Chapter Ninety: Hard to Meet, Harder Still to Part

The young man dressed like a beggar let out several muffled farts in a row, then his expression suddenly changed. Glancing at the surging crowd outside, he felt a storm roaring through his belly as well. With his legs twisted awkwardly, he hurried back to the innermost stall, gripping the door panel as he looked at Zhang Xiaoman and said in a trembling voice, “Uncle Man, well... I need to take care of something. We’ll catch up properly later.”

Zhang Xiaoman’s sense of smell was exceptionally keen, and he had long since caught the foul stench the beggar-like youth had been releasing. Frowning, he pinched his nose and stepped out of the restroom, where he happened to meet He Wei returning after chasing the dark shadow. In a low voice he asked, “Did you lose it?”

“Couldn’t catch up. Too many people,” He Wei said, panting. “The mall’s layout is complicated, with lots of exits. I lost it after only a few steps.”

Zhang Xiaoman sighed. “So it was all carefully planned after all. What looked like a casual hint of location was actually a place chosen long ago, a route with room to advance or retreat. I’m old, and in the end I was led around by the nose. The younger generation is truly formidable.” He glanced at the empty space behind He Wei. “What about Clear as a Bell? Didn’t he come back with you?”

“He said he was going to check the mall surveillance room. Maybe he can find some trace...” Hearing strange sounds from inside the restroom, He Wei pointed toward the innermost stall. “He went in again? Who’s that kid? I heard him call you Uncle Man.”

Zhang Xiaoman nodded, pursing his lips. “His name is Shen Yixia. He’s Sima Bei’s disciple, so he counts as one of my juniors. That’s why he calls me Uncle Man. Best not go in now—the kid’s fumes are poisonous. Nothing survives within a dozen meters.”

“You arranged that in advance too?” He Wei asked in astonishment. “How did you know that dark shadow would run into this restroom?”

Zhang Xiaoman shook his head with a wry smile. “How could I? I’m not some prophet who can calculate everything. That kid was originally with Zhang Yunxi and the others. Earlier, after you got out of the car by the park, Nie Yi, Li Jun, and I saw him abandon the situation and run. At the time I guessed he might have had diarrhea... I just didn’t expect him to come here to purge the toxins. Quite a coincidence, really.”

He Wei gave a soft “oh.” “So he’s one of us. He’s dressed in rags; I was wondering if you had such a shabby relative.”

“He just came out of the mountains. He’s worn that same outfit for three full years, climbing cliffs and crawling through fox holes. It’s impressive there’s any cloth left at all...” Zhang Xiaoman tucked his hands into his sleeves and said with narrowed eyes, “That boy has a good frame to work with, tough and wear-resistant. If he’s guided onto the right path, he won’t fall short of Nie Yi’s achievements in the future. After all, his ancestors were in this line of work.”

He Wei immediately grew interested. “He can be compared to Nie Yi? His ancestors were detectives too?”

“Back then they weren’t called detectives, but righteous investigators. The work was the same...” Zhang Xiaoman’s gaze grew distant as he spoke slowly. “You know the Judgment Token, right? An old heirloom passed down through generations of the Clear Name Society, the token of every chairperson, much like the dog-beating staff of the Beggars’ Clan in the past... His ancestors were the creators of the Judgment Token. By some twist of fate, it was picked up by Long Bow Cannot Sing, and only then did the Clear Name Society come into being. So no matter how you trace it, whether the Judgment Token or the Clear Name Society, in truth it should belong to him.”

He Wei heard the implication in Zhang Xiaoman’s words and said in surprise, “You want him to become the next head of the Clear Name Society?”

“I once did have that thought,” Zhang Xiaoman said with lowered eyelids. “But not anymore. The closer a person gets to burning himself out, the more he wants to leave something behind for his children... Yunxi is a suspense novelist, so the publishing house should naturally be left to her. If Nie Yi has nothing at all, how can he stand on the same level as Yunxi? Fairness matters. In any case, he counts as half my son. But whether he can truly take it on, he’ll have to fight for it himself...”

