HCB Chapter 1927 The Ghost Hidden Under the Monk's Robe
Chapter 1927 The Ghost Hidden Under the Monk's Robe
Siheyuan, Li family.
Li Xiangnan sat in the armchair, listening to Jiang Qitao's words on the phone, deep in thought.
“I think it would be better to open on New Year’s Day. That way, there won’t be such a rush. After the full moon celebration on the sixth day of the lunar new year, there will be a whole month to help with the pre-opening matters. We have plenty of time and can handle things at our own pace. Anyway, the best golden period has passed now. If we can produce serum for two quarters before next summer, we will be able to cope with the booming market next time!”
Hearing Jiang Qitao's confidence in the serum, Li Xiangnan burst out laughing, "You had a good hunch, it'll be a hit..."
"What? Don't you think so? I'm very confident! Your name, Li Xiangnan, combined with the prestigious Jiang family brand, is an unbeatable combination! We're sure to become famous all over the country!" Jiang Qitao was extremely confident.
"Alright, then we'll do it your way. You discuss it with Henwan, Jingzhe, and Guoqing. Once my full moon celebration is over, I'll go back to prepare for the pharmaceutical factory. In the meantime, I'll trouble you to handle the staff training and equipment debugging. If you have any problems, you can talk to Yuqiu; she's an expert in this!"
"I understand, okay, that's settled for now. I'll bring your sister-in-law some good food another day, bye-bye!"
After hanging up the phone, the cool touch of the phone casing still lingered on his fingertips. Li Xiangnan looked out the door.
In the courtyard, the afternoon sun slanted down under two jujube trees, and several pots of orchids stretched out in the light and shadow.
Jiang Qitao's call basically indicates that the pharmaceutical factory's recent progress is proceeding in an orderly manner, and preparations for its opening have already begun.
This is one of the biggest things that has happened to me recently.
New Year's Day!
With everything renewed and the new year beginning, it's a good day!
But before that, there are some things that need to be taken care of as soon as possible.
He took a deep breath, got up, stepped out of the room, crossed the courtyard, and came to his grandfather's room across the street.
As soon as the door was pushed open, the smell of cooking and the sounds of people coming from inside rushed out.
A dozen or so people were crammed into a small side room of less than 20 square meters.
Guo Qian, Defa, Zimo, and Wei Jingfei stood or sat around the octagonal table in the room, which was covered with photos, notes, and a hand-drawn simplified map of Pudu Temple.
Zhang Long and Zhao Hu stood like two door gods, leaning against the walls on either side of the doorway, silent yet alert.
Scattered around were key members of the city's criminal investigation team, some quickly taking notes, others discussing something.
The moment Li Xiangnan entered, the conversation inside the room abruptly stopped.
Everyone looked at him, their eyes filled with the focused attention of someone whose intense discussion had been interrupted, and a subtle anticipation of seeing him.
"Where were we?" Li Xiangnan closed the door behind him, walked to the empty chair, felt in his shirt pocket, took out a cigarette, first offered it to his grandfather, and then offered it to the others.
Grandpa Li Dequan leaned against the kang (a heated brick bed) reading a chess manual. He took a cigarette but didn't say a word, as if the discussion in the room had nothing to do with him.
But Li Xiangnan knew that his grandfather was listening intently.
Guo Qian lit his lighter, rubbed his bloodshot eyes, and pointed to a marked point on the simplified map, saying, "We're getting to the crucial point. We've been summarizing all the information Xiao Gan and Xiao Liu have sent back over the past three days, plus Yi Ming's observations from the outside! Our judgment is the same as Yi Ming's: the focus is basically locked on this person..."
He pointed his finger heavily at the paper listing the temples, specifically at Yuan Neng's name.
Li Xiangnan exhaled a puff of smoke, looked at him, and gestured for him to continue.
"There are several reasons, but they're as obvious as lice on a bald man's head!"
Guo Qian's tone was cold and methodical, typical of a criminal investigation captain: "First, considering all the monks of the Yuan generation, including Yuan Tong, Yuan Neng, Yuan Hui, and Yuan Da, there are a total of fourteen Yuan-character brothers in the temple. This Yuan Neng is the only one in the temple who has been confirmed to have repeatedly and voluntarily appeared in sensitive areas!"
He took the notebook Wei Jingfei handed him and flipped through it, saying, "Xiao Gan's report said that they went to the backyard six times in three days. On four of those occasions, they saw Yuan Neng tending to the nursery nearby. Also yesterday, Xiao Gan and his companion were questioning Yuan Da when Yuan Neng appeared in time to rescue him, preventing them from gathering more information. In fact, if things had continued, Yuan Da would have revealed many clues yesterday!"
Wei Jingfei snapped the cap off Li Xiangnan's lighter shut, his face resolute: "Besides, have you guys noticed how this bald monk looks at people? Damn it, it's like a knife, staring straight at you as if you owe him two hundred yuan! This doesn't look like a kind-faced, vegetarian monk chanting Buddhist prayers; it looks more like a debt collector's thug!"
