Chapter 733

At six in the evening, Compound No. 1 of the Wu Zhou Municipal Party Committee.

The study was in disarray.

Shards of a broken teacup, torn documents, and a phone with a shattered screen lay scattered on the floor. Li Zhenyang stood before the desk, hands braced on the edge, his eyes red as if about to bleed.

"Liu Shu actually defected to Lin Dongfan!!!"

His voice squeezed out from between his teeth, hoarse with near-collapse.

Fang Zhanhong stood at the doorway, head lowered, not daring to breathe.

He had already reported the latest news: the people tracking Liu Shu had lost him; the last location was the western suburbs of Jingcheng, after which the signal disappeared.

Meanwhile, word came from Jingcheng that a secret villa owned by Lin Dongfan had suddenly tightened its security.

What that meant went without saying.

"Trash! A bunch of trash!"

Li Zhenyang whirled around, grabbed the inkstone from the desk, and slammed it hard against the wall!

"Bang——!"

Ink and shards sprayed everywhere.

Fang Zhanhong remained motionless, letting ink spots spatter onto his face.

Li Zhenyang panted, collapsing into his chair. In just a few days, his daughter had died, Zhao Qiang had been arrested, Liu Shu had defected, and Jingcheng eyed them like a tiger watching its prey...

The power tower he had built with most of his life's energy was collapsing at a visible pace.

What was worse,

he didn't know who the next traitor would be.

"Secretary..." Fang Zhanhong ventured carefully: "Should we try to find someone else over in Jingcheng?"

"Who?!' Li Zhenyang snapped: 'Who dares to get involved with us now? Liu Shu took those documents to the Lin family, and everyone's waiting to see how I die!'

He closed his eyes, fingers pressing hard on his throbbing temple.

His head felt like it would split.

Over the years he had set up how many schemes, used how many people, suppressed how many matters...

Now all of those had become knives hanging over his head; Liu Shu was like a fuse—once lit, the entire powder keg of Wu Zhou would explode.

We cannot sit and wait for doom.

We must think of a way.

But...

What else can we do?

As Li Zhenyang's mind swirled in chaos, another private phone on the desk suddenly began to vibrate.

It was an old Nokia, storing only a few numbers, each vitally important.

Li Zhenyang opened his eyes to see the incoming call displayed on the screen—no label, just a string of encrypted numbers.

But he recognized that number.

Or rather,

he had once known it.

Four years ago, the owner of this number should have already died in the sea several hundred li out.

Li Zhenyang stared at the dancing numbers on the screen, his pupils contracting bit by bit. He waved a hand; Fang Zhanhong, sensing the cue, withdrew from the study and closed the door.

The room was left with only him.

The phone kept vibrating, relentless.

Li Zhenyang took a deep breath and pressed the answer key.

"Hello?"

From the other end came a voice both familiar and strange to him, carrying a faint, almost imperceptible smile:

"Secretary Li, long time no see—I hear you've run into some trouble lately?"

The voice was calm, even a bit languid, yet Li Zhenyang's spine straightened instantly.

That voice……

"Who are you?" Li Zhenyang's throat dry: "Xu... Jijun?"

"It's hard for Secretary Li to still remember me." The person on the line laughed: "I thought this 'dead man' of mine had long been forgotten completely."

It really was him!

Xu Jijun!

The man who, four years ago, was pursued by Lin Dongfan in Haishan Shi, shot and plunged into the sea, and officially declared dead! The man who once stirred winds and rains in both official and business circles, known by the alias "G Xiansheng," a political fixer!

"You... you didn't die?" Li Zhenyang's voice trembled.

"Close." Xu Jijun said lightly: "That time I was shot and fell into the sea—it was all my own plan. Afterwards I hid under an alias, nursed my wounds for half a year, and only recently dared to show my face."

Li Zhenyang's mind raced.

Xu Jijun wasn't dead, and now he suddenly contacted him—what did he want?

