Chapter 94: Corpses Strewn Across the Field

That day, as they did every other day, the Falcon Investigation Team went to help the medical crew clear away the bodies of the dead infected.

They had grown used to scenes of corpses strewn everywhere; what had once been sorrow and horror had long since curdled into numbness.

They had no heart left to pity anyone else. The only thing that truly frightened them now was themselves. Though they wore layers upon layers of protective gear, the undershirt worn closest to the skin was already soaked through from lack of ventilation, sticky and miserable. Yet none of them dared slack off for even an instant, terrified of catching that superbug by accident. That kind of fate was no different from a death sentence.

And on that day, they actually found someone who was not afraid: a little boy, perhaps seven or eight years old. Even the Falcon team felt a faint stirring of emotion.

This was what happened.

The boy, tears streaking his face, had taken advantage of a moment when no one was looking and climbed forcefully over the safety barrier. By the time the workers noticed him, he had already vanished into a sea of corpses.

When the workers tried to drive away the boy, who had no protective clothing at all, he proved stubborn to the end and refused to leave. He seemed to be searching for something.

By the time the Falcon team arrived, they saw the child clutching the bodies of a young couple and weeping in anguish. Even the workers who had come to remove him could not bear the sight of the child sobbing so hard he could barely breathe.

But the dead would not live again, and the living had to go on living. They did not want to see the boy infected and die of the plague. So Brother Long said nothing more, grabbed the child, and prepared to toss him out.

Hoisted up in the air, the boy offered not the slightest cooperation. His arms and legs kicked and struggled as he tried to get down, all the while mumbling through his tears, "You bad people! You poisoned my mom and dad yourselves, and now you want to burn them too. Put me down! You bad people..."

Most of the others only noticed the boy's stubbornness, but the observant Lin Xiaofeng caught the two words "poisoned" in what the child had said. Could it be that this plague had really been deliberately caused by someone?

Lin Xiaofeng asked the boy whether he had actually seen someone poison the water, but the child kept shaking his head. Worried that he might have been threatened while they were away and was afraid to tell the truth, Lin Xiaofeng asked him several more times for confirmation. In the end, they had no choice but to conclude that the boy truly knew nothing, and that the talk of poisoning was nothing more than a child's innocent babble.

And yet, after discussing the matter, the three brothers of the Falcon team unanimously believed that the talk of poisoning was not merely a child's nonsense. The more they thought about it, the more it seemed to make sense. So they pulled up every surveillance recording they could find near the water source.

After days and nights of searching, they actually found something, and it was an old acquaintance.

"Dammit! Why is it this kid again!" Even the ever-composed Damin cursed aloud.

"I said long ago that this kid was no good. Last time I saw him, I wanted to nab him and hand him over for the higher-ups to deal with. But you wouldn't let me, said there wasn't enough evidence! Well, now there is..." The moment Brother Long saw that crew cut of his, his temper flared.

Zhang Xingmin said nothing, only pounding the table in fury. After a moment, he said, "Do we know where he is now?"

Brother Long shook his head. "No idea. Since Jinying City was established, I don't think anyone's seen him."

"I know where he is! Some time ago, while we were clearing out the remnants of the dark organization, Gangzi spotted him acting all sneaky and had him arrested. The crew cut was going to try to use Brother Long's name to smooth things over. Good thing I caught him at the right moment and locked him up! He should still be in the North District Prison." Lin Xiaofeng had gone to the restroom, and when he came back he found them looking for the crew cut, so he told them everything he knew.

Now that they had learned his whereabouts, the three of them headed at once for the North District Prison.

The brand-new Jinying City had brand-new prisons too, decorated in the same style as the Nordic-inspired office buildings that had been fashionable twenty years ago. The more important the prisoner, the better the treatment; everyone got a single cell. Inside there was nothing but a bed, a toilet with a faucet, a television, and nothing else.

By the time the three arrived at the single cell holding the crew cut, he was holding a tube and emptying his bladder. Though keeping a catheter in for a long time was bad for the body, he simply could not bring himself to sit down to pee like some woman.

"Well now, emptying your bladder, are you? That posture's all wrong. It should look like this!" Brother Long deliberately squatted down in a horse stance, mocking him.

The crew cut gave him a sidelong glance, cursed him as "a petty villain revelling in his moment," then pulled up his pants and lay down straight on the bed.

"Whether I'm a petty villain revelling in my moment or not doesn't matter. What matters is this: you've landed in serious trouble!" Brother Long walked over to his side and spoke with deliberate gravitas.

"Wasn't I already convicted? You three came just to laugh at me? What, because you're lucky, you have to show off in front of the likes of us unlucky bastards?" His tone dripped with contempt. The people before him were all unbearable to look at.

"Tao Xin, for the questions we're about to ask, you'd better tell the truth. You may still have a chance to earn some leniency." Damin's tone was solemn.

"No idea." The crew cut was utterly uncooperative.

"Do you recognize these photos?" Lin Xiaofeng knew he would not cooperate, so he did not bother with him and simply tossed the photos over.

Though the crew cut kept insisting he had no idea, he still cared deeply about the possibility of earning some credit for cooperation. He stole a few glances at the photos and recognized the matter of the things Wu Jianxue had made him dump into the river. His expression shifted slightly.

That fleeting change, however slight, was still caught by the sharp eyes of the Falcon Investigation Team.

"Well?" Lin Xiaofeng nudged his chin, signaling for him to explain the matter in the photos.

"What matter?" The crew cut pretended not to understand.

"The whole sequence. What did you dump? Who sent you? For what purpose?" Zhang Xingmin's voice was equally cold and emotionless.

"How would I know what it was? It was all Professor Wu—no, wait, all that old ghost Wu Jianxue—who told me to do it! He even promised he'd take me with him once it was done. Who knew he'd run off so fast!" The crew cut muttered under his breath, sounding a little aggrieved.

"You believed Wu Jianxue? And you really thought you'd get rich following him?" Brother Long suddenly found it amusing.

"Just because you lot can rise to the top doesn't mean other people can't. You're all old foxes who've lived a thousand years, so why are you pretending to be saints?" the crew cut said resentfully.

"What you dumped was tied to this plague. If anything comes back to you, you'd better speak now, and speak early. We may still be able to say a few good words for you!" Damin had no intention of wasting another second and cut straight to the point about why they had come.

Seeing that the crew cut had no intention of confessing, he turned and was about to leave.

Before leaving, Brother Long deliberately walked over to the crew cut and said, "You were right. I'm certainly not a good man. But you and I are different." He thumped his chest and went on, "I have a conscience. You don't."

Just as the three brothers of the Falcon team were about to leave, the crew cut hesitated, then called out to stop them...