POTL Chapter 2

After the Zhang Hao case, Yu Shi had no further contact with Xiang Ling. As for why Xiang Ling wasn’t charged with fabricating testimony like Tu Duo, it was because Yu Shi hadn’t recorded Xiang Ling’s statement in the case file. It was the first act of favoritism in her career. Only her partner, Li Yu, knew about it. After contributing the hard-earned money for a barbecue beef meal, even Li Yu was kept in the dark.

Regarding Xiang Ling’s life, Yu Shi adopted a hands-off approach, occasionally passing by and glancing at the barbecue stall from a distance. Seeing that the other person was safe and sound was enough to put her mind at ease.

Soon, the season shifted into winter. The south rarely saw snow, so most of the time, it was drizzling, damp, and cold.

Even in winter, the crime rate showed no signs of decline. Criminals went about their business as usual, working diligently as if it weren’t winter at all. Ideally, winter should be a time when people, stiff from the cold and eager to stay in their warm beds, become lazy and unmotivated to commit crimes.

But the detention cells at the station were almost full, as if everyone had gathered to celebrate the New Year together. Groups of two or three sat inside, asking each other why they’d been arrested. Most were there because they wanted to steal something to get through the holidays. The frequency of theft cases was alarmingly high.

At that moment, Yu Shi sat face-to-face with a freshly caught thief. In the cold winter, she had chased him for five blocks before finally pinning him to the ground.

“Be honest, and I might be able to help you get a reduced sentence.”

Yu Shi glared at the young criminal in front of her. This guy had hidden the stolen goods. She needed to find out where so she could return them to their rightful owners.

“Officer, first tell me, what’s the sentence for my crime?”

The thief was nicknamed “Flying Dagger Xiao Li”. Although it was his first offense, he had stolen and run, moving as fast as the wind. The entire incident had been caught on camera and posted online. Someone who recognized him reported that his surname was Li, and netizens dubbed him “Flying Dagger Xiao Li”.

“For you? Originally, it could’ve been as light as three years. But since you’re refusing to reveal where you hid the stolen goods, attempted to attack and resist arrest, and the amount stolen was substantial, ten years is no problem. Plus, there’ll be an additional fine. It’s enough to wipe out everything you stole. So, you’d have stolen all that money for nothing and wasted ten years of your life.” Pausing briefly, Yu Shi continued, “Think about it. How many ten-year stretches does a person have? You’re only twenty-three now, but by the time you get out, you’ll be thirty-three. Decent jobs will turn you down for lacking education and being too old. Finding a sugar mommy? They’ll say you’re ugly. The point is, aside from running fast, you’re useless. You’re so weak you couldn’t even handle the one job of being kept. Given how fast technology is advancing, cars might be flying in ten years, and maybe people will be living on Mars. Someone who’s completely out of touch with society won’t be able to survive on their own.”

“Talk all you want. I’d believe your mom could fly to the moon before I believe that! Don’t try to scare me like that, and don’t insult my looks. I’m filing a complaint for verbal abuse about my appearance.” Flying Dagger Xiao Li looked disdainful. He’d grown up being threatened.

“Watch your language and leave mothers out of it. No education, no looks, and you won’t even let people point it out? A person needs eyes to see the truth.”

“Yu Shi!” Captain Gao’s shout echoed from the office. He had heard his subordinate verbally sparring with criminals more than once. Most of the detainees had engaged in a war of words with Yu Shi.

“Alright, Officer, how about this? I’ll give you a tip, on the condition that you don’t ask me about the whereabouts of the stolen goods and help me get a reduced sentence.” Flying Dagger Xiao Li, oblivious to his own audacity, actually tried to negotiate terms.

“You think you have any right to bargain with me? If you don’t want to talk, fine. I’ll do my best to paint you as the worst possible person in front of the judge and see if I can help you get a longer sentence.”

With a dismissive glance at Flying Dagger Xiao Li, Yu Shi’s fingers flew across the keyboard.

Seeing there was truly no room for negotiation, the sound of her typing made Flying Dagger Xiao Li nervous. Who knew what false accusations she might be fabricating? “Alright, alright, I’ll talk! The stolen goods are hidden in the ceiling of my bathroom.”

