Chapter 64

“Otherwise, I’ll report you to the Guard Institute.”

On June 9th, Ji Tingxi assigned herself a new task and headed out on fieldwork once more.

The threat from the Libo Faction had yet to be lifted, but with He De too swamped to keep tabs on her, Chief Ji boldly did as she pleased, showing her face in public without a care.

This time, her destination stood apart from the others. Live people came and went there, but the dead far outnumbered them.

From the outside, Sunset Funeral Home resembled a roadside motel—especially at sunset, when its neat, orderly silhouette merged with the shadows of the sycamore leaves against the orange sky, evoking a poetic allure that made passing travelers glance back, tempted to check in for the night.

Ji Tingxi strode in briskly. Once inside, she made herself right at home, inspecting everything from the reception hall to the work areas with the practiced ease of an official on rounds.

A staff member from the mourning hall hurried over with a polite smile. “May I ask what you need?”

“You cooperate with the Police Bureau here, right?”

“Yes. Since we opened, we’ve routinely handled body preparation and processing for public cases.”

Ji Tingxi took a seat on a wooden bench in the waiting area. “Please call your director for me.”

For anyone else, the staffer would have refused outright—the director rarely met with visitors.

But Ji Tingxi’s presence was too commanding. The staffer couldn’t rule out that she was some higher-up, so without much hesitation, he went to fetch the boss himself.

Luo Le’s hairstyle that day was particularly elaborate. Hatless, he’d twisted his curly locks into neat swirls on top, making his thinning scalp look lush and full, perking up his whole demeanor.

Once seated at the round table, he gave her a quick once-over. No uniform, no badge, and he didn’t recall seeing her before.

“Who might you be?”

Ji Tingxi flashed her credentials. Luo Le’s face darkened at the sight.

From top to bottom in the nation, people would sooner face a Police Bureau criminal probe than an interrogation from the Wei Investigation Institute.

The police might land you in jail, but at least the process was transparent and the outcome predictable. Get on the Wei Investigation Institute’s radar, though, and you’d vanish without a trace—your fate not just grim, but shrouded in mystery.

“Hello, Commander,” Luo Le said quickly, straightening up to play the gracious host. He had the staff pour two glasses of sugarcane juice and bring out a few plates of snacks.

“Just a routine investigation. Answer a few questions, that’s all.”

“Of course. Fire away.”

“On average, how many bodies do you receive here per day?”

“It varies. Some days two or three, others none at all. So roughly one every two days.”

“Good. Your storage and cremation areas have surveillance footage, right?”

“Yes, round the clock. We keep three months’ worth.”

“Got it.” Ji Tingxi paused her pen, then pressed on. “Have there ever been any incidents with the bodies? Like one going missing, or severe damage?”

Luo Le’s eyelids twitched. His mind raced back to his illicit dealings: trafficking body parts for fat profits.

Had they caught wind of his illegal side hustle?

“No issues here—everything’s above board. If the police have special cases, they let us know in advance.” Luo Le’s smile beamed with feigned contentment, crow’s feet crinkling around his hooked nose.

Ji Tingxi kept filling out her form. “How do you handle Sern people’s bodies after cremation?”

“Depends. If the police approve and there’s family, we give the ashes to the relatives. Otherwise, it goes with the cremains waste to the landfill.”

The remaining questions all touched on Sern matters. Once finished, Ji Tingxi snapped her folder shut and prepared to leave.

Guilty conscience gnawing at him, Luo Le piped up with extra enthusiasm to prove his innocence. “Commander, care to tour the work areas? We keep things spotless, but you’re welcome to check for any improvements.”

“I’m sure everything runs like clockwork under Director Luo’s watch. I know your schedule’s packed—you’ve already given plenty of time to this chat. Go ahead with your duties; I’ve got business back at the office.”

Luo Le escorted Ji Tingxi all the way to the entrance with effusive cheer, watching her car until it was two hundred meters down the road before retreating. Back in his seat, more solemn than during the interview, he replayed the conversation in his head.

Once he’d mulled it over, he changed clothes, said goodbye to the staff, and drove off from the funeral home.

At the nearest smoke shop with a payphone, Luo Le pulled his fisherman’s hat low over his face and his voice even lower, blending his words into the surrounding din.

“Hello, is this the medical university lab?”

“Yeah, hi. Just wondering—do you buy bodies?”

“No? Alright, just asking.”

“Hello, SciGold Lab? Do you acquire bodies?”

“No need? Okay, got it.”

“Is this De Kang Hospital? Are you interested in human organs?”

“Not donations—I’m talking paid. You buying?”

“…”

Luo Le tried three payphones, contacting several labs and hospitals. None wanted what he was peddling. He stared blankly at the receiver, finger hovering over the buttons, straightening and curling before finally hanging up.

…

Du Lengding sat on a rock by the seaside, the glow of sunset illuminating half her profile.

