Kong Ping couldn't fall back to sleep after waking up in the middle of the night. He glanced at Hou Qi’an in the neighboring bed; every time he shifted, Hou Qi’an would furrow his brows in alert. Left with no choice, Kong Ping grabbed a jacket and crept out of the room.
The floor was circular, with rows of rooms on either side and a garden visible below the central void. Kong Ping looked down at his slippers and walked toward the edge of the floor. There was a small terrace there with a few log tables and woven chairs where they had discussed matters before.
As he approached, he saw Fei Zuohua’s silhouette from behind. His head was lowered, propped up by his left hand, a cigarette held between his fingers as wisps of smoke drifted toward Kong Ping.
This wasn't the first time Kong Ping had seen Fei Zuohua here. Over the past half-month, they had searched for many leads in this area, all to no avail. Kong Ping would occasionally see Fei Zuohua studying something when he passed by at night, though he had never gone over to say hello.
There were originally four or five lights on the terrace, but it was so late now that only a single pale yellow lamp above Fei Zuohua’s head remained on, making his figure look exceptionally desolate.
Fei Zuohua was flipping through that magazine. It was a mess of scribbles in colored pens—some marked with circles, others with stars. Fei Zuohua had picked out the song titles marked with the same symbols, yet he couldn't find a pattern no matter how hard he tried.
Someone sat down beside him. He looked up.
"Any progress?"
Fei Zuohua shook his head. "None." He flicked his ash into the ashtray on the table. With a slight movement of his hand, the smoke drifted toward Kong Ping’s nose, making him choke and cough.
Fei Zuohua smiled faintly. "Do you smoke?"
Kong Ping had never smoked before. He hesitated for a moment before nodding. Fei Zuohua let him take one and helped him light it.
"What do we do next?" Kong Ping asked.
Fei Zuohua shook his head again. "I'm not sure yet. We might still have to track the accounts..."
Kong Ping took a drag and choked again. As he coughed, he saw Fei Zuohua suddenly turn serious. Fei Zuohua crushed his cigarette out, his eyes fixed on the hallway entrance rather than Kong Ping. "Keep talking. I’m going to take a look."
Kong Ping grew tense instantly. "Say what? Look at what?"
Fei Zuohua had already stood up, crouching as he moved toward the stairwell. Kong Ping didn't dare turn his head, so he just started rambling. He guessed it didn't matter what he said, as long as there was the sound of a human voice.
Fei Zuohua quickly approached the stairwell. As he rounded the corner, he grabbed a fire extinguisher from the wall.
The voice-activated light in the stairwell had gone out. He had noticed earlier that the light had flickered on for no reason; now he was waiting to see if it would light up again, or if there would be any sound.
He pressed himself against the wall, staring toward the stairs.
After a moment, a head suddenly poked out, looking toward where they had been sitting. Upon seeing only one person there, the brim of the person's hat shifted.
Immediately, Fei Zuohua lunged forward, pressing the fire extinguisher against the intruder to pin him. He slammed a fist into the man's face and swept off his hat in the same motion. Because the movement was so fast, the man hadn't reacted yet. He was quite tall; Fei Zuohua stepped on the back of his knee, trying to force him down. At that moment, the man suddenly turned his head to look at him.
That face...
Fei Zuohua watched as a smile spread across that habitually nonchalant face. "Long time no see, Officer Fei."
Fei Zuohua was momentarily stunned to see Lu Mingyue. Then, remembering that this man worked for Bai Shi, he realized he couldn't let him go. Instead, he pressed his leg down harder, trying to force him into a crouch.
Lu Mingyue gave an ambiguous smile. "This isn't right, Officer. You look so refined and scholarly; acting like a hooligan is a bit much." As he spoke, he thrust his hips forward. Startled, Fei Zuohua’s grip loosened slightly. To his surprise, Lu Mingyue slipped past him like a fish and bolted down the stairs.
Fei Zuohua leaned over the railing and shouted to Kong Ping, "Kong Ping! Go get Hou Qi’an!"
