Card Room

Chapter 350 - The Truth

Xiao Lou had been wondering how such an ordinary old man like Uncle Zhong could have a relationship with the organ trafficking organization.

He made a lot of money from selling organs over the years and bought a house in the city center for his son. His nephew opened the upscale ‘Tianya Club’ and bought three apartments to turn into a mansion for him. There were so many big bosses attending his birthday party and this wasn’t the treatment that a ‘housekeeper’ for the rich should have.

Then what if the person standing behind him was the hidden boss? This was the only way to explain all of this...

Uncle Zhong was nominally in charge but he was actually helping Shao Zhengyang handle the internal affairs of the organization. Perhaps he let his nephew He Rong open the ‘Tianya Club’ to launder money under Shao Zhengyang’s instructions. As a predator of the business world, how could Shao Zhengyang be unable to control the housekeeper around him?

In fact, as early as when Uncle Zhong became suspicious, Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang should’ve suspected that Shao Zhengyang was behind him.

However, Shao Zhengyang was Shao Qingge’s father and seemed decent by association. The two of them subconsciously thought that Shao Qingge’s father had been kept in the dark by Uncle Zhong and didn’t doubt him. They didn’t expect that now all the signs pointed to the person they had least suspected!

If the big boss was really Shao Zhengyang then did the keepers expect Shao Qingge to personally kill his own father?

Xiao Lou took a deep breath and looked at Shao Qingge. “It is just a suspicion. There is no clear evidence that it is really your father, right?”

Shao Qingge shook his head with a solemn face. “I haven’t seen him since I was discharged from the hospital. He said that the company was too busy. Now it seems that he wasn’t busy at the company. He was actually trying to clean up the organization step by step.” He paused before continuing. “In addition, I asked my mother to learn about Uncle Zhong’s situation. Uncle Zhong has followed my father for more than 30 years. With my father’s shrewdness, how could he not know what Uncle Zhong was doing? I’m afraid that all of Uncle Zhong’s actions were at his behest.”

How could a housekeeper dare to come into contact with a dangerous organ trafficking organization if there weren’t orders from the boss behind the scenes?

Xiao Lou was puzzled before. Now that he heard Shao Qingge’s words, he felt that Shao Zhengyang was very suspicious. Perhaps Shao Zhengyang showed a suspicious point that they hadn’t noticed... which clue has been overlooked?

Xiao Lou frowned and thought carefully about the experience of questioning Shao Zhengyang at the hospital.

At that time, Shao Zhengyang came to the hospital to check on his son. Xiao Lou used the excuse of ‘I have something to hand over to you’ to trick Shao Zhengyang into the duty room to accept Yu Hanjiang’s investigation. Yu Hanjiang conducted a routine questioning on Shao Qingge’s father.

Shao Zhengyang had said that he bought the kidney for 20 million gold coins. He didn’t know where it was purchased from because it was his assistant who handled his matter. Then half a year ago, his assistant resigned and returned to his hometown. They could go find him if they wanted to know the details.

Yu Hanjiang asked him why he dared to use a kidney with an unknown origin and he said that as a father, it wasn’t illegal to buy a kidney to save his son, right? If one day they had a child and that child was sick, they would also choose to save him at all cost.

Shao Zhengyang acted too much like an old father eager to treat his son and he provided the police with the clue of Assistant Zhong so Yu Hanjiang’s investigation concentrated on the missing assistant who suddenly resigned and returned to his hometown.

Looking at it now, Shao Zhengyang knew that Uncle Zhong would be silenced so he conveniently pushed the blame onto this assistant. The police might go to investigate Uncle Zhong but he would be a dead man before the police could come into contact with him!

No wonder the actions of this mysterious organization had always been one step faster than Yu Hanjiang. From the beginning, the police investigating Uncle Zhong was a trap left by Shao Zhengyang! Moreover, when going over Shao Zhengyang’s testimony, Xiao Lou found a slight loophole.

The price of the organ. It cost 20 million gold coins to buy the kidney, which was 200,000 yuan.

Shao Qingge’s kidney came from the takeout deliveryman, Wang Wei. Through the investigation of Wang Wei’s bank account and consumption records, it was found he suddenly had a large deposit in November last year. He bought a diamond ring worth 100,000 yuan and his mother’s surgery and treatment cost was around 80,000. He also stated in the letter that he found a wedding company and wanted to prepare a romantic wedding for his girlfriend.

All of these costs added up to approximately 200,000 yuan. Wang Wei didn’t have a lot of savings. He sold his right kidney and got almost 200,000 yuan. The buyer paid 200,000 and the seller got 200,000... what about the intermediary? Could it be that the mysterious organization was a charitable one that just wanted to assist in the sale of organs without charging any intermediary fees?

