Becoming The White Moonlight’s Human Weapon After My Death - Chapter 11

Yan Chenli received Shao Dongmi’s call before going into work. At this time, the battlefield outside of the Criminal Investigation Bureau was already so ardent it could swallow Shao Dongmi whole. Lead by Gong Xiaolu and Xi Yue, his colleagues directed their violent barrage at him in a comprehensive mental and physical attack.

“I heard you were the only person to pass the interview? Why? On what grounds? You were the last person to see Captain Yan, right? What else did he say? Speak! Stand up straight, why are you slumping?!” Gong Xiaolu grabbed him by the back of the neck and kept lifting him up.

“Shao Dongmi, what kind of devious tricks did you fucking play?! Did you lie?! How could Captain Yan think you’re capable? Damn it, I won’t allow it!! Look at your face, you think you’re so great huh? Don’t think so highly of yourself!!” Xi Yue grabbed him by the tie and kept dragging him down.

Shao Dongmi was pushed and shoved into a chaotic circle by the crowd, looking like a boneless chicken foot being kneaded into a ball and flattened out, while thinking how awful, how could it be so awful.

Can you not pull at me? Yesterday’s suit got torn into a vest, don’t tear me some beach shorts today.

A black Chevrolet parked in front of the doors, and the crowd moved their eyes towards it in unison.

“Yo, how lively, are you all here to send Dongmi off?” Yan Chenli leaned against the car door with a bright smile.

You’re the vile main culprit, and you’re still smiling!! Shao Dongmi glared at him tearfully.

Although Yan Chenli’s character was gentle, his prestige as supervisor was still there, so the chaotic crowd all calmed down at the same time. Especially Xi Yue, he immediately let go of the hand he was dragging Shao Dongmi’s tie with and took a step back obediently, not spouting a single word.

“You can’t do that, right?!! Captain!! How could you judge that everyone is unqualified?!” Gong Xiaolu, who was the only one with work still in mind, walked to him in big strides and an excited expression, completely unaware that he was still carrying Shao Dongmi and dragging him along.

“Those unsuitable are unsuitable, I regret it more than you.” Yan Chenli took Shao Dongmi from Gong Xiaolu without explaining himself and put him in the co-pilot seat, waving his hand with a splendid smile, “Okay, we should be going. We’re off.”

The car door closed, and the uproar of the people outside was reduced by half in an instant. Shao Dongmi let out a breath, as if he had just successfully avoided falling into the circle of zombies and gone into a shelter.

The car shook, and Yan Chenli also sat in the driver’s seat and pulled the door closed. He started the car with a cheerful expression which seemed completely unaffected by the high-pressure scene, “Didn’t sleep well? Look at your tired appearance. There’s still an hour until we get to the airport, so you can sleep for a bit. I’ll wake you up when we get there.”

“Yeah… I didn’t sleep a wink last night…” Shao Dongmi leaned back and melted into the seat, weakly pulling down his seatbelt.

“What a coincidence, I also didn’t sleep yesterday.” Yan Chenli smiled from ear to ear as he energetically changed gears, full of vitality, “I rarely come back to Yinjiang, so I was itching to go to the orchestra and play my instrument all night. I didn’t expect that you’d be waiting for me so early, so I rushed over as soon as I got your call.”

Shao Dongmi trembled as he glanced at him: “……”

Yan Chenli, are you human?

This kind of human who can go on business trips for several days and hold meetings and interviews while feigning civility, and in passing observe the situation and arrest a criminal and rescue a hostage and witness the death of their friend, and spend the whole night playing the violin, and still be able to drive on the road with a smile on his face, does it really exist?

It was also the same when he shadowed him before. Once they had to stay in an old forest deep in the mountains in a fake alcohol factory, they stayed for about ten days or half a month, the other people took several turns, but Yan Chenli was there from beginning to end. Everyone finally wondered how he was still spritely leaping about, was it reasonable?

