"It wasn't easy." The King of Spades moved his neck, seemingly a little emotional, and said with a smile: "Just to hear this sentence from his mouth, we almost had a feud three years ago… It would've been nice if he had admitted it sooner."
Yan Xie opened his mouth, but there was only his trembling breathing as his chest heaved, and his throat seemed to have been blocked by a sour lump. After a long while, he squeezed out his voice with all his strength:
"…Among all the things you have said to me, this is the only sentence I hope is a lie."
"Nonsense!" At this moment, Uncle Bo, whose mouth had been released, roared angrily: "It's nonsense; you're just pouring dirty water on Wu Tun! Wen Shao! You are full-fledged now, so you want to kill us old men, but because you are afraid of being criticized, you want to find an excuse to attack Wu Tun! You unfilial son!"
The King of Spades didn't move his eyebrows: "Oh, really?"
"When did Wu Tun want to kill you? Is he not good to you? Sooner or later, we old people would've stepped down. We dare not let go of power now because we're just worried about the safety of our family! We actually—"
"Wu Tun just wanted to kill him."
Uncle Bo's earnest words were interrupted; his expression was funny for a moment, and he glared straight at Jiang Ting.
But Jiang Ting didn't look at him or at anyone else. His black eyelashes drooped, his eyes fell on the dried blood on the grass in front of him, his face alienated and indifferent as he continued: "Although Wu Tun did not directly plan Operation 1009, he did give me the instructions to kill the King of Spades. The entire anti-drug case at the plastics factory was a murder plan I carried out against the King of Spades to carry out his order."
Uncle Bo took half a step forward abruptly and almost stumbled and tripped on the grass due to the lack of support from his people: "Shut up! Have you forgotten who adopted you from the orphanage back then? Have you forgotten how you wagged your tail and begged for food like a dog?! Wu Tun raised you, and now you're cooperating with outsiders to slander him?!"
Jiang Ting closed his eyes and took a breath, pursing the corners of his slightly trembling lips.
The King of Spades mocked: "Speak if you want to; what are you so excited for?"
The old man was still scolding, but Jiang Ting had already controlled his emotions and said, "I know, but everything I said is the truth. You can choose not to believe it."
Uncle Bo was furious: "Truth? That's not what you said three years ago in front of everyone!"
Yan Xie's eardrums buzzed, and he subconsciously turned his attention to Jiang Ting.
But Jiang Ting didn't have any flaws, and he didn't even show the slightest anxiety or unease. He still calmly said, "That's because I was afraid of being silenced by you after admitting it."
The old man was stunned.
"As long as I persist and don't expose Wu Tun, you will try to save me from the King of Spades. That was my purpose. As for the relationship between Operation 1009 and Wu Tun, if you really want to investigate, you can find clues."
Saying that, Jiang Ting paused, looking at Yan Xie with his dark and calm eyes: "I didn't want to admit it in front of you because I hope that no matter what happens, I can leave a slightly less bad image in your heart. But now it seems that this could only be an extravagant hope. No one expected that you would appear in Yuanlong Gorge, so it should be God's will."
Yan Xie stared at him blankly, and a humble thought flashed in his heart at that moment: Then don't say it—
As long as you don't say it—
But that trace of cowardice was forcibly pressed to death by him as soon as it emerged. Yan Xie stood there straight, looking back at Jiang Ting with a calm and expressionless face.
"Every step of preparation for Operation 1009 was reported to Wu Tun through encrypted emails." Jiang Ting said lightly under Uncle Bo's suddenly changed expression, "This should prove that Wu Tun supported the assassination."
"…You are talking nonsense. This is impossible…" The old man was so angry that his face turned purple, and he roared: "It's impossible!"
Jiang Ting ignored his incoherent roar: "A few years ago, the King of Spades came back from the United States and brought back the latest fentanyl compound formula. At that time Wu Tun's health wasn't that bad, so when he found that the King of Spades was beginning to break free from the control of the seniors and develop an independent market, he felt threatened and ordered me to monitor it closely. I followed the blue-gold line for a few years and finally found an underground drug factory on the edge of Gongzhou. Unfortunately, my whereabouts were exposed, and I encountered the King of Spades."
