Le Yu had already lost count of how many tis he had sung its praises—but right now, he could barely hold himself back from shouting: "Qian Yuliu is the best in the world!"
Compared to brutish techniques like the "Beginner Eight-Rice-Flow Biting Battle Technique," it was really the "Residual Blood Physique" that gifted Le Yu the ability to stay calm as a rock in the face of disaster, and "that was Le Yu’s greatest life-saver in this twisted ga!"
"Stay calm!"
"Poker face!"
"Watch your language!"
"Don’t make stupid rookie mistakes like blurting out ’I’m a wolf’!"
"Always rember you have a squeaky-clean identity!"
Le Yu naturally took the apple and started munching—it was crisp and sweet—and said, "I also think there’s still a mole inside the Statistical Departnt."
"What!?" Chen Fu looked completely dumbfounded, "There’s a traitor from the Rebel Faction in the Statistical Departnt?"
Lan Yan pushed his silver-rimd glasses and nodded, "The assassin who targeted Qian Yuliu was probably the mole that the Rebel Faction planted within the Statistical Departnt."
"Even though there’s no solid evidence, Xingke County is airtight under Governor Ding, yet the ’White Night’ rebels dared to try and stir up trouble. That proves the quality of their infiltrators is beyond our expectations—it wouldn’t be surprising if so official agents joined the rebels. Lin Jinyao and Li Shijie were clearly important figures within the White Night, but unfortunately, both Yuliu and I went in a bit too hard, and left no survivors. If only we’d kept one alive, we could’ve crushed White Night before it even started."
Le Yu said, "Sorry. If I had known, I would’ve..."
"No need to apologize, you killed Lin Jinyao, but didn’t I also send Li Shijie on his way?" Lan Yan grinned, "I trust you just like I trust myself—if you were actually a White Night mole who killed Lin Jinyao to cover your tracks, then I’d be a traitor right alongside you."
"The director of the Statistical Departnt is a rebel..." Chen Fu couldn’t help but chuckle.
"You think it’s funny? Honestly, it is." Lan Yan shot them both a look, "So keep your eyes on your coworkers. Who knows, one of them might be the traitor, secretly laughing at how clueless you are."
"Shit, how did he know? Can he read minds..." Le Yu nodded heavily, and said seriously, "Understood!"
"But don’t go blabbing about this. I only brought up the mole theory because I trust you two. If word gets out, the whole Statistical Departnt will spiral into paranoia—that would be a disaster."
"Yes!"
"I should get going." Lan Yan stood up and said, "Yuliu, focus on getting better—the Statistical Departnt is waiting for your return."
"See you, Lan."
"Goodbye, Director."
Lan Yan said his goodbyes, then reached the door, suddenly rembered sothing, turned and said, "Yuliu, about your feud with the Lin family, did it involve a property transfer?"
Le Yu paused, then nodded, "Yeah, but..."
"Don’t worry, I’ll send an officer over tomorrow to help you process the property deed—I’ll make sure you get your spoils of war by tomorrow." Lan Yan smiled, "Technically this should be handled by the Imprisonnt Departnt, but since you call brother Lan, I guess I’ll abuse a little public office for private favors—I swear your rights are safe with ."
Chen Fu nodded eagerly, and said, moved, "If that’s the case, why not send tomorrow? The captain’s stuck in bed and I can’t help at all—I want to share so of the burden for the captain and the director!"
"Alright, since you have connections with the Lin family, you’ll handle things faster anyway. It’s settled."
Watching those two settle it line by line, Le Yu could only swallow what he’d been about to say.
"This is going to be hilarious. I killed the Lin patriarch, killed his brother, stole their ancestral ho, and now the one going to collect the property is my number-one lapdog, Chen Fu..." Le Yu could practically imagine the vegetable market scene in the future—the local uncles and aunties definitely wouldn’t even dare take his money, maybe they’d even throw in a bunch of green onions for free."
"Sure, Lin Xue did offer their ancestral ho as a bet herself—but having the Statistical Departnt seize it the very next day... This feels like ’you borrow five hundred bucks from today, and tomorrow a whole gang shows up on your doorstep for the cash.’"
