NOS Chapter 55

Chapter 55: Beilin Village (5)

He Wang…

This was a middle-aged man who looked about the same age as Ai Hua. His cheeks were sunken, his eye sockets were deep, and his brow bones were high. There was indeed a bit of “exotic” charm in his expression. Moreover, his timid demeanor and hunched figure were no different from the suspect who had fled in panic from the Third Mine Family Compound that day. Although this face was a bit too thin, making it difficult to match at a glance with the “He Wang” who spoke to “Yi Jun” on the ID photo and surveillance video, his straight nose bridge had already revealed the person’s identity.

That’s right, he was He Wang, the suspect in the Songlan 6.13 dismemberment case a year ago!

Yu Chunming carefully scrutinized the face again. He even felt that He Wang looked very much like the young Qian Guowei described by Jiang Min.

But why hadn’t Jiang Min recognized him?

A myriad of questions swirled in Yu Chunming’s mind. He steadied himself, took two more steps forward, and then, feigning ignorance, asked, “Are you a villager here?”

He Wang nodded vigorously, like a chicken pecking at rice: “I am, I am! I live at the turn in the road over there. Tonight, around ten o’clock, a stray dog suddenly rushed into my house, bit my two hunting rifles hanging on the wall, and, and also bit my arm! Police Comrade, look…”

As he spoke, he was about to walk toward Yu Chunming.

“Stay where you are!” Yu Chunming shouted.

The two were not far apart. He Wang stood in the bright area illuminated by the flashlight, while Yu Chunming stood in the dark. He wasn’t sure if what He Wang said was true, nor was he sure if He Wang had recognized him as the police officer who had chased him outside the Third Mine Family Compound that night.

Therefore, everything had to be handled with caution.

Yu Chunming asked, “Hunting rifles? Are you the one who reported the incident?”

“Yes, yes, yes!” He Wang was overjoyed. “It’s me!”

Yu Chunming frowned: “Then just now you said someone wanted to kill you. What’s that about?”

As soon as He Wang heard this question, he instantly panicked: “How would I know? Police Comrade, I’m just an ordinary hunter. After the beast damaged my livelihood, I chased it out of the house and even had a quarrel with my neighbor. When I came back, I found that the gun was gone. When I went out again, there was a ghostly figure hiding behind a tree, taking potshots at me! Police Comrade, please save me, save me!”

Yu Chunming’s expression gradually turned cold. He realized that “Yi Jun” might also be here.

“Police Comrade, I beg you, I beg you…” He Wang said, crying, “I, I know I’ve made some mistakes, but I don’t deserve to die. Police Comrade, you must save me!”

The sound of commotion faintly came from the entrance of the village, and a few scattered flashlight beams shone this way. Yu Chunming breathed a slight sigh of relief. He knew that backup had arrived.

“Stand still, hands up.” He put away his baton and took out his handcuffs from behind his waist. “Come back to the station with me first. We’ll talk about the specific situation back at the station.”

The wind stirred through the forest, the gale gradually diminished, and the messy footprints on the ground were already covered by fresh snow.

He Wang suddenly said, “Police Comrade, why do you look a bit familiar?”

Yu Chunming paused.

Just then, with a “crack,” a sound of footsteps came from behind the farmhouse.

Who was there?

Yu Chunming reacted quickly, immediately rolling to the ground, grabbing He Wang, and dodging behind the corner of the wall.

“He’s here, he’s here again!” He Wang was shaking all over with fright.

Yu Chunming glanced sideways and saw a shadow reflected on the snow. This shadow was wide, tall, and even inhuman. Accompanied by a strong wind, an inexplicable sense of oppression suddenly swept over him.

“Have you seen his face?” Yu Chunming asked.

He Wang shook his head frantically.

Yu Chunming held his breath, his heart pounding like a drum. He knew that if the person coming toward them was indeed a person, then that person most likely held two hunting rifles stolen from the hunter’s house.

“Police Comrade, what should we do now? Do you have a gun on you? You have to quickly catch this madman.” He Wang, huddled behind Yu Chunming, said anxiously.

Yu Chunming took a deep breath and didn’t answer.

Dong! At this moment, a loud noise came from somewhere.

