When I opened my eyes again, a chubby face was right in front of me. He was holding a small porcelain bottle, bringing it to my lips. When he saw I was awake, that round face broke into a grin.
"You're awake, you're awake! Not gonna lie, Director Wu's method really works."
It was Sun Fatty. My mind was still a bit foggy when I first opened my eyes, and for a second, I actually mistook him for Gao Fatty. I'd never realized before just how alike those two fat guys looked.
Then I caught sight of the porcelain bottle in his hand—why did it look so familiar? That awful stench I smelled earlier had come from it. Come to think of it, I'd definitely encountered that smell before. It wasn't just nauseating—it made me feel deeply uneasy. Suddenly, something clicked in my mind, and I remembered what was inside that little bottle...
Corpse Oil!
At that moment, Sun Fatty was still bringing the porcelain bottle filled with corpse oil to my lips.
"Lazi, you waking up—it's all thanks to this stuff. Come on, one more whiff."
One... more whiff? What did he mean by that? That this wasn't the first time? I couldn't take it anymore. I rolled to my side and vomited violently, retching until there was nothing left but stomach acid. Only after I couldn't throw up anything more did I manage to suppress the dry heaves and lift my head to glare at Sun Fatty.
"You... how much of that stuff did you make me drink?"
Sun Fatty gave me an innocent look and said,
"Nothing, I swear! I was just waving it around. Not gonna lie, that stuff reeks—I wouldn't dare make you drink it."
"You think I'll believe that? I clearly heard you say 'one more whiff'!" I stood up, staring at him accusingly.
Sun Fatty let out a helpless sigh.
"Lazi, 'one more whiff' means exactly that—just smell it, not drink it. Not gonna lie, this stuff's all thick and sticky. If you actually drank some, wouldn't you know?"
I smacked my lips a few times. Huh. My mouth really didn't have that sticky feeling after all. That made me feel a bit better, and I finally took a moment to look around. This wasn't where I had collapsed earlier—at some point, we'd returned to the stadium on the surface. Judging by the time, it should've been broad daylight, but the place was pitch black, not a glimmer of light inside or out.
"Forget that for now," I said, spinning in place once before turning to Sun Fatty.
"When did we come back up? Where are Yang Xiao and Wu Rendi? What about Xiong Wanyi, Ximen Lian, and the others...?"
Sun Fatty had still been grinning goofily, but when he heard my questions, his face darkened all of a sudden. He let out a heavy breath before saying,
"Don't bring it up. We got played."
I'd never seen that expression on Sun Fatty's face before. He might joke around all the time, but I'd never heard of anyone getting the better of him. I was about to ask another question when he went on, unable to hold it back.
"Lin Feng from Fourth Division showed up. He got here right after you passed out."
"Lin Feng?" I cut him off.
"Wasn't he down south with Chief Gao and Xiao Heshang?"
"Xiong Wanyi and the others had already reported what was going on here to Chief Gao. Gao Fatty got worried and sent Lin Feng back with a team to check things out." Sun Fatty gave a cold snort before continuing,
"Turns out Lin Feng really did come here just to 'check things out'. He waited until that couple was burned to ashes. Wu Rendi was passed out, so were you, and Yang Xiao couldn't even stand up. That's when he and his people from Fourth Division finally strolled in. Not gonna lie, I think they were here the whole time, just waiting for us to wear ourselves out before showing their faces..."
Sun Fatty seemed to have some kind of astrological clash with Lin Feng—his teeth would itch just at the mention of Director Lin. Once he started talking about him, he wouldn't stop. I had to interrupt him again. "We'll talk about Lin Feng later. What about Wu Rendi and Yang Xiao? And those students? Where did everyone go?"
Sun Fatty suddenly grinned at me. "Which little girls are you talking about? Come on, Lazi, just say you mean Shao Yiyi and be done with it. Why drag Wu Rendi and Yang Xiao into it to throw me off the scent?"
"What nonsense are you spouting!" I shot him a glare. "If you dare joke about Shao Yiyi and let Wu Rendi hear it, don't come crying to me when he deals with you."
