The Yu Brothers’ Case Book

“Xia!”

Someone abruptly clapped a hand on his shoulder.

Yu Tong turned around to see a face he did not know very well. However, he still knew who this person was. “…Kai Lun?” The officer that vanished without a trace after following Big Camel all the way south?

The young officer was wearing a black top and jeans, as well as an ID badge. With a laptop in his hands, he smiled and said, “Are you shocked to see me? We used to see each other all the time.”

“…I’m sorry to say this, but I’m Yu Tong.” Yu Tong replied with a friendly smile; this was not his first time being mistaken [for his twin]. “Xia is in the dining hall downstairs, he’ll be heading out to a crime scene in a bit.” After putting a great amount of effort into persuading and scolding the other person, Yu Tong had finally gotten his brother to go eat. He had also asked several others to accompany his twin down.

Kai Lun stared at him for a few seconds. “Whoa, right, you’re the other twin. Sorry.” He scratched the back of his head in slight embarrassment. “We were just called back yesterday. I figured I might as well drop by and give a greeting while I’m here handing over some tasks.”

“Was your team out pursuing Big Camel’s trail?” Yu Tong asked as he looked at Kai Lun, naturally knowing what their situation was.

After the last incident, Yu Xia had tossed the game account to a young officer to maintain communications, and the two sides had exchanged reports several times. However, since they did not belong to the same affiliation, the reports did not go into too much detail.

“Mm, a few days ago, we joined forces with the division over there to seize all the drug manufacturing facilities in the southern district. Big Camel might still be detained down there. I ended up seeing Ah Xia’s name on the southern district’s list, so I figured I’d also come back here to say hello.” After all, Kai Lun had a pretty good opinion of these guys. He leaned back slightly against the table and pulled out a piece of gum from his pocket to toss into his mouth.

“Xia’s name?” Yu Tong was really puzzled this time.

“Didn’t you guys go over there over summer break? That pension case. When I went to the local station to look into my cases, I saw that one too. I heard you guys broke through the case beautifully.” Back then, he had been chatting with a local officer about it, and as a result, Kai Lun had ended up learning about [the story]. “The site we were working at was actually just nearby. We discovered Wang Zhao Tang’s southern factories in a small town nearby. But he’s extremely cunning; he cut off all ties and fled before we searched and seized the place. Right now, even the ones we’ve captured have no idea where he is. We guessed that he had fled back here to the central district…Speaking of which, the incense you guys found back then came out from the drug manufacturing facility we raided. They had a group of people selling the incense. The division down there is currently figuring out how far it was spread.”

“Wang Zhao Tang has already returned to Taichung, we’ve already come into contact with him here. He even hired people to vandalise our house.” Yu Tong furrowed his brows after hearing the other person’s report. “What was the general marketing method used by that group of incense sellers you mentioned?”

Kai Lun opened the laptop he had brought with him to quickly draw up a case file filled with different notes. “Most of their sellers were local residents. They initially acted using the middle level cadre, likely through means like temples, incense shops, and street markets to sell the incense out and get people addicted. Once the targets unconsciously got used to it, they would persuade them to distribute further downstream. It’s actually quite simple, similar to how rats act. The average person wouldn’t have imagined there to be a problem with incense. It was found in most of the residents’ homes. Those with less in number and for shorter durations were fine, but using it for long periods of time increased the severity of dependence. Currently, incense with that particular smell has been publicly announced as on recall.”

But how exactly would such an item be recalled?

How would citizens be able to tell if the incense they use to worship at home has issues?

Moreover, the police could not publicise too much, or else they would incite panic. As a result, all the officers were struggling with this right now. All they could do was follow the list of sellers…and follow any traces found.

“You said the sellers were regional?”

Yu Tong and Kai Lun simultaneously turned their heads to see Yu Xia having arrived at the doorway at some point without them noticing.

“Mm, that should be the case based on the information we gathered from the capture.” Kai Lun nodded, although he did not understand why Yu Xia’s expression looked so terrible.

Yu Tong’s thoughts reached an identical conclusion as he couldn’t help but say, “Wait…that means there should be a factory here too.” Not the small kind in the apartment building from the last case, but another kind that could simultaneously produce incense, air conditioners, and cigarettes.