"What do you want to say by calling?" Li Zhenyang forced himself to stay calm.

"I want to help you." Xu Jijun spoke bluntly: "I know your situation, Secretary Li—your daughter gone, your right-hand man fled, Lin Dongfan holding the evidence in Jingcheng waiting for you to die. Do you feel... you've run out of options?"

Li Zhenyang fell silent.

"Don't rush to deny it." Xu Jijun continued: "I know what you're thinking—I, Xu Jijun, am just a 'dead man'; what could I possibly help you with? Right?"

"What could you help me with?" Li Zhenyang countered.

"Help you solve the thorniest problem." Xu Jijun paused: "For example... the evidence in Liu Shu's hands."

Li Zhenyang's heart jumped: "How to settle it?"

"Liu Shu could make it alive to Jingcheng not because he's lucky, but because my people deliberately let him off easy." Xu Jijun's voice suddenly turned cold: "If I really wanted him dead, he wouldn't even be able to leave the Wu Zhou area."

"You……"

"Secretary Li, you still don't get it?" Xu Jijun chuckled lightly: "That car accident—the one meant to kill Li Hengbo—was arranged by me."

Boom—!

Li Zhenyang felt as if a thunderclap had exploded in his mind!

The car accident was arranged by Xu Jijun?!

"Why would you do that?"

"Of course it's to help you. My father has already been sentenced to life imprisonment; our Xu family is basically finished. I need the protection of power, so I want you to win."

He paused for a moment.

Xu Jijun's tone grew even deeper: "I don't want to spend my life as a dead man. This time I've come back to take back everything that belongs to the Xu family, and I hope Secretary Li can lend me a hand."

Li Zhenyang understood: Xu Jijun wants to use him to rebuild his power.

"So you took it upon yourself to help me get rid of Li Hengbo?" Li Zhenyang's voice turned cold: "Do you know who died in that car accident?! It was my daughter, Shuting!!"

There was silence on the other end of the line for a few seconds.

Then Xu Jijun said: "It's regrettable, but that wasn't my intention. I was aiming to hit Li Hengbo; your daughter was just collateral damage. If blame must be assigned, it's only her bad luck for happening to sit beside Li Hengbo."

"You fucking……"

"Secretary Li, now is not the time to lose your temper."

Xu Jijun cut off Li Zhenyang's words: "Your daughter is already dead; no matter how much you curse me, she won't come back. But you're still alive, and you still have a chance to turn things around. Whether you take that chance is up to you."

Li Zhenyang gripped the phone so tightly his knuckles turned white.

He hated Xu Jijun.

He hated the mastermind behind his daughter's death.

But Xu Jijun was right—getting angry now wouldn't help. He needed a chance to turn things around, and Xu Jijun seemed able to give him that chance.

"What do you want to do?" Li Zhenyang asked in a hoarse voice.

"Let's meet and talk." Xu Jijun said: "Tomorrow night, west suburbs of Wu Zhou, Wangjiang Pavilion. Come alone. If I find you've brought anyone else, our deal is off."

"Why should I trust you?"

"You can choose not to."

Xu Jijun gave a faint smile: "Then just wait for Lin Dongfan to bring Liu Shu's evidence and have you sent to Qincheng Prison. By then you'll see my father in there. He should be delighted to catch up with you."

Having said that, he hung up the phone.

Li Zhenyang stood there, phone in hand, motionless for Along time.

Outside the window, the night grew deeper.

The study was dark, his face hidden in shadow, expression unreadable.

After Along while, he slowly walked to the window and gazed out at the night scenery of Wu Zhou. This city, which he had controlled for decades, now felt like a massive cage trapping him inside.

Xu Jijun……

This man, who should have been dead for four years, suddenly appeared, saying he wanted to help him.

A trap?

Or a genuine lifeline?

Li Zhenyang didn't know.

But he knew he had no room left to choose.

Tomorrow night, Wangjiang Pavilion.

He was going to meet this "dead man."