Chapter Seventy-Four: The Traitor Within

Ma Han had given a heads-up to the National Security Bureau, asking them to prepare to spread the news, while Chu Feng called Li Zeming, instructing him to dispatch the SWAT team to bring away the assassins. Since they were setting a trap, the act had to be convincing.

Not long after, the members of Cherry Blossom Path and Scorching Sun received information disseminated by the National Security Bureau and relayed it all to their respective leaders.

Yet the leaders of these two organizations appeared to have reached a prior agreement; regarding this affair, they gave not the slightest response, as if those people were not even part of their organizations.

The next morning, Li Zeming called Chu Feng, informing him that everything was ready and urging him to proceed as planned.

Chu Feng, together with Ma Han and his team, hurried to the execution ground. Aside from Ma Han's special operations squad, Chu Feng had also borrowed a special forces unit from Gao Zhongjiang.

The reason Chu Feng mobilized such a large force was to see how the Mister would react. Whether the Mister came in person or sent someone else, Chu Feng did not intend to let that person slip away.

At ten o'clock in the morning, the armed police escorted all the captured assassins to the execution site, their heads covered with black cloth.

"Captain, have you found anything over there? Did the Mister realize our plan and decide not to send anyone?" Chu Feng sat in a car, asking Ma Han via radio.

"Nothing. Whoever wants to enter the execution ground must pass through this road below me, unless they parachute in from the sky," Ma Han replied, still scanning the surroundings with binoculars. He hadn't spotted a single person.

Chu Feng then used the walkie-talkie to ask Black Tiger, the captain of the other special forces unit, and received the same answer—no one was heading this way.

Chu Feng sat in the car, his face full of doubt. When he and Ma Han had discussed the plan, there had been no one else present. Very few people knew about it. Could someone be monitoring Chu Feng?

The phone chimed. Chu Feng glanced at the screen and saw a multimedia message from an unknown sender.

Chu Feng unlocked his phone and opened the message, immediately drawing in a sharp breath. The photo was of the execution site, taken with remarkable clarity. Chu Feng could even see the black cloth covering the assassins' heads.

Below the photo, a line of small text appeared, and upon reading it, Chu Feng felt a wave of defeat wash over him.

"You think I don't know your scheme is meant to lure me out? I can tell you now, I'm right here. If you have the guts, come catch me."

The message was signed "Mister." Clearly, someone had informed Mister of Chu Feng's plan, and the purpose of sending this photo was to undermine Chu Feng and mock him.

Chu Feng switched off his phone, slipped it into his pocket, then got out of the car to find Thor, the officer in charge of the execution, to cancel the operation and return the prisoners.

"Captain, let's go. The operation is canceled. Our intent has been discovered. I'll explain everything when we get back," Chu Feng told Ma Han and Black Tiger and ordered their immediate withdrawal.

"What about the execution date? These are all serious offenders. Why not just execute them today and save future bullets?" Thor removed the hoods from all the prisoners.

None of them were the assassins from Scorching Sun or Cherry Blossom Path. They were all unfamiliar faces.

This was Chu Feng's plan: outwardly, he had the armed police take away the assassins, but secretly, he had swapped them in the prison. The ones scheduled for execution today were death row inmates, not the killers.

"That works. Proceed with the execution. I'll inform Secretary Li about this," Chu Feng decided, following Thor's suggestion to execute the death row inmates.

With the sound of gunfire, five death row prisoners were shot in the back of the head. Chu Feng did not collect their lifespans—they had none left. Their evil deeds had ended their lives the day they were sentenced.

After the execution, Chu Feng drove alone back to the hospital. Ma Han and Black Tiger returned as well. Chu Feng was in low spirits; his meticulously laid trap had been discovered in advance, and he had been taunted with a photo message.

"Chu Feng, what's going on? Why did you suddenly cancel the operation?" Black Tiger hurried up to ask. He and his team had waited for hours and seen nothing.

"Our plan was leaked. That guy sent me a photo from the scene, so I canceled the operation. Even if we went through with it, we wouldn't have caught anyone."

Chu Feng showed the message and text to Black Tiger and Ma Han. After seeing it, they were incredulous—only the two of them had discussed the plan.

"Who do you think leaked it? It was just the two of us. Could someone in SWAT have let it slip?"

Ma Han carefully recalled the planning session with Chu Feng. They had met in a hospital room, alone, with Wang Chen and others guarding outside.

"I don't know, but it's highly likely the leak came from our side. All actions in the prison were handled by our people. Even the SWAT team didn't know we'd swapped the prisoners."

Chu Feng pondered for a long time, unable to pinpoint where the flaw had occurred. Fortunately, Mister had not set up an ambush; otherwise, chaos would have ensued today.

"Let's go visit the detention center and see how those guys are doing," Chu Feng said, taking Ma Han along.

Black Tiger and his soldiers stayed behind to protect Elder Chen. The security now was tighter than ever; Chu Feng's greatest fear was that Scorching Sun's assassins would target Elder Chen.

Chu Feng had explained all his actions to Elder Chen, who had told him only one thing:

"Do what you must. With me behind you, there will be no trouble."

It was thanks to this assurance that Chu Feng had called Li Zeming, and the SWAT and armed police had cooperated to stage this elaborate act.

At the detention center, the assassins from Cherry Blossom Path and Scorching Sun were confined together in a monitored room, with SWAT officers watching the surveillance feeds at all times.