by Mi Lei
Fang Mu was so engrossed in the garbage that he completely forgot to thank her. He tore open bag after bag and sorted through their contents. Rummaging through the fourth garbage bag, his hectic pace began to slow. He carefully studied each and every item of trash from this bag, carefully comparing it to the garbage from the other apartments. Then, he diligently sealed every little piece of trash from that bag in an evidence container. Finally, he tore the tag from the bag and handed it to Xiao Wang.
"Five-O-Two?" Xiao Wang asked Fang Mu. "Are you sure?"
"That should be the one." Fang Mu pointed at the bag. "Look, most of the trash in there is fast food boxes, instant food packaging, and beer cans."
"Well..." Xiao Wang said, his eyes locked on the label, "at the very least, they really don't like to cook in Five-O-Two."
"Exactly what we are looking for," Fang Mu said as he wiped the grime from his hands. "Take this bag to the lab. If we can find even a trace of Pei Lan's DNA on any of it, we can be certain that she is in Room Five-O-Two."
Xiao Wang quickly ordered a small group of officers to stay put and continue the surveillance before he joined Fang Mu in the car and together they headed back to the Bureau. A quick report to the task force command later, and the garbage bag was off for urgent DNA analysis.
Fang Mu sat down in the conference room to wait for the results. Almost immediately, the full weight of fatigue from two busy days caught up with him. Cigarette in hand, he realized that he would lose the battle against his heavy eyelids. Dead tired, he simply lay down on a bench and closed his eyes. Soon, he drifted off into a deep sleep.
In the haze, he was taken back to the small courtyard of the Angel Hall Orphanage. Warm, glorious sunlight flooded a world of verdant green. Erbao and the other children were playing in the courtyard, running to and fro. The sounds of their rambunctious play filled the air as Sister Zhao's shouts seemed to echo in his ears. Over in the strawberry field, ripe red fruits adorned the large green leaves. Liao Yafan was crouching in the midst of this red and green wonderland, her smile beaming like a flower. Fang Mu's entire being felt wrapped in a wonderful sense of content happiness. It was enough to carry him into an idle daze. Without warning, the sun was eclipsed by swelling black clouds as the Angel Hall crumbled. Before his very eyes, the entire building collapsed. Caught in an unceasing avalanche of broken brick, mortar, and stone, the strawberry fields, too, began to sink into the earth. Liao Yafan's white skirt was stained with dark dirt and her face shrouded in sorrow as she held her swelling abdomen with one hand. With the other hand she stretched toward Fang Mu… Fang Mu desperately tried to reach out, to catch hold of her hand, but he was paralyzed. All he could do was watch helplessly as her hand slipped further and further away. She was already half-swallowed, drawn down into that unfathomable darkness. Fang Mu screamed as he watched in anguish and despair …
Suddenly, his hands and feet came back to life. He could move again. Completely unaware of were he was, he sat bolt upright and screamed. The man in front of him jumped back in shock.
"Fuck!" Xiao Wang shouted, struggling to avoid Fang Mu's flailing arms. "What's wrong?"
Fang Mu was staring off into space, still caught in the limbo of dreaming and waking. Seconds ticked by before he testily lowered his arms and hoarsely muttered, "...Nothing."
"You had a nightmare?" Xiao Wang asked, a little more at ease.
"Hmm," Fang Mu made an indistinct response; clearly he did not want to talk about it. "Have the results come back yet?"
"No." Xiao Wang's eyes were bloodshot. He looked and sounded as if had not slept a wink. "You can go back to sleep; I'll wake you if anything happens."
"No more sleep. Can I have a smoke?" Fang Mu asked. Xiao Wang obliged him. Cigarette in mouth, Fang Mu inhaled deeply, trying to shake the fog of sleep from his mind. After a few puffs, he rose to his feet and stretched. Every muscle and fiber in his body screamed.
Xiao Wang grimaced. "Damn, this really is one hell of a job," he said with a chuckle.
"Nothing to be done about it now—our job is our job." Fang Mu swiped a bottle of mineral water from the conference table and helped himself to a few big, noisy gulps. His train of thought suddenly jumped a track. "Any news from the surveillance team?"
"Nothing. Five-O-Two keeps their curtains drawn and the man has not left the building again," Xiao Wang replied.
"So, all we can do is wait for the results of the DNA analysis." Fang Mu shrugged painfully.