Inside the innermost stall, Shen Yixia’s ears twitched slightly. A flash of coldness passed through his eyes before he quickly returned to his usual innocent expression. He took a small packet from his pocket, poured all of the white powder inside into the toilet, flushed it away, crumpled the wrapping paper into a ball and tossed it casually into the trash, then took a deep breath, forced a bright smile onto his face, opened the stall door, and walked out of the restroom.

He Wei was just about to say something more when he saw Shen Yixia come out and immediately sensibly closed his mouth. Looking at the heartless grin on Shen Yixia’s face, he felt a faint pang of sympathy and could not help shaking his head with a sigh.

Zhang Xiaoman glanced sideways at Shen Yixia and said calmly, “Finished?”

Shen Yixia wiped his hands on his clothes and grinned. “Should be. There’s nothing left in my stomach anyway... Uncle Man, are you here to see Yunxi? They’re over by the park...”

Zhang Xiaoman waved his hand. “No. I’m in Green Vine City on official business, and I’ll be heading back to A City shortly. Later, you don’t need to mention to her that I came here.”

Shen Yixia blinked, still puzzled, then nodded and acknowledged him. Turning to He Wei, he cupped his hands in greeting. “You must be Detective He Wei, chief of criminal investigations in A City. I’ve long admired your name, and you truly are young and accomplished.”

He Wei looked at Shen Yixia’s unmistakably adolescent, dramatic manner and laughed. “No, no. My name isn’t written on my face—how did you figure it out?”

Shen Yixia pointed at He Wei’s shirt collar. “Though you’re wearing an ordinary casual jacket on the outside, the shirt underneath is cut like a police uniform. Your accent isn’t local to Green Vine City, so you definitely aren’t a Green Vine City officer. And if you’re young, close to Uncle Man, and by his side all the time, then after thinking it through, you can only be the chief investigator from A City, the son of Uncle Man’s old partner, Officer He.”

He Wei gave him a thumbs-up. “Sharp eye!”

Zhang Xiaoman shot a sidelong glance at the triumphant Shen Yixia. “Praise you a couple of times and your tail’s already in the sky...” He coughed lightly. “Since you’re done, let’s talk about a few things briefly, and then come with me to meet two people.”

Shen Yixia stared blankly. “Talk about what? Meet who?”

“My time is tight. We’ll talk while we walk...” Zhang Xiaoman headed toward the mall exit and gestured to He Wei and Shen Yixia behind him. “First question: where is your master, Sima Bei?”

Shen Yixia hurried after him and shook his head. “No idea. That old immortal just told me to hurry here and help Yunxi, and then he vanished off somewhere to enjoy himself.”

“Where did you last part ways?”

“In a village on the outskirts of Green Vine City. Yunxi and the others were being hunted there the whole way. Luckily I arrived in time and, using my strongest move, beat those people off. You have no idea how dangerous it was—hundreds of them had machine guns pointed at me, but I didn’t flinch. In a flash, with a speed that beat even covering one’s ears to steal the bell, I took them down—”

“He didn’t say what he was going to do?”

“He really didn’t... But when that old thing left, he was singing, ‘Today is a good day,’ so I figure he was probably going to find some big-breasted old woman...” Shen Yixia said, “Uncle Man, you don’t know this, but we stayed up in the mountains for three years, and for all three years that old geezer kept peeking at old women. He was shameless beyond measure. I even thought about switching sides and becoming your disciple...”

“We can talk about changing masters later...” Zhang Xiaoman cleared his throat. “Second question: since when have you been in that mall restroom?”

“I didn’t check the exact time,” Shen Yixia scratched his head. “As soon as I got out of the car, my stomach started acting up. I searched around the park and couldn’t find a toilet, so I had to run to the mall to relieve myself. This mall doesn’t open until nine-thirty, so I figured I probably arrived around then.”

