Tu Ziyun waited all day for a call from Pei Cangyu, but it never came. He found it strange. On the morning of the day after their meeting, he called Pei Cangyu, but the call was quickly hung up. Tu Ziyun noted the time—it was exactly one o'clock in the afternoon. Logically, Pei should have been eating, yet for some reason, he didn't answer.
On the other hand, Fei Qisheng called him to say that the Eighth Division had granted him permission to participate in part of the investigation.
Tu Ziyun laughed into his phone. "They agreed so quickly? It seems the Eighth Division has become much more open-minded over the last few years."
"No," Fei Qisheng’s voice on the other end was exceptionally grave. "Yesterday, the Eighth Division arrested Ding Chuan."
Tu Ziyun’s hand trembled, the smile freezing on his face. "What did you say? Who?"
"We’ll talk when we meet."
Tu Ziyun hung up, grabbed his coat, and bolted out the door, nearly colliding with Fei Zuohua as he entered. Fei Zuohua asked in confusion where he was going, but Tu Ziyun merely waved a hand dismissively, having no time to answer. Seeing this, Fei Zuohua followed him without a second thought.
Tu Ziyun descended the stairs rapidly, taking them two or three at a time, spinning through the stairwell with his overcoat flying. Fei Zuohua, refusing to be outdone, kept pace behind him. Tu Ziyun looked up at the man above him. "Why are you following me? You don't even know where I'm going."
"I don't," Fei Zuohua replied with a straight face, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "But I'm following you regardless."
Tu Ziyun ignored him. Fei Zuohua was young and fit, after all; he caught up quickly and even took the keys to drive. Tu Ziyun looked at him and thought, *Fine, whatever.*
In the car, Tu Ziyun pulled out a cigarette to smoke, but after a glance from Fei Zuohua, he sullenly rolled down the window.
"Are we really going? Your father is there too."
Fei Zuohua pursed his lips and said nothing, focusing intently on the road ahead.
Tu Ziyun sighed, flicking ash out the window, and muttered to himself, "Honestly, kids are such a hassle..."
Fei Zuohua turned to look at him. Tu Ziyun squinted with a smile, offering a clearly perfunctory explanation: "I wasn't talking about you."
Fei Zuohua turned back to the road, expressionless. "Adults aren't much better."
Knowing he was in the wrong, Tu Ziyun chuckled twice and fell silent.
At the Police Department headquarters, Fei Qisheng was waiting for them on the seventeenth floor.
The two presented their badges, confirmed their appointment at the service desk, and headed inside. Fei Zuohua went straight for the elevator, but Tu Ziyun headed for the emergency exit.
"Where are you going? Not taking the elevator?"
Tu Ziyun waved him off. "I'm taking the stairs."
Fei Zuohua found it bizarre. "You're walking up seventeen floors? Why?"
Tu Ziyun gave a somewhat helpless smile. "Do you have to ask everything? Can't an adult have his own secrets?" With that, he waved goodbye, pulled open the heavy door, and stepped inside.
Fei Zuohua stood there for a moment before following him.
By the time they finally huffed and puffed their way to the top, Fei Qisheng had been waiting for ten minutes. He looked at the two of them—coats off, faces flushed, gasping for air, foreheads drenched in sweat—and silently poured two glasses of water.
Tu Ziyun tossed his coat onto Fei Qisheng’s sofa, loosened his tie, and sat down, taking the water. Fei Zuohua glanced at his father and sat down properly next to Tu Ziyun.
"I won't waste time with nonsense," Fei Qisheng glanced at his son before turning to Tu Ziyun. "Yesterday, the Eighth Division arrested Ding Chuan. He is in serious condition and is currently at the Third Hospital."
Fei Zuohua was stunned to hear the name "Ding Chuan." Ding Chuan, the former leader of the Dark Fire Group, a man of "Godfather" status.
"Condition?" Tu Ziyun blinked, setting down his glass. "What illness?"
"Lung disease. I haven't seen the specific hospital reports yet."
Tu Ziyun nodded, his mind heavy with thought. Then he looked up at Fei Qisheng. "Where did they catch him?"
Fei Qisheng looked as though he had expected the question. He handed over a file that had been sitting by his hand. "At the Bai family’s main estate."
Tu Ziyun flipped through the file; it was the report on the Eighth Division’s arrest operation.
Fei Zuohua, who had been silent, interjected, "Are we allowed to investigate an Eighth Division case?"
"No," Fei Qisheng looked at him. "But the Eighth Division has an old acquaintance of Old Tu’s who agreed to a request for information sharing."
Fei Zuohua gave a cold "oh" and said nothing more.
Tu Ziyun frowned as he finished reading. "A cyan-engraved lighter was found at Pei Cangyu’s house. Through the soil residue on the lighter, they found clues leading to the Bai family estate..."
"What's wrong?" Fei Qisheng asked.
