Although my fame is considerable, many people in this remote place do not recognize me.
Otherwise, if I continued like this, I would probably need plastic surgery. I genuinely worry that one day I might be suddenly attacked by people from the organization and lie dead in the street for days without anyone noticing.
Following the address provided by Officer Li, I quickly found Bian Ruixi's residence. It was a decent-looking bungalow with a courtyard in the back, indicating Bian Ruixi's family was better off than their neighbors.
I knocked on the door, contemplating how to approach Bian Ruixi. Unexpectedly, someone suddenly patted my shoulder from behind...
By the time I returned to Fuming City, it was already the evening of the next day. My phone had received countless text messages. Good heavens, at first, I thought they were from Liu Yuning. But upon checking, they were all from He Xin. If I hadn't encountered some trouble these past couple of days, I would have replied long ago.
Now that I'm feeling a bit better, I sent a reply: "I'm fine. I just ran into some difficulties these past two days, but I've brought back an important person. Tell Captain Liu not to worry about me!"
"Thank goodness, Dad! What happened? You didn't reply for two days. You just vanished, and almost the entire police station was looking for you."
"It wasn't that serious, was it? How is Liu Yuning?"
"She seems to be busy with other things. She hasn't asked about you."
I found that rather strange. She wasn't worried about me?
I told He Xin I would be back soon. In reality, I was already in a car arranged by Officer Li.
He had dispatched three officers to escort Bian Ruixi and me back to Fuming City. When He Xin noticed my bandaged hand, she anxiously asked, "Dad, what happened?"
"A minor scratch. I've brought the scoundrel here. He's the one who hired people to harm his own brother. I found the login portal for the death livestream on his computer. He's one of the people involved in broadcasting."
"You're lying, Officer He! What evidence do you have to arrest me!"
I produced a laptop. "It's all in here. You can deny it, but it's useless. This evidence alone is enough for the court to convict you."
Bian Ruixi remained silent. At this moment, Liu Yuning, Xiao Yuande, and others also approached. They all looked at me curiously, unsure of what I had been doing these past two days.
"Team Leader He, can you explain?" Xiao Yuande was the first to speak.
I noticed that despite Liu Yuning's pretense of coldness, a faint blush still colored her cheeks. Her cherry-like lips moved slightly, and her delicate eyebrows curved into an exquisitely beautiful arc as she gazed at me intently.
"No rush. Let's take Bian Ruixi to the interrogation room first. Alright, you two, follow me to the conference room. Make sure to prepare some top-quality Baxingke!"
"You got it!" Gao Mingqiang suddenly appeared behind me. I turned and feigned a punch, but he quickly caught my hand. "Team Leader He, it seems you've had a rather exciting couple of days!"
As we sat in the conference room, Xiahou and the others were already interrogating Bian Ruixi. I took the opportunity to recount my experiences over the past two days.
"I investigated Bian Ruifeng's recent movements and found that he had an accident after returning to his hometown. Therefore, the person he met there was likely problematic. With this in mind, I went to Bian Ruixi's home. To my surprise, that fellow attacked me from behind. Fortunately, I was prepared before I went. We had a struggle outside Bian Ruixi's house. There wasn't a soul around at the time."
"Perhaps because Bian Ruixi's house is quite remote, and it was late. His combat prowess seemed mediocre, but he caught me off guard. Even with my preparations, I was still ambushed. His stamina might have been inferior to mine, but his speed was astonishing, as if he had trained for it. I felt a heavy blow to the back of my head, and I passed out."
"When I woke up, Bian Ruixi was nowhere to be found, but I was tied up in a parking shed on his property. Visibility was very low. Parked next to me was a very old Volkswagen. That car must not have been driven in a long time, covered in dust. I vaguely noticed a skylight above. It must have been nighttime. I heard some croaking sounds from nearby, which I presumed were from crows."
"I struggled to free myself from this predicament, but then I suddenly heard the sound of someone digging. I thought to myself, what are they digging for in the middle of the night? Soon, a person wearing a straw hat pushed open the parking shed door and walked in."
"As you can all imagine, this person was Bian Ruixi. He brandished the shovel he was carrying in front of me. I pretended to still be unconscious, my eyes squinted as I watched him approach me step by step! As he got closer, the shovel swung directly towards my right hand. Although I retracted it quickly, it still grazed my skin. I immediately counterattacked, headbutting his arm. Let me explain, I could have stood up at that moment, but my limbs were restrained."
"I bit down hard on his shoulder, pulling with all my might. Bian Ruixi screamed in pain. Soon, a large contingent of police officers arrived, guns drawn, surrounding him. Director Li was among them. In fact, I had already alerted Director Li beforehand, asking him to cooperate with me in apprehending someone. After Bian Ruixi was surrounded, he was subdued on the spot by several officers. Director Li handcuffed him and said to me, 'Detective He, heh, it really is you!'"
"Only then did I realize that Director Li had recognized me all along and had deliberately pretended not to know. I was quite surprised, but then I gave a wry smile: 'I suppose I'll have to go to the hospital!'"
"Director Li said, 'It's nothing, just a superficial wound. I'll give you a ride!'"
I nodded, and Director Li took me to the hospital, accompanied by several police officers. After my wounds were treated, I inquired about Bian Ruixi's situation. He said the person had been detained. I asked, "Don't you want to know why I wanted to arrest this person?"
Director Li lit a cigarette and offered me one, then put one in his own mouth. After I lit it for him, he took a deep drag and said, "I never question the actions of the He family. If it hadn't been for He Jianquan's intervention in helping me crack the Tang Poem case, I wouldn't be the director today."
In 2017, a criminal left behind a Tang poem with every murder as his criminal signature. I'm not entirely sure of the specifics, but my grandfather had mentioned some details about it.
Because the case occurred on August 21st, it was named the "821 Tang Poem Serial Murder Case."