In Search of Love

Su Xiao Pei met her senior.

Through the glass, she saw the patient, Lu Tong, which had committed the serial murder walking around.

Senior Jiang Dong gave her a folder, “This is the case report. I have already handed a copy to the police. The case is very similar to the murder of the policewoman and your father. There were only some details that he was not able to describe clearly. The most important thing was that he knew the name of his Master. The police checked his identity but there was no such person.”

“He gave a fake identity?”

“Correct. He said that his Master was Shi Ning, a university professor. They met in a coffee shop. At that time, Lu Tong was a waiter. He was not sociable due to his psychological problems, he would not be able to work long. Shi Ning is a frequent visitor in that shop. It could be said that Shi Ning saw his ‘talent’ at a glance and understood him. Thus, they became good friends.”

Su Xiao Pei looked through the report, “And Shi Ning taught him how to use his ‘talent’?”

“Yes. That Shi Ning is good at controlling people.”

“How do they contact each other?”

“He told us a phone number, but it was unreachable. Lu Tong was arrested three years ago. He said that after he was in prison, Shi Ning never looked for him and they lost contact.

“Any photos?”

“None.”

“Was he able to describe Shi Ning to the artist in the police station to have his picture drawn?”

“The police are arranging it. But I think it may not be very effective. After his arrest, his condition deteriorated. Although, it is much better now, we could not confirm if the appearance he said was an illusion or not.”

“What about the policewoman’s case? How did Shi Ning taught him?”

“They like to challenge authorities.”

Su Xiao Pei nodded, “For people like Lu Tong, they are consciously unassuming, they have been oppressed by authority and they relapse easily.”

“Correct. Choosing woman to start murdering gets them easily excited. Causing trouble within the authorities make them happy. The police are afraid, they start messing things up and are helpless. This causes them to be very excited.

“Was it caused personally by Shi Ning?”

“Not necessary.” Jiang Dong said, “He only taught Lu Tong what to do and told him his tricks. But we are not sure who the murderer was.”

“Were there any other clues from other cases?”

“The police are investigating. His has a list of cases does not have any specific place, time or names. Only the process and the result of the murder.”

“This Shi Ning…” Su Xiao Pei wants to say that he is terrible.

Jiang Dong nodded his head, “Professors are very interested in this case. This is the first time we have encountered a criminal teacher.”

“Perverted bast*rd.” Su Xiao Pei said through her teeth.

Jiang Dong patted her head, “Don’t tell Auntie that I am telling you this. I don’t want her to ask me to drink tea with her.” In order not to let Su Xiao Pei do this, Li Fei nagged Su Xiao Pei’s teacher, classmates and colleague. This causes Su Xiao Pei to be quite embarrassed and angry.

Su Xiao Pei put then information into her bag, “Then, I will invite you to drink tea.”

“No matter how many cups of tea you treat me, I will not let you talk to Lu Tong alone. You can rest assured that I will tell you any news.”

Su Xiao Pei thanked him. Jiang Dong refused Su Xiao Pei’s invitation to dinner as he still had work to do. Su Xiao Pei did not insist as she could not wait but to dive deeper into the case. So she went home to cook some instant noodles and studied it all night.

This was the first time after so many years that she was so close to the truth of her father’s murderer.

That night, even in Su Xiao Pei’s sleep, she seems to be thinking about the case.

——

Ran Fei Ze did not sleep, he rushed towards No Town direction and went to the temple where he had left the letter. He asked carefully, but no one in the temple saw anyone that suit the description that Ran Fei Ze had describe. No one even came to stay for the night.

Ran Fei Ze thanked them and took back his letter.

The last stop was Ling Gui Temple under Ping Zhou Mountain near No Town.

The abbot was very polite. He listened to Ran Fei Ze’s question and answered them, “Since Swordsman Ran came, I took notice of everyone that entered and left the temple. No one fits the description that Swordsman Ran, naturally, no one came to get the letters.”

Ran Fei Ze thanked the abbot and asked the letter back. The abbot turned around to his room and took the letter out.

Ran Fei Ze took the letter and with a glance he was able to see that it was indeed the letter that he gave. After thanking the abbot, he was able to place the letter in his coat when he felt that something was wrong. It was evident that the letter had been tampered with.

Ran Fei Ze called out to the abbot who was about to leave. He opened the letter in front of the abbot and took a look. He saw a piece of paper inside.

Ran Fei Ze did not open the paper but he asked first, “Where was Master when you kept the letter? Did someone moved it?”

