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墨書 Inktalez
Zhou Jun led us deeper into the village, and as we progressed, it became clear that the inside of the village was a world apart from the outside. The first kilometer from the village entrance was paved with concrete, but as we moved further in, the road turned into an unpaved dirt path. The houses on either side gradually dwindled, and those that remained were old-fashioned bungalows, many of which had walls made of mud bricks, looking quite shabby.
Zhou Jun told us that there had been plans to build new houses for students in this area, but for some reason—whether due to funding issues or something else—the construction had been halted after only a short time. Now, there were no signs of any further development, resulting in this starkly different landscape.
The so-called New Town Mark resided in one of the old houses behind us. Mark had been waiting for demolition, hoping to make a fortune from it, but the demolition was delayed indefinitely. Mark didn’t have a proper job; he usually took on odd jobs and spent his free time wandering around New Town with a few other aimless young men, either gossiping about girls or getting into fights with other youths.
Relying on his status as a "local resident," Mark was well-known in New Town. Zhou Jun sometimes used Mark's reputation to bully classmates.
I shook my head helplessly; these people were supposed to be college students, yet they seemed so immature. Hanging out with these delinquents and bullying classmates—surely even junior high school students wouldn’t behave like this nowadays. I was more diplomatic about it, but Dezi scoffed and said directly, "Childish. Let’s go; I want to see how tough you guys think you are."
After that remark, Zhou Jun fell silent and quietly led the way.
After about ten minutes of walking, Zhou Jun pointed to an old bungalow not far away. It was surrounded by a two-meter-high mud wall, and from a distance, we could see the roof of the bungalow. As we stepped closer, we heard voices shouting from within the yard.
It seemed there were quite a few people inside; we could hear the sound of glass bottles clinking together. Zhou Jun indicated that this was Mark's residence, but he refused to be the first to enter, seemingly reluctant. I shrugged and approached. The yard's gate was slightly ajar and not bolted shut.
I pushed the door open with one hand and found myself facing a concrete partition wall. After walking around it, I finally saw what was happening in the yard. In the center stood a small low table surrounded by four or five young men in their mid-twenties who were moving small stools to sit around it. The table was piled high with bottles of beer and liquor, while the ground was littered with peanut shells and seeds.
It looked like they were having a good time drinking.
The group was loud and boisterous; one man sitting directly across from me noticed my presence first but didn’t stand up. He leaned against a bottle and raised an eyebrow before asking, "Who are you? What do you want?"
As he spoke, the others turned their heads to look at us with hostile expressions. At that moment, Zhou Jun and Dezi had also rounded the partition wall and approached. When they saw Zhou Jun, several of them jumped up immediately; one man holding a bottle shouted, "Zhou Jun! You dare come here?"
Zhou Jun appeared somewhat apprehensive facing them; he instinctively took a step back! It seemed this reluctance to enter stemmed from this very reason. The leader smashed his bottle on the table and brandished half of it as he charged forward. Seeing this, Zhou Jun turned to run outside; I stepped back and grabbed him just as someone darted past me—it was Dezi.
The man with half a bottle charging at us had no idea what was happening when Dezi threw a punch that sent him crashing to the ground. The remaining four quickly grabbed bottles and stood up ready for confrontation. One of them flipped over the table, sending bottles flying everywhere.
Dezi remained unfazed; he simply extended his leg and kicked out, sending several bottles flying into the group of men. At that moment, two of them charged at him simultaneously from either side, aiming to smash their bottles over Dezi's head.
But Dezi's reaction was several times faster than those drunken individuals. With a swift movement, Dezi smashed two bottles together, sending shards of glass piercing into the hands of his opponents. Instantly, both men screamed in pain and dropped their bottles. In that moment, Dezi delivered a kick to each of their knees, causing them to collapse onto the ground.
In less than a minute, all three were lying on the floor.
The remaining two exchanged glances, their beer bottles trembling in their hands. They could bully honest people, but against someone as well-trained as Dezi, even a few more of them would be futile. Someone on the ground shouted, "Get up! What are you waiting for?"
Upon hearing this, the two rushed forward, swinging their bottles wildly as if trying to beat Dezi into submission. But Dezi was not someone who could be easily defeated by such tactics. At that moment, he leaped into the air, his legs scissor-like as he kicked both men simultaneously, knocking them down to the ground.