As he spoke, he changed his subject: "Yan Xie, I mentioned this to you. You should still remember it?"
——The dark underground factory was washed by the heavy rain, and countless priceless "blue gold" packets were just piled on the ground casually. These drugs, which bring the highest joy in the world to addicts, would pass through Yuanlong Gorge, then the Yunnan border, and be sold to Southeast Asia and even North America. The profit from this factory alone will bring 600 million to the King of Spades.
Jiang Ting faced the dark blue glow that flickered like hell and finally said hoarsely: "…So are you going to kill me now?"
"You are my only brother, and that has never changed in more than ten years. You can equally share all wealth and power with me." The King of Spades replied with a smile; his gentle tone formed an extremely ironic contrast with the muzzle of the gun: "Don't work for Wu Tun, Queen of Hearts; I will always have a place for you here."
"But the King of Spades did not have the upper hand in the father-son battle at that time, so I didn't completely cut off the connection with the Ace of Clubs. Within the organization, various conflicts of interest are extremely intricate. One wrong step could lead to death, and this dangerous balance lasted until three or four years ago, when Wu Tun finally decided to completely get rid of his heir. What was lacking was only an opportunity."
Uncle Bo couldn't help but curse: "There is no such thing at all! We were only doing that for the good of the family, and Wu Tun has never had that kind of thought!"
The old man's fierce rebuttal was extremely sharp, and he even frightened the birds in the forest not far away, but Jiang Ting's narration was not affected: "Three and a half years ago, Wu Tun decided to get rid of the hundreds of kilograms of goods in stock. I was in charge of coordinating and arranging the work. The King of Spades was going to personally participate in this transaction, so I thought that this was the best opportunity to murder the King of Spades, which resulted in Operation 1009."
"In those one or two years, the King of Spades penetrated deeper and deeper into Gongzhou and became more and more well-informed. In order to prevent the 1009 plan from being leaked by his insiders, I deliberately made several arrangements. First of all, the "Queen of Hearts" conveyed information to the police through "Rivet" and other undercover agents that: The drug dealers would adopt the three-way approach of separating people, money, and goods. The place where the firearms and hundreds of kilograms of drugs were going to be traded is the Ecological Park on the outskirts of Gongzhou, while the people buying and selling will all stay in the plastic factory. Therefore, in response, the Gongzhou Municipal Bureau should send most of its elite firepower to the ecological park to tackle the tough problems, while a small part of the police force should be dispersed to the plastic factory to arrest the buyers and sellers, including the King of Spades himself.
"So on the day of Operation 1009, except for Yue Guangping and me, the entire Gongzhou Municipal Bureau thought that I took a command vehicle and led a large number of special anti-drug police officers to the Ecological Park. This arrangement of mine was to ensure the plan's confidentiality even if the King of Spades planted someone inside the police."
Yes, the last bit of reason in Yan Xie's mind told him that Jiang Ting would do this.
He was both the planner of Operation 1009 as well as the Queen of Hearts within the drug cartel. He knew exactly who the undercover police officer in the system was, so he could easily pass false information to the Gongzhou City Bureau through these undercover agents.
"At the same time, I had to make sure the transaction went smoothly within the organization, so I made the opposite arrangement." Jiang Ting swallowed his saliva, but it did not ease his hoarse voice, and he continued: "I told them that on the day of 1009, I would go to the Ecological Park with a large number of elite police officers, so the buyers and sellers, firepower, and hundreds of kilograms of bulk goods were determined to be in the plastic factory, and only a part of the scattered marijuana was left in the Ecological Park as a cover. Of course, this information was only known to a very small number of high-level officials involved in the operation. Middle- and low-level personnel such as "Rivet" would not be contacted. Therefore, even if the King of Spades sought information through his insider planted in the Gongzhou City Bureau, he could only detect the police's actions to ambush the Ecological Park. Therefore, he should not doubt my arrangement for this transaction."
