Chapter 10

Looking at the woman before him, her hair a mix of black and white, kneeling on the ground, clutching the white cloth covering the corpse and wailing, Chang Erbing straightened his collar and said solemnly, "Rest assured, we will apprehend the murderer as quickly as possible."

Before the words were even finished, he was interrupted by the woman.

The two words "murderer" stimulated her nerves; she suddenly grabbed Chang Erbing's trouser leg and asked in a trembling voice, "Who killed my child? Why? She was only 16 years old."

Chang Erbing looked around at the surrounding teachers and students; they all seemed to be holding their breath, waiting for him to reveal the answer.

"Based on the clues at the scene, we have already locked onto the murderer being Zheng Hang; it was he who lured Wang Wei to the warehouse two days ago and cruelly murdered her."

Chang Erbing's face was grief-stricken; he deliberately concealed the matter of the Curse of the Evil Sacrifice and said in a deep voice,

"Fellow students and teachers, if anyone has seen Zheng Hang or had contact with him recently, please inform the Patrol Bureau immediately."

The scene instantly erupted in an uproar, but soon the clever people's high-sounding talk could be heard.

"I knew it; how could it be such a coincidence that two people went missing together? It must be……"

"When only one corpse was carried out just now, I guessed it; maybe, tsk tsk, it turns out I guessed right….."

"….."

Feng Mu's lips pressed together lightly; he subconsciously tugged at his schoolbag strap, and a few traces of strangeness couldn't help but arise in his heart.

He thought: "Although I disguised the scene, making it look like a frame-up, but these several patrol captains solved the case too fast, it's somewhat irresponsible….. right?"

Another thought turned: "Ah, no, Wang Wei was indeed killed by Zheng Hang; where are the patrol captains irresponsible? Clearly they have discerning eyes like torches, solving cases like gods."

"You're talking nonsense!"

Suddenly, a violent shout like a thunderclap on flat ground; more than a dozen burly men in short sleeves squeezed through the crowd. Zheng Si's face was gloomy; he took big strides to walk in front of Chang Erbing. A cold voice drilled out from between his teeth: "My son could not possibly kill anyone."

His expression was sinister; a false eye embedded with a glass ball, utterly without luster, stared at Chang Erbing like it was staring at a dead man.

Chang Erbing's breath caught; he had a feeling of being targeted by a venomous snake; the back of his head turned cold.

Li Shang walked out from the warehouse, pulled Chang Erbing away, and rudely blew a smoke ring onto Zheng Si's face, saying contemptuously: "You say your son didn't kill anyone, but I feel it was you who hid your son away. Who do you think everyone will believe? You? Or me? Or the Patrol Bureau?"

Blue veins bulged on Zheng Si's forehead; he was just about to retort when he was pulled back by the person behind him.

He turned his head and glared; what met his eyes was a gaze full of suspicion, disgust, anger, and fear.

With just that villainous face of his, plus a group of tattooed thugs surrounding him, he says his son didn't kill anyone — who would believe it? The masses' eyes aren't blind.

"Give me back my daughter's life!"

Wang Wei's mother suddenly crawled up from the ground, pouncing toward Zheng Si like a madwoman.

The corners of Zheng Si's eyes were ferocious; the muscles on his back suddenly bulged, like a lump of meat flowing toward his arm. He was just about to wave his hand, but was again held tightly by that person behind him.

Li Shang stood in place without moving; his line of sight passed through Zheng Si to look at the person behind him, his brows furrowing slightly.

Ma Bin's build was slight, his features feminine; he didn't look like a gang member at all. Standing among a group of thugs, he appeared completely out of place.

He held Zheng Si tightly, avoiding the latter's brutal gaze, and used his peripheral vision to give the lackey next to him a signal.

That lackey gritted his teeth fiercely, hurriedly stepped forward, and slapped Wang Wei's mother on the face with a palm like a cattail fan.

Fresh blood mixed with several broken teeth flew into the air; Wang Wei's mother fell face-first to the ground, no longer making a sound, unknown whether dead or alive.

Only then did Li Shang belatedly step forward half a step; his single hand clenched into a claw, seized the assailant's arm, and with a buck and a tear, actually tore the man's arm off alive.

Li Shang casually tossed the severed arm onto the ground, not even glancing at the man kneeling on the ground clutching his arm and howling miserably.

Li Shang shook his hand; blood and bits of flesh from between his fingers were flung off, splattering onto Zheng Si's face. Only then did he say coldly: "Daring to commit violence in front of the Patrol Bureau — seeking death!"

Zheng Si's eyelid twitched. He usually prided himself on being fierce and cruel, but the patrol captain's methods before him were so savage that perhaps even he himself could not surpass them.

