I had originally come to Sun Fatty for some advice, but the moment I heard his opening line, it all became painfully clear.
This bastard had dug a trap ahead of Wu Rendi, and I had walked straight into it.
But that wasn't even the worst part. The real kicker was—none of this had anything to do with me, and yet Wu Rendi had forcibly dragged me into the pit.
Looking at that smug, grinning face of his, I had to fight the urge to land a solid punch right in the middle of it. Instead, I grabbed him and dragged him to a quiet corner, away from the crowd.
"Dasheng," I said, barely containing my frustration, "you planned this out from the beginning, didn't you? Can't we switch targets? I mean, think about it—how about Ximen Lian? Or even Old Xiong—he doesn't have a girlfriend either. Hell, Old Mo might be a bit older, but at least he's the type who knows how to take care of people. This could even be a chance to get Old Wu to fix that nagging heart condition of his."
Then I patted him on the shoulder and mimicked his usual tone:
"Not gonna lie, this would be a blessing in disguise, huh?"
Sun Fatty watched me the whole time with that same squinty-eyed smile. Only after I finished did he let out a hearty laugh and said, "Lazhi, don't waste your breath. I know exactly what those guys are made of—none of them can cut it. No matter how you spin it, Miss Shao needs to be paired up with someone from the Bureau to keep Old Wu in check. And no one's more suitable than you. I mean, come on, Old Wu can't stand me. If I really got together with Shao Yiyi, he'd probably grit his teeth and make her a widow just to get rid of me."
He leaned in, voice low and knowing. "Otherwise, why do you think such a 'great opportunity' ended up in your lap?"
Seeing that he had me cornered, I made one final desperate attempt: "It's never going to happen. You're forgetting what kind of person Shao Yiyi is. Remember that girl Sihan who died two years ago? She wasn't into men, period. Based on that alone, this entire setup is doomed. Honestly, the only person in the Bureau who might stand a chance with her is probably Wang Lu."
But even that didn't faze him. Sun Fatty just kept smiling and said, "Never say never. Not gonna lie, two years is enough time for anything to change."
Then, lowering his voice again, he added: "You really think Old Wu is going to sit back and watch the only bloodline he has die out?"
I mulled over his words before saying, "Are you telling me Old Wu can bend the unbendable?"
Eyes half-closed, he said calmly, "I've never known Old Wu to fail at anything he sets his mind to."
Under pressure from both Wu Rendi and Sun Fatty, I had no choice but to go along with the plan.
Originally, it was supposed to be a casual "coincidental" encounter at the movies. Sun Fatty was supposed to accompany Miss Shao to a film at the mall cinema, and I would "accidentally" bump into them and take over the rest of the evening—dinner and all that jazz.
After memorizing my lines all afternoon, I arrived at the cinema feeling like a nervous actor on opening night. I wandered around for a bit until I saw Sun Fatty and Shao Yiyi chatting and laughing as they walked toward me. Fatty even waved at me in that fake, over-acted way of his.
I took a deep breath, stepped forward, and just as I was about to deliver my first line—
A sharp, high-pitched noise shrieked from Sun Fatty's body.
That sharp, high-pitched alert was the unique ringtone assigned to phones used by Bureau directors—meant only for sudden emergencies. The moment you heard it, you were supposed to return to the Bureau immediately to receive new instructions.
At first, I thought it was just another one of Sun Fatty's theatrical setups, and I was about to curse him for stealing the spotlight. But then my phone rang too—with the exact same sound.
Only then did I realize—this time it was for real.
The screen displayed a message from the Bureau, only four characters:"Lin and Hao Spotted."
Sun Fatty's expression changed instantly. He whipped out his phone, saw the same message, and instinctively rested his hand on his gun holster. After scanning the area and seeing nothing out of place, he suddenly shouted into the air:
"Come out! The show's canceled!"
As soon as the words left his mouth, four figures emerged from the shadows around the cinema. They weren't strangers—fellow investigators we knew well from Second Division. Among them were Old Mo, Xiong Wanyi, and Ximen Lian.
Seeing their guarded expressions, I finally understood—they had been stationed here as security for Shao Yiyi. Made sense. If Lin Feng and Hao Zhengyi managed to get to Wu Rendi's only weakness, using Shao Yiyi as leverage, it could spell complete disaster for the Bureau. Probably to avoid awkwardness, Fatty hadn't told me they were around.