“Lin Ya Qing was one of the sellers here. It’s likely that Wang Zhao Tang is hiding in the factory here.” Yu Xia took a sudden, large stride into the room to grab his jacket before running back out. “I’m going to go beat it out of that accomplice.”

The male head of the household must have known if they had been able to hide such a large amount of the incense in the ceiling.

Yu Xia was so rushed as he was running out that he did not notice the person that just so happened to be charging in, and the two people collided straight into each other.

“Shit!” Teng Qi cursed out [in English] as he fell backwards onto the ground from the impact. He rubbed his pained foot as he stood back up. “Officer Yu, no matter how much of a rush you are in, you should still watch where you are going…”

“If you were watching where you were going, you wouldn’t have crashed into me either!” Yu Xia had been pushed into a chair. The tone of his reply was not much better.

“Did something happen?” Yu Tong pulled his brother away to ask this question, noticing how poor Teng Qi’s expression was as well.

“Is Shaodi Yu here?” Teng Qi scanned the empty room and inwardly cursed to himself again.

“Xiao Yu? He’s at home today.” When Yu Tong saw how anxious the other person looked, he instinctively sensed that something was wrong, and hurriedly asked, “Did something happen?”

Teng Qi eyed the twins and the officer he did not recognise. Having already searched around for the entire morning, Teng Qi was unable to restrain himself from growling in frustration, “Fang Yi Xun, that idiotic girl, eavesdropped on my calls and might have already found Wang Zhao Tang. My friends said they saw her going up to the shrine at the top of the mountain along with a violet-eyed boy. We were just about to go check that location to see if Wang Zhao Tang was hiding out there…I couldn’t contact her at all today, and she’s nowhere to be found.”

“What shrine are you talking about?” Kai Lun quickly interjected.

“The shrine in the mountains on the outskirts. I have friends that have seen Wang Zhao Tang go in and out of that area before. That stupid girl must’ve overheard the conversation.” Afterwards, he had heard the news that someone had spotted Fang Yi Xun walk out from there, and sensing something wrong, he had questioned her for two days straight. Yet her response had repeatedly been “I didn’t go”, and then she had gone missing entirely today.

“Where’s the shrine?” Yu Xia reached out and grabbed the other person by the collar.

Although nobody voiced it out loud, everyone was thinking the exact same thing.

That place was the final objective that they had been searching for.

***

He lay submerged in water.

All that surrounded him was chilling silence.

He faintly heard a familiar voice, and then slowly began to wake up.

“Ah Yu?” Someone pushed at his hand from behind as they cautiously asked weakly with nearly no strength in their voice, “Are you awake?”

He shook his head, which was still in slight pain. He was extremely dazed, as if under the effect of some kind of drug. His entire body was weak and difficult to move around, but he still had his senses. He was tied to the person behind him, the hemp rope digging into their flesh.

As the dizziness returned to him, his memories slowly began to replay back to him.

He and Fang Yi Xun had gone looking for the woman. The woman had brought out some snacks and tea, pulling them into senseless conversations over and over. His memories were fragmented starting from when he and Fang Yi Xun had each drunk their tea.

He vaguely remembered trying to crawl up, but the woman had grabbed something to strike him and forced him to fall unconscious. All he remembered after that was darkness.

“We were tricked.” Fang Yi Xun, who was tied to him, had woken up a bit earlier before the drug’s effects had faded. However, she was already decently clear-minded. “What the heck did that woman put in our drinks, damn it!” Xiao Yu wriggled his hands and instantly felt a sore numbness as well as a still tolerable pain. He then slowly raised his head to survey the current situation –

Their surroundings were a bit dark; it seemed like that were in an empty room of some kind. He and Fang Yi Xun were tied together back to back, with something ice-cold sandwiched in the middle. It was likely something like a pillar or a pole.

Although his mind was still murky, he could hear the sounds of the sea.

There were people walking around [outside]. A moment later, a car also drove in, the noise was extremely loud as it echoed through the empty room. Finally, the car came to a stop in another spot they could not see.

He did not know who turned on the lights, but the space was suddenly filled with blinding light.

Having just woken up, it was impossible to deal with the powerful light, and he closed his eyes from the discomfort. From behind, Fang Yi Xun also let out a low cry of pain.