The loud noise probably frightened He Wang. He immediately scrambled toward the other side of the wall, babbling to himself: “Don’t kill me, don’t kill me, please don’t kill me…”

At the same time, a strong light shone from the village.

“He’s over there!” It was Guan Yao’s voice.

Yu Chunming immediately perked up. He no longer worried about the possibility of incoming bullets, got up, lunged forward, and pinned down He Wang, who was about to climb over the wall.

“Get down!”

Thud! The two fell to the ground together.

Hearing the shout, He Wang, who had just been begging Yu Chunming to save his life, perhaps because he was so frightened that his brain had gone haywire, shouted “Waa waa” and kicked Yu Chunming’s hip hard. He then picked up a nearby broken brick and smashed it toward Yu Chunming’s forehead.

“Don’t kill me, don’t kill me!” He Wang hysterically shouted.

Yu Chunming dodged to the side and was about to twist He Wang’s forearm, but suddenly a shadow flashed out from behind the wall.

“He’s here!” He Wang yelled.

Yu Chunming’s heart tightened. He turned his head to look, but the shadow flashed, jumped into the snow, and disappeared. Only then did he realize that the sound of footsteps just now had been made by a roe deer.

However, taking advantage of this opportunity, He Wang had already scrambled to his feet and was running toward the deeper forest.

“He’s over there, surround him!” On the other side, Han Chen’s voice rang out.

From a distance, he had already seen the two people at the edge of the forest. The special police were about to converge from the side of the railway, and Guan Yao’s criminal investigation team was also closing in from this side.

“He’s trying to run outside!” A chaotic shout came.

Accompanying this shout was the sound of a train whistle from the mountain depression, clang, clang, clang! Woo——

Damn it, a train was coming! A chill ran through everyone’s heart.

Logically speaking, it was late at night, and Za Mu Er’s only three inbound and outbound train services had already finished. Why was there a train suddenly coming at this time?

Of course, if Guan Yao had had time to look at his phone yesterday afternoon, he would have known that the K6638 train on which Guan Ning was traveling from Za Mu Er to Da Mu Banner had failed to depart due to an internal combustion engine malfunction. It wasn’t until half an hour ago that the train left Za Mu Er Station.

And now, the glaring headlights had pierced through the valley, illuminating the mountain pass, and the tracks that divided this forest in two were emitting ominous buzzing sounds.

“Back up! Everyone back up!” Guan Yao shouted at the people standing on the tracks.

He hadn’t had time to rush forward before he was blocked by the train on the other side. Under his gaze, Yu Chunming crossed the tracks.

Screech——

With an ear-splitting screech, the train conductor, who had witnessed everything in front of him, pulled the emergency brake. The already slow-moving green train slowly came to a halt. At the same time, a section of freight car parked on the abandoned track, for some reason, with a “click”, overturned to one side, and the garbage, coal, and wood it was carrying instantly spilled onto the ground.

“The train has stopped! Go around it!” Han Chen shouted.

But in that moment, the people who had been chasing each other had disappeared. They came without a shadow and left without a trace, as if they were two souls, scattered in the mountain depression echoing with the cold wind.

“Don’t run anymore! The thing hiding behind the house was just a roe deer!” Yu Chunming shouted at He Wang’s staggering figure. “Our comrades have arrived. No matter who wants to kill you, we will bring him to justice tonight.”

He Wang slowly straightened his body.

The man leaned on a tree, stretched his “injured leg” that had been curled up, and then turned around, revealing a smile in the darkness.

“Really?” he asked.

This smile made Yu Chunming frown deeply.

The hot sweat on his body gradually subsided, and he felt a chill as the wind blew, and his ears were ringing non-stop, making it difficult to hear what He Wang was saying.

“Are you really a police officer from the Linchang Police Station?” He Wang took a breath and asked loudly. “Why haven’t I ever seen you at the Linchang Police Station before?”

Yu Chunming took two steps closer and replied, “I was transferred to Za Mu Er this June.”

“June…” He Wang looked up, as if calculating something.

Yu Chunming didn’t notice that the other man’s other hand had quietly reached behind his back. Under his bulging, tattered cotton coat, there seemed to be something hidden that shouldn’t be there.

