Crazy Detective

"What does 'nai nai ge xiong' mean?" the masked man asked the big guy. [1]

"Erm…" pondered the big guy. "They sound like swear words?"

"Swear words?" The masked man furrowed his brows, then tapped Zhao Yu on his cheek. "Zhao Yu, Zhao Yu, do you know who I am?"

"You're a son of a b*tch, a dumba**, an idiot…" Zhao Yu let out a string of expletives.

"This…" the big guy started to speak.

The big guy was about to translate what Zhao Yu had just said, but the masked man motioned at him to stop. "There's no need to translate, I can understand! That's odd…"

He looked down again and stared closely at Zhao Yu, even examining his pupils. Then he asked, "Do you remember your own name?"

"I'm your grandpa… good grandson. Don't need to kowtow, I didn't bring a red packet for you!" Zhao Yu said.

"Huh!?" The masked man raised his gun and pointed it at Zhao Yu's face.

At that moment, Zhao Yu's body convulsed, as if being electrocuted. Spittle formed at the corners of his mouth.

"I… I, I, I… I know… I know…" Zhao Yu trembled as he spoke, sounding like an EDM track.

"Oh?" The masked man widened his eyes and asked curiously, "What do you know?"

"That… that…" Pointing toward the excavation site, Zhao Yu muttered, "I know that the treasure isn't hidden there! You're not digging for the treasure or an escape route…"

Ah!?

Upon hearing this, both the masked man and the big guy lost their composure and appeared to be astounded.

"How… how did you know?" asked the masked man anxiously. "If it isn't for the treasure or for escaping, then what is it for?"

"It's for that pit!" Zhao Yu spoke rapidly like a robot, his voice trembling. "You dug a pit so that when the police barged in, they would fall for your trick and head toward the pit instead…"

Ah?

The masked man blanched and shuddered.

The big guy next to him also broke into a cold sweat. As for the short ruffian, he seemed to be at a loss as to what to do next.

"Actually… the pit isn't your real escape route. There must be other secret passages that would facilitate your escape…" Zhao Yu continued.

Ah?

Upon hearing this, the masked man and his men couldn't help but look toward the throne in the main hall.

Zhao Yu carefully observed their subtle expressions. Not only was his conjecture proven to be right, but he had also managed to trick them into revealing the location of the real escape route.

Humph!

Ah… they really did have a retreat route planned, no wonder they were so assured! Zhao Yu muttered to himself.

"How… how could it be?" The masked man shook his head repeatedly and asked incredulously, "How could you have known? You guys just arrived not long ago…"

"I'm a great detective, and I take my work very seriously. I am very meticulous and observant, and I have cracked numerous major cases! The people call me the 'Slayer of Cold Cases' and the 'Annihilator of All Evil'!" Zhao Yu answered.

The way Zhao Yu blew his own trumpet was so annoying that even the masked man felt like punching him.

The masked man grabbed Zhao Yu by his collar, saying angrily, "I asked you how you found out about the secret passage! Answer me!"

"When I went after you just now, I already realized that something wasn't quite right…" Zhao Yu said robotically. "There was something odd about the timing…"

"Timing?" the man asked.

"We were trapped at the secret base for over 20 hours…" Zhao Yu said. "And you guys managed to obtain the photo of the nesting doll on the very same night. Taking into account the time we wasted in trying to decipher the secret of the nesting doll, you guys were quicker than us by at least one-and-a-half days!

"And when I chased after you just now, you could have run towards the west gate, but instead, you chose to run toward the northeast where there are no exits! You even hid yourself in the main hall! That made absolutely no sense!

"What gave you away further was the tear bombs and the hostages in Guan Qing Hall. It was as if everything had been prepared in advance," he continued.

"That is why, as a master sleuth, I can't help but ask these questions. Firstly, what are your motives? Secondly, when did you enter the Qing Imperial Palace to start searching for the treasure? Thirdly, where is the treasure hidden? Fourthly, did you guys manage to find the treasure? And fifthly, did you really intend to destroy and perish together with the treasure?" Zhao Yu asked.

"…" The masked man was speechless. "Then? What else?" He said through gritted teeth.

"Then, after you ran into Guan Qing Hall, I didn't try to resolve the issue of the hostages right away. Instead, I went to the control room and reviewed the CCTV footage from the past two days." Zhao Yu spoke rapidly. "That's how I found out that you guys hadn't come in from the main entrance! It's one thing to steal, but trying to sneak in without a ticket??"

"Hmm…" The big guy furrowed his brows, asking the masked man, "Sir, could it be that the serum is ineffective? How come this guy is asking rhetorical questions? That's so weird."

"Of course, it was impossible for me to review so much footage," continued Zhao Yu. "That's why I focused on the cameras near Guan Qing Hall. And that's how I discovered you guys appearing here out of thin air!"

"It's obvious that there's something fishy about Guan Qing Hall!" Zhao Yu raised his voice. "And the pit that you guys are digging right now, it's merely a smokescreen! You only started digging after procuring the hostages. What lies beneath is probably a cellar or a sewage drain…"

"Oh?" The masked man seemed to have recalled something. "You based all these inferences on the camera footage?"

"That's right! You were confident that we wouldn't be able to trail you here, that's why you didn't bother doing anything to the cameras," Zhao Yu said. "Had something not cropped up, nobody would have paid any attention to the surveillance footage!"

"Then…" asked the masked man, "Does anyone else know about Guan Qing Hall's secret? Did you tell the others?"

"No!" Zhao Yu answered. "I didn't tell anyone else. It was just a hypothesis. I couldn't draw any conclusions without evidence…"

"Oh…" the masked man visibly relaxed. "Then… how about the treasure? What progress did you make?"

"I… I found out… I found…" Zhao Yu's voice became softer and softer, to the point of being inaudible. The masked man had no choice but to lower his head.

Just as the masked man was lowering his head, Zhao Yu suddenly sprung up and snatched the pistol from him. Zhao Yu then headbutted him in the mouth.

Ah…

The masked man stumbled backward in pain. Zhao Yu held up the gun, aimed it at the masked man, and pulled the trigger.

Ka ka ka…

Although the trigger had been pulled, no bullets shot out.

"Kekeke… hahaha…" To his astonishment, the masked man had a bloodied, sinister smile on his face. The next second, he stretched out his right hand, revealing bullets.

He had removed the bullets beforehand!

Oh…

It was only now that Zhao Yu realized he'd been had. Oh…

At that moment, the big guy whipped out a dagger and stood in front of Zhao Yu. The short ruffian also aimed his gun at Zhao Yu from some distance away.

Ha…

As Zhao Yu was standing upright, there was nothing to stop his pants from falling and revealing the red boxers underneath…

[1]: As explained in Chapter 1145, 'nai nai ge xiong' is literally translated as 'your grandma's bear'; it's used as profanity and is meant to be offensive