Katzenanhänger 2

Kapitel 9

After the doctor examined her, he told us not to worry. Shi Ping'er only had a minor abrasion on her arm. He said he just needed to disinfect it, bandage it, give her some anti-inflammatory medicine, and let her rest. Lai Bao and Lao Fu were discussing when to torture Shi Ping'er to get her to confess about the fake Lai Bao. I quickly pulled them outside and said, "Now that they've come to our door, it means this matter will definitely have a result. Let's wait until the bandaging is finished and then discuss it with Chen Zhong. What do you think?"

Lai Bao glanced at me without saying anything, then leaned his head against the wall and closed his eyes. Lao Fu grabbed my shoulder and said, "Lao Tang, judging from your appearance, you're probably bewitched by this woman, aren't you?"

I shook off Lao Fu's hand and said, "You know I'm immune to beautiful women. I'm just considering the bigger picture; things aren't clear yet, right?" Lao Fu and I argued for a while. His idea was to take Shi Ping'er home as soon as she felt better, put a lamp on the table, and shoot her with hot water. If she didn't confess, we'd use pepper spray, branding irons, and whatever else we could get... Just then, Chen Zhong came running down the corridor, sweating profusely, and called us to a corner, saying, "There's progress. We've found Li Qiang, or rather, we've found his body, but..."

I quickly asked, "But what but? Can't you just say everything at once?"

Chen Zhong said, "But after what happened before, without an autopsy, I can't be sure if it was Li Qiang's body."

Old Fu said to Chen Zhong, "You've finally started to see the light. By the way, is that stone bottle inside? Do you want to take it back and interrogate it?"

At this moment, Shi Ping'er slowly walked out from inside, clutching her hand, and gently called my name. I quickly went over to help her. This action displeased Lao Fu, who said I was too merciful to the enemy. Shi Ping'er ignored Lao Fu and asked me directly, "Did you call the police?" I glanced at Chen Zhong, pointed at him, and said to Shi Ping'er, "Yes, I called the police. This is Officer Chen."

Chen Chong went into the room and briefly explained the situation to the doctor, saying that he needed about ten minutes in the room. The doctor nodded and left the room. The five of us went into the room, and Lao Fu turned around, closed the door, locked it, and then sat down in a chair by the door. He also told Lai Bao to keep an eye on the window. Lai Bao rolled his eyes at Lao Fu and said, "There are iron bars on this window!"

Old Fu said, "What if this girl knows how to shrink her bones?" He was hit by a pillow thrown by Lai Bao as soon as he finished speaking.

Chen Zhong shouted from the side that he would start once we finished making a scene, so the two of them quickly shut up. After Chen Zhong handed out cigarettes to us, he simply said to Shi Ping'er, "Speak."

Shi Ping'er shook her head and said, "I don't know where to begin."

I comforted her, saying, "Don't rush, think about it slowly. Start with that photo and the person who hired you."

Chen Zhong added, "By the way, you can tell me about your work background."

Shi Ping'er asked us for a cigarette, and Lao Fu whispered something about how only female spies usually have the bad habit of smoking, but before he could finish, Chen Chong shouted back.

The Tianya Investigation Company that Shi Ping'er works for doesn't actually exist. It's a different company, but that one is quite well-known in the industry in City C. First, this company is very good at keeping secrets. Second, they know not to cross the line of the law. They will never take on any business that might cross that line. Shi Ping'er has been working at this company for a year, during which time she has mainly done office work. She has always admired those staff members who are out there staking out the area every day, but her boss always says that she is not suitable for being out there because a woman who is too beautiful is likely to leave too deep an impression on people, which is not good.

About two weeks ago, a man came to Shi Ping'er's company and asked them to help find the whereabouts of a talisman. At the time, the company was on holiday, and Shi Ping'er happened to be back at the company to pick up some things. She was tempted and helped the man take on the job. She also took a picture of the talisman on the paper. The man also provided some information, saying that perhaps a man named Tang Dun and a man named Lai Bao would know about these things. She could consult them for some information, but they were not good people, so she had to be careful. He also said that Tang Dun and Lai Bao both had underworld backgrounds.

The man then suggested that they should work together if necessary, even though their company's terms of service absolutely forbade it. After providing relevant information, clients should keep a distance from the company's field staff, or even not meet them at all, and the information should be given directly to the office staff. However, since Shi Ping'er had taken on outside work without the company's knowledge, she had to do both the investigation and the contact work by herself.