"…Only Yue Guangping knew the true action plan," Yan Xie heard himself say slowly, "Yue Guangping cooperated with you, and just before the operation, he transferred all the elite police force to the plastic factory…"
"Yes, my ultimate goal was to kill the King of Spades. Even if Operation 1009 was successful and the police seized a large number of drugs and drug dealers, this loss was nothing compared to getting rid of the King of Spades. Every step in the preparation of Operation 1009 was reported to Wu Tun via an encrypted email, and he also said at the time… cough cough cough…"
It might be because he had fallen into the water that Jiang Ting began coughing when he said these words. The King of Spades turned around, only to see Jiang Ting barely stop coughing, looking up at Yan Xie: "…he expressed his understanding."
Yan Xie's ears were numb, and he looked straight at him.
Jiang Ting looked at him expressionlessly.
After a few breaths, he withdrew his gaze and turned to the King of Spades. The corners of his pale lips curled slightly, revealing a trace of ridicule:
"The only flaw in this plan was that I didn't expect that the target of murder would have already gone to be an undercover agent himself."
The King of Spades smiled and nodded, "It's easy to say. If it wasn't for Yue Guangping's mistake, Operation 1009 would have been successful."
"But that's not what you said at the beginning!" Uncle Bo stumbled forward a few steps, and the subordinates stood in front of him vigilantly to prevent any changes. The old man pointed at Jiang Ting with his finger, and his saliva almost sprayed on Jiang Ting's frozen side face: "Back then, when Wen Shao questioned you in front of everyone, if us seniors hadn't come to rescue you, would you have been set free?! If the truth is what you said—that Wu Tun wanted to kill his own son—why didn't you just drag Wu Tun into the water as Wen Shao wanted, but wait until now?!"
Although Uncle Bo was impatient, his question was on point.
The King of Spades wanted a reason to cut ties with his father, and this reason could only be given by Jiang Ting. But the King of Spades was not the kind of person who would leave a way out for his opponent as long as he obediently did what he wanted—if he was, Jiang Ting would've revealed the truth three years ago.
Then, three years later, Jiang Ting suddenly turned back and dragged people from Wu Tun's faction into the water, and his credibility naturally lessened countless times.
"Do you really believe him? Wen Shao, after so many things, you still can't see if he's worth believing?!" Uncle Bo pointed at Jiang Ting, and said to the King of Spades: "He seems to have honestly come back to take refuge beside you now, but if he isn't lying, why did he run out three years ago!"
The King of Spades opened his mouth to say something, but Jiang Ting interrupted him: "Because at that time Yue Guangping wasn't dead."
His voice was not high, but it was very clear, and the old man choked up: "What does that mean…"
"Yue Guangping was alive, which meant that my retreat from the Municipal Bureau was not cut off. As long as I get rid of the King of Spades, I will be able to return to the police camp smoothly." Jiang Ting's eyes flickered, and his undisguised self-mockery became more obvious: "And now that Yue Guangping is dead, Gongzhou thinks I am the murderer of 'Rivet'; Chief Lu at Jianning's side knows that I am the Queen of Hearts; as for Yan Xie—"
He turned his gaze to look at Yan Xie, as quietly as a feather passing by the wind.
Yan Xie closed his eyes.
"I don't think I still have any credibility with Captain Yan." Jiang Ting said softly, "That is to say, now all the facts can prove that I am a traitor, I have no way back except for the King of Spades."
The King of Spades folded his hands in front of him, his usual smile appeared in his eyes, and he said the bet with the same expression three years ago—
"No matter how perfect your rhetoric is, no one will trust you, and no one will listen to it, because all the facts have proved that you are a traitor."
"As long as there is one policeman who is willing to believe you—even if there is only one, that's enough. I'll lose this bet."
"Do you need me to say more?" Jiang Ting finally turned his face and stared at the old man mockingly: "I thought such simple logic didn't need to be explained at all."