The moment the conversation involved a woman, Sun Fatty immediately returned to his usual cheeky self. He chuckled. "Wu Rendi won't hear it. He woke up while you were still unconscious. Lin Feng had planned to send someone to escort him to Nanhai, but Wu Rendi flat-out refused. Not trying to pick sides, Lazi, but even though they're both directors, when it comes to sheer presence, Lin Feng is several leagues below Wu Rendi. When Wu Rendi glared at him, Lin Feng caved instantly. In the end, Wu Rendi and Yang Xiao left on their own. Lin Feng didn't even dare ask where they were going. But before Wu Rendi left, he gave me this."
As he spoke, Sun Fatty pulled out a small porcelain bottle and casually tossed it in his hand. "He said that if you didn't wake up in three hours, I should let you smell what's inside. Turns out the stuff actually works. Smells awful, but it really clears your head." He made as if to toss the bottle to me.
"Keep it for yourself, I don't want it." I waved my hands and added, "What about Xiong Wanyi and Ximen Lian?"
"They went back to the Bureau. Sounds like Director Gao had something for them to take care of on the way." He paused for a moment, then continued, "Also, this whole school has been cleared out. Everyone's already been relocated back into Vermilion Bird City."
"They all left? So it's just you and me here?" Hearing that all the people from the girls' school were gone and that only Sun Fatty and I remained—with dozens of dried corpses still down in the underground palace—I felt a chill creep up my spine again.
Before Sun Fatty could answer, a voice came from the underground entrance: "It's not just the two of you." As the voice spoke, over a dozen people emerged from below, each carrying a large pitch-black bag on their backs. Leading the group was a tall, thin man with a frame like Hao Wenming's—it was Director Lin Feng from the Fourth Division.
The moment Lin Feng appeared, Sun Fatty—ever the adaptable one, especially with his past undercover experience—walked up to him with a grin and greeted, "Director Lin, you guys really don't slack off. Making all these trips—what goodies are you carrying in those bags?"
It was only when he mentioned it that I noticed a large pile of black bags had been stacked in the corner.
Lin Feng, for his part, didn't act like a high-and-mighty director. He smiled and replied, "Whether it's good stuff depends on how you look at it." He took one of the bags from a nearby investigator and loosened the seal. Sun Fatty and I craned our necks to peek inside.
It was a dried corpse—or to be precise, a heap of dismembered limbs: arms, legs, torsos, heads... They were randomly piled together. Even though we'd already seen whole corpses earlier, seeing them now cut into pieces like this still made me nauseous. Sun Fatty grimaced too. Clearly, Lin Feng and his team had dealt with the corpses, then dismembered them and stuffed them into these bags.
Lin Feng looked at us and smiled. "Everything down there has been taken care of. My team will handle the cleanup. If you two don't have anything else, come back with me."
At this point, Lin Feng was clearly in charge. Since the director had spoken, Sun Fatty and I could only follow his team. The dried corpse remains and all items related to the Ghost Path Sect in the underground palace were transported via a special flight back to the Investigation Bureau headquarters in the capital.
During the flight, I found an excuse to ask Lin Feng about the events at the Nanshan Cemetery in '75. The moment he heard the words "Nanshan Cemetery," his face darkened. Without warning, he lunged and grabbed me by the throat, glaring into my eyes as he growled, "How do you know about that? Was it Hao Wenming?"
I was shocked by his reaction and quickly shook my head. "It wasn't Director Hao. I saw something in the archives. There was a mention of a leader in the Ghost Path Sect surnamed Tao. I just remembered and thought I'd ask."
Lin Feng sneered. "You saw it in the archives? What are you, a director now? That case file was sealed under security protocols. Only director-level clearance can access it. With your clearance, you'd never be able to read it in your lifetime. Tell me—who told you?!"
As he spoke, he tightened his grip. I could barely breathe. Luckily, Sun Fatty rushed over to break it up. "Director Lin, easy, easy! Whatever the issue is, let's talk it out. If you're mad, take it out on me. Just let go first."
Lin Feng seemed to realize he had lost his composure. He loosened his grip a bit and, in a low voice by my ear, said, "I don't care if it was Hao Wenming or someone else who told you. Listen carefully—I'll only say this once. That incident is buried. If I ever hear it brought up again, not even Director Gao will be able to save you."
