Chapter 1561 — The Gaokao Is Coming
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
"On the surface, our task force still has to lock Wei Zhao in as the criminal suspect. That cannot be helped. But in private, I am giving you a secret mission. Go investigate in the shadows and find out the truth. To the outside world, I will announce that you have been given leave. I hope you can unravel what really happened. If you need anything, call me anytime. I will cooperate with you in every way I can!" Yang Huaijun said.
"Yes! Thank you, Brother Yang!" Qiu Lingshan was both startled and delighted by Yang Huaijun's words, and she nodded at once. "Rest assured, I will complete the mission, uncover the truth, and clear Wei Zhao's name!"
"Mm, by the way, it has been some time since we met. It seems you have taken a bit of a liking to Wei Zhao?" With business finished, Yang Huaijun made a joke. "Before, were you two not bickering sweethearts?"
"Brother Yang, you are teasing me again..." Qiu Lingshan said, embarrassed as she smoothed her hair.
"What? Embarrassed now?" Yang Huaijun asked with a smile.
"Not exactly. It is just that I have been pursuing him all along, but I have not succeeded yet." Qiu Lingshan decided to tell the plain truth. "Besides, my strength was raised with his help."
"Him? He helped you improve?" Yang Huaijun was taken aback. He himself came from an aristocratic family, so he knew very well the internal cultivation method Qiu Lingshan practiced. The Song family's mantra leaned toward dual cultivation, yet Qiu Lingshan said her pursuit had not yet succeeded, which meant the two had not cultivated together. Without dual cultivation, how had her strength been raised?
Suddenly, Yang Huaijun recalled a phone call Wei Zhao had made to him some time ago, in which he had apparently said he had found a way to restore his own strength. Could it be that Wei Zhao had used that same method on Qiu Lingshan?
"It is funny to tell, actually. He raised both Chen Yuxuan and me to early Xuan rank in one go..." Qiu Lingshan said with a bitter smile. "Brother Yang, do you think someone as formidable as Wei Zhao would still go and commit those crimes?"
"Chen Yuxuan too..." Yang Huaijun drew in a sharp breath of cold air. He had not expected that even Chen Yuxuan had leveled up. Then was he himself not the only one left around Wei Zhao who was not even a Huang-rank fighter?
"Yes!" Qiu Lingshan nodded. "So, as you know, Brother Yang, with such a trick in hand, Wei Zhao could go to any aristocratic family, or even any hidden house, and be honored as a revered guest. What money could he not have? Why would he rob a bank? And as for teasing young girls, that is even more absurd. Never mind the pretty darlings waiting in line at his home, even I am waiting right here. Instead of teasing us, he goes to tease others? What kind of mindset would that be?"
"Ha ha!" Yang Huaijun was amused by Qiu Lingshan's words and smiled. "Lingshan, in fact I have believed from start to finish that Wei Zhao did not commit these cases. I have watched the recording too. Although the man in it is indeed Wei Zhao, he did not give me that feeling of closeness. It was more like a familiar strangeness. Outwardly he looks like Wei Zhao, but if you look closely, you feel he is not!"
"Yes, since you support me too, Brother Yang, I feel even more confident. I will get to the bottom of this!" Qiu Lingshan said, clenching her fists.
The video recording had been posted online by a citizen filmer. At the same time the police saw it, ordinary citizens naturally saw it too, and that of course included Gu Mengyao, Shen Yushu, and Tang Zhi!
The three sat around the computer, watching the clip posted on the internet over and over.
"This is not Wei Zhao..." Tang Zhi was the first to shake her head, speaking with certainty. "I cannot say why, but I trust my feeling. If I must give a reason, it is that I feel no quickened heartbeat, no spark, toward the man in the picture..."