BPIFC -Volume 1 – Chapter 30 The Meeting

After all, because of this white-haired man, Che Qianzi had spent three months in the ICU. He still had some lingering fear of Wu Rendi.

Jumping down from the table, he said to Sun Desheng:

“Wasn’t he supposed to be your father-in-law? What, now that he knows his daughter isn’t his biological child, he’s coming to carry out justice and wipe out his own family—”

Before he could finish, Sun Fatty clamped a hand over his mouth.

With a grin, he said to Wu Rendi, whose gaze had swept over them:

“This kid became sworn brothers with me. He said he wants to visit his sister-in-law and niece. I was just wondering whether he should meet his sister-in-law’s side of the family too…”

“Whether he meets them or not doesn’t matter,” Wu Rendi replied coldly.

“In a few days, his sister-in-law will be a widow anyway.”

As he spoke, he glanced at Shen La standing nearby.

Then he continued: “I heard the woman you were set up with on a blind date was a widow. Sounds like you don’t have any prejudice against widows.”

Shen La forced a smile and lowered his head.

“Well… it was precisely because I found out she was a widow that it fell through. Not that I’m ashamed to admit it, Director Wu, but I come from a small town. People say I have… certain traditional preferences.”

Back then, Shen La had originally been Wu Rendi’s personally chosen “future son-in-law.”

Unfortunately, there had never been any chemistry between him and the woman who would later become Mrs. Sun.

In the end, Sun Desheng swooped in and won her over.

They even had a child in America the previous year.

Yet despite all that, Wu Rendi still found Shen La far more agreeable than Sun Desheng.

“That’s a sickness. You should get it treated.”

Wu Rendi gave Shen La one of his trademark looks.

Then his eyes swept across everyone in the room.

Though there had always been bad blood between Room Two and Room Six, nobody dared offend this legendary figure.

Everyone—including the three directors—lowered their heads, avoiding eye contact.

Of course, there was always an exception.

Amid the sea of lowered heads, Che Qianzi had broken free from Sun Desheng’s grip and was standing there with his neck stiffly raised, staring directly at Wu Rendi with exactly the same expression Wu himself wore.

Ordinarily, Wu Rendi had no worldly inhibitions and certainly no belief that adults shouldn’t bully youngsters.

Sending this little Taoist back to the ICU for another few months would have taken almost no effort.

Yet this time he let it slide.

Ignoring Che Qianzi completely, Wu merely gave him a mocking smile.

Then he turned to Yang Shuji and said:

“I’ve fulfilled my end of the bargain. As for what you promised me…”

Clearly, there was some private deal between the two.

Before Wu could finish speaking, Yang Shuji hurriedly interrupted with a flattering smile:

“Everything is already prepared. It’ll be done within a day or two. Please rest assured, Director Wu. Your matter is the Bureau’s highest priority.”

Annoyed by the chatter, Wu Rendi didn’t even wait for him to finish.

He turned around and walked out of the conference room.

Shen La looked back at Sun Desheng and gave him a helpless smile before following Wu toward Room Six.

Only then did everyone realize:

Wu Rendi had come here solely to back Yang Shuji.

That revelation made even those who had always recognized only Sun Desheng as Director-General begin to waver.

Once Wu Rendi left, Yang Shuji immediately changed his demeanor.

Returning to the podium with a stern expression, he took a sip of tea and said in an official tone:

“Now that all announcements have been made, let’s discuss the main issue. Director Ximen, please begin. Everyone below, quiet down. Don’t let the leadership hold a meeting up here while you hold another one down there.”

The moment Wu Rendi left, the investigators of Room Two had started whispering among themselves.

Everyone was discussing the Bureau’s political changes while secretly watching Sun Desheng’s reaction.

Sun Fatty, however, remained cheerful as ever, as though nothing had happened.

Che Qianzi couldn’t tolerate it anymore.

Leaning close, he whispered:

“You’ve already been stripped of your position. Didn’t you hear what your father-in-law said? He’s already looking for your wife’s next husband. That Shen guy is your friend? What kind of friend is that? Who knows what happened while you were away? Maybe he’s already been fooling around with your wife. See that? Even your father-in-law approves of him.”

“Don’t talk nonsense.”

Sun Fatty smiled.

“The friendship between me and Lazi was forged by risking our lives together. If there’s only one person in the world I can trust, it’s definitely him. If the day ever comes when I’m gone, and I can entrust my wife and daughter to him, that would be the best possible outcome.”

Che Qianzi stared at him as if he had become a completely different person.

Unable to understand such loyalty, he spat in disgust.

“Gross. You city people are really messed up.”

“Sun Desheng, what are you two still muttering about? We’re in a meeting! Shut up and listen to Director Ximen!”

Seeing the discussion continue below, Yang Shuji targeted Sun Fatty directly.

In his mind, once he put this fallen phoenix in his place, everyone else would fall in line.

“Come down here and let me give you a few kicks first. I won’t feel better until I smack some sense into you, old bastard!”

Che Qianzi might have been wary of Wu Rendi, but he had no fear of Yang Shuji.

His eyebrows shot up as he prepared to leap at him.

Fortunately, Sun Desheng grabbed him and held him down.

At the same time, he noticed Ximen Lian frantically signaling him with his eyes.

Turning toward the podium, he said:

“Go ahead, Director Ximen. With everyone from Room Two gathered, this must be something serious.”

Ximen Lian immediately moved to the main topic, not giving Che Qianzi another chance to cause trouble.

“Last Monday, an accident occurred involving Exploration Team No. 9 of the National Geological Survey in the Northwest. A cave-in trapped eleven team members underground. After rescue operations, three members were brought back to the surface alive. However, all three displayed varying degrees of mental illness upon returning.”

He glanced at his report.

“According to the experts, two of them were suffering from stress-induced hallucinations. Both claimed there were ghosts underground and that several team members had already died. The strange thing is that one of the supposedly dead team members they described was actually rescued alongside them.”

As he spoke, Ximen turned on the projector.

A photograph appeared on the wall.

It showed three corpses.

Two bodies were covered with knife wounds.

The third had a deep ligature mark around the neck, made by an extremely thin wire that had nearly severed the head entirely.

Looking at the image, Ximen continued:

“The third rescued team member developed extreme violent mania. After reaching the surface, he suddenly disappeared. He used a stolen utility knife to kill his teammates, then strangled himself to death with steel wire. According to eyewitness testimony, four grown men tried to take the wire away from him. None succeeded. They could only watch as he strangled himself to death.”

After hearing this, Sun Desheng raised a hand.

“I don’t understand. If this happened last Monday, why is it only reaching the Bureau now? According to procedure, this meeting should have happened no later than Wednesday or Thursday. What caused the delay?”

“At the time, all attending experts concluded it was simply an acute stress reaction, so the case wasn’t reported,” Ximen replied.

Flipping to another page, he continued:

“They continued rescue efforts for the remaining trapped personnel. Only yesterday were the others finally located. At that point, the experts realized the earlier incidents might not have been caused by stress after all.”

As he spoke, the projected image changed.

This time it showed piles of dismembered human remains that had been painstakingly rearranged into the shapes of four people.

After glancing at the image, Ximen said:

“These are the other team members who were rescued. Immediately after reaching the surface, they appeared calm and cooperative. However, about an hour later, they underwent drastic changes.”

His voice grew heavier.

“These four all committed suicide. After obtaining sharp tools, they systematically cut themselves apart into pieces. The rescue workers were horrified. In the end, not a single person dared to step forward and stop them.”