“Has anyone ever told you that you look a lot like Jiang Min?” He Wang had already put away his panicked and frightened look. He said calmly, “I thought you looked very familiar in the Songlin Street Farmers’ Market. I finally remembered just now, it turns out that you, this little police officer, look like Jiang Min.”

The wind was very strong, and Yu Chunming’s injured ears didn’t hear a single word of what he said. He dragged his feet and continued to walk forward.

“Could it be that you are Jiang Min’s son?” At this point, He Wang shook his head again. “No, Jiang Min’s son died a long time ago, and the other one is useless. Besides, how could a slut like her give birth to someone like you, Police Comrade?”

Yu Chunming took out the handcuffs from behind his waist: “Squat down, put your hands over your head.”

He Wang touched his high nose bridge and sighed deeply: “I just wanted to live a good life, why do you have to treat me like this? Let the past be the past.”

These words disappeared in the wind. People were already chasing after him from afar. He Wang didn’t want to wait any longer.

He looked at Yu Chunming, who had already approached, and suddenly grinned: “Police Comrade, do you know what ‘when will revenge end’ means?”

“What are you saying?” Yu Chunming had already opened the handcuffs.

“It’s like this!” He Wang suddenly raised his left arm and aimed a dark gun muzzle at the front.

Why did Yu Chunming come to Beilin tonight?

Because a hunter had reported to the police that he had had a dispute with his neighbor over hunting rifles.

Where did the gun go?

The gun was dragged away by a “stray dog,” or so He Wang said.

Therefore, Yu Chunming naturally assumed that the suspect “Yi Jun” hiding here had stolen the hunting rifles and was wantonly killing “He Wang,” so he tried to encircle and suppress him.

After all, every word He Wang said was consistent with the deduction and even more consistent with most of the task force’s guesses about the two suspects.

For example, why did “Yi Jun” get on the K5278 train? And why did they fight in the Third Mine Family Compound?

Because of hatred, because of resentment, because there was likely an unresolvable feud between “Yi Jun” and “He Wang.”

But was “Yi Jun” really here? Although Number 18, Beilin Village, was once his “base,” where was “Yi Jun’s” shadow after Yu Chunming arrived? So, was it really “Yi Jun” who was hunting down “He Wang”?

In the past, based on the information provided by the Mopan Mountain dismemberment case, Yu Chunming reasonably deduced that the person chasing “He Wang” on the K5278 train was “Yi Jun,” the person who spent a lot of money to find “Qian Guowei” was also “Yi Jun,” and “He Wang” himself was highly suspected of being “Qian Guowei.” Naturally, when he heard the cold shots in the forest, Yu Chunming unthinkingly regarded the person who fired the shots as “Yi Jun.”

Then, what if everything was reversed?

What if “Yi Jun” boarded the K5278 train because he was lured by “He Wang”? What if the fight in the Third Mine Family Compound was led by “He Wang”?

What if the person firing the cold shots tonight was “He Wang”?

The blood test results in the Third Mine Family Compound had just confirmed all of this, but Yu Chunming, who had long been kicked out of the task force, knew nothing about it. He regarded “He Wang” as a victim, as a “prey” being hunted down.

But in reality—

The seemingly innocent prey was the real hunter.

Yu Chunming stared at the dark gun muzzle in front of him, and his thoughts momentarily froze.

“Police Comrade, what can I say?” He Wang changed his appearance, from his cowering and timid demeanor, back into “Mr. He,” who could talk and laugh with “Yi Jun.” He shook his head with a smile and said with emotion, “People will eventually die. There’s no difference between dying early and dying late. Today, I’ll send you on your way. Don’t pester me in the future…”

“Qian Guowei.” Yu Chunming called out at this moment.

He Wang’s pupils shrank, and his index finger instantly tightened on the trigger.

“You are Qian Guowei…”

Bang! The next second, a bullet slipped out of the barrel.

Guan Yao, who was running ahead of everyone, stopped suddenly, hearing the gunshot from the forest once again.

“Chunming, Yu Chunming…” he couldn’t help but shout loudly.

