My senior sister and I sat on the side, watching some on-duty police officers come and go before our eyes. For a while now, my senior sister hadn't spoken to me. She was angry. On this matter, she felt that trading a stranger's hand bone for an opportunity was worthwhile.
In her heart, my senior sister firmly believed that there were so many bad people in the world. Who knew what kind of people we would encounter in this world? If we always aimed to uphold justice and think of others, we would truly not be able to live.
But I knew that Zhu Guang's principle was that if a person does not look out for himself, heaven and earth will destroy him. Having dealt with him so many times, the more selfish one is, the more easily they will be deceived.
"Comrade, can I leave now?"
Finally seeing a criminal police officer, I called out.
The officer walked over and asked seriously, "You're the one who found the body, aren't you?"
"Mhm!"
"How did you find it?"
"I originally wanted to buy bone artifacts. He said the item I wanted was made of human bones and charged me a hundred thousand yuan. I thought it was too expensive, so I lied and said I was a police officer, and then he ran away."
The criminal police officer nodded, "Alright, I've noted down everything you said. I'll ask my superiors to see if you can leave."
...
After the criminal police officer left, my senior sister pulled me up from where I was sitting on the curb, "Let's go."
"Where to?"
My senior sister pointed. A photographer was secretly taking pictures in the distance.
Seeing us walk towards him together, he visibly panicked, unsure of what to do.
"You... you guys..."
"I saw you yesterday at the mall."
"Yes, yes, I'm an intern photographer for Smiling Faces Stories. My current assignment is to follow and film you. Don't worry, I'm not a paparazzi. I only film according to my superior's instructions and don't capture your private lives."
I almost laughed. This excuse was a tactic my senior sister often used. My senior sister was also a bit annoyed, "Since it's arranged by the leader, where is our next stop?"
"This, this way!"
The photographer took out a small notebook with an address written on it. My senior sister snatched it away and looked at the address, "Tang Nan, this is another choice. Should we wait here, or should we get ahead of them and go to this address to see what countermeasures Zhu Guang has?"
"It's time for you to choose. I'll listen to you."
"I'm not choosing such trivial matters."
"To oppose the rules, we must not only make rules but also abide by them."
As I said this, my senior sister scoffed unhappily, "What? Do you think I'm your little lover Lin Han? Whatever you say, I'll listen without regard for my own life."
"Don't bring Lin Han into this."
"Fine, I won't mention her. For my daughter's sake, I'll tolerate you. I'll make the decision, alright? Let's go to that address."
...
This time, we went to a residential area with a rather dilapidated building. As we reached the door, we found it ajar just as we were about to open it. I looked at my senior sister, and she pushed the door open directly. Seeing that I wasn't moving, she complained, "What, you want to break the rope?"
Helplessly, I followed her in, "Senior Sister, this isn't like you. With emotions involved, we'll only be led by the nose in this game."
My senior sister didn't speak but covered her nose with her hand. The room reeked of alcohol, and a large pile of empty bottles of strong liquor lay in a corner of the living room.
"Is anyone here?"
No one responded. I followed my senior sister into the bedroom. There was still half a jar of liquor and an apple in the bedroom. The apple looked bitten, suggesting they hadn't left long ago.
A cake box lay on the floor, and on the bed was a photograph of a girl around thirteen or fourteen years old standing next to a truck driver. They looked like father and daughter.
Not far from the photo was an empty envelope. Judging by its decoration, it seemed to have been delivered with the cake box below. I turned around and only then noticed my senior sister staring intently at the cake box.
"What's wrong?"
My senior sister didn't speak but leaned closer to me. I squatted down and instantly felt my scalp tingle and my neck cramp. Inside the cake box was a half-rotted human head, its features indistinguishable.
Subconsciously, I looked at the photo on the bed and thought in surprise, "Could it be that girl?"
The reason I guessed the head belonged to a girl was that we had discovered a female skeleton in the basement, and besides that, the corpse was missing its head and lower leg bones.
...
"Tang Nan, this is a case of a serial killer. I'm begging you, let's not get involved in this case. As long as we keep this head, put it in the suitcase, and hand it over!"
"Senior Sister, selfish actions will only lead to our destruction. We must call the police."
"Call the police? Why aren't you a police officer? Why are you a Schemer? With such a soft heart, can you compete with Zhu Guang?"