He Wei suddenly chimed in. “You saw that dark shadow just now. Since you’ve been in the restroom the whole time, did you see or hear anything?”

Shen Yixia said somewhat embarrassedly, “The diarrhea was too miserable. I didn’t have the mind to pay attention to whether there were any strange noises in the restroom. I was too busy pouring out everything I had...”

He Wei clicked his tongue and turned to Zhang Xiaoman. “Now we can only wait for Clear as a Bell’s surveillance check. With so many people around, it’ll probably take some work.”

Zhang Xiaoman glanced at the white van parked by the roadside and walked toward it at an even pace. “It won’t take long. Clear as a Bell sees better than I do. We’ll have an answer soon.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Clear as a Bell’s voice came through the Bluetooth earpiece. “Chairman, I checked. I couldn’t find anything. After that dark shadow appeared once in the mall atrium, every other place it went was outside the camera blind spots. I can’t determine which exit it used...”

“Just as expected,” Zhang Xiaoman tapped lightly on the Bluetooth earpiece, as though sending some coded signal. “Head back first. Now it depends on whether Shadow by Your Side and White Wolf can come up with anything.”

He Wei also heard the soft ticking of Zhang Xiaoman’s finger tapping against the earpiece. He looked at Zhang Xiaoman in astonishment, then cast a sidelong glance at Shen Yixia, who was grinning behind him. Lowering his head, he muttered, “Dealing with smart people is exhausting. When I get back, I’m going to ask Teacher Ma for a bowl of pig brain soup to补 myself...”

Zhang Xiaoman opened the rear door of the white van and made an inviting gesture toward Shen Yixia. “Inside are my two disciples. The one in the driver’s seat is called Li Jun, and the one in the back is called Nie Yi. I brought you here to introduce you to them. You’re all young people, so you should have plenty to talk about. Go in and chat.”

Li Jun looked back coldly from the driver’s seat at Shen Yixia, snorted, then turned his nose haughtily toward the windshield again.

Nie Yi gave Shen Yixia a shy smile and waved, stammering, “Hello... my... my name is... Nie Yi...”

Shen Yixia tilted his head. “You’re a stutterer? A stutterer can be a detective too?”

“No... not a stutterer... I’m missing... half my tongue, so I don’t speak... clearly...” Nie Yi pointed at Li Jun and explained, “I think... he talks... and I think... the same way... we can solve cases...” Then he extended his right hand toward Shen Yixia. “Come up and talk...”

A faint sneer touched Shen Yixia’s lips. He took Nie Yi’s hand and pulled hard, using the leverage to climb into the van, smiling broadly. “Then let’s have a simple chat. I only just came down from the mountains, and I usually talk to cats and dogs. I’m not very good at dealing with humans yet.”

Nie Yi kept smiling, letting Shen Yixia pinch and press his right hand as though he felt nothing at all. Then he turned to Zhang Xiaoman and asked in an even tone, “Master isn’t getting in?”

Zhang Xiaoman curled his lip and casually pulled the door shut. “You young people talk. I’m an old man; I won’t meddle.”

Standing aside, He Wei looked at the van, then at Zhang Xiaoman. He had seen everything clearly just now, and he was certain Zhang Xiaoman had seen it just as clearly. Staring at that composed, unruffled figure, he felt even more admiration rise within him and sighed, “Sure enough, a confident man is the most charming.”

With his left hand, Zhang Xiaoman firmly pressed down his right hand, which would not stop trembling. Beads of cold sweat seeped from his forehead. Ever since the chase after the dark shadow had begun, his body had been sounding warnings, and now at last it could no longer be restrained, reacting violently in his limbs. He exhaled a long, troubled breath and leaned against the van to support his powerless, weakening body. Looking out at the endless stream of traffic on the street, he suddenly caught sight of a slow-moving taxi. A faint smile rose at the corner of his mouth as he murmured, “Interesting, interesting. Indeed, meeting is hard, and parting is hard as well.”