Po Sir's Police Affairs: The Hunter

Dong Jianping spent three days in the interrogation room.

Jiang Bo visited him every day, asking the same questions each time. Dong Jianping answered the same thing every day: "I don't know."

He's told me everything he knows. He'd rather die than tell me anything he doesn't know.

On the morning of the fourth day, Jiang Bo had just entered his office when the phone rang. It was the detention center calling; the on-duty police officer sounded urgent: "Captain Jiang, Dong Jianping is in trouble!"

Jiang Bo's heart sank.

"What is it?"

"He...he committed suicide. He took sleeping pills. We just found him and he's already at the hospital."

Jiang Bo hung up the phone and rushed out the door.

Tangyuan followed behind, running faster than him.

The car sped along the road. Jiang Bo gripped the steering wheel, eyes fixed on the road ahead, his mind blank. Dong Jianping committed suicide? Why? He had said everything he should have said, and nothing he shouldn't have said, so why did he have to die?

He ran the red light. The traffic police officer blew his whistle behind him, but he ignored it.

He recalled the last look Dong Jianping gave him. That night, when the interrogation ended, Dong Jianping looked at him with fear, relief, and something else he couldn't quite describe—like pity.

That look was like looking at a dying person.

The car stopped in front of the hospital. Jiang Bo jumped out and ran towards the emergency room.

Tangyuan ran faster than him, rushed to the emergency room door, squatted there, and barked at the door. The barking was urgent and shrill, echoing in the quiet corridor.

The emergency room lights were still on. Two police officers stood at the door and came to greet Jiang Bo when they saw him.

"Team Leader Jiang is still being treated. He was found in time, so he should be able to be saved."

Jiang Bo nodded and leaned against the wall.

Tangyuan squatted quietly at his feet. But it didn't lie down; it just squatted there, looking at the door, its ears perked up.

I waited a long time. The emergency room light went out. The door opened, and the doctor came out.

"He's saved. The gastric lavage was done in time, so there's nothing seriously wrong. But the patient is very weak and needs to be observed."

Jiang Bo entered the ward.

Dong Jianping lay on the hospital bed, his face pale, his lips purple, and he was so thin he was just skin and bones. His eyes were closed, his chest rising and falling slightly, and the IV drip was inserted into the back of his hand, dripping slowly, like time itself.

He opened his eyes when he heard footsteps.

He smiled when he saw Jiang Bo. It was a very faint, bitter smile.

"He didn't die."

Jiang Bo sat down on the edge of the bed.

"Why must you die?"

Dong Jianping remained silent for a while.

"I'm scared."

"What are you afraid of?"

Dong Jianping looked at him.

"I'm afraid they'll come looking for you."

Jiang Bo was stunned.

"Looking for me?"

Dong Jianping nodded.

"They know what I told you. They'll come looking for you. They'll come looking for me too."

Jiang Bo stared at him.

"who are they?"

Dong Jianping closed his eyes.

"I don't know. I really don't know. All I know is that they have a symbol. J."

Jiang Bo clenched his fist.

"What about Dong Zhenhua? Isn't he one of their men?"

Dong Jianping opened his eyes and looked at him.

"He is. But he's just a small fry. There are people above him."

Jiang Bo was startled.

Is Dong Zhenhua, deputy director of the municipal bureau and a leader of the provincial department, just a "minor figure"?

"Who's above him?"

Dong Jianping shook his head.

"I don't know. He didn't say. But I could see fear in his eyes every time he mentioned those higher up."

Jiang Bo remained silent for a long time.

He remembered that photograph. Dong Zhenhua, thick eyebrows, square face, sharp eyes. Wearing a police uniform, with two bars and three stars on his epaulets. Could such a man also feel fear?

Where is he?

Dong Jianping shook his head.

"I don't know. He was transferred to the provincial department in 1998, and then he disappeared. Nobody knows where he is."

Jiang Bo stood up and walked to the window.

Outside the window, the sky was overcast, and it looked like it was going to rain. The November wind seeped in through the cracks in the window, carrying the fishy smell of the river and a chill in the air.

He recalled his master's dying words: "Xiao Jiang, some things are more complicated than you can imagine. If you ever find out anything, don't rush to act; come find me first."

Master, what did you find out? Do you know Dong Zhenhua?

He turned around and looked at Dong Jianping.

"Take good care of yourself. The case isn't over yet."

Dong Jianping nodded.

Jiang Bo walked out. At the door, Dong Jianping suddenly called out to him.

"Officer Jiang."

Jiang Bo turned around.

Dong Jianping looked at him with a strange light in his eyes.

