Chapter 2162 - 1179: Faith_5

Peeled open the orange, and the orange segments were distributed among a few security department officers who accompanied him. Yang Xiao clutched the orange peel and smelled its fragrance, avoiding motion sickness along the way.

The journey was not short, plus the time spent in the interrogation room. By the time they returned to the Second Mechanical Factory, it was already past three in the afternoon, with hints that the sun might soon set.

Back at the security department, Chief Zhou arranged for someone to find Ye Zheng and the others and sent everyone out, leaving only him and Yang Xiao in the office. Chief Zhou also casually closed the door.

At this moment, Yang Xiao noticed an unusual atmosphere here and vaguely guessed what Chief Zhou wanted to talk about.

Looks like it’s time to lay the cards on the table.

After closing the door, Chief Zhou returned to his seat, pulled out a cigarette from the pack, threw one to Yang Xiao, and then held another for himself. He struck a match, lit the cigarette, and shook out the matchstick, tossing it on the floor.

Taking a deep puff, he exhaled, forming a smoke barrier between Yang Xiao and Chief Zhou.

Chief Zhou stood, while Yang Xiao sat. Chief Zhou looked down at Yang Xiao through the slowly dispersing smoke, his gaze intriguing.

"What did you mean by what you said in the interrogation room?" Chief Zhou suddenly spoke, his voice soft but weighty.

"Which words?" At this point, Yang Xiao could keep his cool.

"Like when you suddenly feel someone’s watching you at night, that feeling... like Zhou Wenqing has returned."

Chief Zhou took another puff and silently repeated the words Yang Xiao told Cui Hongying in the interrogation room.

Indeed, Yang Xiao had already guessed it in his heart.

"Chief Zhou, are you still looking for enemy spies?"

"Do you still think this is a case that enemy spies could commit?"

"Last night, you arranged security personnel around each of our groups for protection. And yet, Ma Jing disappeared."

"No, she’s dead. Unless there’s an accident tonight, we’ll find her corpse in the cafeteria."

"Last night, including nurses and patients, there were more than a dozen people at the infirmary, including two of your men. Yet none of them knew when Ma Jing disappeared. She seemed like..." Yang Xiao paused, raised his right hand, and slowly spread his five fingers: "Like she evaporated into thin air, wiped from this world by some mysterious force."

"Enemy spies couldn’t do this; you and I both know. So... let’s stop deceiving ourselves." Yang Xiao spoke earnestly.

"Can you deal with such things?" Chief Zhou suddenly asked.

"Yes, I have experience dealing with these kinds of things, but I need your full cooperation." Yang Xiao replied.

"Looks like the higher departments have some talent. No wonder they sent you here. I’ll fully comply with the higher department’s arrangement. Just tell us what to do." Chief Zhou was relieved to get a satisfactory answer.

"But please note, try not to let anyone die again. Our Second Mechanical Factory is carrying out crucial national projects, a military-civilian factory. The progress of the projects cannot be delayed. It is a responsibility given to us by the nation and the people."

"If... if someone has to take risks, choose us. Many of our security brothers are veterans from the battlefield. We’re not afraid."

"We are warriors of the people, born here, and willing to die here, as long as the country needs." Chief Zhou drew a pistol from his waist with a solemn expression, as if ready to sacrifice heroically in the next moment.

After saying this, Chief Zhou opened the drawer with his left hand, revealing a row of small gourds inside.

Each gourd was tied with a red string, with characters written on it, and some incomprehensible symbols that looked like Taoist talismans.

Chief Zhou picked one out, handed it to Yang Xiao, his voice lowered, but his expression extremely serious: "Take this with you. My wife got it from the temple for everyone. Elders say it’s very effective and can ward off evil."

Yang Xiao picked up the gourd. He had seen this before; Old Ding from the security department had one tied to his belt. He didn’t expect it was given by Chief Zhou.

Yang Xiao rotated the gourd and inadvertently noticed a crudely carved Buddha on the back.

Yang Xiao: "..."

"Uh... Brother Zhou, did your wife get cheated?" Yang Xiao thought this thing was somewhat unreliable.

Unexpectedly, Chief Zhou’s face changed upon hearing this, and he quickly spat a few times, then forced Yang Xiao to apologize to the Buddha on the Taoist gourd, claiming sincerity would make it work and that he should not speak carelessly.

For some reason, Yang Xiao felt there was a strange harmony in the image of Chief Zhou holding a pistol in one hand and a gourd in the other.

Chief Zhou was indeed a firm warrior of materialism, but he knew how to adapt. Upon realizing the enemy before him was beyond his capability, he changed his tactics immediately, trusting whoever proved effective.

A line suddenly flashed in Yang Xiao’s mind: Holding incense in the left hand, gripping a gun in the right, always ready to burn incense or fire the gun. This Chief Zhou truly lived transparently.

"Yang, give me the truth. Are we dealing with that... that Zhou..." Chief Zhou hesitated to say Zhou Wenqing’s name, as if fearing it would invoke some taboo.

This time, Yang Xiao did not hide it from him. Tying the gourd to his belt, he nodded:

"It’s him."

"A human stands apart by a sheet of paper; a ghost separates by a mountain, all evil fears to come near."

"With a gourd in hand, a hundred ghosts circle around, righteousness shields the body, evil cannot approach."

"Lord Lao Zi of the Great Monad, quickly follow the command!" Chief Zhou gripped the gourd, squinting, muttering under his breath.