Crazy Detective

Although Zhao Yu knew that the bombs would not be able to go off, he did not and could not explain why to Xiao Hang and Cui Lizhu. Instead, he played along and pretended to be surprised.

"We found two of 'em!" said Xiao Hang, whose face had gone as white as a ghost. "The explosives were stuffed into holes drilled in the wall. Whoever did this clearly knew what they were doing! The whole base will collapse upon impact!"

"Sh*t! Sh*t!" Cui Lizhu shook her head, dazed. "There are so many explosives here! We won't be able to hide from the explosions! We better find a way out! How about... we do some digging? If that doesn't work out, we could at least leave our last words!"

"Well, it's definitely impossible to dismantle the bombs!" stated Xiao Hang. "Firstly, we don't know when the bombs are going to explode. And secondly, we have no idea how many bombs have been buried here."

"So many bombs…" Li Jing had the same concerns, but very different ideas. "How did they do it right under our noses? That's incredible! Even if we don't make it out, we need to find a way to communicate with our colleagues!"

"Alright, let's leave this for now…" Xiao Hang said, pointing towards a tunnel. "We may as well go back the same way we came! Even if we don't find the way out, it beats being blown to pieces by the explosives! We might be able to find a bunker or something?"

"Ok!" Li Jing nodded in agreement.

"What are you waiting for then?" Cui Lizhu's forehead was covered with sweat. Holding Zhao Yu's arm, she said, "C'mon boss, I'll help you! Let's get out of here!"

Tut, tut...

Zhao Yu clicked his tongue. He was totally exhausted and just wanted to be laying down right now. But it wasn't like he could explain the truth about the bombs to them.

His only choice was to follow them to the mining tunnel they had come in from.

As the path was uphill, it was difficult for them to make their way up.

Worried about Li Jing's injuries, Xiao Hang found her a cargo trolley, let her sit on it, and tried his best to push it.

"Boss…" Cui Lizhu stuck her tongue her out at Zhao Yu. "Are you going to be ok? Shall I find you a trolley as well?"

"Wouldn't it better if you found me a miner's cart?" Zhao Yu shot her a glance. "What, am I so frail and delicate in your eyes?"

"No, no!" Cui Lizhu was quick to butter him up. "Boss is strong! Boss is mighty!"

"Ouch…" Zhao Yu grimaced as one of his wounds started to hurt from the walking. He quickly grabbed Cui Lizhu's shoulders, shouting at her, "Could you use a bit more strength while supporting me? Ow…"

Although there wasn't a long way to go, it was literally an uphill battle for them, especially since they had come down via a mine cart.

Zhao Yu, in particular, was feeling worse for wear. Having reached his limits, Zhao Yu couldn't last even 30 minutes. He needed a break.

Although there were lights, the mine tunnel wasn't well-lit and was much darker than the base had been.

Everyone understood that since the lights were working, it meant that there must be generators in the base. And since their enemies had no difficulty turning on the generators, they must be very familiar with this place!

Of course, everyone also knew that it was just a matter of time before the lights went out since the generators would eventually stop running.

"Xiao Cui…" After sitting down, Zhao Yu remembered the questions he had previously thought of. "I've thought about it carefully. The masked person wasn't actually swearing when he said 'tama'. Neither was he referring to somebody's mother. It was probably a homonym for something else…"

"Oh?" Cui Lizhu panted. "What do you mean?"

"Zhao Yu," said Li Jing suddenly. "How about you share with everyone what you're able to recall verbatim?"

"Sure!" Zhao Yu nodded. He replayed the recording in his mind and repeated word for word what the Lip-Reading Device had managed to capture.

"Woah… ok… it's indeed like what you said!" Xiao Hang mused. "Tama, tama, tama, tamu… could it be a sole fish?" [1]

"You're soooo smart!" Cui Lizhu shook her head. "They've prepared explosives and you think they're here for fish? You think this is the Shanghai Seafood Market?"

"Well… he may have a point!" Li Jing said. "I liaise with foreigners frequently, and they often have problems with intonation and enunciation. Besides, it is not unusual to have inconsistencies in translation where lip reading is concerned. I too think that 'tama' is a homonym for something else!"

"But what significance could two words possibly have?" Zhao Yu forced a smile while shaking his head. "Tama? Lama? Touwa? Tangma? Tangmu…" [2]

"Wah, boss is even better! He's including cats and mice as well!" After taking a dig at Zhao Yu, Cui Lizhu also began to rattle off similar-sounding words, "Tama, tamu, tawa…." [3]

"Tou? Tao? Touwa? Taowa? Taoma?" Xiao Hang muttered while rolling his eyes. "Eh? Where's the ceramic horse? If you can't remember where it is, I'll go look for it… What is a taoma? Is it a Tang Tri-Color Glazed Ceramic?" [4]

"You… erm…" Cui Lizhu was stumped by Xiao Hang's question. She grabbed at her hair as if she had just remembered something important.

Eh?

Something clicked...

Zhao Yu was excited, but he was also curious. Those two words – what was their significance?

"No… it's not a ceramic horse!" Cui Lizhu shook her head. "It isn't exactly a Tang Tri-Color Glazed Ceramic either. My dad has never come into contact with any ceramic horses, be it from the Qin dynasty or others! So…"

"Exactly!" said Xiao Hang. "How much could a ceramic horse be worth?"

"What did you say before that?" Cui Lizhu suddenly asked Xiao Hang. "What was it that you said before mentioning the ceramic horse?"

"Before that? Erm…" Xiao Hang tried to recall. "Are you referring to the sole fish?"

"No, what you said after the sole fish. You said something else…." Cui Lizhu said with furrowed brows and a glint of excitement in her eyes as if she had just realized something.

"Taowa or touwa?" Xiao Hang froze, sensing this matter was of great importance.

"Yes!!!" Cui Lizhu clapped her hands and stamped her feet. "I think… I think I've figured out what he was saying! Taowa, taowa! Russian nesting doll! That's right!" Cui Lizhu grabbed Zhao Yu's hand excitedly. "Boss! The answer is a Russian nesting doll!" [5]

"Ah?" All three of them – Zhao Yu, Xiao Hang, and Li Jing – were stumped by this surprising answer.

What the h*ll?

Zhao Yu wondered how a new term had just surfaced.

What the heck is a Russian nesting doll? Is it the kind of doll with multiple layers, sold in foreign markets? Why would the matter at hand be related to a mere Russian nesting doll!?

[1]: Homonyms/similar sounding words with vastly different meanings; sole fish is pronounced as 'tamu'.

[2] - [4]: Other similar-sounding words

[5]: The Russian nesting doll is pronounced 'taowa'