287: Chapter 287 Suspicion Cleared Up, Qin Yi Invited to the Security Bureau (Part 2)

After Han Hao got out of the car, only Ye Qingcheng and Qin Yi remained in the cabin.

Ye Qingcheng’s lips curled up slightly as she raised her slender hand, inviting him, "Please, Young Master Qin, come take a look at these surveillance clips."

Qin Yi shrugged and walked toward the monitor, feigning composure.

Ye Qingcheng pressed the spacebar, and the surveillance footage began to play.

The screen showed Zhang Min avoiding the cameras as she climbed the fire escape to the rooftop.

Qin Yi watched the footage, but a hint of confusion arose in his heart. The footage seemed ordinary; he didn't see anything unusual. He turned to Ye Qingcheng, frowning slightly, and asked, "Captain Ye, what are you trying to show me with this?"

"Haha," Ye Qingcheng laughed, tapped the spacebar again, and pointed to a spot on the screen. "Young Master Qin, did you happen to notice this?"

Hearing this, Qin Yi followed the direction of her finger. As Ye Qingcheng zoomed in, his pupils constricted slightly. The small black dot in the frame became clearer, and he thought to himself that things were looking bad. That black dot was his Miniature Bionic Tracker.

"Damn, Ye Qingcheng’s eyesight is a bit too good, isn't it? She can even spot something that small," Qin Yi thought, though his expression remained unchanged.

Then, Ye Qingcheng's voice rang out again, "Does Young Master Qin recognize this object?"

Qin Yi pretended to examine it closely before shaking his head with a bewildered look. "Never seen it. What is that thing?"

Ye Qingcheng gave a playful smile and said, "I suspect it’s a miniature tracker. What do you think, Young Master Qin?"

Qin Yi feigned a thoughtful look, then nodded in agreement. "Hmm, that’s certainly a possibility. But what does that have to do with me?"

"Don't be in such a hurry, Young Master Qin. Take another look at this." As Ye Qingcheng spoke, her slender fingers tapped the keyboard a few times. Another video began to play on the screen.

On the screen, Qin Yi slipped into the fire escape. Immediately after, his figure flashed, and within a few breaths, he had already appeared on the top floor. Only a few blurred afterimages were left in the surveillance footage.

Ye Qingcheng looked at Qin Yi and remarked playfully, "Young Master Qin’s skills are truly breathtaking. I thought you were only at the Middle Stage of Ming Jin, but I didn't expect you to have such remarkable abilities. I certainly underestimated you before."

Qin Yi cleared his throat, raised an eyebrow, and said modestly, "Ahem, Captain Ye, you flatter me. It's just a few insignificant tricks, nothing impressive."

"Insignificant tricks?" Ye Qingcheng chuckled. "Young Master Qin is too modest. In my view, the movement technique you used shares a similar essence with Chen Mo’s 'Lost Ghost Steps.' I wonder if your movement technique has a name?"

Naturally, Qin Yi wouldn't say the name 'Divine Movement Hundred Changes'; that would be a bit too chuunibyou. However, since Ye Qingcheng had put it that way, she must suspect his relationship with Chen Mo.

Thus, Qin Yi looked directly at Ye Qingcheng, frowning as he changed the subject, "Captain Ye, are you suggesting that I am connected to Chen Mo, Zhang Yu, and the others?"

"Haha, don't misunderstand, Young Master Qin." Ye Qingcheng quickly waved her hand, her smile as fake as could be. "I'm just asking out of curiosity. If it's inconvenient for you to answer, then forget it."

Qin Yi pondered for a moment before saying seriously, "In that case, I won't say more. As for matters regarding Cultivation Techniques, I can't reveal too much for now. But I can tell you clearly that I am not one of them."

Ye Qingcheng stared intently into Qin Yi's eyes, seemingly trying to read something from them.

After a few seconds, Ye Qingcheng finally nodded slowly and said seriously, "Fine! I believe you. However, I still have a few questions to ask you, and I hope you can tell me the truth. This is crucial for our subsequent investigation and evidence collection."

"Alright, ask away~" Qin Yi nodded calmly, showing his cooperation.

