Chapter 301: Above the Shen Yuan, Still

Gong Qi laughed heartily, then spoke with slight worry:

"But if you do it like this, Prison Warden Qian Huan probably won't have an easy time of it. If he can't hold on and gets dragged off his chair, how will you deal with it?"

Although Gong Qi still didn't understand what his Junior Brother was ultimately plotting, he could see clearly that Junior Brother was now on Prison Warden Qian Huan's side.

If Junior Brother keeps not solving the case, that's equivalent to constantly dismantling Prison Warden Qian Huan's platform.

Gong Qi naturally wasn't worried about Prison Warden Qian Huan himself; he was worried that if Junior Brother plays too big, he might draw the fire onto himself.

Feng Mu shrugged with a smile: "Senior Brother's worry is not without reason, so in a few days Junior Brother will toss out the murderer to give our Prison Warden a morale boost."

Gong Qi froze: "Tossing out the murderer means solving the case, doesn't it?"

The smile at the corner of Feng Mu's mouth widened further. He quickened his pace while easily answering Senior Brother's confusion:

"Who stipulated this case can only have one murderer? For such a major vicious case, where could one person carry the weight? It only makes sense that it's a gang crime.

So catching one murderer doesn't solve the case — it's just the tip of the iceberg. The real show is only just beginning."

Gong Qi's eyes shone so bright they seemed to emit light. This was worth his volunteering, sticking to Junior Brother like a plaster; the coming days are going to be interesting.

What Gong Qi didn't know was that Junior Brother had only told him half of it, keeping the other half.

The half he kept was: just adding morale isn't enough; he still has to add a can of oil for Prison Warden Qian Huan first — the kind that ignites at a touch and can explode with a boom!!!

In Feng Mu's eyes, Prison Warden Qian Huan this time was truly forced into a dead end.

After all, the entire Dead Security Bureau is going to be zeroed out. This black pot contains hundreds of lives — absolutely not something that can be cleared or washed away with a few simple words.

Even if Feng Mu solves the case and ferrets out one, no, even if he ferrets out ten murderers, it still might not be enough.

To break this deadlock, there is only one way: truly... "die" once!

Feng Mu collected his thoughts, walked up to the group of "Wang Cong", and without waiting for them to speak, greeted each person warmly in a calm and gentle tone.

He accurately called out each person's name, meticulously smoothing the wrinkles on their clothes, just as he had done for Wang Cong originally.

"I am Feng Mu. For a very long period of time to come, you will be working under my command. Please cooperate and guide me in the future."

"Perhaps you don't know me well yet, but I have some understanding of each and every one of you."

"I know your days in Second Prison haven't been easy. Superiors and colleagues have been unfriendly toward you, and some even regard you as useless waste."

While helping everyone tidy their attire, Feng Mu spoke his opening remarks lightly.

His speech was neither fast nor slow, without passionate cadence, nor mixed with mockery or sarcasm — just calmly stating a fact.

For someone who has been suppressed too long, with a heart full of repressed resentment, chicken blood or mockery would only backfire. On the contrary, calm is the strength they need most.

Like a cold person instinctively draws near a fire, whatever you lack most, you desire most. These people are the same — they will unconsciously be attracted by calm.

At first they may only cast their gazes over, but gradually they may try to draw near, until finally, like moths to a flame, they are deeply drawn by that calm, unable to extricate themselves.

Regarding this, Feng Mu has ample experience. He has already shaped a successful sample. What he needs to do now is merely popularize and extend this successful experience to more people who need it.

As Feng Mu stated things lightly, the group of "Wang Cong"s naturally focused their gazes on him.

In Second Prison they were only suppressed and marginalized, but they weren't deaf or blind, so they all recognized Feng Mu. They knew this person was a newly arrived Prison Guard who, in an extremely short time, had become someone Prison Warden Qian Huan valued.

Unlike them, these fringe people, Feng Mu could be called a genuine "red person" in Second Prison.

Feng Mu gently met their cold and numb gazes, feeling not the slightest displeasure in his heart. Instead he smiled faintly, the corners of his mouth curling up slightly, his voice even calmer and warmer:

"But I feel you are not waste. Each and every one of you possesses a unique talent that they don't have."

"So I gathered you together to help me solve the case."

Feng Mu looked at everyone with a smile, deliberately leaving a cliffhanger. He was using the art of language to stir the curiosity and desire deep in these people's hearts.

Question:

For someone desperate and numb, kicked into a pitch-black abyss, how much light and strength is needed to drive away that thick darkness?

Feng Mu's answer: a rope and a bit of candlelight, and they will find the light and climb out on their own.

Drive away darkness? Not needed!

They're already used to darkness. What they want is just a guide who can lead them in the darkness.

Sure enough, after Feng Mu fell silent for a few seconds, someone in the team let out a sneer, voice carrying doubt: "We, have what talent?"

Gong Qi frowned tightly, his gaze cold as he glanced at that person, silently memorizing his face:

"Mocking Junior Brother is mocking me; mocking me is mocking 【Rong Gui Pai】. This person's crime is unforgivable!"

However, Feng Mu found that sneer exceptionally pleasing to the ear — it showed a fool was being attracted by the candlelight.

Language is the candlelight Feng Mu is best at using to bewitch and move hearts. He first looked at the questioner, smiled very naturally, then slowly scanned every person present, his gaze pausing one second on each face, conducting a brief yet profound eye contact with each.

There were thirteen people present. He thus made eye contact with each for thirteen seconds, then Feng Mu said faintly:

"This talent, every one of you has it, and only you possess it. That is....."

Feng Mu paused another second. In this one second, everyone's breathing subconsciously held. Under lv3 dynamic vision capture, Feng Mu could clearly see his own face reflected in each person's pupils.

"You possess the talent to stare them to death for me!!!"

A couple more voices chimed in unison: "Them?"

Feng Mu answered gently:

"It's them. Those who look down on you, bully you, suppress and marginalize you. From now on, what you'll do in Second Prison is stare them to death for me every moment. In this matter, who could be more talented than you people who have suffered deeply from them?"

Solving cases relies on eyes, but Feng Mu only has one pair of eyes. So he needs more eyes to help him stare down the entire Second Prison. Just as Prison Guards must constantly watch prisoners, Prison Guards should also be constantly watched.

What Feng Mu wants to do isn't just solve the case. He also wants to form a new department in Second Prison during the investigation. Of course, if possible, he hopes this department won't be limited to Second Prison in the future, but can expand to all prisons in the Nine Districts, and even... the Nine Districts!

The questioning voices increased by a couple more, becoming four or five.

They asked: "Stare at them, and then what?"

The corner of Feng Mu's mouth split open. In their pupils he reflected an angelic appearance. He smiled:

"I suspect someone among them is connected to this Dead Security Bureau riot. So when a suitable opportunity comes, I'll give you a rope to strangle them."

This rope that helps them strangle them is the rope Feng Mu tosses them to climb out of the abyss.

Only, the end of the abyss isn't necessarily light. Perhaps it's an even deeper abyss. But guess — will they climb up or not?

End of Chapter