Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
8:00pm that night
Zhao Yu had just hung up Miao Ying’s call as the high-speed train whizzed past.
“How was it?” Cui Lizhu asked nonchalantly. “Did Miss Miao give you an earful again?”
“You must be kidding!” Zhao Yu answered calmly. “You don’t know my Miaomiao! As I was explaining this to her she had nothing but compliments for me, saying that I’m a role model detective, an elite of the police team… you get the idea. I’m willing to sacrifice my time and energy to find out the truth and bring justice to the victims. Not to mention I have exceptionally high IQ and EQ…” Cui Lizhu couldn’t stop rolling her eyes as Zhao Yu spoke.
“Fine, you were right, I got an earful. Are you happy now?” Zhao Yu admitted.
“Tsk!” Cui Lizhu lazily picked up a bottle, taking numerous sips from it.
“Actually, Miao Ying scolded me for two reasons. The first was that she was worried about my safety,” Zhao Yu reasoned. “The second was because she was mad that I wasn’t bringing her along. She wants to be here cracking cases with me but, because of the Gao Lanqi case, she can’t leave. What a pity!”
“Hmph, I’ll give you two additional reasons!” Cui Lizhu responded. “Reason three, you have created a new investigations unit. How do you think she feels about this newfound independence you have? Lastly, and most importantly, she doesn’t want you to be so close to me! You’re getting engaged in June. There’s no way she’s…”
“Don’t be ridiculous. I know Miaomiao, she’s not that petty!” Zhao Yu said confidently. “If she didn’t trust me, we wouldn’t have lasted this long. You don’t know what we’ve been through in the past. Our love has transcended life and death, this is nothing! You’ve never experienced it personally, so you probably don’t understand what that feels like. Even if you attempted to seduce me it would be of no use, I will never stray from Miao Ying for you!”
“Go to h*ll! Don’t you think your narcissism is a tad disgusting?” Cui Lizhu asked. “If that was my intention, I would have come for you at the start! I… uh…” Cui Lizhu put her arm around Zhao Yu’s shoulders. “I only treat you as a boss!”
“That’s right!” Zhao Yu nodded with satisfaction. He felt that Cui Lizhu was hugging him a little too tightly, so he tried to push her away. While doing so, either accidentally or subconsciously on purpose, he touched her chest. An awkward silence fell over them as some crows were flying past. Cui Lizhu’s face flushed red and she quickly gulped down the rest of her drink. Awkwardly, Zhao Yu looked away and began to whistle.
As they had passed the peak transportation time, there were not many people left on the train towards Feng Ping. A quick glance showed that almost half the cabin was empty. “Oh right, boss, do you know the people the higherups sent?” Cui Lizhu asked to break the silence. “Why does it feel like I know they’ll be difficult to handle before I’ve even met them?”
“I don’t know them at all!” Zhao Yu said. “The leader will be coming from Foreign Affairs. I’ve already asked Ma Ruinkui and he said that this person is an elite. Apparently, he used to be in charge of events involving Japan and Korea and can speak seven languages!”
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“Hmph!” Cui Lizhu snorted. “What’s the point of knowing even 100 languages? We’re here to crack cases, isn’t he just a figurehead? I think he’s just here to steal your glory and your money!”
“I’m not too sure about the details, we can only wait till he’s here to find out the truth,” Zhao Yu sighed. “He’s rushing back from overseas now. If all goes well, we might be able to meet him tomorrow! Until then, the rest of the people should have gathered already!”
“I don’t get it…” Cui Lizhu shook her head. “Why does this case concern foreign affairs? Don’t tell me that these five people were killed by a foreign spy?”
“That’s hard to say!” Zhao Yu said. “Think about it. If these five people’s deaths were linked to the treasure then it’s possible! Russia and Japan could have participated, who knows? The higherups are just preparing for the worst-case scenario.”
“Oh…” Cui Lizhu said. She looked at her surroundings warily and whispered. “If that’s really the case then we have to be especially careful!”
“Of course!” Zhao Yu replied. He looked at the system in his head. Since opening the hexagram, he had kept the Invisible Detector activated to check his surroundings and movements. “But…” Zhao Yu continued. “There is something I’m not clear about. Your dad, Tao Xiang, didn’t indicate how he obtained those 16 names! Did he find them one by one, or did he get them from some other channel? Think about it! If the last five people were murdered, then could the murderer have some relation to your dad?”
“Hmm, about that…” Cui Lizhu frowned. “What you’re saying is that someone else might have the same list of names as my dad?”
“That’s possible, but it’s all just conjecture!” Zhao Yu said. “With no strong evidence we cannot jump to any conclusions right now!”
“Right, for all we know those five deaths were just a coincidence! If it really is a coincidence, then we’ve wasted all our effort!” Cui Lizhu said helplessly. “In the end, not only will we not be able to find the treasure, my house will be gone, and it all will have been for nothing!”
“That’s what we say, but…” Zhao Yu whispered. “Based on my experience, the chance of this kind of coincidence is close to zero!”
“Oh? Why’s that?” Cui Lizhu asked, her eyes widening.
“Because the five deaths happened in the order of the list of names!” Zhao Yu said. “The name at the top died first, while the name at the bottom died last. All the deaths followed along with the list! Plus, all the deaths happened in a short time frame and they all died from the same illness. Such things can’t be a coincidence!”
“Oh! So, from the start, you already figured that their deaths were not a coincidence!” Cui Lizhu said. “Wow, why didn’t you tell me earlier? No wonder you had asked the office for permission before we even started investigating. Deep down you already knew!”
“Yes!” Zhao Yu nodded. “To investigate this case clearly, we need to search in reverse order. Yuan Juncheng is the last name on the list and was also the last to die. Since it was the most recent death, there might be more leads for us to find. So, we’re going to Feng Ping and starting our investigation with him!”