"That symbol, J, you've seen it on yourself before, haven't you?"

Jiang Bo paused for a moment.

Dong Jianping smiled.

"I've seen it too. On Dong Zhenhua. I saw it when he was showering. It was on his chest, in the same spot as yours."

Jiang Bo stood there, his mind blank.

"Do you know what this means?" Dong Jianping asked.

Jiang Bo remained silent.

Dong Jianping looked at him, his eyes holding something indescribable.

"It means you are one of them too. From the day you were born."

Jiang Bo walked out of the ward and leaned against the wall.

Tangyuan walked over and rubbed against his leg.

He squatted down and stroked its head.

"Tangyuan, is what he said true?"

Tangyuan, of course, didn't answer. It simply licked his hand and then meowed.

That shout echoed through the quiet corridor.

Jiang Bo stood up and walked out of the hospital.

It started raining outside. The November rain was bitterly cold. He stood in the rain without an umbrella, letting the rain soak him.

He remembered many things.

He recalled that when he was a child, his adoptive parents never mentioned his background. He asked once, and his adoptive mother just cried, while his adoptive father said with a stern face, "Don't ask." He never asked again after that.

Thinking of his master, whenever he asked about his past, his master would always change the subject. Once, when he was drunk, he said, "I can't talk about your past." When asked the next day, he said he didn't remember.

He recalled that red mark, which first appeared five years ago. He thought it was an insect bite and didn't pay much attention to it. Later, it reappeared repeatedly, sometimes dark and sometimes light, but it was always there.

Now, those fragments have suddenly pieced together a picture.

A painting he didn't want to see.

My phone rang. It was Zhang Yuhang calling.

"Brother Bo, Liu Tong has found something. In 1998, the provincial department had a special task force investigating the J organization. The head of the task force was surnamed Zhou."

Jiang Bo clenched his fist.

"Zhou what?"

"Zhou Guoping".

Jiang Bo was stunned.

Zhou Guoping. His mentor.

"What happened to that task force afterwards?"

Zhang Yuhang remained silent for a few seconds.

"The task force has been disbanded. All case files have been sealed. Members of the task force have been transferred. Zhou Guoping—was demoted to Jiangcheng and became the head of the criminal investigation branch."

Jiang Bo stood motionless in the rain.

Master, you investigated J? You know J? Why didn't you tell me?

He recalled his master's dying words: "Xiao Jiang, some things are more complicated than you can imagine. If you ever find out anything, don't rush to act; come find me first."

Master, what are you trying to tell me?

He hung up the phone and got into the car.

The car headed towards the city bureau. The rain was getting heavier, and despite the windshield wipers working frantically, the road was still obscured.

Jiang Bo gripped the steering wheel, his eyes fixed on the road ahead. But his mind was filled with those images—his master's face, his master's voice, the look in his master's eyes when he last looked at him.

There was fear in those eyes too.

The car pulled into the city bureau compound. Jiang Bo got out and ran into the building. Tang Yuan followed behind, soaking wet, shaking off the water, which splashed everywhere.

He went directly to the archives.

The archives administrator was an elderly man nearing retirement, surnamed Chen, wearing reading glasses and with gray hair. He paused for a moment when he saw Jiang Bo rush in, soaking wet.

"Captain Jiang, what are you looking for?"

"Case files from the provincial department's special task force in 1998."

Old Chen's expression changed.

"That...that can't be checked."

Jiang Bo stared at him.

Why?

Old Chen lowered his head.

"It's been sealed off. We need approval from the provincial department to move it."

Jiang Bo remained silent for a few seconds.

"Who sealed it?"

Old Chen looked up at him.

"Dong Zhenhua".

Jiang Bo clenched his fist.

Dong Zhenhua. It's him again.

Where is he now?

Old Chen shook his head.

"I don't know. He was transferred to the provincial department in 1998, and then he disappeared. Nobody knows where he is."

Jiang Bo walked out of the archives and stood in the corridor.

Tangyuan squatted at his feet and looked up at him.

He took out his phone and called Liu Tong.

"Find out Dong Zhenhua's whereabouts. We need to see him alive or dead."

Liu Tong responded.

Jiang Bo hung up the phone and leaned against the wall.

Outside the window, the rain is still falling.

He recalled Dong Jianping's words: "You are one of them too. You have been since the day you were born."

If this is true, then what is he? Who is he? Where did he come from?

He remembered that recurring dream. A little girl in a floral dress by the river, amidst the reeds. Who was that little girl?

My phone rang. It was Liu Tong calling.

"Officer Bo, we found it. Dong Zhenhua's last known location was Jiangcheng."