Chen Zhong asked what the man looked like and what his features were like. Shi Ping'er looked up at Lai Bao and then pointed at Lai Bao, saying, "He looks exactly like him, and his tone of voice is exactly the same. The only difference is that this man's skin is much fairer."

At this moment, Lao Fu turned to Lai Bao and asked, "You have a twin brother? I've never heard of that."

Lai Bao retorted, "Is your brain full of glue? Don't interrupt!"

The man said his name was Fu Qing. As soon as Shi Ping'er mentioned this, Old Fu jumped up and said, "What nonsense is this? How did you get me involved again?"

We quickly asked Lao Fu to sit down and let Shi Ping'er continue speaking.

The man who looked just like Lai Bao but claimed to be named Fu Qing gave Shi Ping'er the address of both my home and Lai Bao's home, and left a phone number. The phone number was in the suburbs, and he said that he lived there. He said that if Shi Ping'er had any news, she could call him or come to his house directly. But Shi Ping'er had always been in contact with him by phone before.

Shi Ping'er was still completely confused at this point, but she didn't suspect too much, because she didn't know either me or Lai Bao, and the man repeatedly emphasized that she could start with me and not go after Lai Bao, and that he could also give Shi Ping'er a listening device.

Hearing this, I was completely bewildered. This was something I'd only ever seen in movies… Chen Zhong said from the side, “These things can be bought as long as you have money. Although the ones you can buy through normal channels are much worse than those used by intelligence agencies, sometimes not even a tenth of the standard, they are still useful.”

Chapter 26 of "Tangdun Strange Tales Notes"

Chapter 26 of "Tangdun Strange Tales Notes"

Author: Tang Xiaohao

So Shi Ping'er started contacting me, and we all know what happened next. Shi Ping'er also said that she had used that eavesdropping device before, and that she had planted it under my coffee table when she came to my house. Lai Bao then asked me what I had said to Lao Fu. I recalled for a moment and gave a rough account of the situation. Lai Bao nodded, smoking a cigarette, and said, "That kid knew from the beginning that I wasn't there, so he told Shi Ping'er to start from there and not to look for me. He wanted to impersonate me and have Shi Ping'er plant that thing in your house to eavesdrop on your conversation. When you mentioned that book, I initially thought that maybe this person didn't know about the book, but then I realized that since he knew Lao Fu's name, he must know that there was such a book, but he didn't know the specifics. So after you mentioned the book and thought about me calling me, he acted first, impersonating me to call you, and then trying to get more information about the book. Judging from this kid's methods, if he knew where the book was and some basic information about it, he would know how to start."

Lai Bao then asked Shi Ping'er, "How could you be so stupid? He gave you a listening device and you just installed it?"

Shi Ping'er said embarrassedly, "I was... quite excited at the time, and I thought it was for me. I only remembered that the receiver wasn't with me after I installed it and went out."

After Shi Ping'er finished speaking, the whole room fell silent. I almost fell off the bed... This girl is really too silly.

Notes on Disguise, Chapter Nine: Two Lai Bao

After Shi Ping'er came out, she went to the parking lot outside the community and found a van as arranged by the man. She got in the van with the key he gave her and waited for the man's call. Meanwhile, the man pretended to be Lai Bao and went home with us to try to get information out of us. As a result, he was exposed and ran away. But judging from the fact that he asked Shi Ping'er to drive and pick him up, he was not so confident in himself. He even planned to escape.

Chen Zhong, smoking a cigarette beside him, said, "This guy is very clever. He used a fake identity from the beginning. Even if Shi Ping'er found something was wrong and provided information to the police, there was no clue at all. By the way, how did you hurt your hand? And why did you think of calling the police?"

Shi Ping'er sighed and said, "After we left, the man suggested that the business could basically be stopped now, and told me to go to his house to collect the remaining payment in a few days. I didn't think much of it at the time, I just thought that the business was too simple. Today I went to his house, and after I got the remaining payment, I was about to leave, but I felt that something was wrong with this man, and I didn't understand anything about what had happened before, so I waited outside his house."

Shi Ping'er waited in someone else's house for about an hour, and then saw two people come out of the house (the houses in the rural suburbs are all detached small buildings). One of them was that person, still looking like Lai Bao, and the other person actually looked like me.

Shi Ping'er stared at me and said, "I didn't believe it at the time, but it really was you. Except that the person was much shorter, the rest of his face looked exactly like yours. I was shocked. My first reaction was that I had been tricked. Then I thought, no one would play such a joke for money, right? So I secretly followed one of the people, that is, Tang Dun."

Although I was incredibly shocked at that moment, I didn't say anything. I just wanted to hear Shi Ping'er finish speaking in one breath.