Yu Shi stopped typing and glanced at the now-subdued Flying Dagger Xiao Li across from her. Only then did she delete 《 Quiet Night Thoughts》  from the screen. If she couldn’t intimidate the criminal in this short time, she might have had to start writing 《Invitation to Wine》. “I’m not happy now. You just said you’d give me a tip…”

Flying Dagger Xiao Li cursed her as a “devil” in his heart, but obediently spilled the information: “Recently, a big shot in the underworld is planning to buy a person.”

“Who’s being bought? Who’s the buyer?” Yu Shi quietly noted the information. Currently, there weren’t many cases of human trafficking in the country, or at least, not many that had been discovered. Those caught on the surface were only a small fraction. Who knew how many more suffered in secret? Most victims were women and children, bought by unscrupulous groups to force women into prostitution or to amputate children’s limbs and send them out to beg on the streets.

“I don’t know. All I know is the ‘goods’ is a woman, probably around my age.”

After saying this, Flying Dagger Xiao Li refused to speak further, no matter how much Yu Shi pressed him.

Later, even writing 《Invitation to Wine》 failed to intimidate him. It seemed Flying Dagger Xiao Li genuinely knew nothing more. After sending someone to retrieve the stolen goods, Yu Shi wrote up the case report and prepared to submit it.

During a break, she made a phone call in a secluded spot. The person on the other end was her informant. After asking about the information Flying Dagger Xiao Li had provided, the informant knew nothing about it.

“Either he’s lying, or it’s a real big shot beyond my reach.”

“Keep an eye out for me. Whether it’s true or not, saving even one person is always good.”

With that, Yu Shi hung up. Her eyelids had been twitching for the past two days. Whether it’s from lack of sleep or an ominous premonition, she couldn’t tell.

“Sis Yu, what are you doing? If Captain Gao catches you slacking off, you’ll be executed by beating.” Li Yu poked his head out from around the corner, startling Yu Shi.

“Just don’t let him know.” With that, Yu Shi grabbed Li Yu and forced him to slack off with her. “Now you’re my accomplice.”

Having temporarily wrapped up all the cases she needed to close, Yu Shi suggested taking the team out for barbecue. Truth be told, she hadn’t been to the barbecue stall in days. Besides, it had been raining frequently lately, and the stall’s rain cover had never been taken down. She couldn’t see who was inside.

It was just past six when the group walked out of the police station. The sky had already darkened. Winter always brought early nights. They made their way to the barbecue stall in a lively crowd. The rain cover was still up. From the blurred figures inside, it was clear business was booming. It was uncertain whether there were any seats left.

Yu Shi took the lead and lifted the rain cover. The barbecue stall was packed, with only one large table left, which their entire team promptly claimed.

Yu Shi glanced around at the busy figures but didn’t see Xiang Ling. Seizing the chance to check on the skewers, she asked the owner, who said Xiang Ling had taken two days off, starting today.

Yu Shi’s expression immediately turned serious. The person who had survived a tumble down the stairs unscathed, what could have happened to require two days off? Then she remembered the injury on Xiang Ling’s abdomen from before, a large bruise the doctor had called “blunt force trauma”. Such injuries usually resulted from either repeated punches to the abdomen or kicks with the toe, with the latter being more common and convenient.

Yu Shi decided to check on her after the meal. Not having her phone number was inconvenient. Thinking of her phone, she patted her pocket and groaned, realizing she’d left it in the office.

“Yu Shi, what’s up? Your face is changing like a Sichuan opera mask.” Captain Gao appeared silently beside her, startling Yu Shi so much she nearly grabbed a skewer from the grill to swing at him.

“If the act’s good enough, I might consider quitting to become a street performer. At least that’s safer than being a detective,” Yu Shi retorted with a sly grin.

“You want a raise? Go talk to the big boss. I’m not even a head. I’m just a speck of his snot.”

Captain Gao was long accustomed to Yu Shi’s nonsense. Despite her antics, she was reliable when it mattered, serious when the situation called for it.

Disgusted by Captain Gao’s remark, Yu Shi boldly ordered a pile of skewers, planning to slip away when the bill arrived.

Meanwhile, Xiang Ling was hiding in her room. The only door and window had been chained shut from the outside at some point. Even if she screamed for help, no one would hear. Several nearby apartments were abandoned and uninhabited. The neighbors upstairs and downstairs were no saints, unlikely to risk getting involved.

