Chapter 242: So Close yet So Far
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
"I’ve heard," Miao Ying said, "when the Crimson Eight Secret Service Squad was organized, I just entered the police academy. That year, there were a lot of terrorist movements, so the Qinshan Police force decided to organize a group similar to the Hong Kong Flying Tigers in order to quickly take care of the terrorists. The serial number for this group is 08, and was printed in red lettering, so they were called the Crimson Eight Secret Service Squad.
"But if I remember correctly," Miao Ying recollected, "This squad didn’t last too long. Weren’t they disbanded a long time ago?"
"Exactly!" Zhang Jingfeng gave a thumbs-up to Miao Ying. "Originally, everyone picked for the Crimson Eight Secret Service Squad were the aces of the police squad, as well as many other excellent soldiers! The organization only lasted one year and one month. After disbanding, the members were sent to various other sections. Some of them became police academy instructors; some became guards or consults; while the more excellent ones probably went and became secret agents or spies!"
"Woah! Zhang, isn’t that a little out there?" Lan Bo shook his head. "I don’t understand, what does this have to do with Qu’s case?"
"There’s a huge connection!" Zhang Jingfeng carefully looked around before pulling out his phone. He told everyone, "Didn’t Zhao Yu ask me to restore the video of Hou Meng being framed? In the video, two of the criminals were both wearing hats. One of them was wearing a mask, but the other one wasn’t!
"I asked the Missing Person’s Department’s restoration expert Bi, and based on the image of the person not wearing the mask, we made a portrait." Zhang Jingfeng opened the image. "Bi said the restoration rate is accurate up to seventy-percent. Guys, look…" The image of the person looked quite fierce, and his cheeks were very wide.
"These past few days I haven’t done anything but try to match the culprit!" Zhang Jingfeng spoke with excitement. "But after a while, there weren’t many results! Until I noticed something." Zhang Jingfeng zoomed in on the picture, then pointed at the collarbone of the portrait. There was a faint red mark there.
"This red mark gave me hope!" Zhang Jingfeng explained excitedly, "At first, I thought it was some sort of birthmark, but once Bi restored the video, he told me it was an insignia sewn on the cloth!
"The criminal was wearing a vest inside of his coat, and this insignia was sewn on the coat! Here," Zhang Jingfeng flipped to the next photo, "even though this insignia is barely visible, it was clearly round. It seems a little flat to be a ‘zero’ so I think this is the number ‘eight’!
"I pulled up the names of the people in the Crimson Eight Special Service Squad and quickly found the person that matched the height and appearance of the generated portrait!"
Hearing what Zhang Jingfeng said, everyone was stunned and worried. Even though the Crimson Eight Secret Service Squad was an ephemeral existence in Qinshan, they were very famous. Now that they knew the criminal may have been from a special service organization, everybody felt slightly discouraged.
"Here!" Zhang Jingfeng did not seem to care and flipped through all the photos until he pulled out someone’s portrait. "It’s this person, Zhao Qing! Thirty-seven-years-old this year, from Special Forces! I put in all my effort and finally found some basic information on him, but there’s nothing detailed!"
Zhao Qing?! Zhao Yu looked at the photo carefully, and noticed that Zhao Qing looked quite fierce. He had an army buzz cut, and his gaze was incredibly proud. He was clearly someone you would not want to mess with!
"Zhang!" Lan Bo was quite worried. "If even you can’t find any details on him, does that mean he became a secret agent? Then...Qu Ping…"
"At least he definitely isn’t a spy!" Zhang Jingfeng spoke confidently. "Otherwise, I wouldn’t have even found the information I did!"
"Zhao Qing!" Miao Ying was quite serious as she turned to the crowd. "Everyone, listen, we have to keep this a secret! I think everyone already knows how dangerous this is! If an outsider heard this, then that means one of us is a traitor!"
When the teammates heard, everyone’s expression changed. At the moment, other than Zhao Yu and Zhang Jingfeng, everyone was on team B. Including Miao Ying, Zhang Yaohui, Liu, and Lan Bo.
"Then," Miao Ying continued to warn the group, "we have to be extremely cautious when we do our investigation! As soon as you guys hear something, quickly come and warn me. Do not, under any circumstances, move individually. Got it?"
Everyone nodded.
"Also," Zhao Yu also added, "from now on at work, let’s not mention Qu Ping’s case too much! We can’t let anyone know we’re still investigating this case!"
The crowd nodded again.
"But," Zhang Jingfeng was hesitant, "I got a lot of help from Bi, so he already knows everything!"
"Then make sure he’s on our side!" Zhao Yu told Zhang Jingfeng, "Tell him how much danger he’s in, and tell him to keep this a secret! Also, with Liang Huan and Li Beini, let’s not tell them for now! The less people that know about this, the better!"
Zhang Jingfeng signaled his understanding, then gave Zhao Qing’s documents to Zhao Yu and Miao Ying.
"Whew…" Zhao Yu breathed out heavily. To think that the matter could be so complicated.
Suddenly hearing such shocking news, he instinctively thought back to his hexagram explanation. The "Gen" hexagram indeed wasn’t wasted. It actually helped them find some key evidence for Qu Ping’s case. But this evidence made Zhao Yu even more uneasy. If Zhao Qing really was one of the people behind Qu Ping’s murder, then this case was simply too dangerous! If Zhao Qing was a member of Special Forces, then his comrades must be equally as dangerous.
Suddenly, Zhao Yu felt like he was tiptoeing through a minefield, not sure when something would blow up on him! His own safety was not an issue, but he was worried about his teammates. Team Leader Qu Ping had already been sacrificed. He could not let anyone else get hurt! Thus Zhao Yu secretly decided that he would personally go find Zhao Qing’s information. He did have the Miracle System after all; if there was any danger, he could deal with it. No matter what, he could not put his teammates in danger!
Maybe if they captured Zhao Qing, they could find the truth behind Qu Ping’s murder?
Once he got off work, Zhao Yu did not greet anyone and immediately went to the address Zhang Jingfeng gave him to find Zhao Qing. Yet when he arrived, he realized that the Zhao Qing’s address was completely outdated. The house had already been demolished and was turned into a park!
The stubborn Zhao Yu still stayed and asked around. He asked the old people around the area to see if they knew any details about the demolition.
In this world, there are many coincidences. Some become fateful meetings, but some simply fade into the distance. This is called destiny.
As Zhao Yu was looking for evidence with all his might, he was unaware that Miao Ying was doing the same exact thing! As it turned out, Miao Ying and Zhao Yu had the same thought. She did not want to drag her teammates into any danger. As soon as she got off work, she also got ready to investigate Zhao Qing’s residence by herself. But Miao Ying did not have the miracle system, so she was even more careful than Zhao Yu. Before leaving the police station, she made sure to borrow a gun!
Just like Zhao Yu, when she realized that Zhao Qing’s house had been demolished, she looped around the park and asked around, holding Zhao Qing’s photo. The two of them were both looking for information around the park, but never ran into each other.
Such is fate. When it is meant to be, you can find the other amongst a sea of crowds, but when it isn’t, even if you stood face-to-face with the other, you would simply brush shoulders before parting!
While searching, Zhao Yu and Miao Ying brushed past each other numerous times, but they were too focused on looking for evidence and never saw one another. If Zhao Yu had opened the "Kan" hexagram, would everything be different?
In the end, neither found any useful information, and they both chose to have dinner at small restaurants by the park. But Zhao Yu chose a popular fried cow stomach shop, while Miao Ying chose a quiet western restaurant. These two restaurants were only a wall apart…