Tu Ziyun traced the photo of the lighter. "The report says this type of soil is only found in extremely humid regions. It doesn't exist in this district, so it must be imported. Because it's expensive, the source and destination of the soil can be tracked. There are seven local wealthy families that meet the criteria. Among them, the Bai family estate has long been sealed, yet there was a request for this soil a year ago..."
Fei Zuohua also asked, "Is there a problem?"
"How would a lighter get covered in that soil?" Tu Ziyun’s brow furrowed. "And besides that, Zuohua and I have been to Pei Cangyu’s house more than once or twice. We never saw this lighter. The report says it was in the flower bushes downstairs... Zuohua, did our people search the flower bushes?"
Fei Zuohua shook his head. "We didn't even have the authority to be on this case. There were no 'our people,' just the two of us. It’s normal that we didn't find it there; you were focused on searching the house at the time."
Tu Ziyun stared at the photo. "It’s too smooth..." He looked up at Fei Qisheng. "We’ve been looking for him for so long..."
Fei Qisheng shook his head and patted his shoulder. "You’ve mythologized him, Old Tu. At the end of the day, Ding Chuan is just a man. He doesn't have 'eyes and hands that cover the sky.'"
"Then what about Bai Shi? Even if the Bai estate is sealed, it’s still Bai family property. The head of the family couldn't possibly be unaware, right?"
"The Bai estate was sealed after Bai Yilong died. Bai Shi knew nothing about this. The Eighth Division questioned him yesterday afternoon," Fei Qisheng informed him.
"Where did Bai Shi live before?"
"Although he has many properties under his name, his primary residence for the past few years was his mother’s old house. Now he’s at Changlong Villas, with that student whose house caught fire."
Tu Ziyun shook his head, as if disagreeing with Fei Qisheng’s assessment. "And Ding Chuan? What did Ding Chuan say? Didn't he ask to see us?"
Fei Zuohua glanced at Tu Ziyun, who was becoming somewhat agitated.
"Calm down," Fei Qisheng said. "Ding Chuan has already been detained."
Tu Ziyun shook his head. "I don't think it’s that simple."
Fei Qisheng sighed. "In the Bai Yinhua murder case, the fingerprints extracted from the abandoned car haven't found a match yet, but a cyan-engraved lighter was also found there. As you know, these lighters were standard issue for the Dark Fire Group under Ding Chuan."
"So, the Eighth Division suspects Ding Chuan is behind everything involving the Bai family?"
Fei Qisheng nodded. "The investigation is leaning in that direction."
Tu Ziyun let out a cold sneer.
Fei Qisheng continued, "After all, Ding Chuan has every reason to seek revenge against the Bai family." He looked at Tu Ziyun again. "And against you and me."
Tu Ziyun remained silent for a long time, his brow deeply furrowed. He felt something was wrong. He murmured, "Then Bai Shi..."
"Why are you always so obsessed with Bai Shi?" Fei Qisheng’s tone became stern.
Tu Ziyun didn't answer.
"There are things you might not want to hear," Fei Qisheng looked at him candidly. "The cost of suspecting someone with Bai Shi’s status and position is very high. Do you know he has officially taken over the media empire?"
"So?" Tu Ziyun didn't understand.
Fei Qisheng sighed. "Dealing with people isn't just a matter of pure justice."
Fei Zuohua, listening from the side, let out a cold snort and turned his head away.
Fei Qisheng actually seemed to take offense. He stood up and looked at Tu Ziyun. "If there’s nothing else, let’s leave it at that. I have things to do."
His forceful stance left the two with no reason to stay. They stood up to leave.
Fei Zuohua followed the preoccupied Tu Ziyun down the stairwell. Their rhythmic footsteps echoed through the empty space, Tu Ziyun’s steps sounding particularly listless.
Fei Zuohua stopped and looked down at Tu Ziyun, who was still trudging downward. "Master, tell me about Ding Chuan."
Tu Ziyun paused and turned to look at Fei Zuohua on the steps above.
He stared for a moment, then smiled and beckoned him over. He spread his coat on the steps and sat down. "Alright."
Fei Zuohua handed him a cigarette.
"Do you know why I’m so obsessed with Bai Shi and Pei Cangyu?"
Fei Zuohua shook his head.
"Actually, I met Bai Shi once when he was a child," Tu Ziyun exhaled a cloud of smoke, squinting. "Just once. I was an undercover agent then, stationed by Ding Chuan’s side. I took that assignment before I even graduated from the police academy. Your father did too, though a few years after me.
The Bai family structure was built on two lines: light and dark. Ding Chuan and the current Fire Thunder were the Bai family’s dark lines.
When I started following Ding Chuan, he wasn't the boss of the Dark Fire Group yet. It was a man from Nanping named Xu Zhigao—a fat guy, a real piece of work. Ding Chuan was just a small unit leader then. I was nineteen when I went in; Ding Chuan was only in his early twenties. To deal with an organization like that, those of us on long-term assignments were nicknamed 'Dark Nails.' An undercover cycle could easily last ten years, so for many years, we had absolutely no missions."