And the other party had an extra layer of official skin!

Zheng Si's anger sobered by three parts; he glanced at Ma Bin.

Only then did Ma Bin let go, step past Zheng Si, and walk in front of Li Shang.

Not waiting for Zheng Si to make an issue of it, he took the initiative to take out a tissue from his pocket and hand it over, showing weakness: "The gang's lackey has no brains; he made a mistake on impulse. The Patrol Bureau can take him back for discipline. As for this deceased mother's medical expenses, our Green Wolf Gang will bear the compensation."

Finished speaking, Ma Bin retreated two steps, picked up the severed arm from the ground, dusted off the dust, stuffed it into the lackey's bosom, and comforted him in a warm voice: "Don't fear. After you go in, reform well. Your parents and the gang will take good care of you."

The miserable howling stopped abruptly; the lackey held his severed arm, his face ashen.

After the Green Wolf Gang people left, Li Shang then unhurriedly sent the unconscious woman to the hospital. As for the severed-arm man, he didn't get this treatment; he was just casually wrapped in a layer of gauze and then escorted back to the Patrol Bureau under guard.

Feng Mu hid in the crowd, watching the Green Wolf Gang leave. His gaze lingered covertly on Zheng Si and Ma Bin for an instant, and he thought to himself: "A brutal wolf and a sinister fox."

"And also, a vicious tiger that eats people without spitting out bones." Feng Mu withdrew his gaze, finally looking at Li Shang, who was just pinching out his cigarette butt with his fingers.

The latter seemed to sense something; he suddenly raised his head to look toward the crowd. Feng Mu lowered his head without changing expression.

Although a Patrol Bureau captain lived at home, theoretically speaking, Feng Mu was not unfamiliar with the Patrol Bureau, but in reality, today was also the first time Feng Mu personally witnessed how the Patrol Bureau handles cases.

Feng Mu's feeling toward this world deepened even further.

"Dark, it's really too dark. Every single one of them has a black heart and ruthless hands; they are all extremely dangerous. I absolutely, absolutely, absolutely cannot let them target me."

Feng Mu let out a breath; his train of thought suddenly diverged and associated,

"Does Feng Ju usually handle cases in this style too?"

……..

In the afternoon, the class bell rang.

The students reluctantly returned to their respective classrooms. Feng Mu inconspicuously withdrew from the crowd and walked into the Academic Affairs Office.

The corpse was discovered, the homicide case was classified; he had no reason to stay at the school any longer.

In less than 3 minutes, he walked out of the Academic Affairs Office, stuffing the thin graduation certificate (dropout consent form) into the very top of his schoolbag.

Pushing his bicycle, he left the campus. Feng Mu paused to look at No. 47 Middle School's signboard, feelings mixed.

"In my previous life, although I wasn't a top-tier university graduate, I still completed a full-time master's degree. Who would have thought that in this life, I'd be expelled from the school gate before even finishing high school, heh——"

It wasn't nostalgia for No. 47 Middle School; Feng Mu had no deep feelings for this alma mater. He was reminiscing about himself, reminiscing about the himself from his previous life inside the ivory tower.

He would never see it again in this life!

Feng Mu turned his back on the school gate, pushed off a couple of steps to mount the bike, pedaled the wheels all the way down, passing the District Government's gate, passing the Hardware Store, passing the Patrol Bureau……

Creak.

The bicycle wheels braked to a halt, the slanted shadow cast on the ground merging into one with the black smoke that never dissipates from the incineration plant's chimney and falls back to the earth.

At the incineration plant gate, Wang Jian, wearing a thick mask, pocketed his phone and waved at Feng Mu.

The phone not yet asleep after being returned to his pocket, the chat window displayed a string of read messages:

【04:04

Feng Mu: Didn't notice the group messages just now, congrats on getting into the incineration plant, though it's tiring, at least you can scrape together a meal.

Feng Mu: I'm no good, my dad plays favorites, only cares for my sister, doesn't give a damn about me, after I drop out, I won't know where to go to scrape a meal.

Feng Mu: Sigh, is the incineration plant still hiring? I'm going to handle the dropout tomorrow, after that can I come check out your place?

09:27

Wang Jian: Just woke up.

Wang Jian: Two workers burning E Corpses left the plant last month, I replaced one, there's still one short, you coming?

13:27

Feng Mu: Someone died at school, scary.

Wang Jian:???

Wang Jian: What happened, tell me in detail.

Feng Mu: A corpse was carried out of the abandoned warehouse, can't explain in a few words, I'll tell you in detail this afternoon.

Wang Jian: Alright, I'll meet you at the incineration plant gate then.

17:11

Feng Mu: I've arrived.

(End of Chapter)