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墨書 Inktalez
"What's wrong?"
Director Wen suddenly heard Old Shao's words, feeling a mix of excitement and concern. He knew that Old Shao had made up his mind to leave, but the unexpected statement must have some important reason behind it. That reason could lead to serious consequences.
Old Shao took a card out of his pocket; to be precise, it was a black business card.
On the black card were only four words—Criminal Consultant.
These words were not printed but written in pen. The handwriting was strong and vigorous, with strokes that resembled dragons and snakes, powerful enough to penetrate the paper. If one disregarded the meaning of these four words, Old Shao couldn't help but admire the excellent calligraphy.
This handwriting was familiar to Old Shao. Over twenty years ago, whether by misfortune or fortune, he had seen the owner of this handwriting in a psychiatric hospital in Dongxing City. At that time, Old Shao was far from the calm and composed person he was now; he had suffered a crushing defeat when facing this individual.
Since that person escaped from the psychiatric hospital, Old Shao had not seen him for two decades. But now, that person had returned.
Old Shao handed the card to Director Wen, who gasped after reading it: "This person has come back."
As Old Shao quickly made his way downstairs, he remarked, "That old man is already eighty years old, yet he still knows how to stir things up."
Director Wen replied, "It seems you won't be able to rest anytime soon. I'll notify Minister Li immediately; it looks like you're going to form a team again."
Old Shao nodded but said, "No need for that. I'll talk to Old Li myself; it's been a long time since I've seen him."
As they reached the ground floor, the crowd that had gathered earlier had long since dispersed.
As Old Shao's disciple, Director Wen sensed something amiss and spoke up: "I'll send someone to investigate the crowd from earlier. Someone must have slipped this into your pocket while you were passing through."
Old Shao shook his head. "No need for that; they won't find the mastermind. If they lacked such skill, they wouldn't be on the Ministry of Public Security's blacklist. But that old man—at eighty years old, he still can't settle down. I fear he wants to pull off something big before he dies."
That night, at the Ministry of Public Security.
Before Old Shao sat a white-haired elder, who was not only his former colleague but also the current deputy minister of the Ministry of Public Security.
A black card lay on the table in front of both men.
Li Minister glanced at the black card and said, "He has appeared again? After all these years, I thought he was long dead."
Old Shao lightly tapped his fingers on the table. "There's no need for small talk between us. We've been classmates for four years and have worked together for most of our lives. Even in old age, we still have to see each other."
Li Minister snorted coldly. "As if I want to see you. If it weren't for the need to establish a special task force, do you think I would come here?"
If anyone else had seen these two old men, both over a hundred years old and holding high positions, bickering like children, they would likely be too astonished to speak.
With a roll of his eyes at Old Shao, Li Minister said seriously, "So, we're forming a special task force. Out of over two million police officers nationwide, I've selected ten of the best for you. Most importantly, they are all young talents who possess your former style."
With that, Li Minister opened a file. "Take a look at this one. He joined the force at twenty-five and has participated in over thirty cases, receiving multiple second-class team awards and individual second-class awards. Doesn't he remind you of your younger self? And this one from the armed police has participated in international police free fighting competitions for several consecutive years and achieved remarkable results. And look at this..."
Old Shao glanced at Li Minister and gently closed the file.
Li Minister looked at Old Shao with an unfriendly expression. "Since you were young, you've always preferred to find those outside the system. Do you have a compulsion? Why not choose from these professional police officers? You're an honorary professor at China People's Public Security University, not a retraining company for laid-off workers."
Hearing Li Minister's words, Old Shao couldn't help but chuckle. "That's why I know that most of the excellent police officers in this file learned what they know from me. In other words, I'm looking for another version of myself to help out. Don't you think that's necessary? If we're dealing with him, it would be more interesting to find someone who surprises even me."
Li Minister curled his lip. "You always come up with some nonsense. You already have your own candidates in mind without needing my suggestions. So who is this person this time? A mechanic? A blacksmith? A vendor selling buns or fried dough sticks? Or someone from a mental hospital?"
Old Shao pointed a finger at Li Minister and said, "You! Besides looking for someone from a mental hospital once, who else have I looked for? After that case, I stepped back to teach on the second line. But if that's the case, there is indeed someone I'm quite interested in."
"Who?" Li Minister asked curiously, wondering what kind of person Old Shao would bring up this time.
"Jiang He," Old Shao mentioned.
"What? This person is also an outsider? How many cases has he solved?" Li Minister asked.
Old Shao shook his head.
