Chapter 107

Three years ago, Gongzhou.

January 10th.

Boom! The door of the abandoned house was pushed open. The cold wind swept into the room, causing the countless dust particles to suddenly rose up in the dim light, and then gradually fall down.

"Come in," A-Jie ordered in a low voice.

The young man being held by him was extremely thin, his face was completely bloodless, his lips were pale blue, and even his shoulder bones were protruding. Probably because he had been deprived of vision for a long time, after the blindfold was suddenly taken off, his eyes couldn't accept the outside light. His eyes were half-closed, and his black eyelashes were condensed with sweat. There were dark circles under his haggard eyes, forming a tired arc at the end.

The light was indeed too dim, and most of the interior scene was only outlined by a few hazy lines.

 Just by the silhouette, no one would be able to recognize this young man, who was the captain of the second Anti-drug Division of Gongzhou, Jiang Ting, who was kidnapped back a few months ago.

Jiang Ting was half-supported and half-pushed by A-Jie to enter the door. Someone stepped forward to put a gun on his head, and someone stuffed a hard, cold object into his weak hand — it was a gun.

A-Jie picked up the phone and placed it against Jiang Ting's ear, and then the nightmarish gentle, and cruel voice sounded:

 "Kill the undercover agent in front of you, and you will be free."

"No, I can't do it. I…"

"You can."

 "No. Just kill me, kill me quickly—"

"You can do it," the King of Spades was still very patient, saying with a smile "You don't want to die, Jiang Ting. Of all the people I've ever met, you're the last person who wants to die. In any desperate situation, you won't give up trying to get even the slightest bit of life. It's your nature, you were born like this, so you can do it."

"..."

 "Kill him, then you'll be free, or you'll die here too."

Jiang Ting gasped for breath, and the hand holding the gun trembled violently. He had never been so afraid of guns in his life. It seemed that what he was holding was not the handle of the gun, but the cold fangs of a snake. The venom penetrated his skin and soaked the blood until it brought death to the heart. 

"Jiang Ting," said the King of Spades, his tone full of inducement, "Didn't you say you can beat me? Show me the proof."

 After an unknown amount of time, the hand that A-Jie had been staring at finally moved—

The gun was slowly lifted into the air, and then the muzzle turned and pointed toward Jiang Ting's own temple!

"F*ck!" A-Jie scolded, and in the blink of an eye turned the muzzle in Jiang Ting's hand, only to hear: Bang!

 The figure in the dark corner ahead shook, slipped against the wall, and fell weakly to the ground.

There was dead silence for more than ten seconds, and then there was a snap, and the gun in Jiang Ting's hand fell to the ground.

His last nerve which was tensed to the limit was finally broken. He leaned back and was grabbed by A-Jie, who forcibly opened his eyelids and looked at his pupils, shouting sharply, "Sedative!" 

 Some were rushing and some were shouting, but Jiang Ting couldn't hear anything clearly. 

The needle of the syringe pierced his skin, and the stinging pain at that moment woke him up. His consciousness was extremely clear, but his body did not obey. He struggled to get up while shuddering, the needle detached from his body with a streak of blood and fell to the dusty ground.

Then he started coughing non-stop, coughing so much that his trachea spasmed, his whole body curled up, and his throat full of the sweet smell of rust. During the ventilation interval, he heard A-Jie's tough voice saying, "You'd better get an injection."

But he didn't answer. His coughing barely stopped, then he gritted his bloody teeth and swallowed back, he stood up in embarrassment while holding someone's hand for support.

"Don't worry about him, Jiang Ting is all by himself now." The voice of the King of Spades said leisurely on the phone, "He is free now."

Jiang Ting withdrew his hand as if he wanted to stand firm on his own strength, but the health and physical strength that had been rapidly depleted for many days could no longer fulfill such a simple self-requirement. He staggered back a few steps and leaned his back against the wall, feeling the whole world spinning before his eyes.

 Then in the drowsiness, he heard something—

It was the sound of sirens coming from afar.

"The police are here. Jiang Ting, I'm going to give you back to them."

 The King of spades on the other end of the phone sounded very nostalgic. No matter what he said, it seemed like love words, with an eternally stable and unforgettable disgusting mellow softness, like a nightmare whispering in his ear.

"When you return to the ranks of the police, facing countless doubts, questions, and accusations, and endure all the hatred and abuse, please don't forget the bet we made today. No one will trust you, no one will listen, because all the facts have proved that you are a traitor." 

