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墨書 Inktalez
With a lead in hand, I stepped out of the interrogation room just as the Detective Captain finished questioning the thin man. According to the Detective Captain, the thin man was quite cooperative, spilling everything like beans from a bamboo tube. When we compared their testimonies, we found that they were almost identical, but the different speakers led to some discrepancies.
For instance, Second Brother claimed that Alai had initiated the idea of stealing the jade, which he had come up with himself. He also admitted to hiding the jade under the bed. I shook my head; no matter what these people said, they always omitted the most incriminating details about themselves. It seemed that self-preservation was indeed human nature.
The Detective Captain and I led our team to the scene, parking the police car far from the Bungalow. According to both the fat and thin men, Yang Shuai should be trapped inside this Bungalow. It was already early morning, and we were still unsure whether Shorty had returned here or if he had fled with the jade.
Using the moonlight, we leaned against the wall of the Bungalow. Inside was pitch black, with no lights on, making it impossible to see what was happening inside. The Detective Captain signaled for us to wait as we donned night vision goggles to see better in the dark.
"Action!" The Detective Captain kicked open the door and shouted, "Police! Don't move!"
We filed in one after another, carefully checking around but found it completely empty—there wasn't a soul inside. I turned on the lights and removed my goggles. The Detective Captain frowned and said, "Could it be that those two tricked us? Did they coordinate their testimonies beforehand?"
We surveyed our surroundings; this Bungalow wasn't large. Upon entering, there was a main room with two suites on either side. In the main room stood a table cluttered with food wrappers, leftover rice, and an ashtray overflowing with cigarette butts—an unbearable stench in this hot summer. A few chairs lay haphazardly around the table, creating a chaotic scene.
In the left suite were two beds covered with straw mats, on which lay cigarettes and playing cards. I deliberately looked under one of the beds and gently tapped on a brick; sure enough, one brick was loose. I pulled it out to reveal a small space beneath it. However, it was empty—there was no sign of Jade.
It appeared that Shorty had been back here at some point. I immediately told the Detective Captain, "Counting from eleven o'clock when Shorty stole Jade, he must have returned here at some point. Now he might have fled with Yang Shuai; considering this angle, he can't have gone far. We need to pursue him immediately."
The Detective Captain nodded and quickly set to work. At that moment, I entered the right suite where there was only one bed and a table beside it. On the table were signs of recently untied ropes; it seemed Yang Shuai had been tied to this table before. It was evident that these items had been moved in later since all other furniture must have been removed by the previous owner.
There wasn't much in this Bungalow that required extensive investigation. However, I found myself puzzled by one thing: why did Shorty do this? His return to the Bungalow made sense since the fat man had told him that the jade was under the thin man's bed.
But why take Yang Shuai along? Once he achieved his goal, why complicate matters by bringing an extra burden? This was a point of suspicion. As I pondered this question, I walked over to a tree in front of the Bungalow that Fatty had mentioned; it was a tall banyan tree. Beneath it, I could see a hollow trunk that was out of reach for an average person.
"Climb up and check if there's anything in that hollow," I instructed Yan Junde.
Yan Junde nodded, took a few steps back, then sprinted forward and leaped onto the trunk of the tree. He quickly grabbed hold of the hollow with both hands and peered inside under the moonlight. Moments later, he pulled out a voice recorder. It seemed Fatty hadn't lied after all; Yan Junde loosened his grip and jumped down directly.
Suddenly, the radio crackled to life, and the voice of the Detective Captain came through: "Come east, we've located the suspect. He has taken Yang Shuai hostage, and we are currently in a standoff!"
As I expected, he couldn't have gotten far in such a short time, especially with a burden in tow! I turned to Yan Junde and said, "Drive east." It took us only about ten minutes to reach the location. The detectives had already surrounded Shorty, who was hiding behind Yang Shuai, making it difficult to see his movements. The scene looked somewhat slippery; Shorty was only about five feet tall, while Yang Shuai stood over six feet tall, resembling a child holding an adult hostage.
Strangely, Shorty didn't seem to have anything on him that could hold the Jade—only a small pocket hanging from his arm that looked like it could hold just one or two items. If that were the case, where had he hidden the Jade? Did he come back specifically to retrieve a piece of jade? With so much Jade at stake, was it worth risking everything for just one piece?
After getting out of the car, I whispered to Yan Junde, "Go around behind him and make sure you don't get spotted."
Yan Junde nodded.