Ye Qingcheng stopped beating around the bush and asked directly, "Young Master Qin, do you know Zhao Lintai of the Zhao Family of the Capital?"

Qin Yi hesitated for a moment, quickly weighing his options: Now that Chen Mo and Zhang Min have been caught and Zhang Yu is wanted, it seems Zhao Lintai has entered the Security Bureau's sight. Ye Qingcheng asking me this now means she must have already investigated the matters in Jingnan. I just don't know the Security Bureau's attitude toward Zhao Lintai.

After all, the Zhao family still has Old Master Zhao, who is of equal status to Old Master Ye! Does the Security Bureau plan to hush things up, or will they investigate to the end? To be safe, I need to test the waters first.

Although his mind was racing, Qin Yi remained calm on the surface. He took a deep breath and slowly replied, "You could say I know him, and you could say I don't."

"What do you mean by that?" Ye Qingcheng was clearly interested in this ambiguous answer and immediately pressed further.

"Captain Ye, since you mentioned Zhao Lintai, I assume you've already looked into my family's steel plant in Jingnan?" Qin Yi didn't respond directly but instead looked at Ye Qingcheng with a smile and asked.

Ye Qingcheng nodded candidly, "That's right. I did arrange for someone to investigate."

"Hmm, as expected." Qin Yi smiled slightly, a flash of cunning in his eyes. "To be honest, after the operations at my family's steel plant ran into trouble, I conducted a private investigation. I won't go into the details of the process, but I can tell you that the mastermind is indeed Zhao Lintai of the Zhao Family of the Capital."

"Can you elaborate on your investigation's findings?" Ye Qingcheng pressed.

"Of course. From what I've gathered, it goes like this..." Subsequently, Qin Yi organized what he had seen in the Jingnan Underground Bank's ledger into his own words and told it to Ye Qingcheng.

...

After hearing this, Ye Qingcheng was also quite displeased. She truly hadn't expected Zhao Lintai's reach to be so long. From Jingnan's Urban Construction Department to the Jingnan Steel Group and Jingnan City Bank, all were involved in the conspiracy against Qin Yi's Huajian Steel Plant.

However, besides her indignation, Ye Qingcheng also felt a bit of secret joy. It seemed her previous guess was correct; eighty percent of what Qin Yi said was likely recorded in the Jingnan Underground Bank's ledger.

But since Qin Yi hadn't said it explicitly, it wasn't appropriate for her to reveal the truth.

Then, a hint of doubt appeared in Ye Qingcheng's eyes as she asked, "Since you've investigated it clearly, why didn't you report the results?"

Qin Yi chuckled and shrugged, his tone carrying a hint of helplessness and mockery. "Captain Ye, are you joking? You should be very clear about the background of the Zhao Family of the Capital. Do you think the so-called evidence in my hands is actually useful? I'm afraid before I could even hand over the evidence, my family and I would have already been 'specially noticed' by the Relevant Departments."

"Young Master Qin, you're being a bit alarmist." Ye Qingcheng frowned. "Although Zhao Lintai is from the Zhao Family of the Capital, Old Master Zhao is elderly and has long been away from the center of power, and his parents are far away abroad. Can the Zhao family's reach really extend all the way to Jingnan? Even if it could, it wouldn't be to the point of covering the sky with one hand."

Qin Yi shook his head gently, a deep look flashing in his eyes. "Captain Ye, you should already have some understanding of the Underground Bank in Jingnan, right? I wonder what you've found?"

"Indeed, Chen Mo has confessed everything." Ye Qingcheng didn't hide anything and told Qin Yi the details of the investigation.

After listening to Ye Qingcheng's account, Qin Yi nodded. "So, you already have evidence of Zhao Lintai's crimes. What do you plan to do next?"

"To be precise, we currently only have Chen Mo as a witness, and we're still missing the most important physical evidence." Ye Qingcheng stated frankly, her gaze turning to Qin Yi as if waiting for his response.

Qin Yi smiled slightly. "So, Captain Ye wants to know if I have evidence of Zhao Lintai's crimes?"

