Death Notice 2 Destiny

Chapter 60

"Please shut up!"

Even across the internet, Luo Fei could sense the change in the other person's emotions. Instead of stopping, he went further, writing: "You should know that it was Yuan Zhibang who killed your own father, when the situation was clearly under control. Why did he do it? Haven't you ever thought about it?"

"Shut up!" Eumenides protested vehemently again. "I don't need you to guide my thinking! I can find out the truth myself, all the truth!"

"Alright." Luo Fei temporarily withdrew his sharp edge. "Perhaps the truth will completely change you."

Eumenides seemed to be pondering something on the other end of the network, before replying after a moment: "Change... what can change? I'm already an assassin."

"The key point isn't 'already', but rather that everyone still has a future."

Eumenides: "You're the head of the task force, and I'm the wanted criminal. Is it necessary for us to discuss the future?"

Luo Fei's heart skipped a beat; he clearly detected a probing tone in the other person's words. This was undoubtedly a good sign for him, and he needed to react to it as soon as possible.

Luo Fei pondered quickly for a moment, then made up his mind and typed the following: "You haven't committed any crimes on my behalf. At worst, I'll just go back to Longzhou."

Given his position, Luo Fei couldn't be too blunt. However, his meaning was quite clear: although Eumenides had a criminal record for multiple murders, those crimes were committed before Luo Fei took office as the provincial capital's criminal police captain. Even the Wanfeng Hotel massacre occurred the afternoon before Luo Fei officially accepted his appointment. Furthermore, there was no evidence to suggest Eumenides was responsible for A Sheng's subsequent death. Therefore, strictly speaking, Eumenides hadn't committed any crimes under Luo Fei's jurisdiction, and Luo Fei still had grounds to resign as head of the special task force and return to his post in Longzhou.

Eumenides was somewhat surprised: "Are you going to betray your duty?"

Luo Fei paused for a moment, hesitant. Speaking words of leniency to a killer with a long list of crimes seemed out of character. But if the killer truly wished for self-forgiveness, what reason would there be to block his path? Thinking this, Luo Fei calmly replied, "My duty is to stop evil, not to seek revenge. Preventing evil from happening again is my ultimate goal. So if I had to choose between two options—you continue committing crimes and get caught, or you disappear without a trace—I would choose the latter without hesitation. If you would then seek forgiveness and atonement for your crimes, my choice would become even more meaningful."

"As long as I continue to commit crimes, you will never let me go, right?" Eumenides analyzed Luo Fei's subtext.

"Yes." Luo Fei didn't hesitate at all on this question. "You still have a choice now, but as long as I have one case, you won't have a second chance. So I'll wait for you, until the end of this month."

The end of this month marks the final execution date set for Du Mingqiang on the "death sentence notice." If Eumenides were to abandon this operation, it would mean he had ended the killings on the "death sentence notice." And with Luo Fei losing leads, he seemed to have a reason to forgive him.

This might seem like a good outcome. It's like masters tolerating each other and reaching a kind of balanced "peaceful" situation.

But can this temporary equilibrium be maintained?

Luo Fei was still waiting for a reply, but this time Eumenides did not respond.

Three days later, at 9:27 a.m. on November 10th.

Like most cities, the provincial capital's funeral home is located in a remote suburb. Although the road in front of it is wide and smooth, even on a morning like this, there are still not many people or vehicles coming and going.

There are buses in the city that pass by the funeral home, but it took a full fifteen minutes for one to finally arrive. Four men and three women got off the bus; they were of different ages and dressed differently, but without exception, each of them wore a solemn expression.

After getting out of the car, the group dispersed and headed towards the entrance of the funeral home. It seemed they were all there to attend the funeral arrangements, but they were not going in the same direction.

A dozen or so mobile stalls were clustered along the roadside outside the funeral home, selling funeral supplies such as flowers, joss paper, and candles. As the four men and three women passed by, the stall owners seized the opportunity to call out their wares.

"Sir, would you like to buy a bouquet of flowers to take inside?"

"Large sheets of paper are cheaper now!"

...

Perhaps they came prepared, or perhaps they had no desire to linger; most of these passersby ignored the hawkers' cries around them. They hurried along, not even bothering to turn their heads.

