Case Files Chapter 127: Still Waters and Bitter Cold (19)

Translated by Vivian of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Addis

 

The next day, Jiaman seemed a little different from usual, and a lot of people were rushing around mysteriously. The others were confined to their rooms, unallowed to leave at will. This type of thing would happen once or twice every year, but this time, it was very long, and there was a lot of movement.

Wen JinHan was very clear that this was because the Duke had made a move on his end, and a large batch of Ou Chen’s goods had to be shipped out tonight. Wen JinHan merely stood from afar, observing coldly as these people anxiously headed towards destruction.

“Hey, why are you adding to their troubles?” Wen JinHan called out to Mo Ran, who was also rushing about.

Mo Ran stopped and looked at him unhappily. “What do you mean, adding to their troubles? Do you think everyone is like you, only giving Brother Chen more trouble and not being able to help at all?”

Wen JinHan shook his head. “I advise you not to forget who you are. Ou Chen doesn’t even consider you one of his own, and he probably doesn’t consider you as a good thing, either. Remember who you are. You’re a victim, so you need to protect yourself, understand?” Then, Wen JinHan left without looking back.

Mo Ran stood where he was, stunned for a while. Instead of his typical anger, he seemed to be a little confused.

Wen JinHan didn’t want to say much more; all he could do was tell Mo Ran this, and if he didn’t listen, then that was on him.

Not long after he returned to his room, Ou Chen walked in.

“Aren’t you very busy today?” Wen JinHan asked in surprise.

Ou Chen smiled. “I am, so I won’t have time to accompany you during dinner. After today, I’ll take you outside, and you can think about where you want to go today.”

Ou Chen chatted with him for a bit longer before getting up to leave.

“Brother Chen,” said Wen JinHan.

Ou Chen stopped.

“Thank you.”

Pleasant surprise flashed in Ou Chen’s eyes. “No matter what, I just want to see you happy.”

*****

At night, the tense atmosphere in Jiaman during the daytime dissipated, and it was once again full of music, dancing, and colorful lights.

Ou Chen sat by himself in his large office, seemingly deep in thought and waiting for something. Tonight had been exceptionally long, and he had never wanted to hear good news as much as he did today.

Wen JinHan stretched his neck and arms, relaxing all of his muscles.

Jiang Shu was mixing drinks at the bar, and if one didn’t look too closely, they wouldn’t notice that his movements were a little stiff.

Mo Ran sat in a corner, his expression unreadable.

Everything was the same as every day in the past, and there were no large waves on the surface, though there were small ripples.

*****

“Brother Long, four trucks have been packed.”

Li Long looked at the night sky and put his hand up, calling, “Go on the usual routes and quickly finish packing the rest.”

Someone nearby said worriedly, “Brother Long, sending out this many goods at once…”

“We don’t have any other way, we’ve been backlogged for too long, so if we don’t send these out soon, we’ll lose business. Tell everyone to be careful and to keep their eyes open.”

“Understood!”

Li Long watched as the trucks rumbled away in different directions, leaving behind a cloud of dust, and an unease grew in his heart. However, there hadn’t been any trouble before, and although they had encountered some obstacles, they had been resolved in time. So where did this unease come from?”

“Okay, let’s disperse now.”

“Yes, sir.”

Before he walked very far, someone in the lead suddenly walked back, panicked. “Brother Long, Brother Long!”

“What are you shouting for?!”

“We suddenly lost contact with the trucks that already left, and Big Huang, A-Pu, and some other people aren’t answering their phones.”

“Don’t panic, we’ll walk at the back. A-Qi, take two people to take a look up ahead. Be careful and don’t expose anything.”

Before they could do anything, there was a sudden commotion around them. Li Long’s scalp prickled; many years of experience told him that there was a lot of trouble incoming.

He pulled out his gun and lowered his voice. “Notify the trucks to change routes and find a safe spot to stop. Tell the others to disperse carefully, quickly!”

Then, he retreated as he called Ou Chen. “Brother Chen! Things aren’t looking good, you——” Before he could finish, bright search beams shone on Li Long, blinding him.

“You have already been surrounded by the police. Put down your weapons…”

The sound was picked up by the still ongoing call, and when Ou Chen heard it, his heart sank, and he slumped back in his chair.

After staying like that for half a minute, Ou Chen abruptly stood up and rang a bell to call some people in. “Notify everyone to get out and scatter! Quickly!”

The people who had come in didn’t move for a moment, confused.

Ou Chen roared, “Immediately!”

After they left, he opened a drawer and took two guns with him, leaving the room.

A group of people were waiting for him in the corridor. “Brother Chen, what…”

“Don’t ask too much, we’ve been caught, and protecting ourselves is most important, we can worry about the rest later.”

A group of people quickly went through the hallway, rushing towards a secret staircase. At this time, there was a large commotion downstairs, filled with screams and gunshots. Ou Chen and the others looked down over the railing and saw that a large group of police officers had charged in and were quickly subduing the people downstairs.

Ou Chen didn’t waste any time and turned a corner to the room neighboring his, which was where Wen JinHan stayed. When he opened the door, it was empty.

“Brother Chen, we have to go now! Worry about him later!” A subordinate pulled him.

Ou Chen stamped his foot in frustration and quickly left, shielded by subordinates. Before they reached the stairs, a team of heavily armed officers rushed up, their guns pointed at them. “Drop your weapons.”

“Brother Chen, go!” Some people protected him, instantly exchanging fire with the police.

Ou Chen ducked behind a column, searching for an escape route. Suddenly, he spotted a figure in a distant hallway; Wen JinHan was standing there silently, looking at him impassively, and his calmness made it seem like the bloody fight in front of them was merely an illusion.

