Chapter 166: Dead, So I Can Rest in Peace Forever

At 10 PM.

The streets were becoming emptier, and even the malls had already closed their doors.

Several private cars gradually exited the parking lot of the Gusu Xiangcheng Criminal Investigation Team. It seemed like the officers had just finished their shifts, but in fact, all of the vehicles had the same destination—heading straight toward the West Mountain Orchard.

One minute after receiving the latest intelligence from Lin Tian, Liu Yang quickly organized his officers and immediately set off for the West Mountain Orchard that Lin Tian had mentioned.

…

The private cars sped down the road, and at the same time, several cars from the Xiangcheng SWAT team also pulled out of their parking lot.

Since it was already late at night, the road was clear and they didn’t need sirens to clear the way.

In the vehicle at the front of the convoy, Liu Yang, familiar with the area of Xiangcheng, was seated in the driver’s seat. He glanced at Bai Yu sitting beside him, and then looked at Zheng Hui through the rearview mirror before speaking slowly.

“West Mountain Orchard.”

“It’s a rather remote area in Xiangcheng District, about half an hour’s drive from the city center, on the hillside of Xishan.”

“Even if we rush there at full speed, it will still take at least twenty minutes to arrive, not to mention the climb. Let’s hope nothing unexpected happens on the way.”

Clearly, although they were already on the move, Liu Yang was still a little uneasy.

The distance from the Xiangcheng Criminal Investigation Team to West Mountain Orchard was quite far. At full speed, they would still need at least twenty minutes to reach the foot of the mountain, and then they would have to climb up.

In other words, the other hidden members of the organization had more than enough time to deal with Poison, and given the ruthlessness of this organization, they could easily execute a preemptive strike.

Sitting in the passenger seat, Bai Yu raised the collar of his coat and took out his phone to check the map. He frowned slightly and remarked regretfully.

“What a pity.”

“I just looked at the map, and I found that West Mountain Orchard is actually less than five minutes’ drive from the Shuiyuan Longting villa area we previously investigated.”

“If we had known back then that Poison was hiding at West Mountain Orchard, we would have been able to capture him right away, and there wouldn’t be any need for us to worry now.”

Hearing this, Liu Yang nodded in agreement but immediately shook his head and gave a serious explanation while tapping the steering wheel.

“Although Shuiyuan Longting is indeed close to West Mountain Orchard, it’s… just too difficult, Detective Bai.”

“After we finished searching the villa area, we were carefully evaluating and searching all the possible hiding places for Poison. But even after considering so many locations, we never thought of West Mountain Orchard.”

“Even though we had considered whether Poison might hide in a familiar place or whether he might be acquiring cyanide from somewhere.”

“We never imagined that, in order to extract enough cyanide for his crimes, Poison would go so far as to buy a whole orchard. That really caught us off guard.”

“Of course, it’s easy to make these conclusions in hindsight.”

“But in the environment we were in earlier, it was really hard to consider that possibility. If it weren’t for Director Lin and Deputy Group Leader Su making a major breakthrough, I suspect Poison would still be able to hide for a while.”

Zheng Hui, sitting in the back seat, leaned forward, looking at Liu Yang, who was in the driver’s seat, and asked curiously.

“Director Liu.”

“What’s the situation with Ming Ge and the others?”

“Have they completed their mission? Otherwise, how could we be so sure about the current location of Poison’s hideout and act immediately?”

Bai Yu also seemed confused and looked toward Liu Yang.

Feeling the puzzled looks from both of them, Liu Yang let out a deep breath and then nodded firmly, speaking with genuine admiration.

“Yes.”

“Deputy Group Leader Su’s case-solving ability really surpasses everyone’s expectations.”

“In less than an hour this morning, the private cinema poisoning case in Gusu made unprecedented progress.”

“Then, after arriving in Liangxi City, with full cooperation from the Yihua Criminal Investigation Team, just a few minutes ago, we successfully captured and controlled the important member of the drug trafficking organization—Rose.”

“That’s when we managed to extract information about Poison, allowing us to head out immediately.”

“So, we can’t afford to fall behind. We must capture Poison and force him to give up other crucial information and clues!”

After finishing his words, Liu Yang couldn’t help but feel a surge of passion, subconsciously pressing harder on the accelerator.

This was the first time since becoming the head of the Xiangcheng Criminal Investigation Team that he felt the youthful passion from when he first started as a rookie detective.

…

At this time.

