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墨書 Inktalez
The first thing we did upon returning to Magic City was to find Yang Shuai and thoroughly investigate the origins of the piece of jade. The Detective Captain dialed Yang Shuai's number, but no one answered. He looked at me with a grave expression. I knew that this situation had taken a new turn; could it be that Yang Shuai had also run away like Zhao Yu?
We traveled in silence, reaching Tianyu Company as quickly as possible. According to the receptionist, when Yang Shuai returned from the police station that day, he appeared somewhat dazed and said nothing, as if he had suffered some kind of shock. Then the next day, after leaving the company, he never came back.
I nodded and asked, "When your boss left, did he take anything with him? Did he leave alone or with others? Did he say anything before he left?"
The receptionist thought for a moment and replied, "When the boss returned, he stayed in the office all night. When I went in to bring him tea, I heard him mumbling to himself about something like Burma Jade and mentioning that their people might come. He also said something about his strong appreciation skills. In short, he rambled on about a lot of things, and I didn't dare to interrupt him."
"Then the next day, shortly after the company opened," the receptionist continued, looking at us, "a few people came in. They pulled out some identification that I didn't recognize and told us not to interfere, asking where our boss was. Those people looked quite fierce and serious. One of them was holding some kind of jar; I had no idea what it was for."
The Detective Captain and I exchanged glances. I quickly asked, "Was that jar black? Like a small ceramic piece with a white decorative line on it?"
The receptionist nodded vigorously and said, "Yes, that's exactly the kind of jar. Then I asked them if they had an appointment, but those people glared at me fiercely. I got scared and wanted to call security, but just then, the boss came out from the office to the front desk, and I finally felt relieved."
"And then?" I pressed on. "Did your boss say anything to those people?"
The receptionist nodded again and said, "The boss came out and was surprised at first when he saw those people, but then he became calm. He walked over to them, and one person leaned in close to whisper something in his ear. The boss nodded gravely, and then those people wanted to take him away."
"The boss said he had some matters to attend to," the receptionist continued. "Then he told me some company affairs before saying something that left me confused."
I furrowed my brow and asked, "What did your boss say?"
The receptionist replied, "He seemed to say something like 'That stone came from the south; someone will come asking for it later. Just tell them I'm busy right now and hope they can take a trip down south. They know where it's placed; after all, I've already mentioned it in the elevator.'"
The receptionist shrugged with a puzzled expression and said, "But up until now, no one has come looking for me about any stone. I have no idea who my boss's words were meant for. I've been waiting here for quite a long time already; if it weren't for him saying he'd give me a bonus when he returned, I wouldn't even be here!"
I nodded, pondering the meaning behind Yang Shuai's last words. The stone from the south—Yang Shuai was trying to tell us the true origin of this black jade. It did not come from Hetian but rather from Myanmar. His mention of being unable to leave naturally indicated his current predicament, likely implying that he had been taken hostage. The key point was in the final sentence; that was what Yang Shuai truly wanted to convey to us.
Detective Captain noticed my contemplation and hesitated for a moment before saying, "I think it’s possible that things are like this. Back at the abandoned factory, we heard that person say something about how the jade belonged to them. If we base our deductions on that fact..."
As Detective Captain paced back and forth, he continued, "It’s very likely that Yang Shuai has been kidnapped by this group, and he wants to inform us about their origins so we can find him as soon as possible."
I nodded; Detective Captain's speculation was essentially the same as mine, but there were still several doubts. Hadn't the Mushi Master already retrieved the black jade? Why would they still kidnap Yang Shuai? Was there a deeper conspiracy behind their actions? If Yang Shuai realized someone was coming to kill him after seeing the elevator footage, why didn’t he clarify things with the police instead of putting on an act in front of us?
Detective Captain stopped pacing and asked the receptionist, "Is there surveillance at the front desk? Do you remember what those people looked like?"
The receptionist shook her head and replied, "Our company shuts off surveillance every year during the Ghost Festival. Our boss believes that if we have cameras running during this time, we might capture something unclean. He says especially in our line of work with jade, there are many inexplicable matters hidden within it—spirits and such. I’m not really sure about it, but luckily we finish work at six, so I don’t have to stay here at night."
"Strangely enough," the receptionist added, "those people were all wearing masks, and I didn’t pay much attention at the time. After all, smog has been quite severe these past few years. I couldn’t see their faces clearly, and there was no surveillance either. I don’t know if it’s a coincidence or what happened. Is something wrong with my boss?"
