Chapter 14

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014. The arrest had nearly ended in an irreversible disaster, leaving Jin Hong and the others shaken in retrospect.

After ordering his officers to handcuff the two suspects and take them back to the station, Jin Hong walked over to the stall and personally thanked Rong Jing.

After what had happened, Yuan Siyu looked at Rong Jing with even greater admiration.

His fortune-telling was uncannily accurate, his fighting ability astonishing, and he had quietly provided them with a photograph of the Raincoat Man.

Rong Jing had played an absolutely crucial role in the arrest.

He looked so young, yet no one had expected him to be so formidable.

Yuan Siyu gestured for Liu Liu to move over, making room for her on half the chair. Resting both elbows on the table, she gazed at Rong Jing with bright eyes.

“Young Taoist Master, why don’t you read my fortune too?”

With a customer at his stall, Rong Jing naturally had no reason to refuse.

The pleasant chime of a payment notification rang out. Rong Jing’s eyes curved into a smile, and his voice grew even sweeter.

“What would you like me to tell you, Sister?”

Yuan Siyu looked a little embarrassed. After a light cough, she said, “My love life. Let’s do my romantic prospects. I recently met a fairly decent man through a matchmaking arrangement, and I quite like him.”

Rong Jing deftly picked up his divination tortoise. Before long, he had laid out the coins, then lowered his gaze and pointed at them.

“Heaven above, Wind below. The wind travels across the world, and all things meet. This is Hexagram Forty-Four, Coming to Meet—the second line.”

Yuan Siyu listened in a daze, as though she had suddenly returned to high-school mathematics class. She hurriedly asked, “What does that mean?”

“It means that until you know him better…” Rong Jing put away the divination tortoise and looked into her eyes. “You should remain on your guard.”

Remain on her guard?

As a police officer, Yuan Siyu was extremely familiar with those four words.

And she was prone to overthinking. In that instant, all sorts of strange suspicions about her matchmaking partner overwhelmed the fondness she had felt for him.

She frowned but said no more than, “All right. I understand.”

It was getting late, and her fortune had been told. Yuan Siyu intended to take Liu Liu home. Before they left, Mo Jingtong handed her a cup of freshly squeezed orange juice.

When he met Yuan Siyu’s puzzled gaze, he shrugged.

“Liu Liu bought it. It’s already paid for.”

Liu Liu nodded with a smile.

Seeing this, Yuan Siyu did not stand on ceremony. She put an arm around Liu Liu’s shoulders and said goodbye to the two stall owners.

Once all the police had left, the crowd that had gathered because of the incident gradually dispersed as well. Only a few people continued to cast curious glances at Rong Jing, secretly taking pictures with their phones.

Mo Jingtong gave Rong Jing a thumbs-up and whispered, “Rong Jing, I can tell just by pinching my fingers—you’re about to become famous.”

Rong Jing glanced at the many customers gathered around his stall and said with a beaming smile, “You’re doing pretty well yourself.”

Mo Jingtong gave a couple of silly chuckles before turning back to his work.

Night fell, and the streetlamps gradually lit up.

A black Cullinan was parked by the roadside. From the driver’s seat, Song Qing craned his neck to look out the window, puzzled.

“It isn’t even the weekend today. Why are there so many people on Changhua Street?”

A burly man passing beside the Cullinan happened to hear him. Rather than feeling awkward, he explained with great familiarity, “Looks like you haven’t heard about the big incident on Changhua Street today, brother.”

Song Qing became curious at once.

“What happened?”

“About half an hour ago, two criminal suspects followed a young woman and then took a hostage at knifepoint.”

“They took a hostage?” Song Qing’s eyes widened abruptly. Remembering that Rong Jing was still somewhere on Changhua Street, he swallowed nervously and asked in alarm, “Nothing happened to him, did it?”

The burly man hesitated.

“Are you asking about the hostage or the suspects?”

Song Qing: “?”

Why was he asking about the suspects?

Was that even a reasonable thing to care about?

…

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The words “street corner,” “fortune-telling,” and “child” all pointed to Rong Jing.

Song Qing gave a startled cry and hurriedly turned to look at Xie Changshi.

Xie Changshi’s long brows drew together slightly, and he appeared somewhat concerned. Yet when he pushed open the car door, the first thing he asked was:

“Are the suspects dead?”

Song Qing: “?”

Why was he concerned about the suspects?

…

Rong Jing had enjoyed a fruitful day and made two more sales. As he followed Xie Changshi back to the car, he swayed from side to side like a tiny tail, radiating happiness.

“Good evening, Special Assistant Song.”

After greeting Song Qing enthusiastically, Rong Jing bent down to get into the car, then paused and looked toward the passenger seat.

“Cheng Puyu, you’re here too. Good evening.”

A head slowly emerged from the passenger seat, revealing a face with heavy dark circles beneath its eyes. Cheng Puyu looked utterly lifeless, its entire ghostly presence drooping with despair. Even its greeting sounded faint and ethereal.

“Good evening, Rong Jing.”

Rong Jing leaned over the seat and peered at it hesitantly.

“What happened to you?”

He had only ever seen a person’s yang energy and vital essence drained after spending a long time in close contact with a ghost, leaving the person dazed and mentally exhausted.

He had never imagined that ghosts could end up like this too.

Suspiciously, he turned his gaze toward Song Qing.

Could Special Assistant Song have done something to Cheng Puyu?

