Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Big Bro…
Zhao Yu was floored, as his mind whirred. All this while, as Cui Fangyu was being referred to as Third Bro, since Tao Xiang was more senior than him, Zhao Yu had thought that Tao Xiang was Big Bro!
He never would have guessed that Tao Xiang was just the Second Bro! In fact, it turns out that he had another one above him who was Big Bro!
“This person’s name is Li Fei. The batch of goods that you found, he was the one who brought them to me back then!” Flying Squirrel Gao continued. “Although he was Big Bro, he didn’t quite like to chat. In fact, he looked gloomy all the time, which always gave me the chills. However, he was still quite nice to me. When I first joined them, he really took care of me!”
He then added, “He was different than Tao Xiang. Although Li Fei was Big Bro, his skills were far behind Tao Xiang’s. Hence, he normally stayed at home to help master’s wife with domestic affairs. In contrast, Tao Xiang would always head out with master to get some real work done…”
Flying Squirrel looked up, as if reminiscing about the past, then said, “Later on, there was an incident! Once, when master brought Tao Xiang around, Big Bro Li Fei ran away from home! The weird part was, after Li Fei ran away, master’s wife went missing too! This made master anxious, so he immediately sent everyone to look for them, but no one could find them. After a few days, master got high blood pressure due to his anxiety, and he fell ill!”
He paused, swallowed hard, then added, “Then, everything was taken care of by Tao Xiang, Third Bro, and Fourth Sis. Latou and I were both so young, so we were sent home. Hence, I don’t know what happened after that exactly…”
He paused, then his eyes grew wide and he said, “It was almost a month before I heard that master’s wife had been found. Big Bro rushed her to the hospital right away, as she contracted an acute disease or something! Then, within a few days, I heard the sad news that both master and his wife had passed away!”
He shook his head and sighed. “Maybe it was because we were afraid that the police knew our identities and would arrest us, but regardless, Latou and I didn’t even attend the funeral. After that, Latou and I left and never returned! Even we parted ways at that time!”
He sighed yet again. “However, as we all were in Bai Ling and had the same master, I got into contact with Third Bro and Fourth Sis after awhile, and they were quite loyal. They helped me a lot during those few years, and they even lended me a large amount of money one time.”
He looked down as he continued to share his story. “Unfortunately, I failed them. I lost the money in a bad trade, so I had no money to return to them. So, I ran away from them! Who knew the couple would be in the same situation as master and his wife, leaving the human world together? Life is unpredictable!”
Then, Cui Lizhu couldn’t hold back her sorrow, while tears welled up in her eyes. She seemed like she wanted to tell Flying Squirrel Gao her identity, that she was that couple’s child. However, Zhao Yu tugged her lightly and stopped her from spilling the details.
“Flying Squirrel Gao, tell us in further detail about how Li Fei entrusted you to sell the stolen goods five years ago.” Zhao Yu requested. “How did you know that those things belonged to Tao Xiang?”
“It wasn’t five years ago, but six years ago!” Flying Squirrel Gao clarified. “I would never forget that time. I remember that I offended someone, who then broke my leg that year! Plus, when Li Fei asked me to sell the things, it was not long after the Gem Theft Case. I even asked him then if they had stolen the gemstone!”
“Oh?” Zhao Yu was enticed by this detail, so he commanded him quickly, “Tell us more!”
“I happened to be recovering from my injury at that time!” Flying Squirrel Gao recalled. “Do you know how coincidental that timing was? I was actually watching the TV news report about the Gem Theft Case! Then, at that exact moment, Li Fei came to look for me!”
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His shock showed on his face all over again as he recalled the memory. “I have no idea how he found me! The moment he entered, he brought in a box of impressive items and requested that I sell them on his behalf! Then, he said that he was in a hurry to get the money, so he was willing to lower his price.”
He shook his head, then added, “I am no fool, so I of course knew then that those items had questionable origins! But, the price of one million that he offered was too tempting! Honestly, those things might be worth more than ten million, even back then!”
He sighed. “Although I had yet to open my antique shop back then, I did already know some people in that circle, so I found Boss Liu, who ran a factory back then, and sold him everything! Besides, as Boss Liu was rich and liked to collect relics, but doesn’t like to show them off, I figured that it was safest to sell to him!”
“Humph, you sold the items for two million, and you made one million in profit from your senior straightaway!” Zhao Yu shook his head and smiled. “That seems like a worthwhile trade!”
“About this… I won’t explain any further. You should understand. As we were all just disciples of the same master, we really were like brothers…” Flying Squirrel Gao smiled bitterly. “When I gave him the money, I asked him where he got all of the goods from. Li Fei answered casually that they belonged to Tao Xiang, then he said that Tao Xiang didn’t have enough money, so he wanted to get rid of his goods to get some quick cash”
He then added, “I even asked Li Fei about the Indian gemstone. However, regarding the gemstone, he denied everything. In fact, he said that they had nothing to do with the gemstone. He swore that those were just rumors!”
Looking at Zhao Yu and the others, who were all listening very closely to him, Flying Squirrel Gao continued. “However, police officers, I know that Li Fei wasn’t being honest with me. After all, Li Fei was different than Tao Xiang. Although he was indeed a burglar, he wasn’t good at being deceitful or lying. So, when he answered me, he was looking everywhere but in my eyes, and he was acting very anxious. I’m guessing that he definitely lied. Hence, the gemstone must have been stolen by him and Tao Xiang!”
He then said, “To be frank, although Tao Xiang was known as the king of the thieves, for him to be able to pull that off is quite shocking! Moreover, stealing such a national level item is too eye-catching! That’s why I thought that Tao Xiang must have immediately sold his treasure, so that the two of them could flee!”
He took a breath, then went on. “As Li Fei wasn’t silly, he had to know the value of those goods, and since he agreed with the discounted one million price tag so readily, it showed how urgently he needed the money! Maybe, someone was already after him, because when Li Fei saw me, his clothes were all broken and he had black and blue bruises on his face! He really looked like he had just been in a fight with someone!”
He shook his head yet again. “You don’t know this, but Li Fei is a very gloomy person. You can especially see his mood it in his eyes, which always makes people uncomfortable! So, I dared not pursue the matter any further, but just let him go after I gave him the money! However, I was terrified about it for quite some time! I was worried that I would be dragged down with them in this seedy deal. I even went to hide out for quite a while.”
He then shrugged and rolled his eyes. “It has been six years, and after all this time, you found me! So, I saw on the news recently about Tao Xiang’s being arrested. So, did you find the gemstone?”
…
Half an hour later, Zhao Yu returned to the special investigation group office and looked at the information on the whiteboard. He was once again filled with mixed emotions and chaotic thoughts. Although he found many clues, a huge obstacle was slowly taking shape before his eyes.
If Flying Squirrel Gao’s testimony was really true, Li Fei was the most suspicious person by far. He was most likely the mysterious ally that checked out the venue with Tao Xiang, as only he knew about Tao Xiang’s secret hand signal!
Moreover, when Li Fei sold Tao Xiang’s goods to Flying Squirrel Gao, not only was that the exact time when the gemstone first got lost, but it also happened to be the same time that someone took Tao Xiang’s treasure from the metal box and replaced it with the human skulls! That person was almost certainly Li Fei!
Gloomy face and cold eyes…
As Zhao Yu recalled Flying Squirrel Gao’s chilling words regarding Li Fei, Zhao Yu was sure that type of man could emotionlessly pour human skulls into a metal box! This chilling demeanor almost certainly verified that Li Fei was the true murderer of the Headless Female Corpses Case! He just might be the real serial killer!