“I just placed it on the table in the room. I have told the disciples about the search. If someone had saw anyone with the description, there were to tell it to me. But the letter was to be placed on the table, my disciples will follow the rules and not move it.”

“Did Master read the contents of the letter?”

“It is a private matters, I am trusted by people. I never once open the letter.”

Ran Fei Ze opened the letter and there was only one sentence on it, “kill Cui Shan Pai Sect leader, Cao He Dong, then you are able to see her.”

Ran Fei Ze was angry when he read the letter, but he quickly calmed down. He stared at the letter with a blank look. The abbot was a bit embarrassed, “Swordsman, is there something wrong with the letter?”

Ran Fei Ze was silent for a while and suddenly said, “Nothing is wrong, I only just thought of something, can I trouble Master to lend me a brush?”

The abbot seemed to notice that something was not right, he agreed and asked Ran Fei Ze to enter the room. He placed the stationaries on the table and left the room. Ran Fei Ze took up the brush and wrote a letter.

“Who is she? Was it a corpse or a human? How to prove it? Shouting and killing is not appropriate in the place of Buddhism.” He wrote his address at No Town and wrote, “I am waiting for you there, and there are things to discuss.” He folded the letter, took out the original letter, took the folded letter and place it in the same envelop and left the room to find the abbot. “Master, I request Master to put this letter back to the same place that you had found it.”

“If that is the case, do you still need to leave a message?”

“No. Master just need to place this letter back to the original place. If I need to trouble Master, I will come again.”

The abbot thought about it and nodded.

Ran Fei Ze returned to his house at No Town and found a note on the table that read, “Come and find me once you have returned.” It was written by Xiao Qi.

Ran Fei Ze frowned, it was not because of Xiao Qi’s tone but he was really starting to hate letters.

Using letters to kill someone but also vaguely saying that can see ‘her’, does that person really think that he is stupid or is the person playing with him?

Ran Fei Ze closed his door, and pretend to boil some water for his tea but he secretly left the house through the window and went south, five miles from the town. Ran Fei Ze went to Xuan Qing Sect other house.

He did not enter through the main door but went in through a covered up trail and sneaked in. He saw Xiao Qi and a young woman walking along the path. Xiao Qi told the young woman that it is now a very critical period. They have to be very careful, etc. Xiao Qi send the young woman back to the female quarters. In the dark, Ran Fei Ze was waiting for Xiao Qi to turn around and violently pulled him over.

Xiao Qi was shocked and threw out a punch. Ran Fei Ze expected it and caught Xiao Qi’s fist in his palm and slowly let go.

Xiao Qi’s eyes had adjusted and couldn’t help but be angry at Ran Fei Ze , “Can’t you just visit normally and enter through the main entrance?”

“I need you help with something.” Ran Fei Ze said.

“Not helping.” Xiao Qi did not say anything else.

Ran Fei Ze ignored what Xiao Qi said, “Look for some trustworthy disciple, ask them to guard against Ling Gui Temple. There is a letter in the abbot’s prayer room. If someone sneak in, ask them stalk that person. No matter if it is a monk or anyone else. If the person leave Ling Gui Temple, follow him quietly and see where he goes, even if it is the abbot.

“What?” Xiao Qi frowned, “How did you provoke Ling Gui Temple?”

“How could I provoke someone?”

“Don’t underestimate yourself.”

“It is them who finds me. I want to secretly find someone.”

“I will help you this time, while I am at it, will you help me check the Ming Yin Sword?”

“It has been so long, you haven’t figure out what I meant?” Ran Fei Ze frowned. Wasn’t there a bunch of people who was able to testify for them?

“Easier said than done, the Master is dead, how can it be so straightforward?”

“Ok, while you guard the temple, I will help you.”

This time Xiao Qi frowned, “What if we couldn’t find the person? You can’t cheat us. In other words, if it just guarding the temple, why don’t you do it?”

“I have to go back and drink tea.”

Xiao Qi wanted to punch him but he controlled himself. Ran Fei Ze said, “I went back to Ning’an City to a bloody house, my woman was missing. No one saw her body, and no one knew where she was. The government searched the house and didn’t find anything. I went to search and I found a flower from a hair accessory. I chased after this clue to the owner but it lead me to her corpse. Someone killed her before we could interrogate her. But on her table, she wrote the words, ‘I should not have killed her.’ I went back to Ling Gui Temple to get her letter back. I wanted to check on another clue but someone secretly switched out the letters to pass me a message. The message was saying that I have to kill Cui Shan Pai Sect leader, Cao He Dong, then I am able to see her. The letter did not say who they were but I only found one person and this person should know what is happening.”