Then he quickly gave chase.
His heart beat faster and faster. The image of Lu Mingyue escaping from the bar last time kept flashing in his mind. Driven by a desire for redemption, he practically cleared an entire flight of stairs in a single leap. This reckless pace brought him closer and closer to Lu Mingyue. Lu Mingyue glanced back at him and whistled, remarking that he was certainly putting in the effort.
Fei Zuohua’s head throbbed at the sound of his voice—it was this very voice that had informed him of the impending doom his father faced. He quickened his pace even more, circling down the stairs.
Lu Mingyue shouldered open a door and burst out into a parking lot. Fei Zuohua followed close behind. Their footsteps echoed in the empty space.
Lu Mingyue glanced back again and simply hopped onto a car, stomping on it a few times until the alarm blared. A cacophony of noise erupted as the headlights flashed on. Ignoring everything else, Fei Zuohua lunged straight at him, grabbing his foot and dragging him down.
Lu Mingyue slipped and fell onto the car. He looked back at Fei Zuohua with his smiling face, then began kicking him violently with his heavy boots. Between kicks, he said, "Let go, Officer. You're tired, and I'm tired too."
Fei Zuohua held on with both hands, refusing to budge. He was sprawled over the hood of the car and couldn't move, watching helplessly as the tread of Lu Mingyue’s boots kicked his arms until they bled.
He gritted his teeth and yanked backward with all his might. To his surprise, the man actually moved. Lu Mingyue slid down with the momentum and landed on the ground, then stood up and drove a fist into Fei Zuohua’s abdomen. It was a vicious blow; Fei Zuohua immediately felt the metallic taste of blood in his throat.
Lu Mingyue slowly pried Fei Zuohua’s hands off his clothes. "I really didn't want it to be like this, Officer. I hate trouble more than anything. Usually, I avoid crossing the police..."
But Fei Zuohua gripped him deathly tight. Lu Mingyue grabbed his hair, forcing him to look up, and looked at him with a look of regret. "Then I'll have to bump your head a little, okay Officer? That way you'll let go."
With that, he pressed down on Fei Zuohua’s head, preparing to slam it hard against the hood.
Suddenly, a figure flashed from the side, lunging at Lu Mingyue and knocking him over. Fei Zuohua reacted instantly, following up with a flurry of kicks at the fallen Lu Mingyue. Hou Qi’an, who had made the tackle, stood up and tried to pull Fei Zuohua away. Fei Zuohua told him to stay out of it: "You don't understand, he's dangerous..."
Hou Qi’an continued to pull him back. In that brief moment of slack, Lu Mingyue leaped up from the ground. Reaching past Hou Qi’an, whose back was turned, he kicked Fei Zuohua in the leg. Fei Zuohua dropped to his knees instantly. Hou Qi’an turned immediately; his reactions were fast, and he blocked Lu Mingyue’s punches. Lu Mingyue’s initial attacks were ineffective against him, but Hou Qi’an’s stamina was slightly inferior.
Hou Qi’an tried to subdue him, but Lu Mingyue’s strikes were aimed to maim. Hou Qi’an began to lose ground.
Just then, a gunshot rang out. A bullet struck the ground near their feet. The sound of the shot thundered through the vast parking lot, followed immediately by the sharp *clack-clack* of a rifle bolt being cycled.
"Don't move!"
Hou Qi’an and Lu Mingyue, who were clutching each other’s clothes, stopped simultaneously.
"Turn around slowly!"
They slowly released their grips and turned around to see a middle-aged man in a security uniform pointing a gun in their direction—or more accurately, at Lu Mingyue.
Soon, Shi Yuanchen and Kong Ping came running over. Fei Zuohua stood up, took a pair of handcuffs from Shi Yuanchen, and walked over to Lu Mingyue.
Lu Mingyue tilted his head to look at him and smiled. "You should get more rest. Otherwise, you won't even have the strength to fight back."
