Chapter 279: A Small Arm Can't Twist a Thigh

Yu Dazhang sat quietly across from him.

He only stood up and walked over when he saw the cigarette slip from Han Lianwu's fingers.

Coming closer, he first reached out to check Han Lianwu's breathing, then pressed his index and middle fingers against the carotid artery at his neck.

After letting out a sigh, he moved his hand away.

Just as Han Lianwu himself had said.

It was too late.

"Safe journey." Yu Dazhang whispered to him.

Then he called out toward the outside:

"Come in."

"Bang!" After a muffled thud, the door was kicked open from outside.

Captain Xu led his men rushing in.

"Why'd you kick the door? I didn't even lock it." Yu Dazhang looked at the tense-faced Captain Xu, a bit speechless:

"The danger's over, no need to be so dramatic."

Saying this, he walked toward the door, but the instant he stepped out, he suddenly stopped, turned his head, and glanced back at Han Lianwu, who had his head lowered.

"No need for handcuffs, he's already gone."

The next day.

In front of Han Lianwen's house.

Yu Dazhang, who had already raised his hand, lowered it again.

He handed the fruit and snacks he was carrying to Ma Jian beside him:

"Brother Ma, you go. I won't go in."

Han Lianwu was dead; handling the aftermath was something that naturally had to be done by the family.

That morning, Yu Dazhang had taken the initiative to claim the job of notifying the family.

Before coming, he had even made a special trip to buy some food, so the atmosphere could be a little lighter.

He had thought up all kinds of comforting words beforehand, but once he reached the door, he still chickened out.

Just thinking about the hurtful words he was about to say made him feel like he could barely breathe.

To tell a mother that her son was dead.

And then what?

Throw in another: please accept my condolences?

Of the three great sorrows of life, the first is a white-haired person seeing off a black-haired one.

He couldn't bear it, didn't want to see a mother cry in despair before him.

"I, I also…" Ma Jian took the bag of food, his face full of difficulty as he said:

"I've never done this kind of thing either."

Yu Dazhang's attitude was firm:

"That's exactly why you need the practice. Have Liu Miao go with you, and remember to be tactful in your words."

Is this something you practice…? Seeing he couldn't win against him, Ma Jian could only raise his hand and knock on the door.

The door opened quickly. The woman stood at the doorway, looked at the three of them, then looked past Ma Jian and said to Yu Dazhang behind him:

"Xiao Wu hasn't contacted home."

As expected, a mother wouldn't turn in her own son… Yu Dazhang said nothing, just gave her a nod.

Then Ma Jian and Liu Miao went inside and set the food on the table.

The woman stood at the door, looking at Yu Dazhang curiously:

"Aren't you coming in?"

Yu Dazhang shook his head:

"I won't go in today. I'll wait for them at the door."

Saying this, he reached out and helped the woman close the door.

About five minutes later, a desperate wail of crying came from inside the house.

Not bad, she didn't faint… Yu Dazhang clenched his teeth, unable to bear listening any longer, turned and went downstairs.

No matter how tactfully phrased, the truth still had to be told, because this matter simply couldn't be hidden.

The case was too big; even though Han Lianwu was dead, certain procedures still had to go through the family.

Telling her sooner would also give her a buffer period.

That afternoon.

The provincial bureau big leader's office.

"You want to go back to Songhai?"

The big leader frowned, looking at the fatty before him:

"The case isn't closed yet. As the head of the task force, how can you drop the ball at a time like this."

His words carried another layer of meaning: Are you stupid or what! A sky-falling amount of merit—are you throwing it away?

"The basic facts of the case have been clarified. Whether I'm here or not makes little difference for the investigation and trial work going forward."

Yu Dazhang looked utterly indifferent: "So I won't stay here and make trouble for the leadership."

Who doesn't want merit.

But Yu Dazhang had taken on this case in the first place not to earn merit.

He really had just stumbled onto Province S by accident, and in the end had stirred the place upside down.

Setting up a special task force was also a last-minute emergency assignment—there was no choice but to do it.

"I disagree!"

The top leader's face darkened, his tone resolute:

"Whatever you do, you must see it through from start to finish—handling cases is even more so. Besides, a case this complicated isn't something just anyone can take over."

He wasn't exaggerating.

On the surface, this was a serial finger-chopping case.

But if you analyzed it carefully, you'd find that the cases involved actually numbered more than thirty.

!

Counting He Tianxin, there were ten finger-chopping cases.

The Twelve Young Masters of Xicheng each had a murder on their heads as a pledge of allegiance—another twelve cases.

Plus twelve wrongful conviction cases.

The cases the Twelve Young Masters of Xicheng had committed before spanned a full sixteen years.

And the reason the suspects committed the crimes was because of another case from sixteen years ago.

All told, a total of thirty-five cases were tangled together.

Put it this way—even Ding Feng coming over now couldn't fully understand everything clearly. You have to realize, he'd already spent a full three months investigating before.

Even in Yu Dazhang's special task force, there were still many people who hadn't figured out how he'd solved the case.

"Then... fine."

Yu Dazhang also knew the case was indeed somewhat complicated—right now, it seemed only he could sort it out.

"I'll complete the case files as soon as possible," he promised:

"I'll also submit the report in the next couple of days."

He knew perfectly well that this case would ultimately have to be taken over by Province S—he couldn't keep working here forever.

But now that the leader had given the order, Yu Dazhang could only obey.

He still understood the principle that a thin arm can't twist a thick thigh.

"No rush."

The top leader looked at him with a smile:

"You must make sure the chain of evidence is complete—no more slip-ups of any kind."

Yu Dazhang was stunned when he heard that.

A complete chain of evidence?

Wouldn't that mean investigating all the way to the end?

Was the top leader not planning to find someone to take over?

"But..." He was about to refuse, but the other man raised his hand to stop him.

This time the top leader put away his smile and said with a grave expression:

"Alright, go on. Do what you're supposed to do."

"I..." Yu Dazhang still wanted to struggle, but he was overawed by the top leader's presence, and the words on his lips were swallowed back down.

The difference in their status was too great—facing the number-one man of the provincial bureau, he really had no room to argue.

When a man's position is low, his words carry no weight—the right to speak is decided by status.

The next morning.

Yu Dazhang called the special task force members together for a brief meeting.

This time there was no case analysis—just a simple explanation of the current situation and the work arrangements for each sub-team going forward.

To close the case as soon as possible, each sub-team was to conduct in-depth investigations into the twelve wrongful conviction cases separately, striving to free the wrongfully convicted in the shortest time possible.

After the meeting adjourned.

He kept Captain Xu behind alone, then explained the ins and outs of the entire case to him clearly.

As things stood, the most suitable person to take over this case was Captain Xu.

Yu Dazhang believed his ability was in no way inferior to Ding Feng's—in fact, it even surpassed Ding Feng by a notch.

Once he left Province S in the future, if anything came up with this case, he could handle it.

After the case briefing, Captain Xu had a look of wanting to speak but holding back, as if he wanted to say something.

"Anything you don't understand?" Yu Dazhang asked curiously.

Captain Xu had also participated in the investigation of this case, so Yu Dazhang felt one briefing was enough.

Captain Xu deliberated for a moment before cautiously asking:

"You... did you deliberately let Wan Bo get caught?"

(End of chapter)