Chapter 45: A New Path

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“A logical closed loop? What do you mean by that?” Zhou Mei asked.

Lin Xiaosu replied, “My judgment is entirely different from yours! Qi Hongzhong is not the Ghost-Eyed Seventh, and the so-called flaws he left before his escape were not flaws at all—but deliberate smokescreens!”

“Tell me your reasoning!” Zhou Mei’s heart skipped a beat...

Just moments ago, she’d felt a flash of insight, believing she’d finally triggered inspiration built up over years. Even she was swept up in the excitement of her deduction.

But her excitement lasted less than three seconds before Lin Xiaosu poured a bucket of cold water over her.

Lin Xiaosu raised his fingers: “Let me say two things! First, as a crime lord able to control all of Phoenix City’s underground circles, if he wanted to eliminate someone who threatened him, he would have a hundred ways to keep himself out of it. There’s no way he’d exile himself from Great Xia for life just for a nobody like me.”

Zhou Mei frowned; she found herself unable to refute him with a single word.

Indeed, this operation was essentially an exchange—Lin Xiaosu’s death in return for Qi Hongzhong’s permanent exile from Great Xia.

If he truly were the Ghost-Eyed Seventh, would he really be so reckless?

Trading his entire future for a nobody?

“Second, the drug trade is inherently sensitive. Anyone able to survive in this business is no fool. If they wanted to hide their tracks, there’s no way two police officers like us could spend just two hours and discover so many flaws.”

Both arguments were highly convincing.

However, no one knew these weren’t Lin Xiaosu’s true reasons.

The real reason was that the words he’d lip-read earlier now closed the logical loop.

In the car, when he’d traced events back through time, he’d found the man in glasses—Qi Hongzhong—who’d told the assassin an astonishing sentence: “If you’re caught, give me up.”

At first, this had baffled him.

Now, he understood completely.

It was all intentional!

He’d purposefully left flaws, deliberately misled the police, and intentionally directed suspicion onto himself. By bearing the title of “Ghost-Eyed Seventh” and fleeing abroad, he gave the Phoenix City drug syndicate a way out.

Captain Zhang’s eyes lit up...

He’d also thought of another suspicious detail: during the interrogation, they’d hardly had to put in any effort to extract the name “Ghost-Eyed Seventh” from the suspects. It had all gone too smoothly—almost suspiciously so.

If this was deliberate on the other party’s part, it all made sense.

Zhou Mei said, “Then why would he do this?”

“It’s simple. By drawing our attention onto himself, he buys the Phoenix City syndicate temporary safety. It’s like a chess gambit—sacrificing a chariot to protect the king!”

Captain Zhang’s heart thudded...

He finally understood Lin Xiaosu’s second point.

If the police locked onto Qi Hongzhong as the Ghost-Eyed Seventh, and he had already left the country, all the nets cast over Phoenix City would be pulled back. That’s exactly what the syndicate wanted—the police to halt their operations.

They must have sensed the danger, so they used Qi Hongzhong to buy time to disappear.

Without Lin Xiaosu’s warning, he would have fallen for their ploy.

Even the higher-ups would have been fooled.

Because this was basic investigative procedure.

Captain Zhang’s eyes sharpened. “Say everything you want to say.”

Lin Xiaosu said, “If we view this case as a war, we have to step outside the tracks our opponents have laid and seize control of the tempo and direction ourselves! I suggest you focus on another aspect.”

“Which aspect?”

“The flow of funds!”

The flow of funds?

All criminal transactions ultimately end with the money, because that’s always the ultimate goal. The flow of funds is the most tangible chain...

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“We have, of course, been watching the flow of funds!” Zhou Mei said. “What was previously visible was the Five Tiger Generals—their rapidly growing fortunes drew our attention. But once we realized that they weren’t the real leaders, we became certain there was a more secretive, larger financial network. Unfortunately, we’ve searched for ages and haven’t found it.”

That’s common knowledge about criminal syndicates.

They aren’t founded out of “charity.”

They exist for profit.

If the Five Tiger Generals were the real controllers, the money trail would end with them, closing the loop.

But they’re not!

There’s a true mastermind.

That person should be taking the greatest cut.

How is that profit collected, and by whom?

That’s the police’s greatest headache...

Lin Xiaosu lifted his teacup, his gaze thoughtful. “Let’s follow the visible threads first. The Five Tiger Generals’ funds also move—where do they go?”

“Squandered!” Sun Yang interjected. “All five are notorious for their extravagance. With the vast wealth they’ve amassed—legally or not—they spend recklessly.”

“In what ways?” Lin Xiaosu pressed.

Sun Yang replied, “Well... it would take three days and nights to list them all. Everything you can imagine—they do it. Keeping mistresses, extravagant parties, luxury cars, lavish homes...”

