Chapter Eighty-Two: Save Old Master Huo!

Soon afterward, a stout, middle-aged man came to us with five others. He said all five of them had been involved in the case of the Protecting Sovereign Cult back then.

The bureau chief was named Yu Tian. After a thorough inquiry, we discovered that he, too, was actually from a branch of our Yu family.

It was hard for me to imagine that a branch of the Yu family could produce a bureau chief in such a major commercial city. Just how vast was the power of the Yu family?

When Yu Tian learned that I was a descendant of the Yu line, he treated me with seven parts deference and three parts fear, and kept addressing me as Young Master. I had no idea what he was so afraid of.

Old Lin asked, “Take a look at this design. Do you think it is the emblem of the Protecting Sovereign Cult?”

Yu Tian studied it for a moment and said, “The cult’s emblem is very complicated, but its general shape is like this. It is also covered with countless fine lines, looking like tiny worms. I brought the design with me, so you can compare them.”

Sure enough, just as Yu Tian had said, that emblem was not as simple as an X. It carried intricate patterns, and from a distance it really did look like writhing worms.

Yu Tian also told us that if one approached from afar and looked closely at the emblem, one would see the worms on it moving.

I tried it myself, and the result left me dumbstruck. As I drew near, the worms on it really did squirm, as if circling around and around.

Old Lin said there was nothing strange about it, merely an optical illusion. The Protecting Sovereign Cult had surely used this gimmick to lure people into joining.

Yu Tian immediately nodded and said yes, that was right. They had caught one of the cult’s followers, and the man had admitted as much.

Old Lin looked at Yu Tian with an expression of delight. “You’ve captured members of the Protecting Sovereign Cult?”

Yu Tian nodded.

“He is an insider, so he must know far more than we do. In that case, go back at once and make sure he is well protected. He will be useful to us.”

Yu Tian promptly nodded. “Rest assured. He was supposed to be released from prison a few days ago, but because of this case and its possible connection to the old Protecting Sovereign Cult affair, his release was delayed for a few days.”

Yet another astonishing coincidence.

I asked, “Where did you catch him?”

Yu Tian explained, “At an abandoned film and television base. The crew of the hit web drama The Great Coroner once built a Song-dynasty imperial palace there. But after the series finished filming, the crew disbanded, and the building was left unused. No one expected that the Protecting Sovereign Cult would secretly buy it and turn it into one of their bases.”

Old Lin asked, “How many members of the Protecting Sovereign Cult were arrested back then?”

Yu Tian thought for a moment. “About seven, I think. But they have all already served their sentences. They were all deceived by the cult.”

“Good,” Old Lin said. “I want the records of those people. I’m beginning to suspect that the cult members are deliberately seeking revenge, and that they planned this case. Now take us to that abandoned film city. I have a feeling we will surely find Old Ho and the others there.”

Yu Tian nodded at once.

On the way, Yu Tian suddenly asked us what the girl named Tian Feier, whom we had gone to seek protection for today, did.

I said she was the daughter of one of the victims.

Yu Tian said, “That seems likely too. Otherwise why was she crying nonstop at the police station?”

I asked Old Lin, somewhat puzzled, “Didn’t she say she did not get along with her father? If her father died, why would she be crying like that?”

Old Lin said, “Perhaps she truly was heartbroken. Although she had a poor relationship with him, he was still her father. And her boyfriend died too.”

Yu Tian sighed. “I never expected Officer Wang to be that kind of person. I had always thought rather highly of him.”

I looked at Yu Tian in surprise. “How do you know about her relationship with Officer Wang?”

Yu Tian said, “She told me.”

“Impossible,” I said. “She probably wouldn’t bring up such a thing on her own if no one asked. There must be something suspicious behind this.”

Yu Tian said, “Oh, it was like this. She told us about her relationship with Officer Wang, and we all felt quite sorry for her. Then she said she wanted to talk with the criminals Officer Wang had arrested before, because she was simply too grief-stricken, so we agreed.”

“Then she suddenly said she wanted to meet that Protecting Sovereign Cult criminal, because Officer Wang often mentioned him to her.”

I slammed on the brakes. “She met that cult prisoner?”

Yu Tian nodded. “Yes. Why?”

“Call the bureau at once. Move the Protecting Sovereign Cult prisoner to another place of detention immediately, and keep him under strict watch twenty-four hours a day. Also, keep a close eye on Sun Lili and do not let her leave.”

Yu Tian also realized how important this was and immediately called the bureau.

Only after hearing that everything on that end was normal did we finally breathe a sigh of relief. Yet even so, I still felt uneasy.

For Sun Lili to meet a prisoner of the Protecting Sovereign Cult at such a critical moment, there had to be some unspeakable scheme behind it.

I asked Old Lin whether the other side might use some special means to tamper with the guards around her.

Old Lin was worried too, so he told Yu Tian to call again and simply have Sun Lili detained as well. Then spread a ring of lime around the prison, and if any trace of worms writhing across the lime was found, contact headquarters immediately.

Only after all this had been arranged did I truly relax.

We soon reached the building.

It was in fact just a fairly tall structure hastily put together from broken bricks and shattered tiles. Even the roof had been casually laid with felt and rebar, utterly dilapidated. From the outside, it looked as though even a light breeze might tear the roof away.

It was hard to imagine that such a ruined place could be made to resemble an imperial palace.

Yu Tian explained that although the exterior was shabby, the interior decoration was passable, since for a web drama the real work came in post-production effects. Once we went inside, we found that the interior was indeed decent enough. Only, after all those years, much of the wall had already peeled away, and there was plenty of trash, making the place look rather like a haunt for scavengers and beggars.

The building was about two stories high, precarious and hollow, and aside from the leftover takeaway boxes and rubbish, there was nothing else inside.

We circled the building once, but found nothing at all. We were deeply disappointed and began to wonder if we had been overthinking it, if perhaps this case had nothing to do with the Protecting Sovereign Cult at all, or if the cult had already moved its base elsewhere.

Just as we were about to leave, Old Lin suddenly tapped the floor with his cane, producing a dull thudding sound. Then he said, “Do you still remember that video? The light in that room did not seem to be natural.”

I was instantly enlightened. “You mean it might be underground?”

Old Lin nodded. “It should be underground. Search below carefully. See if you can find an entrance.”

With such an important lead, our search went very smoothly. We first focused on a large pile of trash. There were clear signs that it had been disturbed.

Tang Jingjing picked up a packet of instant noodles, held it to her nose, and sniffed it. With utmost seriousness, she said to Old Lin, “Old Lin, I think I can smell Old Ho’s scent.”

Old Lin became even more excited, thumping the ground with his cane. “Speed up, speed up, find them quickly! The air below is thin, and they’re inside a coffin. Every minute we find them sooner gives them one more minute of survival.”

Li Hong was absolutely professional in this regard. He used a dagger to keep stabbing into the soil below.

Very soon, the dagger struck a hard metal object. After clearing away the dirt, we discovered that beneath the ground was a round sewer cover.

When we opened the sewer cover a crack, a beam of light shone through.

But we were worried there might be an ambush below, so we did not open it fully. Instead, we tied a rope to the sewer cover and had everyone withdraw.

Originally, we had planned to slip in silently. But Old Lin told us that would be useless, because if anyone were down there, our movements had surely already alerted them.

Old Lin had us step back, then stood at a distance and shouted, “Old Ho, A Shan, can you hear us?”

Inside was utterly silent, with not the slightest response.

Old Lin shouted again, but there was still no answer.

The young soldier said to Old Lin, “Old Lin, I have an idea.”

Old Lin looked at him with interest. “What idea?”