Sun Fatty shot me a look, and I knew what he meant. I took a moment to sense the area—nothing felt wrong.
"Nothing unusual," I reported quietly.
Only then did Sun Fatty's tension ease slightly.
Shao Yiyi, seeing the sudden appearance of our colleagues, wore a confused expression. She quickly turned to Sun Fatty.
"Why are they here? What's going on?"
Sun Fatty pulled out his signature smile again. "Nothing major. Originally, after the movie, I was going to take you to karaoke. But just us two? Bit boring. So I called a few friends to liven things up. Didn't expect them to show up early. But looks like we'll have to rain check that movie—we've had some personnel shifts back at Division Six. You'll need to head back and file a few records first."
By now, Second Division's people had already closed ranks around Shao Yiyi. I took the front, and we hustled her quickly toward the parking garage.
A black van was waiting for us. Once inside, Fatty didn't even bother to keep up appearances in front of Shao Yiyi. He immediately called the Bureau.
"You're sure it's those two? … What location? … Send Second Yang ahead. Recall all investigators for an emergency meeting. From now on, no one is to leave the Bureau premises."
He hung up and turned toward Shao Yiyi before she could speak.
"There are a few security conferences this week. The Bureau's in charge of reception and defense, so the workload might get a little heavy. Not gonna lie—you should avoid wandering around too much. Once this blows over, I'll personally approve a month's paid leave for you."
About an hour later, we were back at the Bureau. The meeting room was already full. Sun Fatty gave a casual excuse and sent Shao Yiyi off to Division Six to copy some files. The real meeting began as soon as she left.
Since Fatty didn't have all the intel yet, the meeting was chaired by Ouyang Pianzuo.
Roughly an hour ago, a piece of natal talisman paper stored in the Fifth Division's archives had spontaneously combusted. This one dated back two or three decades and, after checking the old files, turned out to belong to Lin Feng—filed in the early 1980s.
Due to the limitations of that era, those early talismans had poor alert capabilities. They would only activate (i.e., burn) if an incident occurred at the precise location they were tied to. Ouyang quickly dug through the records and found the corresponding location: Huo Long Township, a remote village deep in the mountains of Guizhou. Back then, Lin Feng had been dispatched there to handle a corpse disturbance case.
With the location identified, Ouyang contacted some connections and requested local police to upload surveillance footage from the town's bus station. He hadn't expected much, but luck was on his side. Less than ten minutes into reviewing the footage, two all-too-familiar faces appeared on screen—Lin Feng and Hao Zhengyi, boarding a long-distance bus to Huo Long Township.
That was the full extent of what we had.
After Ouyang gave his briefing, he turned the floor over to Sun Fatty. Fatty skimmed the documents he'd been handed and finally addressed the room.
"Now that we've confirmed their whereabouts, the Bureau has already dispatched Yang Xiao and Yang Jun to the target location. Investigators from Second and Fourth Divisions, stay ready to deploy at any time. Given that we've been lured away before, no one else is to leave the Bureau grounds until we verify the situation."
He had barely finished when a knock came from the door.
Wang Lu got up to open it. It was a tech from the Bureau's internal monitoring unit. Three minutes ago, smoke detectors had triggered in the Fifth Division warehouse—normally a restricted area. The tech couldn't override the security protocol, so he came running to alert Ouyang.
The moment he heard smoke, Ouyang sprang up and bolted out the door, followed by his Fifth Division investigators.
The rest of us were left murmuring, unsure what was going on.
Sun Fatty, however, said nothing—just sat there, squinting as he stared at the door Ouyang had exited through.
A few minutes later, Ouyang came rushing back, cradling a scorched box of ashes.
He marched straight over to Sun Fatty, set the box in front of him, and reported grimly:
"All of Lin Feng's natal talismans—from 1985 to 1993—have burned. That's 189 in total. We're still compiling a list of the corresponding locations, but it's gonna take time. Something's really wrong…"
Fatty didn't react at first. He stared blankly at the gray ashes in the box. After a long pause, he suddenly looked up and said to Wang Lu, who was busy taking meeting notes:
"They're playing games. Call two Yang back."