Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Although Zhao Yu was excited, he hesitated as he was about to open the box. He suddenly remembered the nightmare that had unfolded when he opened the metal box buried beneath the grave. Every time he thought about it, he was scared stiff. It took him a long time to get over what had happened. Would that happen again? The time he had found the head in the box, it was a Kun hexagram. This time it was also the Kun hexagram.
Unlike Zhao Yu, Cui Lizhu didn’t hesitate. Even though she had also seen the head in the box before, she immediately reached out to open this box. Zhao Yu wanted to stop her, but she acted quickly. She had already opened it. Now they were able to see what was inside.
“No way!” Zhao Yu couldn’t help but exclaim. “What are these?” There was nothing scary or dazzling in the box, just some old books and other normal things.
Cui Lizhu seemed to be familiar with the contents. She reached out and grabbed a broken doll while muttering, “This… It’s my old toy doll. I remember this. This…” She picked up a pencil-box and said, “This is what I used in school. I hated throwing away my old things. My dad could fix anything up like new, he… He kept these for me!” As she spoke, she took out a photo album and opened it.
Zhao Yu looked at the stone pillar and hammer lying beside him as he thought about Cui Lizhu’s reaction earlier. He finally realized something. “You were playing with me. You already know what was in this box, didn’t you?” Cui Lizhu didn’t deny it. Zhao Yu smacked his hand against his head and scolded her. “You were using me as your free labor!”
Cui Lizhu grinned at Zhao Yu then returned her focus to the photos in the album. Zhao Yu looked at the album and saw that the photos were very old, some of them were black and white. They were taken a long time ago.
“I guess…” Cui Lizhu pointed to a group photo as she said, “these might be my father’s friends. Look, this one… Isn’t this Li Fei?”
This aroused Zhao Yu’s interest. He sat down with Cui Lizhu and looked at it attentively. The person that Cui Lizhu had pointed to was, in fact, Li Fei; the murderer of Headless Female Corpses Case. Li Fei and Tao Xiang looked very young in the photo. There were a younger man and a younger woman beside them. Zhao Yu quickly recognized them as being Cui Lizhu’s biological parents, Cui Fangyu and Du Manting.
“They are thieves. Why would they take pictures of themselves?” Cui Lizhu stroked the photo. “Are they not afraid of others remembering their faces?” she asked, her voice full of emotion.
“Look at the background. It’s in a studio!” Zhao Yu pointed to the photo, analyzing it. “Look at their smiles. They are so happy! I think they secretly took the photo without their teacher knowing about it.”
Cui Lizhu nodded and turned a page. It was Du Manting’s image. “My mother was truly a beauty,” she exclaimed. “No wonder my father missed her so much. He couldn’t forget her until the day he died!”
“But you don’t look like your mother at all! Just a little bit like your father…” Zhao Yu said.
“Are you calling me ugly?” Cui Lizhu pouted and turned the page. Finally, the picture of a little girl appeared in the album. That little girl was no doubt Cui Lizhu in her childhood. “These photos… I’ve only seen a few of them!” Cui Lizhu recalled. “I didn’t know my dad kept all of them…” The old photos reminded Cui Lizhu of earlier times. She started crying again.
Zhao Yu wanted to comfort her, but suddenly he felt like something was wrong. He frowned as he asked her, “Lizhu, your father… What on earth did he tell you back then?”
“Huh?” Cui Lizhu asked, snapping back to reality. “What do you mean? Why do you ask?”
Zhao Yu pointed to the box and said, “Tao Xiang went through so much effort to bury the box in this hidden place. It doesn’t make sense if it’s only because of these photos.”
Cui Lizhu bit her lip. “Detective, do you become stupid when you are not busy working on cases? Why do you think anything is suspicious?” she asked in a strange voice. “My dad buried things here just to keep a precious memory safe for me! Look at these.” She put down the album and began to search for other things in the box. “Well, these things are from my childhood. Think about it. My father even told me about his guilt. Why would he hide anything from me?”
Zhao Yu stretched out as he looked through the books. “I feel like there is something here we still don’t know! Lizhu, think about it again. Did your father really say nothing more about this box? Um… And… What kind of books are these?” Zhao Yu said, sounding doubtful. The books all looked normal to him. Some had notes, some had handwritten scripts inside of them, and some were old vertically printed books. He turned several pages, on which besides the traditional characters, there were many delicate images, like industrial instructions.
Cui Lizhu had a look and said, “These are probably the thieves’ ancestor’s secrets.”
“They hand these down through every generation?” Zhao Yu asked. “Incredible.”
Cui Lizhu looked through the books as she spoke. “I actually don’t know much about the books. When I was young, my father mentioned them, but I wasn’t very interested. You know, science and technology are progressing so fast that you have to keep pace with the times if you want to be a qualified thief. What’s the point of learning these old skills? Ancient locks are different from modern ones.”
“Yes, but…” Zhao Yu took out another notebook and said, “Look at this one. It’s all useful stuff!”
Cui Lizhu took it over and saw that the notebook was densely filled with hand-written symbols including mathematics, physics, chemistry, and even biology. There were summaries as to how they could improve a thief’s skills. Cui Lizhu was amazed. “These were my dad’s notes. He was really hardworking!” she said.
“See, no matter what do you do, you have to make great efforts to reach the top!” Zhao Yu sighed and said, “I think your father kept these things to pass his legacy on to you.”
“No kidding. I told my dad what I’m now doing when he was still conscious.” Cui Lizhu shook her head and said, “He also wanted to thank you for helping me in person. But…”
“But what?” Zhao Yu asked Cui Lizhu hastily as he noticed Cui Lizhu’s strange look.
“You made me think of something!” Cui Lizhu said in surprise. “Didn’t you just ask me what my father had said about this box? I remember he did have something to tell me, but unfortunately, he didn’t finish. He had kept his mouth open, as if he really wanted to tell me something, but he couldn’t remember.” Cui Lizhu looked at everything again. She wondered what could be so important about this box.
