Siheyuan came through and sent Jia Zhang to prison

But after much deliberation, who should be assigned to investigate? He Feng tapped his fingers lightly on the table, his brows furrowed in worry. Two of his trusted men were currently monitoring the smuggling case in the west of the city, spending their days staking out the operation until their eyes were bloodshot, and they were simply too busy to spare any time. The remaining one, Xiao Wang, was reliable, a sharpshooter and quick-witted, but he was too impatient, like someone with a ball of fire inside. If he were to investigate this kind of clandestine operation, he would probably lose his composure within two days, and a single misstep would give him away.

Should he hand it over to someone else in the bureau? He Feng shook his head, a wave of unease washing over him. The worst thing about this kind of thing is having too many people involved; the more people involved, the greater the risk becomes, like a snowball rolling downhill. There's always the chance of something going wrong at any stage and the information leaking out—wasn't the Liu Li incident a prime example of how the informant who passed the message couldn't keep a tight rein, allowing someone to take advantage of the situation?

He Feng gritted his teeth, his back teeth almost breaking, his knuckles turning white and bluish-purple. Perhaps, he had to do it himself. The person lurking in the shadows was like a venomous snake; he had to find him, otherwise all the clues he had gathered day and night would be wasted, and many more people would die like Liu Li, unknowingly falling victim to the blade, not even knowing how they died.

Actually, a name flashed through his mind—Ma Xin. Ma Xin was always reliable, like a stone submerged in water, quiet yet incredibly solid. During the last investigation into the counterfeit drug case, she was able to find forged signatures in dozens of purchase orders; her meticulousness was like a sieve. Logically, she seemed like a suitable candidate. Moreover, Ma Xin hadn't been involved in Liu Li's case from beginning to end; theoretically, she was completely unaware and hadn't gotten involved in this mess. It seemed… she could be trusted.

But the thought had barely surfaced when he forcefully suppressed it, crushing it like stubbing out a cigarette. He Feng rubbed his throbbing temples, the veins on his forehead still throbbing, and he knew very well that while he didn't have clear suspicion of Ma Xin, he certainly didn't completely trust her either.

Although I haven't been in this circle for many years, I've seen too many smiles hiding daggers and heard too many sweet words concealing scheming. Caution has become an instinct etched into my bones, more natural than breathing. Since I can't trust someone completely, I absolutely cannot hand over such a crucial matter. If I make a wrong judgment, that would be truly catastrophic, leaving no chance for recovery.

The sunlight gradually climbed higher, passing through the window frame and illuminating the thick stack of files on the desk. The edges of the pages were frayed, and the dense annotations and red circles on them were the marks of countless sleepless nights he had spent working on them. The sunlight cast long shadows on the files, like silent scars lying across the desk.

He Feng took a deep breath, picked up his jacket from the back of the chair and draped it over his arm; the fabric still smelled of cigarette smoke from last night's overtime work. It seemed that no one could fight this battle for him; he had to wade into these murky waters himself, even if the path was fraught with hidden reefs and treacherous shoals, a bottomless abyss, he had to grit his teeth and keep going.

After all, ever since he took the chair of the Public Security Bureau chief, he'd been handling a constant stream of cases—tricky, dangerous, and far-reaching ones… He'd seen too many people around him fall, some killed by criminals, others by their own people. The human heart is harder to decipher than the most complex code. Over time, he became hesitant to fully trust anyone, like carrying a block of ice in his heart—cool and unsettling, yet always keeping him alert.

Ma Xin gripped the file tightly, her knuckles turning white from the force, the edges of the paper crumpled—Liu Li was dead. This news pierced her heart like an icy awl. She never imagined those people would act so swiftly and ruthlessly, eliminating this deeply entrenched and cunning old fox who had been entrenched in the bureau for years in just one day.

A sharp, empty pain ripped through her heart, like something had been ripped out. Liu Li, though not exactly her confidant, was a crucial pawn she'd planted years ago, holding many shady leads. Now, losing him felt like losing an arm; even breathing felt difficult. But then she thought, for the sake of her long-planned scheme, this loss was something she had to grit her teeth and bear. A limb cut short was better than total defeat. She took a deep breath, suppressing the turmoil in her eyes, quickly adopting a professional seriousness, and turned to leave—it was time to conduct a "pretend" investigation at the crime scene, at least to give an explanation to the bureau and those watching in the shadows.

A day passed in the blink of an eye. The morning light, like molten gold, pierced through the thin mist and climbed the windowsills of the office building, casting long, narrow shadows on the floor. He Feng arrived at the bureau on time as usual, his dark circles under his eyes as thick as inky black ink, yet he still stood ramrod straight, as if the weight on his shoulders wasn't weariness, but a heavy responsibility. Some things are safer to keep to oneself than to speak out. After what happened with Jiang Hu, he dared not trust anyone now, not even his closest old colleagues. He had to be skeptical, afraid that a single word might reveal a secret he shouldn't have.

As soon as he pushed open the office door, Ma Xin followed him in, holding a thin report in her hand. Her gaze swept over He Feng's face, her eyes filled with a hint of inquiry: "He Feng, judging from your complexion, did you not sleep a wink all night?"

He Feng avoided her gaze, leaned back in his chair, and said in a hoarse voice, "It's nothing. You called me because you have a case to report?"

Looking at his forced composure, Ma Xin felt a surge of complex emotions, like a jumble of conflicting feelings. She placed the report on the table, tapped the cover lightly with her fingertips, and said in a low voice, "Nothing else, it's Liu Li's investigation report, just sent over from the forensic department."

He Feng nodded, picked up the report, and opened it. The handwriting on the pages was clear and cold. He quickly scanned a few lines, his fingertip pausing on the words "death by blunt force trauma, multiple fractures of the skull." The result was exactly as he had expected—Liu Li had been beaten to death. The perpetrator was extremely experienced, leaving no unnecessary traces, and even the murder weapon was disposed of cleanly; clearly, a veteran.

“He Feng,” Ma Xin sat down in the chair opposite him, leaning forward slightly, “Do you think Liu Li might have offended someone outside? He handles quite a few cases, and he even managed demolition disputes in his early years. Who knows, he might have made some kind of mortal enemy.”

He Feng closed the report, his fingertips lightly tracing the cover, and shook his head: "It's hard to say. Liu Li is a very cunning man, with a complex web of relationships, both overt and covert. It's a very complicated situation. I will investigate this matter personally."