Death Notice 2 Destiny

Chapter 36

"You're feeling pretty smug right now, aren't you?" Liu Song approached step by step. "You self-important bastard!"

"Don't get agitated!" Du Mingqiang said with a shameless smile. "I didn't do anything."

Liu Song said nothing more. He suddenly stepped forward and grabbed Du Mingqiang by the collar with both hands. The latter was also a big guy who was over 1.8 meters tall, but Liu Song lifted him up with a single effort.

"Hey, talk it out, don't hit me." Du Mingqiang panicked a bit. His feet were dangling in the air as he struggled futilely, looking utterly pathetic.

With a push of his arms, Liu Song pinned Du Mingqiang's massive body against the wall.

"Do you really think we're your babysitters? To fight for you?!" Liu Song shouted, his eyes wide, his nose almost touching the other man's face.

"You mean Chang Kai?" Du Mingqiang actually dared to ask shamelessly, "You guys must have felt pretty good beating that kind of scum, right?"

Liu Song knew Du Mingqiang was a smooth talker, and he would have a hard time arguing with him. So he coldly snorted and waved to his colleague with one hand: "Bring me the phone book."

A clean-cut SWAT officer, dressed like a white-collar worker, handed Liu Song a thick phone book from the table. This was the same man who had subdued the bald man wielding a beer bottle at the food stall earlier.

Liu Song took the phone book with his left hand and immediately placed it on Du Mingqiang's stomach. The latter blinked blankly, "What are you doing—"

Before he could finish speaking, Liu Song had already thrown a punch, slamming it hard into the phone book. The force of the punch traveled through the phone book and spread throughout Du Mingqiang's abdomen. The latter involuntarily gasped for breath, swallowing the last "me" back down his throat.

Liu Song released his grip, took two steps back, turned around, and threw the phone book back onto the table. Du Mingqiang, meanwhile, clutched his stomach with both hands, hunched over like a shrimp for a moment before finally collapsing to the ground in agony.

"Listen to me carefully." Seeing that Du Mingqiang had lost his ability to argue, Liu Song walked up to him, squatted down, and said, "My colleagues and I have been working tirelessly for days. We're looking for a killer named Eumenides. To catch him, I'll risk everything. But today, while my colleagues are in meetings, investigating cases, and searching for clues, I'm staying by your side, protecting you, this piece of trash. If you think this is because we care about you, you're sorely mistaken. We're just waiting for Eumenides to appear, and we don't care about your safety at all. If you dare to play these pointless tricks again, I guarantee that when the next danger comes, none of my brothers will help you. We'll watch you die to determine if Eumenides is behind it. Otherwise, we won't reveal our whereabouts! Do you understand?"

Du Mingqiang gasped for breath, unable to speak for a moment, and could only nod with difficulty.

Liu Song stood up, shaking his hands as if his contact with Du Mingqiang had soiled him. Then he looked at the white-collar SWAT officer and said, "Give him some water."

The white-collar SWAT officer poured Du Mingqiang a glass of water, helped him up, and fed him. The latter coughed a few times, finally recovering slowly. He rolled his eyes at Liu Song for a moment, then said in a hoarse voice, "I...I erate with you."

"Cooperation?" Liu Song sneered disdainfully. This guy, as long as he can speak, always tries to act clever. However, he still asked, "Tell me, how exactly do you mean by cooperation?"

"You want to capture Eumenides. I can cooperate with you, acting as bait without interfering with your other work." Du Mingqiang spoke more coherently, but his voice was still relatively low.

However, his words clearly piqued Liu Song's interest. The latter stroked his chin: "Then tell me specifically, how will you cooperate?"

"When there's no trouble, I'll be out there, luring Eumenides into a trap. At that time, you'll send someone to follow me. If you need to hold a meeting, or if there's any situation elsewhere requiring manpower, I'll follow your orders. Wherever you go, I'll go. I won't wander off or cause you any trouble." After saying this, Du Mingqiang no longer needed the white-collar SWAT officer's support; he took a few more sips of water from his cup. This was the effect Liu Song had intended when he used the phone book as a shield to call him: the initial blow would be extremely painful, but it would be quick and easy, causing no serious consequences or bruises.