The sunset’s hues blended cool and warm tones, but her face remained untouched by the light—cold as ever, even more sullen than usual, like a debt collector fresh off a shakedown.

Luo Le had grown used to her prickly vibe. Even if she looked like she’d been fished from a vat of rotten eggs, he could face her coolly, even flash a flowery grin.

“Spit it out—what’s the issue? I’ve got tasks waiting.”

Du Lengding always valued her time like gold. She and Luo Le had agreed: no solo meetings unless it was work-related, lest their shady partnership come to light.

“Officer Du, you tell me to get straight to the point, but you never have with me.”

The sunset’s layers shifted rapidly, rippling shadows across the land in rich waves, but Du Lengding’s expression stayed flat, rendering the gorgeous dusk almost embarrassingly fervent.

No reply. Luo Le pursed his lips—he could never get the upper hand with this infuriating cop.

No matter. Things were different now. He had leverage in hand. Even a turtle crushed under a rock for a thousand years could flip its luck and become a golden tortoise.

“You told me the bodies went to labs or hospitals, but I called around today—none of the city’s labs or hospitals are buying bodies on the black market!”

Du Lengding shot him a sidelong glance. “It’s all illegal. You think a random cold call gets you the honest truth?”

Luo Le choked, slumping back. He couldn’t sit still any longer and hopped off the rock. “And get this—the Wei Investigation Institute showed up today, asking about bodies!”

The sea churned nearby, the incoming tide more forceful than the ebb, its roar swelling around their feet like dramatic underscore. His words gained weight, as if the waves were recording them for posterity.

“What, scared your scheme leaked and need my help?”

“No—I’m suspicious of you!” Luo Le gloated. “After the Wei Investigation Institute visited, I kept turning it over in my mind. They handle Sern affairs—why suddenly grill me on bodies? Something’s off. And after racking my brains, it hit me—”

He sat back down. If Du Lengding could perch there steady as a mountain, he—the one holding the cards—ought to look even more at ease.

“She asked if any bodies had gone missing. Every time you hauled one out, that’s a missing body, right? But soon after, a similar one would turn up—face or body mangled beyond recognition, and the police always said it was a Sern body.

“You wouldn’t say where the ones you took went. Now I get it—you never sold them! They were just cover. Bet a DNA test would show they’re not real Sern corpses—staged crime scenes!”

He bit out the words like hammer blows. Du Lengding’s breathing quickened at last. She had to admit, for all Director Luo’s greed, he had a sharp nose—catch a whiff, and he pieced together the truth.

“Didn’t know a guy your size packed such a wild imagination. Got doubts? Call the Wei Investigation Institute yourself. Let them DNA-test and confirm if they’re genuine Sern bodies.”

Luo Le ground his teeth. Damn her stubbornness—she gave nothing away and turned the tables. As if he’d report straight to them!

The bodies had vanished under his nose. His complicity alone would land him years inside.

“Hah! You’re thinking the surveillance gets wiped each time, and no staff ever spotted you—no evidence against you, right? Wrong!

“I never trusted you fully, so I kept insurance. Every time you drove off with a body, I snapped a photo—shows your car, the funeral home’s back courtyard, timestamp down to the second. Matches your ‘errands’ perfectly, doesn’t it?”

Du Lengding’s eyelid flicked up. “No idea what you’re on about. What’s the point?”

Luo Le pulled out his phone and sidled closer, shoving it under her nose.

The screen showed one shot: overcast day, clear view of the sedan’s plates and the back wall, timestamp in the corner—3/24 10:39.

Du Lengding finally saw he wasn’t bluffing. He had proof, real leverage.

That date marked the planned border run for Duo Lin. The plan aborted, the body unused and buried in her backyard.

“See the point now, Officer Du?”

Mid-sentence, he grabbed for her sleeve, trying to glimpse her wrist.

Sern people revered the Sun God, tattooing a sun emblem there as a mark of identity.

Du Lengding clamped her hand down and slapped his arm away in one fluid smack—too fast for more than a flash of discolored scar near her radial styloid.

In that instant, her eyes flashed murder. She nearly shoved him off the rocks into the sea, letting the waves grant his wildest dreams.

Luo Le sensed the killing intent. With his scrawny build, he’d never take a Patrol Police captain. He backed off to a safe distance and finally laid all his cards on the table.

“Officer Du, for all you’ve pulled off, a measly thousand solars? Come on—that’s chump change. In two and a half years, I’ve sourced over a hundred bodies for you. At ten thousand each, that’s a million. Friendship discount?

“Three days. I want fifty thousand in my account, or I’ll report you to the Wei Investigation Institute for corpse smuggling. Don’t worry, I’m not scared. I can say I suspected you were Sern, played along while secretly gathering evidence—all to help the noble Rui’er Terrace root out scum like you!”