"That's it." Xiao Wang rubbed his tired temples. "Captain Deng's team has already worked out a plan for the arrest. As soon as we have the results, they'll work out the final details."
Xiao Wang was still explaining the situation when the door to the conference room was thrown open. Deputy Captain Xu Tong burst into the room with angry strides. He went straight for the mostly empty water bottle Fang Mu had left on the table. Without so much as a word, he emptied it in one gulp.
"Fuck that bastard" He wiped the drops from the corner of his mouth. "Who does he think he is?"
Xiao Wang was impassively watching Xu Tong. "He's gone?"
"I took forever and a day, but I finally got him to piss off!" Xu Tong was nearly incoherent with exasperation. "Next time he can talk to Commissioner Li. I've had enough of this bullshit!"
Fang Mu had listened in confusion, and now asked, "Who are you talking about?"
"Liang Zehao, Pei Lan's girlfriend," Xiao Wang answered with a bitter smile. "The boy got word from who knows where and now he's convinced that we have already found the kidnappers' hideout. He wants us to tell him where it is so he can take his men and rescue Pei Lan."
Fang Mu frowned as he contemplated the news. He couldn't resist asking, "Who is Liang Zehao, really?"
Xiao Wang exchanged a few meaningful glances with Xu Tong, but both remained silent.
After a long pause, Xiao Wang said, "He got himself a movie star girlfriend; who do you think he is? Let it go. Just think of him as shit sticking to our shoes."
Fang Mu shrugged and turned to Xu Tong. "How long will it take for us to get the results of the DNA analysis?"
"I just called and asked them." Xu Tong glanced at his watch. "They reckon it'll be after midnight." He paused as he looked into their weary faces. "You two find somewhere to sleep. I'll tell you as soon as anything develops."
Fang Mu gave it some thought, and then quietly asked Xiao Wang, "Are you free?"
"Eh?" Xiao Wang raised an uncomprehending eyebrow.
"I want you to take me somewhere," Fang Mu said cryptically.
It was close to midnight. Suijing City was shrouded in a silent haze. The chilly streets were all but abandoned. Only the occasional car rushing past beneath the streetlamps provided any proof that the city had not been deserted. Xiao Wang stopped the car in front of the post office. He got out, opened the trunk and took out a nightstick.
"Let's go," he said to Fang Mu as he got out, pointing across the road at the only building on the street that was still illuminated. "That's where you'll want to look for him."
Even from far away, they could already hear the chaotic noise blaring from the building. The moment they opened the arcade door, they were assaulted by deafening metal music mixed with a strange whiff of something that smelled like tobacco and sweat. The arcade was jam-packed. Every cabinet was surrounded by a group of youngsters.
The sudden appearance of these two strange men went almost entirely unnoticed as the gamers carried on fighting, shooting, and racing in a myriad of fantastic worlds. But someone did notice. In the far corner, a small group jumped to their feet and stared at Fang Mu and Xiao Wang with open hostility. One of them, a bald-headed adolescent, spotted the nightstick in Xiao Wang's hand and immediately reached behind the nearby counter.
Xiao Wang glanced over at him, but decided to ignore the skin-head and walked straight toward the stairs. The alarmed youngsters immediately rushed to block his way, but Xiao Wang simply shoved the first of them out of the way. It was a big guy, but the
push was hard enough to send him reeling. With him out of the way, Xiao Wang stepped onto the stairs. He raised his nightstick, pointing it straight at the group. He signaled Fang Mu to come.
Fang Mu quickly made his way past the cowed youngsters and up to the second story. The building's top level offered a stark contrast to the bright, blaring hall below. There everything was dark and murky. That indeterminable smell, however, was much stronger. Like the ground floor, the second level was one large hall, although Fang Mu could dimly make out a few makeshift partitions along the walls. Through a half-open partition door, he could see a beat-up sofa and a small table. Several sofas also stood haphazardly across the center of the hall. Barely visible silhouettes silently reclined on them.
Taking a closer look at the nearest sofa, Fang Mu found a girl with long hair wearing nothing but her underwear. She was sleeping soundly despite the ear-piercing music. He knew she was the exception. All across the hall and from behind the partitions, eyes were staring at him through the semi-light. Fang Mu fixed each silent silhouette with a cold glance in turn. He thought of the pregnant Mi Nan, stuck in this very room for days; he imagined her trembling in fear and his heart began to thump with anger.
Xiao Wang was soon at his side, shouting. "Elder Bin, come out!"
