Chapter 229: Baring Fangs

Lin Dongxue couldn’t rest easy, so she made a call to her colleagues at the station to check the surveillance cameras.

Soon, a video was sent to Lin Dongxue’s phone. It was footage from outside the police station. Liu Hong had just gotten into a taxi when the young monk hailed another cab and followed him, disappearing from the camera’s view on the left side of the frame.

Lin Dongxue said anxiously, “This fool, what’s the use of him tailing Liu Hong?”

Chen Shi remembered something the young monk had once said, “If Liu Hong kills again, can’t he be arrested then? He couldn’t be thinking…”

The horrific thought momentarily paralyzed them both. They immediately rushed to the residential area where Liu Hong lived. There was no time for subtlety; they went straight to Liu Hong’s house and knocked, but Liu Hong wasn’t home. Inside, a dog barked furiously.

Chen Shi borrowed a couple of hairpins from Lin Dongxue to pick the lock. As they were about to start, Officer Liu approached, having seen them hurrying in.

Officer Liu asked, “What’s the rush?”

Lin Dongxue inquired, “Officer Liu, have you seen a young monk here during the day?”

“I’ll ask around for you. I know the security guard at the entrance.”

Ten minutes later, a security guard mentioned seeing a monk who appeared very suspicious, hiding behind trees and ducking under cars.

Lin Dongxue asked, “Was he following someone?”

The guard recalled, “Oh! There was a woman wearing a scarf and sunglasses, wrapped in a trench coat.”

“Which way did she go?”

“Check the cameras,” suggested Officer Liu.

The guard helped them find the footage. “Look, there she is!” The screen showed a woman wrapped tightly in her clothes leaving the complex, with the young monk following.

Chen Shi frowned, “Trouble!”

They continued to trace the pair through more surveillance footage from a convenience store leading them toward May Day Road.

Following one lead after another, they finally reached Gongzhou Road, a less populated area with sparse shops and no cameras. Lin Dongxue had already called for backup. Chen Shi suggested, “Let’s check the nearby residential areas.”

After asking around in three different complexes, they found a guard who remembered seeing a monk enter but not leave.

“Any cameras here?”

“Sorry, our complex is old; the cameras are broken.”

Officer Liu proposed, “He’s likely still here. My team can’t arrive soon, but I’ll bring some security guards to help search.”

Lin Dongxue thanked him, “Thanks, Officer Liu!”

“No worries, just hope he’s alright.”

As they waited, Chen Shi asked the guard about the rental notices plastered all over the walls, “Do many people rent here?”

“Yes, quite a few.”

“How is rent collected?”

“Privately. We don’t get involved.”

“What about utility bills? Can I see the records?”

Puzzled by his request, the guard showed him the utility bills for the year. Chen Shi scanned them while Lin Dongxue asked, “What are you looking for?”

“There are no cameras, and it’s an old area. Liu Hong might have rented a safe house here. It’s his style to have multiple hideouts,” Chen Shi pointed at the paper, “If there’s an apartment here with significantly lower than average utility usage, it could be Liu Hong’s safe house.”

Lin Dongxue caught on, and they identified three apartments with minimal utility use.

By eight o’clock that night, they had knocked on the doors of all three apartments, but no one responded.

Disappointed, they were about to leave when Lin Dongxue’s foot kicked something on the ground. She picked it up—a bead from a Buddhist rosary. “Could this be his?”

Chen Shi searched the bushes and found another bead, “It’s his! He’s here!”

In a dark, chilly basement, the young monk sat bound and gagged, tears streaming down his face. The only light was from a candle, and a woman stood silently, a shiny knife in her hand.

They stared at each other in silence, time seemingly frozen.

The woman approached, pulled the gag from the young monk’s mouth, and he gasped for air, “Mom, is it really you?”

Yin Wen caressed his face, “You are… Chen Guang?”

“Yes, mom, I’ve been searching so hard for you!”

His answer was the knife suddenly pressing under his chin. Yin Wen’s eyes were hollow as she said, “You shouldn’t have followed me here.”

“Mom, the police are investigating that beast, you shouldn’t…”

A slap silenced him, and Yin Wen said emotionlessly, “Don’t speak of him that way!”

“What’s wrong with you, mom?”

She made a cut on his face with the knife,