Long Fusheng and the other senior officials had already left. There was suddenly an additional air of dominance in Li Dongchi’s every move. He smiled with amusement. “It’s my show of sincerity. I know you have plenty of concerns about this cooperation. Our country isn’t as well organized as yours. Intelligence leaks at any moment, corruption is rife at high levels, and operations here are far more dangerous than they are back home for you. But I, at least, genuinely want your help. When I learned that you intended to arrest Ruan Xingjie and Zheng Feilong, I did it for you. Of course, my methods couldn’t be as open and aboveboard as yours.”
Chen Zheng seemed to have missed the point. “Oh? What exactly do you mean by not open and aboveboard? Tell me in detail.”
Li Dongchi blinked, intrigued by his reaction. “I’d thought elite police officers from Hua Country were all stiff and by-the-book.”
“Then we’d have to rename the Mobile Unit the Stiff-as-a-Board Unit,” Chen Zheng replied.
Ming Han burst out laughing.
Li Dongchi laughed even harder, his white hair bouncing outrageously. Once he’d finished, his expression turned grave. “Ruan Xingjie has been on our radar for years. We knew he belonged to the Heaven-Measuring Ruler even before he went to your country. Back then, even Jinsi Island and Jiaoliu City weren’t stable. We didn’t have the capacity to deal with the organization. But things had changed by the time he returned three years ago. We controlled Jiaoliu City and its surroundings, and the Heaven-Measuring Ruler no longer operated here. Ruan Xingjie was unusual. Although he belonged to the organization, he’d earned enough in your country and no longer pursued wealth. He settled quietly in a small town near Jiaoliu, living like a law-abiding citizen. We generally look the other way when criminals return here with assets like his. If we weren’t working with you, I probably wouldn’t have touched him.”
“Then how did he end up so badly injured?” Chen Zheng asked.
“Rats have routes no human would ever imagine,” Li Dongchi continued. “Ruan Xingjie might have been living like an ordinary man, but that didn’t mean he’d lost access to Heaven-Measuring Ruler intelligence. After you discovered the bodies at that hotel, he began preparing to flee. My private force intercepted him on his way out of the country, and there was a battle with his mercenaries.”
“Your own mercenaries?” Chen Zheng asked.
Li Dongchi looked resigned. “In a place like ours, an honest police officer can get killed far too easily. If I want to change Country M, I have to be able to protect myself first.”
“Understandable.” Ming Han applauded. “We respect the differences in local customs.”
Li Dongchi smiled at Ming Han, then turned to Zheng Feilong. Capturing him had been harder than capturing Ruan Xingjie. Zheng Feilong was still working for the Heaven-Measuring Ruler, reporting to Jin Xiaoquan and Jin Xiuhe. After trouble struck “lake,” he’d smuggled himself back into Country M to seek Jin Xiuhe’s protection, but the police had moved faster, raiding the cave where he and his group were hiding and arresting more than ten people.
“Then maybe we can use Zheng Feilong to obtain intelligence about Jin Xiuhe,” Chen Zheng said. “Captain Li, you mentioned that her power has been growing. How much do you know about her branch with Jin Xiaoquan?”
“I’ve spent years thinking about how to eliminate the Heaven-Measuring Ruler,” Li Dongchi replied. “Jin Xiuhe is the most critical part of that.”
“Hm?”
“She isn’t greedy. That’s something many people within the Heaven-Measuring Ruler can’t manage.”
To outsiders, Jin Xiuhe and Jin Xiaoquan seemed to be partners who worked together perfectly. Jin Xiuhe deserved much of the credit for Jin Xiaoquan being able to remain hidden in Hua Country for so many years: she quietly cultivated expendable personnel in Country M and expanded the drug-trafficking network.
The Heaven-Measuring Ruler was an almost perfect criminal organization. Its leader Jin Wu was as elusive as a ghost, a symbol of the organization itself. Below him, the various Mr. Jins committed crimes and accumulated wealth in countries around the world, establishing competing factions whose fortunes rose and fell. Jin Wu used their struggles to maintain his grip on supreme power, making his position unassailable.
The more chaotic a region was, the easier it was for the Heaven-Measuring Ruler to recruit members. Thus it formed one stronghold after another in small countries such as Country M. But only in stable countries could power truly be converted into money. Jin Xiuhe guarded the stronghold in Country M while Jin Xiaoquan “cultivated” the market in Hua Country. Together they’d built one of the organization’s most formidable branches.