Shi Ping'er followed the man to the back of the building and saw him drive out in a small van. He looked around, then went upstairs and carried down a large bag in a snakeskin sack. He carried it on his shoulder to the back of the building and put it in a van. Then he went back upstairs. Shi Ping'er went to the van to look at it, but the door was locked and she couldn't open it. However, she smelled a strange, bloody smell, which was somewhat fishy but seemed to be mixed with something else.

Just then, Shi Ping'er suddenly saw a man who looked just like her quietly walking towards her in the rearview mirror. She turned around abruptly, and the man pounced on her. Then he swung something in his hand, and Shi Ping'er felt a chill on her hand. Her first reaction was to kick the man in the groin, just like a woman's self-defense technique. The man immediately cowered on the ground.

At that moment, I glanced at the shoes Shi Ping'er was wearing—no, they were boots… As soon as the boots went in, I instinctively reached for my genitals. Old Fu, standing beside me, laughed and said, “Old Tang is a eunuch now.”

I think if it were that kid impersonating Lai Bao who made the move, Shi Ping'er probably wouldn't have escaped. Thinking back to the time that kid hit me, the swelling on my face hasn't completely gone down yet.

Then Shi Ping'er ran out, not daring to take the bus, and quickly got into an unlicensed taxi. Her idea was to go to the most crowded place so that they wouldn't dare to openly chase after her and do anything to her. She asked the taxi driver to take her to the pedestrian street in the city. As soon as she got off the car, she saw a missing person notice posted on the bulletin board. The portrait on it looked exactly like her. She understood from the name and phone number. Although she was startled when she saw Tang Dun's name, she knew in her heart that the person who attacked her earlier was definitely not Tang Dun. She thought that calling the police would not make things clear, so she should find me first. So she called me.

Chen Zhong stood up and said, "I don't know if those two people have left yet, we must arrest them immediately."

We quickly got up. Although Shi Ping'er was scared, there were too many houses in the suburbs to find the place by talking, so she had to come with us to point out the location. Chen Zhong stopped us from going, saying that we would only make things worse and that the police should go. But we immediately said that we absolutely could not. The other party had violated our rights, our right to appearance and our right to name... Chen Zhong gritted his teeth and said, "Then let's go! But you all have to stay in the car and behave yourselves."

When we drove to the outskirts of the city, several police cars followed us. We sat in Chen Zhong's car, and Shi Ping'er gave Chen Zhong directions while chanting things like "May the Bodhisattva protect us."

When I arrived at the outskirts of the city, I saw the terrain and realized it was a complete maze. It had everything imaginable. A few years ago, this place was notoriously chaotic, a melting pot of all sorts of people. It's no wonder those two chose this location. But who was the other person?

When we arrived at the house, Chen Chong left us in the car while he and several other policemen rushed inside. I thought to myself, "You guys were driving around in police cars with sirens blaring; we could see you from upstairs. You must have run away by now." Sure enough, Chen Chong got out a moment later and leaned against the car door, saying, "It's over. They're gone. They didn't leave anything behind, and everything inside has been splashed with sulfuric acid."

However, not all traces were left. After a while, one of Chen Zhong's colleagues told him that a van had been found behind the building. Although the van had been cleaned very well, there was bloodstain under the door sill of the van. Although it was covered in mud and not very visible, the police still took notice. Chen Zhong ordered someone to quickly dig out the mud and take it back for testing. He also ordered someone to search the surrounding area to see if they could find anything else.

Lai Bao sat in the car, looking out the window, and asked me, "Old Tang, if you were one of those two, where would you run to right now?"

I shook my head and said I didn't know. Lai Bao opened the car door, got out, and said, "If I were one of those two, I definitely wouldn't run away. The most dangerous place is the safest place."

I said, "So you mean they're still here?"

“Nearby!” Lai Bao simply said two words, then turned around and looked at the surrounding houses: “If what Shi Ping’er said is true, they are moving large bags of things, and the car is still here, and Shi Ping’er didn’t see any other cars before, then those things can’t be moved so quickly. Taking out something with a bloody smell will arouse suspicion no matter where it is.”

"Trash cans!" Lai Bao and I exclaimed almost simultaneously. I jumped out of the car and started heading towards the trash cans outside the houses with Lai Bao. When we got to the trash cans, we didn't know where to start. Lai Bao took two wooden sticks from the side, handed me one, and said, "Try looking through them, maybe there's something inside." Just as we were about to start, Chen Zhong came over and stopped us. Then, he and another policeman started rummaging through the trash cans, but all they found were some strange trash, mostly condoms and drink cans.

