The fact that Lü Qingqing apprehended the human traffickers on the street could not possibly be kept from Li Yang and the others.
Hu Jia didn't know the truth, but Li Yang and the rest did.
"You're going overboard, checking for a pulse even after stomping on an ant," Luo Wenwu complained about Lü Qingqing's unilateral actions.
"Exactly, if we had acted together, would that guy have escaped?" Li Yang also felt it was a shame. They had finally found a lead, and the person was right in front of them, yet they failed to capture him.
"I was thinking it would attract too much attention," Lü Qingqing indeed had her own considerations.
"Alright, Qingqing was just afraid of alerting the snake," Yu Yue stepped in to smooth things over.
"But..." Li Yang was about to say more, but a look from Yu Yue silenced him.
The search for Chen Xi was still ongoing, and Ouyang Wen hadn't been home for two days.
This left the criminal investigation team stunned. This was clearly a case for the special operations team, so why was their boss acting even more proactively than them?
Everyone was praising Ouyang Wen for working day and night to catch the human traffickers. Only Ouyang Wen knew that he was looking for someone who posed a potential threat to Hu Jia.
...
"You're saying Uncle Lian was taken away by the special operations team?" Chen Xi almost lost control of his voice.
"Yes, two police officers came yesterday. Uncle Lian was taken away and hasn't returned since." The person speaking was the burly man who had picked up Tong Meng the previous day.
"Lü Qingqing!" Chen Xi gritted his teeth in hatred. "Brother Yuan, give me a chance to atone. I want to go and rescue Uncle Lian."
Yuan Huayi advised him to sit still. "Don't you know what kind of person Uncle Lian is? Don't worry, the master has already received the news. I believe Uncle Lian will be back soon."
As he spoke, Yuan Huayi glanced at Chen Xi. "Think carefully about when exactly Lü Qingqing started targeting you."
"It should have been the last time we took action."
"You haven't realized it after all this time? Useless!"
Chen Xi lowered his head in self-reproach. "I didn't expect them to have the time to investigate me after going through so much."
A sharp glint flashed in Yuan Huayi's eyes. It seemed they had all underestimated this Lü Qingqing.
It must be said that Tong Meng's strategy was very effective. Everyone thought Uncle Lian had fallen into the hands of the special operations team. Little did they know that the two fake Li Kuai were impersonated by people hired by Tong Meng.
At that time, the decorative candle holder she placed on the balcony was the secret signal for action.
Currently, Uncle Lian, covered in injuries, was bound to a wooden pillar, unable to move.
"Heh heh, I never thought I'd spend my life catching birds, only to be pecked in the eye by a chick at the end." Looking at Tong Meng before him, Uncle Lian chuckled, revealing his blood-stained teeth.
"Haha." Tong Meng held a whip in her hand. "I called you Uncle Lian for so long, and only now do I know your name is Lian Xianhai."
As she spoke, with a crack, the whip drew another bloody line across Lian Xianhai's body.
"Does your brother know you're doing this?" Lian Xianhai asked mockingly.
"Don't mention him to me, I don't have a brother." Tong Meng's face contorted, her voice unstable. "Even if he were here, could he save you?"
"Hahaha!" Lian Xianhai laughed heartily.
"What are you laughing at?" Tong Meng couldn't stand Lian Xianhai's dismissive attitude and swung the whip again.
"I'm laughing at your stupidity. As long as your brother's leverage is still in our hands, you'll never dare to kill me."
"Is that so?" Tong Meng looked at Lian Xianhai sinisterly. "His leverage can only cost him his life, what does that have to do with me?"
Hearing this, Lian Xianhai finally realized that Tong Meng not only wanted him dead but also Tong Hua.
Finally, he was scared.
"Tong Meng, calm down." Uncle Lian began to struggle. "You can't kill me, I was your first man!"
If this hadn't been brought up, it would have been fine, but mentioning it only fueled Tong Meng's rage.
The humiliation of that night, the pain of this period, Tong Meng didn't want to recall for a single moment.
"Crack, crack..." With several lashes, Lian Xianhai almost fainted. "Tong Meng, I spared your life back then, and this is how you repay kindness?"
Heh, spared my life?
Another lash!
Lian Xianhai cried out in pain.
Tong Meng wielded the whip as if possessed, as if to vent all her anger and humiliation from this period.
"Stop!" The door was suddenly pushed open, and Tong Hua burst in.
He was terrified by the scene before him, his fingers trembling as he felt for Lian Xianhai's breath.
Seeing Tong Hua enter, Tong Meng's out-of-control emotions gradually returned to normal.
"Heh heh, you're here." Tong Meng casually threw the whip to the ground. "How was it? I asked you to come watch a good show, wasn't this performance quite good?"
Tong Hua slapped Tong Meng in the face. "Do you know what you're doing?"
"Heh heh." Tong Meng didn't even rub her stinging cheek. "He has your leverage, doesn't he? If he dies, all this will be over."
"You don't understand anything." Tong Hua was a little flustered and wanted to untie Lian Xianhai.
"If he lives, we'll all die." Tong Meng's chilling voice made Tong Hua's fingers pause.
Seeing Tong Hua's reaction, Tong Meng sneered. "You didn't plead for me back then, but I always remembered our blood ties. I'm saving you now."
Tong Hua found this very grating. He knew Tong Meng hated him for not pleading for her back then.
But how could he have had the courage to resist at that time?
At this moment, he felt that Tong Meng had changed. Tong Meng was no longer the spoiled girl she used to be; instead, she was decisive in taking action to rewrite her own destiny.
And she went big from the start, so big that Tong Hua wouldn't dare to do it.
"Do you know the consequences of killing him?"
"Who knows we killed him?"
Tong Meng handed the dagger in her hand to Tong Hua. "If you want to stop being threatened by others in the future, take action yourself and remove this obstacle."
...
Two days later, Lian Xianhai's body was secretly transported out of the city and disappeared into the mountains and wilderness.
Having dealt with Lian Xianhai, at least Tong Meng was happy. She could finally escape her previous life.
But Tong Hua was very worried, because he knew that Lian Xianhai had a master behind him. Although that person had never shown himself, he could control Lian Xianhai and, with a single phone call, attribute Li Zhenhui's death to a convicted felon. His power must be immense.
Similarly, he found it strange. Lian Xianhai's purpose in controlling him was just to cause trouble for Hu Jia, such as finding someone to commit suicide in front of Hu Jia, or killing Mo Yun to frame Li Yang.
These methods were troublesome and their effectiveness was uncertain, far less efficient than directly killing Hu Jia.
He couldn't figure it out, he absolutely couldn't figure it out.
There must be some hidden truth behind all this.
Lü Qingqing naturally had no idea that Tong Meng had silently dealt with Lian Xianhai. She was currently preparing for the outdoor field training that would begin next week.
After all, she couldn't miss this opportunity. Not only did she need to build good relationships with her classmates, but more importantly, this credit carried significant weight.
The operation to apprehend Chen Xi was also halted.
After all, two weeks had passed. Even Hu Jia had lost her memory twice, and there was still no news of Chen Xi.
Even Luo Wenwu joked: This Chen Xi is truly cunning, splitting like a frog mid-stride, so slippery (cunning).