Junan police were still searching for the missing people. Chen Zheng placed the forensic report in front of Liu Xun. She kept her head lowered and didn’t look at it, but she seemed to know what it was.
“It’s regrettable,” Chen Zheng said. “I’ve encountered plenty of suspects and criminals. With most of them, I can tell something’s wrong from the first glance. Collecting evidence comes afterward. But you… When I first met you at ‘lake,’ I believed you were someone with limitless passion for perfume, a woman who genuinely loved her work. Later, I believed you and your younger sister, Liu Qing, were devoted to each other. Only now do I know you were working for drug traffickers. Actually, that’s not quite accurate. You had become a drug trafficker yourself.”
Liu Xun shook her head, apparently wanting to deny it.
“Looking back, the dissatisfaction you felt toward Liu Qing was already there in your statements. I simply failed to notice,” Chen Zheng said. “No matter how much a young girl might hate Huo Yewei, without outside interference she couldn’t have taken things that far. Her decision to go to his home that day, where she was then killed… that was your arrangement, wasn’t it?”
Liu Xun raised her head. Tears already covered her face. She clutched her clothes tightly, as though she were drowning.
Chen Zheng heard a hoarse curse being forced from Liu Xun’s throat. “Why did she get to live so easily? She should’ve died long ago! Without her, I’d never have ended up like this! I did it all for her! Everything was for her! And she still dared look down on me, still dared lecture me!”
“For Liu Qing?” Chen Zheng asked. “What did you do for Liu Qing?”
Liu Xun turned shakily toward the report. Several minutes passed before she suddenly burst into shrill laughter. When Chen Zheng had first told her Jin Xiaoquan was dead, she hadn’t been able to make sense of it. She’d seemed numb to everything. Now, after a stretch of time that wasn’t long but had been tormenting enough, she finally seemed to understand what had happened. The report stripped away her last disguise.
She was a drug trafficker. Her “lake” had produced far more than its well-reviewed niche perfumes.
“Without her, my life wouldn’t have been so hard.” Liu Xun was almost out of breath. Her hair hung over her eyes. Chen Zheng watched her through the glass partition and thought she resembled a female ghost concealed in an ink-wash painting.
Liu Xun had once recounted her estrangement from her parents and how she left home with her younger sister to start a business. That version was full of love and perseverance. It wasn’t entirely a fabrication, but it concealed the resentment, distortion, and malice that had also been there.
There had been three children in the Liu family: an eldest son, then Liu Xun, then their little sister Liu Qing. The family was fairly well off, so although their parents favored sons over daughters, Liu Xun and Liu Qing had still enjoyed material comfort. Liu Xun had even been able to study abroad.
But the eldest brother’s accidental death changed everything. Without their son, their parents felt the family line had been cut off. From then on, they could find fault with both daughters no matter what they did. They resented Liu Xun for being less gifted at business than her brother and Liu Qing for not being a son at all.
Liu Xun could have left. She’d already established the beginnings of a career overseas and could have supported herself without her parents. Living in that family was suffocating. If her parents didn’t love her, she had no obligation to consider their feelings.
But just as she was preparing to leave, Liu Qing clung to her and cried through an entire night. She begged Liu Xun not to go, her childish voice echoing through the room. “Sis, don’t leave me! What will I do if you go? Mom and Dad don’t love me at all. I’ll die!”
Liu Xun and Liu Qing shared the same suffering. Both were unwanted daughters in that family. Liu Xun couldn’t bear to abandon her sister, but taking Liu Qing overseas wasn’t possible either. She hesitated, and that hesitation was like a nail fixing her to the ground beneath her feet.
If she wasn’t leaving the country, she needed to find a way to make use of her own abilities. She became locked in a prolonged struggle with her parents. At first, “lake” was nothing more than a tiny workshop. Liu Xun had once imagined hard work would inevitably lead to success, but reality dealt her a brutal blow.
A workshop like hers had virtually no chance of growing into a real business. She became a laughingstock. If she’d been alone, she would have abandoned it all and gone overseas, but after breaking with her parents, Liu Qing had become the person tying her to home.
The girl was naive, with little understanding of money. She believed without reservation that Liu Xun would make a fortune. Her older sister had rescued her from a miserable home, and in Liu Qing’s eyes, that made her capable of anything.
Liu Xun worked herself even harder to live up to the image of being all-powerful in Liu Qing’s eyes. But it still wasn’t enough. She couldn’t see a way forward.
