<strong>Chapter 1009: Chapter 1001: Afraid to Take Action</strong>


    With this, everything bes simple. Hua Xiangrong suddenly felt that the entire investigation might not be as difficult anymore. After all, she already had a general framework and knew the direction to proceed, which was much better than theplete confusion she was in a few days ago.


    However, the case wasn’t actually easy to investigate. She wanted to look into someone far more skilled than herself, but she didn’t know where to start and didn’t have the authority.


    She didn’t know if the person secretly watching her was still around. If they were, she dared not act.


    So she pretended to revisit the ce where the crime gang lived and indeed noticed that one person was always following her. This person was different from thest one she noticed; they seemed to change watch every day, maybe to avoid detection.


    Hua Xiangrong discovered the person surveilling her but had to pretend otherwise. It seemed the person was inexperienced and not very good at disguising, almost bumping into her several times, tracking too closely without noticing their mistake.


    Hua Xiangrong judged that those above had likely rxed their guard over her and sent such a person out out of habit, still uneasy about her but not too worried about any major harm she could cause them.


    At this time, Hua Xiangrong didn’t dare act recklessly; her father was still in prison. If she made even a slight mistake in her actions, her father might suffer in prison.


    But she couldn’t stop the investigation. For the first time, she trusted her intuition immensely. She knew that further investigation would lead to significant discoveries. The interests involved could be soplex thatw enforcement might not dare to convict them easily.


    After a whole day with no progress, Hua Xiangrong returned home, ate something random, and realized that when feeling down, even food lost its vor. Every dish seemed to taste the same.


    Early in the morning on the second day after being arrested, Xiao Yifei was taken to a separate interrogation room, his first encounter with interrogation. Although he had done nothing wrong, the whole atmosphere could easily make someone tense.


    “You must be Xiao Yifei. You’re better looking than I imagined.” After waiting tensely for about ten minutes in the interrogation room, a policeman, likely in his forties, came in. Xiao Yifei guessed that this person was surely eloquent, with his own approach to interrogation. Otherwise, what could they gather from someone as clean as him?


    Xiao Yifei kept reassuring himself to stay calm—having done nothing wrong, why be so tense? He had survived prison alone before, in a much harsher environment. The police department shouldn’t be anything to fear.


    “Do you know why we arrested you?” the ck-faced officer asked.


    “Of course I don’t. Maybe you just wanted to fabricate charges against me, to give me a crime. Isn’t it easy for you? Just tell me what crime I’ve been charged with and under what pretext you arrested me,” Lin Mu replied.


    “Didn’t you say it yourself? We don’t need any reason to arrest you. As long as we wish it, you’re in,” said the police officer.


    It seemed that was the case; perhaps there really was no reason.


    “Let’s get back to business. Let’s talk about the report you filed yesterday. If you cancel it now, we’ll release you soon. The items you lost aren’t important, so why cling to it?” the officer continued.


    “But isn’t reporting a theftpletely normal? I’ve even found evidence against the crime gang. You just need to arrest them; why go to such lengths to persuade me? Why don’t you dare to arrest them? Let me think, it must touch upon your interests, right? Maybe some of you are colluding with the gang, which is why you go to great lengths to make me drop the case,” Xiao Yifei said.


    Actually, Xiao Yifei didn’t know why he said that. He had never thought along those lines before. The police he knew were upright, diligent, and responsible figures in his mind. He never imagined such people existing in the police force.


    But every profession has its bad apples marring the entire pot. They may think it doesn’t matter, but the actions tarnish the whole police industry.


    “You don’t have any new evidence, do you? If you hand it over obediently, I promise to treat you nicely. But if you keep resisting, who knows what methods I’ll use to make youply. You haven’t experienced our capabilities yet, so today I’ll give you a taste,” the officer warned.


    Xiao Yifei remained defiant, insisting he wouldn’t withdraw his report no matter what, even if it reached the Supreme Court. Justice was on his side.


    Someone then entered and tied his hands and feet, immobilizing him. They began to tickle him with something soft. His body was extremely sensitive, especially around his waist. The slightest touch there felt like billions of insects gnawing at him— agony those resistant to tickling couldn’t fathom.


    With his entire body restrained, even moving a finger was incredibly difficult.


    Xiao Yifei thought these people would use any method for a forced confession to get results.


    Forced confessions are generally not allowed because improper use could lead to false charges and wrongful cases.


    That’s why forced confessions had long been banned by the state.


    Yet higher-ups have their measures, and sometimes a case unresolved for ten days could make police anxious. To wrap it quickly, they might use some means, an unspoken rule everyone knows. As long as it benefits a case, higher-ups often turn a blind eye.


    As long as there’s no big trouble, there’ll be no problem.


    The only forced confession method Xiao Yifei knew was Water Torture, a way to make a prisoner feel like drowning. The prisoner gets tied with feet above the head, covered with a towel, and water poured on their face.