73: Chapter 73 Beneath the Abyss, the Clues Remain Unbroken

"Over these years, bit by bit... roughly... roughly over ten million..."

The moment he uttered this number, Huang Shixun collapsed into his chair, as if his spine had been ripped out.

Zhao Yang remained calm on the surface, but waves were already churning in his heart.

In 2001, over ten million was an almost astronomical figure.

Many families, after generations of hard work, might not even earn the fraction that Huang Shixun had ignored.

He stared directly at Huang Shixun, his tone icy: "Give me the details. Time, place, amount, briber, and the matter at hand."

Huang Shixun began to confess, his speech growing faster and faster, as if he were desperate to pour out all these heavy secrets.

800,000 sent by an enterprise boss in 1995 to "fish out" a person; over 2 million in cumulative "protection fees" from entertainment venues in 1997; 1.5 million in cumulative tributes from various branches during his three years as Deputy Director...

The more he spoke, the smoother it became, even carrying a strange sense of relief.

The secrets he had carried were easier to bear once spoken aloud.

Zhao Yang listened quietly and took notes.

Not until Huang Shixun spoke the last word did the room fall back into silence.

"Is that all?" Zhao Yang asked.

"That... that is all..."

Huang Shixun panted and added: "I've confessed everything... Can... can this count as a voluntary surrender?"

Zhao Yang closed his notebook and stood up.

"Your case will be handled by the organization in accordance with the law and regulations."

The door closed.

Huang Shixun sat alone in the interrogation room, staring at the tightly shut door, his whole body trembling like chaff.

Zhao Yang arrived at the lounge where Lu Zheng was waiting and reported concisely: "He's confessed everything. Over ten million."

Lu Zheng looked stunned; this number clearly exceeded his imagination.

This amount was enough to earn a death sentence.

A few seconds later, Lu Zheng's expression turned stern, and he looked at Zhao Yang: "How many cadres in the Tongan Municipal Bureau are involved?"

Lu Zheng's voice was cold and serious, his lips trembling slightly. He seemed very worried about hearing Zhao Yang's answer.

With the accidental death of Director Shen Zhentao and the corruption of Deputy Director Huang Shixun, if another group of police cadres were implicated, the Tongan Police would likely collapse on a massive scale.

This would severely affect local public order.

Lu Zheng did not want to see this result, but he had to face it.

Zhao Yang's words were slow and powerful, as if each one struck Lu Zheng's heart: "Except for the chief of the Xiushan Branch, there are illicit transfers of benefits between the chiefs of all other branches and Huang Shixun."

Known as the "Smiling Tiger," Lu Zheng's face turned livid upon hearing this, and he began pacing the room anxiously.

After two turns, he stopped abruptly: "No matter who they are, as long as they are corrupt and violate the law, we must investigate to the end! Even if it means a complete overhaul of the Tongan Police, we cannot have the slightest leniency!"

"Zhao Yang, immediately compile the materials, and I will submit them to the Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection. At the same time, forward them to Secretary Jiang at the Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection, and leave the rest to them for a thorough investigation."

The Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection Supervision Group certainly wouldn't have the capacity to deal with the small fry implicated under Huang Shixun, so it could only be left to the Tongan Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection.

Lu Zheng judged that such a major incident in the Tongan Police would inevitably attract the attention of the entire Jianghan Province and even the nation.

The Provincial Committee would definitely take action to rectify the cadre team.

The appointment of the new Tongan Municipal Public Security Bureau director would very likely be decided directly by the Provincial Committee Organization Department.

Zhao Yang finished organizing the materials and handed them to Lu Zheng for review.

Lu Zheng took a glance; excluding enterprise bosses and construction foremen, there were over a dozen police cadres who had given gifts to Huang Shixun, and the amounts were not small.

After reading the materials, Lu Zheng looked up at Zhao Yang, a wry smile on his face: "Zhao Yang, once this case is concluded, you'll likely become famous nationwide!"

Zhao Yang waved his hand and smiled: "Master, this is all to your credit. I'm just a pawn; please don't push the praise onto me."

"Fame is not important to me; I only want to uphold fairness and justice, and seek justice for the innocent."

Speaking of which, Zhao Yang suddenly remembered something and continued: "Master, I was previously threatened by Xu Biao when I went to conduct an undercover investigation at the Tongan Die-Casting Machine Factory."

"Before Xu Biao became the head of the security department at the Die-Casting Machine Factory, he was just an ordinary employee of the Qicheng Group."

This confused Lu Zheng, and he couldn't help but frown: "What are you trying to say?"

Zhao Yang tapped his fingers on the table: "The one preparing to take over the Die-Casting Machine Factory is the former head of the Qicheng Group, Guo Mingkai."

"And all the final clues of the June 11 Case point to the Qicheng Group. I want to re-interrogate Xu Biao to see if I can find any valuable clues."

In Lu Zheng's view, continuing to interrogate Xu Biao was of little use. After all, given Xu Biao's position, it was impossible for him to know the core secrets.

But the way the June 11 Case had turned out made him feel like he had a fishbone stuck in his throat.

With Hao Jianping on the run, he had no way to break the deadlock, so he said: "Go ahead and interrogate him once. If there's no breakthrough, our roving supervision group will have to pack up and go home."

Zhao Yang went to the June 11 Special Investigation Team and explained his intentions to He Yunqiao.

He Yunqiao did not block him at all and immediately submitted an application to the detention center to extract Xu Biao for re-interrogation.

Zhao Yang asked brazenly: "Chief He, it's against the rules for me to go to the detention center for interrogation alone. Can I borrow someone?"

"Little Jiang, right? This team leader grants your request!" He Yunqiao sat up straight and puffed out his chest.

Zhao Yang lightly punched his sturdy chest: "Who isn't a team leader? Look at you showing off!"

He Yunqiao laughed: "Get lost, get lost. As soon as you finish speaking, your ass starts acting like it has thorns in it."

In the Technical Brigade next door.

Because the June 11 Case had come to a temporary end, the three seconded personnel—Xu Yiming, Jiang Nan, and He Ping—were all very idle and chatting.

Seeing Zhao Yang walk in, Jiang Nan got up to pour him a glass of water and asked: "How is it? Did you find anything out?"

"Look at that, criminal investigators are just so curious!" Zhao Yang smiled, then lowered his voice: "Captain Xu is likely to be promoted, so you must invite me for a drink then."

The Huang Shixun case had wide implications and was still in the confidentiality stage.

Even with someone as close as Jiang Nan, Zhao Yang could not reveal secrets.

If word leaked out from any link, he and everyone present would be implicated.

Xu Yiming laughed: "I'm quite satisfied being this captain; don't try to fool me."

Half an hour later, Zhao Yang and Jiang Nan arrived at the detention center.

After completing the procedures, the two came to the interrogation room.

Opposite them, Xu Biao no longer had the fierce look from a few days ago.

He hung his head, not daring to meet Zhao Yang's eyes.

Zhao Yang opened his notebook and said in a deep voice: "Xu Biao, we met at the Tongan Die-Casting Machine Factory dormitory. Do you remember?"

Xu Biao stared at Zhao Yang for a while, and suddenly a look of surprise appeared on his face: "You... you are... the one who impersonated the person sent by General Manager Guo..."

Zhao Yang's gaze was sharp as a knife, and he asked coldly: "That's right, it was me. I want to know, what did you do to Sun Dehai?"

After a few seconds of suffocating silence, Xu Biao looked at Zhao Yang again.

His voice was very low, but every word was clear.