Facing the four people closing in from all sides, Shi Ting’s expression didn’t change. Calmly, he pushed Yan Qing’s wheelchair back to a safe position behind him.
He then rolled up his shirt sleeves and undid the top two buttons of his collar, every movement entirely unhurried.
“What, still trying to make a last stand?” Zhang Da smiled coldly. “Boy, your bad luck ran out the moment you crossed us. Killing one person is the same as killing two — we don’t mind adding two more lives to the count.”
“What about his girlfriend?”
“Kill her too, naturally. Otherwise she’d go report us, wouldn’t she.”
The first to rush forward was Li Youcai — the one who had strangled Le Chenghua. Perhaps because he had already killed a man before, he struck with particular viciousness, bringing the hoe straight down toward a vital spot.
Shi Ting tilted his head to one side without the slightest hurry and avoided the blow, then lifted his leg and delivered a solid kick squarely to Li Youcai’s chest. Li Youcai let out a muffled grunt and went flying backward.
Shi Ting turned and caught Zhang Da’s hoe as it came chopping down from behind, then yanked it hard. The hoe flew out of Zhang Da’s grip, and with the handle Shi Ting flung it forward — Zhang Da’s shoulder took the impact, and he let out a cry as he crashed to the ground.
“Rush him together,” Wu Yiwei shouted. He and Qian Jin tried to close in from both sides. Shi Ting didn’t even need to look — his ears alone caught the whistling of both attackers’ approaches. He leaned back and bent his body to nearly ninety degrees, and Wu Yiwei and Qian Jin’s hoes collided with each other, clanging loudly.
With one hand braced on the ground, Shi Ting swept his right leg low toward Wu Yiwei’s legs. Wu Yiwei went down, a searing, fracture-like pain exploding in his knee.
Seeing that Shi Ting was far too skilled to fight head-on, Qian Jin immediately switched targets to Yan Qing.
His plan was to seize Yan Qing as a hostage for leverage. That way, not only could he buy himself a chance to escape — he might even be able to take the body away.
Just as he charged at Yan Qing swinging his hoe, Yan Qing pressed a switch on the wheelchair without any sign of panic.
A black gun barrel sprang up, aimed directly at the frenzied Qian Jin. She pressed the trigger without hesitation. The bullet fired from the barrel in a burst of sparks, striking Qian Jin in the thigh.
Qian Jin let out an agonized cry and crumpled to the ground, howling like a stuck pig.
Had he chosen to keep fighting Shi Ting, the worst he would have suffered was some physical pain. But he had foolishly assumed that Yan Qing was the weak point — and for that miscalculation, he got a bullet for his trouble and writhed on the ground in agony.
“Zhang Qiu has run,” Yan Qing said urgently.
Shi Ting brushed the dust from his clothes and said calmly, “She won’t get far.”
Seeing that all was lost, Zhang Qiu had attempted to flee — but within a few steps she was cut off.
The ones who blocked her were none other than the innkeeper and the old forest warden.
Fire blazed in the old man’s eyes. He delivered a ringing slap to Zhang Qiu’s face. Zhang Qiu, unable to take a hit, went straight down.
“Give Shunzi back to me,” the old man roared. He had become like a lion unleashed, raining blows on Zhang Qiu as she lay on the ground.
The innkeeper had to use considerable effort to pull him back. “Old Sun, calm down. The law will deal with these wicked people.”
Hearing this, the old man suddenly let out a wail, and two streams of tears ran down through his clouded eyes.
To anyone else, Shunzi was just a dog — a mere animal. But to the old man, Shunzi had been family, kin, an old friend who had accompanied him for nearly twenty years.
These people had killed Shunzi. To him, it felt as though flesh had been cut from his bones.
The innkeeper and Shi Ting worked together to bind all five of them.
Though the innkeeper was known for his love of money, he was also a man of justice. After Shi Ting showed him his credentials, the innkeeper agreed without hesitation to assist, and volunteered to serve as a witness against these people.
“Chief Shi.” From the distance, rows of flashlight beams lit up, and Bai Jin came closing in from all directions with more than a dozen men.
Today, Shi Ting had used the mushroom-digging pretense to slip back to the vehicle parked outside the forest and drove to a telephone booth to assign Bai Jin his task. That was why Bai Jin now appeared here.
Wu Yiwei was trussed up tight as a twist of dough, his knee throbbing with excruciating pain. Even so, he raised his head and stared at Shi Ting with a bewildered look. “Who exactly are you?”
“You’re all blind,” Bai Jin kicked him. “The renowned Director Shi of the Military Police Bureau, and none of you recognized him.”
Zhang Da thought back to how he had just been declaring that “reporting the Military Police Bureau would do no good” — only to find that the man standing before him now was the very Director of that bureau.
Only now did they fully believe that this man had caught them through deduction alone. Beginning with nothing more than a thread of suspicion, he had followed the leads, investigated layer by layer, and in the end cast a net from which there was no escape.
Bai Jin directed his men to load the five into police vehicles, then turned to Shi Ting to report on the case’s developments.
“Le Chenghua’s father, Le Zainian, had paid the ransom at the time but never got his son back. Knowing Le Chenghua’s fate was almost certainly death, he suffered a stroke in his anguish and has been bedridden ever since, unable to care for himself. Le Zainian’s first wife passed away long ago, and the young wife he married — twenty years his junior — concealed the news of Le Chenghua’s death and never reported it to the authorities, hoping to inherit Le Zainian’s estate for herself alone.”
Shi Ting said, “If Le Zainian has been bedridden all this time, why would he publish a notice searching for the body three years later?”