Her phone had been smashed to the floor, with the screen shattered beyond repair. She couldn’t call for help. Just then, she faintly heard the sound of a car, its engine stopping right beside the apartment building.

Damn it! This is really it!

Xiang Ling frantically rummaged through the room, hoping to find anything that could help. Deep in a drawer, she discovered an old, discarded phone. She quickly removed the SIM card from her broken phone and inserted it into the old one. Pressing the power button, the screen remained dark. It had been too long since it was charged. She scrambled to find a long-unused charging cable, grateful she hadn’t thrown it away. She prayed the people downstairs wouldn’t come up too soon.

Finally, with enough power to boot up, the startup screen crawled agonizingly slow. Once it loaded, she opened her contacts list. There were a few names. The only one who could save her now was her boss. She dialed his number, but as expected, he didn’t answer. He’s probably busy with the skewers. Tu Duo was still serving time. That left only that person with the surname Yu.

She hadn’t deliberately memorized Yu Shi’s phone number. It was just that after glancing at it once, she remembered it. She didn’t know why it had stayed in her memory until now. Perhaps she possessed an eidetic memory without realizing it.

Without a second thought, Xiang Ling dialed Yu Shi’s number without hesitation. The phone rang for a long time with no answer. A faint sense of despair began to fill her mind. Before the call could connect, a heavy pounding sounded from the door behind her.

…

Yu Shi and her companions had eaten and drunk their fill. Glancing at the time, it was nearly nine-thirty. Those people really knew how to talk. A simple meal had turned into something resembling a social gathering. They had forced her to look at numerous photos, introducing this one from a certain department, that one from a certain team, all currently single. They urged her to act now, even going so far as to arrange blind dates on the spot.

Yu Shi found an excuse to slip away before the bill was settled. She first returned to the police station to retrieve her phone. In the darkness, the phone’s breathing light was particularly noticeable, flashing a steady white glow. Yu Shi turned on the screen, which showed one missed call from an unknown number. There was also an unread message in her inbox from her telecom service provider. Opening it, she saw there was a voicemail left by the same unknown number. Yu Shi casually played it. But as she listened, her eyes widened in shock.

“Save me. I’m going to be killed…”

Just a few short words, followed by what seemed like a hang-up. But she heard it clearly and recognized the voice.

She immediately called back the unknown number, but it wouldn’t connect.

She sprinted to her car at top speed and, while trying to obey traffic rules as much as possible, raced to the apartment where Xiang Ling lived. The entire building was dark except for a few lit windows from occupied units. The only stairwell was also unlit. Either the lights were broken or removed. Yu Shi dashed through the darkness, taking two steps at a time up to the fourth floor, stumbling once along the way. She frantically rang Xiang Ling’s doorbell. But aside from the ringing, there was no sound from inside.

With no response after repeated attempts, Yu Shi turned and rang the neighbor’s doorbell across the hall. After a long wait, a drunken old man finally opened the door, cursing and demanding to know who was disturbing his sleep. Yu Shi flashed her police badge, but he didn’t seem to register it. She hurriedly asked about the neighbor across the hall. But the old man just shook his head, saying he didn’t know, before slamming the door shut.

A curse escaped her lips. Yu Shi continued knocking on the door, calling Xiang Ling’s name. But all that answered her was endless silence.

With no other options, she called Li Yu. Li Yu had just returned home when he received Yu Shi’s call and rushed over with tools to break down the door. Together, they forced the lock open, making a considerable noise. Strangely, though, not a single person came out to see what was happening or to stop them. Even though other people lived in the building, they acted as if it were none of their business, not even a single curious glance.

Entering the house, Yu Shi felt for the switch on the wall. The interior instantly lit up. Not with bright white light, but a dim, yellowish glow. The room was in disarray, with items scattered all over the floor. Li Yu made a discovery near the coffee table and motioned for Yu Shi to come over. At the edge of the table, there was a patch of dried blood, as if someone had collided with it. Yu Shi and Li Yu each opened the doors to two separate rooms. The room in front of Yu Shi was also a mess, with everything seemingly piled up against the door. Amid the clutter strewn across the floor, Yu Shi found two phones, both broken. It appeared there had been a second struggle inside the room, as several spots on the walls and floor were stained with blood.

She was too late.

