Chapter 5
Edward Quan ·
“If I took all the blame, he'd send me overseas.”
“Give me plenty of money.”
“He promised...”
Yu Tian seemed to feel no pain.
He only muttered as though his mind were gone.
I clapped a hand over his mouth.
The man had begun searching toward us.
“Quiet.”
“Looks like your master thinks the dead keep secrets better than the living.”
“One question.”
“Do you want to live or die?”
“Nod if you want to live.”
He nodded frantically.
My palm suddenly grew wet.
He was crying with fear.
“Good.”
“Wait for my signal.”
“Move at the wrong moment, and you're dead.”
I didn't want to trust a murderer.
But now, all I could do was gamble.
Gritting my teeth, I took out the key, unlocked his handcuffs, and laid him in front of me.
His teeth clenched so hard they grated.
Terrified of dying, he forced himself to play unconscious.
I sat up and faced the approaching figure.
Step by step, he emerged from the dark.
Moonlight revealed his face.
“So it was you...”
I stared at that familiar face.
Xiao Cheng.
“Don't look at me like that.”
“You dream of being a good cop.”
“I dream of being rich.”
“Clearly, being a cop won't make me rich.”
Under my stare, he looked uncomfortable and turned away.
“You fabricated Wang Wuyu's fingerprints.”
“And deliberately signaled me to notice him.”
“Didn't you?”
“Yes.”
“We know each other too well.”
“One little gesture, and we know what the other is thinking.”
He shrugged.
“Why come to silence us yourself?”
“Because we're close.”
“With a chance to get rich like this, I didn't want to keep it to myself.”
“If you agree...”
“Tomorrow's headline will be: 'Brave Detective Takes Down Killer.'”
“Your dream comes true too.”
“Everyone will think you're a good cop.”
He smiled brightly.
“I should at least know who I'm working for.”
I sighed.
“You're so clever.”
“How can you not have guessed?”
He blinked.
“Tang Lin.”
I spoke the name slowly.
It felt as though a stone had finally lifted from my heart.
“Exactly.”
“So what's your answer?”
He raised his gun at me.
“Do I have a choice?”
I shrugged.
Then, suddenly, kicked Yu Tian hard in the backside with all my strength.
Bang!
A gunshot.
Wrapped in white bandages, I stood in Tang Lin's office.
The moment he saw me, he laughed.
“Well done!”
“Just what I'd expect from the man I promoted myself.”
“At last, we're on the same side.”
I smiled.
“You're too kind, Tang.”
“But there's still something I don't understand.”
He waved a hand.
“Ask.”
“No more secrets between us.”
I nodded.
“I know this operation makes a lot of money.”
“But the computer market's been shut down.”
“How do we keep going?”
He lit a cigarette and drew deeply.
“What's difficult about that?”
“Lose the computer market, we've still got the film studio.”
“And the pharmaceutical factory.”
“Don't worry about the connections above and below.”
“Once you're recovered, I'll give you the factory.”
“At least tens of millions a year.”
I acted astonished.
“That much?”
“I'm only a lowly cop.”
“Assets like that...”
“Their origin would look suspicious.”
He smiled kindly.
“What's that?”
“We've got a film studio.”
“Make a few films.”
“The money becomes legitimate income.”
“Stick with me.”
“There'll be plenty of chances to earn.”
I suddenly laughed.
“Tang.”
“You're telling me secrets like this.”
“Aren't you afraid I'll turn on you?”
He sat up straight.
Through the cigarette smoke, he narrowed his eyes at me.
“Turn on me?”
“Try it.”
“Yu Tian's dead.”
“I'll have Xiao Cheng dealt with too.”
“As for you...”
“If you open your mouth, I've got ten thousand ways to make you disappear.”
His voice was icy.
Threatening.
In that atmosphere, my lips slowly curved.
“When...”
“Did I tell you Yu Tian was dead?”
Tang Lin's face changed.
He snatched up the phone and roared, “Someone get in here!”
But an unfamiliar voice came from the other end.
“Captain Tang, who are you calling for?”
The phone slipped from his hand.
He stared at me as though he wanted to devour me alive.
He hadn't expected me to cooperate with Yu Tian.
To turn the tables and take down Xiao Cheng just when he thought victory was his.
Still less had he expected me to play the greedy man perfectly.
To trick him into revealing the entire organ-trafficking operation himself.
Before he was escorted into the police car, he was still shouting at me.
“Every man for himself, or heaven and earth destroy him!”
“What's wrong with making money?”
“And you?”
“What did you do all this for?”
“So people clap for you?”
“Hypocrite!”
I smiled.
For an instant, I seemed to see myself on the first day I'd been admitted to the police academy.
In my cadet uniform.
Standing at the lectern.
Chest out.
Head high.
“For my dream...”
“I want to be a good police officer.”
— The End —