“A general summary won’t do!” Lin Xiaosu insisted. “Perhaps you could make a list—who did what, spent how much, where, exactly what was bought, who was kept as a mistress? How much was spent on each, and how was the money spent by the recipient? Compile it all into a spreadsheet.”

Sun Yang was dumbfounded. “That’s... not a simple task.”

“Matching wits with a criminal syndicate—is that simple, Officer Sun?” Lin Xiaosu asked.

“Of course not, but this isn’t the main direction of the case... Is it really necessary?”

“It is!”

The meeting room fell silent.

Zhou Mei and Sun Yang exchanged helpless glances.

This kid was becoming a bit arrogant, emboldened by Captain Zhang’s trust and now assigning tasks to those below him.

And did he think it would be so easy?

Five people, constantly indulging themselves—and he wanted a detailed list of their expenditures? These five were sensitive figures—getting close was hard enough, let alone gathering such details.

And identifying the mistresses? Heaven knows, whoever is involved, it’s always a secret. How much money a mistress is given, and what she does with it—if you want to find all that, do you know how massive a workload that is?

Captain Zhang slowly raised his head. “Xiaosu, why do you think it’s necessary?”

“Because I once read a case very similar to this. There’s nothing new under the sun—most crimes repeat themselves.”

He was telling the truth. The case was from the 101 Case Records.

That archive wasn’t a book, but an electronic document—its size alone was terrifying: 8000 gigabytes, nearly every significant criminal case included.

Not only cases since the founding of the nation, but ancient and foreign cases as well.

An ordinary person would need years to finish reading it. Even with his prodigious memory, Lin Xiaosu had needed two whole days and nights to read it all.

That was his real confidence in opening a detective agency—his vast trove of reference material.

“There’s nothing new under the sun—most things repeat! I like that!” Captain Zhang raised his hand and dialed a number: “Come here.”

About five minutes later, the elevator chimed, and a lean, gray-haired officer walked in.

His name was Wang Donghe. He’d once been a star of the Criminal Investigation Division, but after being stabbed three times on duty—injuring his lungs—he’d gone semi-retired.

Yet tonight, at a single call from Captain Zhang, he’d appeared in under five minutes. What did that mean?

It meant he’d been working late in the building all along!

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He was far less idle than he appeared.

“Donghe, when you retired from the front lines due to injury three years ago, you volunteered for a special assignment. Perhaps it was worthwhile!” Captain Zhang said. “Because this Phoenix City detective has proposed exactly the same approach as you!”

A faint flush appeared on Wang Donghe’s pale face. “Captain Zhang, do you want the full situation?”

“Go ahead. Show us what you’ve achieved over these three years.”

“Yes, sir!”

Wang Donghe stepped to the computer...

He opened his phone case, revealing a tiny USB drive.

He plugged it in, and documents projected onto the screen.

Funds traced from Tiger.

Funds traced from Crane.

Funds traced from Phoenix.

Below each, there were lists, photos, amounts, and recipients of bribes. Naturally, the recipients’ photos were blank—only code names shown.

Mistresses—also blank photos, just code names.

Zhou Mei’s eyes sparkled...

Sun Yang’s expression shifted rapidly...

He was a top police academy graduate, and had just thought Lin Xiaosu’s idea was foolish. But in a flash, a seasoned detective arrived and presented three years’ worth of work—work that matched Lin Xiaosu’s proposal perfectly.

What did that say?

At the very least, that Lin Xiaosu’s idea wasn’t foolish.

For this old hand, with thirty years of experience, had quietly spent three years building exactly what Lin Xiaosu had suggested.

Only Captain Zhang knew of this work in the entire division.

Could you call Lin Xiaosu foolish, or claim that thirty years of criminal investigation was worthless?

If he’d spent three years on this, how could it not have value?

“Impressive!” Lin Xiaosu said. “So Captain Zhang had already made arrangements.”

Captain Zhang replied, “The Five Tiger Generals are sensitive targets. If the police get too close, we alert them. On the surface, we don’t approach, but that doesn’t mean we haven’t investigated them deeply. This file is critical—it involves many people. You don’t need to know who, just the general flow of funds.”

“This information is very detailed,” Lin Xiaosu said.

“Good. What have you found?”

“One conclusion, one doubt,” Lin Xiaosu replied.

“Oh? Let’s hear it.”

“My conclusion: the Five Tiger Generals are definitely involved in underground transactions.”

How did he know?

Their legitimate incomes couldn’t possibly account for the speed of their wealth accumulation. Their spending far outstripped their official earnings.

There must be a hidden source of income.

“And your doubt?”

“It concerns Ms. Phoenix.” Lin Xiaosu said. “Her extravagance far exceeds the other four. Is her status higher in the organization? Does she receive a greater share of illicit profits?”

This Ms. Phoenix had spent forty million just on jewelry at the Phoenix City jewelry store, while the other four—despite owning luxury homes and cars—hadn’t spent nearly that much in total, especially in a small city where such assets aren’t particularly valuable.

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