Lai Bao and I shook our heads as we looked at the things we found. Lai Bao kept muttering, "They definitely didn't leave. They're nearby. They're definitely nearby."

Notes on Disguise, Chapter 10: Approaching the Truth

Lai Bao asked to go upstairs to take a look, but Chen Zhong firmly refused, saying that the site was still under protection and could not be entered casually. Lai Bao then asked how many places had been splashed with sulfuric acid. Chen Zhong said that basically everything in the room had been splashed with it, except for the walls and the ceiling.

Lai Bao turned to me and said, "I'm even more certain they haven't gone far; at least one of them must have stayed behind."

I asked, "Why?"

“You can’t just throw sulfuric acid around like you’re splashing water. You have to be very careful. It’s meticulous work, and so many places have been splashed with it. It’s not something that can be done in a short time; the corrosiveness is so strong,” Lai Bao said. Although his analysis was correct, the terrain and the houses in this area are like a forest. Where do we even begin? I think we need to mobilize at least 100 police officers to cordon off the area and search it one by one. And those two people… they can change their appearance. Even if we investigate, it will take at least ten days to half a month. All the time will be wasted on finding them. And we can’t just issue a warrant, can we? Are we going to put photos of me and Lai Bao on the wanted poster?

By this time, more and more people had gathered around the house, mostly to watch the excitement. The police had to send out some officers to maintain order. Lai Bao and I quickly got into the car. Lai Bao gritted his teeth and said, "Those two bastards are probably laughing at us in the crowd right now."

At this moment, Lai Bao suddenly asked, "Where's Lao Fu?"

That's when I noticed that Lao Fu and Shi Ping'er were both gone. I said, "Oh no! Shi Ping'er is gone too."

That's impossible! I saw them in the car earlier. Just then, my phone rang. The voice on the other end sounded strangely familiar, but I immediately recognized it as my own. This is too weird! The voice said, "Long time no see, brother."

I didn't say anything because I didn't know what to say. Lai Bao saw that I looked unwell and probably knew what was wrong. He held his breath and stared at me.

"I'll give you two choices. First, shake off the police and come back now with the book to exchange for your friend; second, pretend you didn't hear this call, come get the book myself, and you guys get your coffins ready." The voice was icy cold; I could never speak in that tone in my entire life.

I said, my voice trembling, "The book isn't with me, you should know that."

The voice said again, "One copy is with you, and I've already got the other one." I was startled. Did this person know that Old Fu's book of secrets was divided into two volumes? Impossible. According to Zhong Sheng, not many people know about this. I didn't know what to say, afraid that it would cause problems. But seeing Lai Bao nod at me, I said, "How do I exchange them? Where do I exchange them?"

The man chuckled, "Get out of the car now, walk straight into the alley opposite you, go to the end, and you'll see a hair salon. Go inside, up to the second floor, and give the book to the woman in red on the second floor."

Damn it, it was nearby after all. That bastard is incredibly audacious.

Chapter 27 of "Strange Tales of Tangdun"

Chapter 27 of "Strange Tales of Tangdun"

Author: Tang Xiaohao

"Do I need to remind you not to tell the police again? I see you perfectly well now. If you talk to anyone other than your friend, get your paper money and candles ready." The voice hung up after saying that. I put the phone in my bag and repeated what the person had said to Lai Bao. After listening, Lai Bao said, "It's probably what Lao Fu said about having another copy with you. It seems that person doesn't fully understand the matter of the book. If he did, he would probably know that the book is definitely not in our hands. It seems we have to go there."

"Should we tell Chen Zhong?" I looked out of the car. Lai Bao shook his head and said, "No, if we tell Chen Zhong, Lao Fu probably won't survive either."

What I'm thinking about now is, where did Shi Ping'er go? Could it be that Shi Ping'er took Lao Fu away...? Impossible, right? This woman is such a good actress. Although I don't believe it in my heart, the facts are right in front of me. Besides Shi Ping'er, no one else could have taken Lao Fu away.

I also realized something: I'd inexplicably developed feelings for Shi Ping'er? Damn it, what's wrong with my brain...?

Lai Bao opened the car door and said, "Let's go!" Then he jumped out of the car and ran towards the alley across the street. I followed him. At this moment, I realized that no one around us was paying attention to us. Most people's eyes were on the police, while the police were focused on the search. Although the police had cordoned off the area, the end of the alley was still within the police's cordon. That guy was really too bold.