“And she’s one of my biggest short-term targets,” Li Dongchi said. “Once Jin Xiuhe is purged, the Heaven-Measuring Ruler’s influence here will drop by several levels. Other criminal organizations will also take fright and move away. I’ll be frank with you. I can command, first, my private armed force; second, the police that Minister Long has assigned to me; and third, some trusted men in the public-order unit. That’s not enough to deal with Jin Xiuhe. Thank heaven you’ve arrived.”
“Have you had direct contact with Jin Xiuhe?” Chen Zheng asked.
“We’ve dealt with each other. She’s from Hua Country. Her real name is Du Yuelin.” Li Dongchi shrugged. “It’s almost a joke. Two years ago, when fighting broke out north of Jiaoliu City, my public-order team had to cooperate with her to get rid of the armed faction causing the trouble. Times have changed. We have to cut ties with the Heaven-Measuring Ruler. Jin Xiuhe knows that too. She went back north last year. That’s outside our jurisdiction for now, and it’s the criminal paradise you’re imagining.”
Chen Zheng thought for a while. “If Jin Xiuhe is your short-term target, then is Jin Wu your long-term one?”
Li Dongchi drew a sharp breath. For the first time, Chen Zheng saw discomfort on his face.
Ming Han joked, “Even the name Jin Wu is enough to frighten you?”
Li Dongchi shook his head and lit a cigarette. “Jin Wu is the Heaven-Measuring Ruler. So many of the Mr. Jins have died or vanished, but Jin Wu has never budged. The hardest part of dealing with the organization is him. He’s right here in our country, yet no one has ever seen him.”
“What about Jin Xiuhe?” Chen Zheng asked.
“I once asked her. Even she hasn’t seen him,” Li Dongchi said. “Of all the Mr. Jins I’ve met, not one has discovered Jin Wu’s identity. So for now Jin Wu can only be a distant goal. I don’t expect this single joint operation to uncover him.”
“But catching Jin Xiuhe would certainly strike a major blow against the Heaven-Measuring Ruler,” Chen Zheng said. “Just because she hadn’t met Jin Wu before doesn’t mean she hasn’t found any clues by now.”
Li Dongchi perked up. “Right! Let’s accomplish our immediate goal first.”
At that moment, one of Li Dongchi’s subordinates reported that Ruan Xingjie and Zheng Feilong had been brought to the interrogation rooms.
“You even have interrogation rooms down here?” Chen Zheng asked.
Li Dongchi laughed. “Things are complicated outside. This is the territory I control.”
The interrogation rooms were underground too. The blood had been cleaned from Ruan Xingjie’s body. Looking at Chen Zheng, he suddenly bared his teeth in a grin. His front teeth had been knocked out, revealing bloodied gums.
“So the debt collectors are finally here.” Missing teeth gave his words a peculiar sound.
“Do you know who I am?” Chen Zheng asked.
Rather than answer, Ruan Xingjie said, “Junan City is a wonderful place. The longer I stayed there, the more I felt… as though I was on the verge of no longer belonging to the Heaven-Measuring Ruler.”
“So you ran away?”
Ruan Xingjie paused. “Ah, ran away. My instincts are excellent, unlike Jin Xiaoquan’s. You see, I’m still alive, while he’s dead.”
“What were your instincts telling you?”
“It was only a matter of time before the secrets of Hutian Hotel and Nanfeng Pharmaceuticals were exposed,” Ruan Xingjie muttered. “Know why I thought Junan City was so good? Because there was hardly any crime there at all. So how could I expect to hide for the rest of my life?”
“Are you complimenting the police of Han Province?” Chen Zheng asked.
Ruan Xingjie let out a strange laugh. “Are you taking me back? What do you want to know?”
Chen Zheng hadn’t expected to be interrogating suspects the moment he reached Country M. But as he looked into Ruan Xingjie’s eyes, a question suddenly flashed through his mind, one that had remained unanswered ever since Wu Mo was silenced.
“When Nanfeng Pharmaceuticals first started manufacturing drugs, was there anyone behind Wu Mo besides Jin Xiaoquan?”
“You mean, did Mr. Liang know?” Ruan Xingjie asked.
Chen Zheng frowned. “Nanfeng Pharmaceuticals received investment from Yunquan Group.”