Liu Song looked at Du Mingqiang, a slight smile appearing on his lips. If what the other man said was true, it meant he could complete the task assigned by Luo Fei without missing the main battlefield's battle between the task force and Eumenides. This was indeed a win-win situation. Du Mingqiang had brought up this idea himself; had he really learned his lesson after being beaten?

This cunning fellow... I'm afraid things aren't that simple. Thinking this, Liu Song straightened his face again and asked, "What trick are you playing now? What's your purpose?"

Du Mingqiang grinned, looking quite aggrieved: "Officer Liu, please don't think of me so badly, okay? All I wanted was to stay close to you guys so we could get more information. It's always good to help others, right?"

"I see," Liu Song nodded secretly. This goal was indeed in line with Du Mingqiang's style; in this guy's eyes, anything that benefited his reporting was worth doing!

Regardless, I'll find it much easier to carry out my missions from now on.

Hehe, helping others is helping yourself. At least that guy wasn't wrong about that.

The Fate of the Death Sentence (19)

November 2nd, 11:13 AM.

Donglin Road is a street lined with bars.

For entertainment venues like bars, this is the busiest time of night. Men and women, dressed in colorful clothes, move about under the dazzling neon lights, their expressions as hazy and intoxicated as the night.

The "Black Magic" bar at the far end of the intersection, however, had a different atmosphere. Located in a recessed corner, its signboard was hidden and eerily concealed, and its doors were tightly shut, as if to keep people at arm's length. Therefore, it was no surprise that the bar was deserted. Occasionally, a few customers would pass by, but upon seeing this scene, they would leave without hesitation, seeking a more lively place.

However, a van did pull up in front of the Black Magic Bar. A man and a woman got out and headed straight for the bar entrance, as if they had chosen this spot beforehand. Just as they approached, the bar door opened perfectly. It turned out there was surveillance equipment installed under the eaves, allowing the operator inside to monitor the area around the bar without leaving the room.

The man and woman entered the bar, where a young man who looked like a manager was already waiting for them.

"Are you Officer Luo from the Criminal Investigation Team and Teacher Mu from the Provincial Police Academy?" the young man asked respectfully, bowing slightly.

The man in the lead nodded. He was of medium build, with a crew cut, a square face, thick eyebrows, and small but bright, piercing eyes. This man was Luo Fei, the newly promoted criminal investigation captain of the provincial capital's Public Security Bureau. Yesterday evening, while investigating Ding Ke's whereabouts, he wanted to find Huang Jieyuan to get some information, but Huang Jieyuan was asleep at the time. When the latter woke up, it was already late at night. He immediately called Luo Fei back and learned that the other party wanted to inquire about the details of two cases related to Ding Ke's retirement. Huang Jieyuan then arranged to meet Luo Fei at the Black Magic Bar in the early hours of the morning.

Luo Fei didn't think a bar was a suitable place to discuss the case, and the appointed time was also quite inconvenient. However, Huang Jieyuan was no longer a member of the police force, and the police had no right to ask him to do anything. Moreover, the day before, Huang Jieyuan had endangered his only son in his efforts to cooperate with the operation against Eumenides. Thinking of this, Luo Fei felt somewhat guilty, and he hoped that future operations would disturb these outsiders as little as possible.

Luo Fei then called Mu Jianyun to ask if she would like to join the trip. Mu Jianyun had already gone to bed, but she still readily gave an affirmative answer. So Luo Fei drove to pick up the female lecturer, and the two of them went to the "Black Magic" bar on Donglin Road.

"Please follow me, both of you." The young supervisor bowed slightly, gesturing for you to enter. "General Manager Huang is waiting for you upstairs."

The "upstairs" room was a luxurious private room on the second floor of the bar. After Luo Fei and his companion were led into the room, a plump middle-aged man rose from the sofa to greet them with a smile: "You've arrived."

Luo Fei nodded in greeting, while simultaneously surveying the furnishings of the private room with a surprised look. It was more accurate to call it a "monitoring center" than a bar room. The wall at the front of the room was covered with surveillance screens, transmitting real-time footage of every corner of the bar, inside and out, via corresponding cameras—even the restrooms were included.

