Chapter Ninety-Seven: Memories Come Rushing Back

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“Guangqi’s plan against Huang Wuchang is certainly important, and it may very well lead to a breakthrough in the case. It’s just that I do not know what Guangqi might do to hurt my companions!”

Even as he said this, Ye Dong understood in his heart that his concern seemed useless, because he himself was a clay Buddha crossing the river, unable to save even himself.

Fragments of memory kept surfacing in Guangqi’s mind. In the images, the young Ye Dong and Liang Lingzhi were playing basketball at school, laughing and talking as they discussed something.

At that moment, two people wearing school uniforms came over holding a basketball. The odd pairing of the taller and the smaller one made them seem mismatched, and they also appeared to be afraid of something.

“Can we join you and play?” the shorter one asked softly.

“No. We’re discussing tactics,” Liang Lingzhi replied at once, refusing him without the slightest hesitation.

The tall one and the short one exchanged a look, as if they had long expected to be turned down, and gave a wry smile.

“Isn’t this our transfer student?” Ye Dong said lightly. He took three easy steps and made a layup; after the ball dropped through the hoop, he caught it in his hand again. “Big one called Little Treasure, but not Big Treasure; small one called Big Spring, but not Little Spring. What amusing names.”

The tall Little Treasure scratched the back of his head, looking a little embarrassed. “Big Spring and I only just arrived. We don’t know our way around. The class monitor said you two are the bosses of Class Three, Grade Two. If we want to study in peace here, we should get along with you first.”

“Hm?” Ye Dong passed the ball to Liang Lingzhi and sneered. “That rotten class monitor really knows how to dump his problems. He’s pushed two green turnips right onto us.”

“What’s a green turnip?” Big Spring looked awkward.

Taking the basketball from Ye Dong, Liang Lingzhi shook his head. “A green turnip means a useless fellow. Got it?”

Big Spring and Little Treasure exchanged helpless smiles, not knowing how to continue the conversation.

“You two should go over to the court on the other side first,” Ye Dong said, pointing at the opposite half. “There’s nobody there. Don’t get in my way while I and the idiot here work out the tactics for this afternoon’s match against Class Five.”

Faced with Ye Dong and Liang Lingzhi’s cold reception, Little Treasure and Big Spring looked dejected and had no choice but to carry the basketball to the half-court Ye Dong had indicated.

“These two turnips are surprisingly obedient,” Liang Lingzhi said with a shake of his head and a smile. “Why is it that so many good classes don’t get transfer students, yet they ended up in our lousy class?”

“You admit it’s a lousy class only for yourself,” Ye Dong said, sidestepping left and right before making a layup, then tossing the ball to Liang Lingzhi. “With me, Ye Dong, here, things will never be lousy.”

“Hey, you two, move aside!”

At that moment, before the seven or eight students had even arrived, their curses came first.

“Why should we move? We were here first.” Little Treasure wanted to retrieve the basketball, but he was shoved aside by the group with a single hand.

“Could you please at least follow the rules?” Big Spring instinctively hid behind Little Treasure.

The leader was half a head taller than Little Treasure. He flung Little Treasure’s basketball across to the other side, and after bouncing only a few times, it rolled to a stop beneath Ye Dong’s foot.

Ye Dong stepped on the ball. He did not step forward to stop the conflict, but instead watched the spectacle silently like everyone else who was playing.

“Should we go over and take a look?” Liang Lingzhi asked softly.

Ye Dong sneered. “No hurry. Let’s first see whether this tall one and the small one dare to resist. If they’re cowards, then hmph.”

Liang Lingzhi narrowed his eyes, seemingly not understanding the meaning behind that final sound.

“Why did you throw my ball?” Little Treasure said angrily. “What right do you have?!”

“What right?” The tall one laughed loudly, thumbing himself in the chest. “Because I’m Zhao Xiong of Class Eight, Grade Three!”

Little Treasure and Big Spring exchanged looks. Since the day they arrived at New Star First Middle School, they had already heard of Zhao Xiong’s infamous reputation. Apart from the teachers, he was one of the most untouchable figures in the middle school division.

