Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“At the beginning, I did enjoy a few days of comfort. I had good food, drank good wine, wore warm clothing and even had fun with a few women.” Li Fei smiled faintly, but he looked sad.
He then admitted, “But, no matter how rich I was, I knew that it wouldn’t change the fact that I was a murderer. No matter where I stayed, I never felt safe. I always felt that the police would suddenly break into the house and take me away.”
He shook his head. “At first, I even got in touch with some people and gave them a lot of money, as they promised to clear my name. But, in the end, those people were all quacks. Then, I wasted a lot of money on fake IDs. Also, those women who stayed with me were all eyeing my money, so I stopped visiting them!”
He sighed. “In my mind, a million should have been a lot of money, at least sufficient to last me the rest of my life! But, the actual reality was the total opposite. Within two years, it was almost all gone! I couldn’t even afford a decent house!”
Li Fei sounded more and more bitter. “It was such a joke. I used to wonder why master, who was so good at stealing and Tao Xiang, who was the king of thieves, lived so pathetically. I couldn’t understand why they didn’t live a more wealthy life.”
He shook his head. “It wasn’t until I turned sixty that I finally understood. We are thieves and our hearts are thieves’ hearts. We will forever live in the shadows. Even when we are under the sun, we will feel as though we are about to be exposed!”
He really looked sad now. “Just look at me. I brought so many treasures with me and even had the priceless Indian gemstone, yet those things couldn’t provide me with the ideal life that I wanted. Forget about the dream, I couldn’t even live like a normal person!”
He sighed again, clearly upset. “I didn’t dare save the money in the bank, and I couldn’t live a peaceful life and enjoy my work. The worst part was that I couldn’t fully trust anyone! I had no friends, no family, and no woman. Then, on top of all of that, I had to constantly think about how to store my things so that the others couldn’t find out anything!”
He closed his eyes, as if wishing it all away. “Compared to my life before, beside the somewhat heightened living standards, everything else was the same. I still frittered away my days, always living in fear. I didn’t even know where I should go or what I wanted.”
He opened his eyes again and said, “Once, when my money was almost gone, I went to one of the underground black merchants in one of the cities to sell a jade carving. In the end, I didn’t manage to sell it, and I nearly lost my life! I was being eyed by those people, and if I hadn’t have thrown the jade carving at them, I might not have been able to run away!”
He shook his head, remembering the danger of that day. “From then on, I was like a bird that was startled by the mere sound a tree branch breaking. I didn’t dare reveal the treasures to anyone after that! As for the gemstone, I certainly didn’t say a word about it. In fact, I have been carrying it with me all this time!”
His eyes grew wide as he divulged that information finally. “Then, I finally understood why Tao Xiang wanted to bury the treasure in the cemetery! Everything was totally different from what I had imagined!”
He let out another heavy sigh, then said, “Then, for a few years, I quickly resumed my old ways. I dressed in tatters and lived miserably. The worst part was that I was growing old. I was no longer a young man! As such, those commonly seen symptoms of the elderly gradually appeared in me, so I spent quite a bit of money to see the doctor too.”
He blinked, then recalled, “After I wandered around for a few years, I returned to Bai Ling and the old house that was next to the cemetery. The old house was really solid, as even after so many years, it had remained the same. Maybe it was because it was near the cemetery and there was no one around, but no one seemed to have paid any attention to the house.”
He then said, “I was thinking that, if I were to leave the world one day, I might as well die there! Ever since my memory formed, that’s the only place that I remembered, so that was the place that I missed the most! By then, I wasn’t worried about the police anymore, so I hid all of my valuables above the ceiling in the old house. Then, I was thinking about some ways to exchange the treasure for some money…”
He paused to take a breath, then continued his story. “However, before that, I still had to make a living wage, so I looked for jobs on the internet. Coincidentally, Xiang Lin Funeral Parlor was hiring, and it wasn’t too far from the old house. Plus, an embalmer was the only occupation that I was familiar with my whole life. Hence, I went for the interview!”
He smiled then, remembering it. “I was still using the fake ID with the name of Xia Lianxi on it back then.Once they saw my skills, they, of course, hired me instantly as the new embalmer. Thus, I returned to my old profession. Later on, I felt that it was inconvenient to travel back and forth to the old house, so I rented a house that was closer to the funeral parlor.”
He then added, “Honestly speaking, it felt good to go back to my old profession. I felt myself settling down and was even starting to pick up where I had left on in advancing my previous skills.”
He smiled again at this memory. “I felt the same feelings as before all over again. I started looking for ways to improve and continued to research on the topic that I had yet to complete when I was young. I bought a lot of related books and researched the perfect way to preserve a dead body!”
He was smiling really wide now. “As the process required a kind of stabilizing agent, I purchased Hydrazine Enamine from Bai Ling High School in the funeral parlor’s name. Then, I tried to test it with the latest version of embalming liquid. Although I had yet to succeed, I believe that, if I had been given more time, I would have definitely succeeded!”
Li Fei finally lifted his head and looked at the police officers who were on the scene. He then sighed and said, “Actually, I was prepared for this day to come! Honestly speaking, I was not afraid of being caught, nor was I afraid of being dragged in for the cases that I committed when I was young! Anyway, I already lost my entire life, so I have nothing left to lose!”
He smiled bitterly. “When I was taking care of a dead body yesterday around midnight, I suddenly thought of a new formula. So, I drove the hearse that belonged to the funeral parlor back to the old house, as I wanted to bring some of the chemicals over! Who knows what time it was when I drove the hearse out, but I saw a large number of police cars driving towards the funeral parlor as I was leaving.”
His eyes were wide. “Then, when I drove the hearse back to my rented place, I saw another bunch of policemen there! It was then that I understood that the police had finally found me!”
Li Fei finally looked at ease as he said, “Of course, my first reaction was to run away! You had yet to arrest me after all! So, I drove the hearse back to the old house, as I wanted to take the treasure with me! But, when I realized that your car was right behind mine, I realized that it was impossible for me to escape!”
He shook his head. “As I had lived a pathetic life, I was not reluctant to leave. So, after I entered the house, I took out the treasure and put the Indian gemstone into my pocket and readied to be on my way.”
Then, Li Fei paused and looked at Zhao Yu. He then said bitterly, “But, I never thought that you would arrive and arrest me! However, it wasn’t a big deal that you arrested me. To me, my ending was always the same!”
Li Fei said in relief, “On the contrary, I felt at ease to finally be able to expose the secret that was hidden in my heart all this time. Police officer, I now that I have told you the pathetic story, could you let me see Tao Xiang?”
“You… What do you mean?” Suddenly, Zhao Yu could tell that Li Fei had a hidden message behind what he had just said, so he asked his question carefully.
“I heard from the news that you had arrested Tao Xiang, but…” Li Fei said solemnly, “Forgive me for being blunt. There aren’t many people who have seen Tao Xiang. So, I wanted to see if you had arrested the correct person…”