“Le Zainian’s condition worsened. Knowing he did not have long to live, his dying wish was to be buried in the same grave as his son, hoping his son’s spirit would have a proper resting place. Le Zainian told his young wife that he had a safe-deposit box at the bank containing gold and jeweled jewelry worth more than twenty thousand dollars — if she could help him find Le Chenghua’s body, he would give her the combination. The young wife, driven by greed, published the notice in the newspaper. She knew that when the kidnappers from back then saw the announcement, they would certainly return the body. Her purpose in doing so was not to catch these people — it was purely to get her hands on that twenty-thousand-plus in gold jewelry.”
Shi Ting gave a cold laugh. “I would wager that Le Zainian had no such twenty-thousand-plus in gold jewelry to speak of.”
“Chief Shi, you guessed correctly. The old man’s estate had been stripped clean by his young wife long ago. There was no gold jewelry to be found. What was in that safe-deposit box was nothing more than a few photographs of Le Chenghua from childhood and a gold longevity locket.”
“Le Zainian truly deserves sympathy,” Yan Qing said, shaking her head. “Losing a child is already a human tragedy, yet he couldn’t even seek justice for his son, and for three years he lived on — but as a hollow shell, suffering beyond measure.”
Shi Ting removed his gloves. “First have Le Chenghua’s body transported back to the Military Police Bureau. Once the autopsy report is complete, return him to the Le family. Then inform Le Zainian that the murderers have been brought to justice. That will at least fulfill his last wish before he passes.”
“Yes, sir.” Bai Jin gave a salute, then seemed to remember something. “Oh, right — Miss Yan, your fifth sister came to the Military Police Bureau today.”
“Yan Qin? What was she there for?”
“What else could she be there for? She was trying every possible way to find out news about Chief Shi. When she heard that Chief Shi was out on assignment, she still wouldn’t let it rest. And I believe she also asked about you — whether you were with Chief Shi.”
Bai Jin grinned and winked at Shi Ting. “Chief Shi, we certainly didn’t give you away.”
Shi Ting looked at Yan Qing. Yan Qing happened to be looking at him too. They both seemed to read the same thought in each other’s expression — Yan Qin’s visit to the Military Police Bureau was not likely to be as simple as it appeared.
Shi Ting asked, “What time is it now?”
“Just past three-thirty.” Bai Jin checked his watch. “How has time passed so quickly? By the time we get back to the city, it’ll practically be dawn.”
Yan Qing thought to herself with a sinking feeling — if they headed back now, they might not make it in time.
\~
On a summer morning, it began to grow light just after five o’clock.
The servants of Yan Mansion were up early — those preparing meals, those drawing water at the well, those sweeping the courtyards — each fulfilling their duties, the whole place a scene of busy activity.
“Mother, trust me this one time. If you go to Yan Qing’s courtyard right now, you definitely won’t find her there.” Yan Qin gripped the arm of Madam Shi Meng Qiu.
“If she’s not in her courtyard, where would she be?” Madam Shi was thoroughly impatient. “What on earth are you up to at this early hour?”
“That shameless Yan Qing hasn’t come home for two nights.” Yan Qin clenched her teeth. “Yesterday I went to the Military Police Bureau to make inquiries. They said Director Shi also hadn’t been in for two days.”
“And so?” Madam Shi caught the implication in her words, and her eyes brightened.
“She must have gone off somewhere with Director Shi — a man and a woman alone together. You can imagine what might have happened.” Yan Qin said with a cold smile. “The fact that she’s not in her room right now is the best proof of it.”
“Why didn’t you go in the middle of last night, then?”
“Father had only just returned. What would be the use of going in the middle of last night?” Yan Qin said urgently. “Besides, I’ve also sent word to Shi Yutong. If Shi Yutong finds out about this, she’ll go back to the Shi family and spread the news — and the Shi family will all know that Yan Qing is a loose woman who goes off with other men before she’s even married, spending nights away from home.”
While she was still speaking, Shi Yutong’s voice rang out from outside. “Yan Qin, what have you called me here for at this early hour?”
Yan Qin quickly took Madam Yan’s arm and went out to meet her.
“Yutong, I’m going to tell you a secret. Yan Qing has gone off with some man, and she still hasn’t come back.”
“You don’t say!” Shi Yutong grew immediately excited at hearing this. “Then what are you standing around for? Let’s go tell Father Yan at once.”
Father Yan had only just returned to the mansion. He had sat on the boat all night and was exhausted, and was just about to go back to his room to rest when Madam Yan came sweeping toward him with Yan Qin and Shi Yutong in a grand procession.
“Do you all know I’m back, and have come specially to welcome me?” Father Yan had the attendant carry his trunk inside first.
Madam Yan smiled. “Not us — it’s Yan Qing, the child. She’s been saying she misses you these past two days, and that the moment you returned she would definitely want to see your face.”
“Is that so?” Father Yan’s mood lifted considerably, and some of the weariness faded from his expression. “Very well. I’ll go see her now.”
“I’ll come too,” Yan Qin said. “I haven’t seen my sixth sister in two days either.”
Yan Qin and Shi Yutong exchanged a glance and smiled.
The group made their way to Yan Qing’s courtyard in cheerful conversation. The courtyard gate was still closed, and no sound came from within.
Yan Qin stepped forward and knocked on the gate. “Sixth Sister, Father is back and has come to see you.”
Murong and Jing Zhi heard the sound and immediately sat up in bed.
Jing Zhi said anxiously, “The master has come over, and the young miss isn’t back yet.”
Murong forced herself to stay calm. “Stall them for now. Whatever happens, we can’t let the master find out the young miss hasn’t been home at night.”
—