Chapter 290: Give the Bragging Rights Back to the Bull

A civilian airliner flew overhead, breaking the heavy silence between the two on the rooftop.

“I could’ve escaped, you know,” Jiang Xin said coldly, slumped on the ground.

“Surrender. It’s your only way out,” Xiao Yu replied icily, staring down at her. “At least you’ll die with a little less pain on the execution ground.”

Jiang Xin let out a derisive laugh. She stood motionless as she gazed at Xiao Yu with disdain.

“How did you do it?”

Xiao Yu slowly sat down, pulling out a cigarette. He lit it and took a long drag.

How did she make those three victims maintain such bizarre expressions after death? It was something he still couldn’t figure out.

“It’s simple.” Jiang Xin was silent for a moment before letting out a deranged chuckle. “You have them lie down and place a panel to block their view of everything below their necks. That way, they can’t see their lower bodies. Then, make them believe they’re doing something they truly enjoy. Wouldn’t that make those expressions appear on their faces? And since their bodies are already numb and devoid of pain, they won’t feel anything. You could chop off their hands and feet, and they wouldn’t notice. Even if you sever their necks, they still wouldn’t know. When they’re at their happiest, most satisfied, most relaxed, and most euphoric you kill them. Doesn’t that leave those expressions frozen on their faces?”

‘Holy shit! What a psycho!’ 

Xiao Yu felt a chill run down his spine and silently cursed in his heart.

But he had to admit—it was disturbingly ingenious. A method so twisted and convoluted, it made one’s scalp tingle.

If Jiang Xin hadn’t explained it herself, the police might never have figured out such a grotesque method of murder in their lifetimes.

“Why?” Xiao Yu fixed his gaze on her.

“Didn’t you already guess?” Jiang Xin blinked mischievously and let out another mocking chuckle, her tone dripping with disdain. “They were all my toys, my works of art. When you found them like that, the human-shaped dog, didn’t it look great?”

“Thank you,” Xiao Yu suddenly nodded.

“Huh?” Jiang Xin sneered coldly.

“Do you know what’s going to happen to you next?” Xiao Yu smiled faintly.

Hearing this, Jiang Xin felt as though she was back in school, with a teacher tapping the blackboard and asking: Do you know what calculus is?

You know nothing!

She honestly shook her head and sneered again.

“Take your time to think about it,” Xiao Yu said as he stood up.

“Even if I said something, what could you do to me?” Jiang Xin’s expression remained full of disdain and mockery. “At most, it’s just a charge for assaulting a police officer. Based on what you heard, your testimony, is that even admissible? You’re the officer in charge of this case, you can’t be a witness!”

“Have you ever heard of a long-range directional audio recorder?” Xiao Yu smiled as he spoke. “It’s a device equipped with sound reflection and diffraction directional sensors. It’s a tool that can very sensitively collect sound from long distances directly in front of it.”

As he explained, his eyes shifted toward a nearby residential building.

There, Guo Qiang stood up, holding something that looked like a miniature satellite dish in his hand.

Guo Qiang raised an OK gesture toward Xiao Yu.

Evidence collection: complete.

“You…”

Jiang Xin’s eyes widened instantly, her face filled with disbelief.

‘Is she going to drop dead on the spot?’

Watching her expression shift between terror, rage, and despair, Xiao Yu couldn’t help but smile with satisfaction. He stepped forward, grabbed Jiang Xin, and carried her like a struggling dog as he walked off the rooftop.

When you treat others like dogs, one day someone else will treat you like a dog.

Xiao Yu hadn’t believed in karma before. But after he was reborn, he started to believe.

【Ding! Congratulations to the host for solving…】

***

The next day.

“Hey, little brother, I heard you cracked a pretty twisted case?”

Wang Dong’s chatty voice came through Xiao Yu’s Bluetooth headset.

“I’m driving. If you’ve got something to say, say it quickly,” Xiao Yu said.

He was indeed driving, his face beaming with joy as he prepared to head home to spend time with his wife and future child. Well, the baby was still in his sister’s belly for now.

But so what?

It didn’t stop him from loving and looking forward to being a father.

Youth, it felt like it had returned.

“Remember the last time the big boss came to see you?” Without wasting words, Wang Dong got straight to the point. “He originally wanted to discuss something with you but saw you and your wife all lovey-dovey, so he didn’t interrupt.”

“And then?”

Xiao Yu’s face grew serious as he recalled the scene of the big boss visiting Bencheng and showing up at his doorstep.

“It’s actually nothing major.” Wang Dong chuckled slyly and said, “He just wants to give you a nominal position.”

Xiao Yu frowned immediately.

What does a nominal position mean?

Assigning certain public officials to positions in lower-level agencies, enterprises, or units for training was common. There was another form of nominal position, which functioned more like a part-time role.

Some individuals held one primary position but could concurrently take on additional roles.

One person, two positions—sometimes even three. This kind of arrangement was quite common within the system.

Xiao Yu couldn’t leave Bencheng. Both the big boss from the Ministry of State Security and the one from the police department were well aware of that. Which meant it could only be the second scenario.

“The Tenth Group of State Security,” Wang Dong finally revealed.

‘What the hell!’ Xiao Yu nearly drove the car into a ditch. ‘What did he just say? The Tenth Group?’

Slamming the brakes, Xiao Yu sat in the car, his head filled with question marks.

In the past, Xiao Yu had heard Wang Dong mention it.

Since its establishment, the State Security apparatus consisted of ministries, bureaus, regional units, various departments, and certain special and permanent institutions. But as for groups—there had always been exactly nine, Groups 1 through 9.

“What… what does that mean?” Xiao Yu’s voice faltered.

It couldn’t possibly mean what he thought, right?

‘Surely not… right?’

“Little brother, you’re the leader of the Tenth Group.”

Wang Dong’s voice carried a clear hint of schadenfreude.

“Of course, it’s just a titular role,” he added. “You don’t have to worry about the group’s management, operations, or other day-to-day affairs. But when the group is needed, you’ll have to come and take command. Oh, and you’ll have nine team members. What a coincidence, I happen to be one of them.”

Xiao Yu felt like thunder was rumbling in his head. His brain wasn’t just buzzing. It was completely numb.

The leader of Group 2, was now a member of Group 10?

‘Are you kidding me?! Did that mean the leaders of the other eight groups were also…’

“You guessed it, didn’t you? That’s right,” Wang Dong said, laughing with unrestrained delight. “The leaders of the nine special ops groups are now all your team members.”

Xiao Yu’s mind immediately stopped functioning.

But for some reason, a phrase from his past life’s internet culture popped into his head:

If the heavens don’t favor Xiao Yu, the parallel world will remain in eternal darkness.

If something this absurd could really happen…

Does that mean I can brag about this for the rest of my life?

No, I can’t.

I have to give the credit back to the bull—

Even the bull has to live, right?