Gu Chen answered, “Tonight is the night the killer is supposed to strike. Most of the officers have been led by Xiao Liu to ambush the killer. Only a small number of people are left at the station. If they come here, then the station will be left empty. If we ask for reinforcement from the military, we have to go through many steps. It will take hours.” Gu Chen said seriously, “I wonder if Captain Zhao can do anything…”
I frowned. “Okay, you contact Captain Zhao and get him to contact the armed forces.”
“What about you?” Gu Chen looked at me while he made the call.
“I’m going to call Xiao Liu. Since the killer is here, then he wouldn’t be in the city killing people. This means that Xiao Liu doesn’t need that many people. Even if Captain Zhao manages to get people from the armed military, it’ll take them several hours to get to Xing Dong Village. Time is life. If we can get help 1 second earlier, we need to try.” However, it was not that easy to find Xiao Liu. During operations, most officers kept their phone on silent mode or even had it switched off. Xiao Liu would have silenced his phone already so there was a high chance he wouldn’t hear my call. In half an hour, I had called Xiao Liu more than 20 times, but none of them were answered. Just as I was about to give up hope, Xiao Liu called me back. I was ecstatic, and I was never so happy in my life. Seeing his number, I felt like I had won the lottery.
“Xiao Liu,” I said. Xiao Liu was aloof and cold, “Wu Meng, what are you doing? Do you know we’re trying to ambush the killer? We can talk about this later. If your calls have made me miss the killer, people will die. It’s already 10 pm. In a few hours, the killers are going to make their move. I’m going to hang up now…”
I quickly stopped Xiao Liu. “Wait, I need to tell you the killer won’t be going to your place tonight. I can be 100 percent sure of that. We have run into the killer at Xing Dong Village, and the killer has captured Guan Zhenglin.”
“What?” Xiao Liu was shocked.
I said, “The killer really will not be going to your place. He is currently at Xing Dong Village.”
After some silence, Xiao Liu used a voice of suppressed rage to tell me. “Wu Meng, many people’s lives are on the line. If this is your way to prevent yourself from being moved out of Dong Xing Village then…”
I cut him off, “If you believe me, then listen to what I have to say. Now, I need you to bring your people to seal up all the paths leading from Xing Dong Village to Dong Xing City. Check every single car. Your team can handle all the major highways and have the local officers check the smaller shortcuts. The killer is 1.7 meters tall and is wearing black. You know that.” I continued, “You also know what Guan Zhenglin looks like. The killer will use a vehicle to travel to Dong Xing City to kill, so send Guan Zhenglin’s pictures to your people, understood?” I didn’t give Xiao Liu any chance to speak. “Pull out the people at the ambush. Half of them should set up the roadblock, and the other half needs to come to Xing Dong Village to help me look for the killer. Bring your people to investigate Wu Xiufen’s brother, the family that you are laying an ambush around. Look into what had happened so many years ago at Moulin Rouge Workshop.” After saying all that, I shut up, waiting for Xiao Liu’s reply. Xiao Liu didn’t reply immediately. I could hear the young men shouting up the mountain. I could hear Gu Chen talking to Captain Zhao. I could hear the pacing of the village head. But the world felt so quiet. I was like an astronaut in space. There was no other voice than the buzz on the phone.
Yesterday night, the words that Xiao Liu said were farewell for us. So, now would Xiao Liu choose to believe me?
“I’ll do that now.” Several seconds later, Xiao Liu finally said. A heavy stone lowered in my heart. “I’ll wait for your good news.”
Xiao Liu’s voice became louder since the ambush was rendered pointless. “I trust you.”
When Xiao Liu and I spoke, Gu Chen had ended the call with Captain Zhao. Seeing me hang up, Gu Chen came over. “So, what did Xiao Liu say?”
I smiled, “No matter what Xiao Liu thought, he chose to trust me. Everything has been arranged. We need to rescue Guan Zhenglin. After all, this special task force will not be complete without her.” Suddenly I sniffed, and my eyes watered. Since I was young, I had always been alone due to my loner personality. However, as I spent time with Gu Chen and Guan Zhenglin, I had experienced something that I had never experienced before. If one day, the special task force was dissolved, what would happen to the three of us?
I looked up at the grey sky and said nothing.
Two hours passed, the people couldn’t find anything about Guan Zhenglin or the killer. It was like they had disappeared from the mountain, leaving no trace behind. We watched the time tick by and we couldn’t do anything.
At that moment, I received a call from Xiao Liu. I answered it immediately. Xiao Liu spoke very quickly, but I heard him clearly. “Wu Meng, I’ve done everything you asked me to do. I’ve assigned half the people to seal up the streets between Dong Xing City and Xing Dong Village. We’ve set up roadblocks. Information about Guan Zhenglin and the killer has been shown to all the officers on duty. The other half is heading to Xing Dong Village.”
“Xiao Liu, thank you so much,” I said hurriedly.
Xiao Liu replied, “Wu Meng, I know that I must look like a snobbish person in your eyes, but I admit to that. That is my problem, and I never thought to explain myself. This is my choice. But even so, I will not take a person’s life lightly. In my heart, nothing is more important than human life.” I didn’t say anything. Xiao Liu continued, “I have worked with Guan Zhenglin for almost a year already. Don’t worry. We will save her, no matter what.”
I answered, “I understand. When Gu Chen was captured by Wu Zui, you were the first to volunteer to save him. We might not see things similarly on certain things, but I always remember that. This is why I’ve promised to let you arrest the killer even if I find him first.”
Xiao Liu was silent before he said, “We can talk about that later. In the past one hour, I’ve asked Wu Jianguo about Moulin Rouge. He didn’t hide anything and told me everything that happened between him and his family.”
I asked, “Did you get anything useful?”
Xiao Liu said, “I did. Moulin Rouge was started by Wu Jianguo’s father, and after his father died, the workshop closed down. But the workshop closed not because of lack of business, but a woman had died at the workshop.”
“A woman has died?” I asked, “Who is it?”
Xiao Liu answered, “Wu Jianguo’s little sister.”
“Wu Jianguo’s little sister?”
My heart squeezed. Instantly, a picture appeared in my mind. It was the picture I saw at Wu Xiufen’s home. Wu Xiufen was more than 60 already, and the picture was taken 30 years ago. Based on timing, Wu Xiufen at that time should be 30 plus. But the woman in the picture looked young and innocent. She looked more like a girl approaching her 20s and not a woman in her 30s. However, this picture was placed at Wu Xiufen’s bedside, so it must mean a lot to her. Then I was reminded of something. If Wu Xiufen really loved her husband that much, why wasn’t Zhang Qiang’s picture at her bedside but this girl’s?
We believed that the picture was of Wu Xiufen because the girl in the picture looked like Wu Xiufen. So this meant that she might be blood-related to Wu Xiufen. And I finally understood why Wu Xiufen would burn half white paper money and half black. Because two people had died. Could the person who had an unnatural death be the girl who died at Moulin Rouge Workshop?
The clues lined up in my mind.
“Does Wu Xiufen have a little sister?” I asked.
“Yes, a girl called Wu Xiufang.”
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