At her lowest point, Jin Xiaoquan appeared. “Do as I say and work for me,” he told her, “and I can guarantee that your ‘lake’ will become a jewel of the niche market.”
If Jin Xiaoquan had promised money, she wouldn’t have been tempted. Instead, he promised success and reputation, the very things she craved most. She took the bait, and from that day on became a dog at Jin Xiaoquan’s beck and call.
Jin Xiaoquan sent Zheng Feilong to help her, but in reality the man was there to watch her. Liu Xun could develop and produce perfumes at “lake” however she pleased, but the business also had to manufacture the drugs Jin Xiaoquan needed. In the beginning, the illicit workshop was inside “lake” itself. Zheng Feilong brought his own workers, so Liu Xun didn’t have to manage the process. Even so, she felt uneasy, forever imagining the smell of drugs hanging in the air. She planted a stand of wintersweet, whose blossoms had a strong fragrance.
She gained ample funding and a steadily growing reputation. People started reviewing “lake’s” products online. Influencers began recommending the brand. She was thrilled and frightened in equal measure: thrilled that her hard years finally seemed to be paying off, frightened because when she looked ahead, she saw only darkness. She was heading down a road from which there was no return, and she’d already lost the choice to stop.
When she turned and saw Liu Qing, carefree and utterly ignorant, a wave of disgust unexpectedly rose inside her. Liu Xun couldn’t understand where it came from. This was the little sister she loved.
As her dealings with Jin Xiaoquan deepened, she began learning some of the so-called secrets. When she grew afraid, Jin Xiaoquan reassured her. As long as he was around, neither Liu Xun nor “lake” would ever be exposed, because he’d placed a “sacrificial pawn” in Junan City in case of emergency. If the police investigated, all they would find would be that pawn.
Liu Xun knew the pawn was Nanfeng Pharmaceuticals. Jin Xiaoquan had chosen Nanfeng first and only later turned to “lake.” She couldn’t help wondering whether, if he found an even better partner in the future, “lake” would become the next disposable pawn.
The more she knew, the more she suffered. Liu Qing, however, had become her opposite. She was naive, kind, and still had energy to worry about when some minor celebrity might finally become famous. Looking at her, Liu Xun’s hatred deepened. Why couldn’t she be as happy as Liu Qing? Liu Xun bore all the burdens, while her little sister only had to enjoy the benefits.
It had been like that since childhood. Their elder brother was the family’s standard of perfection, and Liu Xun always fell short. Liu Qing was the youngest and had been adored by their brother. Liu Xun was stuck in the middle, receiving the most scolding and the least affection.
Why should that be?
She’d asked herself that countless times. Just as often, she’d thought how wonderful it would be if Liu Qing simply didn’t exist.
“I only wished she’d disappear. I never treated her badly,” Liu Xun said through her tears. “But she found out. And she accused me. She said she’d call the police! Everyone else had the right to accuse me, but not her! Who was it that turned me into Jin Xiaoquan’s dog?”
Probably because of the television series Feather Affairs, Liu Qing had watched many documentaries about drug enforcement. Without Liu Xun realizing, she’d learned quite a lot about drugs. She hated drug traffickers and often declared at home that they deserved to die and must never be given a chance.
Liu Xun was terrified. She felt a storm approaching.
But the storm arrived even sooner than she’d imagined. Liu Qing visited Xinlian Road and discovered the drugs hidden there.
That day, Liu Qing came home unusually quiet. She sent the housekeeper away and waited alone for her sister to return from work.
The normally flighty Liu Qing suddenly seemed composed, as though she’d spent a long time thinking. “Sis, I went to Xinlian Road. You… we should turn ourselves in!”
Inside, Liu Xun laughed coldly. Turn themselves in? What a joke.
And the most absurd part was that Liu Qing was the one proposing it. Liu Qing, who knew nothing and had spent her life sheltered in a greenhouse Liu Xun had built for her.
For the first time, she looked at Liu Qing as if through a stranger’s eyes. This girl’s life was the life Liu Xun longed for. She had earned it all herself, yet she wasn’t the one who got to live as Liu Qing.
“All right,” she said calmly. “But Qingqing, give your sister a little more time. ‘lake’ itself is innocent.”
Liu Qing threw her arms around her, crying. “I know, Sis! You did it all for me. I’m an accomplice too. If we have to go to prison, I’ll go with you!”
Prison? Just prison? Liu Xun nearly laughed aloud. After all those documentaries about narcotics, don’t you know people like me face the death penalty if they’re caught?
