He turned a blind eye to his subordinates and the business of selling women, treating it as childish play, harmless.
After all, the peripheral business still had to be done, and it was even better to have someone to help. It was just that the methods were a bit too clumsy.
They could have openly taken the women out; a trip would have settled everything.
He shook his head silently.
The task force arrived very quickly. They came that afternoon.
Before the task force arrived, several major events occurred at the bureau.
One was that Xiao Yu was attacked by unknown individuals while resting at the bureau. Although he was not injured, he was startled. He hadn't expected them to be so reckless as to dare to carry out an attack within the bureau.
Another was that Wang Erkang was taken away by superior authorities, reportedly for dereliction of duty.
And then there was Li Shiqi, who was seriously injured. Fortunately, the rescue was timely, and his life was saved.
This series of changes made people feel dizzy. Those with keen senses knew that a storm was coming, though it was hard to say whose head it would fall upon.
The task force descended and, after a thorough investigation, the case gradually became clear.
From the very beginning, Wang Erkang had colluded with members of the underworld. He had climbed to his current position step by step with the massive financial support from the other party and opportunities to crack cases.
Of course, he had also provided the greatest protection to the other party, allowing them to benefit greatly from their expansion over the years. They had a mutually beneficial relationship.
This person was Long Linping, who now monopolized the underground industries of Maicheng. The people who attacked Xiao Yu and injured Li Shiqi were also arranged by him. When the task force sent people to search for Long Linping, the man had already fled.
When they interrogated Wang Erkang and arranged for people to arrest the accomplices, they found that the people had already disappeared.
Wang Erkang was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole for multiple crimes, including dereliction of duty, abuse of power for personal gain, collusion with external forces, and attacking superior investigating personnel.
This time, he would truly have to serve his sentence until the end of his days.
Guo Xuyang was recognized as a hero who acted bravely, his wanted notice was withdrawn, and he was commended.
Of course, this was all in hindsight.
Guo Xuyang spent several days in Maicheng. It wasn't until his wanted notice was withdrawn and he was recognized for his bravery that he returned to the hospital and retracted his doppelganger.
He entered the hospital as a criminal but left as a contributor, which was truly astonishing.
Xiao Yu did not let him off. After learning of Guo Xuyang's abilities from Xiao Yun, she had been waiting for him.
Although the last missing person had been found, how had she gone missing? How had she ended up in a residential complex? Xiao Yu couldn't figure this out, nor could she explain the disappearances of previous personnel.
Therefore, as soon as Guo Xuyang was cleared, Xiao Yu brought him to a factory beside the asphalt road in the urban-rural fringe.
"Captain Xiao, are we that close? What do you mean by this? I am a law-abiding citizen," Guo Xuyang said deliberately.
"Stop being sarcastic. I've run around a lot for your matters. If you can't show gratitude, that's one thing, but you can't just burn bridges, can you? Now I've encountered a problem and need your wise counsel," Xiao Yu said unceremoniously, attacking and defending at the same time.
"Don't say that. I don't owe you anything. I also don't have the ability to offer you counsel. You are the expert; if you can't handle it, I'm even more useless. I believe your department has plenty of experts. It would be foolish for me to show off my meager skills," Guo Xuyang refused to play along.
"Shall I bring Wen Yonghong over for you to meet?" Xiao Yu thought of trying to trick him.
"Who is Wen Yonghong? Why would you bring her over to meet me?" Guo Xuyang was confident in his powers.
He had transformed that day to enter, and it wasn't him at all. Even if Wen Yonghong came, she wouldn't recognize that the person that day was Guo Xuyang. Thus, he had no fear of Xiao Yu's trickery.
"How about this? If you help me with this, I'll help you pursue my sister, okay?" Xiao Yu tried a softer approach when the harder one failed.
"Who is your sister? Why should I pursue your sister?" Guo Xuyang said with a half-smile.
"You, you're simply unreasonable." Xiao Yu was so angry she was hopping.
"You brought me here without even a word. Although I hitched a ride with you to Maicheng, you can't just order me around, can you? Especially since you don't trust me at all."
"How can a grown man be so petty? Still holding a grudge. It's just that I didn't believe you were acting bravely in self-defense, was it worth it?
Besides, I specifically went to Da Li Bar to ask, and then reported to my superiors before I managed to sort out your situation. You don't think that my sister and your friends could resolve these matters? Do you think a wanted notice is that easy to withdraw? If it weren't for the task force coming down, you'd only be dreaming. Your friends could at most arrest Wang Erkang, but withdrawing the wanted notice? No way. In short, are you going to help or not?"
Xiao Yu seemed genuinely angry and blurted out the whole story without reservation.
Guo Xuyang truly did not know about the many intricacies involved, nor did he realize that this young woman, Xiao Yu, was genuinely helping him.
He was actually still upset that Xiao Yu hadn't told Xiao Yun that he was with her in the car at the time.
Of course, Xiao Yu had done the right thing. After all, in officialdom, one's actions were not entirely free. Some things could not be said. Seeing Xiao Yu truly angry, he felt a bit embarrassed.
"I can help, but with one condition. If you can do it, I'll help. If you can't, you can find whoever you want. I'm truly powerless," Guo Xuyang said.
"Tell me, what is your condition?"
"I can only help you this once, and what I do for you cannot be revealed to anyone, not even your sister. If you can agree to this, I'll take a look. If not, we go our separate ways. Of course, you have helped me quite a bit this time, and I will compensate you in other ways," Guo Xuyang said very seriously.
He really didn't want to be specially monitored by the authorities. Being a guinea pig would likely be even worse than being wanted.
"Okay. Just this once." Xiao Yu's expression softened considerably. "Come with me to the courtyard. I just can't figure out how these people were taken away under surveillance?"
Guo Xuyang followed Xiao Yu into the courtyard. The courtyard was empty, with only an old person basking in the sun. When he saw the old person, he suddenly remembered the one who had grabbed Wen Yonghong out of the car.
Although the old person sat in the chair with closed eyes, he could clearly sense that the old person had already noticed their arrival.
He couldn't help but extend his senses to the old person: This bothersome woman has come to cause trouble repeatedly. Find an opportunity to arrest her and send her to a nightclub, so she's out of sight.
Who is this young man? Haven't seen him before. Could he be a hired expert?
It doesn't matter if he's an expert. Who knows that people are hidden in the cellar below?
They won't be able to find them. So many people came and couldn't find them. What can this snot-nosed kid do? Forget it.