“Mr. Liang and Mr. Jin were closely bound together in those days. What do you think? Did he know, or didn’t he?” Ruan Xingjie continued. “But Mr. Liang didn’t approve, and that caused a conflict between them. Mr. Jin believed Wu Mo was the ideal person for the job. We needed that pharmaceutical production line too. I’m talking about pharmaceuticals, mind you, not narcotics.”
“Drugs come in many different forms,” Chen Zheng said.
“At any rate, Mr. Jin needed medicines and narcotics, and he had the formulas. Wu Mo’s production line ought to have been kept,” Ruan Xingjie said. “But Mr. Liang got in the way. He stopped the investment and perhaps took other measures to obstruct them. Nanfeng Pharmaceuticals couldn’t keep going.”
“Did you return to Country M only because you sensed danger?”
Ruan Xingjie lowered his head. After a moment he said, “Mr. Jin could no longer control Mr. Liang. Once the storm broke, I’d be among the first to be swept away.”
“Because you knew about Nanfeng Pharmaceuticals?”
“Maybe that wasn’t all? I came to your country with Mr. Jin. At the time, Mr. Liang didn’t wield the power he had later. He had to listen to Mr. Jin in many matters and do things he didn’t want to do. Their positions reversed over the following years. I never expected that after fleeing all this way, I’d still end up in your hands.”
Chen Zheng organized his thoughts before asking again. “Besides you, Wu Mo, and Jin Xiaoquan, who knew the children from the tea factory were buried at Hutian Hotel? Did Liang Yueze know?”
Ruan Xingjie considered. “Mr. Liang probably didn’t. The underlings who handled it only knew they were burying dead people, not who they were.”
Chen Zheng thought deeply. Then how had Lu Hejing received that intelligence from Han Qu? Surely Han Qu hadn’t gotten it from Ruan Xingjie.
“And Jin Xiuhe,” Ruan Xingjie added uncertainly. “Mr. Jin discussed many things with her. She might have known, although I don’t think she’s ever been to Han Province.”
Had Jin Xiuhe given Han Qu that information? Or had someone impersonated Han Qu to send it?
Discovering the bodies at Hutian Hotel had directly prompted Jin Xiaoquan’s violent resistance to the police and given Liang Yueze the chance to silence him. That meant the person impersonating Han Qu, or passing intelligence to Han Qu, might also have been Liang Yueze, even if Ruan Xingjie claimed Liang Yueze knew nothing about it.
Chen Zheng felt his reasoning growing increasingly tangled. Returning to Jin Xiuhe, what motive would she have had for providing such intelligence? To kill someone with another person’s knife and seize all of Jin Xiaoquan’s power?
In another interrogation room, Zheng Feilong was roaring at Ming Han. “I was only running errands! If you’re so capable, go arrest Jin Xiuhe! Arrest Jin Wu!”
“No hurry. I’ve come all this way. How could I possibly leave without catching Jin Xiuhe?” Ming Han’s brows were lowered, but a cold smile played around his lips. “You’re awfully worked up. Seems you have quite a grudge against Jin Xiuhe and Jin Wu. Have you seen Jin Wu?”
Zheng Feilong shuddered, then gave a peculiar laugh. “You’re no match for Jin Wu.”
“What about Jin Xiuhe?” Ming Han asked. “Your boss Jin Xiaoquan was shot dead in Hua Country. Do you resent Jin Xiuhe for doing nothing to help?”
Zheng Feilong erupted again. “That poisonous woman! That vicious snake! If she hadn’t sold me to Li Dongchi, would I have ended up like this?”
“Oh?” Ming Han asked curiously. “What do you mean? Jin Xiuhe betrayed you? That’s not quite how Captain Li described it.”
Zheng Feilong’s throat rattled like a broken bellows. “Jin Xiuhe knew you were coming after her, so she leaked my whereabouts to Li Dongchi first. She did him a favor so she’d have a chance to get away! Ha ha! And you’re actually cooperating with police like that! Cough…”
Three Country M police officers rushed in, cut off his shouts, and dragged him out. Ming Han rose with his expression unchanged and the same smile still on his face, as though none of Zheng Feilong’s words had affected him.
Meanwhile, far to the north of the capital, Jiaoliu City, an armored off-road vehicle drove among low buildings in Country M. Bullet holes riddled the walls and billboards, and the roads were cratered by explosions.