"So fast and so ruthless, this can’t be good for Qian Yuliu’s reputation... But then again, what reputation did Qian Yuliu even have? Screw it, let them do what they want."
"Actually, it’s probably for the best—kick the Lin clan out, let them really taste the cold shoulder of society. Maybe they’ll finally get it through their heads that Xingke County isn’t their turf anymore. Better just run back to the countryside, change their nas, and start grinding their sword skills with a vendetta against Qian Yuliu!"
"By the ti they power up and co back for revenge... Qian Yuliu’s grave will be covered with three ters of weeds."
"And I literally just told the Lin family, ’an eye for an eye never ends well,’ and now I’ve cleaned them out..." Le Yu finished off the apple in his hand and let out a sigh.
"What’s up?" Chen Fu asked, "Want another apple? I’ll peel one for you."
Le Yu had no objections—the apples here were really sweet.
Chen Fu pulled out another apple from the fruit basket, then glanced around the room.
"What are you looking for?"
"A paring knife..." Chen Fu frowned, "Wait, I’m pretty sure there shouldn’t be a knife in the fruit basket—and there’s no way the ward would just hand a knife to the patients... Huh?"
"The director didn’t use a knife to peel the apple just now, did he?"
Le Yu and Chen Fu exchanged glances, both seeing shock in each other’s eyes.
Lan Yan had just peeled that apple with his fingers!
But Le Yu thought of sothing deeper—Lan Yan always said he didn’t like apples, but was obsessively into the act of peeling them, and now he’d just peeled one with his fingers...
Why the hell was he so skilled? What exactly had he been used to peeling before?!
...
In the corridor of the dical Bureau, as Lan Yan headed for the exit, an ordinary, completely unremarkable officer quietly ca up beside him.
"Autopsy report—Lin Xue’en died from a skull fracture. There were finger marks on the neck. At the ti, Qian Yuliu must have found his left hand too weak, so he used his body weight to lift Lin Xue’en and smash him down—aiming for a one-hit kill," the officer reported.
Lan Yan nodded, the sa warm spring smile on his face. He nodded to a female dical Officer passing by; she imdiately blushed, stopped in her tracks, and stared after him as he left.
Lan Yan smiled, "Trash is trash. Can’t even handle a simple job. I thought he’d at least get the White Night agent list... But hey, trash is exactly who never even seizes the opportunity in front of them."
The officer asked, "What now?"
"Nothing really, it’s not like I ever expected Lin Xue’en to pull off so miracle. From the start, his role was just bait—throw him out to stir up the pond, and now, finally, sothing’s taking the bait."
The officer’s tone was flat, "Qian Yuliu is the fish you want?"
"You ever heard of ’using small fish to catch bigger fish’ in fishing? The little fish draws in the big fish, and then the big fish brings the whole school... then..."
Lan Yan clenched his fist.
"The fisherman casts the net, and all the prey get snatched in one go.
...
After another round of cards, just when Chen Fu was about to lose, he suddenly said he had to go ho for dinner and bailed like lightning.
Le Yu was about to get dinner too. The dical Bureau had its own canteen; it usually wasn’t open to patients and the food was nothing special—just for the officers on night duty. Most patients had family deliver als. But Le Yu was from the Statistical Departnt—never mind mooching at the canteen, even his dical bills went straight to the Statistical Departnt ledger—which basically ant free care.
Still, to be safe, Le Yu decided not to wheel himself around. He hollered for a dical Officer to push his chair.
"The downside of not feeling pain is that I have no clue about my own health; I can’t tell if I’m tearing my new muscles and nerves or not. If I’m dripping blood all over the floor, the canteen might think I’m so psycho from the Dark Cuisine Underworld coming to start a turf war."
So Le Yu raised his voice and shouted, "Hey—any dical Officers out there!"
"Coming."
Soone was actually outside... Le Yu saw the door push open, and a familiar noggin poked in.
"You’re really not dead yet?"
Qian Yuya said those words.
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