His demand was quickly met as a tall, slender man emerged from the darkness. Xiao Wang raised the tip of his nightstick in his direction. "Turn on the lights. And turn off that racket!"
Almost instantly the hall was flooded with flickering light. As the lights went on, the aggressive music fell silent. Xiao Wang took in the chaos emerging from the darkness. "That was quick. Got your stash all nicely hidden away then?" he asked crisply.
Elder Bin looked straight at Xiao Wang, his eyes flashing with cunning. He reminded Fang Mu of a snake as a broad smile began to spread across his entire face. His eyes, frosty and emotionless, did nothing to dispel the image.
"Now, now, Elder Brother Xiao." The man was at least 40 and yet he called Xiao Wang Elder Brother. "There is no ice and no powder here. And even if there was, it would have been brought here by my guests. I would have nothing to do with it."
Xiao Wang snorted. "Tell your boy that if he dares to ring that alarm next time, I will do horrible things to his fingers."
"He wouldn't dare, wouldn't dare it." Elder Bin nodded profusely. "Elder Brother Xiao, you are here today because of...?"
"I am looking for Luo Hua," Xiao Wang answered flatly.
"Luo Hua?" Elder Bin pretended to rack his brain. "I don't know him."
Xiao Wang squinted back at him. "Come again?"
"I really don't know anyone by that name." Elder Bin spread his arms in a sarcastic gesture. Pursing his lips, he turned to the people on the sofas. "Just ask them."
Xiao Wang chuckled. Suddenly he grabbed the hair of the limp girl, lying on the sofa and rolled her to the floor. She remained trapped in her stupor even as she hit the floor. Pointing down at her, Xiao Wang coolly asked, "How much has she snorted?"
"She didn't snort any powder; she just drank too much," came Elder Bin's emotionless answer.
"Is that so?" Xiao Wang laughed. "Well, then we'll just have to run a blood test to see, won't we?"
The expression on Elder Bin's face changed in an instant, his smile vanishing without a trace. Through clenched teeth, he reluctantly whispered, "Elder Brother Xiao, there is no need for that, don't you agree? All of us—"
"Where is Luo Hua?" Xiao Wang interrupted. "Tell him to come out."
Elder Bin stared at Xiao Wang for a few seconds. Finally, he gave a furious, jabbing point to one of the partitions. Xiao Wang marched across the hall and kicked its door open. With a scream, a girl with bright red hair burst from the partition. A bare-chested young man remained slumped on the sofa inside. Limply flailing his hands and mumbling to himself, he was completely oblivious to the two men walking toward him.
Xiao Wang sneered at the younger man. "Looking at postcards?" he asked, using the typical addict slang for hallucinations.
Fang Mu bent down and fixed his stare on the young man's eyes, holding his limp-lidded gaze. "Luo Hua?"
Luo Hua made no effort to respond, nor did he give any indication that he had even heard the question.
Xiao Wang cursed as he looked about the partition. Finally, he picked up an ice bucket that was sitting in a corner.
"Heads up!" he shouted as he dumped the icy water over Luo Hua's head.
A jolt ran through the youngster's body as his eyes fluttered open, a modicum of life returning to his now wild stare. Luo Hua shook his head as he wiped the water from the man's face. Finally the youth noticed the two men standing right in front of him.
"You…" he mumbled.
"You know Mi Nan right?" Fang Mu asked in a no-nonsense tone. "Give me her things."
Luo Hua did not answer; instead he plucked a few ice cubes from behind his head where they rested on the back of the sofa and stared in amazement as the frozen water melted in his hand. It took a while, but the question did make its way into his mind. When it finally arrived, his face distorted into a mask of rage.
"...Fuck you…" Luo Hua jumped to his feet, splattering the water from his hands with violent shakes. He barely had a chance to spit his first curses than they suddenly caught in his throat. Xiao Wang kicked him the chest, hitting him solidly, knocking the air out of him and throwing him back onto the sofa.
Luo Hua grabbed his chest and let out a strained cough. He rolled over and began shouting at the top his lungs. "Elder Brother Bin! Elder Brother Bin!"
His cries went unanswered. No one would come to his rescue. When the reality of his situation finally sunk in, Luo Hua huddled into a corner of the sofa. Trembling, he watched Xiao Wang and Fang Mu.
Fang Mu took a step toward him. "Give me Mi Nan's things," he demanded, speaking quickly, with biting clarity.