He heard seven, maybe eight people call for their boss before their quiet, heavy footsteps began to slowly approach them. They stopped at a certain distance away, and someone brought a chair over to allow the person closest to sit down.

“Open your eyes.”

The frigid, but also familiar voice rang out. It was identical to what he remembered hearing through a door in his memories. He gradually opened his eyes to see a person sitting in the white light, an evil smile plastered on his face as he looked at them.

“Wang Zhao Tang!” Fang Yi Xun was the first to shout out. “You horrible bastard!”

“You overpraise me. Before I was even searching for you two, you both delivered yourselves to me and saved me time.” Wang Zhao Tang calmly rubbed the ring on his finger as he took a pack of cigarettes being offered by a nearby lackey. He pulled one out to place into his mouth and light it. “And here I’d thought that everyone in the Shaodi family had died. Honestly, if you hadn’t come looking for me, I wouldn’t have bothered going back to do anything to you. That Yu Yin guy is my target; he’s the reason for my special trip back to Taichung. The boats heading towards the mainland have already been arranged and are ready to go. Once I help my son out a bit, I’ll be leaving this place to lie low for a bit. But you two are really so naïve…what did you think you could do after finding my location?”

“Kill you.” Xiao Yu stared directly into the other person’s eyes as he quietly made this declaration.

Wang Zhao Tang suddenly erupted into hearty laughter, the people standing next to him joining in as well. “The ones to die might be you two instead. After Yu Yin arrives, the two of you can go down with him.”

“Why?”

“Why what?”

The laughter stopped. Wang Zhao Tang focused on the boy in front of him in interest.

“Why my home?” Xiao Yu stared at the man’s outstretched hand that was close enough to touch him. He coldly asked, “Why?” He had always remembered this person suddenly entering his home with that scent on his body which had led his home to eternal destruction.

He just could not understand why it had been his home.

“Oh, you mean why I chose your home?” Wang Zhao Tang blew out a white smoke ring. The corners of his lip curled upwards in amusement as he cocked his head to study Xiao Yu’s expression. “Since the two of you have already been there, you should both know that my ex-wife lives there. That place was originally mine. I would see your perfectly happy household every day when I passed by, only to return to my own home and argue with my ex-wife every day, who would constantly point out how amazing your household was…Was it really that great? So, when I got the ingredients of the incense, the first house I thought of was yours. How about it? Do you feel immense gratitude towards me?”

He figured that the boy would scream at him like the others had. If the boy could still move, he would probably even lunge at him.

That family had been too perfect. The parents and children had all possessed beautiful outer appearances and excellent minds, and they had been so harmonious and happy that it had made anyone else seem like mere shadows. Whenever Wang Zhao Tang went home, all he would see was his ex-wife, who had been disgusted with his work, as well as indifferent, rebellious children. Those smiling faces in that harmonious family had been overly shining and bright.

So he had simply played a tiny prank on them.

It had proved the fact that anything, no matter how amazing it was, would collapse in the end.

He had felt incomparable happiness when he had seen everyone in the neighbourhood gradually start to describe that particular family with words like “died young” and “immoral”.

That was all the household had summed up to. There had been nothing worth envying at all.

When Wang Zhao Tang raised his head, he unexpectedly found that the boy tied to the metal pillar was not roaring or snarling at him.

“Is that so…” The expressionless, violet eyes were pointed at the extremely smug and prideful person with no indication of loss of control at the revelation of the truth that the man had been anticipating. “Do you think this is amusing?”

Xiao Yu’s question had finally been answered. What an insignificant reason.

That’s all it was.

“That’s right, I do.” Wang Zhao Tang flicked away the cigarette butt in his hand and stood up, patting the pale-faced boy. “But you aren’t entertaining to me right now. Once Yu Yin arrives, I’ll be sending him off to keep my son company. Then you can go down with him and search for your family…As for the little lady next to you, that’s up to her. She can either go down with you or go help my subordinates earn some money.”

“Fuck your money!” Fang Yi Xun spat at his feet.

Wang Zhao Tang easily dodged and smirked down at them.