When we arrived at the hair salon, several women came up to us and asked if we wanted a massage. One of them pulled me upstairs without saying a word. I figured I might as well go upstairs since I was going to anyway. Lai Bao followed me upstairs. A woman downstairs called out, "Brother, we have more people here. There are a lot of people."

"I like it!" Lai Bao said, then followed the woman upstairs with me. Once we were upstairs, the woman suddenly spoke, in a surprisingly masculine tone: "Where's the book?"

Lai Bao and I were both startled. The woman had already closed the door and asked me a second time. In my nervousness, I blurted out, "What book?" The ladyboy in front of me seemed a little angry and said to the room inside, "He didn't bring any books!" Lai Bao and I immediately realized that there was someone else inside. After the ladyboy spoke, the door opened, and a person came out carrying a cup and a telephone. I was surprised to see that it was Lai Bao. Lai Bao was also extremely surprised. We walked closer to the person and looked at him for a long time. The person smiled and said, "Have you ever seen such a work of art? Isn't it beautiful?"

After speaking, the fake Lai Bao said to the transvestite, "You'll always be a pig. Didn't you know to call me? Why did you have to expose me in there? Oh well." As he spoke, the fake Lai Bao walked towards the transvestite. When he got behind the transvestite, he reached out and grabbed the person's neck. With a forceful pull, the person's neck spun around, and without a sound, the person collapsed in front of us.

Lai Bao and I both shuddered. This was only the second time in our lives that we had seen a dead body in front of us, but it was the first time we had ever seen someone being killed alive.

"Where's Lao Fu?" Lai Bao was calmer than me; I was still staring at the corpse.

Fake Lai Bao pointed with his chin into the room inside and said, "Alive, fresh and new, where are the books?"

Lai Bao said, "We don't have time to get the books."

Fake Lai Bao laughed: "That's a good reason, I accept it."

Lai Bao and I didn't speak. I was about to pee myself. Although the fear had gradually subsided, I had a strange feeling of excitement. At this moment, the fake Lai Bao said to me, "Tang Dun, did I overestimate or underestimate you?"

I didn't say anything, and the fake Lai Bao said again: "Last time you were able to recognize me, I thought I underestimated you, and this time I think I overestimated you."

"Is that so? Tang Dun?" The fake Lai Bao's tone suddenly changed to a woman's voice, and it was Shi Ping'er's voice. I stared at him intently, and then I noticed the gauze in his hand. I understood everything. The Shi Ping'er who came to find me was also this person in disguise.

Notes on Disguise, Chapter Eleven: The Truth

“At first I was worried that if I tried the same trick on you a second time, you would see through it quickly, but I didn’t expect you to be so stupid. I could fool you with a story I made up.” The fake Lai Bao still spoke to us in Shi Ping’er’s tone. I was furious. I remembered how I had stopped Lao Fu and the others and cared so much about Shi Ping’er. I really wanted to pull out a knife and kill someone, and then commit suicide.

This whole thing was a trap set for us by that fake Lai Bao...

I grabbed the fake Lai Bao by the collar. He didn't move, just stared at me with a calm, expressionless gaze, as if he knew what I was going to do, or even approved of it. Suddenly, I couldn't bring myself to do it. I slowly released him. He took a step back, sat down in a chair, took a sip of water, and said, "I like drinking plain water. It's good; it has nothing, no other taste, it's pure, purer than anything else. But don't be like that in life. If you're too pure, you can't survive. I just want to learn more, to know more, to fill my head with everything I should know in this world. I don't want to be an ordinary person; I want to be a god!"

The fake Lai Bao's voice grew louder, then he started coughing violently. After coughing, he suddenly stood up, grabbed both Lai Bao and me, and lifted us up as easily as if we were two cups. I was a little out of breath and kept kicking the fake Lai Bao. The fake Lai Bao continued, "Give me that book! I want to live forever!"

Seeing that Lai Bao and I couldn't hold on any longer, the fake Lai Bao put us down, squatted down, looked at us, and said, "I finally found a way to extend my life. Can you consider it saving someone's life? Give me the book, and I promise to return it to you after I've used it. I swear."

Lai Bao snorted and said, "You swear? Will it even work?"

The fake Lai Bao turned to look at Lai Bao and said, "What do you know? How difficult is it for someone like me, whose mind has been a blank since childhood, whose mind is filled with nothing but other people, to survive in this world? They all treat me like a monster!"

“You really are a monster!” Lai Bao sneered at the fake Lai Bao: “Besides impersonating yourself, you don’t even know who you are.”