"Senior Sister, I just want to do the right thing in the right way, using rules to counter rules. In this situation, we must abide by the rules. This time, the decision is mine."
"No, Zhu Guang would never give us a box for bone artifacts for no reason. These items must be related to Tang Yi's disappearance. Today, he escaped. When he comes to play games with us tomorrow, these bones might become our winning tools."
My senior sister was also a formidable Schemer, and her analysis was correct. However, I couldn't stomach it. I couldn't use a stranger's skull as a lamp and save my daughter in such a manner.
"Even if you're right, we must abide by our agreement. This choice must be mine."
My tone was a bit harsher, but it didn't deter my senior sister. She shouted, "Tang Nan, you're using some damned regulation to get yourself killed. This is not what a Schemer does."
In my helplessness, I could only raise the rope and say seriously, "Since we cannot agree, perhaps we should break this rope."
Upon hearing my words, my senior sister screamed hysterically, "Tang Nan, Tang Yi is your daughter too!"
"I know. That's precisely why we need to save her by following the established rules!"
Hearing me say this, my senior sister took a deep breath. After a while, she said, "Fine, you're right about everything. For my daughter's sake, I'll tolerate you. However, Tang Nan, if anything happens to my daughter, I'll make all your relatives pay."
I didn't say anything and took out my phone to dial 110.
By the time the police arrived, we had already left. During this time, I also learned about the situation from the neighbors. The tenant was a truck driver, a single father, and an alcoholic. Over a month ago, his sixteen-year-old daughter had a fight with him and ran away from home, disappearing since then.
No one could have imagined that recently, this driver, constantly drinking, feared his daughter might have been kidnapped and fallen into immoral acts. He feared his daughter might have committed suicide. But he probably never imagined that someone would send his daughter's head back to him in a cake box.
"Killing the heart," something even a pervert would hesitate to do.
...
"Senior Sister, I still feel something is not right. You saw that envelope too. It must have been delivered with the cake box. What was written inside? Why did that driver leave in such a hurry after receiving it?"
After I finished speaking, I noticed my senior sister wasn't paying me any attention. I could only bite my lip and reach out to pat her hand. The first tap landed, but the second was dodged by her.
"What are you doing?"
"Where do you think that driver went?"
My senior sister sneered, "You don't even know this, yet you talk about using rules to defeat rules."
"What does this have to do with anything?"
"There's a foreign movie where the serial killer finally used the head of the young policeman's wife to provoke the young policeman into killing himself."
"Could it be that this truck driver was being controlled to kill someone?"
"Didn't you ask about his profession? He's a truck driver. He's not good at murder, but causing a car accident is easy. Moreover, judging by the envelope, someone must have guided him."
When my senior sister said this, I understood. What day was today? Today was the day Zhu Guang was going to court for trial. During this process, there was the transportation of prisoners from the detention center to the court.
At such times, prisoner transport vehicles were usually used.
If someone deliberately guided this drunk truck driver to firmly believe that the prisoner transport vehicle driver was the murderer of his daughter, then this would be an inevitable car accident.
...
After I figured it out, I was hesitating whether to call Wang Zeyu when Wang Zeyu's call actually came through.
"Little Tang, are you still in Beijing?"
"Yes, I am."
"I have some bad news for you."
"Please tell me..."
At this point, I had already guessed what the news might be. But I still listened quietly. During Zhu Guang's transportation from the detention center to the court, the prisoner transport vehicle had an accident. A bus happened to be passing by, and it stopped, with people getting out to help. When the escorting officers confirmed that the driver was beyond saving, they were shocked to discover that the disabled Zhu Guang had disappeared.
At that time, the vehicle was overturned...
The driver was almost crushed, and the escorts behind were also injured.
Because people came to help, they were all pulled out of the vehicle. At that time, Zhu Guang was placed aside. A disabled person handcuffed without legs, no one would have thought he could escape.
I hung up the phone and found my senior sister looking at me. She asked, "Zhu Guang escaped?"
"Mhm!"
"In that case, on the last day of the three-day deadline, Zhu Guang will definitely scheme for someone to die. In this game, we can't be without any tools. No, I need to call Master. Master is also looking for the human bone flute (Gangdong)."
"We can't find Old Ghost. His involvement will only make things more complicated."
I was a little anxious, but my senior sister looked at me coldly, "To counter rules with rules, the first thing to do is to abide by the rules. It's time for me to make a decision. I've decided to contact Master and find the human bone flute."