[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-chasing-the-criminal-case":3,"chapter-chasing-the-criminal-case-chasing-the-criminal-case-chapter-79":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Chasing the Criminal Case",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2328847,4554,"Chapter 79: Deadlock","chasing-the-criminal-case-chapter-79",79,"\u003Cp>The outcome was obvious: after losing 30,000 yuan to Gu Changzheng, Gao Ye successfully got Zhu Haitao sent to the hospital—only for Zhu Haitao, who had spent a day with diarrhea, to realize he’d been tricked when he saw Gao Ye in the detention room of the Jiangdong Branch Criminal Investigation Team.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hmph! Officer, a gambler accepts his loss—you’re just unlucky, and I didn’t win the money alone.” Zhu Haitao, true to his professional gambler nature, still tried to needle Gao Ye, afraid he’d confiscate his winnings.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gao Ye could only laugh and sigh—he had no idea this incident would later earn him the nickname “Gao Three Ten Thousand.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gu Changzheng, standing beside him, frowned and said, “Be serious!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After the routine interrogation, Gu Changzheng cut straight to the point: “Zhu Haitao, do you know why we arrested you?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhu Haitao replied, “Gambling, obviously! But isn’t your crackdown a bit excessive? And why arrest only me?” He feigned ignorance and blustered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hmph! Zhu Haitao! I warn you—don’t play word games with me. Tell us exactly how you poisoned Long Guangsheng on the night of December 10 this year!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Upon hearing this, Zhu Haitao visibly trembled. He quickly averted his gaze.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gu Changzheng knew he was calculating how to evade responsibility—and wouldn’t give him an inch. “Lin Yun has already confessed everything about you two. Even if you don’t speak now, we can still convict you. We’re giving you a chance by asking you now!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhu Haitao’s face turned instantly pale—he hadn’t expected Lin Yun to turn on him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Officer, are you joking? Lin Yun? I don’t even know who that is!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You don’t recognize your childhood friend? Should I bring Lin Yun here to confront you face-to-face? How else do you think we knew you were at Hongqin Gambling Den?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhu Haitao blurted out: “Impossible! How could he…” Then he realized he’d slipped, sighed deeply, and lowered his head, whispering, “Officer, I’ll talk—I’ll talk! I didn’t know they meant to kill Little Long! I thought they just wanted to teach him a lesson through Zhang Shaojie. I never imagined it would go this far!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gu Changzheng asked quickly: “How did Chang Huazhong arrange this? Who actually killed Long Guangsheng?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhu Haitao, seeing there was no way to hide anything, slumped and said, “Little Long was a traitor—he colluded with Zhang Shaojie’s subordinate Li Jun and leaked information about the New World. Brother Zhong was furious. Originally, under Brother Zhong’s orders, I was pretending to befriend Li Jun, trying to lure him into switching sides and joining Zhang Shaojie.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That night, Brother Zhong told me to meet Li Jun to discuss details about bringing people to their venue, and we arranged to meet at Snow Wolf Valley. I followed through.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Lin Yun was already there, making things easier. I arrived at Snow Wolf Valley just after ten with Li Jun, and we chatted for a long time in the private room Lin Yun had prepared. Then I claimed I was having a drug craving, asked to use his space for a bit, told him to go ahead and attend to other business, and sent him off. After he left, I signaled the new guy Brother Zhong had arranged outside to bring the half-conscious Little Long into the restroom, and we swapped places.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“This created the illusion that I never left the room. Then Lin Yun called the police to report that Li Jun was selling white powder at Snow Wolf Valley, and I planted a gram of heroin in Li Jun’s car to frame him.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Only later did I hear Little Long had died at Snow Wolf Valley. I got scared—I feared Li Jun and the others would find out it was me and come after me, so I hid at Hongqin and dared not go anywhere. I waited for Brother Zhong to clean up the mess before showing my face again. But I never expected you to find out so fast!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After hearing him out, Gu Changzheng realized Zhu Haitao didn’t yet know Lin Yun had nearly been run over.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He pressed on: “Who took Long Guangsheng to Snow Wolf Valley?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I don’t know. I never met him. He was a stranger—I only saw him once, right before that night’s operation at Snow Wolf Valley.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Let me tell you this: Lin Yun nearly got murdered. Think carefully—how much more valuable are you than Lin Yun? If your boss was willing to kill Lin Yun, do you really think he’ll let you live after knowing so much?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What?” Zhu Haitao flinched in shock—he clearly hadn’t imagined Chang Huazhong could be this ruthless.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He looked up, terrified: “Officer, are you serious? Is Lin Yun okay?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gu Changzheng pulled out a photo of the driver who had tried to run over Lin Yun and held it before Zhu Haitao: “Have you seen this man?” In his estimation, given Chang Huazhong’s caution, this driver was likely the same one who had taken Long Guangsheng to Snow Wolf Valley that night.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>True to his prediction, Zhu Haitao’s pupils dilated instantly upon seeing the photo—pupils widen under strong emotion due to adrenaline surges when one sees someone they love, fear, or dread.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Clearly, Zhu Haitao recognized the man in the photo.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“T-this is the man who took Little Long there that night!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Are you certain? Are you sure it’s him?” Gu Changzheng pressed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Certain!” Zhu Haitao stared at the photo, firm. “After swapping places with Little Long in the restroom, we left Snow Wolf Valley together. I remember him well.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Have you seen him again since—at the New World, Hongwei Da, or Hongqin Gambling Den?” Gu Changzheng prompted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhu Haitao shook his head: “No. I never saw him with Brother Zhong—or Chang Huazhong, I mean. I only met him that night. Chang Huazhong called me beforehand and told me to wait for him near Snow Wolf Valley. I didn’t even know his name!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After listening, Gu Changzheng said expressionlessly, “Think again. Call me when you remember something else.” He and Gao Ye then left the detention room.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A sense of helplessness rose in him. The case—Long Guangsheng’s poisoning—was clearly a setup by the Chang brothers to assert dominance and punish “traitors” by framing Zhang Shaojie. But now, not a single piece of evidence directly implicated the Chang brothers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although Lin Yun and Zhu Haitao had confessed, Lin Yun had never met Chang Huazhong—he couldn’t even recognize his voice! Chang Huazhong could easily claim someone had impersonated him to manipulate Lin Yun.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhu Haitao’s testimony was merely hearsay—there was zero proof Chang Huazhong ordered Long Guangsheng’s death.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The hitman who tried to run over Lin Yun could simply claim he was drunk or mentally impaired that night; police had no evidence proving intent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Heh!” Gu Changzheng chuckled bitterly. He wished his Master were here—he’d surely find a way out of this deadlock.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Meanwhile, Lu Haoxuan wasn’t stumped by the investigation into the gunman who shot Chang Huafei—he was instead irritated by a phone call from Director Guo of the Municipal Public Security Bureau.\u003C\u002Fp>",1176,"2026-06-20T19:35:30.807Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","ba08b5f97d8e65f319e1597aba47032bc87d046541e0646dc017283e7e17d33c","chasing-the-criminal-case-chapter-80","chasing-the-criminal-case-chapter-78",276,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fchasing-the-criminal-case-cover.jpg"]