After Chen Xu and Guan Yi followed Captain Xu in, a young policeman came up to them and said, "Captain Xu, we just questioned the restaurant owner. Around 6:40 this afternoon, Wu Yuan came to this restaurant for a meal. And there was indeed a black man in the restaurant at the time. You see, Wu Yuan was sitting by the window, and the black man was sitting diagonally below him to his right."
"What a tragedy, what a tragedy!" Chen Xu recognized the proprietress; after all, he had eaten there a few times. He knew she was in her fifties, from out of town, and he didn't know if she had any children.
Chen Xu and Guan Yi exchanged a glance. Guan Yi stepped forward, smiling, and asked, "Grandma, do you know Wu Yuan?"
“I know him!” The old woman was from Sichuan. Her accent was heavy, but it was barely understandable: “What a tragedy! Little Wu often comes to my place for meals. I never expected this to happen to him. Heaven is blind. Little Wu is such a good boy.”
The old man was prone to rambling when he spoke. Guan Yi then asked, "Could you tell me in detail what happened back then? What you remember. About Wu Yuan. And that black man."
"Oh, I see." The old woman thought for a moment and said, "It was around 6:40, I think. Xiao Wu came to our shop and ordered his favorite sausage rice bowl. The black man had been eating here for a long time by then. He had almost finished his meal. Because there were a lot of customers at the time, I didn't pay much attention. I just chatted with Xiao Wu for a few minutes. He said he came to buy something, then ordered his food, finished it, and left."
"Do you remember the specifics of your conversation? And that Black man. When did he leave?"
The old woman thought for a moment, then shook her head and said, "How could I remember that clearly? There were so many people there. Xiao Wu is a regular customer. He's been coming here often for his favorite sausage rice bowl for the past year. When he came in this time, I asked him if he wanted the sausages fried a little darker. He said yes. And then what did I say? Oh right. I also asked him what he wanted to buy. He said he wanted to buy a few CDs. That's all. Because I was so busy, I didn't have time to serve him properly. As for that black man..." The old woman shook her head and thought for a moment. "I really didn't notice when he left. Because we always pay first here, we don't pay attention to when he leaves. Maybe I was in the kitchen at the time and didn't see him."
"Did anyone see when that Black man left?"
Several waiters whispered among themselves, and then a girl timidly stepped forward and said, "I... I think I remember he left a little after seven."
"Oh?" Captain Xu immediately asked her, "How did you know?"
"Because it was shortly after the start of the evening news broadcast, and the main content had just been broadcast."
"And what about Wu Yuan? This is the man." Captain Xu pointed to the photo in his hand: "Does anyone remember when he left?"
"Probably around the same time as that black man?" a waiter said. "I know him. I even said goodbye to him when he left, right when the evening news just started. I remember he said something like, 'How come the evening news anchor still has such a poker face after all these years?' Yeah, that must have been it. As for the black man, I was clearing the table at the time and didn't notice him."
Chen Xu and Guan Yi exchanged a glance. The timing seemed to match, and the black man was indeed the prime suspect.
He seemed to have finished eating a long time ago, but it appeared he deliberately waited until Wu Yuan left before going out himself, presumably to follow Wu Yuan. Furthermore, the two went out a little after 7 PM, and shortly afterward, the shooting occurred, so it must have been the black man!
"Does anyone remember what that Black man looked like? Can you draw him?"
The waiters looked at each other, and then one of them said, "It's pretty difficult. All I know is that he was bald, with a shiny black scalp. The black man was as black as charcoal all over, and I couldn't see his face at all. I don't remember. I only remember that he was wearing a big white T-shirt and jeans, but I didn't pay attention to what shoes he was wearing."
Guan Yi then walked to the counter and asked, "I remember you use ticket stubs for your meals here, right? You pay here and collect your food over there. There should be a record of the stubs in the computer, right? Does anyone remember what that black man ordered? Can you see if you can find out what time he ordered?"
A waiter stroked his chin, looked up and thought for a moment, then said, "I remember he ate quite a bit. He ordered a braised beef dish and a shredded pork with garlic sauce. Oh, and he also ordered a Coca-Cola."