This was impossible. Generally speaking, the money that the buyer paid to the intermediary, the illegal clinic, should be much higher than the amount the seller received. For example, they paid 300,000 yuan to buy a kidney and the kidney seller got 200,000. The remaining 100,000 would go to the illegal clinic. This was a reasonable distribution and an important source of income for an organ trafficking organization.

Under what circumstances would the organization dispense with the intermediary fee and directly sell the organ at cost price? Only insiders could enjoy this cost price.

Uncle Zhong was an insider and helped buy a kidney for the boss’ son so naturally there was no need for an expensive intermediary fee. All of the 200,000 yuan that was paid was handed over to Wang Wei, the seller of the kidney. The members of the organization didn’t take any money, including the doctor who removed Wang Wei’s kidney.

Shao Zhengyang naturally knew the prices of organs on the black market but a big boss like him didn’t care for such a small amount of money. Therefore, when questioned by Yu Hanjiang, he subconsciously told the amount that Uncle Zhong had paid and ignored the intermediary fee...

The organ price loophole was indicating that Shao Zhengyang was actually an insider!

Xiao Lou became more shocked as he thought about it. If it really was Shao Zhengyang then all doubts could be reasonably explained. Why were Uncle Zhong and He Rong killed just as they arrived in Qingshui Town? Why was the organization clear about the movements of the police and even the movements of Shao Qingge’s vehicle?

In fact, as early as the hospital when Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou questioned Shao Zhengyang about the organs, the vigilant boss realized this matter might’ve been exposed and was ready to silence all mouths and destroy the evidence. He wanted to kill all those who knew about him.

In this way, he would still be the powerful Boss Shao who was a respected businessman. Maybe he would start another charity and completely whitewash himself. He would safely live the rest of his life without needing to face prison.

As for Shao Qingge, his son’s health wasn’t good anyway. His kidney had just been replaced and now it was his heart. This was an unrelated adopted son and his kidney might be evidence of accepting organs of an unknown origin.

If necessary, this adopted son could be an ‘abandoned’ son.

***

The more Xiao Lou thought about it, the more confused he became. His speculation was passed onto Yu Hanjiang through their connection.

Yu Hanjiang calmly told him, “Xiao Lou, we really didn’t pay close enough attention to the price issue. This was my dereliction of duty. Don’t worry, the most important thing right now is to leave this basement. We can catch him once we get out.”

“Yes, be careful.”

Yu Hanjiang suggested, “Chief Shao’s mood isn’t very good. You can comfort him more.”

Xiao Lou glanced back at Shao Qingge. This person’s face was indeed ugly after learning the boss they were looking for was actually his father. Xiao Lou walked over and gently pressed a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t think too much. This is the arrangement of the keeper.”

Shao Qingge clenched his fists and pretended to be calm. “It’s fine. Since he ignores our feelings and wants to kill me, I certainly won’t be soft-hearted. I just... pity my weak mother. She should be unaware.”

Xiao Lou sighed. How would Shao Qingge’s mother be able to face all of this?

Old Mo suddenly thought of something and had a complicated expression on his face. “Chief Shao, you might be adopted but there should still be feelings after raising you for so many years. If Shao Zhengyang really wants to kill his son then there might be another possibility. Perhaps he has an illegitimate child?”

“It is possible.” Shao Qingge shrugged helplessly. “He never came back during the time I was at home and rarely called my mother. Perhaps he stayed at his mistress’ place. If he has an illegitimate son and his adopted son dies, he has justification to leave his assets to his actual son. Besides, I’m a sick and weak adopted son. Perhaps he is already tired of it.”

Even wild beasts would look after their young. Even if it was an adopted son, how could he be so cruel? Then on second thought, it wasn’t known how much blood Shao Zhengyang had on his hands. It might not be hard for him to kill Shao Qingge.

The three of them didn’t speak again. This speculation made them angry and uncomfortable.

At the same time, inside the underground labyrinth. Ye Qi walked around the corner with Yu Hanjiang and simply took off his invisibility cloak.

In the monitoring center, a child suddenly appeared on the screen. The little boy jumped and flew to the ceiling. His hands and feet hooked steadily on the ceiling like there were barbs. His face turned toward the surveillance camera and a smile appeared.

The boy’s eyes were as red as blood. When he smiled, there were two tiger’s teeth that weren’t fully developed. The man watching the surveillance was so scared that he backed away. “Fuck! Where did this kid come from?”

The woman next to him exclaimed, “That is Ye Qi!”

“The boss is right. These people do have special abilities!” He hurriedly called someone. “Brother Rong, what should I do? The group has started to break the surveillance cameras in the basement and a kid is climbing the ceiling. They seem to be invisible and it is really hard for our people to find them!”

“Enable Plan C.” A cold voice was heard.

“Understood.” The man put down the phone and looked at his companion beside him. “Plan C, hurry!”

The woman pressed the dark green button on the operator’s station. Suddenly, a large number of devices similar to sprinklers appeared on the ceilings of all the corridors of the basement. A thick white mist was sprayed from the devices and spread rapidly in the corridors, emitting a strange scent.

