Chapter 1032 - 997: Unable to Find An Ning

This night, some people are destined to find no peace. Tang Jingwei limped onto the riverbank. Since escaping to this place, he had been trying to piece together everything that had happened, but he still had no clue.

The wind by the river was strong. Not far away, a bald man was sitting cross-legged by a pile of fire, puffing exaggeratedly on a pipe.

Tang Jingwei still had a few poor relatives. He cherished old relationships and treated these poor kin well. For a long time, he had been supporting them, and when he encountered a crisis, he thought not of the wealthy and powerful, but of these people.

Some people can share wealth, but definitely cannot endure hardships together. Those worthy of trust and reliance are often old acquaintances during times of hardship.

The bald man was named Tang Jingshui, Tang Jingwei’s cousin. Tang Jingshui was an old bachelor with little aptitude, muddling through most of his life without any presence in the Tang Family clan; even his parents’ funerals were funded by Tang Jingwei.

Tang Jingshui had once worked at Hua Nian, but he was of no use, so he chose to leave on his own. When he left, Tang Jingwei gave him some money and told him to find another way to make a living.

Tang Jingshui contracted a nearby fish pond to raise fish and was living quite happily until last year when he was diagnosed with lung cancer. Tang Jingshui refused surgery, believing everything was predetermined. Having experienced everything he wanted in life, he felt he would die without regrets.

Tang Jingwei rarely contacted him, but during holidays, he would personally deliver money.

When Tang Jingwei arrived tonight, Tang Jingshui immediately sensed something significant had happened. Tang Jingwei remained silent, and Tang Jingshui didn’t ask.

His intense coughing broke Tang Jingwei from his thoughts. Tang Jingwei sat down beside Tang Jingshui, retrieved a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, and said, "Jingshui brother, try this."

Tang Jingshui shook his head, saying, "No thrill in it," taking a deep drag from the pipe, which led to more coughing.

Tang Jingwei said, "Now I see, living like you isn’t bad, without attachments."

Tang Jingshui said, "I haven’t got much skill, unlike you, a man of great ability."

Tang Jingwei sighed, "What great ability, when I can’t even protect my family."

Tang Jingshui said, "If anything’s up, just say it."

Tang Jingwei said, "Nothing much to say, Jingshui brother, I’m leaving tonight. When you have time, look after Jing Lun for me."

Tang Jingshui said, "Why leave?"

"If I don’t leave, I might end up in prison."

"How big a deal could it be? Let me take it for you."

Tang Jingwei looked at Tang Jingshui.

Tang Jingshui said, "I probably only have a year left to live. I’ve never been to prison; I’m curious about it."

Tang Jingwei said, "I still have to go."

Tang Jingshui said, "You should go, as far as possible. I’ll handle things here."

For Liu Qingshan, what happened tonight was full of twists and turns. Initially, everything was going smoothly: successfully rescuing Qi Shuang and her son and capturing one of the kidnappers. Yet, unexpectedly, the kidnapper poisoned himself to death, severing the clues. The kidnapper Old Geng had a phone, and checking his call records made it easy to find other numbers.

The police were pleasantly surprised that the other party hadn’t switched off his phone, allowing them to locate its owner the same night via GPS.

When the police descended like heavenly soldiers and surrounded the suspect, Tang Jingshui calmly said, "I’m Tang Jingshui; Old Geng is my friend. Tang Tianyi is my nephew. The idea of kidnapping Qiao Rulong’s wife and children was mine. I’m here to turn myself in voluntarily..."

Qiao Rulong was also called in for questioning by the police. Hearing that this person, Tang Jingshui, had confessed to everything, Qiao Rulong furiously said, "Impossible. This was all done by Tang Jingwei; Tang Jingshui is just a scapegoat. Isn’t it obvious?"

Liu Qingshan calmly said, "Tang Jingwei has disappeared. We are searching for him intensively, but according to current evidence, we cannot prove his direct involvement in this kidnapping case."

Qiao Rulong said, "Then investigate! People like that surely have backup plans. Why would he flee if he didn’t do it?"

Liu Qingshan said, "We’ve just contacted Dongzhou police, planning to jointly investigate Pan Weidong’s assassination and this kidnapping case. Our analysis suggests a strong possible connection between the two."

Qiao Rulong fell silent, having long believed both cases were orchestrated by Tang Jingwei. The police’s investigative direction seemed correct, yet he also began to worry. As the investigation deepens, his relationship with Qi Shuang and Qi Shuang’s ties with the Pan Family would undoubtedly be exposed.

If these private matters were revealed, what impact would that have on him and the Qiao Family?

Qiao Rulong dared not continue thinking about this, torn by intense internal conflict. He wouldn’t let Tang Jingwei off, but if the investigation proceeded conventionally, it might strip the Qiao Family of its dignity.

Liu Qingshan asked, "Mr. Qiao, what exactly is your relationship with Qi Shuang?"

Qiao Rulong looked at Liu Qingshan: "I refuse to answer any questions unrelated to this case."

Liu Qingshan sighed and said, "Mr. Qiao, did you sneak into the Tang Family for the second time tonight?"

Qiao Rulong said, "I did not, my driver can vouch for me."

