Crazy Detective

Night had fallen.

Light rain was still trickling down, and a police SUV was parked on the limestone driveway outside Wen Yuan Ge in the Qing Imperial Palace.

The lines formed by the rainwater on the window resembled tiny meandering rivers…

At that moment, Miao Ying was sitting upright, eyeing the command vehicle in the distance. This was because the chiefs of the Secret Service Agency had been consorting with Zhao Yu in the command vehicle ever since they arrived…

"Zzz… zzz…"

Sounds of snoring were being emitted by Cui Lizhu, who was fast asleep and curled up on the passenger seat.

Miao Ying glanced at her. Looking at Cui Lizhu curled up in the fetal position, Miao Ying figured that she must have been feeling cold. She grabbed a set of uniforms from the backseat and placed them on Cui Lizhu.

"Oh, oh…"

It turned out that Cui Lizhu was actually a light sleeper. She roused as soon as the uniform was placed on her. Upon realizing that it was Miao Ying who had put it on her, she closed her eyes again and spoke sleepily.

"It's already been a couple of hours, why is Boss not out yet…?" Cui Lizhu asked.

Miao Ying did not answer. She continued staring at the command vehicle, seemingly anxious.

Ordinarily speaking, if the chiefs of the Secret Service Agency had merely wanted to consult with Zhao Yu on what had happened, it wouldn't have taken this long. She couldn't help but worry about whether or not something else had happened.

"Don't worry…" Cui Lizhu said, even though she appeared to be sleeping. "Boss has made so many contributions. The chiefs of the Secret Service Agency are probably complimenting him. What else would they possibly do to him? Worry not, Boss is such a smooth talker, he's probably singing praises about himself at the moment!"

"Hai!" Miao Ying couldn't help but sigh. "That's not what I'm worried about…"

"Eh?" questioned Cui Lizhu. Her eyes were still closed.

"What am I worried about?" Miao Ying shook her head and said bitterly, "Did you forget why I chose to leave back then?"

"Ah?" This time Cui Lizhu finally opened her eyes, appearing to understand what Miao Ying was referring to. "You mean…"

"You guys are too simplistic!" exclaimed Miao Ying. "Have you ever wondered why Zhao Yu refused to discuss the mastermind behind the case of the hidden treasure? Why he had to wait for the chiefs of the Secret Service Agency to arrive? Why he couldn't tell even Xiao Hang and Li Jing?"

"Oh… well…" Cui Lizhu ran her hands over her face, saying with eyes widened, "Why? I really haven't thought about it…"

"You still don't get it?" Miao Ying shook her head. "A conspiracy on such a vast scale couldn't have been conceived by a single person or organization, even if the evidence seems to point toward the Japanese!

"Zhao Yu has insinuated that they wouldn't be capable of pulling off something like that on their own!"

"So… wow…" Cui Lizhu said nervously. "This must be bigger than just a single country. It must involve a few nations… isn't it practically a war, then!?"

"So…" sighed Miao Ying. "This is similar to my predicament back then! And it seems to be even worse!"

"Ah?" Cui Lizhu covered her mouth and whispered, "Does that mean Boss has to vanish without a trace in order to avoid retaliation from the enemy? That… that's…"

"Did you see the Rolls Royce just now?" Miao Ying suddenly asked. The question seemed utterly irrelevant.

"Oh yeah!" Cui Lizhu looked around and found no trace of that car. "I think that was the car the chiefs arrived in? It must cost tens of millions?"

"That's why I'm worried!" said Miao Ying. "Zhao Yu's disappearance has become a virtual certainty!"

"Ah? Why?" Cui Lizhu was puzzled. "Are they trying to convince Boss with a Rolls Royce? Given his greedy nature, he might just agree!"

"What are you talking about!" Miao Ying pouted. "That Rolls Royce belongs to my family!"

"Chey…" Cui Lizhu almost bit her tongue. "It belongs to your family? What… what does that mean?"

"It couldn't be any more obvious!" said Miao Ying. "My dad must be here! If the Secret Service Agency got my dad to come, it means they must be discussing how best to protect Zhao Yu. So…"

"Oh… got it!" Cui Lizhu heaved a sigh of relief. "But… isn't that a good thing? That the Secret Service Agency allowed Uncle Miao to come protect Zhao Yu? You guys could go on a holiday together and relax for a bit. Isn't that great?"

"Great?" Miao Ying grimaced while shaking her head. "Don't you know what Zhao Yu is like?"

"Well…" Cui Lizhu furrowed her brows.

"In Zhao Yu's notebook, there's just one last case remaining! The five major unsolved mysteries. There's just one left… do you..." Miao Ying asked, "Do you think he would willingly give it up?"

"I know, I know, the Huayun Mountain Massacre Case!" Cui Lizhu said. "You're right. Boss is so devoted to the cases… and that temperament of his… is really unpredictable…"

Cui Lizhu craned her neck, glancing anxiously toward the command vehicle in the distance.

The rain continued trickling, and a sudden silence filled the police SUV.

The two females have been watching for more than 10 minutes, but there was still no sign of activity from the command vehicle.

"Sigh!" For some reason, perhaps out of fatigue, Cui Lizhu fell toward Miao Ying, and lay on her lap. Sounding as if she were on the verge of tears, Cui Lizhu said in a low voice, "Sis Miao… I'm sorry… I'm sorry…"

"Huh? What?" Miao Ying was startled and didn't understand why Cui Lizhu was acting like this. She quickly asked, "Xiao Cui, what are you talking about?"

"Uwu…" Cui Lizhu started crying for real, saying regretfully, "I failed to stop Boss even after getting his pants torn! Uwu… if only he had not entered Guan Qing Hall! The thugs were armed… I don't know what I'd do if something did happen to him! Uwu…"

"Well…" Not knowing what to do, Miao Ying patted Cui Lizhu on her back, comforting her. "This isn't your fault. Even if I were present, I might not have been able to stop him myself!"

"Uwu…" Cui Lizhu's tears fell like rain. Hugging Miao Ying, she cried, "Sis Miao… I admit, I like Boss! I really like him! But don't get it wrong, it's just that he's the closest thing I have to a family after my dad died. I don't know what I'd do without him… So, it's not what you think… do you get it? Uwu…"

"Mm…" Miao Ying was a little taken aback, but couldn't help but smile at Cui Lizhu's candor. "Alright, Xiao Cui! I get it, I do! Don't worry. I won't misunderstand or anything. We wouldn't have gotten this far if I had no trust in him!"

"Uwu… uwu…"

What Miao Ying said must have triggered something in her, because Cui Lizhu cried for a long time as she held onto Miao Ying. After she was finally done crying, Cui Lizhu begged Miao Ying. "Sis Miao… when you guys get married, could I be the bridesmaid?"

"That's… not a problem!" Miao Ying was quick to agree.

"Oh… that's great…" The younger female finally broke into a smile and fell asleep in Miao Ying's embrace.