Da Bao had previously investigated and understood the man; he knew the man frequented two places: a bar and a private casino.
Both these locations had fixed addresses and were near the original residential complex.
An hour later, Li Zhonglou brought Da Bao back to the place where he had recuperated for a full month.
The bar was called Qing Meng. It was still afternoon, and it was too early to go there, so the two first went to the private casino.
There was no shortage of private casinos in Shangjing. After all, Shangjing's per capita income ranked among the highest in the country. Especially for the locals who had benefited from the era's dividends, they could live comfortably even without working.
Naturally, when bored, they needed to find some entertainment. Coupled with having some spare cash, these private casinos became their most frequent haunts.
The private casino the man frequented was located in an old residential building.
The exterior walls were almost peeling off, with strands of greenery extending along the walls. While this added a touch of greenery, it also made the building look exceptionally old.
This was a common issue with old residential areas. Wealthy individuals moved to build beautiful new houses elsewhere, and few bothered to renovate these old places. One reason was that the electrical layout in such communities was inherently unreasonable, unlike new buildings where a complete overhaul could be done on demand.
Describing the situation here as a "single thread pulling the whole body" would be fitting. In such a place, renovating one's living space would not only incur extra costs but also require relocating affected neighbors.
It was a time-consuming, effort-intensive, and thankless task that very few people were willing to undertake.
However, at this very moment, a familiar figure suddenly appeared within Li Zhonglou's line of sight.
It was the mild-mannered man who had aggressively handed out flyers to him in the central district not long ago. Upon seeing him, Li Zhonglou was reminded of what Da Bao had told him.
Without a word, Li Zhonglou walked directly towards him.
"Brother Hua?"
Da Bao was about to ask, but he also saw the man, and his expression suddenly changed.
"Don't act rashly! These people have backing from influential forces, and it will cause complications."
Da Bao blocked Li Zhonglou's path.
"Do you still consider yourself a Chinese person?"
Li Zhonglou gazed at Da Bao, causing the latter to hesitate in speaking further.
The faith of Chinese people was difficult for people of other nations to understand. Whether it was seen as self-righteous or meddling, in the face of national matters, China would never be short of those with ardent passion.
What he didn't know was that Li Zhonglou's intention this time was not only to eliminate harm for the public good but also to pursue his own objectives.
"Let it go, perhaps we've overcomplicated things."
However, Da Bao did not step aside.
"I understand what you mean, but this is not as simple as it seems. The fact that they dared to release the people means they have a way to sever ties."
Li Zhonglou gave a cold smile, "I apologize, but I am not a judge. Determining guilt is the job of the authorities. What I intend to do is send him back to his hometown."
Da Bao's expression froze.
"You..."
Li Zhonglou shook his head and directly walked past Da Bao towards the man.
The man was clearly not from this area. After entering the residential complex, he kept looking around, as if searching for his target.
As he was looking left and right, he suddenly saw Li Zhonglou approaching him directly.
Perhaps out of a guilty conscience, the man's expression changed, and he immediately turned to leave.
However, before he could get far, Li Zhonglou intercepted him at a corner.
The man immediately put on a friendly smile, "Friend, is there something I can help you with?"
Li Zhonglou took out the flyer he hadn't had a chance to discard from his pocket.
"Tell me about this matter?"
The man was initially stunned, and then his friendly demeanor turned into a brilliant smile.
"You startled me. I thought you were here for something else. Are you looking for a job? How about we find a better place to chat first?"
After speaking, the man glanced at Da Bao, who was standing nearby.
"Is it this friend who is looking for a job?"
"You know I'm not asking about work."
Li Zhonglou looked at him quietly.
"Ah, it's not about work? Then I have things to attend to, I'll be leaving now."
The man suddenly accelerated and ran into the distance. Such speed would be unreactable for an ordinary person, but in the next moment, Da Bao intercepted him.
With a somewhat complex expression, Da Bao said, "If you don't want to die, cooperate properly."
"Cooperate with what? I don't know what you're talking about!"
The man's emotions suddenly became agitated and anxious. He kept looking around, seemingly searching for an escape route.
"It seems some people only become honest after experiencing some hardship."
As soon as Li Zhonglou finished speaking, Da Bao immediately grabbed the man's shoulder.
The man cried out in pain. To their surprise, the fellow directly knelt down.
"Please, let me go. I was only forced to do a job, and I don't know if these positions were real or fake."
Li Zhonglou's brow furrowed. Da Bao, however, seemed experienced and calmly said, "You can't possibly not know. You get paid quite a bit for each person you recruit, don't you?"
"There was money, but I didn't do anything myself, did I? Whether to come or not was a personal choice."
Seeing the man still trying to quibble, Da Bao's expression instantly turned grim.
"Stop pretending. I've dealt with your supervisor before. Do you think you can still fool me?"
"What supervisor? I don't know what you're talking about! Someone gave me money to do a job, so I helped them, I haven't broken any laws!"
Da Bao sneered, "If you haven't broken the law, why were you running just now?"
The man fell silent.
However, to Da Bao's surprise, Li Zhonglou suddenly spoke, "In that case, let him go for now. He's just a small fry."
Da Bao gave Li Zhonglou a bewildered look, his brow furrowed.
Despite his confusion, he eventually released the man as Li Zhonglou had instructed.
"Thank you, thank you."
The man quickly bowed to both of them and quickly walked away without looking back.
"He was clearly lying. Why did you let him go?"
Da Bao was utterly perplexed.
Li Zhonglou smiled and said, "How else would we catch the big fish?"
"Hm?"
Li Zhonglou offered no explanation and instead followed the man, trailing him discreetly.
"Didn't we come to the casino to find someone? Where are we going now?"
"Just follow me. Let's wander around the vicinity for now."
With his Heavenly Eye perspective ability, he didn't need the man to be within his line of sight, which was why Da Bao was so confused.
As for the private casino, Li Zhonglou had already scanned it completely and found no sign of the target individual inside.
Therefore, rather than wasting time there, it was better to find a bigger fish first.
The man's reaction just now was, at best, enough to fool a rookie fresh out of school. Any observant person knew that guy was lying!
The more this was the case, the more it indicated the presence of a higher-ranking leader behind him!