scélérat

Chapitre 9

"You decide how to handle this yourself. What exactly happened in your case? You only gave a very brief account on the phone last time. I've learned some things from other sources, so it would be best if you explained it in more detail." Liang Yingwu stopped discussing Kou Yun with me and turned the topic to the bloody case I was carrying.

I recounted the entire incident to Liang Yingwu in a low voice, detailing everything I could remember. While I spoke, Liang Yingwu remained silent, his expression cold and stern.

Halfway through our conversation, the doorbell rang. Kou Yun, wrapped in a bath towel, stood outside the door, which surprised me slightly.

Why aren't you wearing any clothes?

"It's filthy. Wash it and hang it to dry in the bathroom. It'll be dry by tomorrow." Kou Yun lay down on a bed as a listener, completely unconcerned, her two white legs sticking out in the air.

I had no choice but to ignore her. After telling Liang Yingwu everything, I stared straight at him. Next, it was his turn to tell me what he had learned from other sources.

"This matter is not simple; it has a deep background. I'm afraid I can't help you much." After a long silence, Liang Yingwu said this.

I nodded silently. I had already mentally prepared myself for the complexity of the situation while I was waiting anxiously in the detention center.

"After receiving your call, I tried to use several connections to get you out first, but... the case was suppressed. The Public Security Bureau set up a special task force, and we couldn't do anything about it."

"Special task force?" I asked, my eyes wide.

4. The removed arrest warrant (2)

"Yes, although you were caught on the spot, a special task force was quickly set up. I can't find out the details."

"They arrested me but then set up a special task force. They took it so seriously, yet they didn't immediately come to Guangzhou to escort me to Beijing?" I frowned. This was indeed very strange.

"Yes, if it were a regular murder case, I could definitely find a way to get involved in the investigation. But the investigation team for Yang Hongmin's murder case is completely closed off, not letting out a single word. I learned from the aerospace experts in our organization that this case might be related to Yang Hongmin's profession and position, and it has a very high level of confidentiality. However, because of the differences in their research directions, the experts in our organization have never been on the same page as the experts in the national aerospace system, so they can't get any further information either."

"So what did Guo Dong say?"

“When I first called him, he patted his chest and said he would definitely help. But I couldn’t reach him starting the next day; his phone was always switched off. His colleagues said he was away on a mission.” Liang Yingwu shook his head slightly, clearly quite disappointed in Guo Dong.

I sighed as well, realizing that I wasn't particularly close to Guo Dong and couldn't expect him to go to great lengths to help me.

“Once you escape from prison, this matter can no longer be resolved through normal channels,” Liang Yingwu said.

I couldn't help but turn my head to look at Kou Yun, who was propping her head up and listening to the story. If she hadn't pulled me along, I might not have been so quick to run out with her.

"You think you can resolve this through normal channels just by staying inside? What you said earlier doesn't seem to work," Kou Yun pouted.

Liang Yingwu wasn't angry when she said that. Instead, he nodded and said, "That's true. Compared to being locked up inside and unable to move, at least you're more proactive now. If you can find out what happened, even if you escaped, you can clear your name. Besides, there's a difference between a detention center and a real prison. Do you have any plans now?"

"It's very simple. Only by catching the real killer can I truly regain my freedom. And to catch the real killer, we must first find out why Yang Hongmin was killed. Based on what you've said, this is definitely not an ordinary revenge killing. I want to go to Beijing, where Yang Hongmin worked and lived. I believe that the 'eagle' he mentioned at the end will be the key to solving the mystery. If possible, I want to go to his place and take a look. Perhaps it's a painting in his bedroom, or a sculpture in his cabinet, or a file on his computer called 'Eagle'."

Liang Yingwu smiled: "I knew you wouldn't just sit idly by. You've solved many incredible mysteries before, and this matter will eventually come to light."

Even though I knew he was just trying to comfort me, I still smiled and nodded at him. Of course, I had to find a way to save myself; I couldn't place all my hopes on someone else, even if he was my best friend.

"Keep in touch, and let me know if you need anything. I'll continue to work hard here. That task force can't really be a monolithic entity. I'm confident we'll eventually find out what's going on there, it just takes some time. Also, how do you plan to get to Beijing?"

I opened my mouth, but no words came out. I hadn't really thought about this question properly.