"Braised beef, shredded pork with garlic sauce, Coca-Cola..." Guan Yi muttered to herself as she flipped through computer files. Suddenly, a question popped into her head: "Was he ordering in Chinese or a foreign language?"
"It was Chinese, though a bit broken. The voice sounded strange. But it was definitely Chinese! We even discussed it privately at the time. I said this foreigner's Chinese was pretty good, and then he..." The waiter pointed to another person and said, "He said, 'Nonsense, how could I dare to go out alone if my Chinese wasn't good?'"
It really is Chinese!
Chen Xu quickly stepped forward and said, "Then let me ask, this afternoon, when Wu Yuan came to eat, were all the waiters here?" Seeing everyone nod, indicating they hadn't closed yet because the police had come, Chen Xu continued, "So, besides the proprietress, who else spoke to Wu Yuan today? Was there anyone among you? Or rather, was there any customer who spoke to him?"
“I did say that,” the waiter who had just stepped forward said. “I greeted him when he left, and I was the one who brought him the rice bowl he ordered. As for the customer, I didn’t pay attention.”
Chen Xu stepped forward: "Besides greeting him, what else did you say to him? Tell me everything, word for word!"
Seeing Chen Xu's very serious expression, the waiter became a little scared. After thinking carefully for a moment, he stammered, "He didn't say anything. Well... when I brought him the food, I mentioned that Brother Wu was here again, and he said yes, and we chatted for a bit..."
"What did you talk about?!"
The waiter, seeing Chen Xu's ferocious expression, almost burst into tears. He tried hard to think, but the more he thought, the more anxious he became. The more anxious he became, the less he could think of anything. At this moment, Guan Yi said softly from behind, "Don't be nervous. How do you know Wu Yuan? You call him Brother Wu, are you close?"
“I don’t know him well,” the waiter said, “but I admire him a lot because I really like that game, *The Legend of Jin Yong*, and I know he’s one of its creators… Oh, right, I remember asking him what he’s been up to lately, if he’s working on any new games. He said no, he’s been busy with his studies. Then I said your *The Legend of Jin Yong* game is just so good. No wonder SMMH (the game developer) stepped in to help you.” Sure enough!
Upon hearing the words "The Legend of Jin Yong," Chen Xu's head buzzed. After hearing him say that, a voice screamed in his mind: "It really is because of that game! It really is because of SMMH! It really is because of myself!"
No wonder Wu Yuan, a nobody who didn't play a significant role in the game's development, was targeted. No wonder that black man made his move in the evening, when there were still many people on the road!
Chen Xu could imagine that when Wu Yuan finished his meal and walked out the door, completely unprepared, he had no idea that a black man was following him all the way into that alley, then shot and wounded him before fleeing...
Seeing Chen Xu and Guan Yi's drastic change in expression, the waiter timidly asked, "Um, did I say something wrong? Is that black man the murderer?"
At this moment, Captain Xu, who had been standing by without speaking, stepped forward and said, "I want to ask, have the bowls and plates that the black man used been washed? Can you find out which ones they are? I want to see if we can find any fingerprints."
"That's right! Fingerprints!" Chen Xu suddenly became excited. With fingerprints, Xiao Min should be able to find this person's identity! He hurriedly asked, "Where is that person's bowl? Has it been washed?"
"We haven't washed them yet, because the bowls and chopsticks he uses are the kind that are specially packaged and sterilized, costing one yuan per use. Those bowls and plates are collected by a special person, washed, and then sterilized at high temperature." As soon as a waiter finished answering, his face immediately turned as if he was about to cry: "But, many people use these bowls and plates today, and they all look the same. We don't know which one it is."
"Don't rush, don't rush. I found it!" Guan Yi suddenly said, "It should be this! He ordered the food at 6:05 this afternoon. He ordered braised beef, shredded pork with garlic sauce, cucumber with garlic sauce, and one more thing..." Guan Yi looked up, "None of you mentioned it, but he ordered two salted duck eggs, and the eggshells... I think they're something that can clearly preserve fingerprints!"
