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Seventy-Ninth Regiment Leader Sun Gang was puzzled. His troops had been stationed on Yin-Yang Mountain for so many years without any incidents, so why did something happen today right after the Commissioner arrived? Was someone deliberately trying to make him uncomfortable? Analyzing the accounts from the attacked patrolmen, it seemed likely that Hong Xiaoyi was behind this, intending to embarrass him in front of the Commissioner and Liu Commander. That guy was quite insidious!
At that moment, the Chief of Staff entered holding something and approached Sun Gang, saying, "Old Sun, take a look at this."
Sun Gang took the item and said, "Are you kidding me, Chief of Staff? If I can't even recognize this, then I've wasted decades as a soldier! Don't mess around with me; I'm already stressed out. You see, the patrolman was attacked just after the Commissioner arrived. Don't waste my time with this nonsense! Go on, we can't let the Commissioner laugh at us!"
"I'm not joking," replied the Chief of Staff. "This button was found at the scene of the attack on the patrolman. I've already checked; none of the buttons from the attacked patrolmen are missing. How could this button be found at the scene? Plus, it still has threads attached, meaning it must have been torn off recently."
"Oh? Is that so?" Sun Gang became interested and examined the button closely. "So what does this mean, Chief of Staff? Special Envoy, please take a look too and help us deduce this." He spoke respectfully to the young man sitting in the chair with a full beard.
The young man with a beard was Xin Yi. He had come to Yin-Yang Mountain to assist Liu Dingbang in secretly taking away a former high-ranking official from the Mingguo Party who was living in retirement there. This official had participated in planning the arrest and execution of officers under General Gao Tingda. When Liu Dingbang reported to the high-ranking officials of the Mingguo Party about those officers colluding secretly, this former official named Wen Qiang was present. Therefore, he knew all about it and could provide a compelling account. However, Liu Dingbang wanted to keep this matter discreet and asked Xin Yi to come alone. He feared that bringing a living person through the checkpoint of the Sixty-Fourth Regiment would raise suspicions, so he enlisted his trusted subordinate, Sun Gang, for assistance. Although the Sixty-Fourth Regiment fell under Liu Dingbang's command in the Abayer Military District, it was actually a merged unit that wasn't loyal to him. Thus, he couldn't let anyone from the Sixty-Fourth Regiment know about this operation.
Taking the button from Sun Gang, Xin Yi said, "Based solely on what you've described, it's very possible that the attackers are from our military. Of course, this is just speculation; I don't know enough about other circumstances. To make an accurate deduction, we need to gather more information and evidence or use this button as a lead for investigation."
"Special Envoy, your analysis is spot on," replied the Chief of Staff. "Old Sun, I think along those lines too; investigation is indeed the most direct and effective method. However, I'm afraid that the Sixty-Fourth Regiment won't cooperate with us."
"Damn that Hong Xiaoyi!” shouted Sun Gang, slamming his hand on the table. He quickly realized that might not be appropriate since the Commissioner was present; such outbursts were unbecoming. He turned to Xin Yi, saying, “Sorry about that, Special Envoy. I got carried away; my anger isn't directed at you but at that bastard Hong Xiaoyi! Even without an investigation, I know he’s behind this! He must have known you were coming and is deliberately trying to make trouble for me. Does he think such petty tricks can fool me? Hmph! Since he's being so insidious, I'll play along with him!”
Upon hearing this from Sun Gang, Xin Yi felt amused. It seemed he thought himself clever; how could he believe that news of his arrival at Yin-Yang Mountain could reach Hong Xiaoyi! However, he appreciated that Sun Gang thought this way. Last time he and Roxy were forced off a cliff by people from the Sixty-Fourth Regiment. If it weren't for Lijie, who insisted on coming to find him at Yin-Yang Mountain, they would still be trapped in that cave now. This grudge needed to be avenged, and if he could use Sun Gang to achieve that goal, why not? So he deliberately said, “You shouldn't say such things lightly, Captain Sun. I heard last time that after chasing down and killing the assassin who harmed Jiao Lao, there were people above who were quite pleased with his actions and even suggested promoting him.”
"This... that's utterly ridiculous!" Upon hearing this, Sun Gang became even angrier and exclaimed loudly: “Which idiot proposed that?! The fact is that he is responsible for security on all of Yin-Yang Mountain. How could he let an assassin kill Jiao Lao in his area? And they say that's an achievement? As for those two assassins being thrown off a cliff by them—who believes that? I heard they went back to search under that cliff the next day but couldn't even find a body! They absurdly claimed it might have been eaten by wolves! Ridiculous! I've been stationed on Yin-Yang Mountain for so many years and have never heard of wolves here; that's just nonsense!”
