Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
"Is this a joke? Am I really that foolish?" The Fire Extinguisher was heavy and unwieldy. I could dance around a bit, but if I kept it up, I'd eventually get slashed. Better to retreat for now. Ah Huang was just upstairs; as long as he showed up, there was no way we couldn't take down the Japanese.
As I ran, I glanced back. Thankfully, the Japanese hadn't caught up yet; they were probably still disoriented from the spray. I hoped it got in their eyes. I wondered what would happen if the dry powder from the Fire Extinguisher got in someone's eyes. If they went blind, that would be perfect; they wouldn't be able to move from that spot, and by the time I brought Ah Huang and the others back, it would be easier to handle.
I kept my pace steady as I dashed toward the stairwell. I avoided the elevator for two reasons: first, it might not even take me up, and second, it would throw them off my trail.
I burst through the stairwell door and sprinted upward. It seemed no one was following me, and I let out a sigh of relief. But at the same time, something felt off. There was no reason for them not to pursue me after all that had happened.
Lost in thought, I charged out of the First Floor Lobby stairwell and headed toward the nearest police officer while pulling out my phone.
The screen unlocked easily, but then I saw a long string of numbers: 11!!11011. What the hell! My skills were lacking! Wait, why was there no signal?!
The officer turned at the noise and looked at me. "Brothers!" I shouted at him. "I'm a friend of Deputy Captain Huang! Quickly contact him to come to the First Floor Lobby! I have important clues about the case!"
Hearing this, the Brothers quickly opened their walkie-talkies to call for help. After thinking for a moment, I realized that wasn't enough; Bu Shang wouldn't run from here. He was likely trying to escape in a car. If he got away, once he lost his knife, there wouldn't be enough reason to keep him here.
"Deputy Captain Huang! Deputy Captain Huang! Are you there? Respond!"
After a brief pause, I heard back, "Received! What’s going on?"
I quickly grabbed the walkie-talkie from the Brothers despite their annoyed looks. "Ah Huang! Ah Huang! This is Lao Wang! I just encountered a Japanese man in the underground garage who is illegally hiding controlled knives—exhibits from our domestic collection museum! You need to intercept him immediately and seal off all exits! Do you copy?!"
"Received! Received! I'll arrange it! Where are you?"
"First Floor Lobby! Hurry!" I handed the walkie-talkie back to the officer and began pacing in circles in the lobby. I needed to reorganize my thoughts based on what I knew so far: Bu Shang had learned about his grandfather's War Blade being lost through some channel and had come to China under the guise of investment to pay respects and retrieve it. During his stay here for promotional purposes related to his investment, he likely attended this art festival as a sponsor. The Shikigami he brought with him—was it that shadow I saw last time? He must have used the Soul Retrieval Technique to draw out souls for his Shikigami to consume. This could explain why those girls had gone missing. However, there was still one question: what made Zhao Xinran so special that she was killed? And who raped Zhao Xinran? If forensic results confirmed it wasn't Bu Shang, then perhaps he wasn't the killer—there must be someone else involved. But who could that be?
I couldn't wrap my head around this when suddenly someone tapped me on the shoulder. Turning around, I found Ah Huang standing there.
"You finally made it!" I quickly pulled him aside and recounted everything from the beginning while sharing my deductions with him. He looked stunned, unable to close his mouth. "I can't believe it! If you hadn't experienced this yourself, I'd think you were telling a story! Ah, Bu Shang is truly insane; he even wants to silence you!"
Ah Huang shifted gears again. "You're crazy too! Why would you follow him into such danger?! You're unarmed—what if something happened? How would I explain that to your unit?"
I interrupted him, "All exits are sealed off now, right? We need to search him immediately; we can't let him take anything out! If we find that knife, we can temporarily restrict him through diplomatic channels and buy time for further investigation!"
Ah Huang nodded, "I know what to do. Are you okay?" I replied, "I'm fine. The art festival is opening soon, so we need to control him early and hope nothing else goes wrong."