“Brother Xiong, these two look pretty unfamiliar,” one of the laughing lackeys said, giving Big Spring a shove. “Look at this short one. He’s practically about to pee himself from fear.”

“Haha, spineless losers,” Zhao Xiong said, shoving Little Treasure aside with one hand. “What, judging by your expression, you’re pretty unhappy? Which class are you from?”

Little Treasure brushed away Zhao Xiong’s hand and said coldly, “We’re from Class Three, Grade Two.”

“So you’re from Class Three, Grade Two,” Zhao Xiong said with a cold laugh. “I heard that class got two strange transfer students. So you two are the trash, then?”

“What did you say?” Little Treasure snapped, raising his voice.

Big Spring also stepped out from behind him. “Don’t think just because you have more people, we’ll be afraid of you two!”

“Hey, you still dare talk back?” Zhao Xiong was just about to strike when a low curse came from up ahead.

“Hey, enough already.”

A male voice, not loud but full and forceful, came from the other side of the basketball court. Zhao Xiong and his people half-squinted and saw Ye Dong and Liang Lingzhi walking over slowly, each carrying a basketball.

“Who are you?” a lackey beside Zhao Xiong hissed. “Just the two of you and you’re trying to play peacemaker?”

“You’ll find out who we are soon enough,” Ye Dong said with a curl of his lips. He casually tossed the basketball in his hand, and the lackey who had just been barking immediately took a ball to the face.

“Brother Dong, Brother Zhi!” Little Treasure and Big Spring were startled to see Ye Dong strike without a word.

“You dare throw a ball at me?” The lackey’s nose was red, as if the pain delighted him.

“Zhao Xiong, was it?” Liang Lingzhi pointed at the tall Zhao Xiong and said coldly, “Our Class Three, Grade Two has a bear toy. Is he your little brother?”

Hearing Liang Lingzhi’s provocation, Zhao Xiong erupted in curses. “The two of you want to die?!”

Ye Dong and Liang Lingzhi exchanged a smile.

“Idiot, they want to bully the few with the many,” Ye Dong said. “So what do you think?”

“What else can they do? They’re just people. We’re not any fewer than they are!”

Liang Lingzhi blew a sharp whistle. A large crowd surged in from nowhere and surrounded them, boxing Zhao Xiong and his gang into the center.

Zhao Xiong looked around and saw that besides some classmates from Grade Two, there were also several Grade Three students he recognized standing behind Ye Dong and the others. He could not help but ask, “Why are all of you on his side?!”

“I’ve been sick of you for a long time,” one of the Grade Three students cursed. “Now that Ye Dong and Liang Lingzhi are leading the charge against you, your good days are over!”

Before Zhao Xiong could even react, Ye Dong’s fist was already flying toward him!

“Why are you just standing there?” Liang Lingzhi shoved Little Treasure and Big Spring. “Beat him up, damn it! Get revenge!”

Ye Dong laughed out loud. “An eye for an eye. Beat them!”

Seeing this, Guangqi snorted coldly. “So they had known each other all along. It seems this whole group had already planned to make a big move. But how did they get in touch with the police?”

Just as Guangqi was thinking that the next memory would bring something important, several more fragments unfolded. It was a school-like building, and beneath the national flag stood a crowd of children in green uniforms. From their dress, they seemed to be elementary school students.

“Next, we invite the students who won awards in the essay contest ‘My Dream’ to come stand beneath the national flag to receive their prizes. Everyone, applaud!” A middle-aged woman with glasses was smiling broadly as she raised a hand to the students.

“First prize winner: student Sausage Mouth from Class Three, Grade Six!”

Seeing this, Guangqi frowned. “Someone’s name is actually Sausage Mouth?” But he quickly understood. That was Ye Dong’s own most direct way of referring to the person, making it easier for the brain to store that part of the memory.

“Second prize winner: student from Class Two, Grade Five,” Guangqi muttered as he kept watching, shaking his head. “What on earth is in Ye Dong’s head? When will anything of real value come back in these memories?!”

“Fifth prize: Ye Dong from Class Four, Grade Six!”

At that, Guangqi spewed out the water he had just taken a sip of, and cried out in rage, “This idiot! Even some trivial fifth-prize award from primary school is ranked so high in your memories?!”

