Memory Lost (美人为馅): Chapter 125

Chapter 125: R’s World

“How will she choose?”

“I don’t know.”

“No matter who she chooses, the ending will be the same.”

“Ha……”

……

The sky is about to be lit.

Numerous police vehicles are driving toward the Yangtze Park where the clowns are found.

Su Mian and Han Chen are sitting in a command car watching the foggy road ahead.  Her heart is worried just like the fog covering everything. She squeezes Han Chen’s hand lightly.  Han Chen’s elbow is resting on the car window frame as he looks straight. He grabs her hand and puts it on his thigh.

6:35 am.

There’s half an hour left before the explosion.  They’ll be at the scene in two minutes.

The police force has been working overnight and they’ve finally received something in return.  This time, the moment the two clowns walked out of the public men’s room, they were discovered by the patrolling officers.  For one, this means that they haven’t been able to make it to a more prosperous area to stir up another commotion; secondly, the police have more time to remove the bomb.

“Xiao Zhuan’s cell phone is off,” Cold Face lowers his phone and tries calling Chatterbox.

Han Chen frowns his eyebrows.  Su Mian responds with a, “Hm?” and turns around to Cold Face, “That’s not right.  Xiao Zhuan always carries a power bank with him and never turn off his phone.”

The call gets through quickly.  It’s finally picked up after four to five rings.  Chatterbox’s voice sounds a bit muffled as if he’s just woken up, “Hello?  Cold Face? What’s the matter?”

Cold Face says, “The clowns have appeared.  At Yangtze River Park. Where are you guys?”

Su Mian waits for Cold Face to confirm their location.  Han Chen turns his head around as well with his hand resting on Su Mian’s back and eyes slightly closed as he listens.

The other end of the phone——

Chatterbox rubs his eyes and sits straight immediately.  Staring at the already brightly lit sky, he’s a bit dumbstruck.  He had fallen asleep right after Xiao Zhuan got off the car. He takes a look at the watch right now and it has already been thirty minutes and Xiao Zhuan has still not returned.

He reports his location and pushes open the car door at the same time, “Xiao Zhuan went to eat breakfast and I was sleeping in the car.  I’ll go find him now and come over right away.”

He hangs up and rushes over to the alleyway.

……

“Xiao Zhuan went to eat breakfast,” Cold Face puts down the phone, “They’ll come right away.”

Han Chen doesn’t say anything.  His eyes are dark. Su Mian replies, “Oh,” but feels a bit strange about what’s going on with Xiao Zhuan.  Just as she is about to pull out her phone to call him, the car brakes hard and stops.

Everybody raises their heads to look outside.  In the park covered with dense grass, the fog is like a thin layer of gauze hovering the area.  In front of the remote public washroom, several police vehicles are already surrounding the area and from afar, two clowns are standing in the middle.  A few criminal investigators are wearing explosion-proof gear and are standing beside the clowns comforting them.

The car door slides open and everybody gets off.  Su Mian has no time to dial Xiao Zhuan, so she stuffs her cell phone back into her pocket.  Han Chen hops off the car behind her and then turns around to say to Cold Face, “Get a team to go take a look at Chatterbox and Xiao Zhuan.”

Cold Face receives the order and takes action.  Su Mian and Han Chen glance at each other. His eyes are dark and calm.  He pats her back gesturing her to continue walking with him.

_____

Chatterbox senses something is not right the moment he steps into the alleyway.

He can smell a bit of blood.  It immediately makes him feel his heart in his throat.

Up ahead, the old grandma’s restaurant is open and brightly lit.  Two to three tables of customers are just finishing breakfast; on the other end of the alleyway, a few passersby can be seen.  There is no sign of Zhou Xiao Zhuan. He holds his breath walking along the wall searching for the faint smell of blood. He sees blotches of blood at the foot of the wall right away.  There are a few spots of fresh blood that are almost dry; only a bit of it is still wet——it matches the exact time of when Xiao Zhuan entered the alleyway! And the mud on the ground is messy from being stepped on; it looks as if a fierce fight had happened here.

His eyes open wide.  He starts searching the alleyway frantically; he pulls over a passerby and asks anxiously.  He looks up and sees the bright sky; all he can feel is cold sweat down his spine and shivers from fright.

_____

“The first victim’s name is Wang Yuan De, and the second victim’s name is Su Da Yong,” the officer who first arrived at the scene says quickly to Han Chen and the others, “They both live in the area and were hit unconscious with a bat by someone in the middle of the night.  They woke up in the washroom.”

Han Chen, Su Mian, and the others put on explosion-proof gears and then match their watches: 6:42 am.  There are still 25 minutes before the explosion.

