I Cultivate in a Government Office

Chapter 184: Chapter 113: Inquiry 2

Assistant Liao replied solemnly, "Yes, County Magistrate Wang."

County Magistrate Wang continued, "The investigation will be split into three task forces. First, a technical survey group led by the Bureau of Construction...

"...Third, the City Defense Bureau will be responsible for investigating any potential sabotage. They will also cooperate with the first two groups to maintain on-site order and secure evidence."

He paused, his tone sharpening. "I want facts, evidence, and a clear conclusion. No more ambiguous reports or buck-passing... Meeting adjourned!"

As soon as he finished, he rose and left. Zhang Qiming immediately hurried out after him. Deputy Director Zhou ignored everyone, picked up the documents before him, and exited through another door.

Vice Director Gao and Yang Wenqing were the last ones remaining. Once the others had gone, Vice Director Gao walked to the window, lit a cigarette, and chuckled, "These meetings are just about carving up the pig."

His tone was casual, with a hint of profanity, different from his usual, somewhat distant leadership tone.

Yang Wenqing felt a shift. He relaxed his expression and asked, "Vice Director Gao, you mentioned last night that you received a similar ’congratulatory letter’ back when you were promoted?"

Vice Director Gao laughed. "It’s the same old playbook. They find some washed-up colleague, give them a letter to pass along, and try to be all mysterious. I was on edge for a while back then. It wasn’t until later that I realized those skulking cowards don’t have any real bite. If they actually had any power, they would’ve jumped out to stir up trouble long ago. Why would they need to resort to such pathetic, underhanded games?"

He clapped Yang Wenqing on the shoulder. "So, Wenqing, don’t take them too seriously. Do your job, investigate as you should, but don’t let them rattle you. All they can do is poke around from the shadows. They can’t ever step into the light."

The casual, collegial tone of the conversation made something clear to Yang Wenqing. With his promotion, Vice Director Gao’s attitude toward him was subtly shifting. The strict superior-subordinate dynamic was fading, replaced by the feeling that he was now an insider—someone with whom Gao could share burdens and secret experiences.

The two then chatted for a few more minutes about other miscellaneous matters in the bureau before leaving the conference room separately.

Back in his office, Yang Wenqing continued to work through the pile of documents. At nearly three in the afternoon, Li Yue knocked and entered again.

Her face showed clear signs of exhaustion, but her eyes were shining—the telltale excitement that follows a period of intense work.

"Yang Group Leader, Ma Wu confessed!"

"So soon?"

"He’s not a tough nut to crack. We just had to scare him a little and he folded."

Li Yue spoke quickly. "He said that about a year ago, someone approached and poisoned him. They told him if he didn’t follow their orders, his guts would rot from the inside out..."

A scornful smile appeared on her face as she spoke. "We had the tech department check him out. They didn’t find any obvious toxic residue in his body, but there were some subtle old injuries in his meridians, as if they had been eroded by some kind of cold, sinister Spiritual Qi. We figure they used some trick to make him think he was poisoned, and that’s how they got a hold on him."

Yang Wenqing put down his pen. "What did they order him to do?"

"Ma Wu’s job was to identify people like Ye Yong—individuals with official connections but weak willpower. He would lure them into gambling addiction and massive debt. Then, at a critical moment, he’d offer them a lifeline, forcing them to obey orders and perform small tasks. Unfortunately for them, Ye Yong’s downfall was too swift. He resigned from the City Defense Bureau before he could provide them any real benefit."

Li Yue explained, "As for the letter you received, someone gave it to Ma Wu to pass on through Ye Yong. The person is extremely cautious, only making exchanges with Ma Wu via a dead drop in an abandoned mailbox."

"Where?"

"In the Old Wharf District, across from an abandoned warehouse. They’d place the item inside, Ma Wu would retrieve it, and then he’d put what the other party wanted back in its place. It was an anonymous exchange, so Ma Wu has never seen their face."

Yang Wenqing frowned. He knew the Old Wharf District. The flow of people there was complex. This method of contact was primitive but effective, and very difficult to trace.

"Has the scene been investigated? Any chance of finding witnesses or surveillance footage?"

Yang Wenqing asked.

Li Yue shook her head. "It’s an old district, so the public surveillance Array coverage is incomplete. Plus, the mailbox is in a remote spot. Our people did a preliminary check. The mailbox is old, covered in a mess of prints, making it hard to extract any valuable clues. And finding witnesses... that’s a needle-in-a-haystack task. The time frame could be very long, and there’s no guarantee of results."

She paused and lowered her voice. "However... someone from Internal Affairs Inspection sent word. They said they want to take over this lead, claiming they have special methods to find something."

Yang Wenqing nodded. Internal Affairs Inspection had access to more secretive channels and higher-level clearances. This aligned perfectly with Deputy Director Zhou’s strategy of a two-pronged, overt and covert, investigation.

"Alright." Yang Wenqing nodded immediately. "Then transfer it to Internal Affairs Inspection. Your team will continue to keep a close watch on the other suspects and locations Ma Wu revealed."

"Understood!" Li Yue breathed a sigh of relief, clearly happy to hand off this thorny tracking task. She then reported a few other developments and left in a hurry.

Yang Wenqing leaned back in his chair.

’An Evil Cult Organization setting traps to corrupt officials, and now Internal Affairs Inspection is getting involved... This must run deep within the system.’ He felt as if he were standing at the center of a slowly tightening net, the various threads of the investigation beginning to faintly connect all around him.

Then he recalled Deputy Director Zhou’s warning. ’This could all be a smokescreen. The real goal might be to protect someone in the City Defense System’s upper management.’

The more Yang Wenqing thought about it, the more interesting it all seemed. ’That’s not a good sign.’ He immediately calmed his mind, dispelling the extraneous thoughts to clear his head.

For the rest of the day, Yang Wenqing remained at his desk, handling routine paperwork. Nothing else of note happened.

When he got home from work in the evening, he gave Aunt Zhou the list he had prepared the previous night. It detailed the auxiliary Spiritual Objects needed for the Fifth and Sixth Refinements, as well as the basic materials for the Circulation Meridian Array. He told her to contact Yang Yong and have him procure the items as soon as possible.

Before dinner, he went upstairs to check on his younger brother and sister doing their homework.

Yang Wenjian was relatively diligent, reviewing preparatory lessons for the Police Academy. Yang Wenning, however, was clearly distracted. She held a book on basic rune theory, but her eyes kept darting toward the window.

Seeing his sister in this state, Yang Wenqing frowned. ’With Mom away and me so busy with work, I’ve really been neglecting Wenning’s upbringing. If this goes on, she’ll end up completely spoiled.’

’Maybe... I should consider bringing Mom to the county seat?’

He suppressed his thoughts and went to the Quiet Chamber in the backyard to cultivate as usual.

The operation of his Fifth Refinement Cultivation Technique became increasingly proficient. Spiritual Qi surged through his meridians like a river, and his Divine Sense visualization was also progressing steadily, though the progress was slow.

The next day at work, Li Yue didn’t come to report in person. Instead, Liu Qin delivered a brief report on the surveillance of the hideouts of Ma Wu’s associates.

The entire day was calm and uneventful. That evening was the housewarming and promotion banquet that Yang Wenqing was hosting at Fengtai Pavilion.

Because the timing was sensitive, he had specifically instructed Yang Yong to keep the banquet small. As he had expected, neither Vice Director Gao nor Deputy Director Zhou attended, though they had sent congratulatory gifts in advance.

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