We approached the Detective Captain. At that moment, Shorty shouted, "Don't come any closer! I'm telling you, if you do, I'll kill him!" With that, he and his accomplice stepped back, and Yan Junde's figure appeared behind them as everyone held their breath.
Suddenly, Yang Shuai collapsed violently, causing both men to fall to the ground. We were all startled when we heard something shatter—that was the real Insect Eater! The two began to grapple with each other as the detectives rushed forward. Then we saw the Insect Eater start burrowing into Yang Shuai's body. Perhaps facing death had awakened an incredible energy within him. He gripped Shorty tightly with one hand while snatching a dagger from Shorty's grasp with the other.
"Don't!" My voice barely escaped my lips before Yang Shuai plunged the dagger into Shorty's neck, killing him instantly. As Shorty lay there gasping for breath and blood bubbling from his mouth, his eyes fixed on Yang Shuai. At that moment, the Criminal Police Officer rushed in; one team member pulled out herbal medicine and hurriedly tried to administer it to Yang Shuai.
Outside was pitch black; after the glass shattered, we couldn't see where the large black insect had gone.
The group of Insect Eaters was now in chaos. I shouted urgently, "Get out of here! This isn't a jungle; these Insect Eaters won't last long here! Plus, we're on the outskirts of town—there's hardly anyone around! Hurry!"
As I spoke, Detective Captain and I lifted the bleeding Yang Shuai and ran outside while Yan Junde grabbed Shorty's body and started heading toward the car. I instructed him, "Turn on the siren and head straight for the hospital. Although the herbal medicine can drive out the insects, it won't stop the bleeding."
In the car, Yang Shuai had already lost consciousness. In that brief moment, who knows how many insects had entered his body? Now he was like a blood-filled gourd. Upon arriving at the hospital, Yang Shuai was immediately taken for emergency treatment while we used the Mortuary to place Shorty's body inside.
After removing Shorty's small pocket from his arm, we discovered that it indeed contained that piece of jade. The jade was wrapped in a small box that looked untouched. Taking advantage of everyone being present, I turned on my voice recorder; it recorded conversations in Myanmar language. After Mary translated it for us, we learned about what had transpired.
It turned out that this plan had been proposed by Shorty himself—the eldest among them. He had sold off the jade first before fleeing the village. Their escape was meant to use the Insect Eaters to retrieve the jade back again; this way they would essentially gain money without any loss to the village.
When they arrived in Magic City, they inquired about the whereabouts of the Jade and learned that it might be with Sun Bikun. At that moment, Alai also showed up. Alai had only one purpose for this trip: to retrieve the Jade. The short man shared the clues with him, but unexpectedly, Alai killed someone over a piece of Jade.
This was something none of them had anticipated. They all realized the trouble this situation could bring, but they also understood Alai's determination to get back the Jade. Later, the short man discovered that Zhao Yu was likely the one who had taken the Jade. Thus, Alai pursued Zhao Yu all the way to that small town, where he killed again.
Second Brother did not intend to return the Jade to the village, so he quietly stayed behind. Although the eldest brother was aware of this, he said little about it. He merely mentioned that if they lost the Jade, they could use the Jade from Stealing Heaven Jade Company for the village; it would serve the same purpose. So they kidnapped Yang Shuai to find out the best time to act. Second Brother once wondered why they needed to kidnap Yang Shuai; wasn't it easy to steal things using Insect Eater even without him?
The eldest brother did not respond.
The recording ended there; it seemed that before their operation, the fat man had thrown the recorder into a tree hole. We were all involved in what happened next: two of them were caught red-handed while stealing from Tianyu Company. Meanwhile, the eldest brother secretly stole Jade from the Jade Exhibition and was intercepted by us while fleeing with Yang Shuai as a hostage, ultimately being killed by Yang Shuai during the struggle.
"This case is truly perplexing, with layers upon layers," Detective Captain remarked after listening to the recording. "So many forces are involved—Sun Bikun, Zhao Yu, Alai—these three brothers betray and frame each other; each one is deeply scheming. Human nature is indeed terrifying. But thankfully, this case has finally come to an end."
Detective Captain continued, "It's just that the resident on the Eighteenth Floor was so unfortunate; simply because Alai needed a place for his bugs to escape..."
I looked at everyone in silence, feeling that there was still something that didn't connect. I sensed there was a thread left untied, something we had overlooked. Detective Captain patted my arm and said, "Tomorrow we’ll go to Tianyu Company to explain the situation; what remains is no longer our concern."
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