Chapter 259: The Twelve Young Masters of Xicheng

The next day, the provincial bureau's conference room.

After two days away, the twelve officers from the six squads looked noticeably better than they had the previous two days.

Just from their faces, one could tell this round of investigation had gone very smoothly.

"Captain Xu, why don't you go first."

Yu Dazhang sat at the head of the table and made a "please" gesture toward Captain Xu beside him.

Toward this veteran criminal investigator with over twenty years on the force, he always maintained a respectful attitude.

A man like that deserved his respect.

"Alright." Captain Xu nodded, then cleared his throat:

"This time, my wrongful-conviction victim recognized two other people in the portrait and recalled things about those two."

"According to his description, those two were from the class next door. At first they were famous pushovers, bullied all the time."

"Later on, they got to know some people from somewhere, and those two rounded on everyone who had bullied them."

"After that, it was those two bullying others."

The boy who slew the dragon became a dragon himself… After hearing this, that phrase surfaced unbidden in Yu Dazhang's mind.

Violence is one facet of human nature.

So no matter the era or the place, school bullying is always impossible to stamp out completely.

When the strong outnumber the weak, they inevitably bully the weak — this has nothing to do with good and evil; it's simply human nature.

Yu Dazhang couldn't help sighing.

Or perhaps there were never any boys to begin with — only dragons.

"Only recognized two people." Yu Dazhang thought for a moment, then said:

"In other words, he never saw that little group gather?"

"That's right." Captain Xu replied:

"Because they weren't in the same class, there wasn't much real overlap. He didn't even know those two's names — he only remembered them after seeing the portrait."

"As for that little group, he only heard about it. Entertainment options were limited in the late nineties, so news like that spread fast."

Next, two more squads reported what they had learned.

The content was much the same as what Captain Xu had found, only more detailed.

One wrongful-conviction victim recognized four people in the portrait and called out their names accurately.

When the fourth squad reported, they delivered a piece of news that exhilarated Yu Dazhang.

"My wrongful-conviction victim had an impression of everyone in the portrait, and even remembered the name of that little group."

The reporting officer's face took on a complicated look, as if hesitating over whether to continue.

"Go on, what's the name?" Yu Dazhang urged.

This was something he had been wanting to know all along, but despite investigating so long, he hadn't been able to get any useful information.

Seeing him hesitate like that now, he couldn't help feeling a little anxious.

Seeing everyone looking at their squad, the officer had no choice but to say it:

"The Twelve Young Masters of Xicheng."

That name… Yu Dazhang went blank for a moment.

He had a nagging feeling something was off.

Logically speaking, a name like that fit the characteristics of that era perfectly.

He remembered that in the late nineties, there was a Hong Kong film called "Tsz Wan Shan Thirteen Brothers."

The film was very famous — even Yu Dazhang had seen it back when he was in school.

In fact, students of that era often named their little groups by imitating Hong Kong movies.

But the problem was…

"What year was the case of the wrongful-conviction victim you know about?" Yu Dazhang asked.

The officer clearly also knew where the problem lay, but still answered:

"1998 — sixteen years ago."

That was the issue.

Based on the information gathered so far, that little group only had ten members sixteen years ago.

That number clearly didn't match the name "The Twelve Young Masters of Xicheng."

The head count didn't add up!

The officer must have realized something was off too, which was why he had hesitated before sharing this information.

He was afraid the information might be wrong and mislead the task force. "How did the wrongful-conviction victim put it?" Yu Dazhang asked again.

"He only knew it was called that." The officer replied:

"As for why they would pick a name like that, he wasn't sure."

At this point, an officer from another squad chimed in:

"Our wrongful-conviction victim also mentioned the name The Twelve Young Masters of Xicheng, but didn't know what it stood for either."

"But he did mention a film called 'Temple Street Twelve Young Masters' — probably has something to do with that movie."

The moment that film was mentioned, Yu Dazhang had an immediate read on it.

The mastermind behind the name "The Twelve Young Masters of Xicheng" didn't necessarily base it on the number of members.

Maybe it was just to intimidate people, to make others think they had huge numbers and were not to be trifled with.

Or perhaps it was setting a cap for the group — membership could never exceed the number twelve.

And the subsequent development was just as the name suggested — the head count ultimately froze at twelve.

"Besides the name, is there anything specific about that little group?"

!

Yu Dazhang looked at the officer from earlier and asked:

"For example, did they bully someone together, or do anything bad?"

He had always had one question in his mind.

Why did the suspect want to take revenge on so many people?

Suppose the suspect had a grudge with one particular person—there'd be no need to drag so many others in.

Every debt has its debtor.

They couldn't just vent their fury on those people just because they were close, could they?

If that were the case, going after family would be more direct and more satisfying, wouldn't it.

As the investigation deepened and this little group was dug up, an answer gradually formed in Yu Dazhang's mind.

That so-called "Tin City Twelve Young Masters" must have done something together that provoked the suspect.

Precisely because every one of them had taken part, the suspect wasn't going to let a single one off.

"He did mention a few things," that officer replied:

"But they were all just fights and brawls, nothing with serious consequences—nothing major by the standards of that era."

Even by today's standards it wouldn't count as major… Yu Dazhang added silently.

Brawls between students are usually dismissed as children squabbling.

Precisely because of that kind of view and attitude, such incidents often fail to get the attention they deserve, which is why campus violence keeps happening again and again.

And the cruelty of children is the purest kind there is.

Most of the time, they bully not out of hatred and not for gain—they do it purely because they think it's fun.

"Not a single serious incident?"

Yu Dazhang swept his gaze around the officers present, frowning as he said:

"It doesn't have to be murder or arson, or some big brawl with a huge scene—just tell us about any incident the whole group was dealt with for."

His meaning was clear enough.

Name something that little group had done together and been handled by the police or the school for.

Generally speaking, something like that couldn't be kept quiet—at the time it would surely have been the talk of the town.

After those words, the meeting room fell silent.

Each team pulled out a notebook and began flipping through it.

Just as Yu Dazhang had figured, since they'd gone there with the portrait, it was bound to stir up a lot of memories for those wronged people.

And criminal investigators all keep the habit of taking notes.

When reporting, they usually give a summary statement, so some things that had originally been recorded tend to get left out.

In no time at all, the meeting room was thick with smoke again.

Over a dozen people smoking at once, the smell of various brands of tobacco mingling together, filling the entire air with a pungent stench.

Maybe I should just smoke too… Yu Dazhang figured secondhand smoke was actually more harmful.

"I've got something here—back then they got into an argument with a group of people off campus, and it ended in a big brawl; the cause was fighting over a girl…"

(End of chapter)