It then struck us that tomorrow was indeed the Ghost Festival.
I shook my head at the receptionist and said, "We’re not here on official business; we’re just here to collect stones as your boss mentioned."
The receptionist looked at us with some confusion before saying, "If that's the case, then you can go ahead and take them. The boss told you while he was in the elevator, but aside from the stones, you can’t take anything else! If anything goes missing, my boss will deduct it from my salary."
I nodded and began walking into the company. Detective Captain followed closely behind me and asked, "While we can speculate that Yang Shuai wanted to leave us some clues, how should we interpret that last sentence? He said he told us something in the elevator, but we’ve never been in an elevator with Yang Shuai."
As I walked toward Yang Shuai's office, I replied to him, "You were right in your earlier analysis; he might have been kidnapped. Therefore, in a specific context, everything he said could be very particular. For instance, regarding the stone—we deduced it was black jade—and when he mentioned 'the south,' referring to Myanmar; then the elevator probably doesn’t refer to a real elevator but is also specific."
"What does he specifically mean?" the Detective Captain asked, somewhat puzzled.
I replied, "When you think of an elevator, what is the first thing that comes to mind?"
"The case of Sun Bikun and the Insect Attack!" the Detective Captain said decisively.
I snapped my fingers and continued from his lead, "Exactly, it's about Sun Bikun being attacked by the Insect Eater. That's the first thing we think of, and it's the immediate reaction Yang Shuai wants us to have when we hear 'elevator.' He wants to tell us that Sun Bikun must know about this incident."
We had already arrived at the office, and I continued, "Do you remember in the conference room when we learned that Sun Bikun had stolen that piece of jade? Yang Shuai's furious reaction and what he said? What did he do at that moment?"
The Detective Captain recalled and said, "Yang Shuai was very angry. He immediately had someone check his safe because only Sun Bikun had seen him operate it. The person on the other end of the phone followed his instructions, opened the safe, and found that both the money and the jade were indeed missing. That's how we started investigating the jade."
I nodded, looking at the safe. The Detective Captain understood my point and said, "Are you suggesting that the clue he wanted to give us is in the safe? But how can we know the password? There are no cameras in Yang Shuai's office, which means he's very suspicious. When he returned, he must have changed the safe's password."
"That's right," I said with a smile. "It's likely that after thinking it over for a night and deducing that those people might have already found their way back, he would have changed the password again. After all, life is more important than money, especially since valuable things are no longer in his safe."
"Do you remember what he said back then?" I asked. "About the safe's password?"
The Detective Captain shook his head and said, "I really forgot about that. I'll check the records right away."
I waved my hand while operating the safe and said, "The password he mentioned was 3524; then turn the left knob three times to the left and the right knob two times to the right." As soon as I finished speaking, there was a click, and the safe door opened to reveal nothing inside but a piece of paper.
"Your memory is impressive," the Detective Captain exclaimed. "You can remember all these details so clearly."
I smiled lightly and said nothing as I took out the note. It looked like it had been hastily torn from a notebook, the edges uneven, suggesting it was either not very casual or done in a rush. The note only had two numbers written on the front—94741532.
I said, "It seems this is the clue Yang Shuai wanted to leave us, two four-digit numbers: 9474 and 1532." As I spoke, I handed the note to everyone.
After each person had taken a look, Detective Captain remarked, "Why didn't he leave a clearer clue?"
I replied, "Since those people were able to find him, Yang Shuai must also fear that they could crack his safe. So let's book plane tickets immediately."
"Plane tickets?" Detective Captain asked, puzzled.
I nodded and said, "Captain, you focus on tracing the clues from the day Yang Shuai went missing—check surveillance, conduct investigations, and visit places to try to find Yang Shuai. Mary, go book the tickets. I believe these two sets of numbers are undoubtedly coordinates; they must be within Myanmar, but we don't know exactly where yet."
Detective Captain and Mary nodded in agreement.
It seemed this piece of jade was indeed quite extraordinary.
A Charming Widow sent a letter to a Young Man, inviting him over for dinner in the middle of the night. Afterward, she let him drive her husband's Gallop. Coincidentally, on the way, he encountered a hitchhiking Young Woman. Her actions after getting into the car made it hard for him to maintain his composure; more benefits for homebodies awaited with just a click...
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