Chapter 2402 — Wei Zhao's Warning

"Oh?" Wei Zhao was slightly taken aback. He had only just returned and had not yet had the chance to ask about these details, but now that Qiu Lingshan had mentioned it, he really did find the two cases rather similar—and instinctively, a certain person came to mind!

He thought of what he had seen and heard at the hidden families' summit. These kidnappers, and that fake Wei Zhao as well—were they not much the same as those contestants An Mingyue had brought along? No wonder Wei Zhao had found something familiar about them at the time. And the men Li Biaohan had recruited on that occasion had been of a similar type.

"It was most likely the Fire Wolf Gang's doing," Wei Zhao said, his judgment leading him first to the Fire Wolf Gang.

"The Fire Wolf Gang?" Qiu Lingshan frowned. She had of course heard of the Fire Wolf Gang's reputation; it was a colossus no smaller than the ancient sects. Though it was an organization of a gang-like nature, apart from its notoriety there was no substantive criminal evidence against it, and the police could do nothing about them.

More importantly, the number of cultivators in the Fire Wolf Gang was enough to rival the ancient sects—ordinary people truly could not touch them.

"This is only my guess," Wei Zhao said. "But it was very likely An Liwen's doing. Of course, in the end, the person you catch will probably be some minor figure the Fire Wolf Gang trots out as a scapegoat—don't hold out too much hope."

"At least we have a direction to investigate." Qiu Lingshan sighed. Did she not know exactly what Wei Zhao was saying? If the Fire Wolf Gang really had done this, then they would certainly have left no evidence behind—that much was plain from the fake Wei Zhao they had captured earlier.

"Come by my villa when you have time. I'll give you the Minor Qi-Gathering Pill; once you take it, you'll advance to the early Earth Rank. It will also be good for your work," Wei Zhao said. "East Sea City is not like Pine Mountain City—the caliber of cultivators here is plainly higher than in Pine Mountain City."

"All right, I'll come get it once I've sorted things out on my end," Qiu Lingshan said. "Thank you..."

"Ha. What are you thanking me for?" Wei Zhao laughed.

Qiu Lingshan felt a warmth in her heart and hung up the phone happily—though the thought of the Fire Wolf Gang matter immediately brought the headache back.

In East Sea City, inside An Liwen's villa, this was already the third time Little Pure had called Lei Daming.

"Lei Daming, is your money ready or not? Our patience is limited. If we don't see the money in an hour, then we can only say sorry!" Little Pure spoke coldly through the voice changer.

"I... I really don't have any money!" Lei Daming said with a mournful face. "It's not that I won't pay—I'm no longer the chairman of the chamber of commerce. And the hidden Zhao family won't even let me handle their business in East Sea City anymore. They've sent me to Jidun City to manage business there..."

"If you don't have it, can't you get it from the hidden Zhao family?" Little Pure was hardly going to entertain his excuses. "One hour. No money, and we kill the hostage!"

With that, Little Pure hung up, paying no mind to Lei Daming's sobbing. But after ending the call, Little Pure shed his earlier roughness and said respectfully, "Young Master Wen, what Lei Daming says is probably true—he really has no money left. I made some inquiries: the chairman of the East Sea Chamber of Commerce has actually been replaced by an outsider named Gu Pengzhan..."

"What? Replaced by Gu Pengzhan?" An Liwen was stunned.

"Yes. Why don't we kidnap Gu Pengzhan's daughter and extort a sum from him?" Little Pure suggested. He was new, of course, and did not know the relationship between An Liwen, Gu Pengzhan, and Gu Mengyao.

"Little Pure, watch your mouth!" Big Mule knew all about An Liwen's affairs and glared at Little Pure. "Shut up!"

"Forget it, Big Mule, he didn't know." An Liwen waved a hand and did not blame Little Pure. "I've been courting Gu Pengzhan's daughter. If we kidnapped her and she found out afterward, I'd basically have no chance with her..."

Though by now, An Liwen himself felt he had little chance left, there was still, after all, a sliver of hope.

"Ah... I'm sorry, Young Master Wen." Little Pure was startled and silently committed the lesson to memory, thinking to himself that Gu Pengzhan was not someone to offend lightly. "But then what about Lei Daming's daughter?"

"If the money isn't there in an hour, finish her," An Liwen said coldly. "It will serve nicely to make an example of one to warn the rest. Kidnapping isn't easy for us either—those who won't pay naturally can't be allowed to get off easy! Fixed prices, no cheating anyone!"

"Understood!" Little Pure nodded.

An hour later, Lei Daming had not paid the ransom, so Big Mule finished off Lei Daming's daughter and dumped the body in the desolate countryside, having Little Pure call Lei Daming to identify the corpse.

Near a garbage dump on the outskirts of East Sea City, several police cars flashed their lights. Qiu Lingshan, Liu Wangli, and the others stood beside a woman's corpse while other officers were stringing up the cordon. Lei Daming sat on the ground at that moment, wailing loudly—he had never imagined the kidnappers would mean what they said and truly kill the hostage.

Though Qiu Lingshan found the kidnappers' arrogance truly outrageous, she felt little sympathy for Lei Daming in her heart. As a running dog of the hidden Zhao family, during his time as chairman of the East Sea Chamber of Commerce he had colluded with certain local merchants to bully and drive out outside investors, leaving the East Sea business world in a foul mess. Now he had been cast off by the hidden Zhao family and his daughter had been killed by the kidnappers—one might well call it evil repaid in kind.

Still, worthless as Lei Daming might be, the case had to be solved. After surveying the scene, Qiu Lingshan took Liu Wangli and headed straight for the An family villa in East Sea City.

Since Wei Zhao had said this matter might be connected to An Liwen of the Fire Wolf Gang, Qiu Lingshan naturally had to go and investigate in person.

When Qiu Lingshan arrived at the An family villa, An Liwen was not at home—only his father, An Mingyue, was there.

"Mr. An, I am Qiu Lingshan of the East Sea City Police Department's Criminal Investigation Unit. Here is my identification." Qiu Lingshan handed her credentials to An Mingyue. Though she and An Mingyue were hardly strangers, she still went by the book.

"So it's Lingshan. What brings you to see Uncle An?" An Mingyue said with a smile, though his heart gave a jolt—could something have gone wrong on An Liwen's end, some slip that gave them away? Otherwise, why would Qiu Lingshan come straight to him?