39 Midnight Ruse

 

Wei Er’s gang left in such a hurry that they even abandoned Little Three’s body that they had tried so hard to rescue earlier. The man and the coffin were left just like that in the yard. The skinned body was left standing at the front door. Looks like Wei Er’s gang was really worried about something and they needed to deal with it with greatest expedience.

2 questions:

1. Would there be a next victim?

2. Who was this mysterious party who was targeting Wei Er’s gang?

“Little Brother, are you interested in investigating this incident with me?” Zhao Mingkun suddenly dropped the question without turning around to look at us. This was honestly quite surprising to me. It was pure luck that we ran into Zhao Mingkun, I was wondering how to convince her to let us stay with her but she had instead volunteered the opportunity. Cautious of Zhao Mingkun’s intention, I said, “Due to the scale of this incident, the official will definitely send people to investigate. It’ll be bad if we’re exposed.”

Zhao Mingkun chuckled. “In other words, you’re scared?”

I pouted and grumbled, “Who said I’m scared? Since Big Sister Queen is so intrigued, I’ll tag along.”

“Then what should we do now?” Guan Zhenglin glanced at Zhao Mingkun and asked. Zhao Mingkun pressed on the button on her key and a car beeped. “First, I’ll bring you to our place of accommodation first.” A cunning rabbit would have 3 holes, this Chinese idiom was most suitable to describe Zhao Mingkun. Currently, we were at a small motel, so small that other than the 3 of us, there was no one else. Even the boss had gone missing. It appeared like this was a specific arrangement requested by Zhao Mingkun. Along the way, Zhao Mingkun didn’t make any calls, so she had already prepared this hiding spot beforehand. No wonder Zhao Mingkun managed to escape the heavy crime unit for so long, this was a very well-prepared woman.

Then again, this place was more like a Siheyuan than a motel. The place was located in a secluded part of Ba Jia Zi district. Someone who did not know the place well wouldn’t be able to locate this motel. “Big Sister Queen, I have a question that I wish to ask you but if you’re not comfortable to answer it, feel free to ignore me.”

Zhao Mingkun was soaking her feet in the yard. She had a pair of model-worthy legs. Zhao Mingkun lifted one up and started to towel it. Her skin was fair as snow. She arched her leg back so that she could reach the back of her calf. The line formed by her movement was captivating. As she wiped on her leg, she said, “I know what you’re going to ask, you want to know why I’m here, don't you? I can see that you’re a clever person, but for clever people, the less they know the better. Oftentimes, people become angry, sad, disappointed because they know too much.” Zhao Mingkun straightened her leg and caressed her finger from the tip of her toe to her waist. It made my heart shiver. “Well, how’s the view? Mind joining me in my room later?”

I swallowed heavily. To be honest, compared to Guan Zhenglin’s cute and innocence, I prefer sexy and mature women like Zhao Mingkun. She was sexy and she knew how to use it to her advantage, I believed not many men could resist her. “Ha ha.” I chuckled dumbly.

“Wu Meng!” Guan Zhenglin stomped out from our room and shouted, “Why aren’t you in bed yet? It’s already so late.” I shrugged and followed her into our room. Once we’re behind the door, Guan Zhenglin pulled on my ear and whispered, “Wu Meng, have you forgotten why we’re here? If I didn’t go out and interrupt you two, you’d expose everything to her already. That sneaky vixen!”

I struggled away from Guan Zhenglin’s grip and explained, “It’s good if we can capture Zhao Mingkun but aren’t you curious who she was here to meet? This character must be a big fish to have Zhao Mingkun come meet them in person. I might be able to get a name from her but you’ve ruined everything!” Guan Zhenglin looked through the window. Zhao Mingkun was standing in the yard, star-gazing. “Do you think I don’t know the kind of person you are, you pervert.” Guan Zhenglin whispered, “Don’t use work to hide your perverse intention. Look at her, she’s out there star-gazing, probably reminded of her old conquests. Don’t be fooled by her!”

I turned to study Zhao Mingkun and her profile. This scene felt very familiar to me. There was a unique charm about Zhao Mingkun that could make my heart race. I had this feeling that I had known her for a long time, this was one of the reasons I promised to help Captain Zhao. I remembered when I was young, I used to spend my nights standing in the prison yard, counting the stars in the sky. I wondered if she had the same childhood as I was.

“You’re still looking?!” Guan Zhenglin waved her hands before my eyes. I pulled my thoughts back. “Have you notified Captain Zhao? I believe Captain Zhao will agree with me. Sometimes, arresting someone is not as important as gaining their trust and unlocking their secrets. Similarly, it’s easier to capture a murderer than to make them confess about their motives.”