Jiang Bo clenched his fist.

"Jiangcheng? When?"

"In December 1998, he came to Jiangcheng on some business and then disappeared."

"What is it?"

Liu Tong remained silent for a few seconds.

"He went to see Zhou Guoping."

Jiang Bo was stunned.

Master.

Dong Zhenhua went to see his master. Then he disappeared.

"And then?"

"After that, no one ever saw him again. He disappeared without a trace, neither alive nor dead."

Jiang Bo hung up the phone and stood there, motionless.

Tangyuan stood up and rubbed against his leg.

He squatted down and stroked its head.

"Tangyuan, does Master know something?"

Tangyuan, of course, wouldn't answer.

But it cried out.

That shout echoed through the empty corridor.

Jiang Bo stood up and walked out.

He was going to find his master.

Although my master is no longer here, he left something behind. That notebook. The notebook my master gave him before he passed away.

He returned to his office and took the notebook out of his drawer.

He opened the book and found his master's handwriting inside. The penmanship was neat and precise, filled with notes on cases—cases he had handled. Jiang Bo knew some of them, but not others.

He flipped through the pages one by one until he reached the last page.

That page was blank.

But before the blank page, one page had been torn out. It was torn very neatly, as if it had been done intentionally.

Jiang Bo looked closely and discovered that there were still words on the back of the torn page. They were printed on, very faint, and almost illegible.

He held the paper up to the light and tried to decipher each word.

"Xiao Jiang, if you've read this far, it means you've already found something. There are some things I can't tell you, but you can investigate them yourself. In 1998, the provincial department had a special task force investigating the J organization. I was the team leader. We found out a lot, but we also lost a lot. Dong Zhenhua was a member of the J organization, but he was also my informant. Before he died, he came to see me and told me something—"

It was torn off at the back.

Jiang Bo's hands were trembling.

Master, what exactly do you want to tell me?

He continued turning the pages. Tucked inside the back cover of the last page was a note.

The note was handwritten, and the handwriting was very messy, as if it was written in a hurry:

"That child is still alive. In Jiangcheng."

There was no signature or date.

Jiang Bo stared at the line of text, his mind blank.

That child? Which child?

Is it him?

He put the note away and closed the notebook.

Outside the window, the rain had stopped. The sun peeked through the clouds, shining on the river.

Tangyuan stood up, walked to the window, and looked outside.

It cried out.

That cry sounded like it was calling for something.

Jiang Bo walked over and stood beside it.

In the distance, the river flows slowly.

He remembered his master's words: "The river can take away evidence, but it cannot take away sins."

The sins remain.

And he himself was part of the sin.

My phone rang. It was Zhang Yuhang calling.

"Brother Bo, there's something I need to tell you. Dong Jianping just spoke again. He said he wants to see you."

Jiang Bo remained silent for two seconds.

"I'm coming right away."

In the hospital, Dong Jianping lay on the bed, his complexion slightly better than in the morning. Seeing Jiang Bo enter, he raised his hand and waved.

Jiang Bo walked over and sat down on the edge of the bed.

Dong Jianping looked at him with a strange light in his eyes.

"I just remembered something."

Jiang Bo waited.

"That person, the one who protected me, once said something when he was drunk."

"What did you say?"

Dong Jianping's voice was very soft, as if it were drifting from a very far place.

He said that the child was J's.

Jiang Bo's hand stopped.

Which child?

Dong Jianping looked at him.

"I don't know. But as he spoke, he was looking at a photograph. The photograph was of a baby."

Jiang Bo's heart started racing.

"Where's that photo?"

Dong Jianping shook his head.

"I don't know. He put it away."

Jiang Bo remained silent for a long time.

Then he stood up and walked to the window.

Outside the window, the setting sun dyed the river water a golden-red hue.

That child is J's.

Who is that child?

He turned around and looked at Dong Jianping.

"Do you remember what color clothes the baby was wearing in that photo?"

Dong Jianping thought for a moment.

"Red. A red bib."

Jiang Bo clenched his fist.

He remembered that Ma Xiuying had said that Xiaoying wore a red bellyband when she was a child.

I also remembered what my master had said: that child is still alive.

still alive.

Is it him?

He walked out of the ward and stood in the corridor.

Tangyuan walked over and rubbed against his leg.

He squatted down and stroked its head.

"Tangyuan, tell me, who am I?"

Tangyuan, of course, wouldn't answer.

But it cried out.

That shout echoed through the quiet corridor.

Jiang Bo stood up and walked out.

He needs to find the answer.

Regardless of what the answer is.