are no clear leads.

Wang Xinfa let out a soft snort through his nose: "Useless."

Then he asked in a cold voice:

"Where is Li Xiang? Has he been found?"

Hou Wendong's throat bobbed, his voice growing increasingly heavy:

"Just like the special envoy, we can't find anyone either."

The police station's technical department is trying to determine Captain Li Xiang's location by locating his cell phone signal.

However, the other party may have their phone switched off or be in a signal-blocked area. More technical methods are needed to analyze and eliminate interference. Currently... there are no results yet; it will take some more time.

As Wang Xinfa listened to Hou Wendong's report, he leaned back on the sofa and slowly tapped his fingers on the armrest.

Hou Wendong knew this was a habitual action he took when he was thinking.

The legislator must be weighing the possibility of the special envoy surviving and the political risks this incident would pose to him.

Just then, Lu Chenjia suddenly spoke:
"Li Xiang's car was parked at the entrance of Emerald Garden, but he has disappeared. The special envoy's fate is also unknown."

He stroked his cigar and said softly,

Is it possible that they are together now? Or that they were together just before they disappeared?

Wang Xinfa suddenly turned his head, his gaze piercing Lu Chenjia like a knife. Li Hanyu gasped, almost dropping the teapot in her hand.

Hou Wendong felt a chill run down his spine, and the hairs on his back stood on end.

Li Xiang was his savior and also a confidant recently promoted by the councilor.

It was almost common knowledge within the government that the councilors preferred Li Xiang to take over as the head of the police station.

Now, in front of Wang Xinfa, Lu Chenjia forcibly linked Li Xiang to the disappearance of the special envoy. What is he trying to imply?
Seeing the councilor's gloomy face, Hou Wendong felt an even stronger sense of impending crisis.

In theory, President Lu and Councilor Wang have collaborated many times and are still collaborating; they are like friends who share meals at the same table. But now they seem to be subtly undermining each other.

Of course, this may not be a genuine desire to break off relations; rather, it's more like an attempt to use this sudden turn of events as leverage to try and adjust the order in which people start eating at the dinner table.

If even their dining buddies are starting to have ulterior motives, then how much more eager and ready must those "diners" outside the table, who have long coveted their seats, be to act now?

.........

(End of this chapter)