A Sharp Edge Emerges From The Mist Chapter 29

superficial break

The wind on the rooftop was as sharp as a knife, carrying the unique clear and heavy breath before the city woke up, and rolled up the corners of their clothes.A gray crack opened in the distant skyline, and thin light struggled to seep in, but it could not dispel the haze that shrouded the city.

The warmth of my palms became the only source of warmth in this cold morning.Shen Qingwu’s fingers curled up slightly in Lin Jianfeng’s palm. They were no longer despairingly cold, but gradually warmed up, with a subtle trembling like the aftermath of a disaster.Lin Jianfeng held it tightly, like grabbing the last driftwood of a drowning person, and like silently conveying some firm power.

They stood on the edge of the rooftop for a long time without speaking, just looking at the huge and silent city below them.There are many things that need no words.Many decisions were made tacitly at the moment their eyes met.

In the end, Shen Qingwu spoke first. His voice was blown away by the wind, but it was extremely clear: “Report letter, internal investigation… they have already started. Next, your situation will be very delicate.”

Lin Jianfeng nodded, his eyes sharp: “They want to use this method to force us to separate, at least on the surface. To make us suspicious of each other, or to make me unable to continue the in-depth investigation because of ‘avoidance of suspicion.'”

“So,” Shen Qingwu turned his head and looked at her, his eyes regained their usual calmness and calculation, but with an extra layer of gloom, “We must ‘do as they wish’.”

Lin Jianfeng understood what she meant.When the internal investigation process has been launched and the content of the report letter has spread, if they continue to have close contact as before, it will only make Lin Jianfeng’s position more passive, and may even be labeled as “covering up” or “collusion”, completely losing the initiative in the investigation.At the same time, it will also make the “underground river” more vigilant and hidden deeper.

“On the surface, we must ‘break up’.” Lin Jianfeng took over the conversation with a decisive tone, “I will reduce my contact with you in accordance with the procedural requirements, and may even… cooperate with the investigation team to formally interrogate you when necessary. This will be uncomfortable, but it must be done.”

Shen Qingwu’s eyelashes trembled slightly, but quickly returned to calm.”I understand. I will cooperate and show…appropriate resistance and disappointment.” She could even imagine that scene – in the cold interrogation room, Lin Jianfeng’s business-like inquiries, and her cold and distant answers.Just imagining it makes my heart throb.But this is the price that must be paid.”This will make people hiding in the dark think that their alienation plan is successful and let their guard down.”

“It’s more than that.” Lin Jianfeng’s gaze deepened, “I need you to use this ‘break’ to do one thing.”

Shen Qingwu’s eyes narrowed: “What’s the matter?”

“Take the initiative to expose some ‘flaws’.” Lin Jianfeng’s voice was very low, almost swallowed up by the wind, but his words were clear. “Let them think that because of my ‘betrayal’ and the pressure of the police investigation, you panicked, and you are ready to use your own… less legal means to carry out a final counterattack or self-protection. For example, try to contact the ‘Viper’ to silence you, or transfer certain key assets, or even… ‘abscond’.”

Shen Qingwu instantly understood Lin Jianfeng’s intention – to lure the snake out of the hole, and to lure the biggest snake.”You want me to be used as bait? It’s too dangerous. They’ll do whatever it takes to get rid of me.”

“I will be in the dark.” Lin Jianfeng held her hand tightly, his eyes blazing, “I will use all the resources I can trust to lay a net. The ‘flaws’ you expose must be carefully designed to not only make them believe it, but alsoYou must ensure your absolute safety.Moreover, your ‘counterattack’ target cannot be an illusory ‘dark river’, but must be a specific person—such as Wang Youcai, or a higher-level protective umbrella that may exist behind Zhou Tieshan.”

Shen Qingwu fell silent.This is an extremely bold and dangerous plan.Put yourself in the open, attract all the firepower, and at the same time deal with the “hostility” of the police and the “alienation” of Lin Jianfeng alone. If there is a slight mistake, it will be doomed.

But when she saw the unreserved trust and desperate determination in Lin Jianfeng’s eyes, the instinctive fear in her chest was slowly replaced by a stronger, almost trembling excitement.

For ten years, she has been groping alone in the darkness, avoiding and occasionally fighting back.Never like now, there is a comrade who can be fully entrusted to plan an attack that is so dangerous and yet so direct to the core.

“Okay.” She took a deep breath, and the cold air poured into her lungs, making her extremely clear-headed. “But the details of the plan need to be perfected. How will my ‘flaws’ be exposed? Through whom? What are the specific steps of ‘counterattack’? How to ensure that your ‘secret protection’ is not noticed? And… you must find out the black hand inside as soon as possible, otherwise any of our plans may be leaked in advance.”

Lin Jianfeng nodded: “I will submit a detailed report on the suspicious points of the report letter as soon as possible, trying to gain some understanding within the investigation team, and at least gain some operating space for us. At the same time, I will secretly investigate the internal links that may be penetrated. As for the details of the plan…” She paused, “We need an absolutely safe communication channel, a channel that even the people closest to us don’t know.”

Shen Qingwu understood immediately.”The old channel of the ‘Deep Blue Library’ cannot be used. The other party may have been targeting us. We need to establish new, one-time, or even non-electronic contact methods.”