But one person stood out from the crowd. A thin old man with gray hair and beard stopped in his tracks. He looked to be nearly seventy years old. After scanning the group of vendors, he walked toward one of the male stall owners.

The stall owner was probably in his thirties, short in stature, crudely dressed, and his greasy hair was plastered messily to his forehead, as if he hadn't washed it for half a month. Seeing a "customer" enter, he quickly greeted him with a fawning smile, "Sir, what would you like?"

The old man didn't even glance at the goods on his stall, but simply asked in a deep voice, "Where's your captain?"

The stall owner was taken aback, then looked at his fellow vendors and asked the old man, "What captain? We're just small business owners, what captain would we have?"

The old man shook his head slightly: "Don't pretend in front of me. You, and the young man in the green jacket who got off the bus with me, you're both from the criminal investigation team."

The stall owner's eyes flickered, and he forced a smile: "What are you talking about? There must be a mistake?"

The old man sighed softly, seemingly helpless. Suddenly, he raised his right hand and reached for the stall owner's long, messy hair near his ear. The stall owner quickly shrank back, but the old man's movements were incredibly swift. The stall owner only saw a blur before his eyes, and at the same time, a gentle breeze brushed past his cheek. When he came to his senses, he saw that the old man's hand had already withdrawn, and in his palm was a small, exquisite wireless earpiece.

The stall owner looked embarrassed, grinning widely but unsure what else to say.

"Summon your captain to see me." The old man tossed the headset onto the stall and then turned and left. The stall owner was left standing there dumbfounded, enduring the astonished gazes of his fellow "colleagues."

The old man entered the funeral home and headed straight for the mourning hall on the west side. Upon reaching the entrance, he saw several staff members bustling about. The old man paused briefly, his gaze quickly settling on a young man among them. This man, also an undercover police officer, met the old man's eyes, immediately feeling a strange sense of unease, and quickly turned away.

The old man glanced around the mourning hall again before stepping inside. In the center of the hall stood a crystal coffin, beside which stood an elderly woman, well past sixty, silently weeping. The old man approached, gently placing his right hand on the coffin, and looked down at the deceased lying peacefully within.

The old woman sensed someone's arrival, and when she turned her head and saw the old man, the grief on her face turned into surprise and resentment.

"You've finally come," she said in a hoarse voice. "I thought I'd never see you again."

The old man's hand slowly traced the surface of the coffin, as if he were caressing the deceased's face through the crystal lid. After a long while, he sighed softly, "My son... of course I had to come and see him..."

"Stop pretending to be compassionate," the old woman said, her resentment still lingering. "When have you ever cared about him? If you were a responsible father, how could your son have died so young, leaving you, an old woman, to bury your son?"

As the woman spoke, she wiped the corners of her eyes with a handkerchief, seemingly unable to control the grief and resentment in her heart.

The old man gave a somber, bitter smile: "You think your son just left? More than twenty years ago, when he was still a boy, his heart was already resting here."

"Are you blaming me? Are you trying to shift the blame onto me?" The woman became increasingly agitated.

The old man sighed softly, tilted his head back slightly, and closed his eyes, as if he had many things to say but found it difficult to say them.

The woman ignored him, looking down at the deceased in the coffin, lost in thought. After a moment, her grief seemed to reach its peak, and she embraced the coffin with both arms, bursting into loud sobs.

The old man's eyes were slightly moist, but no tears fell. Suddenly, he seemed to sense something and abruptly turned around to look in the direction of the entrance to the mourning hall.

But then they saw a man and a woman standing at the door, looking hesitant to go in.

The old man narrowed his eyes and stared at the middle-aged man at the door. Although he didn't speak, his gaze conveyed a lot.

The man no longer hesitated and strode into the mourning hall. Another young woman followed closely behind him.

The old man waited silently until the middle-aged man approached before asking, "Did you arrange for everyone here to be here?"

"Yes. I am Luo Fei, the newly appointed captain of the criminal investigation team." The middle-aged man paused, then added, "I didn't mean you any harm by arranging those people; I just wanted to protect your safety."

"Luo Fei?" The old man's gaze sharpened, as if he had realized something. Then he lowered his head to look at the deceased in the coffin and asked somberly, "So you found him?"

Luo Fei replied, "It's not just me, there's someone else."

The old man looked up and said, "Oh?"

