Chapter 593: Ruthless Characters

Deputy Director Ma stared at Xing Fei and asked, "What do you intend to do next?"

Xing Fei gave a cold laugh, "Tomorrow—no, this very morning, we are going to blow up the oil depot."

Deputy Director Ma was stunned, then immediately raged, "Are you fucking crazy! The wind is blowing the hardest right now, the entire base is searching for people, and you want to go blow up the oil depot at a time like this? Do you think you can still get out?"

Xing Fei stared at him, his gaze like a knife: "We've been lurking for so many years, what exactly are we aiming for? It's just to pull off one big job..."

Deputy Director Ma looked at Xing Fei's nearly insane face, and his heart skipped a beat.

He knew he had been coerced.

He was silent for a long time, sighed, and asked, "This trip is a one-way street."

Xing Fei nodded, his eyes revealing a martyr's fanaticism: "I made a vow when I was young that I would devote my life to the Party and State."

Deputy Director Ma reached out, patted his shoulder heavily, his voice carrying a touch of emotion: "I am ashamed... Hearing you say that just now, all I could think about was whether I could keep my own position. Compared to you, I am far behind."

Hearing him speak so heart-to-heart, Xing Fei's heart softened a little.

He lowered his tone: "Lao Ma, it hasn't been easy for you to climb to this position; that is your own ability. Actually, if you keep lurking here, it's of greater benefit to us. You just need to bring the ignition device in for me; you don't need to worry about what happens after. If something really goes wrong, at most it will be counted as a failure of oversight on your part."

Deputy Director Ma gave a bitter laugh and scoffed, "You two are both my subordinates; if you two blow up the oil depot, can I still survive?"

Xing Fei thought for a moment and said, "Just bring the detonator in for me! You don't need to worry about anything else!"

Deputy Director Ma sneered inwardly; once the oil depot was blown up, could he, the official in charge, really wash his hands of it?

But he did not show it on his face, merely shaking his head: "Xing Fei, don't worry about me. Since you've decided to do it, find a way to get it done."

At the crack of dawn, Xing Fei snuck out of Deputy Director Ma's house and returned to the dormitory to find Lao Liu.

He explained the plan, and though Lao Liu was a hundred percent reluctant, he knew Xing Fei's methods—this man was ruthless and cruel; if he shook his head, he would be carried out horizontally tonight.

He stammered and asked, "What about Brother Xiao Wang?"

"He's still in Lao Ma's cellar; anyway, this time is a one-way trip for us too. Don't worry about him."

Upon hearing this, Liu knew Xiao Wang had definitely been killed by him.

He nodded and said, "Major, I'll listen to you!"

The next morning, Deputy Director Ma took Xing Fei and Lao Liu to the oil storage base.

This place was already within his scope of duty, so coming to inspect was perfectly justified.

Upon reaching the entrance, the sentry saluted: "Greetings, Deputy Director Ma!"

Deputy Director Ma waved his hand and asked casually, "I heard something happened here last night? Why didn't anyone notify me?"

The sentry replied, "Director He came by, finished the inspection, said there were no problems, and left. He didn't tell us to notify anyone else."

The two exchanged a few more words, and Deputy Director Ma led the two men swaggering into the oil depot.

In '58, the country was poor, and many bases used the method of digging large pits to store crude oil; after He Yuzhu took over the Oilfield, he resolutely spent money to make steel oil storage tanks.

He had imported quite a bit of scrap steel through the Liushi Trading Company, all of which he used to make oil storage tanks.

Xing Fei pretended to inspect, slowly feeling his way to the area where the oil tanks were most dense.

He jumped inside the low concrete wall, squatted down, took out the detonator, and began connecting the wires.

Just as he finished connecting the wires and was preparing to lead the wire out, a muffled sound came from behind him.

"Bang!"

Xing Fei's back jolted, and his whole body lunged forward.

He struggled to turn his head, only to see Deputy Director Ma holding a gun, the pitch-black muzzle still emitting blue smoke.

"Bang!" Another shot—Lao Liu, not far away, tilted his head and collapsed directly to the ground.

Xing Fei had taken a bullet and had no strength left in his body, but he was a fierce secret agent; he gritted his teeth and persisted, pulling a gun from his pocket.