"Mr. Huang, your security measures here are a bit too tight," Mu Jianyun said, clearly seeing this for the first time. Pointing to the screen displaying the restroom information, she said, half-seriously, "This is a serious violation of privacy."

"My bar is members-only. Everyone who joins fills out an application form, and all relevant legal issues are clearly stated in the application—this is a private space, but within this space, members don't need to maintain any privacy. Because people who come here are here to enjoy an extremely thorough catharsis and indulgence." Huang Jieyuan explained briefly, then gestured to Luo Mu and the other man, "Please sit down. We have plenty of time today, so we can talk at our own pace."

The sofa in the room faced a wall full of surveillance screens. Luo Fei and Mu Jianyun sat there, watching everything that happened in the bar, as if they were watching a live 3D movie.

"What would you two like to drink?" Huang Jieyuan asked, sitting down beside him. "I have all kinds of alcohol here."

Luo Fei waved his hand: "Let's skip the alcohol. We're here on official business; two cups of tea will suffice."

Huang Jie waved to the foreman, "Brew a pot of the best green tea." The foreman responded and left, but his movements were still displayed on the monitor. Luo Fei couldn't help but shake his head and joked, "Even the best tea wouldn't be safe for us. You can't expect us to use the restroom under your nose, can you?"

Huang Jieyuan chuckled, "It's not that bad... There's a restroom on the second floor inside our bar, and there are no security cameras there."

"Oh." Luo Fei feigned a relieved expression. "That's good, that's good..."

Mu Jianyun looked at Luo Fei with a wistful expression. The private restroom was right next to this room; he himself had noticed it, so Luo Fei couldn't possibly have ignored it. His current demeanor clearly indicated he was teasing Huang Jieyuan.

"Did Mr. Huang sleep here this afternoon?" Luo Fei changed the subject again, his gaze falling on a single bed in the corner. The thin blanket on the bed was spread out, indicating that someone had been lying on it not long ago.

Huang Jieyuan nodded, grinning as he said, "Don't call me General Manager Huang anymore, it sounds awkward. Just call me 'Old Huang,' it sounds much better to me."

Luo Fei hummed in agreement, then suddenly added, "The performance here must be amazing."

Huang Jieyuan and Mu Jianyun both looked at Luo Fei, seemingly at a loss for words. Luo Fei realized he had jumped ahead too quickly, so he filled in the logical transition: "You've been sleeping here since the afternoon, with surveillance screens all over the bar. I wonder what kind of performance could possibly warrant such attention?"

Hearing Luo Fei's words, Mu Jianyun realized what he meant. She turned to look at Huang Jieyuan, quite curious. She rarely frequented bars, especially not a place like this one, whose name, decor, and atmosphere were all imbued with mystery. The 'performance' about to take place here must be extraordinary, right?

Huang Jieyuan calmly accepted Luo Mu and the other man's gaze. "I invited you here today to watch this performance together," he said casually.

Luo Fei and Mu Jianyun exchanged a glance, both somewhat surprised. They had come to investigate the case, so why did Huang Jieyuan say he wanted to "watch a performance"? Moreover, his words were so natural, as if this was everyone's common goal.

Mu Jianyun frowned, about to ask something, but Luo Fei stopped him with a look. Then the door to the private room opened, and the young man from before walked in carrying a teacup. Silence fell over the room for a moment. Huang Jie waited until the young man put down the tea tray and poured tea for everyone before instructing, "It's almost time. Go tell them to prepare to open for business—don't come in again unless I tell you."

The young man agreed, left the private room, and closed the door behind him. Thus, the private room became an independent and secluded little world, but the person in the center of this little world could see the entire bar.

Huang Jieyuan picked up the teacup in front of him, took a small sip, and then pursed his lips to savor it.

"Excellent tea," he praised after a moment, then introduced it to the two guests, "This is Huangshan Maofeng tea picked in early spring this year. Please try some."

