Chapter 247: The Corpse with a Twisted Face

2022-05-20

“I wasn’t really asleep, just a bit muddled.”

By this time, daylight had broken fully. From the little hillside behind the village, you could look down and barely spot anyone on the main road. Yet, with the fragrant aroma wafting through the morning air, it was obvious—breakfast time had come.

Zhao Mingkun shoved her motorcycle behind a few trees and finally spoke to me: “Let’s go. Once everyone’s done with breakfast, it’ll be tough for us to get inside.”

We reached the courtyard wall. Checking both sides, Zhao Mingkun took a few steps back, broke into a run, and leaped straight onto the wall. She lay flat, stretched out a hand to me, and I quickly grabbed it, hauling myself up after her.

Looking around, every door to the house was locked tight. I couldn’t tell if Wu Xiufen’s family had come or if someone else had locked them. Zhao Mingkun surveyed the courtyard for a moment. Wrapping a stone in her sleeve, she moved to the window, thinking to carefully break the glass.

I shook my head and whispered, “Girls shouldn’t always be so violent.”

Pulling on my gloves, I searched the courtyard and found a short piece of wire. I twisted it into a small ring, then gently slid that into the padlock’s keyhole. I could feel the spring pressing lightly under my hand. With a quick pull, I pressed a tiny groove into the ring and lifted it again.

The lock popped open with a crisp ‘click.’

The whole thing took less than a minute. Zhao Mingkun said, “You’ve picked up a lot, haven’t you?”

I grinned. “These types of locks are too easy. Even a total novice could jiggle it open in half an hour.”

With that, we pushed the door open and stepped inside.

Pointing at the big drawer in the room, I said, “If there’s anything important, it’ll be in here. Let’s search.”

We hauled out the entire drawer and started digging through it—IDs, all sorts of medicine, a radio manual… People say a woman’s bag is a bottomless pit, but this old woman’s drawer was a whole universe.

We turned the drawer inside out, but couldn’t find the structural blueprints. Something that valuable clearly must have been hidden elsewhere. Still, I did find a business card tucked inside. It belonged to an architect and read ‘Earth Village Creative Dream Factory, 37 Datong Road.’ The architect’s name was Hu Pei.

“Villagers don’t need an architect to build a house, and putting up a community center isn’t exactly complicated. There’s no way Wu Xiufang could build a massive underground maze by herself. Maybe this architect made the designs and someone else built the place?”

I waved the card before handing it to Zhao Mingkun.

She was about to speak when we suddenly heard the front gate being unlocked from outside. Zhao Mingkun and I exchanged glances—we both recognized the sound of a key in a lock. Working quickly, we shoved the drawer back into place and slipped out the door together.

Zhao Mingkun pulled both doors shut behind us, and I hurried to refasten the padlock.

But there was nowhere for us to hide in the yard—and scaling the wall was out of the question now. Just then, Zhao Mingkun grabbed me and pressed us both against the base of the wall. In that instant, the main gate swung open.

One person walked in, talking to a companion: “The Village Chief said to grab everything from the drawer in Wu Xiufen’s house. No idea why, though.”

The other replied, “That old woman was always strange, you know that.”

At that moment, Zhao Mingkun and I were wedged between the gate and the wall, peering through the gap to see what they were doing. She shot me a look, gesturing that I should quietly follow her out. But the old iron gate was so worn down, even nudging it made a sharp screech.

The two inside instantly snapped their heads around.

Zhao Mingkun slipped the business card into her pocket and drew out a razor blade, pinched between her fingers almost in a blink. Instinctively, I shoved her arm just as she flicked the blade—it sailed weightlessly between the two men and landed on the ground.

“Go.” I tugged her back.

We backed away slowly as I eased the main gate closed, locking it just as shouts erupted from inside: “Help! Wu Meng! Wu Meng!”

“They weren’t a threat to us.” I said, “Why did you try to kill them just now?”

We ran full tilt for the hillside.

Zhao Mingkun said, “We need to move faster. 37 Datong Road—Earth Village Creative Dream Factory.”

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

She lifted the motorcycle and said, “One of those guys couldn’t take his eyes off this business card. If I don’t get rid of him, he might reach that address before we do. If someone ends up under control, we’ll lose our only lead.”

We got on the bike and I muttered, “So that’s enough to justify murder? Talk about putting no value on life. If I hadn’t stepped in, that guy would be dead. Next time, can you not leap to violence? He looked barely twenty—he had his whole life ahead of him.”

Zhao Mingkun revved the engine, and chaos had already erupted in the village as we sped away.

But before long, she stopped unexpectedly.

She didn’t look back but spoke to me through the rearview mirror: “Wu Meng, I’ve told you before—we’re nothing alike. I’m selfish and cold. When push comes to shove, I only care about my own safety.”

Her voice trembled with anger. “And I’ll do anything to survive—that’s who I am. Nothing is off the table if it gets me what I want.”

“Whether you admit it or not, you’ll always have an escape route.”

Villagers were already chasing from behind but Zhao Mingkun showed no sign of restarting the bike.

“Deep down, you know you have a way out. That’s why you can’t stomach blood or death. So let me tell you—when you’ve cleared your name, stay away from me, or one day I’ll end up ruined because of you.”

I fell silent.

Only then did Zhao Mingkun gun the engine and the bike shot forward.

All this time, I thought Zhao Mingkun and I were the same. Yet, after what she said, I realized we were different. There are no identical leaves on a tree—so how could there be two identical people? Maybe we just imagine the connections we want.

We stayed silent as the motorcycle zipped down side streets. It was obvious Zhao Mingkun knew Dongxing City inside and out—no wonder she’d managed to stay on the run for so long.

When we finally reached Earth Village Creative Dream Factory to find Hu Pei, the boss told us Hu Pei had quit years ago. Good thing I still had the Special Investigation Team ID that Team Leader Shao gave me.

The badge was expired, but it made us look official enough.

The boss said Hu Pei had worked as an architect for a while, saved up some money, and went into business. They hadn’t been in touch for over a year. But he did give us Hu Pei’s home address. After thanking him, Zhao Mingkun led me there.

We followed the directions and arrived at Hu Pei’s home, only to find the door wide open.

A sense of unease crept up on me. When I pushed the door open, I saw someone sprawled on the floor.

Zhao Mingkun and I rushed over. The man’s face twisted in agony—mouth and nose off-center, eyes wide open, pupils dilated. Zhao Mingkun, already gloved up, checked his neck and said, “He’s gone.”

My brow furrowed. “Dead?”

She nodded and circled the body. “No visible injuries. His skin isn’t blue and his lips aren’t bright red, so it wasn’t cyanide poisoning.”

She took a razor blade and slashed his wrist, but no blood came out.

Zhao Mingkun frowned. “After death, platelets coagulate and blood stops flowing. From the dried blackish-red at the wound, the oxygen’s all been used up. He’s been dead for over six hours. Judging by his face, maybe he died from fright.”

“Died from fright?” I was skeptical. “Who gets scared to death? I’ve only read about that in books.”

She nodded. “Hard to say for sure. Look at his hands—he’s got the classic defensive posture. You studied psychology, didn’t you? You should know better than anyone.”