“Zhao Dayou, you’re entrusted with important duties and yet you abandon your post without authorization. When did Group Four become so lax?” Luzhou Zeyou’s face was dark and gloomy, as if it could drip water. “I have been sent by Lord Liu to retrieve some items from the warehouse. Why are you delaying the opening of the storehouse?”
“Oh, oh,” Zhao Dayou nodded like a pecking chicken. “Yes, yes, sir, you’re absolutely right. I’ll open the warehouse right away.”
Without further ado, he hurried forward a few steps and shouted at Yao Dingguo and the others, “Didn’t you hear the order from Senior Luzhou? Why are you still standing there with your eyes wide open? Hurry up and open the warehouse!”
Seeing Yao Dingguo remained silent, Zhao hesitated for a moment, then turned his head with an awkward smile toward Mei Qing. “Oh right, look at my memory. I completely forgot about your order, Director Mei. What do you think about this…”
Mei Qing remained silent, pondering. Everything about today’s incident seemed suspicious. Qian San had come to the warehouse entrance, stirred up a big commotion after apparently being provoked by someone. Luzhou Zeyou claimed he had been sent by Lord Liu specifically to retrieve items and insisted on personally entering the warehouse. There was definitely something suspicious going on.
Mei Qing carefully observed everyone present. Suddenly, a thought flashed through his mind. After a more careful look, everything became clear to him, and a smile gradually appeared on his face.
“Senior Luzhou is absolutely right,” Mei Qing said with a smile. “It was indeed my mistake. Since this is a task assigned by Lord Liu, we mustn’t delay. Yao Dingguo, Zhou Chang, quickly open the warehouse door and let Senior Luzhou go in to retrieve the items.”
Without showing any emotion, Yao Dingguo and Zhou Chang took out their keys from their belts, inserted them into the iron door’s locks, and turned the mechanisms. With a creaking sound, the massive iron door slowly opened.
Luzhou’s expression slightly softened as he nodded. “Good. Since Lord Liu has given the order, I dare not delay. Let’s proceed quickly.”
Mei Qing said, “Zhao Dayou, please lead the way.”
Upon hearing this, Zhao Dayou hurried into the warehouse with small running steps. Luzhou followed him inside, and after a moment’s hesitation, Qian San also entered behind Luzhou. Taking advantage of everyone’s distraction, Mei Qing subtly made a hand signal to Yao Dingguo and Zhou Chang. The two men widened their eyes in disbelief. Mei Qing slowly nodded again, giving them a clear affirmative expression. The two couldn’t help but gasp in shock, turning their heads toward the warehouse with expressions of disbelief still on their faces.
Luzhou continued walking at a leisurely pace, glancing at the dozens of additional lanterns that had suddenly appeared on both sides of the warehouse passage, as well as the numerous visible lines of flammable resin on the floor. His eyes showed increasing surprise.
Zhao Dayou held a teapot in his left hand and took off a bunch of keys from his waist with his right. As his eyes scanned the locks on each small storage room, his fingers casually moved through the keys while he smiled and said, “Senior Luzhou, do you know which small storage room contains the items you need? Allow me to open it for you.”
As Luzhou was about to nod and speak, Mei Qing interjected, “Please wait a moment. Senior Luzhou, Senior Qian, may I have a word with you both privately?”
Hearing this, Luzhou looked at Qian San, who still wore a displeased expression, and slowly walked over a few steps. “What else is it?”
With a slight smile, Mei Qing took this opportunity to position Yao and Zhou between Luzhou and Zhao Dayou, forming an implicit flanking formation.
Looking around at everyone present, Mei Qing addressed Luzhou, “Senior Luzhou, if my guess is correct, this time when Lord Liu needed to retrieve items from the warehouse, he must have sent someone to deliver the order rather than summoning you to his residence personally, correct?”
Luzhou nodded. “That’s right. Lord Liu sent Wu Bing to deliver the message. Is there something wrong with that?”
“If that’s the case,” Mei Qing continued, pointing toward the small storage room at the far end where a duan inkstone was placed, “then the items Lord Liu needs must be in that small storage room at the end, correct?”
Luzhou sounded somewhat impatient. “Exactly. Lord Liu wants some evidence items from the Guo Xun case and some other things. They are indeed in that small storage room.”
Nodding, Mei Qing turned to Qian San. “Senior Qian, you rushed here in such a hurry, claiming that I was deliberately trying to get rid of you, yet you refused to say who told you this. If I’m not mistaken, you must have met an old friend by chance today, and heard this from them, correct?”
Qian San let out a “Hmph,” and the look in his eyes was already an admission.
Luzhou sounded anxious. “Director Mei, since you already know I have urgent business to attend to, can’t this wait until later? Why are you dragging this out like this?”
Smiling calmly, Mei Qing replied, “Senior Luzhou, Senior Qian, please be patient. I can assure you that I won’t delay anything important. Both of you might know that I was ordered by Lord Liu to interrogate the little thief Hou Shen, and I made a bet with him and let him go.”
At this, Mei Qing paused, scanning the faces of everyone present, noting their various expressions.
Though Luzhou appeared calm on the surface, his eyes revealed disdain, clearly disapproving of Mei Qing making a bet with Hou Shen. Qian San seemed not to be listening at all, his gaze elsewhere, lost in his own thoughts. In the distance, Zhao Dayou wasn’t paying much attention to their conversation, occasionally sipping tea from his pot while glancing at the group.