In the West Mountain Orchard of Xiangcheng District.

Snap—snap—

The sound of dry branches breaking echoed from far to near.

In the dark fruit grove in the distance, a burly man dressed in an old, black raincoat and rain boots, his clothes covered in dried bloodstains, was carrying a rusty, bone-cutting knife with only the front half slightly sharpened. He was walking slowly toward a wooden house on the hillside.

In the burly man’s view, through the faint light from the worker’s house, a shadow was flickering inside, seemingly looking for something. Then it suddenly stood still, pressing against the wall before quickly turning off the light.

The darkness completely enveloped the fruit grove.

In this remote area, far from light pollution, the night sky after 10 PM was dotted with countless sparkling stars.

The burly man walked to the door of the wooden house, tapped lightly on the not-so-sturdy wooden door with his bone-cutting knife, and spoke in a low voice.

“It’s me, the Butcher.”

“K sent me to take you away. Gusu is no longer safe.”

Three seconds later.

Creak—

The old wooden door opened with a screech.

Poison, hiding behind the door with half of his body, looked warily at the Butcher and cautiously asked.

“Butcher, did K send you to take me away? Or is there something else going on?”

Clearly, Poison was not stupid. He knew well how the drug organization dealt with those who were exposed.

Just like… those failures who didn’t pass their tests—none of them had ever lived to be captured by the police.

The burly Butcher turned his head and gave Poison a cold glance. Through the moonlight reflection, he noticed the gun Poison was holding in his other hand and gave a contemptuous sneer.

With an impassive expression, he walked into the wooden house and casually sat on the bed. He took out his phone, dialed K’s number, and put it on speaker, saying emotionlessly.

“K knows you’ll react like this when you see me.”

“So, the moment I saw you, I called him. Only after talking to you and confirming the arrangements will he be completely at ease.”

While speaking coldly, the waiting tone from the speaker continued to echo.

Beep—

Beep—

Beep—

…

After Poison habitually counted fifteen seconds in his mind, the call was finally answered.

This time.

K followed the fifteen-second code.

As soon as the call was connected, Poison quickly took two steps forward, grabbed the phone, and spoke urgently.

“Boss K.”

“Didn’t you say you’d help me? Why did you send the Butcher to find me?”

“My place has never been told to anyone else, only you and I know about it. If the Butcher exposes his whereabouts, won’t that put me in danger too?”

After a two-second pause.

K’s calm voice then came through, with an air of detachment.

“Oh? So, no one else knows about this place?”

“Don’t worry, Poison. I know what you’re thinking right now, but it hasn’t reached the point where I must give up on you.”

“I’ve found a new route that will allow you to leave Gusu City safely. The Butcher came to find you using this method, so you’ll go with him soon.”

With those words, Poison glanced at the burly man in front of him, still filled with worry and unease, and continued.

“Boss K.”

“Is this new route safe? Could there be any other unexpected issues?”

“How about you let the Butcher leave first? I’ll stay hidden here for a few more days. No one will find this place, and I’ll be safe and not have to worry anymore.”

The next moment, on the other end of the phone, K’s slightly cold voice responded immediately.

“Poison, you may be at ease now.”

“But I’m not. I might have to keep worrying every day. Do you understand?”

These words made Poison freeze for a moment. He wanted to say something, but suddenly a sharp, unprecedented pain pierced through his chest.

Looking down at his chest, he saw a bone-cutting knife that had been almost entirely embedded in his heart.

Poison’s eyes widened in shock, but his vision grew increasingly blurry. He tried to say something, but all that escaped his mouth was a rattling sound as blood poured out.

Then, the burly Butcher gripped Poison’s head with his left hand, and with his right hand, he yanked out the rusty bone-cutting knife that had been lodged in Poison’s heart.

Pfft—

Blood erupted like a fountain, splashing onto the Butcher’s face, staining his old raincoat, and mixing with the dried bloodstains.

Even though his face was drenched in blood, the Butcher showed no emotion, remaining as indifferent as if slaughtering a pig. He extended his tongue and licked the warm blood from the corner of his mouth.

On the opposite side, Poison staggered backward, falling onto the ground.

Thud—

Blood continued to pour from his heart wound, but Poison’s pupils had already dilated, losing focus, and his body temperature began to drop slowly.

The Butcher slowly crouched down, pulled the phone from Poison’s tightly clenched hand, and ended the call.

K’s final cold words echoed in the wooden house.

“Only by dying can you rest in peace forever.”