While he was still wondering, Cheng Puyu spoke again in a gloomy voice.

“Work.”

Rong Jing: “…”

Rong Jing felt a little sorry for the little ghost. Cheng Puyu had gone to great lengths to secure that job, yet after only two days, the spirited young man had already become an addict who looked as though every ounce of vitality had been sucked from him.

Changing the subject, Rong Jing asked, “Has Sister Duan contacted you?”

Cheng Puyu shook its head.

It seemed that the old Daoist Lingxiao still had no news.

…

The following morning.

Having received advance notice from Yuan Siyu, Rong Jing did not set up his stall, and Xie Changshi postponed his start time at work as well.

At around nine o’clock, Yuan Siyu arrived with members of her team, carrying a red-and-gold pennant and a certificate of merit. She pressed the doorbell of the sixteenth-floor apartment at Yunjiang Bay.

Before this, Yuan Siyu had never imagined that Rong Jing lived in such an expensive residential complex. Located beside the Yun River and boasting an excellent position, the development carried the prestigious Xie family name and sold at an astonishing price—each square meter cost six figures.

“I never would have guessed that you were rich too, Young Taoist Master.” Teasing him, Yuan Siyu handed the items to Rong Jing. “These are the commendations from our team.”

After accepting the certificate, Rong Jing flipped through it curiously and explained, “I’m not rich. I’ve merely attached myself to someone who is.”

Yuan Siyu: “…What?”

The truly wealthy man walked out of the bedroom. He raised a hand and smoothed down the strand of hair sticking up on the boy’s head from sleep.

“Speak properly.”

Then he turned to the completely stunned Yuan Siyu and introduced himself with a slight nod.

“Officer Yuan, hello. I’m Xie Changshi, Rong Jing’s guardian.”

Yuan Siyu swallowed.

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Was this Xie Changshi the same Xie Changshi she was thinking of?

Judging by his looks and his wealth alone, it seemed… he really was.

She drew in a sharp breath.

While Yuan Siyu was still in shock, Rong Jing had already begun showing Xie Changshi the pennant in his arms. His eyes shone as he asked,

“Can we hang it up? In my room. Please?”

Xie Changshi answered, “Of course.”

He understood Rong Jing’s personality. This was the first pennant Rong Jing had ever received, and the novelty had made him extraordinarily fond of it.

Naturally, Xie Changshi had no intention of spoiling the moment.

He took the pennant Rong Jing held out and went to the spare bedroom.

The moment he left, the air around them seemed to grow considerably lighter. Yuan Siyu glanced twice at the man’s retreating back, then gave Rong Jing a thumbs-up and praised him in a low voice.

“Your guardian is seriously handsome.”

She then brought up the matter of the Raincoat Man.

“Those two were serial killers with countless crimes to their names.”

The Raincoat Man’s real name was Zhang Bu. Twenty years earlier, he had opened a slaughterhouse with a friend—the same man whom Rong Jing had knocked unconscious with a single chair.

One night, after drinking, the two of them struck a young girl on a country road. Afraid that someone would discover what they had done, and thinking that they could settle the matter by paying compensation, they took the girl away and brutally dismembered her.

That experience seemed to have unlocked something inside them.

Over the following year, the two men went on to kill three more young girls.

However, because the incidents were spaced so far apart and investigative resources were limited, the officers handling the cases at the time never connected the four crimes. Naturally, they never uncovered the truth.

Zhang Bu claimed that business at the slaughterhouse had declined, so he and his accomplice decided to seek another livelihood and moved to other cities. After that, they no longer dared to commit such inhuman acts.

Until recently, when he happened to open a beheading video someone had shared with him. The criminal impulses buried within him began to stir once more.

So, on a rainy night, he set his sights on Liu Liu.

“Captain Jin felt right away that the two of them were far too practiced in their methods. He suspected this wasn’t their first time doing something like this, and it turned out he was right.” Yuan Siyu sounded somewhat rueful. She patted Rong Jing on the shoulder. “We really have to thank you this time—”

Then, as though she had suddenly thought of something, she added, “By the way, would you be interested in taking the civil-service examination? There’s a department at our station that would suit you perfectly!”

Rong Jing thought of Cheng Puyu, who had become half-dead after only two days at work, and shook his head without hesitation.

Yuan Siyu looked a little disappointed.

But considering Rong Jing’s abilities and circumstances, it was hardly strange that he had no interest in joining a special department.

“All right, then. I won’t keep you from setting up your stall. I’ll be off.”

Rong Jing waved goodbye and watched her leave before heading to the spare bedroom, where he found the pennant hanging on the wall. He took picture after picture with his phone.

There were hardly any people in his circle of friends, but he still posted the photographs with great excitement.

Looking at the hand visible in the picture, adjusting the pennant’s position, Special Assistant Song clicked like and sighed inwardly—

When had their President Xie ever done something like this?

“What are you looking at?”

A shadow fell over his head, followed by a familiar voice whose careless tone carried a hint of amusement. Song Qing willingly handed over his phone.

“Look at President Xie hanging up a commendation pennant for love.”

Then he glanced at the phone in Lu Yunji’s hand, its screen flickering with what appeared to be the page of some short-video app, and asked curiously,

“What are you watching, President Lu?”

Lu Yunji gave a soft acknowledgment and placed his phone on the table as well.

“I’m watching Xie Changshi’s precious little boy, who disappeared for twelve years, take on a pair of criminal suspects.”