Chapter 048: Whereabouts Unknown

Yu Nie committed a crime? He killed someone?

I stared at Wang Zihao in disbelief. When Yu Nie suddenly appeared at the airport and was spotted by me and Captain Cui, it was only natural for Captain Cui to have such a notorious felon—who should still be in prison—tailed and investigated.

After I boarded the plane, he assigned someone to follow Yu Nie at all times. Yet Yu Nie’s movements were suspiciously simple; aside from a brief stop to buy some food, the only place he visited was the abandoned Baolian Temple in the southern part of the city.

Once Yu Nie entered the old temple, he never came out again—or so the surveillance team reported.

The prison soon got back to Captain Cui as well: all of Yu Nie’s release paperwork was legal and proper, with nothing amiss.

Despite the official confirmation from the prison, Captain Cui remained uneasy.

Who was Yu Nie? He was a criminal infamous throughout the country.

So the surveillance never ceased.

For the first couple of days, nothing unusual happened. Yu Nie’s routine was simple: aside from buying basic groceries, he spent most of his time chanting sutras and reciting prayers in the temple.

But on the third day, Captain Cui waited and waited, but the surveillance log never came in. He tried calling, but all he got was a dead tone. Personally going to check, he found the surveillance officer—but no longer alive. Instead, facing him was a cold corpse, incapable of handing over any kind of log.

Captain Cui’s first thought was Yu Nie. He drew his gun and stormed into the temple.

Though he was a seasoned officer, hardened by countless harrowing scenes, when he saw what was inside, he nearly lost control and vomited.

The old temple had become a scene from hell. The heads of three girls were neatly placed on the altar where offerings should have stood. Their eyes were wide open in rage, and blood had streamed from their seven orifices, though by the time Captain Cui saw them, it had dried on their faces.

On the crown of each severed head was a stick of incense, burned down to ashes that dusted their hair. Their bodies knelt before their own heads, hands pressed together in prayer.

From behind, one might have mistaken them for devout worshippers.

Their blood had stained the entire temple floor a ghastly color. With every step, Captain Cui felt the sticky resistance beneath his feet.

When he approached the corpses, he discovered a lotus flower carved into the right shoulder of each with a knife.

Everything before him confirmed one thing: Yu Nie was the killer.

The method matched the murders Yu Nie had committed ten years ago, down to the lotus carvings, the decapitation, the kneeling bodies, the incense and ashes atop their heads.

Yu Nie was nowhere to be found in the temple.

Captain Cui acted without hesitation, issuing a nationwide warrant for Yu Nie.

Yet it was as if Yu Nie had vanished. Even after scouring every surveillance feed, not a trace of him could be found.

It wasn't until last night that Captain Cui received a tip about Yu Nie's whereabouts. He immediately gathered his team and set out. Before leaving, he called me, but I missed the call.

So he left his phone with Wang Zihao, asking him to keep trying to reach me.

Everyone wondered why Captain Cui was so desperate to contact an eighteen-year-old kid.

Only he truly understood who I was—and what kind of existence Yu Nie represented this time.

Wang Zihao filled me in on everything that had happened over the past few days, and told me that Captain Cui and his team were now at Sunshine Garden in the northern part of the city, where they’d found a lead on Yu Nie. He was taking me there.

As the scenery flashed past the window, my feelings were complicated.

People’s impressions of others or things are always subjective.

In everyone’s mind, Yu Nie was a demonic monk—naturally not a good person, obviously someone who would do terrible things.

But I didn’t see it that way. The Yu Nie I had encountered seemed different from what everyone else believed.

Though his appearance was fierce and ugly, his eyes were exceptionally gentle.

I had already seen it for myself in the airport lounge—the aura he exuded was one of peace and kindness.

There wasn’t a trace of malice in him. To call such a person a villain—I truly could not believe it.

Besides, my grandfather had always taught me not to judge by appearances, never to take things at face value.

Compared to what others said, I preferred to trust my own eyes.

When we arrived at the apartment in Sunshine Garden where Yu Nie had been spotted, Wang Zihao and I were shocked to find Captain Cui and three other officers unconscious on the floor.

There were footprints on their bodies and signs of struggle all around.

Fortunately, none of them had sustained fatal injuries.

“Captain Cui! Captain Cui!”

Under Wang Zihao's shaking, Captain Cui slowly regained consciousness. The moment he opened his eyes, his gaze locked onto me.

I looked right back at him. “Uncle Officer, we meet again.”

…

Indeed, they had found Yu Nie here. A fight broke out, but Captain Cui and his team were no match for him, and Yu Nie escaped once more.

However, Captain Cui said Yu Nie had taken a bullet to the left leg—he couldn’t have gone far.

He immediately sent Wang Zihao and others after him, while he himself took me back to the police station.

In his office, perhaps thinking that as a kid I wouldn’t care for tea or plain water, Captain Cui had even bought me a bottle of orange Fanta.

“Uncle Officer? You’re being so polite, it’s making me nervous.” Though I joked, I opened the Fanta without hesitation.

“I need your help.” Captain Cui was all seriousness, “Yu Nie isn’t an ordinary man. If I want to catch him, I need your help.”

I set down the Fanta and let out a comfortable burp.

“Uncle Officer, I’m just a businessman. You want me to help catch a fugitive? I’m only eighteen—are you kidding?”

Captain Cui’s eyes were cold and fierce, though not directed at me.

He bent down and took out two file folders, throwing them on the desk in front of me. “Take a look at what good deeds Yu Nie has done!”