Xiao Qi was shocked, “Master Cao is a guest in my Sect now. He came because of the Ming Yin Sword.”

“Really?” Ran Fei Ze thought, “I will not find him now, you keep silent. The person who gave me the letter wants to play with me, but I do not want to make him happy. There should be someone that is stalking me, I should go back first.”

Xiao Qi nodded, “The matter is getting serious, if will involve you but if you kill Master Cao, this would involve the whole of Jianghu.”

“This is not caused just by one person.” Ran Fei Ze said, “They knew about my whereabouts, and there is also a mole within the Yamen. I rushed back all the way, unless he has a pair of wings, he should not be faster than me. There is nothing wrong with the temples on the way. It was only at Ling Gui Temple where the problem starts. Either the person hid in the temple, if not they are near the Ling Gui Temple.”

“Who did you offend?” Xiao Qi guessed. “The crime weapon was the Ming Yin Sword, and the Jiu Ling dagger was created by you and your Master.”

“In that case, why is there no problem with you sword?”

Xiao Qi kept quiet.

“Both of them create sounds. If you want to copy it, it would be best if you copy the same movement. These two weapons are easily recognized and are easily obtained.”

“Think carefully, did you offend anyone recently?” Xiao Qi still thinks that the problem may have started with Ran Fei Ze.

“I have never offended anyone.”

“You have offended too many people, I only want you think about the recent past.”

“You have a better memory than me, you help me think.”

“Then, what about your woman? Who has she offended?”

“She also has never offended anyone.”

“There should be a few.” Xiao Qi frowned.

“I will leave first. You have to be on the lookout when guarding Ling Gui Temple. I will go back and drink tea while waiting. If that person thinks that letter has no meaning, it is better if he comes and find me. If there is news, we can contact each other.” With that, Ran Fei Ze turned away and left.

Xiao QI thought for a moment, did not dare to waste any time and quickly arranged according to Ran Fei Ze’s orders.

Nothing happened during the night, no one came to Ran Fei Ze’s residence and no one stalked him as well.

By the afternoon of the second day, someone came to give Ran Fei Ze a report, not long after, Xiao Qi came.

“There is a monk in the temple that is suspicious. Only he went in and out of the Abbot’s prayer room, then he went out with the excuse of taking water, but when he got to the river, he hid the bucket and went elsewhere.”

Ran Fei Ze nodded.

Xiao Qi was a little embarrassed, “But my junior brother lost the person after that.” He paused for a while before continuing, “You can’t blame him, that monk is quite sly, and kept circling around and finally, he got away.”

Ran Fei Ze nodded again and said, “Thank you.”

“You cannot mock us, it is our negligence to lose the person, but my junior brother still will stalked the person again and will find his hideout.”

“My gratitude is sincere.” Ran Fei Ze said, “Thank you for you junior brother’s attention, this way that monk knows that someone is stalking him. I will wait, maybe I will know where that person is going.”

Xiao Qi was surprised, “You still find someone else to follow him?”

“Of course.” Ran Fei Ze was calm, “Xuan Qing Sect has never been low-key. What use are your skills in stalking people?”

Xiao Qi gritted his teeth, resisting his urge to punch Ran Fei Ze.

“Furthermore, your Sect is having trouble. If the other party is related to your problem, they will take actions against you. It is best for you to take some precautions. I ask for your help to make the other be wary of your Sect as you’re stronger. Let them be more wary against you, then I will have my chance when they neglect me.”

“You…” Xiao Qi really does not know what to do with him. He did not say anything wrong, but he should have said it earlier. Now Xiao Qi just finds him irritating.

Just as Xiao Qi was about to talk, someone sneaked in through the window.

Xiao Qi took a glance and saw that it was Lou Li Dong.

He is a famous thief in the Jianghu. No, it should be said that he is big thief, he has a bunch of small thieves under him. Righteous people will not associate with them.

Xiao Qi is furious.

“Sir Xiao is really talented, I am envious.” Lou Li Dong came in and smiled.

Xiao Qi glared at him, has this person ever studied before?

“Stop trying to suck up to Xiao Qi, quickly speak, how did it go?” Ran Fei Ze poured a cup of tea for Lou Li Dong.

Xiao Qi looked at him again. He came for a while but why didn’t Ran Fei Ze serve him any tea?