Yu Shi wiped her face, trying her best to stay calm and think carefully about what she could do at that moment.

“Li Yu, notify Captain Gao.” Though she felt apologetic, she needed to call in her entire team.

Holding her phone, Yu Shi cursed herself for having left it at the station today of all days.

The message Xiang Ling left on her phone clearly indicated she was in mortal danger. Even if she wasn’t dead on the spot, the time left for rescue likely wouldn’t be long. Moreover, blood had already been shed. That was never a good sign.

Yu Shi turned Xiang Ling’s room upside down, even figuring out her clothing style, but found no other useful clues. She moved on to search the adjacent room, which likely belonged to Xiang Ling’s father. It was spotless, with nothing left behind. Just as Yu Shi was about to leave, her sharp eyes caught something unusual about the floor.

The floor in Xiang Ling’s house was paved with grayish-white tiles. The gaps between them were typically filled with sealant for aesthetic reasons.

But the tile in her line of sight had no sealant and appeared to have been deliberately tampered with, standing out starkly compared to the others. She tried moving the tile and found it wasn’t fixed in place. Spotting a small Swiss Army knife on the table, she immediately borrowed it and pried the tile open.

Beneath the tile was a hollowed-out space in the concrete. Inside was a black bag, which, when opened, revealed stacks of hundred-yuan bills neatly arranged. There were over a dozen bundles in total. It immediately occurred to her that the source of this money must be illegitimate. Who would hide such a large sum of cash so deeply instead of depositing it in a bank?

Suddenly remembering the letters she had seen earlier in the cabinet, she took them out to examine. Among them were utility bills. One was from an insurance company, reminding the policyholder that the coverage would expire within the next six months and that renewal required an online application.

“Insured: Xiang Ling, Beneficiary: Xiang Yuanzhi, Accident Insurance…” She glanced at the date on the letter. It was from just a few days ago.

Yu Shi made a call to Xiao Liang from the neighboring team. If she remembered correctly, Xiao Liang’s team was on night duty today. She asked him to check Xiang Yuanzhi’s criminal record, which included a charge for public brawling two years ago, after which his daughter had paid to bail him out. She also requested him to trace the location of the phone number Xiang Yuanzhi had provided.

Xiao Liang had graduated from the police academy in the same year as her, and they had a good relationship. Whenever either of them needed help from the other, as long as it didn’t endanger their own lives, they would step up without hesitation.

Before long, Captain Gao and the others arrived. Yu Shi briefly explained the case and then took Li Yu to the coordinates Xiao Liang had just sent.

Following the navigation, they arrived at a construction site. For some reason, the project here had been halted for a long time without any sign of restarting. In a corner of the site stood a large warehouse, likely built to store construction materials.

The night was dark, with only the warehouse showing any light. The sound of noisy chatter could be heard continuously from inside, indicating a sizable crowd.

“This is almost certainly an underground casino,” Yu Shi remarked. An underground casino didn’t mean it was literally underground, but rather that it was an illegal gambling den operating without proper registration.

From a distance, Yu Shi could see several people gathered around a table in front of the warehouse, ostensibly chatting but actually keeping watch. She immediately sent a message to Xiao Liang and then cautiously instructed Li Yu to conceal his “aura”. They needed to disguise themselves as customers.

“Aura? How do I hide it? How did you learn to do that?” Li Yu looked utterly confused.

Yu Shi rolled her eyes. “Just tone down the police vibe a bit. Don’t look so upright and righteous. We need to get the person out without causing trouble. I’ve already called for backup to clear this place.”

After learning a few tricks from Yu Shi, the two disguised themselves as a couple and walked toward the warehouse. As expected, the lookouts immediately grew more alert upon seeing them.

After a few rounds of eye contact, the lookouts glanced at the stack of cash Li Yu had intentionally left visible in his jacket pocket. They then opened the door just enough for someone to slip through sideways. The two squeezed inside.

The lighting inside the warehouse was dim and yellowish, failing to illuminate even the corners. The air was thick with the mixed smells of various cigarette brands and the sour stench of sweat, making it deeply unpleasant.