Fei Zuohua didn't even look at him as he snapped the handcuffs on.
***
"The accommodations here aren't bad," Lu Mingyue remarked, sitting in Shi Yuanchen’s room and looking around. "I thought you poor cops all stayed in cheap motels. Who’s paying for this?"
No one answered him.
Shi Yuanchen sat across the table with a cup of hot tea in front of him. He took off his glasses, wiped them unhurriedly, and put them back on, maintaining his usual inscrutable smile. Fei Zuohua’s gaze was icy as he watched Lu Mingyue’s head darting around. His face was bruised and battered, which, combined with his haggard complexion, gave him a somewhat somber air. Hou Qi’an stood by the door with his arms crossed, sizing up Lu Mingyue, his eyes lingering particularly on the man's hands. Kong Ping sat a bit further away, looking very serious but also confused by the two sides, maintaining a certain distance from everyone else.
Seeing that no one was paying him any mind, Lu Mingyue said, "Hello?"
"What are you doing here?" Fei Zuohua demanded.
Lu Mingyue shrugged. "What are *you* doing here?"
Fei Zuohua frowned.
"Fine, fine, I'll go first." He leaned forward slightly. "You don't have to treat me like this. I'll leave as soon as I've finished my business."
Fei Zuohua stared at him and repeated, "What business do you have with us?"
Lu Mingyue looked somewhat surprised. "I'm not looking for you. I'm looking for Bai Shi. Where is he?"
The room fell silent for a moment.
Lu Mingyue quickly read the room. "Oh, you don't know either."
Shi Yuanchen asked, "Why are you looking for him?"
"The Bai family needs him." Lu Mingyue’s tone sounded helpless. "He just up and ran, leaving us to clean up the mess... You've been following him for so long, you must have some leads."
Shi Yuanchen didn't answer. "How did you know to come here?"
"Oh, I followed Officer Fei. Checked flight records and such." Lu Mingyue smiled and shifted forward. "For him to abandon the funeral and come here, he must have found a lead."
As he moved, a corner of something bulged in his chest pocket. The others immediately grew alert. Hou Qi’an lunged forward and pinned his shoulder. "Don't move."
Lu Mingyue blinked, looked down, and laughed. "It's not a gun. Fine, go ahead, take it."
Hou Qi’an reached in and pulled out a map.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
Lu Mingyue winked. "What did I tell you?"
"Why are *you* the one looking for Bai Shi?" Shi Yuanchen asked suddenly.
Lu Mingyue became flippant. "Is this a private interrogation? Should I be asking for a lawyer?"
Fei Zuohua’s brow twitched, his voice tinged with anger. "Forget it. You're not getting a lawyer. Until we figure out what to do with you, you're staying right here."
Lu Mingyue looked at him awkwardly. "I kind of need to use the bathroom."
Fei Zuohua gritted his teeth. "Hold it."
Lu Mingyue tilted his head. "Officer Fei, did I offend you? If so, I can change."
Shi Yuanchen patted Lu Mingyue’s hand and looked at Hou Qi’an. "Accompany him to the bathroom."
Hou Qi’an nodded, handed the map to Kong Ping, and gestured to Lu Mingyue. "Can you stand up?"
"Of course."
They walked into the bathroom, with Hou Qi’an keeping a wary eye on him. Fei Zuohua continued to stare at Lu Mingyue; he felt the man was extremely cunning and required extra vigilance.
Kong Ping suddenly ran to his side. "Can I borrow the magazine?"
"The magazine?" Fei Zuohua asked, puzzled.
Kong Ping nodded vigorously, and Fei Zuohua stood up to get it for him.
Kong Ping spread the magazine and the map out on the table. The three of them looked down together.
Fei Zuohua asked, "What is it?"
Kong Ping shook his head. "I'm not sure. I was just thinking, what if the magazine isn't meant to be read on its own? What if it's meant to be used with something else? Weren't the circles in the camera photos drawn progressively? Some photos had fewer circles, some had more."