Since the host was so hospitable, Luo Fei also picked up his teacup and took a sip. He had no knowledge of tea ceremony, but he found the tea to be fragrant and refreshing. After moistening his tongue, it was slightly bitter at first, then turned sweet, with a long-lasting aftertaste. Its quality was indeed incomparable to ordinary tea.

Seeing the two leisurely sipping their tea, Mu Jianyun grew impatient. Instead of picking up her cup, she brought up the topic she'd previously suppressed: "Old Huang, what's with this? You've turned this private room into a surveillance room. What kind of show are you trying to put on us?"

Huang Jieyuan pondered for a moment and said, "It's still early... How about this, you tell me first, what exactly do you want to know about today?"

Mu Jianyun then turned to look at Luo Fei, signaling him to get to the point quickly.

"That's right," Luo Fei said, setting down his teacup. "We're looking for Ding Ke. He's someone who knows the truth about Wen Hongbing's death. Finding him will not only unravel the mystery of Wen Chengyu's background, but also be helpful in analyzing Yuan Zhibang's psychological changes. More importantly, we believe Eumenides is also looking for Ding Ke, so if we can get there first, we can track down Eumenides' whereabouts."

Huang Jieyuan nodded and said, "I know all of that."

Luo Fei continued, "Today... oh, I should say yesterday would be more accurate. Yesterday morning, we found Ding Ke's son, Ding Zhen. According to him, Ding Ke encountered insurmountable obstacles during the investigation of two cases, which is why he chose to retire. So we launched an investigation into these two cases, firstly to verify the reliability of this statement, and secondly, hoping to find clues about Ding Ke's whereabouts in these cases."

"I remember those two cases too. One was the '47 Robbery,' which happened shortly after the '130' case, and the other was the '119 Dismemberment Case,' which happened ten years ago..." Huang Jieyuan held his teacup with both hands, his gaze unfocused, seemingly lost in distant memories. After a moment, he suddenly chuckled, as if mocking himself, "Actually, it's more than just remembering them. These two cases are extremely important to my life."

"Oh?" Luo Fei was a little confused. His previous thoughts were all focused on Ding Ke's relationship with the two cases, and he had never thought that Huang Jieyuan had any important connection with him.

"The 'April 7th Robbery Case' led to Captain Ding's departure from the police force. I then took over his work, so that case can be considered the beginning of my tenure as the head of the provincial capital's criminal investigation team. I served as the captain of the criminal investigation team for eight years until the 'January 9th Dismemberment Case' forced me to resign, which became the end of my criminal investigation career. It's truly pathetic, considering that during my tenure as the captain of the provincial capital's criminal investigation team, these two cases, one at the beginning and one at the end, were both unresolved failures." After saying this, Huang Jieyuan looked up, closed his eyes, and sighed silently but with profound sorrow.

Luo Fei could sense the other person's desolate mood. Who would willingly end their criminal investigation career in such a defeated manner? Wasn't Ding Ke's decision to retire back then precisely because he dared not face such failure? In comparison, although Huang Jieyuan's reputation in the police force was not great, he seemed more like a tragic hero.

"You don't need to worry too much about it. After all, it's a case that even Ding Ke couldn't handle..." Luo Fei could only comfort the other party with these words.

"Yes. How could I possibly surpass him?" Huang Jieyuan's eyes regained some light, but he immediately became confused again. "If he really did retire to avoid these two cases, then all my years of searching have been meaningless?"

Luo Fei's heart skipped a beat, and he simultaneously discerned two meanings from the other party's words: First, although Huang Jieyuan had retired from the police force, he had not given up on pursuing the unsolved cases of the past over the years; second, in Huang Jieyuan's mind, Ding Ke's image and status were sacred and inviolable, so much so that when he heard that Ding Ke might have given up in the face of the unsolved cases, he immediately felt that no matter how hard he tried, it would be in vain.

If he held such a negative attitude, it would obviously be detrimental to the work ahead. Luo Fei had no choice but to try and reason with him from the opposite perspective: "Many things aren't absolute... Well, take the '47 robbery case' for example. The reason this case remains unsolved might not be because the perpetrators' methods were particularly sophisticated, but rather because there were some problems within the police force."