Bu Yangyun closed the rear window and checked his phone. “The police from Hua Country have arrived.”
“Isn’t your son among them?” Du Yuelin teased. “Wonder what sort of setting you’ll meet him in?”
Bu Yangyun didn’t take the bait. “Did I forget to remind you that police from Hua Country aren’t like the police here?”
“So what?” Du Yuelin laughed. “This isn’t Hua Country. I’m not as stupid as Jin Xiaoquan, letting Liang Yueze coax me into confronting their police head-on. All I need to do is handle Country M’s police.”
Bu Yangyun turned toward her. “So you’ve already handled them?”
“Just toss away two useless old relics. That public-order captain in Jiaoliu City will hold the Hua Country police back for me.” Du Yuelin looked at him. “And you, Uncle Bu? Liang Yueze will be here soon. You’re not getting cold feet, are you?”
“Cold feet? I’d like to back out, but I can’t.” Bu Yangyun folded his hands and looked out at the ruined buildings. “You know I have no other choice. But when you mentioned giving Country M’s police a little reward just now, I worried that Captain Li might be more complicated than he seems.”
Du Yuelin’s displeasure was plain. In all these years, only her mother and Jin Xiaoquan had dared question her decisions. Both were dead now. She gave Bu Yangyun a sidelong glance that seemed to ask, Who do you think you are?
“You think Li Dongchi will team up with the Hua Country police to play games with me?” she asked coldly.
“I’m thinking of the Jinsi Island case years ago. You lived in Han Province as a child, so you must know how influential the Liang family’s Yunquan Group was. My Yunyang Tech and your Yingqiang Group were nothing beside it,” Bu Yangyun said. “Yet in a case that big, Han Province only sent a token group of local detectives, who had no effect on the investigation at all.”
“Of course they didn’t,” Du Yuelin scoffed. “The Jinsi Island police never allowed them to investigate.”
Then she stopped.
“Exactly. The Jinsi Island police didn’t let them investigate. So why have the two countries agreed to cooperate this time?” Bu Yangyun asked. “What’s that public-order captain really plotting? Could he be trying to profit from both sides?”
Du Yuelin waved impatiently. “It’s not as complicated as you think. I’ve known Li Dongchi for years. He’s a police officer, and he isn’t.”
“Oh? What does that mean?”
“With his background, only a country like this would let him be a legitimate police officer. But being the capital’s public-order captain isn’t nearly enough for him. He wants to unite Country M’s police, mercenaries, private armed forces, and even criminal organizations, with himself at the top of the pyramid.”
Bu Yangyun narrowed his eyes. “Quite an appetite.”
“That’s why his target is Jin Wu.”
Bu Yangyun looked astonished. “Well, now!”
“An international operation against the Heaven-Measuring Ruler is already being pushed by the Hua Country police. How could he turn it away?” Du Yuelin said. “Since he can’t prevent it, he might as well take advantage of it and use those naïve officers to devour Jin Wu.”
“The Heaven-Measuring Ruler has ruled with impunity for decades. How could Jin Wu be disposed of so easily?”
“Then they can at least destroy each other. And by ‘they,’ I mean Jin Wu and the Hua Country police,” Du Yuelin said with a smile. “Li Dongchi profits as the fisherman watching two sides fight. He keeps attacking Jin Wu, and I get another bargaining chip.”
Bu Yangyun began, “You want to…”
“Who is Jin Wu?” Du Yuelin asked. “No one knows. If Jin Wu could be anyone, why couldn’t Jin Xiuhe be Jin Wu? Aren’t I a member of the Jin family too?”
Bu Yangyun clapped with a half-smile. “So you want to become the new Jin Wu. Ambitious.”
Du Yuelin turned toward him. “Uncle Bu, you’re implying something. Don’t think I can’t hear your sarcasm.”
Bu Yangyun sighed. “Yuelin, my reason for coming to Country M is simple: to settle the problems left from years ago. Once Liang Yueze is dead, I can rest easy. I’ve never seen Jin Wu. I don’t care who takes that name next. All I want is a reliable outcome. I don’t want something going wrong now because of you and that public-order captain’s grand ambitions.”
Half a minute later, Du Yuelin gave a contemptuous laugh. “Uncle Bu, Country G really has softened you. All this second-guessing and hesitation. Know what that is? You’re wasting your strength fighting yourself.”