Suppressing their discomfort, the two wandered among the gambling tables, searching for their target. Xiao Liang sent over a photo of Xiang Yuanzhi. To avoid drawing attention from other watchers in the venue, they pretended to be looking for a game they liked and eventually made their way to a corner. Yu Shi quickly spotted Xiang Yuanzhi, who was completely absorbed in gambling. He was shouting loudly along with the other gamblers, his face twisted with excitement.

Yu Shi nudged Li Yu with her elbow. The two grabbed the bewildered Xiang Yuanzhi, leading him toward the exit.

The lookouts, seeing the pair leaving in less than ten minutes with someone in tow, stopped them. Li Yu put on a fierce act and snarled, “This guy groped my woman.”

Hearing this, the lookouts no longer interfered. In their world, touching another man’s woman was a serious taboo. Ignoring Xiang Yuanzhi’s protests, they urged the three to leave quickly. Causing a scene here would only bring trouble. Li Yu and Yu Shi dragged Xiang Yuanzhi into an alley and flashed their police badges.

“Where is Xiang Ling?” Yu Shi pressed him against the wall, her arm pressing hard against his neck, nearly choking him.

Xiang Yuanzhi was initially panicked. But then he quickly recalled the excuse he had prepared: “Officer, I don’t know where my daughter is. She hasn’t come home for a day. I want to report her missing.”

Xiang Ling was taken aback. She hadn’t expected him to pull this move and replied, “We found a large sum of money buried under the floor in your room. Where did it come from?”

Upon hearing this, Xiang Yuanzhi realized the money hadn’t even had time to warm up before being discovered. “That’s my life savings from decades of hard work! What right do you have to break into my home? I’m going to file a complaint against you!”

“Whether it’s decades of savings or not, we can check the serial numbers with the bank. Judging by the condition of the bills, they look brand new,” Li Yu added.

“Tell us now, where did you take Xiang Ling?” Yu Shi pressed him against the wall, ready to grind his face against the rough surface.

“I really don’t know. I already told you she hasn’t come home for a day. I want to report my daughter missing.”

Though every part of his body ached, he still had to stick to his story. Otherwise, he wouldn’t get that money. He knew exactly where his advantage lay. According to regulations, the police couldn’t go too far with him.

“Then we’ll talk at the station. The money underground won’t be returned to you until we verify its source. And if your daughter is found dead in the wilderness in a couple of days, no matter the cause, we’ll open an investigation. During that process, you won’t receive a single cent from the insurance company.”

Yu Shi helped handcuff Xiang Yuanzhi, while Li Yu recited his rights according to procedure. Then they threw him into the back seat of the car and took him to the police station.

Before they left, Xiao Liang arrived with a large team to surround the underground casino. After informing Xiao Liang’s captain about Xiang Yuanzhi’s situation, they took him away.

Time ticked by, minute by minute. Xiang Yuanzhi sat in the interrogation room, still clinging to his story.

Yu Shi leaned against the corner of the wall, her gaze sharp as she watched Xiang Yuanzhi. More than two hours had passed, and he still refused to tell the truth.

Just then, Yu Shi received a call from an informant. She left the interrogation room and went to a secluded corner to answer.

The informant provided the following information: “I’ve heard that buying and selling people is indeed happening. It’s just that the seller’s identity is too ordinary, so those with any standing in the underworld don’t know about it. I asked some street beggars, and they all said a man was asking where he could sell someone. As for who he sold to, they had no idea.”

“What’s the seller’s identity?”

“Don’t know the full name, just that his surname is Xiang. He’s a gambler.”

Yu Shi’s mind reeled. She hurriedly hung up the phone and rushed back to the interrogation room.

Li Yu sat across from Xiang Yuanzhi, growing tired of asking questions. The man still refused to say anything. Just as Li Yu stretched lazily, the interrogation room door was flung open from the outside, startling him.

“Xiang Yuanzhi, did you sell your daughter?” Yu Shi’s words left Li Yu baffled, but he saw Xiang Yuanzhi’s face turn pale and then flush, as if his secret had been exposed. One look at his expression confirmed it. Yu Shi pulled out a chair and sat down, continuing, “According to criminal law, those involved in human trafficking, regardless of their motives for treating living people as commodities, will have their assets confiscated and face the death penalty in severe cases.”

“Scum! Even selling your own daughter!” Li Yu nearly threw a punch at him. They say even a vicious tiger doesn’t eat its own cubs. What kind of monster sells his own daughter?

