Chapter 88: Public Execution, Part One

After bringing Liu Gang back to the investigation unit, Chen Yu handed him over to Su Qingzhu, who had been waiting there, with the casual ease of tossing down a sack.

“Detective Su, he’s yours now. Keep an eye on him, and don’t let him do anything rash,” Chen Yu said, clapping his hands as though he had merely delivered a takeaway meal.

Su Qingzhu looked at the man before her, calm on the surface yet utterly broken inside, then glanced at the signature roguish grin on Chen Yu’s face. For a moment, she did not know what to say.

In the end, she could only nod and gesture for two investigators to take Liu Gang away and hold him under guard.

With that settled, Chen Yu did not pause for even a second. He headed straight to an empty corner and called Lin Bing.

The call connected almost instantly.

“Hello, great detective. Is it done?” Lin Bing’s sweet voice, tinged with urgency, came through.

“It’s done, but not entirely,” Chen Yu said, leaning against the wall with a smile. “I caught the killer of Zhang Luoluo, but behind him there’s a bigger fish.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean the real show has only just begun.” Chen Yu laughed. “Host Lin, want an exclusive that’ll send your show’s ratings straight through the roof?”

Lin Bing was far too sharp to miss the implication. Her breathing quickened at once. “Go on.”

“Today at two in the afternoon, I want to hold a public hearing in the interrogation room of the investigation unit... for the killer, Liu Gang.”

Chen Yu enunciated each word. “Live broadcast, no edits, no rehearsals. What do you think?”

There was silence on the other end for a full three seconds.

Then came Lin Bing’s stifled cry: “I—I’ll report this to Director Wang right away! Chen Yu, you’re an absolute genius! No—you’re a madman!”

After hanging up, Chen Yu could almost picture Lin Bing flailing with excitement.

Sure enough, less than five minutes later, her call came again, her voice brimming with exhilaration. “Director Wang agreed! He told me to pass this on to you: equipment, staff, publicity channels, the whole program team is giving you the green light! He has only one request—he wants the most authentic, most explosive live broadcast possible!”

“Tell him to get ready for a ratings storm,” Chen Yu said with a confident smile, then ended the call.

...

As soon as the news was released through the official channels of Old Cases Revisited, the entire internet exploded.

A stunning reversal! The so-called “zombie comeback” detective Chen Yu has already identified the true culprit and will conduct a fully public live interrogation at two this afternoon in the interrogation room of the Jiangcheng investigation unit!

Every word of that headline was like a high-explosive shell, detonating over the calm lake of public opinion and sending up towering waves.

“Holy crap! Holy crap! Holy crap! A public interrogation? A live broadcast inside the investigation unit? Am I really allowed to watch this?”

“Zombie Comeback Brother is insane! This isn’t solving a case in a variety show anymore—it’s reality being slammed face-first into the ground!”

“Brothers, let me be the first to say it: the Zombie Squad reports in! We swear eternal loyalty to our Zombie Brother!”

“Wuwuwu, after waiting a day and a night, I finally get to see my husband make a move. He’s so damn cool!”

“Am I the only one curious? Who exactly is the killer? Why did Zombie Brother crack the case as soon as Zhang Fugang came back? Isn’t there some shady deal behind this?”

The online chatter surged like a tidal wave, and countless netizens watched with bated breath as every passing second stretched the anticipation tighter and tighter.

...

Two o’clock in the afternoon.

The interrogation room of the Jiangcheng investigation unit was brightly lit.

On the cold iron bench sat Liu Gang, composed and still. He lifted his head and looked at the people across from him in the questioning seats, his face devoid of both joy and sorrow.

Opposite him sat the city investigation unit’s team leader, Yan Zheng, and deputy leader, Su Qingzhu, both upright and solemn.

Yet between the two of them, where the chief interrogator ought to have sat, a lone chair had been claimed with utter nonchalance.

Chen Yu was seated there with grand insolence, one leg crossed over the other, his body leaning back slightly, that roguish smile lingering on his lips. In the heavily guarded interrogation room, he looked as though he were lounging in a teahouse downstairs from his own home.

In the corner of the room, several top-tier cameras from the production team had already been switched on. Their red indicators blinked silently, transmitting everything that happened here live to screens across thousands of households.

The livestream barrage had gone completely wild.

“He’s here, he’s here! My Zombie Brother is still rocking that familiar pose. Too cool!”

“I’ll bet fifty cents that today’s interrogation is just another one of Zombie Brother’s personal swagger displays!”

“Too small-minded. This is called a demonstration of personal capability!”

“Captain Yan and Detective Su are just background scenery now, hahahaha. Feeling bad for them for one second.”

“The Zombie Squad will never be slaves! Unless there’s food and lodging included!”