“You guys are just too naïve. All you thought of was the fact that the place was my hideout, and you never thought about the fact that because it’s my territory, there’s no way I wouldn’t have known that you guys had visited.” He had known since the first day, as the people at the shrine had transferred the surveillance camera footage to him. He had immediately recognised their faces.

As a result, he had told the news of Wang Hong’s death to that woman. Since she was already an addict, she naturally could not refuse any of his requests.

“Your wife…why did you give her incense too?” Xiao Yu looked at him. It wasn’t just Shen Shu Ning either; even Wang Hong might have been addicted too. Yet they were clearly all one family.

“So that they wouldn’t constantly want to leave me. Isn’t that obvious?”

Rebellious children, a troublesome woman; from then on, they could only exist by adhering to him.

This was what truly possessing everything was, nothing like those fake images of perfection and happiness! Those people could never say no to him again, while the blissful households were the ones that collapsed with a single blow. Wang Zhao Tang was extremely satisfied with this outcome.

That was how the world worked. Only those that used the proper methods could stand victorious.

He heard the sound of a motorcycle in the distance.

He smiled and rubbed the boy’s head. “Alright, let’s end the chatting and reminiscing here. I need to go handle actual matters now.” This was the only thing he had left to do during his stay in Taiwan. He had finished dealing out all the factory money and completed the arrangements for leaving. His final task was to simply send this person to their death. Then, everything would be perfect.

He was such a great parent to be able to help his son get revenge.

How foolish the woman was to sign those divorce papers. She’s probably already on the verge of falling apart, only to end up regretting her signature on that piece of paper for the rest of her life.

Wang Zhao Tang grinned. He looked forward to the final event about to unfold.

Yu Yin stared at the metal shack in front of him.

It was an extremely typical man-made factory metal shack, with all of its walls made of rusting iron. There were also a few steel bars that were covered in weeds and did not look functional anymore.

Due to its close proximity to the ocean, the shack bore traces of corrosion from the sea’s winds and water. There was a fence that was just as run-down about a few inches past the cement road. He knew without even looking that everything further down was the ocean itself. This place might have originally been a private dike that had later been changed into a factory. During high tides, the ocean spray would be carried by the powerful winds up to the shore, striking the artificial ground.

It was a totally abandoned and desolate area.

When he turned to glance back at the remote path he had taken here, he couldn’t help but bitterly grimace. If I really do get done in here this time, there’s probably a chance that nobody will find me.

The leopard cat sitting on the backseat of his motorbike cried out a few times before simply dissipating into the air.

He had run all the way here in the heat of the moment, but now that he had actually arrived, he suddenly remembered that he had forgotten to bring anything for self-defence…if the other party was lying in wait for him, it was very possible that this place would become a location to pay respects to him on this same day next year.

“Alright, since I’ll die no matter whether I go or not, might as well just do it.” Yu Yin scratched his head. He pressed a few numbers on his cellphone before directly walking straight towards the decently sized metal shack.

He figured that the other person was likely waiting for him, so there was no point in dragging it out.

As he entered the shack, he immediately noticed the loads of junk and rusty iron piled around like outside. There were also a few holes that had corroded through the ceiling. The inside was surprisingly not as dirty as he had expected it to be. He even spotted a few machines that seemed to have been tidied up. It appeared that someone had recently passed through this place.

Then, a youth with bizarrely coloured hair walked out from behind a machine, a thin incense cigarette sticking out of his mouth. “Did you bring anyone with you?”

Yu Yin shook his head before raising his hands to indicate that he had not brought any offensive items either.

The youth walked over to search Yu Yin’s body once. Then, the youth raised his chin to gesture for Yu Yin to follow. “Come here.”

After circling around the large machine, Yu Yin caught sight of a black recreational vehicle – the one that was frequently near his home recently. The driver was no longer anywhere to be seen. Then, they arrived at a fairly large room hidden behind the machine.

“Xiao Yu!” When Yu Yin noticed the person tied up in the room, he immediately bounded over. However, he only managed to take two steps before another person standing inside blocked him.

Seems like they didn’t do much to him.