Within those bizarre memory fragments, Ye Dong, wearing his red scarf, accepted the certificate from the middle-aged woman with tears in his eyes. He was smiling with unmistakable pride, and wherever his gaze fell, a little girl kept clapping, genuinely happy for him.

“Here!” The little girl handed him the candy in her hand and said with a grin, “This is your favorite durian-flavored fruit candy. I’m giving it to you.”

Ye Dong seemed a little shy. He slowly took the candy from her hand, smiling brightly and with deep satisfaction.

“This is the lollipop you like,” Ye Dong said, taking a lollipop out of his small schoolbag. “I hope you’ll like it.”

Guangqi suppressed the fire in his heart and clapped lightly. “I’m truly convinced by this oddball Ye Dong!”

“How is it? Have you found any clues?” Xiao Yang asked Xiao Wang beside him.

“Not yet. Because the hospital’s camera system was damaged, we couldn’t trace the movement of vehicles or pedestrians coming and going.”

Xiao Wang continued, “The sending time of that text message Huiyan sent to Officer Li at the hospital — the one saying ‘Brother Tian just came back’ — matches perfectly with the time the hospital nurse saw He Wentian enter Huiyan’s ward again.”

Xiao Yang nodded. “Then we can determine that Huiyan was safe before the message was sent, and use that to infer the time of Ye Dong’s disappearance?”

“Yes. Based on the time gap and the surrounding locations, we carried out multiple analyses and came up with several plans. We mobilized teams from every direction, but still could not find Ye Dong, or rather, Guangqi’s whereabouts.”

“It was only an hour round trip. Where could they have gone?” Xiao Yang clenched his fingers tightly and looked at Officer Li.

“In an hour, one can do many things,” Officer Li said, rubbing his ear. “Or do nothing at all.”

“Do nothing at all?” Xiao Yang raised an eyebrow and pressed him. “Chief, what do you mean?”

Looking at the plans on the table for finding Ye Dong, Officer Li shook his head. “The eyewitness said Guangqi bought flowers once to visit Huiyan, and afterward He Wentian also bought flowers and went to the ward once?”

“Yes,” Xiao Yang nodded. “According to Huiyan’s call records, there was an unfamiliar number. I’m guessing Guangqi must have also taken time to buy a new phone and SIM card.”

“No, no, no. All of that had already been prepared by Guangqi,” Officer Li said, covering the plans on the table. He ordered, “Xiao Wang, split the people searching outside into two groups. One group goes to the hospital to find Ye Dong; the other goes to find Guangqi. I never would have imagined Guangqi was this capable — he first shook off the police tailing him, and now he’s even gotten us caught in his delaying tactic. Truly worthy of an elite trained by an undercover school!”

Xiao Wang remained puzzled. “Guangqi, or rather Fang Juncai, is an undercover elite, so of course he knows how to counter-surveil. Escaping a plainclothes tail should not be difficult for him. But how exactly did he make us fall into his trap?”

Officer Li gave a bitter smile. “Those flowers and that phone were prepared by Guangqi long ago. After he dealt with Ye Dong, he deliberately left us the two false leads of ‘an eyewitness saw He Wentian delivering flowers’ and ‘a call was made to an unfamiliar number,’ making us think he had gone outside the hospital to buy those things in order to create a time gap. In truth, he stayed in a place without surveillance for an hour before returning to the ward. With the cameras destroyed, the most dangerous place becomes the safest place!”

“So that’s it!” Xiao Yang said, frowning deeply. “The area covered by a route that can be reached in an hour is very large. That way, he can disperse our search resources as much as possible. In fact, Ye Dong had been hidden in the hospital all along!”

“Exactly. In the hospital,” Officer Li said with a wry smile. “Tell the men not to miss a single detail or corner. Guangqi is not like those ordinary people from before. He’s a former elite of the police force, after all. He’s grown formidable, Fang Juncai!”

“How did he get Huiyan out of the hospital, then?” Xiao Wang still could not make sense of it.