The expression on Uncle Bo's face was really fierce. If no one stopped him, he would have rushed to tear up Jiang Ting by now.
But that ferocious expression did nothing to the calm Jiang Ting. His physical strength and spirit had been overdrawn to a limit. It seemed that he really had no strength and had completely given up struggling. He shook his head lazily and mockingly and laughed:
"Back then, when you tried to get me out of the King of Spades' hands, wasn't that also because you wanted to send me back to the Municipal Bureau, Uncle Bo? What you all call 'helping me' was just taking advantage of me; you and I know it very well."
That was what happened inside the drug cartel a few months after the 1009 explosion—
Yan Xie didn't know why he could still think. His soul seemed to be slowly drowning in a freezing hell, while at the same time suffering in a boiling oil pan. But his brain refused to give in and was still running uncontrollably at a high speed.
The part of the mind that belonged to a criminal investigator seemed to be out of the body, stripped of emotions, suspended in mid-air, coldly and mechanically peeling off all the clues in the depths of the brain, separating and analyzing them one by one, regardless of the heart that was experiencing tearing despair and pain.
Jiang Ting's hoarse voice sounded clearly from not far away:
"Since you're getting older, how about I retell the scene from three years ago to help you remember?"
The old man's pupils trembled in his eye sockets, and his face couldn't help twitching uncontrollably. He realized that what the young man said was right. Whether it was Wu Tun who initially sent him to the police or later fished him out of the hands of the King of Spades, it was only because Jiang Ting's value still existed.
But now that Wu Tun's power was declining, Jiang Ting went to the King of Spades' side to fight back. To a large extent, it meant that old people like them have finally hit a dead end—
Or in other words, the catastrophe was coming.
Three years ago, on January 9th.
On the China-Myanmar border, Mongla.
There was a long table in the huge hall of the hotel suite, and the two sides were clearly full of people, roughly no less than twenty. Among them, most of the people on the left were old people, the oldest had white hair and a beard, and the younger ones had passed the age of knowing the destiny of heaven. On the right, there were mostly young and middle-aged people dressed neatly and speaking in hushed tones; many of them had typical features of Southeast Asian ancestry.
The people for whom they were waiting did not arrive for a long time, and the voice of discussion gradually rang out. Just when someone couldn't help but want to ask, the doorknob suddenly clicked and turned, and then was pushed open.
All the voices strangely turned silent for an instant.
A-Jie pushed open the door and glanced at the room, then skillfully withdrew and nodded, indicating that there was no abnormality, and then took a half step back.
In that quiet and suffocating atmosphere, the King of Spades walked into the door, casually pulled out the armchair at the end of the long table, and sat down where all eyes were focused.
"Boss…" Someone on the right side of the long table wanted to stand up to greet him, but before he could speak, the King of Spades casually pressed his hand down:
"I'm here today to make things clear, so don't bother."
Those few people sat back carefully as they noticed the King of Spades motioning to the door and saying, "Bring him in."
A-Jie obeyed the order and left, and after a while he personally escorted a young man and appeared in the hall under the burning stare.
Whoever saw the young man would immediately notice at first glance that his complexion was extremely poor. He was very weak, and his physical and mental conditions had been weakened to the lowest point. What was even more unusual was that his eyes were covered with black cloth, which didn't seem to have been removed in a long time, making his face grayer, and he even looked a little out of shape at first glance.
"It's just a questioning, why do you cover his eyes?" An old man on the left side of the long table said, dissatisfied, "Is it necessary for you to do this?"
The young man was escorted into the hall by A-Jie, who pushed him onto an armchair to sit down. The blindfold was quite dark and thick, and his expression seemed blank, facing the crowd at the long table.
The King of Spades didn't say anything until he sat down, then he turned to the old man, who took the lead: "Of course it is necessary."
"You…"
"Sensory deprivation is the gentlest interrogation method I could think of; otherwise, other methods would have been more intense." The King of Spades looked at the old people on the left and smiled slowly: "—and we would've learned the truth a lot earlier."