Bu Yangyun closed his eyes and shook his head.
“Relax. The police won’t come north. This isn’t their territory,” Du Yuelin said seriously. “I’m working with Li Dongchi as an extra safeguard for this operation. The only person coming is Liang Yueze, because you’re here. When Liang Yueze dies, you can leave freely. Whatever arrangements Li Dongchi and I make afterward are none of your concern.”
After the car passed through the devastated urban area, it entered a wilderness of rampant grass. Western-style buildings began to appear along the road, with white Roman columns and statues reduced to their pedestals. Fully armed mercenaries watched from the roadside, carrying shoulder-fired rockets capable of destroying the speeding armored vehicle with ease. But Du Yuelin and Bu Yangyun encountered no obstruction.
“See? This is the road to hell I’ve prepared for Liang Yueze.” Du Yuelin’s eyes curved. “Back in Hua Country, he was a respectable citizen without so much as a criminal record. Why? Because all his crimes were committed here! He raises mercenaries in Country M and deals in arms. Who knows how many men like Sui Zi he has? This road is waiting for those mercenaries of his. However many come, I’ll wipe them all out.”
Bu Yangyun examined the map carefully. “Is this the only road?”
“Of course not. But he can’t come by water. No one can.”
The car finally stopped in front of a complex of Western-style buildings. Decades earlier it had been a royal palace, the Emerald Palace, occupied by a self-proclaimed king of Country M. The palace was later taken by a private armed force, which preserved it because it was so beautiful. After changing hands several times, it had become one of Du Yuelin’s bases.
The north of Country M had long been ravaged by war, but the Emerald Palace’s main structures had suffered almost no damage. One reason was its remoteness: it lay hidden in forested mountains and could be reached by only one road.
It was Bu Yangyun’s first visit. He looked around the deserted palace. Towering, bizarre statues of deities stood along the walls, ritual implements in their hands, gazing down at him. There was no mercy in their empty eyes, only a deafening desire to kill.
Bu Yangyun couldn’t help shivering.
Du Yuelin’s unrestrained laughter echoed through the palace. Bu Yangyun turned around twice before he could determine where the sound was coming from.
She’d changed into a full set of black tactical clothing and was carrying a compact submachine gun as she walked gracefully out of the darkness toward him. Bu Yangyun instinctively retreated a step.
“Don’t be frightened, Uncle Bu. You’ve seen my preparations and my sincerity. You act as my bait, and I’ll guarantee your safety.” She tapped the metallic barrel of her gun against his shoulder. “If Liang Yueze somehow manages to make it into this palace, I’ll serve him a feast of blood.”
Bu Yangyun slowly pushed the barrel away, to Du Yuelin’s displeasure.
“Is one person enough for bait?” Bu Yangyun asked.
“It’s not just you in the information I’ve released,” she replied. “I know how to find Jin Wu.”
Bu Yangyun’s pupils contracted.
“Of course I’m lying to Liang Yueze. But he’ll take the bait.”
In Jiaoliu City, at the Mengkafei Hotel, Wen Wu and Zhou Jue were enjoying their first extravagant meal in Country M. The restaurant was on the beach. The sun melted into the sea, staining the sky brilliant purple and pink. Steak and seafood arrived. Zhou Jue eagerly went to work with his fork, while Wen Wu observed the changing colors of the sky through an orange drink.
“Eat up. Better than the stuff in our cafeteria,” Zhou Jue said.
“I don’t think that dish is covered by our meal allowance,” Wen Wu replied. “You’ll have to pay for it yourself.”
Zhou Jue’s fork clattered onto his plate. “No way! Didn’t that public-order captain say meals were on him?”
“Li Dongchi? Didn’t Brother Chen warn us to be careful of him?”
“True.” Zhou Jue promptly ordered another steak. “Li Dongchi, dong-chi da-chi… Even his name doesn’t sound like a proper person’s.”
Elio’s Notes: Zhou Jue turns Dongchi into dong-chi da-chi (东次哒次), a playful imitation of a thumping dance beat. It’s a silly sound joke, not an actual clue about Li Dongchi.
Wen Wu was speechless.
Meanwhile, in the basement, Chen Zheng accepted a cigarette from Li Dongchi and said, “Captain Li, you weren’t entirely truthful about Ruan Xingjie and Zheng Feilong, were you?”