Guan Zhenglin crawled into bed and yawned. “You’re right. Captain Zhao did tell us to keep an eye on her and find out why she’s here.” I turned to switch off the light. I said with a smile. “See, I told you.” Then I jumped into bed. Before I landed on the bed, a kick shot out at my stomach. Before I could react, I was sent flying out from bed. “Get lost! You pervert!” Guan Zhenglin hissed. “You’re sleeping on the floor with Doggie Wang Er!”

…

3 am.

I was speechless looking at Guan Zhenglin who was asleep like a pig in bed. She was so defenseless around me, wasn’t she afraid that I’d climb into bed with her? I shook my head and patted Doggie Wang Er on his head to signal him to be quiet. I tip-toed out from the room and walked towards the other room. Picking locks was easy as pie for me. I pushed the door slightly open and I saw Zhao Mingkun was sitting in bed with her eyes closed. This was the first time I saw someone sleep in a seated position. Caution was deeply written into Zhao Mingkun’s bones. Different from Guan Zhenglin, Zhao Mingkun was constantly on alert. She must have had a tiring life. As I expected, the moment I closed the door, the gun clicked.

“Big Sister Queen, it’s just me.” I raised my arms in surrender. Zhao Mingkun sat back down in bed. Even though she was in her underwear, she didn’t move to hide herself. Instead she wiggled her finger at me, calling me to get closer to her. I jumped into her bed. We were so close that I could smell the fragrance she wore and sense her breath on me. Her soft and supple hands reached towards my body and started to undo my buttons. My hands crawled to settle on her back to remove her last line of defense.

However, right at that moment, there was a harrowing wail. The wail sounded like it originated in our yard. Then, the wail stopped and the voice turned into a cackle.

She cried and she giggled. Before this, her voice was blurry but this time, she was frighteningly clear. The legendary Chu Mei.

I immediately jumped down from bed and pulled down a corner of the curtain to look.

A woman in a red robe stood in the middle of the yard. My heart squeezed because I had seen this robe before. During the Minghun ceremony, the bride was wearing this floor length red gown. At this moment, she stood facing the window. Her unkempt hair rustled and the voice emitted from her mouth.

“Go!” I yelped but Zhao Mingkun was already at the door. Zhao Mingkun burst through the door, but I stayed by the window. If this was a ghost, I intended to see how she would disappear into thin air; if this was not a ghost, Zhao Mingkun was more than capable of taking her down. However, as Zhao Mingkun reached the yard, the bride practically floated up into the air. She landed on the rooftop and then disappeared into the night. Even though I was prepared, this sight still took my breath away. Was she really a ghost, the dead body inside the palanquin?

But why would the bride be haunting us? What had we done to her?

The lights in the yard were switched on and Guan Zhenglin exited her room. Seeing how shaken she was, she must have been quite frightened by the event. She had Doggie Wang Er walk before her. I hurriedly ran out from Zhao Mingkun’s room. When Guan Zhenglin saw me, she pointed a finger at me. She wanted to say something but nothing came out. At that moment, Zhao Mingkun was only in her bra and panties, the implication was clear but she didn’t seem to mind it at all. “Looks like someone intends to chase us away. I’ll go get dressed. Help me see if they’ve left behind any clues.” Then she entered and closed the door to her room.

Guan Zhenglin rushed over with Doggie Wang Er. “That’s the only thing I told you not to do! You climbed into her bed in the end? You big pervert…” Well I wished, but before anything could happen, the female ghost came to ruin everything. I tuned out Guan Zhenglin’s rambling as she lambasted me with all the bad words she knew.

I knelt down and examined the ground carefully. I noticed there was a hole about the size of a pinkie at the spot where the ghost was standing earlier. In fact, now that I think about it, all the ghost did was to stand there and make those strange noises. If she was really a ghost, why didn’t she come after us but instead run away the moment Zhao Mingkun arrived at the yard? Why didn’t she do anything else other than standing there and make scary noises or that was all she could do?

“There’s no footprint!” Guan Zhenglin finally noticed the problem. “This kind of yellow soil retains footprint indentation very well but she left no footprint behind, can that really be a ghost?”

I lifted my head to look at the roof. The walls of the Siheyuan were about 3 metres tall and it had a flat roof. If someone used the roof and wall creatively, they might not leave behind any footprint. The hole on the ground was about the size of the iron rod that strung up the skinned body at Wei Er’s base. Perhaps someone was designing all these. But why would someone do that? And how was all these related to Zhao Mingkun?