Xiang Yuanzhi hadn’t expected things to turn so dire. He just wanted the money. Yu Shi noticed his face twitching in fear at her words and knew his psychological defenses had crumbled. People, in reality, always feared death. “If you turn back now and help the police rescue your daughter, I’ll consider pleading with the judge for a reduced sentence.”

Xiang Yuanzhi clutched his head in frustration. After a long while, he glared at Yu Shi with a dark expression and said, “It’s too late…”

“Who did you sell her to?” Yu Shi remained calm, staring intently at him, hoping to find a glimmer of hope in his shadowed eyes.

Over her years as a criminal investigator, she had encountered all kinds of criminals. She was no longer a rookie cop who would panic at the sight of a suspect’s eyes. Right now, she only wanted to find a glimmer of hope in the other person’s gaze, hope that could lead to rescuing Xiang Ling, and to make up for the guilt she felt for not answering the distress call in time.

“I don’t know the name of the person who paid me. I only know he goes by Old Black.”

Xiang Yuanzhi stared blankly at his own hands cuffed under the table, trembling uncontrollably from nerves.

Yu Shi recalled the recent market prices for human trafficking and compared them to the amount of money found underground. She said, “The price doesn’t match.”

“The price is correct.” Of course, he had done his own research before selling. The amount offered by the other party was indeed the market rate. After a moment of silence, he added, “Because what I was selling was a heart.”

“Damn it! Scum!” Li Yu immediately stood up and firmly restrained Yu Shi to prevent a murder from happening right there in the interrogation room.

Selling a person wasn’t like selling organs, which had fixed prices. With human trafficking, neither the buyer nor the seller could guarantee the physical or mental state of the “goods”. If the buyer paid up and the “goods” ended up committing suicide or dying from an accident, the buyer would likely lose money. So the prices were volatile and hard to gauge.

But with organs, the price was set. As long as the “goods” didn’t have any severe diseases that would affect the quality of the organs, the buyer wouldn’t lose money.

Provoked by the insult, Xiang Yuanzhi exploded on the spot. His long-suppressed emotions finally found an outlet. He didn’t care if his actions would be considered assaulting an officer. He shouted, “Who the hell do you think you are? Don’t think being a cop makes you special! I decide what happens to my daughter!”

“Did you ever treat her like your own daughter? What kind of father abuses his own child?!”

Xiang Yuanzhi gritted his teeth, a fierce glint flashing in his eyes. “I gave birth to her and raised her all these years. She owes me everything!”

“Then you shouldn’t have had her in the first place.” Yu Shi had already passed the peak of her rage. Her tone grew colder instead.

She wasn’t speaking to a person. Standing before her was nothing but a beast.

Xiang Yuanzhi refused to back down. “If I had known she would kill my wife, I wouldn’t have chosen to bring her into this world.”

Yu Shi and Li Yu both froze in place. The situation in the Xiang family seemed far more complicated than they had known. Seizing the moment, Li Yu escorted Yu Shi out of the interrogation room to prevent her emotions from flaring up again and leading to something that would require meeting with their superiors.

He then asked, “Where was the organ extraction supposed to take place?”

“I don’t know.” Xiang Yuanzhi turned his head away, showing no intention of speaking further.

He was done. Whether his daughter lived or died had nothing to do with him anymore.

Yu Shi told Li Yu to notify Captain Gao. She needed to go somewhere. It was a place Li Yu couldn’t follow.

The express car sped to its destination. Yu Shi turned into a narrow alley, continuing deeper inside. At a T-junction, she turned left and knocked on a glass door tucked away in an inconspicuous corner. Before long, a man with messy hair peered at her sleepily and ominously from behind the glass door. Seeming to sigh, the man opened it.

“Coming to me this late can’t be good. What cop is still running around the streets at one or two in the morning…” The man yawned, his eyes signaling for the other to get straight to the point.

“I need your intel.”

“If we’re talking market price for a piece of information…” Before the man could finish, Yu Shi cut him off.

“I saved your life.” Yu Shi glared coldly.

“Why bring that up again! It’s been so long. You always throw it in my face…” The man sighed again. “Fine, how about a 30% discount off the market price?”

“I saved your life.” Yu Shi repeated the same sentence, unwavering. If he didn’t agree, she wasn’t leaving.