A chill suddenly swept through her. Of course Liu Qing knew. That was why she’d urged Liu Xun to turn herself in. There were two sisters. Liu Xun would be sentenced to death, while Liu Qing would earn credit for assisting the police. Everything Liu Xun had built would belong to Liu Qing.
She managed to placate Liu Qing and immediately instructed Zheng Feilong to contact Jin Xiaoquan. To her surprise, Jin Xiaoquan came to Junan City himself. In the car, he told her, “Don’t panic. Something is going to happen at Weimo Mountain Resort very soon. I remember your sister likes a star called Lin Dong?”
Hearing Lin Dong’s name made Liu Xun tremble instinctively. To her, Lin Dong wasn’t merely a celebrity. He was Yu Feng, the narcotics officer.
“Look at you. What are you so frightened of?” Jin Xiaoquan laughed. “In a little while, Lin Dong’s rival Huo Yewei might come back to stay for a few days. You know who that is, don’t you?”
She nodded.
“Find a way to provoke your sister. Better yet, get her to go to Huo Yewei’s home alone.”
“A-and then?”
“Then someone will naturally take care of it.”
Liu Xun couldn’t understand how it all connected. “Who? One of your people?”
“Not exactly,” Jin Xiaoquan answered ambiguously. “Just do what I say. Someone wants revenge, and we happen to be taking advantage of the ride.”
Perhaps because Lin Dong had vanished from public view, Liu Qing’s thoughts were all on him. She didn’t keep pressing her sister to turn herself in. Over those days, Liu Xun spent a great deal of time with Liu Qing, listening to her concerns about Lin Dong and subtly bringing up Huo Yewei. Sure enough, Liu Qing took the bait and began venting her frustrations about Huo Yewei.
Liu Xun grew increasingly repelled by a sister so absorbed in celebrity-fandom disputes. She regretted not leaving her behind years earlier. A few days later, Huo Yewei returned to Weimo Mountain Resort as predicted. But Liu Xun had provoked her sister too much. Liu Qing actually attacked Huo Yewei in front of everyone, nearly ruining the plan.
During the day on New Year’s Eve, Liu Xun brought up Huo Yewei once more. She said that if Liu Qing really wanted to make him suffer, she should quietly visit his home and photograph some of his secrets.
Liu Qing went. Everything that followed was already known to the police.
“I don’t regret it.” Liu Xun suddenly straightened her back, tears sliding silently down her face. “I regret getting involved with Jin Xiaoquan, but I don’t regret killing Liu Qing. She came into this world to collect a debt from me. She ruined my entire life.”
Liu Xun’s emotional collapse interrupted the questioning twice. Chen Zheng and Li Shu took turns questioning her. When Li Shu was inside, Chen Zheng watched Liu Xun quietly on the monitor, thinking about why Jin Xiaoquan had chosen her.
She was an ordinary person in so many ways, with an ordinary person’s indecision and cowardice. She had lofty ambitions but couldn’t let go of those who tied her down. She wanted everything and couldn’t hold on to any of it.
Perhaps that was precisely the kind of person Jin Xiaoquan needed. Her “lake” was easier to control than Wu Mo’s Nanfeng Pharmaceuticals.
Liu Xun disclosed that powerful forces stood behind Jin Xiaoquan. Apparently he had an older sister, though Liu Xun had never met her. All the drug-production workers at “lake” had been recruited by Zheng Feilong, an important subordinate of Jin Xiaoquan. Zheng Feilong supplied all the ingredients and formulas and determined who bought the drugs.
According to Liu Xun, Jin Xiaoquan didn’t need large quantities of drugs. Only a portion was sold. The rest was used to control people. The Azure Sky Cult was an organization Jin Xiaoquan had created. It targeted people suffering from physical and psychological illnesses, many of whom could not obtain proper treatment because of poverty or other circumstances. Their pain tormented them constantly. They knew they weren’t going to recover and wanted only some relief. “lake’s” Black Mark worked remarkably well for them, but the price was severe addiction. They became slaves to the drug.
Since becoming Jin Xiaoquan’s puppet, Liu Xun’s perfume business had flourished, even opening markets in Countries J and K and Southeast Asia. At times she was immersed in empty happiness, surrounded by a sense of achievement. At others she woke from nightmares drenched in cold sweat. When she was thinking clearly, she knew that one day it would all come back to destroy her, but she had no way out. If she tried to sever ties with Jin Xiaoquan, Zheng Feilong would inject highly concentrated drugs into her body.
