Chapter 61: The Calamity from Heaven

  Outside, Jiao Yue was sitting in the van waiting, it was almost eight o'clock, and he was wondering why Director Lu was late. Then, he saw Director Lu rushing out.

  Lu Zhong got on the car and asked: "Have you seen Hu Zi?"

  Jiao Ye was taken aback for a moment, shook his head and said: "Didn't go down to Nanying Temple?"

  Lu Zhong waved his hand and said, "Go to the county bureau, hurry!" He then lit a lighter, burned the crumpled paper in his left hand, crushed the ashes, and slowly scattered them out of the car window. The paper was naturally a note left by Lu Xiaotiger. If something really happened to Lu Xiaotiger, this note couldn't be seen by anyone, or it would be ironclad evidence of premeditated harm.

  No matter how anxious he was, Lu Zhong didn't forget to grab the note and bring it out with him.

  The more critical the situation, the calmer Lu Zhong became. This was a psychological quality that a commander had to possess on the battlefield where life and death were at stake.

  Jiao Yue didn't know what had happened, but at this time the van suddenly accelerated to full speed and sped onto the county highway.

  In less than ten minutes, the van drove into the county bureau's courtyard. However, there was nothing unusual in the yard, just like any ordinary day during working hours, with police officers riding bicycles back and forth, their bicycle bells ringing out from time to time.

  Lu Zhong hastily went upstairs and first entered his own office. Wang Yuguo followed closely behind, bringing a stack of files. Looking at Wang Yuguo's face, there was nothing out of the ordinary.

  "Have you seen Tuzi? And Gao Zhikai?" Lu Zhong asked.

  Wang Yuguo said: "Deputy Director Gao just came to ask you when you would arrive, it seemed like he wanted to find you for something? Did Du Suo come to the bureau?"

  Lu Zhong directly asked, to observe Wang Yuguo's reaction. Although Wang Yuguo has always shown himself to be very close to him, now there are rumors outside that when he went to the Party School, it was the day he was being investigated by the Municipal Discipline Inspection Commission. At this critical moment, Wang Yuguo may not necessarily be loyal to himself, and hiding some things from himself is also normal.

  But Wang Yuguo obviously had no idea what was going on, his face bewildered and not pretending.

  Lu Zhong hummed and said: "Gao Zhi Kai looking for me?"

  Wang Yuguo said: "Yes, he just went downstairs to the second floor for investigation, I called him on the phone."

  Lu Zhong waved his hand and said, "I'll go down now." After speaking, he got up and hastily walked out.

  Wang Yuguo was slightly stunned, what's wrong with Director Lu today? This doesn't seem like his style.

  Yu Zhenmo's eyes were also black and blue in one spot, no idea how it happened, can't be that Lu Ju hit him again, right?

  ……

  The second floor criminal investigation department is adjacent to the interrogation room. When Lu Zhong entered the house, Gao Zhi Kai was applying a white towel to his swollen eye, and Zhao Mingbang, the deputy director of the criminal investigation department, was washing the towel in front of the basin rack.

  Seeing Lu Zhong come in, Gao Zhi Kai suddenly smiled, "Director Lu, it's rare to see you here. I thought you'd spend the rest of your life sitting on the third floor, high and mighty." His words were laced with sarcasm, as if he hadn't felt so carefree in a long time.

  It's almost certain now that Du Xiaohu has encountered an accident.

  "Zhao Mingbang, have you seen Du Xiaohu?" Lu Zhong turned to Old Zhao, his tone extremely severe.

  Zhao Mingbang's eyes flickered, wanting to speak but not daring to.

  "So you knew, huh?" Gao Zhikai sneered, slamming the towel to the ground. "I knew it, someone must have instructed him, was it you? Instructed him to shoot me! Lu Zheng, let's see how you explain this!"

  Lu Zhong knew that as long as he asked Du Xiaohu, the chamber pot would definitely be thrown over, but at this time, it was not the time to care about gains and losses, ensuring Du Xiaohu's safety was more important than anything else.

  "Where's Du Xiaohu?" Lu Zhong asked, not waiting for Gao Zhikai to answer, he turned around and left the room, came to the interrogation room next door, kicked it open with a loud bang.

  Lu Zhong immediately saw Du Xiaohu.

  His hands and feet were handcuffed, curled up on the ground, with a bruised nose and swollen face, and fresh blood flowing from the corner of his mouth, soaking the white cloth in his mouth. His eyes were filled with anger, struggling desperately, until he saw Lu Zhen, his tense body suddenly relaxed, but there was endless regret in his eyes.

  Behind Lu Zhong, Gao Zhi Kai and Zhao Ming Bang also followed quickly, with Zhao Ming Bang walking at the end and gently closing the door.

  "What's going on?" Lu Zhong pointed at Du Xiaohu, his face gloomy.

  Gao Zhikai said coldly: "You know what's going on in your own heart!"

  Lu Zhong wanted to go and support Du Xiaohu, but was stopped by Gao Zhi Kai. Gao Zhi Kai had a cold smile at the corner of his mouth: "What, do you want to collude? I'll tell you, Du Xiaohu has confessed. He committed armed robbery with intent to murder. And you, are the mastermind behind it all!"

  Lu Zhong frowned and said: "You must take responsibility for your words! Du Xiaohu committed a crime with a gun? I think you're trying to frame him out of personal revenge!"