"Eumenides, that serial killer. You must have heard rumors about him lately, right?"

The old man frowned: "Yuan Zhibang? The news said he's dead."

"Yuan Zhibang is indeed dead, but Eumenides is still alive. More than ten years ago, Yuan Zhibang chose a successor for himself." Luo Fei explained while observing the old man's expression. So far, he still didn't know how much the old man knew about the two generations of Eumenides.

"A successor... given his personality, it's not surprising." The old man gently shook his head. "After all, it's what he wants to do. As long as he's alive, he'll carry it out no matter what."

"Do you know who he has chosen as his successor?" Luo Fei asked tentatively.

The old man looked into Luo Fei's eyes, seemingly trying to glean some information from him. Gradually, the expression on his face became increasingly solemn.

"I understand..." he said slowly, "but I only just found out."

Luo Fei believed the other party's explanation: he had just deduced the identity of Eumenides' successor based on his expression and other information, which was not a difficult task for him.

The old man sighed again, "So he's investigating the truth behind his father's shooting, isn't he? That's why you found my son. Hey, what father wouldn't come to see his son one last time after he's died?"

Luo Fei tacitly agreed with the old man's statement. In fact, after Ding Zhen's suicide, it was he who arranged for various media outlets to widely report on the "mysterious death of a university professor." And his purpose was the same as Eumenides': to lure out the long-lost Ding Ke through this method.

Now that goal has been achieved. The old man standing before him is none other than Ding Ke, the legendary all-powerful police icon. Luo Fei believes he must possess the truth about the 130 case from eighteen years ago, and this truth may be the most effective weapon to destroy Eumenides' bloody faith.

However, Luo Fei felt it necessary to clarify something: "By the time we found Ding Zhen, it was actually too late. Eumenides had preemptively threatened Ding Zhen online, and that's the real reason your son committed suicide."

"You don't need to explain these things. I won't blame anyone else for his death. Because the root of the responsibility lies with myself..." With that, Ding Ke closed his eyes again and placed both hands on the coffin.

Luo Fei glanced at Mu Jianyun beside him; both felt somewhat awkward. After a moment's hesitation, he said apologetically, "I didn't originally intend to bother you today… but we had to arrange for the plainclothes officers, because that assassin is even more eager to find you than we are, and we must ensure your safety."

"I'll keep an eye on things myself. What difference will a few more plainclothes officers make?" Ding Ke said calmly, his tone revealing absolute confidence and domineering. "Today is the day my son and I part ways, and I really don't want to be disturbed by anything else."

Luo Fei hummed in response, but did not give a clear reply.

Mu Jianyun, standing to the side, understood Luo Fei's thoughts: on one hand, he trusted Ding Ke's abilities and, out of respect, wanted to give him privacy; but on the other hand, with an adversary like Eumenides, no amount of caution was excessive. If all the plainclothes officers were removed, and Ding Ke were to meet with misfortune at Eumenides's hands, all the police's previous efforts would be in vain.

"How about this," Mu Jianyun suggested after a moment of silence, "we'll leave only one person to stay with you, and everyone else will retreat to the outer perimeter. The person who stays is someone you know well, so it shouldn't affect your mood."

"Is Huang Jieyuan?" Ding Ke quickly guessed a name.

Mu Jianyun nodded, while Luo Fei gave her an approving look. Huang Jieyuan had been Ding Ke's assistant for many years, and their relationship within the police force was comparable to that between father and son or brothers. As a former captain of the criminal investigation team, Huang Jieyuan's abilities in all aspects were not to be underestimated. Having him accompany Ding Ke was the safest and most humane arrangement.

Sure enough, Ding Ke did not refuse this time.

"Alright," he nodded, and as if in response to their thoughtful arrangement, he added, "After I send my son away, I'll tell you the answers you're looking for."

November 11th, 2:51 PM.

As autumn deepens, the afternoon between two and four o'clock is perhaps the most beautiful time of day. After a leisurely afternoon nap, a walk in the bright sunshine can warm up your entire body; while the crisp autumn breeze, carrying a gentle coolness, can wash away the dust and grime from your body.

Luo Fei was enjoying this comfortable and refreshing feeling. His mood was also bright, as the fog that had clouded his vision seemed to be dissipating.