Officer Li thought for a moment. “Given Huiyan’s skill and composure, Guangqi probably could not subdue her easily. The best method would be a surprise attack. That room was a standalone suite with an adjoining garden. After ambushing her, Guangqi could have moved Huiyan out through the window into the adjoining garden. Without the cameras, and with his skill and methods, taking Huiyan away under cover of darkness would not have been difficult at all.”

“Oh? Finally, something remarkable has appeared?”

As Guangqi wiped his dagger and placed it at his waist, the memories he had been waiting for finally surged in.

In the fragments, a shaft of golden light descended from the sky and firmly protected Ye Dong and the others. Then the idiot was seen with his eyes shut, collapsed in the arms of a woman whose face was covered in tears, while Ye Dong, Xiao Chun, and Da Bao were all covered in injuries, angrily staring toward a monstrous beast in the distance.

“How bold, you serpent-man! To intrude upon the mortal realm and cause chaos without permission! Today I, Sunhui, will uphold the way of mankind and take you down!”

That golden figure’s voice rang like a bronze bell, stirring Guangqi to his core.

“Who is this person?!” Guangqi’s body shuddered. In his mind, the man and the serpent had begun fighting the moment they met, and the battle was ferocious.

Guangqi’s eyes widened as he clutched the dagger at his waist. “This Daoist of golden light can actually contend alone against that demonic serpent form? How could Ye Dong ever be so fortunate as to witness such a heaven-shaking battle? Could it be that he is—?”

A chill rose from the bottom of his heart. Before he could think it through, four beams of light suddenly burst outward from a single point, and the entire space seemed to freeze. Guangqi drew a sharp breath, his face changing drastically!

Before him stood four towering divine kings. Clad in battle armor and holding sacred weapons, they glared fiercely at the trapped serpent-man form!

“No mistake!”

Guangqi pressed a hand to the table and muttered, “Their attire... those are the Four Heavenly Kings!”

As the one called Sunhui shouted, “Cut! Stand! Judgment!” the four kings’ divine weapons mercilessly stabbed toward the serpent-man form!

Before he could recover, another image turned before his eyes. Ye Dong and the other three were all kneeling together, chanting in unison, “Master above, please accept this disciple’s bow!”

“What?!”

This time Guangqi truly could not sit still. He sprang to his feet. “That Daoist is the master of the four of them? Ye Dong is also a cultivator?!”

The memory shifted again. An old monk was performing rites to deliver the countless wandering spirits before him. Guangqi narrowed his eyes to look, and this glance nearly made him lose his composure, because that man was none other than the bald monk Jingxin, the same one who had chased his master for a day and a night!

“My God,” Guangqi’s fear deepened. “Even a figure like Monk Jingxin must address Ye Dong’s master as a brother. If that is the case, then the time left for me is truly running out!”

As the flood of memories continued, all kinds of shocking fragments appeared one after another. At last, the figures of Huiyan and Officer Li finally emerged.

The scene began with Ye Dong leading Huiyan, who was wearing sportswear, into the house. That part need not be described in detail; those interested may turn to Chapter Thirty-Five, Undercover Operation.

Officer Li patted Ye Dong on the shoulder. “From the case involving Xiaoting, one can see that you are intelligent and brave, bold yet careful, and you do not easily let any crucial detail slip by. Your ability to reason and analyze is stronger than that of many police elites, and your adaptability under pressure is especially outstanding. Remaining calm in danger is your greatest virtue. It was already shown when Nianxue was defeated by the serpent-man form. This virtue is just as important as your mastery of Taoist arts.”

It turned out that Ye Dong had memorized every word of Officer Li’s praise in his heart. Clearly, these words had left a very deep impression on him.

Seeing this, Guangqi shook his head with a bitter laugh at last, understanding everything. “So this time it was the seasoned Officer Li collaborating with a miraculous Taoist master. Then their target is clearly Huang Wuchang.”

“So many people want Huang Wuchang dead!”

Guangqi’s bitter laughter grew colder and colder, until it gradually turned into peals of wild laughter.

“You vile thief, Huang Wuchang, your death day has come!” Guangqi’s eyes were full of murderous intent. “Once we reach the Eternal Burial Tomb, all your cultivation will be mine for the taking!”