The two of them exchanged ideas quickly and quietly in the cold wind on the rooftop, like the most skilled chess players arranging a life-and-death chess game.The morning light gradually brightened, lengthening their shadows and casting them on the cold cement floor.

Finally, a preliminary action framework was determined:

1. Superficial break: Lin Jianfeng immediately began to “alienate” Shen Qingwu and strictly implemented the requirements of internal investigation procedures.Shen Qingwu showed the anger of being “betrayed” and the anxiety of being “isolated and helpless”.

2. Bait delivery: Through a seemingly “accidental” channel (such as deliberately allowing Qin Mo to “accidentally” leak, or through an internal informant who has been suspected but not yet cleared), Shen Qingwu conveyed vague information that she was prepared to use “extraordinary means” to protect herself, and that she had some “fatal evidence” that could “bring down” Wang Youcai or even higher-level figures.

3. Weaving a web in secret: Lin Jianli used his authority and trusted colleagues to lay a dragnet of surveillance and ambush on Shen Qingwu’s “action” path that might be exposed.At the same time, all efforts are made to track down the “Viper” and the internal black hands.

4. The ultimate goal: to use Shen Qingwu’s “bait” operation to draw out the core members or direct actors of the “Dark River” and seize the stolen goods. At the same time, obtain more direct evidence about the shady story of the New City Project and the old case of Shen Qingwu’s parents, and uncover the internal protective umbrella.

The plan was made and it was already daybreak.The city began to wake up, and the sound of traffic could be heard faintly.

The two looked at each other for the last time, and both saw determination in each other’s eyes, as well as unshakable trust.

“Take care.” Lin Jianfeng let go of his hand and spoke in a low voice.

“You too.” Shen Qingwu nodded, turned around, and walked towards the stairwell first.His back was straight, but there was a chill of despair.

Lin Jianfeng watched her figure disappear behind the door, and stood on the rooftop for a while before slowly turning around and going downstairs.

The superficial break officially begins from this moment.

—

In the afternoon of that day, an internal notice from the municipal bureau regarding the initiation of preliminary verification procedures for Shen Qingwu was officially issued.Lin Jianfeng was asked to “actively avoid unnecessary direct contact with the witness and cooperate with the investigation team.”

Lin Jianfeng did not show any objection and calmly accepted the arrangement.She began to organize and hand over the case materials related to Shen Qingwu, and at the same time devoted herself “concentratedly” to the follow-up digging of the “Iron Shield” case and the pursuit of the “Viper”. However, at certain key links, she would report to the investigation team on the grounds of “needs of the case”.”Objectively” provide some pieces of information that are helpful to clarify the background and motivations of Shen Qingwu’s behavior – such as the value of the USB clues provided by Shen Qingwu in the Zhao Ming case, such as her technical assistance in the “Gemini” attack, such as the doubts about her parents’ old cases.

These actions, in the eyes of uninformed outsiders, show that Lin Jianfeng was “drawing clear boundaries” while still retaining a trace of “professional objectivity.”From the perspective of possible monitors of “Underground River”, this may be a manifestation of Lin Jianfeng’s inner sway and his attempt to find a balance between principles and old feelings.

On Shen Qingwu’s side, the reaction was more “intense”.Qingyuan Capital officially issued a carefully worded but implicitly dissatisfied statement, saying that it would “fully cooperate” with the investigation, but also “reserves the right to pursue legal liability for false accusations.”Shen Qingwu himself almost no longer appears in public. Qin Mo’s public tone was that “Mr. Shen is disappointed and chilled by the way some aspects are handled and needs time to deal with the company’s internal affairs.”

Immediately afterwards, some vague “news” began to circulate in a small area: Mr. Shen seemed to be contacting some people in “special channels” privately, and seemed to be checking something very old; Qingyuan Capital’s overseas asset allocation seemed to have changed abnormally; someone even “accidentally” saw Shen Qingwu’s assistant Qin Mo appearing nervously in a mixed area in the west of the city…

It is difficult to tell whether these “news” are true or false. Like a pebble thrown into a pond, the ripples caused are not big, but it is enough to attract the attention of interested people.

Lin Jianfeng and Shen Qingwu were completely “cold” in public and in the eyes of most colleagues.Even if they met occasionally in the corridor of the bureau, they would just nod in a formulaic manner without making any eye contact.

Only they themselves know that in every seemingly alienated moment, the undisguised concern and tacit understanding deep in their eyes have never disappeared.

In the dead of night, Lin Jianfeng would receive progress briefings and clue updates handwritten by Shen Qingwu and coded in secret words through the newly established and extremely secret physical delivery point (a specific locker in the convenience store downstairs of the apartment, using a password and disguise that only they knew).And she will also pass back the latest findings of the investigation and the progress of the internal investigation in the same way.

The paper is short but the love is long, and the handwriting is sloppy, but it carries the trust of life and death and the calculation every step of the way.

Under the surface of the broken ice, the undercurrent surges toward the final decisive battle with a more ferocious and secretive momentum.

A dragnet targeting the “underground river” is tightening silently.

And they are the two most deadly and seductive chess pieces in the center of the net.