“There’s a second point,” Guo Qian said, smiling briefly before fading his smile and continuing, “This person showed an unusual level of concern and resistance to the police investigation!”
"Xiao Liu specifically mentioned in his report that every time Yuan Neng encountered them, he would coldly ask them what they wanted to investigate, and his attitude was extremely hostile, as if he harbored great hostility towards their actions in the temple! Of course, the most crucial point here is Liu Yiming's judgment on the first day!"
Guo Qian looked at Wei Jingfei, "Old Wei, tell me about Yiming's report from that day!"
Wei Jingfei nodded and opened his notebook. "Advisor Li, Xiao Liu said the other day that he pretended to wait for work outside the temple and noticed this elemental energy when he observed people coming and going!"
"At the time, Yiming deliberately acted suspiciously, glancing into the temple from time to time! He then discovered that Yuan Neng deliberately made excuses to walk near the mountain gate three times, staring at him sharply, lingering for far longer than normal curiosity!"
"Yiming immediately felt that this person was too vigilant, unlike the reaction of a normal ordinary person! So Yiming deliberately created a loophole, pretending to try to sneak in, and sure enough, Yuan Neng immediately grabbed him and questioned him. His reaction was very quick, as if he had been watching people outside enter the temple all along!"
Guo Qian then picked up the conversation, judging: "What does this mean? It means that Yuan Neng is extremely sensitive to external surveillance and has a clear duty of vigilance! This is definitely not something an ordinary menial monk should be concerned with!"
Li Xiangnan raised his eyebrows slightly, but did not speak.
Song Ziming also chimed in, "Brother Nan, I think there's still a motive and the capability! According to the blueprints and scattered records sent back by Comrade Qianjin, the Jixiangku project involves earthwork, structure, and even some special materials..."
"As the monk in charge of repairs and miscellaneous tasks within the temple, Yuan Neng had the convenient access to these projects and the knowledge of their hidden secrets! I think he is also the most likely to discover the secret passage, or rather, it is precisely because of this that he was bribed by the Little Buddha, or that he is actually one of the Little Buddha's men!"
The others in the room nodded in agreement.
This primordial energy is the "ghost" they are looking for, hidden under the monk's robe!
Guo Qian concluded, "Therefore, Advisor Li, my judgment is that this Yuan Neng is very likely an inside agent planted by the Buddha in Pudu Temple, or even the executor specifically responsible for using the secret passage to carry out illegal collusion! He knows about the secret passage, so he pays attention to anyone who might explore it, and he has both the ability and the motivation to maintain this secret! I feel that what the old abbot said is probably him!"
However, amidst the almost certain atmosphere, Li Xiangnan remained silent.
He didn't immediately agree, but got up and walked to the window, looking at the sky cut off by the eaves of the courtyard house, and remained silent for a few seconds.
The sense of certainty that had just warmed up inside the room slowly cooled and tightened as he fell silent.
“The reasons are very valid, and the logic is sound!” Li Xiangnan’s words made everyone prick up their ears. “But it’s too logical, so logical that it’s as if someone deliberately laid it out, just waiting for us to pick it up!”
He turned around, his gaze gentle and calm: "Don't you guys feel that the clues have been coming too smoothly ever since we entered Pudu Temple?"
"The old abbot's words were vague yet contained clear hints. Xiao Gan and Xiao Liu found the key blueprints with almost no trouble. Although someone tried to erase that part of the information, Yuan Neng's resistance and vigilance towards the investigation were practically written on his face. Even when Liu Yiming tried to probe, he immediately jumped out..."
Wang Defa asked in confusion, "Doesn't this just prove that he has a guilty conscience?"
"Is he guilty? Or is he deliberately trying to attract our attention?" Li Xiangnan countered. "If Yuan Neng is truly an inside man carefully planted by Little Buddha, responsible for such an important secret passage, would he expose himself to the police so easily? Just because Liu Yiming was loitering at the door, he personally jumped out to confront him? This doesn't fit the behavior pattern of a deep-seated undercover agent, nor does it fit the logic of Little Buddha's group! He's far too impatient!"
Song Ziming pondered, "Brother Nan, do you mean... he might be a decoy? Someone pushed out to be a scapegoat?"
Li Xiangnan did not directly affirm his words, but instead found a photo and pushed it on the table towards everyone.
The photo shows the sleeve of Yuanda's monk's robe, with a shocking dark brown stain on it!
Everyone craned their necks, completely bewildered, staring at the photo, wondering what Li Xiangnan was trying to express.
"Xiao Li, what do you mean by this?" Even De Fa, who is usually very meticulous, was confused.
Li Xiangnan squinted and said, "You all think this is just mud, but... what if I said it's gunpowder..."
"hiss!"
These words shocked everyone present!
But that wasn't all. Li Xiangnan made an even more astonishing statement, a single sentence that sent chills down everyone's spine: "What if I said that this was the gunpowder used in the Mu family bombing?"
boom!
Sizzle, pop!
In an instant, a whole bunch of stools and chairs in the room collapsed with a crash, and everyone stood up, dumbfounded...