"That's right!" Chen Xu's eyes lit up immediately upon hearing this: "Where's the salted duck eggshell? Where's the eggshell?"
The waiters looked at each other, and after a long while, one of them pointed to the kitchen and said, "Maybe, maybe it's in the trash can..."
Chen Xu rushed into the kitchen, turned around and slammed the door shut. He didn't care that it was all leftover food, so he dumped the trash can on the ground. Sure enough, there were white duck eggshells inside, two of which were still intact and took up half the size of the whole eggshell.
Fortunately, not many people ate salted duck eggs tonight, and there were only a few pieces of eggshell in the trash can. Only then did Chen Xu carefully take out a napkin, hold the eggshell, place it on his watch, and whisper, "Xiao Min, start checking the fingerprints on the eggshell."
"Checking." A beam of light swept across the watch screen, and Xiaomin's voice sounded: "Upon inspection, there are three fingerprints on the eggshell. The first fingerprint belongs to XX, ID number is..., the second fingerprint belongs to OO, ID number is..."
When the third question came up, Chen Xu was so nervous he almost couldn't breathe. He didn't know if Xiao Min's computer database contained any records of foreigners!
Xiaomin's voice quickly rang out: "There is no such fingerprint record in the population census system. The population census system is China's citizen identity census system, established in 2016. If this person died before 2016 or is a foreign citizen, then there will be no specific fingerprint or blood type information for them in the census system."
Chen Xu's heart sank to the bottom!
But Xiaomin's next words gave him renewed hope: "A search of the Interpol criminal database revealed a fingerprint match. This person is a Class S criminal by Interpol, one of the founders of the Satanic organization, Miwad!"
Chapter 189 Helping You Get Revenge
Who was Mivad? Chen Xu felt he had never heard of the name before. But when he saw the name of the organization, everything immediately became clear!
Satan!
That is, the mastermind behind the Luxor massacre, which took place on Valentine's Day this year!
However, it was Scorpion who used subconscious songs to trigger the tragedy in Luxor, with the aim of pressuring the US government to release the two imprisoned leaders, Miwad and Utaka.
Miwad is one of them, one of the five founders of the Satanic organization!
This explains why Miwad harbors resentment towards SMMH, and why he attacked Yi Shuihan, who had been helped by SMMH, and Wu Yuan!
Because of Scorpion's later death, the defeat and destruction of the Satan organization, the effectiveness of the Satan organization's trump card, "The Demon Song," was due to Chen Xu providing the US military with a song that countered "The Demon Song"... "The Great Compassion Mantra."
But wasn't Miwad detained by the US military? How did he escape? And another Satanic leader, Utaka, was also detained at the same time. Does that mean both of them were active in China?
Just then, there was a loud banging on the door from outside, and Guan Yi's voice came through: "Chen Xu, have you found him yet?"
"Found it!" Chen Xu replied, then asked Xiao Min to use her phone to go online and search for information about Miwad and the Satanic organization. He then took the two duck eggshells and went out the door.
"I searched and searched and found only these two duck eggshells. If there are fingerprints on them, they should be mine or the murderer's."
Immediately, a police officer carefully placed the two pieces of duck eggshell into a plastic bag. Seeing that the investigation was nearly complete, Captain Xu said, "That's all for today. If you think of anything else related to this incident, such as the black man's appearance or anything he said, please call me immediately."
At this moment, a policeman walked up to Captain Xu and whispered a few words. Captain Xu's eyes lit up. He turned to Chen Xu and Guan Yi and said, "The hospital just called. Wu Yuan has just woken up. Would you like to go see him?"
"Yes!" Chen Xu nodded vigorously. He had been somewhat apprehensive when the doctor said he was out of danger. Only now did he feel completely relieved.
