Zheng Shuang came for another visit after a few days. Mr. Kang, the village councilman who had tricked us, was found dead. His body was found at only a few kilometers from where we were kidnapped, with a scraper blade buried into his back. The police had found fingerprints on the knife but they did not match anything on their system. So far, our leads had all reached a dead end.
"But according to word on the streets," Zheng Shuang continued, "The eldest and second of the Wang brothers intend to lodge a report against you for excessive self-defense! You must be ready! I have tried my best to keep the news from leaking, but it seems that the family of the dead man does not want to let things go..." My companions, Lin Feng and Yuan Chongxi, looked at me, and I looked back. An impish smile slowly formed on our faces and we erupted into guffaws of laughter. "So be it then!" I said. Zheng Shuang was bewildered, shocked beyond words at us. "Wh-what... Y-you..." I steered the
Feigning a morose expression, I spoke somberly to the young man, "You're a student of law in university?" He nodded quietly. "You are one of the many who claims to be immensely learned in law yet you perverted the laws of our country! Lawyers these days travel to the West to study law and return only to wave the word of law like pitchforks in the faces of those they find offending! We are a government of men, not law! Western traditions have always been portrayed in a more realistic basis, while our Chinese traditions are more romantic! You favor Western traditions over our Chinese traditions, do you mean to demean our 2000-year old institutions of law? Take this case as an example: your uncle was part of an evil cult. He had lured us into a trap and had us three drugged before he tried to burn us to death! But we escaped, yet your uncle, leading a mob of almost twenty armed henchmen chased after us, surrounded us and tried to butcher us! But now, look! After losing hi
Lin Feng had barely begun to speak when another voice came from behind. "What kind of woman worth so much money? I'll have to take a look at her myself!" Everyone's gaze traveled to another young man. The newcomer had almost the exact same physique as Lin Feng, although he did not know who the newcomer was. But the group of four were immediately terrified to see him! The newcomer gave a yawn and shouted, "Are you fighting? Count me in! It'll be a three-way elimination brawl, eh?" Unbeknownst to Lin Feng, the newcomer was a half-local of the vicinity. He lived just about six or seven miles away and spent almost every second of his time at the bazaar as a parochial hoodlum that ran a racket engaging in coercive commercial and fraud activities, as well as the usual violence and terror-inducing disorders with a band of lackeys. There was once when he was caught by the police for causing trouble at the bazaar. But when he was thrown into the lockup, the impude
Zheng Shuang came to the Center a week later with more information for us. "The suspects that we've arrested were all dead!" He exclaimed to us, "Ruthless and brutal, their shadowy mastermind. The dead suspects were discovered to have died in the same manner, leaving nothing that our coroner could trace!" But a few of our experts deduced that the men were already poisoned prior to their detainment as a means of sealing any loose lips in case of their arrest!" No, I remembered, their meridian points were sealed by Lin Feng. We had been expecting their deaths; they had tried to drug and murder us. Yet when we had escaped, they pursued us with determination and malice! The slow death that the detainees that suffered in prison were already merciful enough than what they truly deserved! I interrupted my own train of thoughts, focusing back into what Zheng Shuang was saying next. "We had looked into the cellmates that Wang Laosan was reported to be close with. We'll need just a little mor
Lin Feng looked at us, and we too looked at him for a few uneasy seconds. "Why are you all looking at me?" he asked bashfully. I chuckled and whispered to him something. He took out his mobile phone and made a call. "Aunt," he said to his god-aunt, "It's me. Can you get me the number of your nephew's wife? ... Ohhh... It's nothing. I just have something to ask her... Okay, I'll wait for your message!" He ended the call and explained that his god-aunt would send the phone number via SMS to us. She was not very adept in using her mobile phone, hence sifting through her phone book would need some time. His phone rang suddenly and Lin Feng forwarded the message to me. I immediately pressed at the number on my screen to make the call. "Hi there. Do you remember what happened at the bazaar?" I said to the woman when she answered the call, "I am a colleague of the man who took you. We are part of the same investigations agency. You remember who, do you?" "Is there anything I
Zheng Shuang snarled at the shivering Li Shanpao with his eyes wide and livid as if he wanted to swallow him whole, "Think closely! What else did your teacher leave you recently?" "Two pieces of talisman!" Li Shanpao gasped with a shaking voice, "My teacher had made them and he instructed me to keep them safe. But he did not mention their uses and how they could be used!" Zheng Shuang took out two strips of talismans from the table and showed him. "Are these the ones you refer to?" he asked and his detainee replied quickly with a "Yes". I slipped a quiet word into Zheng Shuang's ear, and I took the talismans with me and left. We left the police station and adjourned to another soiree of barbecue skewers. Oddly even to ourselves, we had found ourselves plunged into a never-ending craving for barbecue skewers ever since we had tasted grilled wolf meat at Mongolia. We were then rejoined by Zheng Shuang and we spent the afternoon discussing on how we should deal with Bai C
I ripped open the door quickly, and a sweet, fresh scent wrapped all over me as a young policewoman crash headlong into me, followed by another person, and another... As the whole corral of blue-clothed eavesdroppers tumbled over me like the falling walls of a castle. It had been more than a decade since I last enjoyed something like this as an 8 years old child. But to have more than seven or eight people at the age of 20 years old or more on me now almost seemed like I was trapped within the rubble and debris of an earthquake! In the midst of the whimpers and shrieks, including my painful yelps, Zheng Shuang quickly helped everyone up and pulled me. As the vestiges of the short-lived turmoil quickly subsided, I looked at the seven or eight junior policemen and women now standing sheepishly at Zheng Shuang's office door. "What were you all up to?" Zheng Shuang barked at them, looking confused. "Heh heh heh! It's nothing, Sir. We're just curious about you
The blinding sparkle of the sunlight was the first thing that beckoned to me when I finally regained consciousness. Strangely enough, I still feel dizzy and drowsy as a cigarette was being slid into my mouth. I took two spontaneous heaves, and slowly felt the groggy vertigo beginning to fade. I peered around through my half-opened eyes, and here I was, lying in a bed surrounded full of people. I blinked hard to see more clearly. Lin Feng and Yuan Chongxi were sitting just beside me, with Old Man Xie and Old Man Chen behind them. There was also Uncle Quan and my parents. I took another breath, drawing another gulp of smoke. Immediately I recognized the flavor: it was one of my father's peculiar cigarettes! I began to move my lips, but felt numbness instead. I flexed my jaw, shaking off the lethargy. "What has happened to me?" I croaked hoarsely. My voice! It had become raspy and coarse like an old man's! "You've made quite a progress your swordsmanship, di
The mention of a new lead made us all look at him. "Zhu Jun just called," Zheng Shuang said, "There's another case; also odd and peculiar. The police there are grasping at straws now. He's called to ask for your help." "What is this case about?" I asked, rubbing my chin inquisitively. "Someone was possessed by spirits!" Zheng Shuang said simply, his eyes glinting eerily. My companions and I almost had our breaths held when we heard Zheng Shuang uttered the word "possessed". This could either only be the act of Bai Chuanwei alone, or the machinations of the entire Creed! Still, there was also the challenge of the Third Apostles to a fight. At any rate, we did not know which among the Apostles would appear during that day; any of the Apostles were either smart, strong, or both, and it was only prudent for us to remain cautious. "Tell Zhu Jun," I said to Zheng Shuang, "Ask him to bring his patient to the De Chang Center for Paranormal Studies!"