"Flying is definitely out of the question, and buying a train ticket directly from Guangzhou to Beijing is also a bit risky. I just don't know how much effort the police will put into tracking you down. I suggest you buy a bicycle and ride it out of Guangzhou."

"Cycling to Beijing?" My eyes lit up; that seemed like a relatively safe option.

"If you can actually ride there, that's the least likely way to avoid being tracked. We'll see how it goes; if you can't keep going, you'll at least have to ride to some small station and then change trains."

"Riding a bicycle? Great!" The little girl jumped excitedly out of bed, then cried out and lay back down because her bath towel had come undone. I really don't understand what's so exciting about riding a bicycle.

However, I learned the reason the next day.

Liang Yingwu flew back to Shanghai early in the morning. Kou Yun and I found a bicycle shop nearby and bought two bicycles for 350 yuan.

Kou Yun looked around the car dealership, her eyes shining. But after I bought the car and rode a few steps outside, I realized she hadn't followed.

I rode back in a circle, looked at Kou Yun who was holding onto the handlebars, and asked, "What's wrong?"

“You have to teach me,” she said.

"You can't ride?" My eyes widened immediately.

Kou Yun nodded his little head like a chicken pecking at rice.

"Why didn't you say so sooner?"

“You can learn if you don’t know how. What if you change your mind and don’t want to buy it? I don’t have a bicycle at home, and those little rascals who have bicycles won’t let me ride them. I’ve been envious for a long time.” She touched the bicycle’s fancy crossbars as if she were touching a beloved toy.

The veins on my temples throbbed: "Miss, we're on the run..."

"That's why you need to learn it quickly. There's a saying, what's it again? Right, it's always good to have more skills."

I glanced at my bicycle and wondered if I should just speed away and never bother with this devilish little girl again.

"Brother, you have to hold on! You absolutely have to hold on!" Kou Yun shouted anxiously, his eyes fixed ahead and his arms stiff.

"Ride with confidence," I said, silently thinking, "I'd be crazy to hold on tight."

To learn to ride a bicycle quickly, you have to fall a few times. This isn't me taking revenge.

"Relax your body, don't stare at one spot, and try to find a sense of balance." I recalled my brother's teachings when I first started learning and said the same thing to Kou Yun.

It must be said that Kou Yun is quite talented. She found her balance point in no time. In her excitement, she turned around to show off to me, only to be shocked to find that I was actually holding onto the back seat of the car just as she expected.

"Ah..." she screamed, the car twisted to the left and then to the right, and crashed to the ground.

I rushed forward and pulled her up, so she didn't fall too badly.

She was lying on the car, looked up at me, wrinkled her nose and grinned.

"Don't cry," I told her.

"You lied to me, you promised to help me up." She obediently held back her tears.

I pulled her up, then helped her up the bike and handed it to her.

"You've found your balance. Think back to how it felt, and try again. You'll get it soon. You won't learn if we just hold you up all the time; you have to fall a few times. You need to learn quickly; we don't have much time."

Fourth, the removed arrest warrant (3)

Kou Yun moved her little mouth up, down, left, and right a few times, and squeezed out a sound: "Oh."

She was afraid that if she angered me, I would really abandon her. She's not stupid; she's quite sensible.

Half an hour later, I saw that she was starting to look a bit better, so we officially set off, following the route we had already chosen, and rode towards the outskirts of Guangzhou.

Kou Yun was really fun. He had just learned how to pedal and was already pedaling very fast. His face was flushed red, and he was obviously very excited.

"Slow down, slow down, you'll fall!" I shouted from behind.

Before I could even shout a few times, something really happened. To avoid an elderly woman crossing the road, her car veered erratically toward the side of the road. Before I could react, it had already crashed into a stall displaying several sheep horns. One of the long horns was stepped on by her front wheel and then stomped on by her foot. When she lifted her foot again, the horn was already broken.

The stall owner, dressed as a member of an ethnic minority, became agitated and grabbed her.

"You have to pay me back for my corner."

"What are you going to pay me? Let me go! Can't you see the city management officers are chasing me?"

I was about to go up and help her out of the predicament when I heard her words, so I stopped immediately, looked around, and pretended not to know her.

"What...what city management officers? Where are they?" The fellow countryman was startled and immediately looked in the direction she had come from.