"One day you will find that I am right, and then you will be willing to return to the place where we first met. Until then, as long as there is one policeman willing to believe in you — even just one." The King of Spades' mocking smile deepened, and he said, "It will be my loss." 

The siren was getting closer and louder. The sound of water splashing came from outside the abandoned house. It was drug dealers pouring gasoline around.

"Goodbye, Jiang Ting," said the King of Spades, "I welcome you to admit defeat at any time."

 The raging fire engulfed the house, and under the gloomy sky, the roaring flames danced wildly. 

 The red and blue police lights flashed, the fire truck whistled sharply, and the footsteps swarmed toward the burning house; but Jiang Ting did not look back, nor did he dare to look back. All his strength was used to hide and run, even if it was a desperate stumble. 

He didn't know how far he ran, but the hustle and bustle of people and the noise of the flames were all left behind, and there was only the whistling north wind in his ears. 

His eyes darkened, he stumbled to the ground and finally lost consciousness.

 "… Captain Jiang…"

"Captain Jiang…"

"Captain Jiang!" Someone shouted to him in the haze: "Wake up! Quick!"

 After a few minutes or more, Jiang Ting finally slowly opened his eyes.

He couldn't focus his vision, and his blurred and scattered gaze was cast in mid-air, only to see a large gloomy gray and blank sky. After a long time, the pain like tens of thousands of needles peircing his body finally returned, and all of his internal organs twisted and contracted.

 In the midst of the severe pain, he suddenly heard someone keep saying: "…I know you're still alive, I know you must not have given up…"

 Jiang Ting exhausted all his strength, finally turned his head slightly, and saw his surroundings clearly.

He passed out in a bush on the outskirts of the city, far from the scene of the fire surrounded by police cars. A thin old man in a dark blue uniform and a white shirt was half-kneeling by his side, his white hair trembling in the cold wind, his face flushed and eager, and he kept saying something excitedly.

"Fortunately you didn't die, it's good to be alive, it's good to be alive!…"

 Jiang Ting closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, he finally recognized who he was — Yue Guangping, former deputy mayor and chief of the public security bureau of Gongzhou.

"Don't move, don't move, you're hurt too much. I've already called your contact person named Yang Mei and told her to come here to pick you up. It'll be fine, take care of your injuries first. As long as you're alive, everything is fine. From the backup plan—"

"…No more…"

Yue Guangping paused: "What?"

Jiang Ting lay on the ground, looking up at the sky. His eyes were blank in despair, saying, "Rivet is dead."

Yue Guangping's whole body shook violently: "What did you say?!"

 "I failed. The drug trade was in the Eco-park, and all my team members died in the plastic factory… I failed." Jiang Ting shook his hands, tightly covering his face that didn't look like that of a living person. The nervous repetition came through the palm of his hand over and over again: "There is no long-term plan at all. My teammates are dead, and Rivet has been killed by me. There is no backup plan anymore…"

Yue Guangping covered his mouth, wiped his face heavily, and said word by word, "But you're still alive!"

Jiang Ting looked blank.

 Yue Guangping gritted his teeth and said, "As long as you live, you can take revenge!"

He got up and carried Jiang Ting up. Although the former deputy mayor was already old, Jiang Ting at this time didn't have much weight at all, and he was helped to a relatively smooth rock without much effort.

"I'm the supervisor of the rescue operation. I can't leave the scene for too long. I have to go back." Yue Guangping asked him to sit down against the stone and calmly said, "Later Yang Mei will come to pick you up, go to the safe house we have been meeting before. Then move on to the next step. Do you remember the safe house? You remember the address and password, right?"

 Jiang Ting's ears were ringing, his spirit was extremely unstable, and he nodded hastily.

"The investigation team of the 1009 plastic factory explosion is very high-level. Even I am under 24/7 surveillance, I probably will not be able to contact the outside world at any time in the next week. You should recover from the injury first, and I will contact you in seven days. We will still meet at the safe house."

Yue Guangping got up and was about to leave, but suddenly stopped, hesitating for a moment, before saying slowly, "I'm investigating another matter recently, and I almost got it…"

 Jiang Ting was drowsy and his state was very poor.

"I'll let you know when I get the final result." Yue Guangping gritted his teeth and whispered, "You must persevere and wait for me to contact you."

Yue Guangping walked away quickly. Black smoke was billowing in the wilderness, which was caused because the fire brigade had put out the fire in the abandoned house that had been ignited by gasoline. They should have already found Rivet's body and Jiang Ting's gun.