Shao Dongmi lowered his head resentfully, looking for the seatbelt clasp, when he suddenly caught a glimpse of a silhouette in the back row out of the corner of his eye.

He turned his head to look, and his heart beat wildly as his whole body jumped: “Fuck!!! What’s that!!!”

There was a guy in the back row sitting as still as a statue, it was that brown-haired man who’d had his brains blown out yesterday and was dead for sure.

He lowered his completely unharmed head and lifelessly hid behind him, like a ghost. There weren’t any wounds on his clean forehead. He sat upright in the shadows, motionless and not raising his eyes, and his collar displayed a glowing blue box and the number [12]. The most striking thing was the bundle of pure white lilies the man held in his arms.

Just like those flower bouquets one offered the dead at funerals.

Help!!! There’s a ghost here!!!

Shao Dongmi turned around like a cat seeing a cucumber1 , sticking against the windshield and wishing he could pass through it to escape, and asked with a trembling voice, “Cap… captain…! Tell me, how many… people are there in the car?!”

“Two.” Yan Chenli answered promptly.

Knowing Yan Chenli would never make bad jokes to scare people, if he said there were only two people, then there were really only two people.

Then what the hell was that extra thing? Shao Dongmi didn’t dare think about it, feeling like he was about to pass out.

Seeing his drastic reaction, Yan Chenli knew what he was thinking, so he hurriedly added, “Stop, don’t imagine things. It’s not what you think.”

Shao Dongmi didn’t move, stiffly turning his eyes towards him, not even daring to breathe.

“Let me officially introduce you, this is my partner, Shen Lu.” Yan Chenli leaned back against the seat and raised his hand in a gesture of presentation, “He’s a human-shaped synthetic weapon, they’re collectively known as ‘Executioners’.”

“……?” Shao Dongmi was stupefied.

“Hello, Mr Shao.” Although Shen Lu looked at about ten years older than him, he was still very respectful, even a little stiff, “I often hear Yan talking about you, nice to meet you.”

Shao Dongmi nodded his head repeatedly: “Nice, nice, nice, nice to meet you.”

Is that how he should reply? So stiff and nervous. He couldn’t help but glance pleadingly at Yan Chenli, what is a human-shaped synthetic weapon? What a flashy thing, I can’t understand it.

“I can’t explain in just a few words, just wait until you see the new base and you’ll understand everything. In short, the amount of damage from yesterday’s fight is not fatal for them, you don’t need to be too worried about A-Lu.” Yan Chenli remembered something again and pulled out a ripe red apple from the bag by his side, then put it in Shao Dongmi’s hand, “Here, I officially congratulate you for passing the audit for this operation, Officer Shao Dongmi. This is your reward.”

Shao Dongmi accepted it, and Yan Chenli took out another one and threw it towards the back seat, “A-Lu, this one’s yours. You successfully saved a hostage yesterday, it’s a sign of your great service.”

Shen Lu lifted his hand to catch the apple, not moving a single millimetre of his body aside from his arm. He lowered his eyes to look at the gift in his hand, “I’m honoured. Thank you, Yan.”

The car sped along the elevated road, heading towards the airport. Shao Dongmi poked his head around curiously, clinging to the back of his seat to look at Shen Lu.

After finding out he wasn’t human, the strange feeling of not having a living person’s breath was even more apparent.

“Still looking? Looking back, there are lot of things to remember, I really recommend you sleep first, we’ll talk later.”

“Oh.” He understood once he heard Yan Chenli’s tone, he was afraid this time he was going to increase his workload. Shao Dongmi agreed, returning to his place and closing his eyes.

Shao Dongmi dozed off for a little while, he felt the vehicle slow down in his haze, then come to a stop, after that he sensed movement from the driver’s seat, and it seemed like Yan Chenli got off the car. Shao Dongmi wondered how they had arrived so fast, but when he opened his eyes what he saw outside of the window was not the airport, but rather the riverside.

