Case Files 013

Wei Er led the way into the yard. I held Guan Zhenglin by one hand and led Doggie Wang Er's leash in another and followed behind him. This was a traditional Chinese Si He Yuan. Around 6 people sat in the yard. When we walked in, everyone turned to look at us. These people's average age group was around 30. But there was a young woman who sat among them. She stood out among the guys. The woman had fair skin, red lips and a pretty face. But different from a feminine softness, there was a handsomeness about her. She was currently leaning on a long bench. Her rather tight clothes accentuated her curves. I was watching her and she was also watching me.

This woman was none other than Zhao Mingkun!

I recognized her at first glance, the underling of the genius criminal, Si Hwacheng. Currently the genius criminal was in Qing Cheng Prison, so what was Zhao Mingkun doing here, mixing with a group of grave robbers? What was her goal? Guan Zhenglin's hand that held my own tightened. We had both seen Zhao Mingkun's picture so she must have recognized her as well. How could there be such a coincidence in this world?

"And these three are?" Zhao Mingkun asked slowly. Wei Er introduced, "These are fellow grave robbers from Qing Cheng. I answered their courtesy call. They're members of the northern sect as we are, and are here looking for help. This here is Little Brother Wu, his wife and the one on the ground is a bit mentally challenged. He's Doggie Wang Er, he believes he's a dog." To everyone's surprise, Doggie Wang Er countered, "You're the one with the mental problem, I'm the cleverest dog in the world!"

"And they are?" I asked politely. Wei Er introduced them one by one, there were quite some famous figures here. "The two baldies who are stuck together like Siamese twins are Qian Er and Qian San. The man sitting dazed at the corner is Big Egg. The other two are Little Three and Ol' Six. And this beautiful woman, her name is Zhao…" Zhao Mingkun raised her hand to stop him. Then she stood up and walked towards me. She gave me a once-over and said with intrigue, "You look much younger than I am, you can call me Big Sister Queen."

I smiled but the next second, the smile froze. Zhao Mingkun grabbed my arms and then turned me around. The next second I felt my knees wobble and I knelt to the ground. My arms were held behind my back. I had zero basics in martial arts, I couldn't struggle loose even if I tried. "So we have the police among us." Zhao Mingkun giggled. After she said that, everyone stood up. Wei Er wanted to say something but Zhao Mingkun stopped him. Then I felt a gun barrel pressed against my head. After that, it was the sound of a bullet being loaded.

My heart skipped a beat. This made no sense, we had just arrived at Lin Fen. Captain Zhao had not even set up his office yet, how did our identity get exposed so soon? Other than Captain Zhao, Mary and Xiao Liu, only me, Guan Zhenglin and Gu Chen knew about our undercover mission. Could there be a traitor among the 6 of us? Then it hit me. Zhao Mingkun was testing the authenticity of our identity.

To confirm my suspicion, I felt Zhao Mingkun pinching the fingers of the hands clutched behind my back one by one. This didn't mean that Zhao Mingkun had a hand fetish but she was checking for telling signs. For a police officer, due to their training with guns, there would be calluses on the middle and index fingers. Too bad I was not a conventional police officer, my hands were as untouched as that of a fair maiden. Furthermore, I grew up in the prison, there were no kids for me to scuffle with. Naturally I had no calluses. If Gu Chen was here, his identity might be exposed but not me. No wonder Captain Zhao needed to find new or reserved officers to join this task force of his, the suspected culprit, Zhao Mingkun was very sensitive around law enforcement. With this in mind, my heart calmed.

However, it was a different case with Doggie Wang Er. Doggie Wang Er saw himself as a dog, a loyal dog at that. When we were at the mental hospital, I was always good to him and he saw me as his owner. Seeing the danger I was in, he lunged forward to try to bite at Zhao Mingkun's exposed calf. However, Zhao Mingkun steadily landed a side kick on him and kept him struggling on the ground with a firm stomp on his head. Zhao Mingkun was a very good fighter, she could take on all 3 of us easily.