In an instant, Ou Chen suddenly seemed to come to a realization.

“Brother Chen, let’s go, there’s no time!” A bodyguard grabbed him and rushed through the bullets. Two people were shot, sending blood spraying everywhere.

The police quickly took control of this floor and rushed up to the next one.

From start to finish, Wen JinHan didn’t move, neither assisting the police nor assisting Ou Chen’s people. He merely stood quietly at the corner, watching the chaos ensue, watching the fall of an empire.

In the end, the policeman searching the floor found him and slowly approached him, their guns raised. “Put your hands up and stand against the wall!”

Wen JinHan hooked the corner of his mouth up, and when the police officer got a clear look of him, he yelped in surprise and dropped his gun. Seeing this, the other policemen pointed their guns at Wen JinHan, nervously observing his movements.

Wen JinHan scoffed, “Relax, I don’t have a weapon.”

Another group of people rushed over, and their leader said, “What, do you have nothing to do? Go arrest the remaining people and leave this to me.” All of the officers were chased away by him, leaving only him and Wen JinHan facing each other.

After a while, the person’s shoulders slumped, and his expression was bitter. “Say, big brother, did you really have to be this dramatic, do you really think you’re James Bond? Don’t you know it’s been nearly two years? Dad’s been very irritable everyday, and we’re on the receiving end.”

“You guys are too slow, so it’s on you,” Wen JinHan said mercilessly.

“Tsk, you win this time. Anyway, this is not the place to talk, and if I exposed my identity, then my efforts in my undercover would have been all for naught. Let’s leave?”

Wen JinHan nodded.

*****

Jiang Shu and the other freed victims were huddled in a big room under police protection. His emotions were conflicted and turbulent in an indescribable way.

Because Mo Ran had been wearing a waiter uniform, he was also brought along with them, though he was very confused the entire time, as if he had realized something yet didn’t understand it too well.

Jiaman was scoured, and large quantities of drugs were intercepted. Ou Chen’s organization was fragmented, and the important people were practically all caught. In the span of one night, everything had changed.

*****

“Have some tea. I got this from China, and the Lu’an leaves¹ are top-quality. How is it?” The man asked attentively.

Wen JinHan took a sip and sighed. He leaned back against the sofa and closed his eyes. “Not bad, it’s indeed very good quality. Yin Zhen, how come you’re not drinking coffee or red wine and switched to this sort of old thing, hm?”

“People’s tastes always change, hahaha.” The man named Yin Zhen grinned.

The room was silent for a while before Yin Zhen couldn’t help but ask, “Hey, exactly what happened this time? How come you acted so rashly on your own? When you get back, you might even have to go on trial.”

“Trial? Hmph, then what’s the point of being a guanerdai?” Wen JinHan said dismissively.

“…” Yin Zhen was taken aback by his straightforwardness.

“Our people died overseas, and just like a wisp of smoke, after a breeze, there won’t be any traces left. The government won’t admit that they had anything to do with it, and the people who sacrificed themselves won’t have any glory, nor will anyone know their contributions. This is simply how it is, but for me, after the death of my best partner and friend, I can’t let him stay in unrest, or else I won’t be able to live with myself. Besides, he’s saved my life before, so going through hell for him is a matter of course.” Wen JinHan opened his eyes, his gaze firm.

“You aren’t suited for our line of work, you’re too emotional,” Yin Zhen said helplessly.

Wen JinHan shrugged. “So?”

“Right, how did you have contacts in Singapore?” Yin Zhen asked curiously.

“Before, I was on a mission and inadvertently found out about two contact points in Southeast Asia, and one of them was Singapore. I happened to be there, so I tried my luck, which actually worked. Those people are quite clueless, so it was quite easy to hide my message in a book.”

“Don’t take it for granted. Now that you’ve used it once, this contact point will be completely scrapped and reestablished.”

“It’s still worth it. I gave a big present to the local police and special agencies, and it’s enough for our people to get on good terms with them.”

“How did you know a week beforehand that Ou Chen’s goods would be shipped out tonight?” asked Yin Zhen. “They’ve always decided on shipments the day of, and it’s rumored that they even borrowed channels in Europe.”

“It’s not that easy to use other people’s things, do you really think they could have complete control over those channels?”

“You were quite fast at sending out information these past two weeks, it’s a surprise you weren’t discovered.”

“Discovered? Are you joking?” Wen JinHan raised an eyebrow.

“I was wrong, your ability is unmatched in this bureau.” Yin Zhen quickly gave him a thumbs-up; he couldn’t afford to offend his boss’s son.

As the two of them were talking, Yin Zhen’s phone rang. He picked it up and listened for a bit before frowning and hanging up.

“We fell short! Ou Chen and his confidant, Li Long, both escaped.”

Wen JinHan’s expression was calm and unsurprised. “That’s good.”

“Good?”

Wen JinHan closed his eyes again and said slowly, “Tell the policemen under you that there’s no point in trying to chase after them. Now that they’re gone, you guys won’t be able to find them.”

“…You really haven’t betrayed us?”

“Bastard.”

*****

Wen JingHan stood in front of two gravestones and bent down to place some flowers on them. When he saw the smiling faces next to each other in the photo, he couldn’t help but smile as well. Now that you two are in heaven, perhaps you’ll be happier.

He turned around and slowly walked down the stairs. Suddenly, a familiar voice sounded from a tree behind him. “So, these are the two people I lost to?”

Wen JingHan stopped, though he didn’t look back. “You lost to yourself, it’s called karma.”

 

The reply was a laugh that he hadn’t heard in a long time.