Chapter 218: Sending Him Off, the Value of a Sacrificial Pawn

In the District Chief's office, Chang Wei looked unusually exhausted.

A call from "Sister" on the desk kept vibrating, but Chang Wei ignored it, not in the mood to answer.

His face covered in stubble unshaven for days, he sat in the wide leather chair, gazing gloomily at Ma Xuan beside him, his voice low and slow:

"After this matter is settled, you're planning to give me a long leave, right?"

Ma Xuan wore a false smile as he said:

"Yes, Feng Mu is Li Bashan's junior brother, and Li Bashan has defected to the Prison Warden. If something happens to Feng Mu in your zone, whether there's evidence or not, the Prison Warden and Li Bashan will both pin this on you."

Ma Xuan paused, then continued:

"Big Brother Zhou Hu giving you leave afterward is equivalent to letting you directly avoid the Prison Warden's wrath and that reckless man Li Bashan; it's also for your consideration, so don't overthink it."

Chang Wei smoked one cigarette after another, his voice hoarse as he coldly laughed: "So, when I return from leave, will I still be able to sit in my current position?"

Ma Xuan seemed to have anticipated this question long ago, and without hesitation he replied: "Your position is secure; this leave is just to temporarily keep you away from trouble. When you come back, everything will be as before."

Ma Xuan pondered briefly, and to strengthen the persuasiveness and credibility of his words, he deliberately emphasized his tone and added:

"As long as Big Brother Zhou Hu remains in this position, no one can take your position."

Chang Wei did not respond to Ma Xuan's comfort; he just silently smoked, his eyes conflicted, as if pondering something.

The atmosphere in the office grew heavy, with only the ticking of the clock reminding them of the passage of time.

Suddenly, Chang Wei crushed the cigarette butt hard into the ashtray, as if making a final decision.

He stared straight at Ma Xuan, his tone emotional: "I still remember back when you first came to the Second Prison as a prison guard under me. I never expected that today, you'd be the one to send me off. Heh heh—"

Ma Xuan was equally emotional, comforting him: "It's just a leave. Once the dust settles, you'll still come back."

Chang Wei laughed madly as if hearing a funny joke, while Ma Xuan only stood awkwardly silent beside him.

After a long time, Chang Wei stopped laughing, rejected the constantly vibrating phone on the desk. The phone's desktop screen showed a photo of him, his sister, and his nephew.

His sister divorced early, and Chang Wei had never married, so he had always treated Chang Qingsen as his own.

Chang Wei glanced at the phone screen, his voice hoarse: "I, Chang Wei, may not be as smart as you, but I, Chang Wei, am no fool. The winds in the Second Prison have changed, and I can sense it."

"Forget it, I won't say more. Tell Big Brother Zhou Hu for me that I don't ask anything of him anymore. But I have only this one nephew—let him remember what he promised me?"

Ma Xuan nodded. He had just had his first child two months ago, so he understood and sympathized with Chang Wei's mood.

Chang Wei suddenly stood up, tore off his prison guard uniform in one motion, casually threw it onto the sofa, then strode out, sending a text message as he walked.

—Send him off!

Ma Xuan slightly turned sideways to make way, and out of the corner of his eye casually glanced at the phone screen, a corner of his mouth curling into a hypocritical smile:

"Leaving in such a hurry, don't you want to stay and see the result?"

Chang Wei's steps paused slightly, and he let out a cold laugh: "Going to such lengths to drug him, tampering with the electric baton, and bombarding him with fatigue. I went to such lengths to lay the groundwork—can Feng Mu still live?"

"Since he's going to die anyway, what's there to see in a corpse? I've seen corpses every day in the Second Prison these years; I'm long sick of them."

Ma Xuan frowned: "I mean, after all, he took your nephew's spot."

Chang Wei sneered: "So I agreed to do this thing. But someone who's been in prison for a few days, can't collect a penny, and can't bear to beat up prisoners—do you think he'd lay a hand on my nephew over a mere spot?"

"Of course, he took my nephew's spot, so he deserves to die. But even more deserving of death are the people helping him behind the scenes—Li Bashan or the Prison Warden."

Chang Wei didn't wait for Ma Xuan to speak, but stared at the latter's eyes behind the lenses, enunciating each word: "Wasn't this all told to me by you?"

Ma Xuan remained silent.

Chang Wei smiled without his eyes reaching them: "Fine, I should go on leave now. You handle the corpse yourselves."

Bang!

With a heavy slam, the office door was shut hard.

Outside the door, Chang Wei's voice faded into the distance: "Hello, Sis, don't overthink it. I just pleaded with the Second Prison's leadership. He'll definitely help me find Qingsen..."

Ma Xuan stood where he was, listening as the voice gradually disappeared at the end of the corridor. Only then did he slowly take out his phone, compose a message, and send it to two people at once:

—Everything proceeds as planned. Chang Wei is on leave.

Zone Chief's Office.

Zhou Hu picked up his phone and glanced at it, then stood up and walked to the window, gazing toward the huge iron gate below the high walls. Before long, he saw the iron gate open a gap just wide enough for one person to pass through, and a desolate figure walked out.

The iron gate closed, as if forever isolating that figure outside the gate.

At the same time, the Prison Warden's Office.

Behind three layers of blast-proof glass, Qian Huan sat at the computer manipulating the mouse, switching to the entrance/exit surveillance.

Through the surveillance zoom, Qian Huan saw far more clearly than Zhou Hu. He could even clearly see the subtle, unnatural twitching of the muscles at the corner of Chang Wei's eye as he crossed the iron gate.

"It seems our District Chief Chang Wei is reluctant to leave our prison, but unfortunately, as a pawn, sometimes being abandoned is his greatest value."

Qian Huan turned off the screen, then deleted the text message on his phone, before smiling at Forensic Doctor Qin Liang outside the blast-proof glass.

Qin Liang sat on the sofa outside the glass. Hearing this, he sighed and said: "Poor Chang Wei did dirty and tiring work for Zhou Hu for over ten years, and ended up with such a fate. How pitiful."

Qin Liang paused, his tone shifting slightly: "So, is Feng Mu the pawn you, Warden Qian, have chosen?"

Qian Huan thought for a moment, then smiled: "No. Feng Mu has never been my man, so how could he be considered one I abandoned? At most, I was secretly fanning the flames, wanting to use his death to activate another pawn I have in mind."

Qin Liang spat out a name: "Li Bashan!"

Qian Huan smiled: "Forensic Doctor Qin, do you really think Li Bashan's strength is merely the Fourth Rank of entry registration?"

Qin Liang pondered for a moment: "After all, the real world isn't a game. Ranks and such won't be displayed directly above one's head like game characters. We can only judge based on records on paper, and as for authenticity or timeliness, those can be artificially manipulated."

Qin Liang often artificially manipulated causes of death on corpses, so he understood the tricks well. If even the dead could be manipulated, wasn't there even more room to manipulate the living?

Qin Liang hesitated and asked: "What, Warden Qian, do you think Li Bashan is hiding his strength?"

Qian Huan had no real evidence, but he trusted his keen intuition for danger. He smiled and said: "I don't know, but I feel that if this knife called Li Bashan is used well, it will be very sharp."

Qin Liang didn't ask further: "Understood. I'll make Feng Mu's autopsy report complete and beautiful later."

Boom boom boom!

Just then, a knocking sound suddenly rang out, interrupting their conversation.

Immediately after, a figure that Forensic Doctor Qin Liang never expected walked in...

Chapter End