"You..." Fei Zuohua asked curiously, "There were others?"
"Yeah. Undercover agents were sent intermittently to every small unit leader in the Dark Fire Group, because one of them was bound to become the next boss." Tu Ziyun laughed self-deprecatingly. "In the end, my Ding Chuan rose to the top."
Fei Zuohua hesitated before asking, "What kind of person... was Ding Chuan?"
"He..." Tu Ziyun waved away the smoke in front of him and murmured, "He might have been a good man..."
Fei Zuohua was stunned. "What?"
Tu Ziyun gave an awkward smile. "Anyway, from the time he took over as the head of Dark Fire until many years later, I never received a single mission from the department. By then, I’d been by Ding Chuan’s side for nearly twenty years. I’d climbed to a... well, a pretty high position. Among the brothers who were with Ding Chuan back then, everyone got married and had kids. But not me. I always felt like I hadn't returned to my own life yet, so I didn't have the right to do those things."
He flicked his ash. "Anyway, when I was thirty-seven—ten years ago—the department decided to wipe out the Dark Fire Group in one fell swoop. Like I said, the Bai family had light and dark lines. By then, we had full evidence that the Dark Fire Group belonged to the Bais. However, because the Bai family had so much influence in politics and business, we didn't dare move rashly. The head of the family, Bai Yilong, took the initiative to offer a settlement to the department. The conditions were: first, the arms division, Fire Thunder, would be spun off into a joint-stock company with investment from the State-owned Assets Bureau, and the Bai family would relinquish decision-making power. The second condition was that they would hand over the Dark Fire Group."
Fei Zuohua frowned.
"Ding Chuan was sacrificed," Tu Ziyun shrugged, "by both sides working together."
"Did he know?"
"Who? Ding Chuan?" Tu Ziyun shook his head. "How could he have known? He even met me for breakfast that morning..." His voice trailed off.
"But he wasn't caught?"
"No. Regarding Ding Chuan’s disposal, Bai Yilong and the police had a disagreement. Bai Yilong wanted Ding Chuan dead; the police wanted him brought to justice—they had over a dozen legal reports waiting for him. After the firefight that night..." Tu Ziyun seemed about to describe that night, but the mere memory of the carnage made him frown. He quickly brought the story to an end, his tone light. "Anyway, Ding Chuan’s daughter died, and he escaped."
Fei Zuohua sat in silence with him for a while before asking, "You said you saw Bai Shi?"
"Oh, right," Tu Ziyun forced a smile. "I saw him once when I went to the Bai house. He must have been only ten then. That kid was truly gloomy. I’ve never seen a ten-year-old who could be that sinister. Is that a bad thing to say? He is your classmate, after all."
Fei Zuohua shook his head. "That... Pei Cangyu said something similar before."
"What do you mean?" Tu Ziyun blinked, suddenly eager. "Pei Cangyu said that about Bai Shi?"
"Yeah. He said it when he was drunk at a party," Fei Zuohua exhaled smoke. "He said he didn't remember such a person, but then he started rambling, saying things like, 'He’s gloomy all day, doesn't have a lick of humanity, might as well be a dead man, only an idiot would be friends with him.' It was just because a girl mentioned Bai Shi’s name. That’s why I told you before that they probably hadn't been in contact since Bai Shi transferred schools."
Tu Ziyun nodded and crushed his cigarette out on the floor.
"But I found it strange at the time. In our memory, Bai Shi wasn't a gloomy person," Fei Zuohua smiled. "Though I didn't know him well."
Tu Ziyun looked at him with a look of utter disbelief. "He’s thinking about him even when he’s drunk, and you call that 'not being close'? Can you grow some emotional intelligence, please?"
Fei Zuohua was indignant. "It’s true. He rarely mentions Bai Shi. That was the only time."
Tu Ziyun sighed, slowly exhaling smoke as the stairwell fell into silence.
After a long while, Tu Ziyun asked, "You're a virgin, aren't you?"
Fei Zuohua’s face turned red. "What does that have to do with you?"
Tu Ziyun just laughed.
***
**Glossary**
Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation
---|---|---
八部 | Eighth Division | A high-level or specialized police division.
暗火组 | Dark Fire Group | The criminal/underground arm of the Bai family.
火雷 | Fire Thunder | The arms/munitions division of the Bai family.
暗钉 | Dark Nail | Code name for long-term undercover agents.
青雕打火机 | Cyan-Engraved Lighter | A lighter with a specific design, standard for Dark Fire members.
昌隆山庄 | Changlong Villas | The luxury residential area where Bai Shi is currently staying.
白义龙 | Bai Yilong | Bai Shi's late father and former head of the Bai family.
丁川 | Ding Chuan | Former leader of the Dark Fire Group.
白银华 | Bai Yinhua | A victim in a murder case mentioned in the investigation.
