Chapter 206: Merchants of Yin Objects (1/2)
The couple’s trial preparation work was handed over to Director Feng. That night, I slept soundly. In the morning, Xiaotao called me to the station, citing an urgent matter. Her tone sounded especially grave.
I thought that something had happened to the couple. Suspects had been known to swallow razor blades, wires and detergent after being arrested in order to avoid trial.
I made my way into the conference room only to face an onslaught of colorful ribbons. The perpetrators were Xiaotao and Bingxin, who were lying in ambush behind the door. The officers all cheered together, ”The great Detective Song is here!” Someone even brought out an enormous cake.
The surprise came out of the blue and completely overwhelmed me. Because we had solved the case, everyone could go home for the New Year. Thus, Xiaotao proposed to hold a celebration to thank me for my huge contribution.
She placed a small party hat on my head and pulled me over to cut the cake. I asked, ”It’s so early. Why are we eating cake?”
Xiaotao waved her hands. ”Let’s have something else then. Bring out the pot!”
Like a magician performing a sleight of hand, the crowd brought out an induction cooker, a pot, some ingredients, and began to cook hot pot. I laughed, ”We’re still in the public security bureau and there’s training going on downstairs. Do you have to be so unbridled?”
Xiaotao rightfully insisted, ”Yes! We’re not going to do anything today except eat till we’re full, drink till we’re satisfied and sleep like babies. That’s an order!”
”Yes ma’am!” everyone shouted noisily.
I relaxed well the entire day. After enjoying the hot pot, Xiaotao and Bingxin went shopping for clothes while I went to an Internet cafe with several policemen to play League of Legends. It turned out that even the police played this game, though their gaming skills were rather poor. Despite being thrashed by the students on winter vacation, they were still very happy.
I had some errands to run in the afternoon. When I went back to the hotel to grab my things, I bumped into Xiaotao and Bingxin. Bingxin asked, ”Would you like to watch a movie?”
”What's so great about those terrible New Year movies? By the way, I'm going somewhere. Would you like to come along?”
I headed to the village to burn a few stacks of joss paper and recite the Song family mantra. I intended to make amends for frightening the poor ghost last night.
Bingxin placed her hand over her mouth in shock. ”Song Yang-gege, you’re so kind... But was it really a ghost that followed us?”
I laughed. ”The truth is mystical and we might not see the whole picture. In fact, I don't know if it is.”
Xiaotao mysteriously added, ”Actually, we’ve seen ghosts before, as early as in our first case.”
Bingxin asked excitedly, ”Really? Tell me everything!”
When we arrived, the big stone covering the well had been removed, much to my surprise. I asked a villager about it, to which he replied that a master came two days ago, claiming to be a collector of yin objects. He explained that the well was haunted because the resentful spirit was attached to something inside.
Last night, it had been foggy when the master was conducting his ritual. Many villagers witnessed the female ghost in red emerge from the well with their own eyes. The master’s method was earth-shattering. He eventually subdued the ghost and fished up an ancient jade bracelet from the well.
The master didn’t ask for payment, only the jade bracelet. He maintained that this was the rule in their profession–the object must be relinquished to him.
I was shocked. Did such a profession really exist?
Since the ghost was gone, there was no need to burn the joss paper. Just as we were leaving the village, I noticed a parked car. It looked as if something had gone wrong. A middle-aged man of extraordinary temperament was changing components in the front. Next to the car was a vulgar looking, pockmarked man with a cigarette between his lips. He openly stared at Xiaotao's chest and raised his eyebrows lecherously. Xiaotao returned his look with a glare.
At a glance, I could tell the man wasn’t decent folk. Just then, the middle-aged man finished repairing the car. He wiped the engine oil off his hands and complained, ”Don’t you know to give me a hand? The only thing you know how to do is stare at beautiful girls. It’s so embarrassing to let you out of the house.”
The pockmarked man laughed. ”What do you mean by that? Didn’t I play my part last night?”
The middle-aged man dismissively said, ”You’re one to talk! You drove that thing into the woods and almost hurt the innocent.”
Xiaotao flashed her bagde and asked, ”Hey you two, what are you doing here?”
The pockmarked man grinned. ”Hey beautiful, I really couldn’t tell that you were an officer! My buddy and I are antique dealers who came to the countryside to collect antiques.”
From his microexpressions, he seemed to be telling the truth.
Xiaotao pointed at the middle-aged man and asked sternly, ”What’s an antique dealer doing carrying a knife?”
Around the middle aged man’s waist hung a pair of short knives. He clarified that it was for self-defense but Xiaotao insisted on examining them. The two knives were unusually sharp, one cold to the touch while the other was the exact opposite.
Xiaotao said, ”Controlled weapons. I have to confiscate them!”
The middle-aged man hurriedly explained, ”No! These knives are very important to me and I’ve never used them to hurt anyone.”