Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Assuming Yu Fusheng was indeed the mystery person, nearly everything could be explained other than two of the incidents. The first was Wu Fangfang and Jiang Ke’s scandalous photos. Those photos were an obvious set up used by the mystery person to bait Zhao Yu into visiting Jiang Ke. But where did Yu Fusheng get those photos?
Just to be sure, Gao Facai from Forensics had reexamined the photographs and determined their authenticity. With current technology, if the photographs were fake, it may not have been easy to tell. But, the photo of Wu Fangfang was ancient and printed on old paper, so it was definitely verifiable!
At the seafood market, Jiang Ke had mentioned the photographs were used as extortion and he hadn’t known that Wu Fangfang was a police officer, so he never followed up. Even though he had been vague about the whereabouts of the photographs, there was no doubt they were with Wu Fangfang.
If that was the case, then how did Yu Fusheng get his hands on them?
The second thing Zhao Yu couldn’t figure out was whether Yu Fusheng and Jiang Ke were related, and if they were, what sort of relationship did they have? From the beginning of the prison break, their relationship had been vague, and there was no concrete evidence proving the two crime lords knew each other. Judging by Jiang Ke’s reaction, Yu Fusheng was a complete stranger to him. The name Yu Fusheng had never appeared in Jiang Ke’s records, either.
This led to one big question – what did the mystery person want with Jiang Ke?
From helping Jiang Ke break out of prison, to telling Cao Sifen to kidnap him alive, and then sending Zhu Sunfeng to the outskirts of Jin to pick Jiang Ke up, the mystery person didn’t seem to want Jiang Ke dead. But in the end, the barn fire was definitely intended to burn Jiang Ke to ashes! This contradiction was seemingly impossible to understand.
But, if you really thought about it, the whole situation wasn’t that complicated. It just meant that the mystery person and the arsonist were two different people. Yu Fusheng, the mystery person, never intended to kill Jiang Ke, but the arsonist did! When Zhao Yu was pretending to be Jiang Ke, he could tell from Yu Fusheng’s tone that he only intended to meet with Jiang Ke. So, the one who wanted Jiang Ke dead was probably the arsonist!
Zhao Yu wrote down Jiang Ke’s name with a marker. From this angle, Jiang Ke was integral to the case. Yu Fusheng wanted to see him, the arsonist wanted him dead, then… could it be that Jiang Ke knew something? Yu Fusheng wanted to see him, the arsonist wanted him dead, so… Jiang Ke refused to say what he knew?
In the end, the arsonist knew that Jiang Ke was picked up by Yu Fusheng and the two were about to meet, so the arsonist planned to kill them all, preparing the fire so they would all be burnt together…?
Further following this train of thought, the arsonist seemed to be the key to everything! And Jiang Ke was the most effective way to find this key! But, even after disguising himself as Jiang Ke, he had found nothing. Could it be that Jiang Ke himself was being ignored? And for what reason?
Fortunately, Jiang Ke had not burnt to death, and as long as he was awake, perhaps everything would be revealed in time. Unfortunately, nobody knew when he would wake up. Waiting indefinitely was not an option.
Zhao Yu made space on the whiteboard and filled in everything they knew about Jiang Ke. This was not a complicated task. After graduating from Yao Ming, he was assigned back to his original workplace in a petrochemical refinery in Guang An. Due to his eccentric nature, he heavily injured someone in his first month of work, was fired from the factory, and became wanted by the police.
From that point forward, Jiang Ke was constantly on the wanted list. He slowly became a small-time criminal before eventually becoming the mega-criminal he was today.
But, because of his elusive nature, there was very little information on him and if it wasn’t for Zhao Yu disguising himself and Jiang Ke being in prison, his hideout would have been even harder to find. Luckily, from eavesdropping at the seafood market, it became clear that Jiang Ke had been in Gao Lanqi in the year of the Rural Homicide Case. Jiang Ke even explained to Tian Xudong that he had no relation to the case. If he did, he wouldn’t have attempted to blackmail Wu Fangfang with the scandalous photographs! This meant Jiang Ke was definitely in Gao Lanqi during the Rural Homicide Case.
If that was true, and since Jiang Ke and Wu Fangfang had relations, could it be that he had some past with Yu Fusheng and the others as well? And regarding Wu Fangfang’s photographs, how did Yu Fusheng get his hands on them? Was it because of this that Yu Fusheng was trying so hard to meet Jiang Ke? Was the mysterious arsonist also part of it?
God d*mn it! Zhao Yu hoped Jiang Ke would wake up soon so he could tell him about everything that had happened in Gao Lanqi and reveal the truth. Yu Fusheng was burnt to ashes, Jiang Ke was still unconscious, and Zhao Yu himself had become a detective unable to be seen.
Zhao Yu looked back at Miao Ying for a moment. The tired Ms. Miao was already fast asleep in bed. She had rushed around the entire day upon arriving in Gao Lanqi without a single break. She must be exhausted.
Sigh… Zhao Yu heaved a big sigh and pulled out a bottle of ointment, applying it on his burned arm. Even though he had worn the suit, the fire was simply too hot and there were multiple burn marks on his body. When he had forced the door open, he had gotten badly burnt on his hand, and the back of his hands had started to blister. Afraid that Miao Ying would see, he had hidden the injuries with the large sleeve cuffs of his down jacket.
Seeing Miao Ying fast asleep, he didn’t want to disturb her, so he drank a cup of warm water and continued brainstorming about the case. After thinking more, he suspected that Yang Zebiao could have been the mystery arsonist.
From the information gathered, Yang Zebiao was an honest person. Maybe he had been used by Yu Fusheng during the Rural Homicide Case. Based on the current information, Yu Fusheng had probably used him to kill Wu Fangfang and pushed him over the edge, making him decide to kill them all.
But that fire was professionally done. Would Yang Zebiao have known how to control it? And if Yang Zebiao had truly been used, with Yu Fusheng’s personality, wouldn’t he have killed him a long time ago?
In addition, some uncertainties troubled Zhao Yu. Assuming Yu Fusheng was really someone the police wanted for his crimes, if the Rural Homicide Case was really done by him then wouldn’t he worry about being exposed?
With all the evil acts he had committed, he would have received the death sentence at least ten times. Wouldn’t he have been worried about Zhao Yu, who was a known master of unsolved crimes? Why did he have to kill Zhao Yu in the explosion? Was it solely to get revenge for Zhao Qing and Wu Shuang? Or was it because the Rural Homicide Case was not actually done by Yu Fusheng?
His mind had become a tangled mess and he knew he had to stop. His thoughts were all over the place and there was no point in continuing. Making sure the fireplace was settled he wrapped himself with a coat, gently laid down beside Miao Ying, and fell asleep.