"You..." Lu Hua recoiled in fear as he stared at Fang Mu and then at Xiao Wang. "You are Mi Nan's…?" His eyes found Xiao Wang's nightstick.
Fang Mu silently glared at him. Luo Hua only held out for a few more seconds; then he threw them a jacket that had been hanging over the sofa. Fang Mu turned the jacket inside out. In it, he found Mi Nan's resident identification card.
"The pen?" Fang Mu asked with a frown.
Xiao Wang stepped forward and pointed the nightstick at Luo Hua's nose.
"The Daxin Pawnshop!" Luo Hua shouted, sheer terror in his wide open eyes that saw only the nightstick. "I sold it to Old Fei."
Xiao Wang saw Fang Mu mutter and shake his head. He was obviously unsure what to do.
Xiao Wang had no such doubts. He took the jacket, dumped it on Luo Hua and commanded, "Let's go!"
As they bustled Luo Hua toward the stairs, Fang Mu turned back to look straight at Elder Bin. "Get her to a hospital." He pointed at the long-haired girl still lying motionlessly on the ground in her underwear. "Or she might die."
The Daxin Pawnshop was located on the west side of Suijing City, about 20 minutes from the post office. Since they had gotten into the jeep, none of the three men had said a word. Only Luo Hua occasionally broke the silence with deep inhales and slow sighs. His eyes were in constant motion, swiveling wildly from Fang Mu to Xiao Wang and back again. Disgusted, Fang Mu turned away, focusing his mute attention on the night city outside the window.
It was nothing like Suijing City by day. The streets and buildings all looked fantastically unfamiliar as they appeared to rise out of nowhere. Fang Mu suddenly felt awash with the bizarre sensation of traveling underground. And indeed, it seemed they were in another world that slept deep below the earth; here everyone and everything, even the rules, seemed turned upside-down.
Xiao Wang's cell phone rang. Pushing its earpiece into his ear, he answered the call. After a few seconds of acknowledging "hm's" and "uh-huh's", he said, "I know," and then hung up the phone.
Fang Mu felt the jeep abruptly accelerate. He caught Xiao Wang's eyes in the rearview mirror.
"They'r
e certain beyond any doubt," Xiao Wang simply stated, and then added: "Five-O-Two."
Fang Mu sat up straighter. "Are we heading back?"
"No." Xiao Wang pushed the accelerator to the floor. "First, we deal with your issue."
The Daxin Pawnshop had closed for the day long ago and so Xiao Wang took to pounding on the shuttered door with his nightstick. If the lights that came on one by one in the surrounding houses were any indication, he had at least succeeded in waking up the neighbors. It took a few minutes, but Old Fei finally did emerge from inside to let them in. He was muttering curses and still sorting his hastily-donned clothes when he met them. As soon as he saw the nightstick in Xiao Wang's hand, a shiver ran over his body and he began to stammer something about being a good, law-abiding citizen.
Xiao Wang could not have cared less. He quickly interrupted the old man and told him exactly why they had come. When he realized that he was not in trouble, Old Fei was suddenly all business. He was immediately asking a price of 5,000 yuan for the pen.
"Mother-fucker!" Luo Hua shouted as he stared at the man. "I sold it to you for a thousand!"
"And I did not force you to sell it," Old Fei responded sedately. "It's a classic Parker pen; a real original."
Xiao Wang would have none of it and simply took the pen. After examining it, he off-handedly pulled the wallet from Luo Hua's pants and threw it on the counter. Then he turned, placed the pen in Fang Mu's hand and started to walk toward the door.
"Wait! Wait!" Old Fei called out behind him. "There are only eight hundred yuan in here."
"That's between the two of you," Xiao Wang replied, not looking back. He gestured for Fang Mu to join him.
As they drove away, Fang Mu could see Luo Hua and the Old Fei at the shop, engaged in a rather pitiable match of pushes and shoves.
The Inspection Department had discovered traces of mucosal tissue on one of the plastic spoons from the trash. DNA analysis showed that it definitely belonged to Pei Lan. Armed with this new information, the task force had quickly finalized their plans for the arrest. Two groups were formed to carry out the operation. The first group was led by Deputy Captain Xu Tong and would carry out the arrest at the train station. Xiao Wang would lead the other group. It was up to him to make the arrest at the Ganghua Estate and to free the hostage. At Xiao Wang's urging, Fang Mu had been included in his group.