"There's a problem within the police force?" Huang Jieyuan was taken aback. He gently placed the teacup back on the table and looked at Luo Fei, asking, "What...what do you mean by this?"

Luo Fei felt there was no need to conceal anything, so he spoke frankly: "Based on the information I currently have, the truth about the 'April 7th Robbery' isn't hard to uncover. Wen Hongbing's wife experienced a very sudden improvement in her financial situation after the robbery—and she later deliberately concealed this fact. If the police had been able to follow this lead and investigate further back then, I think the case would have made a major breakthrough."

"Are you sure what you're saying is true?" Huang Jieyuan frowned and asked back. As a veteran criminal investigator, he naturally understood the value of this clue.

Luo Fei nodded with absolute certainty: "This clue is absolutely reliable."

"How did you know that?" Huang Jieyuan didn't hide his suspicion. "How did you obtain a clue that the police failed to find back then, more than ten years later?"

"I asked the doctor who treated Wen's wife back then, and he said that after the robbery, Wen's wife had consulted him about surgery. She hadn't been able to afford the surgery beforehand."

Huang Jieyuan first stared wide-eyed at Luo Fei, then slowly shook his head and said, "This... is unlikely, right? If it were such an obvious clue, we would never have overlooked it back then."

"You haven't overlooked this. Back then, the police contacted this doctor and learned about the situation. And it was only after this policeman arrived that Wen's wife abandoned the surgery plan, because she knew the police were already following this lead. To protect the perpetrator from back then, she chose to sacrifice herself."

"Impossible, impossible, impossible!" Huang Jieyuan exclaimed three times in a row. "There's absolutely no such record in the police's interview transcripts from back then! I personally compiled those case files; no one knows the relevant circumstances better than me!"

Luo Fei shook his head helplessly: Why can't he figure it out? Such thinking ability is really not worthy of the title of "former criminal police captain". Could it be that after so many years of immersion in society, his originally sharp mind has become dull?

Having no other choice, Luo Fei could only express his analysis of the matter in a straightforward manner.

"It's true that a police officer had this lead, but he didn't report it to the person in charge of the case. He hid it! This was the most important reason why the police struggled so much in this case back then."

Huang Jieyuan stared blankly at Luo Fei, as if he couldn't understand what the other was saying.

"Alright." Luo Fei, thoroughly annoyed by the other person, simply asked directly, "Can you tell me who the police officer in charge of investigating this lead was back then?"

Huang Jieyuan's expression turned somewhat strange: "That policeman who visited the hospital? You suspect he's hiding clues and protecting the robbers?"

"It's not just suspicion," Luo Fei emphasized, "There's now irrefutable evidence that he did it! If we can find him, we might be able to solve all the mysteries related to the '47 Robbery'!"

Huang Jieyuan looked at Luo Fei without saying a word, and began to frown in pain. What Luo Fei said clashed with some of the preconceived notions in his mind, making it really hard for him to understand.

Seeing Huang Jieyuan's expression, Luo Fei became even more surprised. He turned to look at Mu Jianyun. The latter shook his head, equally puzzled.

"Old Huang, what's wrong?" Luo Fei asked again, softening his tone. "Who exactly is that policeman?"

Huang Jieyuan swallowed hard, a gulping sound coming from his throat. Then he managed to utter two words.

"Ding Ke."

"What?" This time it was Luo Fei and Mu Jianyun's turn to be stunned.

"That's right. Captain Ding himself went to investigate the hospital back then, because we all knew that was the route that deserved the most attention." Huang Jieyuan slowly regained his composure and said with a wry smile, "Now you should understand why the police never suspected anything was wrong here, even after you told me the truth, I still couldn't believe it… because I really had no reason to believe it…"

Yes, Luo Fei completely understood Huang Jieyuan's feelings at this moment. How could he possibly connect the figure he revered like a god with the "traitor" who had been hiding clues eighteen years ago? Even when Luo Fei himself was making many guesses about the identity of the "traitor," he had never once thought of the name "Ding Ke."

Because that name represents something sacred within the police force. From his time at the police academy, Luo Fei had grown up listening to the legends of this man, taking his achievements as his lifelong goal. There was simply no way he could have any doubts about that name.