I was startled. My first thought was that Sun Fatty was hiding inside, secretly watching where I had hidden the short swords. But I quickly dismissed that idea — there was no way he got to Office One before me. The only other person familiar enough with the Bureau's layout to sneak in like that came immediately to mind — Lin Feng.
As the image of that man appeared in my mind, I turned back to the storage cabinet, opened the wooden box, and took out the two short swords, gripping them tightly in both hands. Then I rushed toward the office.
With a loud bang, I kicked open the office door, rushing inside with the two short swords protecting my head and chest. I seemed to be a moment too late — the window was open, and someone must have just jumped out.
After confirming there were no formation arrays near the window, I quickly looked down — but didn't see any figure. This person was no ordinary intruder; they knew how to hide their aura. Otherwise, I would have sensed them right at the office door.
Just as I was about to call Sun Fatty and Gao Liang, my attention was drawn to a stack of photos on Hao Wenming's desk. The photos featured Po Jun from various periods in his life. I casually flipped through them and found some from Po Jun's childhood, with various directors holding him. One photo showed Lin Feng holding Po Jun, smiling broadly. However, that photo had been heavily pinched, and Lin Feng's face was distorted into a sinister grin.
In that instant, I realized the person who just came in wasn't Lin Feng.
Apart from him, only one other person could have sneaked in — Hao Wenming.
I pried open Hao Wenming's drawer with a short sword and found the IDs he used to conceal his identity were missing. After the "Phantom Train" incident, I personally saw him lock those IDs away, and then Hao Wenming disappeared. Sun Fatty had told me that after I fell unconscious, Hao Wenming hadn't returned either. So if someone snuck back secretly, it could only be him. But what could he want with those IDs?
Since I had identified the intruder as Hao Wenming, I decided to hide the wooden box somewhere else. After all, these were Wu Renyi's treasures — I didn't want to let others get them so easily right after I got them.
After some hesitation, I called Yang Xiao to check on Wu Renyi's whereabouts. It turned out Wu Renyi and Yang were together, both away from the Bureau, apparently handling some private matters for Director Wu.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, I ran to Office Six and hid the two short swords in Wu Renyi's storage locker. Usually, Wu Renyi kept almost nothing there; the locker was basically a decoration and was never locked. But everyone in the Bureau knew it was his locker, so it had some deterrent effect. Also, this way, if things ever blew up, I could say: I saw these two unique swords and brought them here for provenance research. Since you weren't in your office that day, I didn't dare put them anywhere else, so I hid them in your locker. If you don't believe me, you can check yourself — they're in your locker...
Looking at the locked storage cabinet, I was somewhat proud of my own cleverness. Even if Sun Fatty suspected me, I doubted he'd have the nerve to break into Office Six.
After settling everything, I took out my phone and sent Sun Fatty a message telling him I had found signs of Hao Wenming in Office One. The moment I sent it, Sun Fatty's call came through — but the voice on the other end was Gao Liang. He sounded urgent and rapid: "Are you sure it was Hao Wenming? How did you find him? Did you see his face clearly...?"
The barrage of questions caught me off guard. I was momentarily stunned, unsure how to answer, so I ended up repeating the whole story again.
After a brief silence, Gao Liang's voice came back: "Come to my office. There are things I need to explain to you."
Though I knew Gao wasn't calling me just for those two short swords, I still felt uneasy. With the two most cunning men in the Bureau working together, one wrong word could reveal a weakness. Compared to Sun Fatty, if Gao laid a trap for me, I'd have no way to fight back at all.
After entering Gao Liang's office, before I could say anything, Sun Fatty, sitting on the sofa in the guest seat, turned around with his back to Gao Liang and subtly gave me a glance. I understood what he meant — a warning not to let slip anything about the short swords. If Gao Liang found out, those two swords would basically be lost.
But Gao Liang didn't mention anything about Office Six or the underground fifth floor. He went straight to the point. After asking me to sit down, he had me recount in detail what had happened just now. When I finished, he was silent for a moment, then fixed his gaze on me and slowly said, "Who have you told about this incident?"
"No one. Right after it happened, I contacted Deputy Director Sun, and then you called me here. Director Gao, you know me — I won't spread unverified information." I said this, but in my heart added: hiding the short swords was definitely something to keep secret.
Gao Liang looked at me, then turned to Sun Fatty. After a moment, he looked back at me and said, "Don't tell anyone about this. If you discover anything else about Hao Wenming, report to me immediately." He paused, seeming hesitant to say something else, but after a moment's thought, he continued slowly, "There's one more thing: if you have the chance to meet Hao Wenming, use whatever means necessary to bring him back. Even if it requires strong measures, just don't endanger his life. If you have to fight, aim for his legs — the bottom line is to keep him alive."
