Outside the interrogation room, everyone mobbed me for answers and I told them everything about Huang Li’s talk with me and her final words. “Did you notice, Shiyan? Something wrong with her when she lost control of her temper just now?” Chongxi pointed out, chewing his cigarette, “Her soul was unsteady just now. But only for a brief moment, if you’d noticed.”

“I did,” I agreed, nodding my head, saying, “Someone has tampered with her soul. She did mention that her father had done something terrible to her and her husband, Cao Xuedong. She did not say what specifically, but I guess it had something to do with their souls.”

Big Sister interjected suddenly, “You said just now Huang Li told you that everyone that looks the same like her bears the same rage and malice towards you?” I nodded. “I don’t understand. What does she mean?” I paused for a moment’s mulling before I answered, “I could only surmise she’s referring to people that have the same cold and frosty look like hers.” “No, you don’t understand,” she countered, “There’s only some people who could harbor such anger and hatred towards you. You are but only a young man after all. Look at the four other people. You don’t know them, do you?” I nodded. “And since these people are only strangers, how could they be angry at you?”

“I see. So there’s more to what Huang Li described as ‘people who looked the same as her’?” Only Big Sister could not say whether it was true or not. “Does that mean these are the descendants of Tribe Nine Li?” Edelweiss asked. “I don’t think so,” I shook my head, saying, “I have been thinking about the true definition of being the last living heirs of Tribe Nine Li?” “What do you mean by true definition?” It was Zheng Shuang this time, scratching his head. “Check your history books,” Lin Feng added, “We are all descendants of the tribes that emerged victorious after Huang Di of the Center. But the tribes of Yan Di of the South and Tribe Nine Li, despite being defeated, were not utterly vanquished. They intermingled through marriages with one another. That means everyone here would bear some blood of both Yan Di and Huang Di in addition to Chiyou’s. So that nullified the term ‘descendants of Tribe Nine Li’ for we all are.”

No one spoke a word. Zheng Shuang inhaled heavily as Chongxi sighed and explained further, “Following the defeat of Chiyou and Tribe Nine Li, the bloodlines of Yan Di and Huang Di joined in marriage and they intermingled with the bloodlines of Tribe Nine Li after absorbing them. Fast forward tens of thousands of years until today, who could say whose blood are we carrying now? How many of us here still carry the blood of Tribe Nine Li today?” Zheng Shuang stared in silence. I sighed again, saying, “So, that would mean that the ‘descendants of Tribe Nine Li’ as described as Father and Master Six would mean more than just the heritage of bloodlines. They could be the people that Huang Li was trying to describe.”

The chief of the District Headquarters Criminal Investigations Division finally rejoined us as we spoke. He graced us with a salute before speaking courteously, “I thank you all for your help. And I hereby convey my deepest apologies for the difficulties you’ve gone through, Mr. Shiyan. We have all acted under the false report of this Huang Li.” “It’s fine, don’t mention it!” I chuckled, saying, “We’re colleagues and I understand it’s part of the procedure. I’ve not seen Sergeant Zhan. Is he here?” “I’m afraid he’s reported in sick these couple of days. For all the brouhaha we’re in and yet the fool manages to keep his phone completely off! But pay him no mind. We’re used to him.”

I responded with a disinterested “Oh” and our subject began veering off into other topics where I discovered that Huang Li’s florist shop was still operating. The officers from the District Headquarters had first gone there to look for her before finding her at her villa. The chief gave me a note. Upon it was sprawled an address. “This is the address of the shop. It’s somewhere north of town and it’s well-hidden. You can have a look yourself; I still have some touching-ups to finish here.” “All right then,” I smiled, saying, “Don’t let us be in your way. We’ll have a look at this florist shop.”

It was already nine in the evening when we finally walked down the steps of the District Headquarters. Yet none of us could complain of being tired. We hopped onto our cars and sped northward. We needed to see the florist shop.

I was rather impressed by Huang Li’s choice of locale when we arrived. The shop was a humble little one, but it was close to a school and a hospital, so there would be no shortages for business. This modest establishment sat just outside the Kailuan National Mine Park and its entrance was narrower than even Lu Shengnan’s teaching center at Xinhua West Road.