Ran Fei Ze also poured a cup of tea for Xiao Qi but this was because Ran Fei Ze was already pouring the tea. While Ran Fei Ze was pouring the tea for Xiao Qi, he was looking at Lou Li Dong.

“Big brother guessed correctly, there is indeed a powerful backer. The monk went around a few times before he finally went back and took the bucket to fetch water. But his petty tricks can’t escape my eyes. Shortly after he left, there was a girl who went to the place where his bucket was and took a letter from the bottom of the bucket. I followed her, do you want to guess where she went?”

The two people present did not bother speaking, only stared at him.

“Okay.” Lou Li Dong scratched his head, “She went to the Xuan Qing Sect that was five miles away from the south of the town.

“Where?!” Xiao Qi shouted out.

“It is indeed the Xuan Qing Sect. she proudly knocked on the door and handed the letter.

“Then?”

“Then she left.”

“Who did she give the letter to?”

“I sneaked in but I only saw a servant passed the letter to a disciple of Xuan Qing Sect. the disciple went into a yard and handed the letter to someone. But I was only able to see the clothing and it seem like it was someone from the Cui Shan Sect. Then the other party entered the house and I was not able to see anything anymore.” Lou Li Dong held his chin and stared at Xiao Qi. “The rest of the matter is more suitable for the handsome Sir Xiao to investigate.”

Xiao Qi frowned, “Easier said than done, do not anyhow speak.”

“Handsome Sir Xiao.” Ran Fei Ze sarcastically spoke, “Please go back and investigate your Sect. After the incident with your Master, did your Sect accept a lot of disciple? Do you know exactly what kind of disciple were accepted?”

Xiao Qi frowned. Before, he had thought that all the other Sect Master were friends, but now he was doubting it.

Lou Li Dong said, “Yes, there are many type of black-hearted person, even now, your Master is accused of murder. Now is it very troublesome in the Jianghu, there are some that are just watching the show, can your Master know person is an enemy or a friend?”

Xiao Qi gritted his teeth, “I do not know where everything went wrong, my Master did not offend anyone thus, and we have no enemy. I will go back and discuss with my Master. I will definitely investigate this matter. If there is any news, I will inform you.

Xiao Qi said his part, turned around and walked towards to the door. But before he left the house, he stopped. He took out a piece of paper and handed it to Ran Fei Ze, “I almost forgot to pass it to you. Master asked me to ask you, have you seen this symbol before? This was seen at the crime scene.”

Ran Fei Ze took a look at the paper. Two circles, one within the other, in the middle of the smaller circle there was an octagon, and a vertical line cut through the shapes.

Ran Fei Ze stared at the paper, his expression did not change, “I don’t know.”

Xiao Qi thought about it and left without saying anything.

———

On Huang Jiang Road, Yue Lao 2238 sat on the edge of the flowerbed and looked at the intersection.

A young woman with tears on her face, cried and ran onto the street. Yu Lao looked in urgency and wanted to stop her but a car drove past and nearly hit the lady. The lady screamed “AH!” and fell to the ground.

The car stopped in front of the lady. The driver was a young man, he came out of the car in anger, slammed the car door behind him. When he saw the young woman, he shouted loudly, “Do you want to die?! Didn’t you see the red light?!”

The lady burst into tears and the man was surprised by her crying, “Hey, I didn’t hit you, you better not be pretending.”

The young woman ignore him, tried to stand but she twisted her foot and fell back down. She took a deep breath and ignore the pain, stood back up and limped away.

“Oi….” That man hesitated a while before pulling her back to asked if she was hurt. The two talked for a while before the man finally dragging the young woman into the car and send her to a hospital.

Yue Lao witness the process, took out his smart tablet and wrote down in his report ‘Complete’

Sighing while writing his report, “This case really has no meaning, is this coincidence or a car accident? Do you think you are playing a love drama? It is old fashioned and painful for single dogs. Even novels created 800 years ago do not write this type of meeting. This also happened in the middle of the night, if the young man did not stop in time, she would’ve died, if there was another accident, it would be very troublesome for me…” While he was complaining about it, the tablet made a ‘di di di’ sound.

Yue Lao opened the notification and he jumped up, “Oh, Su Xiao Pei…”

Her body is done, her soul is about to transmigrate over again.

Yue Lao look at the time, it was already 2am. He would be beaten if he went over now to inform her, right? Moreover, he looked down at the tablet, the bar that indicates when she is transmigrating over has begun to move.

“It is not that I do not want to inform you in advance, Su Xiao Pei, you must have gotten used to it, take care.”