Wu Yuan, Guan Yi, and Captain Xu drove all the way to the hospital. When Chen Xu rushed into the ward, he was suddenly stunned... because in this private ward, there was no scene he had imagined—a group of people surrounding Wu Yuan, crying and laughing. Instead, Wu Yuan was lying on the clean white hospital bed, with Tang Bixuan sitting beside him. His little head was resting on Bixuan's shoulder, and the two were holding hands, looking sweet and warm.
Seeing Chen Xu suddenly rush in, the two quickly separated. However, the force might have aggravated the wound. Wu Yuan cried out in pain. Startled, Bi Xuan ignored Chen Xu's presence and anxiously asked, her face flushed, "What happened? Are you alright?"
Guan Yi was a step too late. Dong Qingjie grabbed him at the corner. Looking at the lewd smiles on the faces of Dong Qingjie and Qin Xiao'an, he mouthed, "Bi Xuan is inside." The clever woman immediately understood. She stood aside with a smile.
Those guys deliberately let Chen Xu rush in! They're so wicked!
However, it was clear that everyone relaxed and started joking around after learning that Wu Yuan had woken up and was alright. Gao Xiaojie's eyes were still a little red, though, and she kept holding Zhan Jing's hand. She was probably crying tears of joy because Wu Yuan had woken up.
When Chen Xu realized he had stumbled upon Wu Yuandi's good deed, he immediately knew that Lao Dong and his gang must have deliberately framed him. Otherwise, it would be one thing if those bastards weren't in the ward, but why was there no one at the door either?
So Chen Xu could only laugh awkwardly, "Boss, you're awake? Haha, you look pretty good. Hmm, looks like we don't need me here anymore, so I'll be off!"
"Come back!" Wu Yuan called out impatiently as Chen Xu took steps to leave. Then, he had Bi Xuan help him lie down and said to Chen Xu, "Hurry up. Call them all in; I have something urgent to tell you!"
After Guan Yi, Gao Xiaojie, and Captain Xu arrived at the ward, Wu Yuancai said, "Brothers, be careful of the Black people lately! And Lao San, immediately call the school and tell all the animals who participated in making the 'Jin Yong Heroes' game that we must stay in the school and not go out. Someone wants to kill us!"
The conversation turned serious. Captain Xu stepped forward and said, "Wu Yuan, don't get agitated. We've now determined that a Black man attacked you. Can you recount the specific details of what happened?"
"They found out?" Wu Yuan looked astonished. "Wow, are the police this efficient now?!"
When this matter was mentioned, Captain Xu's face flushed slightly. It wasn't their discovery; it was clearly Chen Xu's initial judgment, followed by Guan Yi's speculation. Although they later found out, Captain Xu felt somewhat embarrassed because he hadn't trusted Chen Xu beforehand.
However, Wu Yuan didn't notice Captain Xu's reaction and slowly said, "The situation was like this. This afternoon, I went to buy some things near the City God Temple. After I finished shopping, I felt hungry, so I went to that old lady's Sichuan restaurant to eat. There was a black man sitting next to me while I was eating, but I didn't pay much attention to him. I'm quite familiar with that restaurant and I know some of the waiters quite well. Some of them knew that I was involved in the production of the game 'The Legend of Jin Yong,' so they greeted me and talked about 'The Legend of Jin Yong.'"
Chen Xu and his team already knew about these things, but no one interrupted them at this moment. Wu Yuan continued, "It was just a casual meal. But when I went out, that black man followed me and asked in fairly fluent Chinese if I was one of the authors of 'Jin Yong's Heroes... Reunion.' I was very surprised. A foreigner plays Jin Yong's works? But he said he was very interested in Chinese culture, had been learning Chinese since he was a child, had read Jin Yong's novels, and had even played our game. Then we started chatting. To be honest, it was the first time I had ever talked to a foreigner. He said he was American. I never imagined he was planning to kill me!"
Everyone understands this. There aren't many foreigners in Hexie City, unlike in Shanghai and some coastal cities where you can see many foreigners everywhere. And since it's not a time of war or sensitivity, people are generally quite polite to these foreign friends.
To put it simply, most people rarely see a foreigner, so they're naturally curious about a new species and usually won't refuse to talk to them. Subconsciously, they also feel like this is their territory and aren't worried about what a foreigner might do here.