After that incident on the plane, Lin Feng kept a close eye on me, until we returned to the Bureau. Only once we were back in the Investigation Bureau in the capital did that invisible pressure finally ease up.
Back at the Bureau, the place felt oddly deserted. Aside from a few token personnel upstairs, the underground levels were completely empty. Lin Feng was busy overseeing the transport of the black corpse bags. Taking advantage of the moment, Sun Fatty and I slipped away and headed to the dormitory behind the Bureau.
Our rooms were right next to each other. I had barely caught my breath when I heard Sun Fatty yell from next door, "Lazi! Get in here!"
The tremble in his voice made me think something terrible had happened. I immediately grabbed the short dagger Third Uncle had given me and rushed into his room. There I found Sun Fatty staring blankly at a small, empty fish tank.
We had originally kept goldfish in that tank, but they'd been "dealt with" by Sun Fatty to make a home for the Wealth Rat. Before leaving, he had even asked our next-door neighbor to take care of it. But now, the tank was completely empty—not even a trace of fur left behind.
It looked like the Wealth Rat had escaped. Sun Fatty had pinned his fortune dreams on that little rat, and now it was gone before he'd even had a chance to use it. For him, not coughing up blood on the spot was already a miracle.
I quickly closed the door and tried to comfort him. "Dasheng, keep looking. Maybe your wife got hungry and went out looking for food. She might come back later to sleep."
Sun Fatty looked at me silently, then handed me a small note.
I took the note and read it:
Borrowing the rat for a bit.
—If there's any problem, talk to Xiao Heshang. —Xiong
It was Xiong Wanyi's handwriting.
I laughed. "Well, at least it wasn't lost. Dasheng, it's fine. Xiao Heshang's just borrowing your wife for a bit. She'll be returned when he's done."
Sun Fatty shot me a glare, snatched the note from my hand, tore it into shreds, and growled through gritted teeth, "Xiao Heshang, if anything happens to my rat, I'll never let it go!" He began changing clothes and packing his things.
His sudden flurry of action left me confused. "Dasheng, what are you doing?"
Without stopping, he replied, "Going to Nanhai to find them. Not trying to be dramatic, but taking without asking? What happened to the law?"
When he saw I wasn't moving, he added, "What are you waiting for, Lazi? Get changed, let's go!"
I looked at him and said, "We just got back. What do you mean, 'let's go'?"
Sun Fatty looked at me with unwavering conviction. "We're going together. Since when have I ever left you out of anything like this?"
Maybe I owed him from a past life, but in the end, I got talked into it. I agreed to go with him to Nanhai to settle things with Xiao Heshang and Xiong Wanyi. (And also, I really didn't want to deal with Lin Feng any longer.)
After quickly packing, we headed straight for the airport and caught a flight to Fuzhou.
After landing, the first thing Sun Fatty did was call Xiong Wanyi. Turned out their group had arrived in Fuzhou just four hours ahead of us, and a car had already taken them to the dock. From the sound of it, they were already aboard a ship.
When Xiong Wanyi heard we were coming after them, he didn't sound the least bit guilty. He even casually gave us the name of the dock. Then, before hanging up, he added, "Sun Fatty, the ship leaves in an hour. If you're not here by then, you'll have to swim."
"You son of a—! You wait right there, Xiong Wannabe! I'm coming for you!" Sun Fatty roared into the phone. He wanted to yell more, but the call had already been cut.
Fuming, Sun Fatty pocketed his phone and turned to me. "Lazi, when we find Xiong Wannabe, help me break his damn legs. I'll take full responsibility! If he ends up disabled, I'll serve time. If he dies, I'll face the firing squad!"
I couldn't help it—I burst out laughing. "Dasheng, are you trying to be buried alongside him? Since when were you two so close? 'Born not to share a bed, but destined to share a grave'?"
We joked as we caught a taxi. Half an hour later, we arrived at the dock Xiong Wanyi had mentioned. We'd worried on the ride over about recognizing the right boat, but once we got there, it was obvious. Only one vessel was docked at that empty pier—a hybrid passenger-cargo ship.
And standing right there were Xiong Wanyi and Ximen Lian...
—End of Volume Two—