After chatting with Ah Huang for a while, I realized I couldn't be of much help, so I said my goodbyes and waited for the rehearsal to finish before leading the team out of the television station.
The next noon, I received a call from Ah Huang. "Old Wang, I have some bad news for you."
"What is it?"
"Last night we couldn't find Bu Shang at the television station. He probably slipped away on his own. This morning, I led a team to the hotel where he was staying, planning to check on him under the pretext of a public report. When we got there, we found him with his translator. They both insisted they returned to the hotel early last night and claimed they knew nothing about the knife. We conducted a search but found nothing."
"Oh, I see!" I frowned. Where could he have hidden the knife? Given how precious it was to Bu Shang, he wouldn't entrust it to anyone else. If it wasn't with him, it had to be at the television station!
Suddenly, an idea struck me. "Let's look for Bu Shang's car! It's still in the parking lot, and the exit is blocked. If Bu Shang managed to sneak out himself, then the car must still be there. On the second floor, I remember he pressed the button for the underground garage elevator!" I exclaimed excitedly.
Ah Huang sighed, "We've already checked that. It's a car belonging to his company; there was nothing in it. Your knife isn't in that vehicle."
"I see... So where could the knife be?" I couldn't help but ask.
"I called you because I wanted to analyze this together!"
"Don't rush me; let me think. Look, Bu Shang has already gotten hold of the knife. He must want to return to his country quickly without causing any trouble. But since I've made such a fuss, he can't take the knife with him now. The art festival closes tonight; if the knife is still here, he will definitely come back. Since he's a guest, it would be natural for him to return, and you won't be able to do anything about it. He can only act tonight because he's already revealed his intentions in front of me. If he doesn't get the knife by tonight, he won't have any reason to come back here again; even if he does come back then, it would draw more attention." The more I thought about it, the clearer my reasoning became.
"Old Wang, you're quite impressive! You've become quite the seasoned detective!" Ah Huang said excitedly.
"Tonight will reveal everything. Ah Huang, have you set everything up on your end? It’s going to be an exciting night!"
"Yes, you should be careful too; Bu Shang might try to attack you since you know too much."
I took a deep breath and assured myself that I could handle it. After hanging up the phone, I returned to my room and pulled out my two nunchaku from under the bed. I found the golf club cover from last time and placed the nunchaku inside. That's right, I would carry it with me to the venue tonight. Who knows if there would be an ambush? Having something for self-defense made me feel more at ease.
After dinner, I led everyone to the television station. Since it was a formal performance, even though it was just past six o'clock, there was already a long line of people waiting to enter. We spent quite some time getting in through the staff entrance.
Outside, many buses were parked, and numerous young men and women were holding various welcome signs. They must be waiting for their idols.
Glancing at the chaotic scene, I suddenly realized that I had been so busy chasing after Bu that I hadn't taken the time to properly look at any stars. During Xuanhua's rehearsal, a few celebrities had also shown up; there was even Singing Gerile? Oh, how nice it would be to get an autograph! As I momentarily lost my focus, I found that I had unknowingly led the group to the elevator beside the main hall.
I steadied myself. From this moment on, I needed to keep an eye on Bu. On one hand, I had to look for him; on the other hand, I had to be wary of him. I touched the stick bag slung across my back and felt a sense of calm wash over me.
As we entered the Broadcast Hall, I immediately sensed that the atmosphere was completely different from when we had rehearsed before. The golden pillars gleamed brilliantly, and the stage was magnificently set up with dazzling lights. Many cameras were already in position, and staff members were adjusting equipment. It seemed that quite a few audience members had already taken their seats.
I quickly disbanded the group and sent everyone back to their respective posts while I wandered around the edge of the stage. I couldn't help but wonder what Bu was thinking. If I were him, I'd definitely hide that knife somewhere around here because this was where he felt most familiar and comfortable. Plus, with so many people around creating chaos, what would be more convenient than this?
But where exactly had Bu hidden that knife? I pondered deeply.
(To be continued; stay tuned for more exciting developments tomorrow!)
Comment 0 Comment Count