Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“I don’t know how Tao Xiang found me!” Li Fei opened the cup cover of his Coke and finished it off. He even started chewing on a few of the ice cubes.
“He said that he just happened to run into me, but I don’t think it was so simple!” Li Fei continued, “Back then, I was scared, yet was happy to see him at the same time! I was afraid that he had already found out that I was the murderer of the Headless Female Corpses Case and wanted to expose me! But, I was also really happy to be able to see him again.”
He then added, “Then, after we talked some more, I realized that he really didn’t know anything about the heads. I tried to ask about his story, too. It turned out that, after Bai Lili’s dead body was found, Tao Xiang had gotten into some trouble too. He was chased by his enemies and had no choice but to run away with Cui Fangyu’s daughter!”
Li Fei paused to chew a few more ice cubes, then said, “Back then, he was worried that I would get sucked into his situation, so he even took the risk to leave me a secret coded message in the old house before he fled, telling me to flee as well! So, he clearly didn’t have any idea about the things in the storage pit.”
Li Fei was so absorbed in his own story, he looked as though a great weight was being lifted off of his mind when he spoke. “Then, we continued to chat about our recent situations! When Tao Xiang spoke, I could tell that he felt that Bai Lili’s death might have involved me. However, he liked Fourth Sis even more than I did, so he didn’t dive too deep into the topic.”
Li Fei raised his head, almost as if picturing Tao Xiang right in front of him as he spoke of him. “Tao Xiang was a very careful person. He didn’t tell me his address, nor did he let me see Cui Fangyu’s daughter. But, he did tell me about something else, something that could bring a fortune…”
His eyes grew wide. “He told me that someone was willing to offer a high price for him to steal a gemstone in an exhibition in the capital! After he stole it, he said that he would receive two million in cash! But, he mentioned that he happened to be short one trusty assistant!”
He grinned as he recalled that day. “I knew that he wanted to give me a hand, as he saw that I was in a worse situation than he was. So, he invited me to join him in stealing the gemstone!
Li Fei recalled attentively, “I told him right away that I was out of practice and probably couldn’t help him much, but he insisted that we work together and said that I would just be his assistant, which wouldn’t require any skills! He even said that he would give me one-third of the money!”
He shook his head and said, “Of course, I couldn’t refuse such a great deal! So, I quit my job at the funeral parlor that same day and drove my car back to the capital with him. At first, everything went smoothly! Tao Xiang lived up to his reputation as the king of thieves. Actually, all I did was to keep watch. I wasn’t of much use otherwise, and anyway, he could totally do it all alone!”
He chuckled a bit, remembering Tao Xiang. “He was really different from me. He was like Superman, proficient in various kinds of advanced methods. Even until the very last moment, when he got the gemstone, I still have no idea how he did it!”
Li Fei said, “After we got the gemstone, the only part of our mision left was to trade it! As the king of thieves, Tao Xiang never exposed himself! That was also the reason why he wanted me to help him. It turns out that he wanted to me complete the deal with for him!”
His eyes were really wide again. “Of course, I had no reason to refuse him, as I would be able to get six hundred thousand in cash after the deal was done! With that amount of cash, I could live comfortably for the rest of my life! So, I went! We agreed to make the trade underneath an abandoned television tower in the suburbs. It wasn’t until I saw a few bearded men standing there that I realized that the people who hired Tao Xiang to steal the gemstone were foreigners!”
He shook his head. “Although I live in seclusion and always kept to myself, I could tell that something was not right when I looked in those foreigners’ eyes! As I suspected, the moment I showed them the gemstone, they immediately took out their guns and wanted to kill me to shut me up!”
Li Fei said anxiously, “Luckily, Tao Xiang had anticipated this and threw some tear gas over. He then pulled me away by my arm. At the crucial moment, I snatched the gemstone back and started running behind with all of my strength! As those foreigners were super fast, they caught up with us and started shooting at us!”
He was getting breathless now, as if he was reliving that very moment. “I really thought the two of us were doomed! Besides running, we didn’t know what else to do! Suddenly, there was a slope that we hadn’t notice, which we fell down. Unfortunately, Tao Xiang’s head hit a huge rock as we rolled down it. I didn’t see it clearly, but he didn’t respond at all when I shouted at him!”
He shook his head, recalling the incident, “We ended up in a deep ditch. Then, I picked him up and carried him along the ditch back to my car. Then, we fled as fast as we could!”
“However,” Li Fei said sadly, “Tao Xiang was badly injured! He moaned and groaned in the car, and he even had foam that was coming out of his mouth. No matter how much I shouted at him, he didn’t respond at all. I got panicked then, as I didn’t have much money on me and I didn’t know where to drive.”
He then said, “We definitely couldn’t go to the hospital, and we sure couldn’t check in to any hotels! I didn’t even know where Tao Xiang lived and I didn’t have a home to go back to!”
Li Fei said in distress, “I could only let him sleep in the car and stay in a coma. I knew that Tao Xiang would be finished if it continued like this, though. I really had no choice but to drive back to Bai Ling directly, then go to the old house that was next to the cemetery to settle him down!”
He shook his head. “Then, Tao Xiang was not in a good situation. I felt that he might not survive the night, but I couldn’t see any obvious external injuries when I checked his head. But, he was just like a person in a vegetative state. He couldn’t eat or drink, so I could only find ways to infuse fluids into his body!”
His eyes were wide again. “I remember that we stayed in the old house for a day or two and Tao Xiang really smelled bad, so I took off his clothes and gave him a sponge bath. Surprisingly, when I took off his watch, I realized that it was double-layered. There was a hook underneath it, and after I opened it, I saw that there was something like a radar that kept beeping!”
He looked into the distance as he spoke, as if he was looking at the watch right then. “Although I was out of step with the times, I could at least understand some basics, so I knew that Tao Xiang’s watch was no ordinary item! So, I got online to search and realized that that item was a high-tech GPS alarm system that belonged to the military!”
Li Fei said, “At first, I thought that the GPS was tied to Cui Fangyu’s daughter, so that Tao Xiang could find her at all times! But, I slowly realized that the GPS might really be pinpointing at Bai Ling! In the end, I finally thought it through. As Tao Xiang was the king of thieves, he had stolen many amazing items in the past! The GPS alarm system might be pointing at his treasure’s location.”
Li Fei shook his head and admitted, “Actually, I didn’t think too much about it all back then. My only thought was that I wanted to save Tao Xiang and also get the money! So, I followed the GPS. I never thought that the GPS would lead me to Fourth Sis’ grave! Tao Xiang had hid his treasure in Du Manting’s grave!”
Li Fei was talking very fast now. “I was shocked! After all, many years had passed, yet Tao Xiang was still in love with our junior! He even hid his treasure at her grave, almost like it was a memorial to her!”
Then, Li Fei rubbed his hands together and said, “I immediately found a metal shovel and dug through the night. As expected, I found a big box of treasure! I was, of course, really happy and excited. I quickly moved the treasure into my car and drove back to the old house!”
Then, Li Fei’s face grew solemn and he said slowly, “But, I never thought that, when I returned to the old house with the treasure in my arms, I would see Tao Xiang, who had woken up, running towards me with a metal shovel in his hands. When he got to me, he struck me on my head with that da*n thing!”