The city’s best bomb disposal expert has already arrived at the scene and is hovering on the victims to take a closer look.  Although the clock is ticking, the situation is already much better than last time. Therefore, the police are carrying out two different approaches at the same time: on one side, the expert is trying his best to dismantle the bomb, while at the same time, the Black Shield Team is working on decoding the password.

Han Chen puts on his black gloves and walks to the first victim.  Su Mian follows.

Even though officers have been comforting them, the victims’ reactions are still very intense; they’re crying and trembling and aren’t able to speak in full sentences.

Han Chen lifts his eyes at one of the victims and says in a calm voice, “Stop trembling.  Cooperate well or how else will we be able to save you?” Probably because his expression is too stern and carries an imposing aura, so the victim weeps looking at him but is oddly able to calm down.

“What are the lyrics that the criminal has taught you to sing?” Su Mian asks.

“Sing?” the victim sniffs his nose and shakes his head, “No, no singing.  He told us to memorize……memorize a poem.” An officer hands them a pen and notebook: “This is what we’ve recorded based on his words.”

Han Chen takes it and reads it solemnly.  Su Mian is stunned the moment she sees the contents.

“The most simple existence of the universe,

crisscrossing and turning repeatedly.

The most complicated form of life,

loses morning and gains night.

It can blanket every day,

it can possess every year.

What is lost will always be regained.

In my dream of nothingness,

his name,

will finally not be buried by time.”

The two of them read the poem and are quiet for a moment.  The other investigators beside them don’t have any ideas either, so they all raise their heads and look at Han Chen.

In a desperate situation like this with everybody eyes on him, Han Chen is actually very calm.  He holds the paper in his hand and his slender finger taps on the back of it lightly. He lifts his head suddenly and looks at Su Mian.

Therefore, everybody turns to look at Su Mian.

“Su Mian, I need you to confirm two things based on the view of criminal psychology,” he says.

Su Mian is stunned slightly and answers, “Okay.”

Han Chen continues, “Who wrote this poem?”

“R,” Su Mian replies.

She understands why Han Chen needs to ask her.  When it comes to understanding those three people, there’s probably no one else who knows them better than her.  And from a criminal psychology point of view, a different poem writer will mean that the password pattern will be different as well——even when they’re members of the seven-member organization.

There’s no way that A would be able to write a poem like this.  L’s style would be more exaggerated, emotional, and abstract.  But the underlying meaning wouldn’t be complicated; that’s more like his style.  And the poem in front of them is short and simple yet you can sense that its meaning is deep.  Among the three of them, it can only be written by R.  Furthermore, L was severely injured by Han Chen, so he probably doesn’t have the mood or strength to write a poem.

Han Chen stares into her eyes.  His fair white face is calm yet his eyes are dense as if he’s thinking of something.

“What do you think this poem is talking about?” he asks again.

The officers beside them are looking at each other.  Yeah, what is this poem talking about? Su Mian hums in a low voice and directs her gaze to the paper again.  From the moment she read these words, her first thought was……

“Why do I feel that it’s talking about math and philosophy?” she says, “You know that there’s always this saying: math is the most simple and basic existence that derives complex disciplines and life.  This poem seems to carry that meaning when its read. The last few phrases are more emotional. When combined, there’s a philosophical sense to it.”

Her gaze deepens as she says this.

Her understanding of R has always been very little.  He’s a doctor, and he was one of the black shadows in the video.  He takes away women’s hearts without leaving any traces behind. But she never thought that R’s way of thinking would carry such characteristics.  He most probably likes math and likes to explore meanings behind things.  Perhaps he has a lot of insights and his thoughts may even be attractive.

A man of mystery.

But……

Su Mian’s thinks for a second.  Math? Although Han Chen has nothing to do with philosophy, he’s a king in mathematics.

She lifts her head right away and sees Han Chen deep in his thoughts.  His dark eyebrows, refined and handsome face, accompanied by his slightly wrinkled shirt collar from working all night, looks concentrated.

Nobody dares to breathe too loudly.  They think to themselves: although Han Chen is nicknamed the Super Detective, how will he be able to solve the riddle from a poem written by a maniac?  Su Mian doesn’t think that way. She doesn’t see R as a maniac when reading the poem.  Han Chen’s forte is math and R clearly shows affection toward math.  This is clearly a PK (player kill) battle between the two of them.

To everyone’s surprise, after thinking for a while, Han Chen raises his head, folds the paper and hands it to Su Mian.  A faint smile flashes across his eyes, “The passcode is 18749019.”