"No, no!"
The woman sat calmly on a chair nearby and took out another cigarette.
*Snap*.
The spark lit the cigarette, and the woman, crossing her legs, said to herself, "This is my informant. They got the goods yesterday and died here today. According to my investigation, only you entered this place in the last twenty-four hours."
This was clearly directed at the胖子 (pàngzi, fatty), who cried out in a near-breakdown, "I really don't know, I just came to borrow money from her."
But the woman was clearly not satisfied with this answer. Without her command, the two men in green continued to press the胖子's head towards the corpse.
At this moment, the deceased's eyes, bulging almost out of their sockets, were facing the胖子. The胖子 had his eyes closed, but upon being discovered by the burly men in green, they were forcefully pried open.
One glance was enough. The胖子's eyes rolled back, his body went limp, and he fainted from fright.
This scene was unnerving, to say the least. Even Li Chonglou found it chilling. It was commendable that he had lasted this long without fainting.
"Uh, Sister Feng, I think he really doesn't know anything about this."
Sister Feng said calmly, "I know, but someone has to take the fall."
Fine, I shouldn't have spoken.
However, Li Chonglou spoke again, "What were the things you mentioned earlier?"
Intelligent people never need to be too direct. Sister Feng instantly understood Li Chonglou's intention: he was willing to take over.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have asked for so many details.
After a few seconds of silence, she slowly said, "It's a secret order from the Tang Dynasty."
"An antique?"
Li Chonglou was somewhat surprised. He hadn't expected to stumble upon his own area of expertise.
Seeing the woman nod, Li Chonglou stroked his chin and continued, "The living room outside is likely the primary crime scene, but apart from bloodstains, there are no signs of struggle. Such a situation usually has only two possibilities."
A hint of interest appeared on the woman's face, and she nodded, "Continue."
"The first possibility is that it was an inside job. The perpetrator knew the deceased and could enter the house directly before striking suddenly."
"The second possibility is that the perpetrator had a legitimate reason to enter before taking action."
Both of these were details that could be easily overlooked. Therefore, the woman's expression didn't change much. She simply said lightly, "Anything else?"
Li Chonglou glanced at the corpse.
"However, regardless of the possibility, the killer was likely heading straight for the item you mentioned."
As he spoke, Li Chonglou pointed to the corpse on the bed. Besides the shocking injuries to the lower body, there were also many wounds on its upper body.
"The deceased was likely interrogated before death. As for the defilement, that probably happened on impulse after the item was obtained."
This was quite interesting. Most people wouldn't have the courage to look at such a corpse, let alone notice these seemingly obvious clues.
This time, the woman remained silent, only looking at Li Chonglou.
"By the way, what did your informant do for a living?"
The woman said calmly, "She was a hostess."
In common terms, a prostitute. Li Chonglou's brows furrowed immediately.
It wasn't that he looked down on her profession, but rather that this widened the scope of their search considerably. After all, many people in this line of work would willingly bring strangers back to their own homes.
"Have you searched the entire house? Didn't you find the item?"
The woman shook her head.
Li Chonglou was silent for a few seconds before finally saying, "The best course of action now is to call the police. We can use their investigation to gather details and then have our own people intercept."
"You should have informants within the local police, right?"
This time, the woman seemed surprised.
"It seems you know a bit about the style of the Green Gang."
This was clearly an attempt to probe his background. Li Chonglou replied, "When I was active back in the day, I followed Sister Xia."
"Back in the day." These two words alone had conveniently masked his identity.
The woman's attention was indeed diverted.
"You weren't with the Green Gang later?"
Li Chonglou shook his head. "Something happened. I only recently recovered and came out."
The woman looked at Li Chonglou's sickly appearance again and, for a moment, believed his story.
"So you're planning to rejoin Li Mei Xia?"
"That's not necessarily the case. So many years have passed; whether she'd even recognize me is another matter."
Li Chonglou said with a wry smile.
The woman suddenly stopped talking, silently puffing on her cigarette, as if deep in thought.
Li Chonglou, however, did not rush to speak.
The reason he fabricated this story was to use the woman in front of him to re-enter the Green Gang.
It was best to avoid Li Mei Xia if possible. If he aroused her suspicion, the subsequent complications could be quite troublesome.
Most importantly, his new identity hadn't yet established itself in Shangjing. At the very least, if he encountered any officials, he would have to avoid them.
Only by obtaining new identification through the Green Gang, one of Shangjing's four major triad gangs, could he truly solidify this identity.
For the Green Gang, this would not be difficult.
The question was whether the woman called Sister Feng was willing to help.
After a long pause, the woman finally spoke.
"Are you really going to get involved in this?"
Li Chonglou whispered, "To repay a favor."
No one would believe that! But the woman didn't expose him directly. Instead, she suddenly stood up.
"Ah Dong, Ah Hai, for the next week, you will follow this..."
"Oh, right. What should I call you, friend?"
Li Chonglou nodded, "Dong Hua, you can call me Ah Hua."
"Chen Dong, Ah Hai, you will follow Brother Hua for a week. That should be enough time."
The woman was quite direct. However, when the two men in green heard this, a flicker of reluctance appeared in their eyes.
Li Chonglou smiled lightly, "As long as you can get the authorities to help, a week should be sufficient."
The woman said nothing more and walked directly towards the door.
The two burly men exchanged glances and quickly followed. Li Chonglou, knowing better, did not move.
At the entrance of the house, the two men couldn't help but ask, "Sister Feng, can we trust this outsider?"
The woman glanced inside. Seeing that Li Chonglou hadn't come out, she said calmly, "I'll have someone investigate his background. This fellow seems to have some skills, so follow him and see. If anything seems off, use your own judgment."
"However, I must remind you, this is a critical time, and the boss is also short-handed."
After speaking, the woman turned and left.
Seeing this, the two could only nod in agreement.
A short while later, the two returned to the room, but they remained silent.
Li Chonglou paid them no mind. After a final inspection of the room, he looked at the corpse on the bed, which had died with its eyes wide open.
Rest in peace. I will find your killer.
Li Chonglou sighed and stepped forward, using his palm to close the woman's eyes.
Those eyes, bulging with fear and unwillingness, finally closed.