Shao Dongmi opened the door and got out to find that the car was parked in the driveway built along the river. Behind him were the glittering streets filled with businesses, and from where was he could see the vast surface of the river, the crystalline water rippling in the early morning sun, with the bank on the other side faintly visible through the vast mist over the water. The parasol trees nearby were lush, and the distant sky and water were one colour, forming a harmonious and beautiful scene.

Since this was the commercial district, many handsome young men and beautiful young women accompanied each other as they passed by, the sound of their laughter ringing out continuously. The autumn breeze brushed past, humid from the river water, and just standing there made him feel rather carefree and relaxed, so Shao Donmgi’s battered mood relaxed a lot.

Shao Dongmi saw that Shen Lu had also gotten down from the car, and Yan Chenli took those white lilies from his hands. The flowers were just in full bloom, they were meticulously wrapped in beautiful cellophane with white lace and white ribbons, sparkling dewdrops hung from their bright white petals, glittering brightly under the sunlight.

Shao Dongmi closed the car door and walked over, “Captain, just now I wanted to ask, what are the flowers for?”

“I saw you had a few files with you during yesterday’s interview. You should’ve seriously read them over, right? How much do you still remember of the Snakehead case?” Yan Chenli walked as he asked.

There was a wide sidewalk between the the road and the river fence with rows of parasol trees planted, and since it happened to be autumn, they were at their most fragrant.

“I remember everything. I even saw the victim’s family member yesterday, I’m still really worried…” Shao Dongmi recalled that old man interrogating him about Yan Cheni over and over again, and gulped anxiously.

Yan Chenli stopped walking next to a parasol tree. The tree was as lush as the rest, he lifted his head to see the flourishing golden leaves, and put his hand on the tree trunk, “This is the place where the victim’s body was fished out.”

Shao Dongmi widened his eyes.

He had seen pictures of the crime scene from when the body was found, the background was a crude and small river embankment with crooked bricks, overgrown with weeds and half-heartedly blocked off with a metal fence.

And the scene in front of him now was nothing short of a beautiful city landscape.

“It’s been fifteen years, you can’t see what it looked like before. But whenever I’ve passed through during these years, I always saw that father sitting here.” Yan Chenli bent down and placed the lilies under the tree, he then rummaged through his wallet and pulled out an old picture yellowed with age, the picture depicted four people who were all smiling brilliantly.

“The victim was from a family of four. After the eldest son died, his mother fell ill, and they couldn’t continue her treatment after their savings were depleted, so she ultimately passed away. His younger sister became depressed, she suffered bullying at school and killed herself two years later.”

“Then, it was earlier today that I received the news.” He knelt down on one knee in front of the bouquet of lilies and took out a notebook from of the inner pocket of his suit, he took the cap off of a fountain pen with his mouth and wrote down a row of words, then tore the page and put it into the bouquet alongside that old photo.

“The victim’s last and only family member, that old Mister who often came to ask about the progress in the case, burned charcoal in his home very early in the morning and committed suicide.”

“…is it because it’s been a full fifteen years?” Shao Donmgi felt his throat starting to burn.

“Yes, fifteen years, that’s the federal statue of limitations for the crime of homicide. Once the time limit has passed, there is no way to convict the criminal.” Yan Chenli tidied up the petals, straightened up, and turned his gaze towards the river, “Even if we were to catch the culprit now, we wouldn’t be able to bring him to justice.”

“………”

Shao Dongmi looked towards the river, staying silent for a long time.

Many years ago in this secluded corner, a young life was lost, and now with the beautiful scenery still here, no one could make out any traces of what happened.

The victim and his family had all departed form the world, the legal statue of limitations had also expired, only the police officers who handled the case at the time still had it engraved in the memories, but what was the point of that?

He hung his head down and spoke in a muffled voice: “I shouldn’t have left yesterday. I obviously thought of this possibility, I sent him home. I… I should have stayed.”

