Chapter 326 - 326: We Were Swindled
Chapter 326 - 326: We Were Swindled
“Liu Bingwen, things have come to this point, you can’t handle it on your own. If you don’t want to die, just confess honestly,” Dr. North was starting to lose patience.
“I really don’t know, Zhang Qiang. I’ve told you everything I know. Even if you beat me to death, I still wouldn’t know.”
“Master truly has a discerning eye. I should have selected you for the Imperial Guards back then!” Zhang Qiang coldly remarked. “Liu Bingwen, as long as you provide useful information, you can reunite with your family. This is your last chance.”
Qin Wan impatiently lifted a chair and smashed it onto Liu Bingwen. The chair shattered into pieces, and Liu Bingwen’s back was almost broken. He lay on the ground, bleeding profusely.
Dr. North raised an eyebrow. Was this level of brutality necessary?
Qin Wan pressed down on his injured back with her foot, intentionally stepping on the injured area. Everyone could hear the bones shifting out of place, and Liu Bingwen howled in pain.
“You worthless scum, if you won’t accept the drink, you’ll face the punishment. I don’t have the patience of Zhang Qiang. I’m an outsider here. Zhang Qiang may not dare to do what I can. I’ll count to three, and if you don’t provide some useful clues, I’ll kill your daughter.” Qin Wan’s voice was icy. “One!”
Liu Bingwen shouted, “I really don’t know. This has nothing to do with my daughter…”
“Two!”
“Zhang Qiang, you’d better listen to her. Besides the master, no one can control her.”
“I truly don’t know!” Liu Bingwen cried out in despair.
“Three!” Qin Wan’s voice fell, and she moved her foot away. “Alright, pitying your daughter, with a father like you, she can only seek justice in the afterlife.
“No… No…” Liu Bingwen held onto Qin Wan’s leg and pleaded. “I’ll talk… I’ll talk… they’re at the South Dock in a container. They plan to leave by sea.”
“When?”
“Liuzi didn’t say. All I know is the sooner, the better. They want the master to return to the country alive. If that’s not possible, they’ll kill him on the spot.” Liu Bingwen sobbed. “Zhang Qiang, I didn’t want to betray the master either…”
Qin Wan kicked him away, and Zhang Qiang instructed his men to secure the South Dock, searching every container to determine Jiang Junlin’s whereabouts.
On a plane, Gu Ci received the news and handed the matter over to Rong Li. She provided Rong Li with the time and location, and Rong Li dispatched people to handle it. The entire South Dock was in turmoil.
Qin Wan, Dr. North, and Zhang Qiang, fearing that Rong Li might take action, also set off for the South Dock to join forces with Black Hawk. Qin Wan changed into a white dress, draped in a beige coat, her hair softly cascading down. She wore pearl earrings, looking like a socialite, nothing like an assassin. Her charming and delicate appearance was a stark contrast to the killers who would go after Rong Li and Xiao Min tonight.
Rong Li personally came to the South Dock, claiming that Black Hawk had lost a batch of goods at the port and suspected they were placed in the wrong container. The port staff led them to search.
The port was vast, and some containers held special cargo, not open to inspection. Rong Li thought that if they were holding Jiang Junlin, they would have deployed many guards. But despite searching the entire South Dock, they found no trace.
“Could the information be wrong?” Rong Li asked.
Xiao Min shook her head. “This information can’t be wrong. Liu Bingwen betrayed us and was interrogated by Zhang Qiang. He provided the address as the South Dock. It can’t be wrong. Why can’t we find them?”
“Give me the cargo manifest for the port!” Rong Li extended her hand, and one of her subordinates handed her the list.
Inside their vehicle, Dr. North also examined the cargo manifest and the records of departing ships.
Zhang Qiang suggested, “Could they have already set sail?”
“Impossible. Even if they have inside information, they can’t relocate within a few hours,” Dr. North observed, looking at the chaotic port with its mix of law enforcement and criminals.
Qin Wan said, “Let’s halt all departures. In case they’ve already left.”
Dr. North also considered halting departures but lacked a good reason. Qin Wan clicked her tongue and pointed at a container from a shipping company. “This one contains contraband. We can set it on fire, and the port will be at risk. Shutting it down for safety reasons will work.”
Dr. North hadn’t dispatched anyone yet when the second container burst into flames. The fire spread rapidly in the snowstorm, affecting nearby containers. The security team and firefighters rushed to the scene, and all workers were evacuated. The port temporarily halted operations, and ships scheduled to depart that night were delayed.
A message came in from the information room, “Rong Li sent people to set the fire. Those containers contain contraband, and it has alerted the maritime police and security. They will search all containers. Looks like we won’t be getting any sleep tonight.”
This was a shortcut; the local police investigation would be faster than their own.
Three groups of people had been searching all day but couldn’t find anyone at the South Dock. Zhang Qiang was becoming agitated. He called the person in charge of guarding Liu Bingwen, “Wake him up and question him again.” “Boss, I was just about to tell you. Liu Bingwen is dead!”
“How did he die?” Zhang Qiang was shocked. “Didn’t we treat his wounds?”
“He committed suicide.”
“Idiot! Why weren’t you watching him?”
“We can’t really stop a person who wants to die.” They all looked down on someone who had betrayed their master, but they also knew that Liu Bingwen couldn’t be allowed to die. But they couldn’t prevent it, and he had taken his own life in the room.
“It looks like we’ve been deceived!” Dr. North was furious. They had been played by Liu Bingwen, wasting a whole day at the South Dock. During this time, if they had left the country, they wouldn’t know where they had gone.
Rong Li knew that the Dark Web had also sent people to the port. She had been in her car all this time and walked straight over, not avoiding anyone. Qin Wan and Zhang Qiang got out of the car, while Dr. North remained inside.
Xiao Min and Zhang Qiang were quite familiar, and they had coordinated on many pieces of information. Seeing Xiao Min by Rong Li’s side now made Zhang Qiang feel quite disdainful. Qin Wan stood beside Zhang Qiang, smiling gently.
“Opposite party set up a suspicious formation, we’ve been deceived. The port, the highways, and the airports all have arrangements. Jiang Junlin shouldn’t be able to leave the country. As long as he’s within our borders, we’ll find a way to locate him,” Rong Li communicated with the Dark Web members, maintaining her composure.
“Thank you for your assistance, Rong.”
“We’re doing this because it’s Miss Gu Ci, so there’s no need for thanks,” Rong Li, tall and imposing, exuded a strong presence. “Since we’re in a cooperative phase, let’s set aside our grievances for now. And don’t forget your debts of gratitude. While I’m helping you find your master, you’re sending people to kill me.”
Qin Wan spoke in a delicate voice, “Were you targeted for assassination? That could be because you’ve offended someone. We’re all pulling out all the stops to find our master, and we don’t have the time to target you.”
Rong Li glanced at Qin Wan. She stood beside Zhang Qiang with a natural, unadorned look, completely out of place in the world of the Dark Web’s dark web. She didn’t resemble an assassin at all; she looked more like an information officer.
“You better be!” Rong Li didn’t believe Qin Wan’s words at all and remained convinced that the assassination attempt was connected to the Dark Web. “If there’s another attempt on my life, you can go look for Jiang Junlin on your own!”
Rong Li walked away, leaving the scene..