Chapter 52: The Faceless Criminal
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Search.
Another search.
One more search.
They’ve gotten a clue, but the scope was still too big.
That night, more than 120 vehicles were found to match the clue.
Huang He gathered all the men that he could within the Criminal Investigation Unit.
They worked with the traffic police and cyber police, summarizing the immense amount of data by verification and elimination to obtain useful information.
It was bright in the Criminal Investigation Unit.
Bai Muchuan’s eyes were red from working late into the night, but he never left the office.
Fang Yuanyuan sent a message to Huang He every half an hour asking if there were any news.
Huang He could only give a bitter smile; he did not have time to send any consoling word...
When it was 1:00 a.m., Bai Muchuan’s mobile phone finally rang.
He hurriedly pick up the phone, but when he saw the mobile number, his face turned grim.
“Hello?”
Immediately after, a sharp female voice came from the other end of the phone.
“What are you doing? Huh? What exactly are you trying to do...”
Huang He was beside Bai Muchuan. He furrowed his brows when he heard the indistinctive blaming coming from the phone.
Bai Muchuan replied, “We can talk when I go back to the capital.”
“...”
Afterward, he was not sure what the other party said which made Bai Muchuan gave a sudden sneer.
“Nobody can force me to do anything. Only if I wanted to or not to!”
Before he hang up, there were angry yelling coming from the other end of phone.
Huang He did not know who was the other party talking to him. He was slightly uncomfortable with the awkward atmosphere.
“Captain Bai, are you alright?”
“Hm, I’m fine,” replied Bai Muchuan, “I’m going out for a smoke, do hurry up with the investigations.”
...
The light was very dim at the end of the corridor.
This was a dead end that was not covered by the air conditioning.
Bai Muchuan was there. Leaning against a wall, the lit end of the cigarette on his hand flickered in the darkness. The combination of a dashing man together with the flickering light formed a melancholic scene.
It was a nice scene, but it would make one dispirited by looking at it.
He was looking out of the window, at the sky that was as dark as the ink.
He did not smoke the cigarette; instead, it was burning slowly by itself.
Cheng Zheng had both hands in his pocket as he walked slowly toward him. In no time, his nose creased in annoyance as he used his hand to fan the cigarette smoke away.
“Don’t smoke so much!”
Bai Muchuan swept a glance and offered him a cigarette.
Cheng Zheng rejected his offer. “When one’s mood is in disarray, smoking a cigarette has the same effect as drinking. The damage to the body will be in folds! Do you want to die a few years earlier than you should?”
“Hah!” Bai Muchuan laughed.
It was a disparaging smile, as if he had heard a joke.
He stuffed the cigarette slowly back into the box. Then he lifted the cigarette between his fingers for a smoke.
“Aren’t you pursuing her? She’s gone missing and you’re not anxious?”
“Is it useful to be anxious?” Cheng Zheng replied indifferently with another question. “It’s more practical to find a way to save her rather than getting all worried.”
In a sense, Xiang Wan’s character analysis of both Cheng Zheng and Bai Muchuan was accurate.
Both of them possessed the unsympathetic and realistic characteristics of elite men.
However, Cheng Zheng was the more rational one against Bai Muchuan.
Bai Muchuan was cold only on appearance, but Cheng Zheng was cold from the bones.
“After smoking, get to work. Find her quickly and get back to the capital to settle your stuff...”
Cheng Zheng turned to walk back to the Forensics Department.
Bai Muchuan looked at Cheng Zheng’s long, elegant back view for two seconds before he threw the cigarette butt on the ground in irritation and stepped on it mercilessly.
“I don’t need you to tell me what to do about my work.”
“It’s not your work anymore,” Cheng Zheng turned around, “two days ago, you’re no longer the Captain of the Criminal Investigation Unit at Hongjiang District. Currently, the interim Captain is Huang He.”
Bai Muchuan looked at him coldly.
“So, you think you’re qualified to poke your nose into my matters?”
“No, I’m not here for that,” Cheng Zheng laughed, “I’m just here to remind you something. Xiang Wan’s social circle is too simple. She’s not from a rich family, so why did the kidnappers take her away by waiting for her at the alley? Captain Bai, right now, I really have doubts about your professionalism, your brain, and your ICPO competency.”
With that, he strode away.
Cold sweat appeared in Bai Muchuan’s forehead.
He was overly concerned about Xiang Wan that he had overlooked something.
He got back to the office in a huff and called for Detective Tang.
“Give me the dossier of the 720 case!”
Tang Yuanchu took a peak at Huang He, who nodded at him, and he hurriedly complied with the command.
...
Chirp! Chirp! Chirp!
Caw! Caw! Caw!
There were only sounds of crickets and birds.
Xiang Wan did not know where she was brought to.
There were only a few simple bamboo chairs and table, as well as a bed in the room. The only window in the room was covered with newspaper from the 80s, which was already yellow. The gaps from the newspaper was enough for her to see the sky outside.