He was standing at the entrance of a secluded courtyard house, with an unpaved dirt road beneath his feet and a lush orchard behind him. Clearly, this was far from the city, a truly rural area.

Luo Fei hadn't set foot in a place as rustic and charming as this for a long time. The reason he came here today was because the small courtyard in front of him was Ding Ke's hermitage.

Mu Jianyun and Yin Jian followed behind Luo Fei, and even Zeng Rihua, who rarely went on field missions, was included today. Who would want to miss such an opportunity to visit a near-legendary senior in the police force?

The agreed time with Ding Ke was 3 PM, and Luo Fei and the others arrived at the courtyard gate ten minutes early. The courtyard was surrounded by a fence, making it easy for people inside to see what was happening outside. So, before Luo Fei even knocked, someone had already come out of the house to open the door.

The man who arrived was Huang Jieyuan. He had been staying by Ding Ke's side all day, protecting his safety and maintaining constant contact with the police. He opened the courtyard gate and greeted Luo Fei and the others: "Come in. Captain Ding just said you're almost here."

As Luo Fei and the others entered the courtyard, they were greeted by a faint, sweet fragrance. Upon closer inspection, they discovered a small garden within the courtyard, where chrysanthemums were in full bloom, and the fragrance originated from there.

"Old Master Ding truly has refined tastes. No wonder he hasn't shown his face for ten years; it turns out he's found such a wonderful place to cultivate his mind and body," Mu Jianyun couldn't help but exclaim.

"It really feels different. Living here year-round must prolong one's life, right?" Zeng Rihua immediately chimed in, while Luo Fei and Yin Jian, though silent, clearly showed admiration in their eyes.

"Since everyone likes it here, why don't we sit in the courtyard for a while?" With Ding Ke's distinctively strong male voice, the old man came out of the house. He looked up at the sky and said, "The wind isn't strong today, and it's bright and airy outside, unlike the cramped feeling inside."

Luo Fei and the others all expressed their agreement. So Yin Jian and Huang Jieyuan moved tables, chairs and benches out of the house. Huang Jieyuan even poured tea for everyone, as if he had become half the host.

Ding Ke himself wasn't in a hurry to sit down. He picked up a watering can and went into the garden to water the chrysanthemums. His expression was serene, and his movements were gentle; in the autumn sunlight, he looked like a leisurely calligrapher and painter.

"Old Ding, did you notice anything unusual today?" Mu Jianyun deliberately tried to start a conversation.

"You mean that assassin? He won't come looking for me—you guys are watching me so closely, how could he dare? So my day has been perfectly normal. I saw my son off yesterday, and that puts my last worry at ease..." Ding Ke turned to look at Mu Jianyun, a slight smirk playing on his lips. "You should be more concerned about your colleagues; they didn't get a good night's sleep, did they?"

Mu Jianyun smiled knowingly at Luo Fei, who pouted helplessly. Last night, he and Yin Jian had spent the entire night guarding the entrances of nearby villages, anticipating a sudden visit from Eumenides to Ding Ke. However, none of their actions had escaped Ding Ke's notice.

The Fate of the Death Sentence (35)

Although the night was tiring, it was nothing compared to Luo Fei's expectations for this trip.

Luo Fei initially focused his search on Ding Ke because Eumenides might seek him out to uncover the mystery of his origins, making Ding Ke a potential lead in tracing Eumenides's whereabouts. Now, this lead seems to have taken on some even more significant meaning.

Based on the information currently available, one crucial point is undeniable: during the January 30th hostage crisis eighteen years ago, Yuan Zhibang shot and killed Wen Chengyu's biological father, Wen Hongbing, even after the situation was under control. Three years later, Wen Chengyu was chosen by Yuan Zhibang as Eumenides' successor. This shift compels one to deeply consider Yuan Zhibang's motives for killing Wen Hongbing.

The person most sensitive to the truth of this matter is undoubtedly Wen Chengyu himself. He was meticulously trained by Yuan Zhibang to be an assassin carrying out bloody justice, but he may not truly understand why he became Eumenides. For more than ten years, his mind has been controlled by Yuan Zhibang; how much of his behavior was based on his own values? Now that Yuan Zhibang is dead, Wen Chengyu's own thoughts are beginning to emerge, and he must explore the meaning of his existence.