Meng Liangchuan sat in the corner of a coffee shop by the river. Across from him was the police officer whom he had collaborated with during the uprooting of the mountain valley smuggling base and also that time when Zhou Ke died. The police officer handed him an envelope.
Meng Liangchuan pulled out the contents. There were only two thin sheets of paper.
The first one was a black and white copy of a photograph—a close-up shot of Cheng Muyun.
The second sheet contained a short description:
Ten years ago, Cheng Muyun, after going undercover for three years, completely destroyed the Mongolia-Russia smuggling line of an international trafficking organization, recovering thousands of Buddhist treasures, including Buddha statues, body relics, etc. His subordinates numbered 79, of which 13 died in the line of duty (no details available).
After the conclusion of this case, Cheng Muyun officially stepped down and then disappeared without a trace.
His successor is Fu Yiming (Fu Ming), but Fu did not completely take over control of Cheng Muyun's entire operations team.<>This is an UNAUTHORIZED copy, taken from hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com
Meng Liangchuan held those papers flat on his palm. "Let me sort out my train of thought."
He deliberated for several minutes, then took a sip of masala chai. "Half a year ago, the trafficker Wang Wenhao received the assignment to come to Nepal and do a transaction for some goods. Cheng Muyun also got ahold of this information and arrived in Nepal one step ahead to lie in waiting. Half a year later, which is one month ago, Wang Wenhao entered Nepal via India with a few ordinary friends, encountered Cheng Muyun and myself, and in the end, was robbed of his goods."
"Didn't you bring the goods to the coffee plantation for him? You didn't look to see what they were?"
"I didn't," Meng Liangchuan answered as he carried on slowly sipping his masala chai, "because I feel that Cheng Muyun's focus is actually not the goods. He stole them away because he wanted Wang Wenhao to convey to his higher-ups in the trafficking operation that the goods were gone and that Cheng Muyun was the one who took them."
And that was why it was only after it had been confirmed that Wang Wenhao had indeed successfully spread this news that Meng Liangchuan acted as per Cheng Muyun's plan and detained Wang Wenhao and the rest of the group in Kathmandu.
"And what would he do after the news spread?" the police officer asked in reply.
"Wait for people to come after him to kill him," Meng Liangchuan affirmed. "Cheng Muyun wiped out an entire smuggling line of that organization. They undoubtedly want to drink his blood and eat his flesh. There are both the enmity of ten years ago and the hatred from this time. With new hatreds piled on top of old grudges, they definitely want to kill him off and take back this time's goods."
"But what is he trying to do by drawing all the fire onto himself? He wants to come back from retirement and continue the fight against that trafficking organization?"
"No. Based on his personality, since he already withdrew from all of this, he won't come back again." Meng Liangchuan finished the rest of his masala chai in one gulp. "He wants to clean house and close that incident from ten years ago."
"Clean house? Clean what house? There's a traitor in his ranks?" The police officer was astounded.
Meng Liangchuan explained, "Yesterday, after I gave him the ashes, he told me his return this time is a memorial and sacrificial ceremony for the spirits of his brothers from ten years ago. He also said, if he should die, I should not trust anyone around him, other than Wen Han. That obviously is saying there is a mole amongst those with him."
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Life: A Black and White Film (一生一世，黑白影画)
General FictionWen Han has arrived in Nepal on vacation and, as a Buddhist believer, also a pilgrimage. But very shortly after entering the borders, she runs in again into someone she had had one encounter with six months ago, hundreds of miles away on the far-off...