After confirming that the other person was fine, Yu Yin shifted his gaze at the other person standing nearby. “What exactly do you want? I’ve already told you several times that Wang Hong’s death has nothing to do with me. Honestly, if anything, he died by your own hands!” Alright, if you want to be more precise, he died at the hands of a ghost. But the ghost was killed by him, so you can’t really blame anyone else.

“It doesn’t matter anymore. Either way, my son named you to go down and keep him company. I’ve asked around and apparently you can see things. You should be able to see Wang Hong waiting for you,” Wang Zhao Tang indifferently responded as he rubbed the ring on his finger.

Yu Yin had noticed since the moment he had entered that there was a black figure waiting for him in the corner this whole time. Its face was already twisted so much that it was deformed. However, Yu Yin could also see various other things next to Wang Zhao Tang that were also waiting for him.

“Although I really want to demand for you to release Xiao Yu first and slowly talk things out, I’m pretty sure any bad guy would say that’s impossible.” Seeing Fang Yi Xun also tied up there, Yu Yin could more or less guess the sequence of events. Those two brats had definitely ignored everyone’s warnings and delivered themselves straight into these people’s hands.

He truly did not know whether he wanted to scold them or laugh at them. However, he figured that he wanted to scold them more. At the very least, the only thought running through his head right now was to grab those two little devils and give them a good spanking.

“Of course that won’t do.” Wang Zhao Tang clapped his hands, and a few of his subordinates immediately appeared in front of him with everything from iron pipes to wooden clubs. “Don’t worry, I won’t let you die too quickly. My son held out for a period of time before he took his last breath, but I’m not that cruel. I’ll send you off once I’ve seen my fill.”

“Ah Yin, hurry up and run!” Xiao Yu jumped up onto his feet and loudly shouted out as he saw the group of people begin to close in.

“How many times do I have to tell you to call me Gē!”

When Yu Yin saw the group of people charge towards him like hungry beasts, he knew that there was no way he could escape, and instinctively protected his head. Just then, he abruptly recalled Yi Tai’s advice for him to learn some self-defence techniques, but it was much too late to think about it now. The pain quickly burst out from all parts of his body as all the weapons beat down on him. It could truly be described as a heavy torrent, and he could not even tell where the pain came from between all the strikes and kicks.

The instinctive panic and protective reflex caused Yu Yin to tightly curl up his body, cradling his head. He could hear all the people hooting and deriding him.

…If his future child ever ended up like this, he would honestly rather strangle it the moment it was born.

Because the pain was just too much, Yu Yin did not sense the sound of something else approaching amidst the shouts.

Following that, a few rods instantly stopped striking, and the sharp screech of sudden brakes rang out from extremely close by. The people that had originally surrounded him to beat him and curse at him yelped out instead, unable to even flee in time. In his daze, Yu Yin blurrily spotted a slightly familiar-looking SYM Wolf motorcycle fly over horizontally, directly collided into several people and sending them flying like bowling pins.

The blood and screams simultaneously filled the space.

The Wolf bike that crashed onto the ground along with the person it had run over was still making roaring sounds. The poor bastard crushed underneath continued to scream, unable to worm his way out.

Hugging his body, Yu Yin turned his head and opened his eyes to see a pair of white, beautiful legs step over him. The boots-wearing owner took off her helmet and smashed a fist down at the bastard next to him, so hard that the target’s face instantly began to bleed profusely as they fell unconscious.

“Yi Tai-Gē, I found them.”

Xiao Hai bent down to pick up the metal rod on the ground. After answering the person on the other end of the line through her earpiece, she hung up and fiercely glared straight at the hired thugs in front of her. “Fuck! If my amazing bike is broken, you good-for-nothing bastards just wait and see, I’ll make sure to come and send my greetings three times a day during mealtimes.”

Yu Yin heard shrieks as the shadows next to Wang Zhao Tang vanished without a trace. He struggled to hold his pained body up from the ground, somewhat grateful that his head had not been hit. The doctor had previously said that his skull could not suffer any more blows, as the possible repercussions were unknown…

He scanned the room. Although Xiao Hai’s Wolf had struck down three or four people, there were still around five thugs surrounding them, excluding Wang Zhao Tang.

Could he and Xiao Hai handle the remaining people?

“Back off a bit.” Xiao Hai turned her head slightly towards him as she waved her hand. “You’re in the way. Don’t obstruct me.”

