Chapter 332: The Mysterious Message

2022-05-20

A week slipped by just like that. I gave Gu Chen my new number, but still, nothing—no leads on Guan Zengbin. Zhao Mingkun and I kept digging into the case, yet Wu Zui seemed to have vanished off the face of the earth. We didn’t have a single clue where he could be.

Zhao Mingkun spoke up. “Wu Zui’s temperament is wildly unpredictable. One moment he’s smiling, the next he’s flying into a rage. He’ll do anything to get his way, and there’s no pattern to how he acts. Sometimes he kills just for fun, and other times he lets people go for the same reason.”

I let out a long sigh, fingers tangled in my hair. From Zhao Mingkun’s description, I suspected Wu Zui might be showing signs of a split personality. But then it hit me—my own guilt delusions are a precursor to schizophrenia. Was that something Wu Zui and I actually had in common?

I said quietly, “Still, Wu Zui’s gone off the grid. No telling where he is now.”

Then another thought came to me and I continued, “Before, we were in the light and Wu Zui was lurking in the shadows. Now everything’s changed and we’re both hidden away. Maybe that’s why he hasn’t acted rashly. Without tracking my every move, he can’t finish his plan. After all, he always targets me.”

Zhao Mingkun studied me in silence for a moment before he finally said, “That makes sense. Ever since we started working together—our very first case, actually—I saw that when it comes to you, Wu Zui seems way more interested than he ever was in Guan Zengbin.”

I had no idea what Wu Zui was plotting or whether next time he’d set his sights on me again. That uneasy feeling in my gut kept growing. Maybe Wu Zui had kept out of sight this long because he was planning something big—and I was sure I was at the center of it.

That night I sat in my room, gathering up every bit of cash I had and counting carefully—forty thousand yuan in total. It was more than enough for both me and Zhao Mingkun to live on for a long time, especially since Zhao Mingkun was like a walking bank, always able to pull out a thousand at a moment’s notice. Money really wasn’t a concern for us now.

But just as I was sorting the bills, something caught my eye—a string of tiny words scrawled on one of the notes. Black ink, clear as day against the bright red paper. I stared at the bill, suddenly uncertain; I’d mixed the new cash with the old, so there was no way to tell if this message had been there before or if it came with the new batch.

Judging by the handwriting, it definitely wasn’t familiar—never seen it before. All my money had come from Sister Mao, and if she’d wanted to tell me something, she wouldn’t have had to sneak around. She could’ve just said it outright. Besides, the writing didn’t look like a woman’s hand at all.

I kicked myself for not checking every bill as I got it. If I’d spent that cash without noticing, I’d have missed the message entirely.

I looked closer. The words on the note read: Be careful of those you’d never think to be wary of.

Just that. Short, rushed, and messy. If Sister Mao wanted to get something across, she’d have had every chance to write it clearly. No reason to hurry.

Both batches of cash came from Sister Mao, which meant someone must’ve slipped the bill in before she handed it to me. They were so careful—not even daring to sign a name. Clearly, they didn’t want anyone but me noticing. This was top secret. Faces flashed through my mind, but I crossed out just as many as I considered.

My head was spinning—I genuinely had no idea who wrote the message or who I should be watching. Were they hiding the truth to protect me if someone else saw it? Or was it all just a trick to throw me off?

Could there be another message hidden on this bill? If so, I should know how to find it—otherwise, there’d be no point. And since I had no clue, maybe what’s on the surface is the whole clue.

I tried soaking the bill in water. Nothing. I held it over a flame. Still nothing. After all that, it was obvious—this wasn’t a puzzle. Whoever wrote the message only meant what was right there on the paper.

But they still didn’t tell me who to be careful of, and that made things feel even stranger. The real problem is this: I can’t tell if the person warning me is a friend or an enemy. I don’t know if they’re protecting me or setting me up, and I can’t even figure out who I’m supposed to suspect.

If I assume the mystery writer is a teammate trying to warn me, who should I be cautious of?

How many people are even close to me right now?

Zhao Mingkun? Doesn’t seem likely. Even back in Linfen, Zhao Mingkun always treated me differently from everyone else. I still don’t fully understand it, but I don’t think Zhao Mingkun would want to hurt me. At the very least, we have a shared goal and mutual interests.

I think as long as we’re after Wu Zui and determined to bring him down, Zhao Mingkun and I can keep working together. Spending so much time side by side, we’ve developed a strong sense of teamwork. The world might be bleak, but I’d rather stay optimistic.

If not Zhao Mingkun, then what about Gu Chen? That doesn’t add up either. Gu Chen has saved my life several times, and I’ve saved his. Our partnership was forged through real danger, and I can’t imagine what I should be wary of with him.

If not Gu Chen, could it be Guan Zengbin? He’s missing—taken by Wu Zui. What if one day, we finally rescue him, thinking it’s all over, but that’s when things really begin?

If I’m supposed to watch out for Guan Zengbin, it means he’ll be back soon. But if that’s the case, maybe this is all Wu Zui’s doing? It’s possible, and honestly, it’s something worth considering.

Given Wu Zui’s ability, he could pull off anything. After all, if it hadn’t been for Wu Zui, I never would’ve developed these guilt delusions.

Ever since I joined the Special Investigation Team, these two have been my closest allies. Could the warning be about Xiao Liu? I’ve already suspected he isn’t really on our side—there’s something going on with him and Wu Zui, something hard to pin down. Ever since the Special Investigation Team was disbanded and I got saddled with false charges, Xiao Liu’s been at the center of it all.

So maybe the message is telling me to be wary of Xiao Liu. That’s the only explanation that fits. But then, who’d go to the trouble of warning me? Could it be someone who believes I’m innocent and wants to help?

But Team Leader Shao’s still stuck in endless questioning. At someone of his rank, an investigation would drag on. He knows too much, and they wouldn’t leave him alone for a second. There’s no way he could slip me a message himself. But maybe someone sent the warning on his orders?

Team Leader Shao definitely thinks I’m innocent—he personally recruited me, and I’ve never let him down.

Maybe Mary delivered it on Shao’s orders. That could work, but does Mary even know where I am? Could she have tracked down my phone number or the fact that I contacted Sister Mao? If Mary could, anyone else could, and if that’s the case, they’d just come arrest me outright.

I stared at the bill and the black handwriting, racking my brain but getting nowhere. I had no clue who left it or what the warning meant. The not knowing was the worst part. I yanked my hair in frustration, desperate to unravel the mystery, but in the end, I realized this was never something I could figure out in a day.

Still, the moment I saw that mysterious message on the cash, I knew something big was brewing in the quiet city of Dongxing. Each of us was about to play our own part in a drama—we just didn’t know when our scenes would begin, whether we’d survive as leads or end up forgotten. All we could do was keep pulling at every thread, hoping to reach the truth and make it out in one piece.

I glanced at the window. Night pressed in on all sides—outside, it was pitch black, nothing to see but darkness. The kind that makes your heart pound.

We all know, the time right before dawn is always the darkest.

Will the sun still rise tomorrow?