"Exactly." Ye Qingcheng nodded. "Besides the missing ledger from the Jingnan Underground Bank, the ledger from the Modu Underground Bank is also missing. And according to Chen Mo's confession, when he was carrying out Zhao Lintai's order to assassinate Dao Ge, he was attacked by a mysterious man. That man's movement technique and build are very similar to yours, but his face is completely different."

"Captain Ye thinks that the person who attacked Chen Mo and stole the Modu Underground Bank's ledger was me?" Qin Yi looked at Ye Qingcheng with a half-smile.

"You had a conflict with Chen Hu on the day he hid the ledger, and immediately after, he went to Modu while you were still in Jingnan. Of course, I can tell you clearly that we have no direct evidence to prove you took the Jingnan Underground Bank's ledger." Ye Qingcheng said slowly, observing Qin Yi's every subtle reaction before continuing, "However, when the Modu Underground Bank's ledger went missing, a man with a similar movement technique and build to yours appeared. We compared the description provided by Chen Mo with our internal database, and the result was that no such person exists. I suspect that man was wearing a Disguise Mask."

Hearing this, Qin Yi's heart sank, and he secretly regretted it. How could he have forgotten about the Disguise Mask? Saving people earlier had been too rushed; he really should have put on the Disguise Mask first. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been called here by Ye Qingcheng for a confrontation.

"A mistake~" Qin Yi was secretly annoyed, but his face remained impassive, with only his brow furrowing imperceptibly.

Qin Yi quickly adjusted his expression and laughed, feigning surprise, "A Disguise Mask? Haha, Captain Ye, that sounds a bit too far-fetched, doesn't it? I don't know anything about Disguise Techniques. You haven't been watching too many movies, have you?"

Ye Qingcheng smiled slightly, her eyes revealing a hint of cunning. "I'm really not sure if Young Master Qin knows Disguise Techniques. But coincidentally, I happen to know an expert who can make Disguise Masks, and she just happens to be a member of Hongmen. So, when I heard Chen Mo's description, I naturally thought of this."

Qin Yi hadn't expected that there were actually people in this world who could make Disguise Masks. However, since even a Cultivation Technique like the 'Supreme Soul Suppressing Art' existed, a Disguise Technique shouldn't be that unusual either.

So, Qin Yi raised an eyebrow and looked at Ye Qingcheng with a half-smile, asking in return, "So, you think I'm also a member of Hongmen?"

Ye Qingcheng nodded. "Initially, I did have that thought. However, I later found some contradictions. If you were a member of Hongmen, your actions at the Modu Underground Bank wouldn't make sense. You would have directly dealt with Chen Mo and Dao Ge instead of leaving them for us, the police. That way, the clues to Zhao Lintai would have been cut off, and it wouldn't have involved so many people like it does now."

Having said that, Ye Qingcheng paused before continuing, "Moreover, tonight was truly thanks to you. If you hadn't appeared in time, Zhang Min might have met with an accident, and the clues regarding Hongmen would have been lost. However," Ye Qingcheng said, looking directly into Qin Yi's eyes as she shifted the topic, "that brings us to the question. If you're not from Hongmen, how did you know there was danger on the rooftop? The only explanation I can think of is that the miniature tracker in the surveillance footage is yours! You risked your life to save Zhang Min from Zhang Yu just for revenge!"

Qin Yi's heart tightened, but he laughed on the surface, feigning ease. "Captain Ye, you certainly have quite an imagination. However, regarding these guesses of yours, I can only say that everything is a coincidence."

"Coincidence?" Ye Qingcheng smiled slightly. "I wonder if Young Master Qin has heard a saying: one coincidence is just a coincidence, two coincidences are a clue, and three coincidences are evidence!"

Qin Yi nodded. "A famous quote by the detective novelist Agatha Christie. However, Captain Ye, you seem to have some misunderstandings about me."

"Oh? Is that so?" Ye Qingcheng smiled noncommittally. "Although I have no direct evidence to prove that you were the one who took the Underground Bank's ledger, my intuition tells me that person was you."

Qin Yi sighed softly. "Captain Ye, I have to admit you're indeed very smart to be able to link these seemingly unrelated things together. But..." Qin Yi changed his tone, "you're only guessing, after all."

"So, you're not planning to admit it?" Ye Qingcheng raised an eyebrow, looking at Qin Yi.