At the same time, in the top floor of the Jiangcheng Group building—

Inside the vast, palace-like CEO office, Zhang Fu sat expressionless on a leather sofa.

On the rosewood tea table before him lay no documents and no tea, only a tablet respectfully held by a secretary.

On the screen was the live feed from the interrogation room.

Zhang Fu’s gaze was as deep as the sea. He watched the young man on the screen, all mockery and indifference, in silence. No one knew what he was thinking.

His silence was more chilling than any thunderous fury.

Inside the interrogation room, Chen Yu finally moved.

He slowly lowered the leg he had crossed, leaned forward, and rested both elbows on the table. His eyes flashed like lightning as they fixed on Liu Gang.

“Liu Gang!”

He spoke, not loudly, yet his voice carried clearly through the entire room and into the ears of every viewer watching the broadcast.

“Where should we begin?”

Liu Gang’s lips moved, but he said nothing.

Chen Yu smiled.

He did not press further. Instead, he unhurriedly took something out of the evidence bag.

It was an old photograph, sealed in plastic.

It was precisely the “weapon” soaked in sarin gas by Shen Tao, the one that ultimately led to Brother Lei’s death.

“Before we talk about you, let’s look at something interesting first.”

Chen Yu propped the photograph on the table and pushed it toward Liu Gang, while signaling for the camera to zoom in.

On the livestream, the picture enlarged instantly.

It was a photo taken in a dim alley. The subject was a bald man—Brother Lei in his younger days.

He leaned against a wall, a cigarette in his mouth, speaking to one of his underlings.

“This photo was handed to Brother Lei by the killer who murdered him—‘Pipe,’ also known as Shen Tao.”

“This photo was what took Brother Lei’s life.” Chen Yu’s voice was calm and unhurried, like a storyteller recounting a tale.

“But don’t you find it strange? If Shen Tao wanted revenge for his wife, who died fifteen years ago, why would he use a photo of Brother Lei to kill him?”

“What was so special about this photo to Brother Lei?”

Before anyone could answer, Chen Yu extended a finger and lightly tapped one corner of the picture.

The livestream zoomed in again.

This time, the focus was no longer the central figure of Brother Lei, but a tiny, easily overlooked corner of the background.

The light there was even dimmer, almost blending into the shadows.

But after being captured and enlarged by the high-definition camera, a blurred outline of a human face gradually came into view.

It was the side profile of a young man, with a tall nose bridge, deep-set eyes, and handsome features. Even though time and blurred pixels had worn him down, one could still glimpse the air he carried back then.

The moment that face became clear, the livestream detonated.

Su Qingzhu’s eyes flew wide open, and she cried out in shock, “It’s... Liu Gang!”

That’s right.

In the corner of the photo, that young man who had seemed no more than part of the background was unmistakably Liu Gang in his youth!

“Why?” Chen Yu’s voice suddenly rose, striking everyone’s heart like a hammer. “Why would a photo that seems to show only Brother Lei have you in it, Liu Gang?”

“On one side, you’re a tycoon who shook the underworld of Jiangcheng; on the other, a nondescript technician in a research institute. You should have been two parallel lines that never intersected!”

“But not only did you know each other, your relationship was anything but ordinary!”

Chen Yu slammed the table and stood, looking down at Liu Gang with cold pressure.

“From our previous questioning, Zhang Luoluo’s husband, Zheng Liangchen, testified that whenever you spent money at all of Brother Lei’s establishments, you never had to pay the bill! Brother Lei treated you as his most honored guest! Why?”

“How can an ordinary research institute employee receive such treatment from the underground king of Jiangcheng?”

“Don’t tell me it was just because your brother-in-law Luo Xiangdong knew him? Spare me. Captain Yan already checked—Luo Xiangdong and Brother Lei were only nodding acquaintances, their relationship was mediocre at best!”

Chen Yu’s speech quickened, his chain of logic tightening link by link until it suffocated the room.

“There must be a deeper connection between you that outsiders don’t know about!”

He walked around the table and came to Liu Gang’s side, lowering his voice.

“I checked. Before your wife was murdered fifteen years ago, you and Brother Lei had no contact whatsoever.”

“But after your wife was killed, you, Liu Gang, became Brother Lei’s honored guest, the ‘brother he could trust with his life,’ as he put it!”

“Can that really be a coincidence?”

Liu Gang’s body began to tremble faintly. He shut his eyes tight, his face as white as paper.

But Chen Yu had no intention of letting him off.

Leaning close to Liu Gang’s ear, he asked, enunciating each word:

“So, Liu Gang. Now, you can tell me—tell everyone watching you...”

“Fifteen years ago, to avenge your wife’s horrible death, what exactly did you trade with the devil?”