When Gao Liang said this, I almost slid off my chair in shock. Sun Fatty, sitting beside me, was no better — he immediately stood up and said to Gao Liang, "I'm not saying this lightly, Director Gao... isn't this a bit much? Even if we can't persuade Director Hao to come back, surely we don't have to resort to violence? Besides, look at La Zi and Director Hao — who's more likely to break whose legs? And if they do clash, they'd both be..."
"Shut up!" Before Sun Fatty finished, Gao Liang shouted at him and threw a stack of documents from the desk toward Sun Fatty's big face. Sun Fatty dodged sideways, and when he saw Gao Liang reaching for the paper cutter on the desk, he didn't hesitate and ran out of the office.
The way the director and deputy director communicated left me dumbfounded — not even in the military had I seen people go from argument to violence so quickly. My situation was awkward, but just then, Secretary Wang Lu came in and started tidying up the mess. Taking advantage of this, I gave a nervous laugh and said to Gao Liang, "If there's nothing else, I'll be going now. Director, rest assured, if I see Director Hao, I'll do my best to bring him back."
Gao Liang nodded at me. I thought he might say more, but he only said, "Sun Desheng, you better come back alive." Just as he finished, the door that had just closed cracked open again, and Sun Fatty cheekily squeezed back in.
Sun Fatty sat down across from Gao Liang as if nothing had happened. Gao Liang found a piece of paper from the documents Secretary Wang had sorted and wrote a few words with a pen, then handed it to Sun Fatty. Sun Fatty looked it over and wrote a few words in return. Even Secretary Wang acted as if nothing had happened — after tidying up, she turned and left the director's office. The whole scene was so harmonious it was hard to believe they had just almost come to blows.
Following Secretary Wang, I stepped out of the director's office. Once the door was closed, I asked her, "Have they always been like this?"
She smiled at me and said, "This is mild. Maybe it's because you're here, Director Gao didn't hit too hard. Over the past two years, he's smashed nearly a dozen vases in his office. But whenever they argue —" (my inner voice: can you even call that arguing?) "— it never lasts more than five minutes. Then they're laughing again. At first I tried to calm them, but over time I got used to it. Now if they don't have one or two of these sessions a week, I start feeling uneasy."
What on earth happened in these two years? Lost in thought, my phone vibrated. Sun Fatty had sent me a message — only eight characters: "Office One, wait for me, important matters."
After nearly an hour, Sun Fatty finally arrived. Before I could say anything, he smiled at me and said, "La Zi, Office One isn't safe anymore. You'd better move those two swords somewhere else. Just say where you want to hide them. Honestly, aside from Director Gao's office, the rest of the places are up to you."
Sun Fatty was his usual playful self, but I knew him too well — I basically had his style figured out. Looking into his eyes, I said, "Dàshèng, don't even bother with those two swords anymore. Let's be straight — no need to beat around the bush."
He laughed heartily, but as his laughter faded, his expression changed. His brows furrowed, and the habitual upturn of his mouth vanished. I'd never seen Sun Fatty this serious.
He said nothing, instead gesturing toward Hao Wenming's office, indicating we should talk there. We entered, and Sun Fatty stared at a photo of Po Jun on the desk. After a moment's silence, he suddenly said, "La Zi, Director Gao has been acting increasingly strange lately."
His sudden comment caught me off guard. I asked, "What? What do you mean Director Gao is acting strange?"
He looked at me and continued, "Two years ago, when you had your accident, he began to change. Since then, he gradually pushed the Bureau's affairs onto me and even edged Old Xiao out. It seems like he's planning something. At first, I thought he was looking for clues about your incident, but after Lin Feng showed up again and Old Qiu was killed, Director Gao didn't react as strongly as I expected. Today, when you saw Hao sneaking back, his reaction seemed a bit too much. Honestly, I'm finding Director Gao harder and harder to read."
As Sun Fatty spoke, I kept my eyes on him. When he said he was increasingly unsure about Gao Liang, I sighed internally — I myself was growing more and more unable to figure out this Deputy Director Sun! Ever since he was promoted, though he still joked and played the fool, his mind and manner had become as sly as Gao Liang's. Someone who didn't know them would almost think they were related.
Only after he finished did I pick up the thread, saying, "Dàshèng, what exactly do you mean? Say it straight. If I had to guess, I could do it by tomorrow morning." Sun Fatty's eyes glazed over for a moment; after some silence, his gaze cleared and he looked at me intently, "Something big might happen in the Bureau soon. Director Gao is going to act abnormally."
He paused, took a deep breath, and then spoke more slowly, "You have to keep a close eye on Director Gao — don't let anything happen to him."
His words shocked me. I hesitated, then immediately asked, "What's wrong with Director Gao? What have you noticed?"
Sun Fatty shook his head and looked at me, "If I could tell, it wouldn't be a problem. Honestly, Director Gao is playing a deep game this time. I'm only seeing some signs, but even these signs make me uneasy. I don't dare think any further."