“Half price, that’s as low as I can go.”

“I saved…”

“Alright, alright, just tell me who you’re looking for.”

The man waved his hands hurriedly. Ever since she saved him, he’d been completely at her mercy.

After all, not everyone would risk their own life to save a stranger.

“Have you heard of someone called Old Black? He bought a person.” Straight to the point, no beating around the bush. Saving a life was urgent.

“Oh ho! That’s a life-and-death piece of intel…”

“Hu Kan!”

“Keep it down. If word gets out, how am I supposed to do business…” The man rolled his eyes.

The man was an information broker named Hu Kan. No one knew exactly how he built his business, but by now, everyone in the underworld knew of him. He priced his information based on its sensitivity. Either pay a hefty sum or trade for equally valuable intel.

But because his real name was Hu Kan, and he was quite sensitive about it, fearing it might make people doubt the authenticity of his information, he never allowed Yu Shi to call him by his full name.

“You can call me Old Hu, Xiao Hu, Brother Hu—just not my real name.”

“Hurry up. Any later and the person might be gone!” Yu Shi didn’t bother joking with Hu Kan, threatening to spread his name and ruin his reputation with rumors if he didn’t talk.

Hu Kan rubbed his nose. He had no intention of going against Yu Shi, especially since she had saved his life. “The Old Black you mentioned, his real name is Bao Shihei. He did buy someone today, planning to harvest organs at an abandoned hospital in the suburbs. He’s even found buyers for the organs.”

“Which hospital?”

“About sixty or seventy kilometers outside the southern district, there’s an abandoned hospital. It used to be called Chenxi Hospital. Not sure if it’s still on the map…”

Before Hu Kan could finish, Yu Shi had already left him behind and run off. She called her captain to report the situation, then rushed ahead to the abandoned hospital herself.

Even in the early hours, there were still quite a few cars on the road, but at least there was no traffic jam. Yu Shi ignored the speed limit, flooring the accelerator as she drove. Besides watching the road, her mind was focused on praying that the person was still alive.

By the time she reached the hospital, it was already past three in the morning. From a distance, she could see a black van parked at the entrance. Unsure if anyone was inside, Yu Shi got out of her car. She avoided the van and circled to the back entrance of the hospital, slipping in through a broken door.

The entire hospital was plunged into darkness, the moonlight obscured by thick clouds. It was eerily quiet. It’s so quiet that her breathing grew heavy, and the sound of her heartbeat pounded like a drum in her ears. She even worried someone might hear it.

Drawing her service pistol, she released the safety, ready for any sudden threat. The hospital was pitch black. But as her eyes adjusted, she could gradually make out shapes. She searched floor by floor. In the darkness, any source of light was easy to spot. Even the faint glow seeping from under a door crack stood out starkly.

In the unnerving silence, she heard faint footsteps. It was the sound of someone’s shoes scraping against the floor. Then the noise stopped, as if both parties had frozen, waiting to see who would move first.

For a moment, Yu Shi wondered if she had imagined it, but her instincts as a detective told her otherwise. Someone else was hiding in the darkness of this hospital.

Whoever was lurking would eventually reveal themselves. But she had more urgent matters to attend to first. Moving as quietly as possible, she continued to the third floor. Deep within it, she spotted a faint glow under a door. Cautiously scanning her surroundings and seeing no one in sight, she crept toward the door, her grip on the gun slick with sweat.

The door was slightly ajar, not fully closed. From inside came the soft murmur of voices and the clinking of medical instruments. A chill ran down Yu Shi’s spine. Peering inside, she saw two figures in raincoats and gloves standing over an operating table. Beside it were several small containers. It was the kind used in medical dramas to store organs.

The person on the table lay shirtless, motionless, even as the surgeon pressed a scalpel into their skin. Just as the blade pierced the flesh and began to cut, Yu Shi burst through the door, her gun raised and ready. “Police! Drop the knife!”

But in the stunned faces of the two surgeons, the situation took another turn.

Yu Shi sensed someone approaching from behind. It was too late to react. Like a ghost, the figure had slipped silently behind her, and she felt the cold muzzle of a gun press against the back of her head.

A rough, menacing male voice whispered in her ear, “Drop your gun, Officer.”

---

Moonlit: Since each chapter has more than 5k words, I can only do 1 chapter daily starting today.

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