…Am I just a hindrance?

Xiao Hai kicked away the person lying on the ground next to her and lightly knocked the slightly chipped rod against the floor. She bent her knees slightly as she eyed all the males that stood taller than her, and sneered.

“This is nothing.”

***

“Boss, Boss!”

Jiu Shen banged at the door, attracting the gazes of everyone in the office.

“Boss and Tong just headed out to search and raid the drug factory. Did you not get summoned too?” The officer inside asked when he saw the investigation officer now squatting down and rubbing his face.

“Jiu Shen didn’t come into work today,” someone else responded.

Jiu Shen immediately leapt up from the ground with his cellphone in one hand as he grabbed the officer with his other, a terrifying expression on his face. “What factory did Boss and the others go to?”

The officer, startled by the other person’s actions, retracted his joking tone to immediately reply, “Over at the outskirts. They just brought troops out with them. I heard that they apparently requested support from the local [station] too, so it seems to be pretty big.”

“When did they leave?” Jiu Shen was extremely close to strangling the officer in front of him.

“About five minutes, they might have already departed.”

Jiu Shen let go of his colleague, ignoring the others’ shouts as he immediately scrambled down the stairs and raced out the front doors, only to see the fleet of vehicles turn and head out, leaving only dust behind.

“Boss! Come back now!” Jiu Shen gripped his cellphone as he stamped his feet in frustration. “There’s trouble!”

“Who’s in trouble?”

Jiu Shen started from the sudden voice behind him. He turned to see Li Zi Hong, who was just about to head out.

“Ah Yin, he seems to have gone looking for Wang Zhao Tang.” Jiu Shen was on the verge of tears as he shoved the cellphone into the prosecutor’s hand. Although he knew it was impossible to catch up now, he still wanted to race after that cloud of dust leaving the sub-bureau. He could only hope that the cars would temporarily stop at a nearby traffic light.

Li Zi Hong held up the cellphone and listened closely to the voices coming from the other end. A few seconds later, his expression immediately changed as well.

“What, did our little friend Jiu Shen get chased by an unscientific ghost again?” Yan Si swung a jacket on as he walked over, having followed out a bit later after seeing the other person charge out the doors in rare panic.

“Hurry up and go start the car.” With the cellphone held up next to his ear with his shoulder, Li Zi Hong pushed the clueless forensic scientist forwards while worriedly urging him.

“Did something happen?” Yan Si did not protest and immediately headed towards the parking lot when he saw his friend’s grave expression, knowing that it was possibly a very critical situation.

Since Li Zi Hong could not run with his leg injury, he tried to move as quickly as possible towards the entrance while listening to the sounds coming through the phone.

Before they arrived, they heard the loud screech of a car braking outside, following by several cars behind braking abruptly as well. When Li Zi Hong walked out, he first saw Jiu Shen staring blankly at the road, extremely shock written all over his face as he even forgot to shout out.

Fortunately, it was not school hours or rush hour at the moment. An extremely large sandstone truck had swerved out in front of the traffic light near the police station. It was not clear if the truck had lost control, or if the driver was drunk, but it had somehow stopped horizontally right under the traffic light, completely blocking the road. Even the half of the police cars that had left later were blocked off.

The other drivers stopped at the crosswalk were also dumbstruck.

However, that was not all that Jiu Shen was astonished about.

When he had run out to try to shout at the cars to stop, he was absolutely certain that he had seen something climb up the glass of the truck’s windshield. It had even dropped down after the commotion, and now stood on the road with a subtle smile.

It was a high school girl. However, that girl should have already died during the previous incident from before…

He had personally dug out half of the girl’s head from a ceiling.

Too unscientific.

This really…is way too unscientific.

He was absolutely terrified…

Someone opened the car door amidst the fleet of police cars that had all stopped at various odd angles along the street. The person glared furiously at the truck, then barked a command into his wireless communication device: “You guys head over with Kai Lun to search and seize the shrine first. We’ll arrive soon after!”

Two completely identical twins stepped out from the car.

Jiu Shen had never felt more grateful in his entire life. No longer caring about whatever unscientific thing there was, he flew over towards the two people with tears in his eyes.

“Boss, there’s trouble!”