 Farther away, Yang Mei, who received the notice, was rushing over, preparing to take Jiang Ting to a safe place to recuperate.

Under the vast sky, dark clouds piled up and rolled, and all the conspiracy and desperate traps were officially opened at this moment.

...…

 In a hotel suite.

"—What was Yue Guangping investigating?" Yan Xie sat on the sofa, frowning sharply: "Why do you say 'other', could it be that he was investigating something else before?"

Jiang Ting stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, facing the light. Yan Xie couldn't see his expression, and only saw him shaking his head slowly: "I don't know what he meant by 'other'. He died before he could tell me. But before that, the two of us havd been conducting follow-up investigations within the Gongzhou Municipal Bureau, hoping to find out the internal nails while destroying the King of Spades."

Yan Xie said unexpectedly: "The two of you?"

"..." Jiang Ting seemed to smile bitterly: " Yes. Do you remember when I told you before that Rivet was exposed before the 1009 Plastic Factory anti-drug operation?"

Yan Xie stared at him.

 "When Rivet was exposed, who betrayed him? This person must be in the Gongzhou system, and his position should be quite high. Combined with the fact that the previous siege against the King of Spades has always failed, I guess someone at the top is the mole of the King of Spades. But I'm not sure who it was."

"—You know, that feeling is really terrible. The traitor is around, but you don't know who he is, maybe the senior you admire the most, maybe your closest partner. People come and go, but this ghost is always there, it is watching you in the dark, but you can't catch this ghost in human skin." 

Jiang Ting took a breath and said, "There wasn't much time left for me at that time, because Operation 1009 was about to start. If I want to temporarily revise the action plan, I must find a completely clean and trustworthy leader to rely on. After much consideration, I chose Yue Guangping."

 Yan Xie asked: "Why him?" 

"There were two reasons for this." Jiang Ting explained: "First, he was my direct supervisor who had been taking care of me and promoting me, and I know him the most. Second, he was the deputy mayor of Gongzhou, the chief of the Public Security Department, and the leader of Gongzhou Police No. 000001. If I don't trust him, who else can I trust? If even he was the mole, then I would have been finished anyway, and there was no need to fight with the King of Spades." 

Yan Xie nodded slightly and thought: "So before the start of the 1009 Plastic Factory anti-drug operation, Yue Guangping knew that you were not a black police officer."

"He won't believe my words alone. He should have verified it through various methods, but I don't know how." Jiang Ting took a breath and said, "After he believed my confession, the two of us joined forces. I had been investigating inside the city bureau for a while, but had found nothing. I couldn't find out how a lot of inside information leaked to the King of Spades. This mole was so hidden and so perfect that sometimes I have a kind of feeling that he was an illusion and didn't exist."

"In this way, as time passed to the beginning of October, Operation 1009 began. After obtaining the consent of Yue Guangping, I temporarily modified the action plan and transferred the police force from the Ecological Park to the Plastic Factory."

Yan Xie realized what happened and asked: "In other words, only Yue Guangping knew about the revision of the action plan?"

 "Theoretically, it was the case." Jiang Ting said lightly, "But in fact, if the authority of the mole was high enough, he could have also observed from many clues that the plan of action had been temporarily modified… So it couldn't be said that the one who leaked the plan must be Yue Guangping." 

——That being said, Yan Xie immediately understood why after the explosion, the only one who desperately advocated rescuing Jiang Ting was Yue Guangping: if he was innocent, he would have had to rescue Jiang Ting in any case. On the one hand, he could prove his innocence, and on the other, it would be better for the two to confront each other and investigate the mole.

"What happened later?" Yan Xie asked, "Did Yue Guangping contact you in a week?"

 Jiang Ting was silent for a while, then nodded: "On January 18, I received a call from Yue Guangping."

…

Three years ago, January 18——

 "The last time I told you about the investigation, it was about how the King of Spades knew that you had temporarily modified your action plan, and now the result is basically certain. I really didn't expect it… None of this would have happened if the two of us had found out sooner…" 

The curtains were drawn tightly, and there was no light in the room. Seven consecutive days of recuperation made Jiang Ting recover a little, but his health was still very weak, and his voice was extremely hoarse: "What happened?"

Yue Guangping's forcibly suppressed breathing came over the phone, and after a few seconds, he said:

"I seem to have found out who the mole is."

——Jiang Ting's pupils tightened in an instant.