"What are you looking at? Once you see me, I won't be able to run away anymore." Kou Yun struggled and broke free from his compatriot's grasp, picked up the car, and ran away in a flash.

I followed Kou Yun and quickly turned the corner. I glanced back and saw that my compatriot had already bundled the four corners of the street stall mat into a large package and was hurriedly preparing to leave.

Kou Yun's cycling skills miraculously improved significantly. He pedaled fast and steadily, making several turns before stopping to make sure he couldn't be caught up.

She patted her chest and said, "Thank goodness, the city management officers protected us."

"I've figured it out, you're a little liar." I felt I needed to look at her with completely new eyes. To be able to spout such a high-level boast at such a critical moment was truly first-rate judgment and reaction.

Perhaps there was a reason why I completely lost to her in the dice game yesterday.

"Hehe, quick thinking, quick thinking," Kou Yun said modestly.

When I calmed down and looked around, I was startled. We had stopped in front of the police station.

But he couldn't just jump up and run away with a shout. He exchanged a glance with Kou Yun, then slowly pushed the cart, strolling past the police station as if taking a leisurely walk.

Actually, if we jumped into the car and ran away at this point, most of the police wouldn't chase us. So, our actions were also a sign of a guilty conscience.

As I slowly walked past the gate, I saw a row of bulletin boards next to me, covered with wanted posters.

After hesitating for a moment, he said to Kou Yun, "Wait for me up ahead, I'll take a look."

"Let's look at it together," she said, pushing her cart to the wanted poster.

The closer I got to the police station, the newer the wanted posters appeared. I quickly found the wanted poster for the cleft lip, issued by the Provincial Public Security Bureau, dated today, so it seemed to have been posted this morning.

Then I saw the wanted posters for the square-faced man and the hooked-nosed man, and that's when I realized they were human traffickers.

“We won’t be able to do it either!” Kou Yun had already finished reading before me and ran to my side to say in a low voice.

How come I'm not included?

I counted them over and over. Of the twenty-three people who escaped from the detention center yesterday, nine are wanted by the police. Only one of them is a murder suspect, and the other eight have lesser charges than mine. They're all wanted, so why am I not?

I walked over to the wanted poster with the square face and stared at the propaganda board there.

To the right of the wanted poster featuring a square-faced man is another wanted poster for someone I don't recognize. However, unlike all other wanted posters, these two posters aren't placed side-by-side; instead, there's a fairly large gap between them. Judging by the size of this gap, there's just enough space to stick another wanted poster on top.

Upon closer inspection, I discovered that a wanted poster had indeed been posted here, but it had been torn off. Because the glue was very strong when it was posted, some areas still had a thin layer of white backing paper residue left after it was removed.

In one small area, the paper stuck on was quite thick, and the original handwriting of the wanted poster could still be vaguely seen, but only one character, "杨" (Yang), was clearly visible. Following "杨," only one radical, "木" (wood), was discernible.

Comparing it to the format of the wanted poster next to it, the character "Yang" should be in the description of the crime committed by the wanted suspect. Thinking about myself, if I had an wanted poster, the content would definitely include the character "Yang" from Yang Hongmin's name. It seems that this torn-out wanted poster is most likely for me. The character with the "wood" radical should be the character "mou".

Not daring to linger, I told Kou Yun to get going and pedaled my bicycle, but in my mind I was thinking about the torn-up wanted poster.

It's easy to guess who tore up the arrest warrant. It had only been a few hours since it was posted; who would have the audacity to tear it up in front of the police station? Of course, only the police themselves. This arrest warrant, issued by the Provincial Public Security Bureau, was urgently recalled.

With a "thump," Kou Yun lifted the handlebars forcefully, and the front wheel leaped over a small pothole.

She'd only just learned to ride a bike and was already doing these kinds of tricks. Before I could even scold her, the beginner's rear wheel hit the edge of a small pothole, and she cried out "Ouch!" as she lost her balance.

I was expecting to see her fall flat on her face, but to my surprise, she quickly turned the steering wheel, braked, and braced herself with one foot, managing to stop almost safely.

I thought she would be ashamed and lower her head, waiting to be scolded, but she raised her head and smiled uncontrollably.

"Brother, there's no warrant for our arrest, so does that mean we're safe?"