"Does this person have delusions of guilt?" Li Minister continued.
Old Shao shook his head again.
"Alright, aside from the name, where does this person live and how do I find him?" Minister Li asked again.
Old Shao shook his head once more.
Minister Li continued, "I’m Shaoshilin. Are you messing with me? You expect me to track someone down with just a name? Do you really think I know everything?"
Old Shao smiled and shook his head.
Two hours later, a file was placed in front of Old Shao.
"You have no idea how much effort I put into finding this person for you. I could ignore you before, but now that you're my subordinate, if this so-called Jiang He isn't as capable as our other officers, you won't be able to use this name. Do you understand?"
Captain Li pointed at the file as he spoke.
"But it seems you have some connection with this person."
Seeing that Old Shao was ignoring him, Minister Li could only feel embarrassed.
"A connection with me?" Old Shao asked, puzzled.
Minister Li sat down. "You'll understand once you read it."
Old Shao carefully read through the file.
Jiang He, twenty-eight years old, Han ethnicity, from Yuzhou.
When he was in first grade, the boy was six years old. On that sunny day, he walked out of the district unit gate to go to school. Just after he stepped out of the building, an explosion sounded from above. Flames erupted from the upper floors, and the crowd was in a panic. Firefighters, doctors, and police rushed to the scene.
After things calmed down, the police released their investigation conclusion. A couple on the fourth floor had quarreled fiercely; in a fit of rage, the husband ignited a gas canister, causing a massive explosion that killed both of them instantly. The blast collapsed the kitchen on the fourth floor and affected the residents on the third floor—a couple who were having breakfast in their kitchen at that moment.
As Old Shao read through the file, his thoughts drifted back to that morning decades ago. At that time, Shaoshilin was just an ordinary police officer who followed his mentor Shih Huacheng to investigate the explosion case. The scene was chaotic after the blast.
Firefighters were putting out fires while doctors tended to the injured and police evacuated the crowd.
In the midst of chaos, Shaoshilin spotted a boy.
The boy stood motionless at the bottom of the building, staring at the flames engulfing the residential complex. From the pure eyes of the child, Shaoshilin could see fear, anxiety, and confusion. He approached the boy and tightly embraced him, feeling the tremors of extreme terror coursing through the child's body.
There were no adults around; no one was paying attention to this child.
No matter how much Shaoshilin asked about the boy's parents or where they were, the child remained silent, as if he had been stunned into shock. Unable to leave the boy alone in such a state, Shaoshilin stayed with him for a full twelve hours.
When everything finally settled down and the situation was clarified, it was already several hours past midnight.
The explosion had affected residents on the third floor; the kitchen on the fourth floor had collapsed, debris and steel raining down.
The couple from the third floor was taken to the hospital, but despite over ten hours of emergency treatment, they could not be saved and tragically passed away.
That child was their son, named Jiang He.
Afterward, distant relatives took Jiang He away, and from that moment on, Shaoshilin never saw him again. Unexpectedly, decades later, Shaoshilin received news about Jiang He once more.
Even someone like Old Shao, who never believed in fate or destiny, couldn't help but feel that this world was somewhat extraordinary at that moment.
However, Jiang He's file contained more than just this. In the following years, Jiang He displayed an extraordinary level of observational and memory skills far surpassing those of ordinary people. While others needed to read a book multiple times to memorize it, he could recite it perfectly after just one reading. Even if an object moved just a few millimeters, Jiang He would notice it.
In medical terms, this condition is referred to as Hyperthymesia.
"Hyperthymesia," Old Shao muttered to himself.
Minister Li nodded. "That's right; it's Hyperthymesia. No wonder his observational abilities are so much stronger than others. He simply cannot forget anything. As long as he has experienced it, he will never forget. So even if you move something just slightly, he will notice."
"What a fortunate thing that must be."
"What a painful thing that must be."
The two spoke almost in unison.
The former belonged to Minister Li, while the latter was from Old Shao.
The two exchanged glances, both curious about the completely different conclusions they had reached. They stared into each other's eyes and derived a brutally honest term from that gaze—fool.
"How could it be painful?" Minister Li asked. "Who wouldn't want to remember forever? Did you pass the Level Four exam back in college?"
Old Shao shrugged. "Is it recorded in the files that Jiang He went to college?"
"No," Minister Li replied.
"Then that's settled," Shao the Elder said.
Old Shao understood; others would only see the superficial happiness but would never know the pain behind it.
"However, there's one interesting point," Old Shao began.
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