"I don't know if they're eyeing me, I may have already been targeted. This matter is very complicated, the phone is not safe, we will meet in the safe house in an hour." Yue Guangping couldn't help breathing hoarsely, which was obviously caused by nervousness: "I'm sorry, Captain Jiang, no matter what happens… No matter what happens in the future, I can die, but please live. I'm sorry."

 He hung up the phone.

Yan Xie was sitting with his legs wide open, his elbows resting on his knees, and his fingers constantly rubbing his chin, and he wondered, "Why is Yue Guangping's words so weird…"

"It's really weird, but I can't figure out where it was," Jiang Ting said, "I hung up the phone and went out to the safe house — a basement rented next to the park where he often fished. It was equipped with a full set of anti-eavesdropping equipment. But halfway on the road, I received a text message from Yue Guangping, saying that there was someone coming from his house. He told me to go first, and he would be about half an hour late."

At this time, Yan Xie realized that something was wrong.

According to Yue Guangping's tone on the phone before, what he wanted to tell Jiang Ting should be extremely important and critical, so why did he casually postpone it for half an hour? — In other words, if Yan Xie was just going out for an appointment with Jiang Ting, he would not be late for half an hour so casually.

Furthermore, Yue Guangping knew that he "may have been targeted by them", so why would he invite temporary visitors in?

Was he so careless?

 "I will always remember that day, January 18. I waited in the basement until three o'clock in the afternoon, but Yue Guangping didn't come, didn't answer the phone, didn't answer the text message." Jiang Ting's tone was a little unstable. He raised his neck and took a deep breath, saying: "Finally, I can't wait anymore. I left the safe house and drove to Yue Guangping's house. His door was left open…"

Knock knock!

"Takeout! The takeout you ordered is here!" Jiang Ting, wearing the delivery boy's vest and baseball cap, stood in front of the door and raised his voice: "Hey! Is there anyone at home!"

Squeak—

The wooden door opened a gap inward.

Jiang Ting's brows twitched, and some kind of fear suddenly came to his heart, but it was too late.

The door was completely open, revealing the scene inside the door without any obstruction. Yue Guangping was wearing a sweater and long trousers and was lying on his back on the floor of the living room, with a pool of vomit beside his bruised cheeks; his eyes were wide open, and he was obviously not breathing.

"..." Jiang Ting had no strength in his body and slowly took a few steps backward.

How come? He repeatedly thought: How could it be?

It was like falling into an intricate labyrinth, with poisonous nightmares hiding in every room, one after another, never-ending.

At this moment, a distant siren sounded outside the community.

 "I immediately went downstairs and drove to escape, but was spotted by the police car. At that time, there was only one thought in my mind: I must not be caught by them, because firstly I couldn't tell, and secondly, I didn't know if they were real police officers or the beginning of another conspiracy by the King of Spades."

Even after more than three years, Jiang Ting's shoulders trembled as he recounted this experience. His hands in his trouser pockets were clenched tightly, and his nails were mercilessly piercing into his own flesh. 

"Several police cars were chasing me, and I drove up the highway… The last memory was of a lorry coming out of the incline, and then I slammed into it, and then everything was blank." 

—As if a trapped beast rushed left and right into the trap, knowing it was besieged on all sides, but still wanting to fight to the death to find a way to live, even if it eventually broke into pieces. 

In the empty suite, Jiang Ting's calm and clear voice echoed: "That's it; when I wake up again, two years and three months had already passed." 

None of them made any sound, and after a long time, Yan Xie finally covered his mouth and let out a long, deep breath.

"Yang Mei couldn't have rescued you from the police's endless net, so the police car that was chasing you at that time must be strange, and Yue Guangping's death can basically be determined to be related to the King of Spades." Yan Xie leaned back on the sofa, his dark and thick sword-like eyebrows knitted together, and he muttered: "But who was the mole he wanted to tell you about?"

—What kind of identity did this inner mole have, that Yue Guangping couldn't directly say the name on the phone but had to meet in person and explain the whole story, and was silenced at a critical moment?

Jiang Ting said: "I don't know, the police car came so fast that I didn't even have time to enter Yue Guangping's death scene to do any inspections. But there is one thing I've always brooded about, and I still can't figure out why."

 Yan Xie raised his eyes.

"The last sentence Yue Guangping left before his death was I'm sorry."

Jiang Ting paused for a while, as if every word had been brewing between his lips and teeth for a long time, and then asked gently, word by word:

"If this was the clue he left behind, why do you think he was sorry for me?"