The snow had stopped, and the wind had slowly weakened. Unknowingly, the clouds cleared and the fog dissipated, and a round bright moon faintly appeared in the corner of the sky.

Suddenly, a blue-green light rose from the distant north and quickly spread across the entire sky. The swaying colors, like blooming flowers and rippling water, filled both the dome of the sky and the long river on the ground with dazzling splendor.

It was the aurora. Za Mu Er in late autumn ushered in its first observable aurora of the year.

And it was this magnificent aurora that made Guan Yao discover that there was blood on the ground.

The blood was not a drop or two, but a patch or two, countless spots of bright red sprinkled on the white snow, gradually expanding.

Guan Yao smelled the cold iron scent, the residue left behind when the bloody, rusty smell of fresh blood was dispersed by the wind.

“Yu Chunming…” Immediately, he saw the person who had fallen on the snow in the distance.

Guan Yao’s legs suddenly went soft, and he almost knelt on the ground. He could barely hold the gun tightly in his hand. He didn’t remember how he scrambled to get closer, only remembering that he saw a pair of half-open, half-closed eyes.

Those were Yu Chunming’s eyes, eyes that had once gazed at him with a smile and love. Now, the light in those eyes had almost completely dissipated.

“Chunming, Chunming…” Guan Yao clutched Yu Chunming’s hand.

At the end of the forest was a cornfield. The scarecrow under the ridge was swaying lightly in the wind, its rough cloth strips illuminated by the aurora in a riot of colors. On the other side of the cornfield, someone’s child was crying, the crying intermittent, yet continuous.

Yu Chunming was awakened by this sound. He turned his head, moved his eyes, and saw Guan Yao kneeling beside him.

“Chunming…” Guan Yao cried out, his voice breaking.

He was still alive. Yu Chunming was still alive. He Wang had surprisingly not followed up with another shot. He had actually let go of the police officer who had confronted him and called out his real name.

“Call an ambulance, quick, call an ambulance…” Guan Yao seemed to have something stuck in his throat, so that he could hardly say a word smoothly.

The walkie-talkie was beeping. The person on the other end said something, but the forest quickly quieted down.

“Guan Yao?” Yu Chunming called out in a breathy voice.

He wanted to say, you have to be careful, He Wang, no, Qian Guowei, that person is probably nearby. He also wanted to say, don’t worry, I don’t feel any pain right now. But he couldn’t say anything. He could only move his lips, spitting out two vague words: “Guan Yao…”

He Wang was Qian Guowei. In the second before the gunshot, Yu Chunming had once again truly seen that face clearly.

It was a face that was extremely consistent with Jiang Min’s description, a face with a high nose bridge, deep eye sockets, and fair skin, a face that, even after years of wear and tear, Yu Chunming could still see had been handsome in the past.

This face sneered, disdained, and scorned, sending the bullet accompanied by the smell of gunpowder out of the barrel, causing the police officer who was one step away from bringing him to justice to fall to the ground.

“Qian Guowei has already died.” “He Wang,” who had worn countless “masks,” smiled with a sigh. He took out a handkerchief, carefully wiped the fingerprints on the trigger, and then threw the hunting rifle into the snowdrift.

Now, the gun lay beside Yu Chunming, soaked in the cold ice and snow along with his blood.

Guan Yao placed his palm on Yu Chunming’s neck, where it was still beating unwillingly. He didn’t dare to move the person at will, and didn’t even dare to touch the hideous wound, as if the only remaining breath would be extinguished with the slightest touch.

“Why didn’t you wait for me to come?” Guan Yao’s voice was trembling. “I’ve been looking for you. I’ve been looking for you for so long…”

He had indeed been looking for a long time. The forest was too big, and Yu Chunming had chased He Wang too far. The special police and the criminal investigation team behind them were far behind the two of them. Guan Yao ran out of breath, but he couldn’t catch up with Yu Chunming.

But the person who had lost too much blood hadn’t heard clearly, or rather understood, what Guan Yao was saying. His consciousness didn’t know what year or month it had gone to. He only saw the dying man looking up at the aurora in the sky, and then answering, “Yes, I’ve also been waiting for you by the river for a long time…”

[Author’s Note]

Happy Valentine’s Day?

Finally wrote it here. .

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