“I remember ‘lake’ had a public-relations crisis a few years ago,” Chen Zheng said.
Liu Xun opened her mouth and gave a bitter smile. “I’m only half-competent at being a criminal. Part of me was doing evil, while another part hoped someone would rescue me. So I tried to send out a signal. But before Jin Xiaoquan even had to warn me, I lost my nerve.”
Chen Zheng was referring to a perfume “lake” had released at the time, Kelan’as. There was nothing wrong with the fragrance itself. It was a fairly light men’s scent. But the name was also that of a drug originating in Latin America. It was so obscure, and so far removed from Hua Country, that no one initially noticed.
Before long, a reviewer uncovered the drug connection and raised suspicions that “lake” was encouraging consumers to view narcotics favorably, sparking a wave of public outrage. “lake” immediately withdrew Kelan’as from sale. Liu Xun and her management team apologized in person, explaining that no one on the team had known the name referred to a drug and it was purely a coincidence.
The uproar continued for some time. Quite a few bloggers scrutinized “lake’s” other fragrances, but found no further problems. Eventually the affair died down.
“Back then, I hoped someone would come and destroy the whole thing. Whatever happened to me, I would accept it,” Liu Xun said, shaking her head. “But I only went halfway and lost my courage. Jin Xiaoquan saw what I was really trying to do and took me to Hutian Hotel.”
“So you knew six bodies were buried underneath it?” Chen Zheng asked.
Liu Xun nodded, her eyes empty. “He wanted me to know what happened to people who opposed him.”
Chen Zheng was silent for a while. “How much else do you know about the Heaven-Measuring Ruler?”
“Only that Jin Xiaoquan and his older sister belonged to one of its factions. The organization is a mess. Jin Xiaoquan produced drugs partly as a way of fighting the other factions. He maintained the Azure Sky Cult so its people would help him kill when he needed them.” Liu Xun paused. “There’s someone he’s afraid of.”
Chen Zheng hurriedly asked, “Who?”
But Liu Xun shook her head. “I don’t know. I’m only guessing. He and that person seemed to be partners, but they used each other too. Jin Xiaoquan said Nanfeng Pharmaceuticals was one of his bargaining chips.”
The threads in Chen Zheng’s mind were coming together. That person was very likely Liang Yueze. No one else seemed to fit.
Jin Xiaoquan’s hold over Nanfeng Pharmaceuticals matched as well. With Yunquan Group’s investment, the moment Nanfeng was tied to drug production, Yunquan would inevitably become implicated.
Because Jin Xiaoquan was so closely connected to Liang Yueze, he’d known Liang Yueze intended to send Killer A after Huo Yewei. He moved the drugs out of “lake” in advance and had Liu Xun coax Liu Qing into walking into the trap.
Chen Zheng frowned as his thoughts raced. He and Ming Han had analyzed before that Liang Yueze might already have allied himself with a faction of the Heaven-Measuring Ruler. They shared a goal while remaining suspicious of and exploiting one another. Now it looked as though Liang Yueze’s ally was Jin Xiaoquan.
Jin Xiaoquan, along with that mysterious older sister, had become increasingly divided from Liang Yueze. Jin Xiaoquan wanted to use Nanfeng Pharmaceuticals to make the police bring Liang Yueze down. Liang Yueze, in turn, deliberately offered to help Jin Xiaoquan escape, only to have Killer A kill him in front of the police halfway through.
What would Liang Yueze do next?
Chen Zheng felt his blood quickening little by little. He could almost see the truth clearly, but Jin Xiaoquan was dead, Zheng Feilong’s whereabouts were unknown, and the police still had nothing more than strong suspicions against Liang Yueze. They hadn’t found the decisive evidence that would settle the matter.
Liu Xun lost consciousness after the interrogation ended. The last thing she said to Chen Zheng was, “Please sentence me to death.”
Based on Liu Xun’s statements, the Junan bureau developed a plan to track down Zheng Feilong and the others. A day later, a waste-processing facility reported discovering decomposing body parts. DNA testing identified them as belonging to the missing accountant, Sister Gu. She really had been murdered. Judging by the state of decomposition, she’d been dead for more than ten days. Zheng Feilong and the others had probably already left Han Province and were very likely to have gone abroad.
Before returning to Luocheng, Chen Zheng visited He Mei one more time. She was currently under investigation.