“Oh? Is that true?” asked Xin Yi, feigning surprise. “So you mean that assassin wasn't actually thrown off a cliff by them? That can't be right; wouldn't that be misreporting military intelligence?”
"Hmph, what can that Hong Xiaoyi not do?" Sun Gang became increasingly agitated, veins bulging on his forehead as he spat out words that splattered the Chief of Staff's face. The Chief of Staff quickly stepped back to avoid the onslaught, and Sun Gang glared at him unwillingly before continuing, "There might not even be any assassins at all; this could very well be a trap set up by Hong Xiaoyi himself. I heard that Jiao Lao might have been killed by Hong Xiaoyi himself. That guy is known for indulging in all sorts of vices; perhaps he was caught in the act by Jiao Lao and killed to silence him, then created a false narrative about an assassin. Given his character, I believe he is capable of such things."
Xin Yi couldn't help but admire Sun Gang's reasoning skills; his ability to concoct such a bizarre story was impressive. He thought to himself, why not write? With such a vivid imagination, he could become a prominent author on 17K or something. However, Xin Yi quite liked Sun Gang's hypothetical thinking and hoped he would also deduce that tonight's patrol soldiers were attacked by Hong Xiaoyi. That would bring Xin Yi great satisfaction.
But even the best imagination needs proper guidance; otherwise, it could easily lead one astray. So Xin Yi continued to gently steer the conversation, "If that's really the case, then this Hong Xiaoyi is quite despicable. Captain Sun, I originally came here for another important matter, but since you've brought up such a significant situation, I'll stay here for a few more days. Feel free to pursue whatever you need to do! Both Liu Commander and I will support you!" Xin Yi spoke passionately; after all, why not offer such goodwill? Regardless of what Sun Gang planned to do to Hong Xiaoyi, it had nothing to do with Xin Yi—he wouldn't lose anything.
Hearing the Commissioner's earnest promise made Sun Gang feel like crying with gratitude. Liu Commander still trusted him! With such support for his work, how could that bastard Hong Xiaoyi dare to mess with him? With such solid backing, he was confident he could take him down! Sun Gang gratefully said, "Thank you, Commissioner! And thank you, Liu Commander! I will get to the bottom of tonight's attack on the patrol soldiers! I will provide both of you with an explanation!"
"Yes, go ahead," Xin Yi said authoritatively. "If you need me or Liu Commander to step in, just let me know. By the way, Captain Sun, how do you plan to start your investigation?"
Sun Gang looked at the military uniform button and said, "I'll start with this button. However, I need the Commissioner’s help; otherwise, I won’t know how to proceed."
"You want me to visit the Sixty-Fourth Regiment?" Xin Yi smiled slightly. "Hehe, Captain Sun is indeed resourceful. But I'm here secretly; Liu Commander only informed you about assisting my work—Hong Xiaoyi doesn't know. What good would it do for me to go?"
"There's no need for you to worry about that, Commissioner. I'll accompany you; that guy Hong Xiaoyi wouldn't dare ask for any credentials from you. Even if he did, I'd say it's kept in my camp. I doubt he'd suspect your identity. At that time, you can say you're visiting the soldiers and ask him to gather them together. We can then see whose uniform is missing a button! Do you think my analysis makes sense?" Sun Gang said proudly.
People like Sun Gang need compliments; if you want someone to follow your lead in helping you get things done, it's only polite to flatter them a bit—besides, it costs nothing. So Xin Yi looked at Sun Gang with admiration and said, "Captain Sun is truly meticulous and exceptionally clever! How did you come up with such a great plan? Moreover, even if Hong Xiaoyi doubts my identity and calls Liu Commander for confirmation, that's fine. The key point is that there are over a thousand soldiers in the Sixty-Fourth Regiment—how can we possibly check them all? We can't call them out one by one for inspection! Even if we had time, those soldiers wouldn't be willing either. Most importantly, Hong Xiaoyi would definitely be suspicious."
"Well, that's indeed a problem. What does the Commissioner suggest we do?" Sun Gang asked.
"Well... I don't have any brilliant ideas either," Xin Yi paused before continuing. "Let's see how things unfold when we get there." In truth, Xin Yi was already plotting in his mind; it wouldn't be difficult at all. When he arrived at the Sixty-Fourth Regiment, he could find an opportunity to discreetly remove a button from one of the soldiers' uniforms without anyone noticing. Framing someone wouldn't be hard at all; although Xin Yi usually had good intentions and never harmed anyone, once he decided to take action against someone... well, he could be quite cunning!
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