199: Chapter 199 The Dangers of Retired Cadres Paying for Knowledge: The Price is a Lifetime in Jail

The incandescent light in the interrogation room had been on for six hours.

The man in the peaked cap couldn't hold out any longer.

During these six hours, Chen Xiaobei had stripped him of everything, down to his overseas accounts and encrypted wallets.

Facing the impending felony charge of "trafficking high-risk explosives," the man in the peaked cap completely broke down.

He confessed the true shipping location and the boss's whereabouts for "Juanzang Pavilion."

In an old residential building built in the nineties, located on the back street of the Donghai City Library.

The sixth floor, the top floor.

On the door hung an inconspicuous wooden sign: "Literature and History Materials Compilation Studio."

Two in the morning.

Gu Changan, along with Old Wei and the Special Task Force, silently surrounded the building.

There was no thunderous sound of a battering ram smashing the door.

Old Wei used a tactical lock pick to directly pry open the old security door.

As the door pushed open, a strong, musty smell of mothballs and old paper rushed out to meet them.

This was a three-bedroom apartment that had been knocked through.

Inside, there were no beds, no televisions, and no sofas.

Walls and shelves were completely filled with books.

They were stacked from the floor all the way to the ceiling.

There were yellowed thread-bound books, brand-new printed papers, and even more thick, heavy kraft paper document envelopes.

Gu Changan took one look at the cover format of those kraft paper envelopes.

His eyelids twitched violently.

Top Secret.

Anomalous Event Classification Numbering Rules.

Red double-line border.

This was the exclusive format for internal top-secret files used by the Bureau of Anomalous Affairs in the nineties.

These unique paper copies, which should have been centrally destroyed long ago during the digitization process, were actually brazenly displayed on the shelves of a private workshop.

In the deepest part of the study, a dim, yellow desk lamp was lit.

An old man sat on an old, paint-chipped office chair.

The old man made no move to escape.

He didn't even show a hint of panic.

He held a thermos cup in his hands, the tea inside having already gone cold.

His white hair was combed meticulously, and he wore a pair of old-fashioned black-rimmed glasses.

He watched the Special Task Force members who had rushed in with guns drawn, his gaze finally settling on Gu Changan, who had walked in.

Gu Changan quickly scanned through the archive photos from the bureau's early years in his mind.

He pulled over a folding chair and sat down opposite the old man.

"Wei Xueming." Gu Changan called out the name.

The old man's hand holding the thermos cup paused slightly.

He nodded.

"You know me."

Gu Changan lit a cigarette, looking at the room full of classified files.

"In the archives room at the end of the second-floor hallway at the Bureau, there are photos of outstanding workers from previous years."

"You were specially recruited into the Bureau in '89."

"At that time, your job was responsible for the initial screening and classification of supernatural literature reported from across the country."

"In 2003, you applied for early retirement, citing severe neurasthenia and health reasons."

Wei Xueming took a sip of cold tea, not denying it.

He looked at Gu Changan's young face, and his first words were not a plea for mercy.

"Those moldy cabinets in the archives room are not the final resting place for knowledge."

"These things left behind by our Old Ancestors, or the laws exchanged for human lives, sooner or later, someone will organize them."

"If they stay in the Bureau's safe, they can only wait to die."

"Rather than letting them rot, it's better to circulate them."

"Let those who need them put them to use."

The old man's tone was very calm, as if he were discussing an academic issue with a Junior.

Gu Changan slammed the "Guide to Reverse-Cracking the Five-Thunder Soul-Locking Formation" seized from the teahouse onto the table.

The thick paper document made a dull thud.

"Those who need them?"

"Does that include those who try to break the Seal of the Underworld and release evil ghosts into the mortal realm?"

Wei Xueming looked at the hand-drawn Formation diagram on the cover and fell silent.

After a long time, he finally spoke.

"I am not responsible for vetting buyers."

"I only take responsibility for patching up fragmented knowledge and providing it."

"A bladesmith forging a blade doesn't ask if the buyer intends to chop vegetables or kill people."

Gu Changan stood up abruptly.

He pointed to the silent city nightscape outside the window.

"Because of a single incomplete soul-summoning technique you sold."

"Three days ago, a woman who had lost her mind released a fierce spirit in the busy downtown area of Nanluo Lane."

"It caused twenty-three people to suffer mental breakdowns on the street, and three innocent passersby were seriously injured after jumping from buildings due to hallucinations; they are still in the ICU fighting for their lives!"

"You treat these things as knives for chopping vegetables?"

"You are mass-selling time bombs in a downtown area!"

Wei Xueming's lips moved, but he didn't say anything.

He looked at Gu Changan's cold eyes and placed the thermos in his hand onto the table.

Gu Changan waved his hand.

Chen Xiaobei and the technicians began a comprehensive inventory of the materials in the study.

As the inventory progressed, Chen Xiaobei's face grew paler and paler.

"Director Gu."

Chen Xiaobei walked over holding a scanned list.

"Just among those currently confirmed as A-level danger, there are one hundred and twenty-seven unique ancient texts."

"Furthermore, I just performed a cross-reference."

Chen Xiaobei swallowed hard.

"The transaction traces and characteristics of partial fragments left by the things this old man sold."

"Are linked to thirty-six vicious, unsolved cases that the Bureau of Anomalies hasn't cracked in the last fifteen years."

"This is not a studio at all."

"This is a complete distribution map for high-risk criminal methods."

Gu Changan turned his head to look at Wei Xueming.

The old man before him was not the kind of vicious criminal with a fleshy face and a deranged mind.

He even possessed the poverty and stubbornness typical of old-school intellectuals.

But the destruction he had caused over the past twenty years far exceeded that of the most cruel serial killers.

Old Wei took out handcuffs and stepped forward.

The cold sound of metal rang out in the study.

Wei Xueming cooperatively extended his hands, allowing the handcuffs to be locked tight.

When they reached the door.

Wei Xueming stopped.

He looked back at the study where he had spent twenty years.

Those files and ancient books being packed into sealed boxes by the Special Task Force members were his life's work.

There was an emotion in his eyes that Gu Changan couldn't precisely define.

It wasn't the fear of facing imprisonment.

Nor was it complete remorse for his actions.

It was more like the confusion of someone obsessed with research, finally realizing that their experiment had completely spiraled out of control.

He knew he had taken the wrong path.

But he no longer knew where the right path was.

Old Wei pushed him out of the room.

Gu Changan stood in the center of the empty room, looking at a scattered page on the floor.

"Director Gu, how should we handle these things?"

Chen Xiaobei pointed to the dozen or so huge containment boxes.

The amount of knowledge inside was too vast and too dangerous.

Gu Changan stubbed out his cigarette.

"Transfer everything to the headquarters' secret database and store it under classification."

"For documents with pure academic value, follow the strictest compliance research approval process."

"As for those black magic and evil arts with clear lethality and risk of spiraling out of control, destroy them all."

"Before destroying them, back up a core catalog list on a top-secret level server."

Chen Xiaobei nodded repeatedly.

"So, is the Juanzang Pavilion case considered solved?"

Gu Changan picked up the jacket draped over the back of the chair and walked out.

"The old man is caught, the hideout is taken down; it's considered solved."

"But this matter isn't over."

He walked to the staircase and looked back at Chen Xiaobei.

"Establish a special investigation team immediately."

"Dig up all thirty-six related cases for me."

"Follow the ledger the old man left behind and investigate them one by one."

"As for those who bought time bombs and are still at large, don't let a single one of them go."