She no longer wore high heels or a business suit. Her hair was unstyled, and she had no makeup on. Yet Chen Zheng felt that at last she’d removed her mask.
“Officer Chen.” He Mei smiled faintly, and there was even a hint of relief in that smile. “I always thought I was someone who saw life clearly. Love and friendship were nothing but stepping-stones on my climb. I didn’t love anyone else. I loved only myself. It took so much to get where I am.”
He Mei lowered her head and played with her fingers, speaking almost to herself. “I never do anything without a purpose.”
“You did, though,” Chen Zheng said.
He Mei looked up in surprise. Several seconds later, she sighed bitterly. “Yes. It was so difficult to obtain everything, and so easy to give it up. It seems all those years of struggling were for nothing. Officer Chen, I don’t have anything more to tell you. I heard you’re planning to move Zhu Yi’s grave? Let me know when the time comes. I’d like to visit her.”
Back in Luocheng, Liang Yueze continued to refuse to talk. The Mobile Unit’s investigation into Yunquan Group was making little progress, and everything was deadlocked. Lu Hejing, Tang Xiaoli, and Yu Xingzhong had yet to agree on what to do next.
Chen Zheng returned to Luocheng half a day earlier than planned. Instead of going straight to the Mobile Unit, he asked Zhou Jue on the way how Ming Han was doing. Zhou Jue immediately became animated. Before getting to the important part, he embellished the entire death-defying high-speed pursuit that he and Ming Han had undertaken against Jin Xiaoquan, making special mention of the explosion in the tunnel.
Ming Han had nearly been blown up by Tang Xiaowan last time, so Chen Zheng couldn’t bear hearing about explosions anymore. But Zhou Jue only grew more dramatic. “Bro Chen, you’re finally coming back! Ming Han’s still lying in the hospital, waiting for you to visit him!”
Chen Zheng hurried to the hospital. Before he reached the ward, he heard Ming Han say, “Take this off. I’m fine now. I’m going home soon anyway.”
“Take what off?” Chen Zheng asked.
“This, right here…” Ming Han froze. “Bro!”
The nurse saw someone had arrived and spoke up at once. “Are you his brother? Good timing. The patient won’t cooperate with treatment. Talk some sense into him.”
“Bro, weren’t you supposed to be back tonight?” Ming Han asked.
Chen Zheng caught Ming Han’s arm and examined it. A long cut ran along the upper arm, a shocking sight. During their last video call, Ming Han had tried to hide it, showing Chen Zheng only the minor injury on his right arm.
“What happened?” Chen Zheng asked with a frown.
Ming Han coughed awkwardly. “Bro, there’s someone else here. Are you going to let me keep any dignity?”
“That nurse is the one saving your life and treating your injuries. What do you mean, someone else?”
The nurse said softly, “Exactly!”
Ming Han had no answer. “Well then, Nurse, little sister, hurry up and change my dressing. I’ve got things to do.”
The nurse asked, “So we’re not removing it anymore?”
Ming Han sighed. “Hey…”
“Don’t listen to him,” Chen Zheng said. “Do whatever needs doing. I’ll stay and watch him.”
“Right away!” The nurse immediately attended to Ming Han’s wound. Her instruments clinked and clattered while Ming Han muttered and grumbled.
With the nurse there, Chen Zheng didn’t say much. He stood like a solemn Buddha statue until she announced that the dressing change was finished and Ming Han should come back in two days. Ming Han had obediently stayed in place the whole time.
Chen Zheng looked at the name beside the bed and asked, “He’s supposed to be admitted here, and he just went off on his own?”
The nurse explained, “It wasn’t exactly on his own. Patients in his condition are allowed to leave. He comes in for an infusion during the day and, if everything looks all right, he can sleep at home. This isn’t a new injury. An old wound reopened and became a little infected. He didn’t take it seriously. It got worse yesterday, but he’s somewhat better today.”
Ming Han tried to interrupt, but one look from Chen Zheng made him shut his mouth obediently.
Now that she’d seen the one person Ming Han couldn’t argue with, the nurse grew bolder. “Still want to make excuses? It might not be a major wound, but if you don’t take proper care of it, you’d better watch out for amputation!”
Ming Han hastily clasped his hands in salute. “Thank you, thank you, living bodhisattva!”
The nurse left laughing. Only Chen Zheng and Ming Han remained in the hospital room. The other bed belonged to Zhou Jue, who’d disappeared to who knew where. Chen Zheng closed the door and stood beside Ming Han’s bed, looking at him.