Liu Qingshan said, "Mr. Qiao, I remind you, if you don’t cooperate, it’ll be hard to find the truth of this case, and we can’t punish the real culprit, unless... you don’t want to find out the truth."

Qiao Rulong raised his wrist to check the time: "It’s too late, let’s talk about it later. Too many things happened today, I’m very tired, I need to rest."

Qiao Rulong encountered Pan Tianhua just after finishing his investigation as he walked out.

Pan Tianhua’s troubles were somewhat greater than his own; recently, Pan Tianhua must remain in Nanjiang and report to the police station every day. With one dead and one injured at the scene, both incidents were related to Pan Tianhua. Although it was self-defense, a life was lost, and whether the defense was excessive needs further investigation. The police primarily doubted how Pan Tianhua single-handedly took down two well-trained kidnappers.

Investigations revealed that Old Geng was once the martial arts runner-up in the Two Guang competition when he was younger. Later, he followed Li Kuohai, the Smiling Celestial King, one of the Four Celestial Kings of Qianmen. He was a renowned Tiger General. After developing a gambling addiction and owing high-interest debts, he had two fingers chopped off by a casino tycoon.

For some unknown reason, Qianmen did not stand up for him; later, Tang Jingwei helped him repay the gambling debts. After that, Old Geng left Qianmen to work as a driver and part-time bodyguard for Tang Jingwei.

As for the deceased, Ah Dong, he was Old Geng’s godson and by no means ordinary in strength. Pan Tianhua, unarmed, defeated two armed kidnappers, causing one death and one injury, rescued two hostages, and got away unscathed — such a story indeed seemed rather fantastical.

According to on-site investigation, a fierce fight had occurred, and blood from another person was found. This blood did not belong to any of the five people at the scene. Based on genetic comparison results, it can be basically confirmed that Tang Jingwei was on the scene at that time.

However, Pan Tianhua was adamant that he rescued the hostages alone, insisting that everything was done by him and that he didn’t see Tang Jingwei at the scene.

Pan Tianhua glanced at Qiao Rulong, wanting to greet him, but Qiao Rulong walked towards the parking lot as if not seeing him.

Pan Tianhua furrowed his brows, feeling somewhat displeased.

Two subordinates came over to put a coat on him; one handed him a cigar, while the other lit it for him.

Pan Tianhua took two strong puffs of smoke, recalling the thrilling scene atop the water tower, the calm and remarkable Qiao Rulong.

Pan Tianhua could conclude that wasn’t Qiao Rulong; could Qiao Rulong possibly have a twin brother in this world?

Pan Tianhua immediately dismissed this possibility; a vague shadow lingered in his mind. A person’s appearance might change, but their skills and presence couldn’t be altered in a short time, especially when rescuing his grandson George—Qiao Rulong was completely unversed in medicine.

No matter who saved the day, the outcome now was quite ideal, at least his daughter and grandson escaped danger.

Though Pan Tianhua could understand Qiao Rulong ignoring him, he still felt very uncomfortable deep down. His background meant the Qiao Family didn’t want to be associated with him, but his daughter’s record was clean, and his grandson was a pure, innocent child, so why couldn’t they be acknowledged?

Does Qiao Rulong need to pretend not to know me in public, is there really no courtesy to nod and smile?

Pan Tianhua got into the car, took two strong puffs of the cigar: "Take me to Qinghuai River."

Hua Zhuyue arrived at the appointed location earlier than Pan Tianhua; the elders of Orchid Sect, Uncle Nine and He Jingliang had already arrived.

It was close to midnight, and several major figures of Orchid Sect were all gathered in a painting barge, drinking tea.

This gathering was organized by Pan Tianhua, but he was the latest to arrive, mainly due to delays from police questioning.

Pan Tianhua boarded the painting barge, and bowing with fists, greeted his fellow sect members: "Thank you, everyone, for making the effort to come so late tonight, I apologize for the inconvenience."

Uncle Nine laughed and said: "Junior Brother Pan calls, we overcome all obstacles to come."

He Jingliang said: "Among sect members, we stand united and share life and death; Brother Pan, anything you need, just let us know."

Hua Zhuyue already knew these two were Pan Tianhua’s die-hard followers and once upheld Pan Tianhua taking the Sect Leader position from behind. It was only her who shattered their conspiracy in the end; these two were opportunists, valuing interests above all. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have tempted them to switch allegiance at the last minute to support Ji Jiajia.

Uncle Nine and He Jingliang both got up to greet him, but Hua Zhuyue sat steadily in her seat on the fishing platform. It wasn’t arrogance; she was now wielding the authority in place of Sect Leader Ji Jiajia and was the de facto head of Orchid Sect.

If it were the past, Pan Tianhua would certainly have felt dissatisfaction, but today Pan Tianhua not only didn’t show any displeasure, he even greeted courteously, smiling: "Sister Hua is here."

Hua Zhuyue was much younger than Pan Tianhua, even calling him ’Uncle’ would not be inappropriate; Pan Tianhua had never addressed her like this before, at most referring to her as President Hua.

Uncle Nine and He Jingliang exchanged a glance, understanding that such a form of address implied reconciliation.