He quickly chambered a round and fired a shot at Deputy Director Ma.

Deputy Director Ma could have fired, but he didn't; he was waiting for him to fire.

"Bang!" Xing Fei's hand shook, and the shot hit Deputy Director Ma in the leg.

Deputy Director Ma smiled, a very evil smile.

"Bang! Bang!" Deputy Director Ma fired two consecutive shots.

Xing Fei was hit twice and was completely spent; he used his last bit of strength to glare at Deputy Director Ma, his eyes full of resentment: "You... you traitor... I, I misjudged you..."

Deputy Director Ma lowered his muzzle and looked at him coldly: "When you killed Xiao Wang, I already wanted to do this. You are too ruthless—I don't want to be associated with someone like you."

A strange smile tugged at the corner of Xing Fei's mouth, "It's not something you can... just cut off... there will be others... coming for you..."

A flash of ruthlessness crossed Deputy Director Ma's eyes, and he said, "Coming for me? Good. Let them come; I'll kill every one of them."

Xing Fei's gaze gradually unfocused, finally freezing in a state of unwillingness and venom.

Deputy Director Ma slumped to the ground.

Soon, the patrol team arrived upon hearing the news.

Seeing the scene before them, everyone was stunned—two corpses lay on the ground, and Deputy Director Ma was clutching his leg, leaning against an oil tank, his face deathly pale.

"Director Ma! Th-this, what is going on?" a patrolman exclaimed.

Deputy Director Ma waved his hand weakly and said, "These two... are enemy agents; they wanted to use a detonator to blow up the oil depot. I only just realized why they insisted on dragging me here to inspect early in the morning... it was premeditated!"

The patrol team members looked at each other, none daring to ask more.

Several people hurried forward to hoist Deputy Director Ma up: "You're injured, let's get you to the hospital first!"

Deputy Director Ma gritted his teeth, not forgetting to urge: "Quick, quickly clear away the detonator; it's too dangerous here!"

The patrol team quickly cordoned off the scene and actually cleared away both the corpses and the detonator.

When He Yuzhu and Li Xiangxiu arrived, the scene had been completely destroyed.

She scolded the patrol team: "Bastards! Who told you to touch the scene? Now look, no traces can be found at all!"

"But the detonator was already connected; it would have exploded as soon as the circuit was closed!" the patrol team captain said.

Li Xiangxiu quickly calmed down; she rapidly interrogated the people at the scene, used chalk to draw circles around the positions of the corpses, and stood there pondering for a long time.

She pulled He Yuzhu to a deserted spot and said, "I think this Deputy Director Ma definitely has a problem!"

He Yuzhu asked, "Xiangxiu, tell me specifically."

Li Xiangxiu said straightforwardly, "My judgment is that the three of them had an internal conflict. Going to blow up the oil depot in broad daylight—Deputy Director Ma wasn't willing to accompany them to their deaths and turned against them."

Man Yatou also chimed in from the side, "Right, I also think Deputy Director Ma is a secret agent!"

He Yuzhu laughed, "You can go to the hospital and check Deputy Director Ma's wound. If the gun that shot him belongs to Xing Fei, your conclusion won't hold water."

Li Xiangxiu was stunned, "You don't think Deputy Director Ma's wound was self-inflicted?"

He Yuzhu analyzed, "My understanding is that Deputy Director Ma fired first, hitting Xing Fei, and then shot Liu Zhi dead. After being shot, Xing Fei retaliated and hit Deputy Director Ma in the leg. Deputy Director Ma then fired two more shots to thoroughly finish off Xing Fei. The key lies in this shot Deputy Director Ma took to the leg; if it was fired by Xing Fei, you can't say they are in the same gang, can you? If he had intentionally let Xing Fei fire, he very likely would have lost his life!"

Li Xiangxiu said unwillingly, "Indeed, he took a shot, and that clears his name?"

"That is why this person is a ruthless character. Taking this shot makes it so we cannot easily move against him!" He Yuzhu said.

Man Yatou grew anxious, "Then are we just going to let him off like this?"

"I will speak with Secretary Liu and have him transferred away? Transferred to an unimportant place?" He Yuzhu said.

"No, I'm going to the hospital to check his wound!" Li Xiangxiu ran off into the distance, unwilling to give up.