Yu Hanjiang was solemn. “It is poison!”

Ye Qi was stunned. The bug king wasn’t afraid of anything except fire and poison wasn’t effective against him. However, Yu Hanjiang’s body wouldn’t be able to hold on if affected by poison. Ye Qi hurriedly whispered, “Group Leader Yu, go back. Leave destroying the surveillance cameras to me.”

“Xiao Ye, break the surveillance cameras in front of us. We will withdraw first.”

Ye Qi heard the instructions and quickly moved along the ceiling, his sharp nails instantly crushing the camera at the end of the corridor! Immediately afterwards, Yu Hanjiang and Ye Qi appeared in the Peach Blossom Spring at the same time.

Yu Hanjiang walked over and patted Shao Qingge on the shoulder to comfort him. He didn’t say much and instead turned to Old Mo. “Old Mo, do you have the Special Effects Vaccine card?”

Old Mo wondered, “Special effects vaccine?”

“The reward card for perfectly clearing Zombie Town. We can’t be poisoned for a period of time when using it,” Yu Hanjiang explained in a low voice.

“I don’t have this card.” Old Mo touched his head awkwardly. “Zombie Town is 2 of Spades? I didn’t dare look for the serum. I only got a B rating so it wasn’t a perfect clearance.”

Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou’s vaccine cards were used during the Financial Crisis instance. At that time, they forcibly dropped the zombie virus and infected a group of escaped criminals, turning them into zombies. Then they used the vaccine to fight against the infection and defend the construction site along with the other challengers.

Someone who had a vaccine card in the team... it was probably only Liu Qiao. If he remembered correctly, Xiao Liu had perfectly cleared the previous Spades rooms.

Xiao Lou simply pulled Liu Qiao into the Peach Blossom Spring after hearing about it. Liu Qiao soon appeared under the peach tree and wondered, “What’s wrong?”

Xiao Lou opened his mouth. “Xiao Liu, you should have the Special Effects Vaccine card that you got from 2 of Spades, right? If I’m not wrong, there are three doses of vaccine which can keep the injected people from being poisoned for 10 minutes.”

“Yes.” Liu Qiao nodded, pulled out the card and handed it to Xiao Lou. “The red, yellow and blue tube vaccines are only effective against the zombie virus while the green, purple and black tubes are effective against all toxins.”

“Very good.” Yu Hanjiang gathered his teammates together and instructed in a low voice. “Time is limited so we need to cooperate. This underground maze is very big and I can’t move through it by myself in 10 minutes. Old Mo must help identify the location. It is difficult for Old Mo to avoid the killers with guns. Xiao Liu, turn him to the size of a thumb and place him in my pocket. Both of us will be injected with the toxins vaccine then we will go find the central monitoring room as soon as possible. Liu Qiao, inject yourself with the remaining tube of vaccine. Once we press the button in the monitoring room to open the door, immediately go out and use Li Qingzhao’s mark to teleport us over and pull all of us to a safe place.”

Then he glanced at Xiao Lou. “Xiao Lou, continue to stay in the Peach Blossom Spring. If we are in danger, immediately pull us back. There is the poisonous fog outside so you can’t go out at all without the anti-toxins vaccine. Vaccines are limited and we need two group teleports to leave here. Xiao Liu must use the light footwork card reasonably and find a safe place to mark. Please note that Li Qingzhao’s mark only activates the teleportation after five minutes. There is a time delay so the moment you receive my instructions, act immediately. Do you understand?”

Everyone nodded. “We understand.”

Shao Qingge walked up to Liu Qiao and whispered, “How are Long Sen and Qu Wanyue?”

Liu Qiao told him, “After we jumped out of the car and escaped, they used the Chameleon card to investigate the area. When I was pulled in by Professor Xiao, Sister Wanyue had just found a clue. She found there were many fuse wires in the ground of this building. The soil was affected by the heavy rain and a few wires were exposed. We suspect that a lot of explosives are buried under this building.”

The team gasped after hearing this!

This group of lunatics might want to blow up the whole building directly. Not only would it get rid of Yu Hanjiang’s group but the members of the organization who were still in the building couldn’t escape either This method of wiping out evidence was really clean and neat!

Yu Hanjiang tensed and urged them, “Hurry and get vaccinated!”

He rolled up his sleeves to reveal his strong arm muscles. Xiao Lou took the needle and injected the purple vaccine in his body. Next, he injected Old Mo with the green tube, while the remaining tube was reserved for Liu Qiao to use when she went out later.

Liu Qiao took out the Thumbelina card to turn Old Mo to the size of a thumb and Yu Hanjiang put the small Old Mo into his pocket. He looked calm and firm. “Let’s go. We only have 10 minutes.”

Proofreader: Fictional Reality & Paranoid Kitten