When I saw the man crying in front of Gao Liang's grave was Hao Wenming, my first instinct was to go over and comfort him. But Sun Fatty grabbed my arm and stopped me.
"Let him cry it out," he whispered. "If he doesn't grieve properly now, he might just vent it all on us later."
That sounded like something someone with a bit of heart would say. At least being promoted to Deputy Director hadn't made him look down on Hao Wenming. Still, after saying that, Sun Fatty tiptoed out of the car, quietly approached the nearby Nissan, and... slipped the car keys out of the ignition.
Over ten minutes later, Hao Wenming finally stopped crying. He scattered a few more joss papers before turning around to leave. We were standing right behind him.
The moment Hao turned around, Sun Fatty greeted him with a cheeky wave and said,
"Hey, Hao. Long time no see."
Hao Wenming froze for a second at the sight of us, then lowered his head and hurried into his car without saying a word. But when he reached to turn the ignition, he found… nothing.
Sun Fatty strolled up to the car with a grin, tossing the keys lightly in his hand.
"Come on, Hao," he said. "Let's have a word. You raised both of us, didn't you? What's left to keep bottled up?"
Hao Wenming acted like he hadn't heard a thing. He opened the door as if to get out and walk off—seemingly ready to abandon the car rather than deal with Sun Fatty. But as soon as the door opened, I stepped in front of it, blocking his way.
I smiled and said,
"Hao, whatever's on your mind, just say it. Let it out. Chief Gao's gone, and Director Qiu isn't here anymore either. I won't lie—Wu Ren Di's been threatening to leave too. If you don't come back now, the Bureau's practically done for."
That stopped him in his tracks.
Hao Wenming finally let out a snort and grunted,
"So your wings have hardened now, huh? Let me tell you something—no matter how much you beg, I'm not crawling back to the Bureau with my tail between my legs. Not until I'm holding Lin Feng's and… that guy's heads in my hands."
As he spoke, his eyes turned bloodshot, and he spat out the words through gritted teeth.
The "guy" he mentioned… was his own brother.
I didn't know how to respond.
But Sun Fatty leaned against the car door, lit a cigarette, and casually added,
"You've got a point, but do you even know where those two are? Honestly—Hao Zhengyi, sure, you can go straight for him. I doubt your brother would even fight back. But with that Crow in the way, who knows how it'll end? And as for Lin Feng? He's half-human, half-ghost now. Just slipped out of the Bureau clean. Think you can catch him? Or beat him?"
That shut Hao Wenming up.
But Sun Fatty wasn't done. He offered me a cigarette, lit another one for himself, exhaled a puff of smoke, then said:
"Tomorrow I'll have the Bureau drop everything else and start hunting down those two exclusively. But Hao, not gonna lie to you—by the time you find them, I might've already chopped them up and used them as fertilizer. Got a whole plot picked out. Dozens of acres. What are you gonna do then? Yell at the farmland every day?"
He flicked his cigarette butt away and said after a pause,
"Come back. I'll hand you the First Division. Originally, Ouyang Pian Zuo was next in line. But how about it? Not everyone gets this chance."
Hao Wenming sat in silence for a moment, then slowly rolled down the car window.
"I don't care about Lin Feng…" he muttered.
Sun Fatty nodded.
"Then that's a family matter. However you handle it is your business. I won't interfere."
With that, he handed the car key through the window and added,
"I've kept the First Division office clean for you this whole time. Haven't touched a thing. If anything's missing, just tell me."
Hao Wenming started the car. Just before driving off, he looked at Sun Fatty and said,
"You handled the funeral well. Thank you—on behalf of the one buried there."
Then, after a meaningful glance, he added:
"I know the First Division doesn't have many people left. If you come across any with potential, add a few more in…"
With that, he stepped on the gas, made a turn, and drove out of the cemetery.
Only after the car had vanished from sight did Sun Fatty sigh softly. His lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, he swallowed the words.
Having worked with him for over two years, I knew his temperament well—if Sun Fatty didn't want to say something, there was no forcing it. So I changed the subject.
"Da Sheng," I said, "Now that Director Wu's stayed, Chief Gao's buried, and even Hao Wenming is coming back… we're almost done. All that's left is dragging Lin Feng and his brother back."
I thought I was helping, but the moment I said that, the smile on Sun Fatty's face vanished.
He stared blankly in the direction Hao Wenming had driven off, then blinked a few times and said:
"That's the hard part, Ladzi. Aside from you and me, the only others here are the dead buried underground. I'll be straight with you—Lin Feng and Hao Zhengyi have completely vanished. Yang Jun's already interrogated every one of Lin Feng's old associates still in the Bureau, but still came up with nothing."
"Yang Jun?" I blinked. "Isn't he a bit out of his depth? The guy spent years at sea. What does he know about interrogation? You should've had Yang Xiao handle it."
"You're underestimating Yang Jun," Sun Fatty said. "That guy was trained by the Embroidered Uniform Guards. He's interrogated more people than you and I have watched on TV. But even he was stumped this time. Two dead, two driven insane. Still no clue where Lin Feng is."
Seeing his frustration, I offered,
"Then what now? Ask Wu Ren Di for help?"
Sun Fatty gave a bitter laugh.
"I'd love to. But I've pissed him off real bad. Unless I hand the case over to Shao Yiyi, there's no way he'll lend a hand."
Just as he finished speaking, his phone rang. He glanced at the screen and chuckled to himself.
"Speak of the devil. Someone's here for me to take it out on."
He picked up the call.
"Ah, Mr. Beihai. It's a rare honor to have you call personally. Yes, of course, all coincidental. Pure coincidence. Huh? The Religious Affairs Commission wants you to mediate? Tsk, too late I'm afraid. Yang Xiao's already at the airport. Flying to Hong Kong, then transferring to Taiwan. It's my fault—I let it slip that we saw someone from the Commission at Gao Laoda's funeral. He couldn't hold back. Now that Gao's gone, I can't control him anymore…"
"Oh, since you're asking personally, I'll try. But if I can't stop him, you can't blame the Bureau. If something happens over there, I'll immediately announce Yang Xiao's been expelled from the Bureau. Everything he does is his own business—has nothing to do with us. I learned that move from your side, by the way. Just giving it back."
He exchanged a few more polite words and hung up.
I could tell he wasn't planning on calling anyone. That whole thing about Yang Xiao was probably just a bluff.
Still, I was curious.
"Mr. Beihai? Who's that?"
Sun Fatty chuckled.
"Jin Beihai… you know, Blind Jin."