Little did Wu Yuan know that just as he agreed to take the foreigner to find the bus stop and they were taking a shortcut through a small alley, the foreigner suddenly pulled out a gun and said in Chinese, "Anyone connected to SMMH must die!"
Then he pulled the trigger and fled.
After Wu Yuan recounted the events, Captain Xu said with some relief, "Luckily, he encountered Wu Yuan by chance. If he had deliberately laid an ambush and waited for an opportunity to strike, it probably wouldn't have been as simple as just firing a single shot. Wu Yuan would certainly have been doomed."
Everyone nodded in agreement. For example, the assassination attempt on Yi Shuihan the day before yesterday was clearly carried out by this black man lying in ambush. It was just that Yi Shuihan was lucky to be inside the car, where the windows and seats blocked several bullets; otherwise, he would definitely have been killed.
From this perspective, Miwad really had exceptionally bad luck!
"Now that we've confirmed it was that black man who did it, that's good," Captain Xu said. "Black men are more conspicuous, so I'll send people everywhere to search for his whereabouts and look for witnesses. Wu Yuan, you guys get some rest, don't worry. The hospital is safe; I'll have someone stay here to protect you. Xiao Chen, you two talk to Wu Yuan for a bit, then head back to the police station. Now that we've confirmed the killer's identity and motive, you all need to be extremely careful. I believe the police station is the safest place. I'll get back to work now."
After Captain Xu left, Gao Xiaojie, whose eyes were still red, came up to him and said, "Wu Yuan, I'm sorry. If it weren't for me, you wouldn't have almost lost your life."
Wu Yuan was taken aback. Bi Xuan, sitting next to him, whispered, "Sister Xiao Jie was complaining about herself the whole time. She said that if it weren't for her suggestion to make that game, none of this would have happened."
Hearing this, Wu Yuan chuckled and said, "Since you feel sorry for me, just treat me to a big meal after I'm discharged from the hospital."
Hearing Wu Yuan say this, Gao Xiaojie knew that Wu Yuan didn't blame him at all, and nodded heavily.
Chen Xu also stepped forward and said, "Gao Xiaojie, stop taking the blame for yourself. This isn't your fault. Blame SMMH; they're too high-profile and attract too much attention, causing us to get dragged into this..."
"How could you say that, Third Brother?!" Wu Yuan suddenly shouted, then winced in pain as the injury aggravated.
Chen Xu didn't expect Wu Yuan to react this way, but looking at the others, he could also see a hint of dissatisfaction on their faces.
Wu Yuan took a breath and waited until the pain subsided before saying, "Third brother, how can you say such a thing?! SMMH helped us, but he didn't expect that this kind of help would bring us trouble! We owe him a debt of gratitude and are too busy repaying him to blame him! Also, third brother, you are now the number one expert in Martial Arts. Don't forget that you got to this position entirely because of SMMH's help! How can you be so ungrateful?"
Wu Yuan's words were very harsh. Since Chen Xu had known Wu Yuan, this reserved and brooding man, this was the first time he had heard him speak so harshly.
But Chen Xu wasn't angry at all; instead, he felt a little touched.
Because no one present knew the true meaning of Chen Xu's words just now... He was mocking himself! He was mocking himself for causing everyone so much trouble, because no one knew that Chen Xu himself was SMMH!
He's ungrateful to himself? Ha, that's just a joke.
What moved Chen Xu was Wu Yuan's deep gratitude towards SMMH. It could be said that compared to Gao Xiaojie, SMMH hadn't actually helped Wu Yuan much. Wu Yuan's involvement in the game was entirely due to Gao Xiaojie, yet he remembered it deeply. This was what truly touched Chen Xu; he hadn't made a mistake in choosing a brother!
No one agreed with Chen Xu's self-deprecating remark, as the others were also somewhat displeased with it. Only Guan Yi and Zhan Jing glanced at Chen Xu, finding it strange; based on their understanding of him, he shouldn't have said such a thing.