# 865
Chapter 866: Exploit Strengths, Avoid Weaknesses
Zuo Qing took a deep breath and slowly exhaled.
"Rest assured, the Night Watch has no shortage of rising talents over these two years. Eventually, you'll talk."
"Then I'll be waiting with bated breath." Old Chen smiled.
Zuo Qing's gaze hardened. He waved to Tan Maoxun beside him, who then left the interrogation room and locked the door behind him.
"I came to remind you that we've found traces of the Mask Squad." Zuo Qing said calmly.
"Oh?" Old Chen raised an eyebrow, seemingly surprised.
"I must remind you—some things are completely different when you confess them yourself versus when I drag them out of you. If you confess now, I can give you an honorable death."
"Hehe." Old Chen chuckled lightly. "Trying to extract information from me? Isn't this method a bit too primitive?"
"You really think I'm trying to extract information?"
Zuo Qing calmly pulled out his phone, zoomed in on the map, and pointed to a certain location.
"Ningchang County, Coastal Fishing Village."
Upon seeing the highlighted address, Old Chen's pupils slightly contracted.
It was the first time since entering this interrogation room that his expression had become grave.
"You're not even trying to hide your surprise." Zuo Qing said calmly. "Don't you think I'm bluffing?"
"How did you find it?" Old Chen asked, puzzled. "I should have erased all traces."
"I told you—the Night Watch has no shortage of rising talents these past two years."
Old Chen fell silent.
"Is it [Nightfall]?" After an unknown length of time, Old Chen finally spoke.
"They've already entered that fishing village to search for clues, and our follow-up team is en route..." Zuo Qing walked up to Old Chen and said word by word, "Is there anything else you want to confess? It's not too late."
Upon hearing this, Old Chen froze, as if remembering something.
"What date is it today?"
The sudden question caused Zuo Qing to frown slightly. After hesitating for a moment, he answered honestly, "The 14th."
"The 14th..." Old Chen murmured this date, his lips curving upward. First, he chuckled coldly, then couldn't help but burst into uncontrollable laughter.
His laughter echoed through the interrogation room, eerie and terrifying.
"What are you laughing at?" Zuo Qing asked coldly.
"I'm laughing at you all, actually letting the Nightfall Squad walk right in." Old Chen's aged face creased with deep lines from his smile. "I only meant to eliminate the greatest threat—the Mask—but now I get to take down Nightfall as well... What a pleasant surprise."
Zuo Qing's expression instantly darkened.
He thrust out his hand, grabbing Old Chen's collar and pulling his face close, eyes blazing with fury.
"What do you mean?"
Old Chen's disheveled silver hair hung before his aged face. Those deep, murky eyes calmly gazed into Zuo Qing's furious ones as he slowly spoke, "Don't you understand yet, Zuo Qing... Neither the Mask nor Nightfall is coming back.
The destruction of two special squads will push Great Xia directly into an endless abyss... This battle, the Night Watch is destined to lose."
"You bastard!" Zuo Qing could no longer control his rage. He swung a fist directly at Old Chen's face, sending him crashing to the floor. "Chen Lu! What exactly did you prepare in that fishing village?!"
"I prepared nothing." Old Chen lay on his back, laughing. "It's just that 'they' have always been watching that place..."
Upon hearing the word "they," Zuo Qing's brow furrowed tightly. Just as he was about to pull Old Chen up for more questions, he paused, then pushed open the door and left the interrogation room.
"Where's the Nightfall Squad?" Zuo Qing asked coldly.
"They transmitted this address and then entered the fishing village."
"Contact them. Regardless of whether they found the Mask Squad's leads, they are to withdraw immediately!"
"...I'm sorry, Commander Zuo." The technician's fingers flew across the keyboard, beads of sweat forming on his forehead. "We've lost their signal. Just like... just like the Mask Squad."
Zuo Qing's expression turned grim.
He stood in place, thinking for a moment, then issued another order, "The Purification Chamber shouldn't be far from there. Have Master Chen go immediately."
"Yes."
"...Also." Zuo Qing's gaze swept over Old Chen in the interrogation room, his eyes narrowing slightly. "Pull up all his personal records. Search and see what connection he has with that small fishing village in Ningchang County..."
...
Fishing Village.
Knock knock knock!
"Who's there?"
A fisherman opened the door, then froze upon seeing the three people standing outside.
A fat man with a ferocious scar on his face, grinning playfully; a fierce-looking man who clearly didn't seem like a good person; and a delinquent youth holding a cigarette between his lips, squinting at him...
"Good evening, big brother. We're lost travelers..." Baili Pangpang cleared his throat, about to continue, but the villager acted as if he'd seen a ghost, quickly retreating behind the door.
Bang—!
A dull thud sounded as the door slammed shut, followed by the clear click of a lock.
Baili Pangpang's smile froze in the evening breeze.
Cao Yuan: ...
Shen Qingzhu: ...
"How many houses is this now?" Shen Qingzhu held his cigarette, exhaling languidly, speaking with a hint of melancholy.
"Fourth one..." Baili Pangpang replied dejectedly. "What's going on? Are the people in this village really this suspicious? They won't even let us finish a sentence?"
"I think normal people wouldn't let any of us three stay the night either." Cao Yuan said quietly.
"Then what do we do?"
"This won't work." Shen Qingzhu thought for a moment. "I think we need to exploit our strengths and avoid our weaknesses."
"Exploit strengths and avoid weaknesses?" Baili Pangpang's interest was piqued. "Tell me more—what strengths do we have?"
"Our weakness is that we don't look like decent folk. But we do have one strength..." Shen Qingzhu clapped Baili Pangpang on the shoulder, saying seriously, "We're rich. Very rich."
Baili Pangpang's eyes gradually brightened!
A few minutes later.
The moment a villager's door opened, Baili Pangpang thrust one hand against it while the other dug into his chest and pulled out thick stacks of cash, frantically stuffing them through the gap.
"Big brother! Big brother, don't close the door! We're lost tourists! We'll only stay one night—one night and I'll pay you fifty thousand yuan!"
As Baili Pangpang spoke, the villager hesitated slightly, his hand on the door loosening.
"Fifty thousand?" He squatted down with a strange expression, casually picking up a hundred-yuan bill from the ground and examining it carefully. His brow furrowed.
He forcefully threw the bill back out, saying impatiently, "Trying to stay by stuffing fake bills? Get lost! Or I'll call someone!"