One of the fallen attempted to attack Dezi's lower body with a broken bottle, aiming for his thigh. However, Dezi was prepared; as he landed, he stepped squarely on the man's hand, rendering him unable to move. Witnessing this scene, both Zhou Jun and I couldn't help but cheer for him.
At that moment, the first two men who had fallen got back up, each holding a bottle again and seemingly ready to charge once more.
Dezi snorted coldly and brushed off the glass shards stuck to his clothes. He said calmly, "What’s this? You want another round? If you’re looking for a fight, I’m more than willing to oblige!"
The two exchanged glances and simultaneously dropped their bottles. One of them said, "Zhou Jun! You really brought some tough guys here! Let me tell you, even though we lost this time, there won’t be a next time. Zhou Jun, last time we let it slide because Mark gave you face; don’t forget what Mark said—every time we see you, we’ll take a shot at you!"
Zhou Jun remained hidden behind me but retorted, "I was a victim last time too! Don’t pin this on me. Besides, I didn’t come here looking for trouble; these two are police officers! They need to find Mark—where is he now?"
"Police?" one of them instinctively replied.
I pulled out my Police Badge and said, "That’s right. We’re investigating; where is Mark?"
The group hesitated for a moment until Dezi snorted again and assumed a stance as if ready to continue fighting. Only then did one of them say, "Mark... he might be at the Old House! He often goes there alone for some reason and doesn’t let us follow him. He left some time ago and hasn’t returned yet."
I nodded and said, "You’ll take us to the Old House; the rest of you stay put." Naturally, they wouldn’t stay obediently where they were, but their presence wasn’t my main concern right now—the priority was finding Mark.
We had the red-haired thug lead us while Zhou Jun accompanied us. The Old House turned out to be deep within the village, which seemed abandoned long ago. When we arrived at the location, we indeed found what could only be described as an Old House in the traditional sense—just like those haunted houses depicted in horror films from my elementary school days.
From a distance, we could see a dark door and blue-brick Old House nestled at the foot of a hill not far from us. The path leading to this house was overgrown with weeds, indicating that no one had entered for quite some time. However, upon closer inspection, we noticed that one side of the weeds had been flattened down and there were continuous footprints on the ground.
Footprints belonged to a person, leading upward. I frowned, and Dezi looked puzzled as well. He asked the Punk, "I wonder why you Mark guys are here. Are you up to something shady? It could be something illegal; we need to check it out."
The Punk showed an awkward expression and replied, "Officer, we don’t really know what Mark is doing in this house. This place isn’t even Mark’s; it had been abandoned for a long time when we first came here, back when we were kids. It’s only been a few months that Mark has been coming here frequently, and he doesn’t let us tag along."
As we continued to ascend, the Punk added, "There was one time when one of our brothers didn’t know what he was up to and wanted to take a look inside. He ended up getting thrown out by Mark. The way he hit him was brutal; I’ve never seen Mark go that hard on someone, especially not on his own brother."
"But ever since that incident, we haven’t dared to approach Mark again," the Punk continued. "However, he doesn’t stay long—maybe just over an hour or so. When we go up there, you all can go in, but I won’t be going in. Don’t say I brought you here!"
We didn’t respond but kept moving upward. After a short while, a slightly ajar door appeared before us. The wooden door was already falling apart; it looked like it would collapse if opened too many more times. I slowly pushed the door open and stepped inside.
The interior of the house was also wooden, covered in dust with cobwebs everywhere. The yard was overgrown with weeds, but there was a small stone path where the weeds were somewhat less dense. The Punk refused to enter, not even stepping through the front door; he seemed ready to flee at any moment.
I didn’t press him further but asked him and Zhou Jun to wait outside. Dezi and I followed the brick path inside. The moment I pushed open the Main Entrance, what lay before us stunned both Dezi and me. I lightly tapped my temple with my fingers and said:
"Get Juan Juan here."
An Unsolved Mystery: A mysterious 21st-century Airborne Troops unit appeared in North America, rescuing an Indian Red-Haired Beauty, enjoying the company of a Blue-Eyed Busty Blonde, dominating Wall Street, amassing wealth across America, and initiating a Han Ethnic Colonial Global Model.
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