"I say, Big Sister Queen, I'm just a grave robber from Qing Cheng. I've not seen a gun before in my life, you're scaring me..." I begged. Zhao Mingkun moved the gun from my head. "You're quite an actor but this dog of yours is an even better actor than you are. Since you say you aren't cops, then you wouldn't me killing a dog, right?" Zhao Mingkun aimed the gun at Doggie Wang Er's head and her finger slowly pulled on the trigger.

"Let go of my master, woof!" Doggie Wang Er did not seem to sense the danger he was in. Even if he was stepped onto the ground, he growled angrily. Zhao Mingkun did not stop, the finger continued to pull. Guan Zhenglin was the first to crack. She shouted, "Don't shoot, he's a pol…" Once our identity was exposed, there was no way we would leave this yard alive. These were all grave robbers, they were already criminals so what was cop-killing? Furthermore, we weren't even official police officers. When everyone heard the first syllable of Guan Zhenglin's last word, their faces tensed. I quickly cut in and shouted over her, "He's a positively crazy person. Big Sister Queen, you're not heartless enough to murder a madman, are you? If you want to kill someone, then kill me. Leave my younger brother disciple alone, he has had a more than tough life already!"

Wei Er jumped to our defence. "I don't think they're cops. What cops bring a mental patient with them. Plus I do know their master, Wang Mazi."

But Zhao Mingkun still pulled the trigger. The pistol rang out but the chamber was empty. Zhao Mingkun twirled the gun twice in her palm before she holstered it back. "Little kid, it's not that big sister doesn't want to believe you but one cannot be too careful or else I wouldn't have survived until now." Zhao Mingkun massaged my arms. "Also, apologies to your canine younger brother. Little doggie, are you hurt?"

Doggie Wang Er forgot all grievances and licked at Zhao Mingkun's feet. "No, it doesn't hurt." Wei Er tapped me on my shoulder. "Ha ha ha, so it's all a misunderstanding. Little Brother Wu, I hope you don't mind that. I'm sure you understand the need for us to be cautious." We sat down. Zhao Mingkun chose to sit down beside Guan Zhenglin, "Young sister, you look too young to be married!"

"We haven't got married." Guan Zhenglin stole a look at me. "But I've been following him since I was young so I go whenever he goes." The little glance spoke of shyness, I was surprised by Guan Zhenglin's acting skill. I rolled my eyes at Guan Zhenglin, "She is an orphan. I ran into her when I was 16 and she was 13. She started to follow me after I gave her a bowl of rice. She tells everyone she's my wife but honestly, I prefer someone like Big Sister Queen, a matured woman." Everyone laughed while Guan Zhenglin pinched my leg under the table.

"By the way, Big Sister Queen, since you carry a gun, you're not in the grave-robbing business, are you? If possible, do you mind making some introductions? I hear there is a big tomb here." I said endearingly to Zhao Mingkun. The latter smiled slightly. "We just came out from that tomb, so you can forget about it. But we can consider some other collaboration in the future."

"Right, Little Brother Wu, we have an interesting event happening tonight. Would you like to come see?" Wei Er asked.

"Interesting event? What event?"

Wei Er chuckled. "Have you heard of Minghun?"

"Of course I do." I answered. "Isn't Ol' Zhang in this business, he has at least 10 bodies in storage." Wei Er nodded. "Since you know Ol' Zhang, I'm not going to hide this from you. Sometimes, Ol' Zhang would source his bodies from us. That Ol' Zhang appears to have some connection. Last I heard, there are some big names on that network of his."

I gasped. "Big names? Who are they?"

"Tamper your ambition, young man." Qian Er warned. His row of yellowed teeth was exposed. "You're still too young to know certain things." I shrugged.

"Let's not linger on that. Wasn't we talking about Minghun?" Wei Er pulled the topic back. "There is going to be one being held at Ba Jia Zi district tonight, would you like to attend it?"

These grave robbers led by Wei Er were probably the lowest level in the production chain and the big names Wei Er mentioned were the real big fish. One big fish was worth more than 100 Wei Er. Then again, Zhao Mingkun had decided to mingle along with this group of grave robbers. The woman was very important to another case. Before we got further news, it was best for us to keep our cover and get to know what these people were up to.

I quickly responded, "Of course! I haven't been to an actual Minghun before!"