Yan Chenli turned his head to look at him. Shao Dongmi bit his lower lip and balled his slightly trembling hands into fists. He rubbed Shao Dongmi’s head, “This isn’t your fault, Dongmi. The whole family of four died fifteen years ago on the night they discovered that submerged corpse. You could have watched over him for a night, but could you have watched over him for the rest of his life?”

Shao Dongmi’s nose stung as he hummed in response, but he still couldn’t help feeling a little depressed.

After that, he lifted his head to look at Yan Chenli. Shao Dongmi had just seen the victim’s father yesterday and he’d felt bad about it for quite a while, but Yan Chenli had been handling cases for so many years, and almost all of the worst and most complicated cases had gone through his hands, how many times had he been looked at with eyes so despairing they could drown a person? How much disappointment, despair, or even resentment did he get from those he most wanted to protect?

How many times had he felt this kind of blame and guilt that was as if he had killed them with his own hands?

But Yan Chenli only had a neat smile on his face without any other traces, he had already jumped to a new question and asked, “What about the other files, how much do you remember?”

Shao Dongmi was stunned, he pulled out of his sorrowful mood and answered as he recalled, “There’s the serial coffee poisoning case, and the hand-picked exhibition2  case. I remember all of those too.”

The serial coffee poisoning case took place ten years ago.

The internationally-renowned D7 biochemistry corporation had a subsidiary company that did high-end catering called D7 Coffee, which had been a long-standing popular brand. That year, someone put cyanide3  on random sealed bottles of D7 coffee, resulting in the tragic deaths of dozens of people.

The Criminal Investigation Bureau followed the clues and quickly locked onto a suspect, a middle-aged man called Samuel Charles, however, before they could make a successful arrest, Samuel escaped without a trace, and they have been unable to bring him to justice.

The hand-picked exhibition case happened three years ago, it was a case Yan Chenli brought Shao Dongmi to personally investigate.

The perpetrator continued being active for several years, young girls went missing constantly, some badly-damaged remains were found not long after, and others were never accounted for.

Shao Dongmi could still remember the scene to this day, and thinking about it still made his hair stand on end——He broke down the door and went inside following the clues and was assaulted by the pungent smell of disinfectant and formalin solution, then he saw the whole room; there were sealed glass bottles arranged on meticulously crafted shelves on every wall, as if it were an art exhibition, inside of which were the slender and delicate embalmed hands of the girls. There were countless hands throughout the whole room, reaching out as if desperately asking for help, as if making an unreconciled accusation.

The criminal treated the victim’s hands like trophies, he cut them off, collected them, and displayed them, such brutal behaviour caused a sensation. Unfortunately, the perpetrator, like Samuel, successfully escaped police pursuit.

He could tell Yan Chenli was very pleased as he continued asking with a smile, “Did you find the common ground between them?”

“I noticed something. According to the clues, the suspects for these three cases were last seen in Mississippi City. But the police in Mississippi searched all over and came back with nothing, I find it very strange… I don’t know what’s so special about Mississippi.” Shao Dongmi frowned, somewhat unreconciled.

“That’s already pretty good, Dongmi. These old cases have been shelved for a while, I’m glad there’s still someone looking into them.” Yan Chenli patted Shao Dongmi’s shoulder, indicating for him to get back in the car, and said, “You won’t find what makes Mississippi special from just looking at the paper records. The issue doesn’t lie in Mississippi, but rather in another city bordering it, and that’s where our next special operations mission will take place.”

Shao Dongmi’s eyes glinted, “Yeah?”

Yinjiang was thousands of kilometres away from Mississippi City, and Shao Dongmi was originally not very familiar with the area. It had already been fifteen years since the case, and the criminal geographic profile had long since lost its reference value, he’d never even thought about it in that direction.

“Let’s go, in order to prevent this kind of tragedy from happening again, we need to go to the city that was once the world’s wealthiest place——Augustus4 .

“There might be far more than just this one answer hiding in there.”