Mei Qing continued, “Although Hou Shen is just a petty thief, he does have some ability. You all saw his invisible stealth technique last time.”
Spitting angrily, Qian San cursed, “Damn it, that little thief is just a sneaky bastard. If he ever falls into my hands again, I’ll make sure he regrets it!”
Mei Qing smiled. “Of course a thief would prefer to stay hidden. However, after my careful preparations, although I wouldn’t say it’s completely flawless, with the little tricks that Hou Shen has, there’s absolutely no way he could hide in this warehouse.”
As everyone looked around, they suddenly realized that the warehouse was even brighter than under daylight. With Mei Qing’s reminder, they noticed that even their shadows were nowhere to be seen. Observing the mechanisms and the flammable resin lines, they all felt that such an arrangement was indeed foolproof.
Shaking his head, Mei Qing said, “Although these precautions are sufficient, the monkey might have more tricks up his sleeve than just invisibility. Since he has managed to go years without encountering a rival, he must have other unknown abilities. Therefore, I specially reviewed all the major cases he has committed in recent years, as well as several suspicious cases that we suspect might be his doing. And indeed, I found something.”
“Oh?” Luzhou sounded interested. “What did you discover, Director Mei?”
Mei Qing didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he asked, “Senior Luzhou, you know that the thief’s nickname in the underworld is ‘Divine Monkey.’ Do you know its origin?”
“I’m not sure about that. I suppose it’s either derived from his name or refers to his agility,” Luzhou thought for a moment and shook his head.
“At first, I thought the same way. Later, I had an idea and recalled a book. Although this book is banned by the imperial court, you might have heard of it—it’s ‘Journey to the West.’ In this book, there’s a Monkey King named Sun Wukong, who possesses great supernatural powers and can transform himself in seventy-two different ways,” Mei Qing said leisurely.
Luzhou was somewhat surprised. “Hou Shen’s nickname is also ‘Divine Monkey.’ Could there be any connection with that Monkey King? Surely he can’t transform himself too?”
“That’s exactly what I suspect. Since the underworld figures dare to use such a nickname, there must be a reason. Hou Shen’s nickname ‘Divine Monkey’ doesn’t refer to his agility but rather to his skill in disguising himself, just like how the Monkey King can transform himself,” Mei Qing explained. Seeing the disbelieving expressions on everyone’s faces, he continued, “In the more than ten cases I’ve investigated, most of the stolen items were taken by Hou Shen using his invisibility technique, which is understandable. However, there were three cases where the stolen items were mysteriously lost after being used by the owners or their family members. The people involved later denied any knowledge of the thefts. Although the circumstances of these cases differ, the timing of the thefts clearly wasn’t coincidental.”
“Therefore, I suspect that the messenger mentioned by Senior Luzhou and Senior Qian wasn’t the real person. I dare to assert even more boldly that the little thief Hou Shen has already infiltrated here and is among us!”
Mei Qing’s words were like a thunderclap, shocking everyone present. They looked at each other, filled with doubt and surprise.
Luzhou couldn’t believe it. “Director Mei… who exactly are you referring to?”
His eyes scanned everyone present repeatedly but found nothing suspicious, so he turned back to Mei Qing for an explanation.
Mei Qing smiled and pointed his finger. “I’m referring to him.” He pointed his finger.
Following Mei Qing’s direction, everyone saw Zhao Dayou, who was just about to bring the teapot to his mouth. At the same time, they heard a clanging sound as Yao Dingguo and Zhou Chang had already drawn their long swords, crossing them at Zhao Dayou’s neck.
“Director Mei, what joke are you playing? How could I possibly be an impostor?” Zhao Dayou panicked, his small eyes widening as he shouted at Mei Qing.
Mei Qing didn’t respond. Without hesitation, Yao Dingguo grabbed Zhao Dayou’s spring festival sword from his waist, along with the teapot, and then took out a pair of linked heart locks to bind Zhao Dayou’s hands behind his back. After thoroughly searching his body, he turned to Mei Qing and shook his head, indicating that he hadn’t found anything threatening.
Luzhou was full of doubt. He approached and carefully examined Zhao Dayou for a long time. Zhao looked terrified and wronged, shouting, “Senior Luzhou, look at this—don’t you know me? How could I possibly be an impostor? You must stand up for me!”
After examining Zhao Dayou for a long time and finding no suspicious signs, Luzhou turned to Mei Qing and asked, “Director Mei, you claim that Zhao Dayou is an impostor. Do you have any evidence?”
Mei Qing walked closer, shaking his head and smiling at Zhao Dayou. “Hou Shen, although your facial disguise is seamless, and you’ve perfectly imitated Zhao Dayou’s accent, tone, and mannerisms, to an observant person, there are still many flaws. Hehe, your reputation as the ‘Divine Monkey’ is clearly undeserved. Senior Luzhou, verifying this person’s identity is very easy. The first time I entered the warehouse, Zhao Dayou accompanied me, and Senior Qian was also present. Hou Shen, if you can just repeat the exact words you said that day, then you can prove your identity. What do you say?”
Mei Qing’s method was very simple, and Qian San nodded in agreement beside him. Everyone turned their eyes toward Zhao Dayou, who took a long breath, suddenly raised his head, and his face showed a mixture of calmness, unwillingness, and surprise.
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