The shop was closed; hardly surprising considering the hour. “Well, I guess I should carry a hairpin with me at all times from now on!” Chongxi quipped. He produced one from nowhere, much to our surprise and I asked, “Where did you get this? You didn’t have one just now!” Chongxi poked the hairpin through the keyhole and muttered as he began to work, “I saw one lying on the bedside cabinet in one of the bedrooms at Huang Li’s villa. So I just nicked it!” That made us laughed. God, he’s really a masterful thief when it comes to it, I mused. He had been within eyeshot the whole day and yet he managed to steal the hairpin right under our noses!

Finally, the tumblers of the lock yielded with a sonorous clunk. The lock is opened. “Wow, Chongxi… this skill of yours, I must say…” Zheng Shuang gasped, utterly lost for words. Chongxi snapped at once with a devilish grin, “You heard nothing, you saw nothing, and I said nothing. That’s it.”

We filed into the shop quietly, finding the place completely ransacked with many of the things in the shop scattered in a mess. Someone had searched through this place inconspicuously and the flowers in the shop have all been taken. It could be Huang Li and Cao Xuedong who had taken them while they were making arrangements for a quick retreat. We moved deeper and saw a little door with the sign “Authorized Personnel Only”.

I went to the door and my hand gripped on the handle. The possibilities that there could be nothing dangerous lurking from the other side of the door, or just potentially an empty space did little to ease my growing tension. Everyone formed up behind me, their feet shuffling warily with caution, preparing to lunge as soon as anything peeked out. Edelweiss gave a worried tug on my arm, signaling me to be careful. I looked back and saw her other hand grabbing the hilt of her golden dagger hung on the back of her waist.

With a nod that I hoped it would instill confidence to Edelweiss, I returned my attention back to the door and I pushed. The door cracked opened slowly, revealing a wall of darkness inside. I should have known, I almost groaned out loud, It’s already past nine. Nobody could see anything in this bloody dark.

Zheng Shuang took out his phone and tapped around on his screen, searching for the flashlight function. For moments, we waited in the dark until we heard a noticeable click. But it was just not enough; the shop was just too dark for so minuscule a source of light. “If only we have Uncle Hai’s Nocturnal Sight,” Chongxi moaned. “Well, I can see in the dark, if that’s what you mean,” Big Sister’s voice came suddenly from somewhere. Oh, yes! As a fox, Big Sister was naturally born with the ability to see in the dark! We tried to look at her, although her tall silhouette and darkened visage were all that we could detect in the extremely-low light, in addition to her two green eyes glowing like phosphorus.

“But what can I do alone?” She griped glumly. “Never mind,” I said, “You have your animalistic nocturnal sight to rely on and we have…” I paused to switch on the flashlight on my phone, “… our technological innovations to rely on.” Everyone followed my cue and switched on theirs as well.

More flashlights flared to life, illuminating the inside of the space behind the door with bright columns of light streaking around. Despite the lingering dimness, at least we now have a better view of everything in the room now. It was a cramped little bedroom with a battered two-person bed flanked by a dressing table which mirror glinted sharply with the lights from our flashlights. There was another small door just by the corner of the room and from what little light we had, we could see that it was a little toilet. The whole place, including the toilet, looked no more than thirty square meters, as if the pitiable state of the accommodation here was not wretched enough.

Huang Li and Cao Xuedong must have lived here for some time. Definitely not a short one at it too. I walked deeper into the room and crouched down to study the two-person bed. A thick layer of dust and soot sprawled upon the surface of the mattress, indicating that this place had been empty for a long time. Edelweiss stooped down beside me and asked, “How about a look underneath?” With a moment’s thought, I agreed, nodding my head. Why not? I wondered. We might find something after all that could point us to where Jin Qichen and Lu Shengnan are now.

We got up together and moved as one, flipping over the mattress with one heavy push, tossing up a smog of dust that suffocated the stuffy air. I coughed and fanned away the dust from my face and looked down. Lo and behold! There really was something underneath! I bent down again and aimed my flashlight at the item to have a closer look. It was a long plastic bag. The long ones commonly used by stationery stores to fill in pencils and pens.

Edelweiss let go of the mattress and bent down, asking, “What is it?” Zheng Shuang joined us, waving to the others. “Hey, come here. We’ve found something.”