  Gao Zhikai laughed, "Lu Zhong, I've always misjudged you. You're not a roughneck at all, but rather meticulous and ruthless. Unfortunately, the law is like a net that's loose yet doesn't leak. Even if you try to cover it up, there are witnesses. Du Xiaohu's crime was witnessed by Old Zhao himself. Do you think you can protect this foolish kid? Or should you consider your own situation first?"

  Lu Zhong turned his head and looked at Zhao Mingbang, asking in a low voice: "Did you see Du Xiaohu commit murder?"

  Lu Zhong's majestic aura still lingered, and Zhao Mingbang didn't dare to meet Lu Zhong's gaze, shrinking back and nodding timidly.

  Lu Zhong said: "Alright, you tell me, what's going on?"

  Zhao Mingbang looked more like a prisoner, and he didn't dare look at Lu Zhong. He stuttered: "Earlier, I didn't catch up... when I came in, I saw Director Gao kneeling on the ground..."

  At this point, Gao Zhikai's face changed and he glared at him fiercely.

  Zhao Mingbang didn't notice, and continued to say: "Du Suoer was holding a handgun against Gao Ju's head. Gao Ju kept doing ideological work on him, saying that if he fired the gun, it would ultimately implicate Director Lu as well. So, I took advantage of Du Suoer's distraction, hugged him from behind, and together with Gao Ju, we...we managed to get the gun away from him and handcuff him..."

  Lu Zhong furrowed his brow and said: "How is this possible? How can we explain the injuries on Du Xiaohu's body?"

  Zhao Mingbang's face changed color, and he looked at Gao Zhikai with a pleading expression, "This, this I don't know."

  Actually, Lu Zhong had already roughly guessed the beginning and end of things. Originally, Hu Zi had controlled Gao Zhi Kai, but Gao Zhi Kai moved himself out, definitely threatening him that if he fired a shot, it wouldn't just be his own business, but would also implicate himself. Hu Zi hesitated for a moment, thinking ahead and behind, and at the moment of distraction, was ambushed by Zhao Ming Bang who had quietly entered the room.

  As for the injuries on Tiger's body, it is clear that they were inflicted by Gao Zhikai after the fact. He also wanted Du Xiaohu to confess that he was the mastermind behind the scenes, but even if he wasn't, and even if he really was the one who gave the order, how could Tiger possibly admit it?

  "No matter what, the facts have not been clarified yet, how can you treat your own comrade like this? Zhao Mingbang, immediately release Du Xiaohu and send him to the hospital!" As he spoke, Lu Zheng's face became increasingly gloomy.

  Gao Zhikai sneered, "The evidence is solid, Lu Zhong. I advise you to reflect on your past mistakes. I will report this matter to the county and municipal bureaus immediately. You can expect to be suspended from duty for investigation!"

  Lu Zhong pulled Gao Zhi Kai, who was blocking his way, to one side and stared at Zhao Ming Bang: "Old Zhao, the handcuffs on Du Xiao Hu's hands are from your criminal investigation team. I'm asking you, will you unlock them or not?"

  Under Lu Zhong's gaze, Zhao Mingbang's legs were trembling and he involuntarily said: "Yes, yes...... open it, open it......", after all, Lu Zhong was still the head of the Zheng Bureau, and the prestige he had established in recent days made him dare not resist.

  Zhao Mingbang lowered his head and walked over, he didn't need to see Gao Zhikai's gaze, in his heart he also knew that Gao Ju's face must be very unsightly, could only secretly sigh, if only I had known, why did I have to come to work so early today? Isn't this just asking for trouble?

  Zhao Mingbang opened the handcuffs and shackles on Du Xiaohu, helped him up, and pulled out the cloth strip from his mouth. Just as Du Xiaohu was about to speak, Lu Zhong sternly shouted: "Don't say anything, go to the hospital for treatment first! After the investigation is clear, I'll settle accounts with you!" He was afraid that as soon as Du Xiaohu opened his mouth, he would say something like "It was all my doing, and Director Lu has nothing to do with it" in an attempt to cover up.

  Du Xiaohu wasn't stupid. At this moment, he regretted it even more and wanted to kill himself, but he knew that if he died, his brother would be even more unable to speak out, so he could only nod silently.

  At this time, Hou Jianjun hastily pushed open the door and came in, seeing the scene inside the interrogation room, he was stunned.

  He just came back from outside and heard that the subordinates of the criminal investigation department said that Lu Ju and Gao Deputy Bureau had entered the interrogation room, so he didn't know what was going on and followed them.

  "Look at what you've done with your detective work!" Lu Zhong glared at Hou Jianjun and escorted Du Xiaohu out of the house.

  Gao Zhikai shouted coldly from behind Lu Zhong: "Lu Zhong, don't think you can cover the sky with one hand. I'm going to report this to the county leaders right now. You know how severe the consequences will be today? Just wait and see you and Du Xiaohu go to prison together!"

  Hou Jianjun, a two-and-a-half-year-old monk, was at a loss, seeing Lu Zhong's face turn bad, his heart grew more anxious, and after hearing Gao Zhi Kai's words, he became even more furious, blurting out: "Shut your mother's mouth, what kind of bird language are you speaking?!"

  Hou Jianjun is currently serving as the head of the criminal investigation department, but Gao Zhikai often comes to stir up trouble, which makes Hou Jianjun unhappy. Today was even more obvious, in the territory of the criminal investigation department, he provoked Director Lu, which made Hou Jianjun even angrier. This shows that several months after taking office, he still hasn't firmly grasped control of the criminal investigation department.

  It doesn't matter if Lu Bureau leaves or not, even if he really leaves, it has nothing to do with Gao Zhikai!