Shi Yuanchen looked at Kong Ping. "You think it's meant to be used with the map?"
"I'm not sure, but I think people like us coming here would definitely need a map. We only didn't need one because we had a guide. If Pei Cangyu wanted to leave us a message, he would assume we had a map."
Fei Zuohua curled his lip. "You think Pei Cangyu would think to leave us a message? He didn't even know if we were coming."
Kong Ping looked up at him. "If you don't believe that, then why have you been studying that magazine every day?"
Fei Zuohua didn't answer.
The three of them stared at the map and the magazine. Lu Mingyue had already returned; seeing that they were all too busy to mind him, he curled up in his chair to nap.
As Kong Ping flipped through, he asked again, "Professor Shi, what did you say these circled words were?"
"Song titles."
"And what does this line at the top say?"
"Radio."
Kong Ping looked at the page thoughtfully. "So, this page is a preview of upcoming songs to be broadcast?"
Shi Yuanchen nodded.
"Radio..." Kong Ping murmured to himself. "Do car stereos have radios too?"
Shi Yuanchen froze as if a thought had struck him. He hurriedly stood up, pulled out the camera, and examined it closely.
"It seems Pei Cangyu," Shi Yuanchen hesitated, "has told us where they are going."
The other three looked at him in surprise.
"Look at the dates after this playlist. For example, if 'Ljubav' is played on February 9th on frequency X99-X65, the area where that frequency can be received..." Shi Yuanchen used a pen to mark their current location on the map and drew a circle around it. "It's near here."
He continued, "Now look at the next set of photos. On February 11th, 'Zgrada' is played on frequency C33-C90, which can be received in the next area." He used the pen to extend the line from the previous area in one direction.
"So, following the sequence in the camera, we can plot a route," Shi Yuanchen explained. "But these are just the methods. The camera stopped at a drawing of a hexagon, but in the magazine, we can see a drawing of an inverted triangle. We haven't seen that before."
The group fell silent. Kong Ping suddenly slapped the table. "Could it be because the camera was taken away? He didn't have time to draw it? Then wouldn't this inverted triangle be the final destination?"
Fei Zuohua looked at the magazine. "What song is the inverted triangle?"
Shi Yuanchen read it out: "'Le Parfum De Eglises'."
Fei Zuohua immediately asked, "Where is it?"
Kong Ping traced the previous route and looked up to tell them.
"I think it's near Greece."
*Clap, clap, clap.*
They turned their heads. Lu Mingyue was leaning against the back of his chair, legs crossed, applauding them. The handcuffs he had slipped out of lay on the floor.
Fei Zuohua and Hou Qi’an stood up instantly. Lu Mingyue raised his hands in a gesture of surrender. "Don't be nervous, don't be nervous. Hear me out first."
Shi Yuanchen placed a hand on Fei Zuohua’s arm.
Lu Mingyue spread his hands. "I'm looking for Bai Shi, and you're looking for that kid. Why don't we cooperate?"
Fei Zuohua looked at him coldly. "Unlike you, we intend to arrest Bai Shi."
Lu Mingyue laughed. "The look on your face says you want him dead. Personal vendettas aren't good for a cop, Officer." He then shrugged. "But once you get there, you won't be able to pinpoint the exact location, will you? I know him very well. Trust me, I can help."
The others looked at Fei Zuohua. He remained expressionless.
Lu Mingyue added, "It's fine if you want to arrest him. It makes no difference to me. My attitude toward him won't change just because he's in prison."
Fei Zuohua stared at him. "I intend to arrest him and make him pay the price."
Lu Mingyue nodded, his expression one of mock sorrow. "Poor little Bai Shi... But there's nothing for it. I told him to stay away from Pei Cangyu. That man is a real jinx, but he wouldn't listen to me. Maybe this is for the best."
The others remained silent, but Kong Ping stared at Lu Mingyue’s face. The more he looked, the more familiar it seemed.
They were waiting for Fei Zuohua to make a decision.