Night had fell.
It had been a whole day since she was abducted in the morning.
However, there was a big difference between reality and the television dramas.
Nobody intimidated or threatened her. No one asked her to contact her relatives for ransom as well.
In fact, they did not request her to do anything as yet.
The two men in black just left her in this place and did not bother with her anymore.
During noon time, they even delivered her lunch with twice-cooked pork as one of the side dishes which was not bad at all.
They did not talk to her, neither did they answer her when she talked to them.
Xiang Wan could not leave the place and was unable to get help. She could only wait.
Yaawwwnn!
Xiang Wan made a long yawn and rested her legs on a bamboo chair.
The furnishings in the house were rather shabby. It was no different from an ordinary rural house.
There was a reason why she did not scream or shout. She had noticed that she was being brought to the countryside, and it was a very desolate place. When she was brought down from the car, she did not see any other house, as if this house was in the middle of nowhere.
D*ng! Who abducted me?
Is this about money or my beauty? Give me a definite answer please!
When Xiang Wan yawned for the fifth time, she finally heard footsteps coming from outside her room.
The old wooden bolt that locked her room was pulled, and the door got pushed open.
The two men who had brought her here stood at two sides of the door like door gods.
“Uncle Ming, she’s inside.”
The light was switched on, yet it felt like the will-o’-wisp as it was very faint.
A man around 50 to 60 years old was standing at the door; he wore a pair of glasses, and his hair around his temples were grey. He quietly looked at her with a straight face. He had an amiable face which did not match the situation at all.
This is not the face of a criminal at all...
Xiang Wan’s jittery heart eased up a little as she moved her hands and feet.
She had been sitting for too long, her hands and legs were already aching.
“Old Sir, what do you want from me?”
She braced herself and got straight to the point. The old man touched his glasses, paused slightly, and walked slowly into the room. It was only then did Xiang Wan notice that the old man was slightly hunched. Although the old man was well-dressed and Xiang Wan could tell that he should either be wealthy or enjoyed a reputable status, the vicissitudes of apathy seemingly emanated from the wrinkles in the face could not be concealed.
“Stand guard outside!”
As soon as the old man gave the order, the two ‘door gods’ immediately responded.
“Yes!”
They lowered their heads as they closed the door.
The squeak of the ancient wooden door sent goosebumps to Xiang Wan’s nerves.
She clenched her fists and looked at the man who was walking toward her.
“You haven’t answered my question,” she pursed her lips, “what’s your motive?”
The old man stopped walking when he was not too far away from her. He just looked at her like that when he suddenly laughed.
“Girl, you have a lot of guts!”
Xiang Wan was a bit overwhelmed as the old man used a fatherly tone to talk to her. She was unable to guess his identity.
“Who are you? Just come clean, I’m not your relative!”
The old man chortled as he took two steps nearer and sat on a chair not too far away from her. Then, he slowly turned to look at her, his smiling eyes containing a sense of dignified bearing.
“My name is Xu Zhuming!”
Eh! This name rings a bell.
Xiang Wan tried hard to recall where she had heard that.
When all of a sudden, he added, “Xu Zhaodi’s father.”
Xu Zhaodi [Mrs. Zhao]—these three words seemed to carry some kind of scary magic. Xiang Wan’s nerves were unsettled once more.
She squinted her eyes, trying hard to remain calm. “So, you’ve brought me here... to avenge your daughter?”
Old Mr. Xu asked her seriously, “Do you think I should not do this?”
Xiang Wan’s back was aching from tension. “I’m not the one who killed her! By coming after me, aren’t you being disrespectful to your daughter?”
“You did not kill her,” Old Mr. Xu replied, “but she died because of you.”
Good grief!
Xiang Wan felt like her world was crumbling.
How am I going to explain all this to an old man who lost his only daughter?
Xiang Wan felt stuffy and hot, and her heart was suffocating. Under Old Mr. Xu’s complicated gaze, she felt as if she was being burned by fire and finally managed to get back her voice.
“Old Sir, we need to talk reason...”
Old Mr. Xu smiled faintly. “Reasoning is of no use to a lonely old man who has no children.”
Fine.
This makes sense.
There was not a sound inside the shabby-looking room.
Xiang Wan mulled over for a while. “Why don’t you tell me what you intend to do?”
Her calm composure surprised Old Mr. Xu.
He scrutinized her silently. A long while later, he suddenly spoke, but his voice was hoarse, “I have just managed to retrieve her ashes from Ganzhou today. This is the reason why you have waited for a day in vain.”
“...” The donkey’s lips do not match horses’ jaws? What is he trying to say?
Nevertheless, Xiang Wan felt his sorrow from his tone and voice. “I may not be in the best position to console you in this matter, but Old Sir, the deceased have rested in peace, the living have to move on with their lives! Your daughter would have wanted you to live well...”
“No, she wished me dead!”
Xiang Wan: “...”
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