Upon hearing Wu Sheng speak, I felt something was amiss. The appearance of Wu Sheng and that policeman was both out of the ordinary.
"Who told you to take me to the landlady's place?"
"I am one of the twelve tools of Si Se Lao K, the Four of Hearts, Wu Sheng. I was given a secret order to take you away this time. I don't know who issued the order, but based on the situation I currently grasp, the one who issued the order is definitely not Si Se Lao K. Perhaps this person should be the Queen of Hearts, Leng Yu. Only the leader of the tools can organize a rebellion among the tools." This answer left me somewhat dissatisfied. Back then, Wu Sheng, while undercover beside Cui Fang, was a capable informant under Luo Bo. Honestly, I wasn't surprised at all that Wu Sheng was involved in this mission. However, the fact that Wu Sheng didn't even know who issued the order was hard to accept.
"Are you hiding something from me?"
Wu Sheng smiled awkwardly, but was quite straightforward. "There is indeed something being hidden, I am still on a mission. But you must believe me, this Queen of Hearts is no ordinary person. The one who issued the order, even if it isn't him, is undeniably connected to him. Furthermore, although the other eleven tools don't know the Queen of Hearts, they all know he is ruthless. I learned from Luo Bo that Leng Yu of the Queen of Hearts also attended the 'Logical Paradox' training class. I heard he was quite young when he attended the training class."
"Like Leng Yan, he's a younger brother, but based on the fact that no one knew about him for so many years, Leng Yu is better than Leng Yan."
The secret order was leaked, and the tools were rebelling. Wu Sheng suspected this Leng Yu was responsible. His words should be true. Moreover, I guessed that what he was hiding was that Leng Yu obtained the method for forming secret orders from Cao Qian in Hong Kong.
"Stop the car first, wait!" I called out to Wu Sheng.
Wu Sheng stopped the police car by the roadside, reminding me, "If we're late, they'll become suspicious of me."
This was not about exposure anymore; I had to figure this out. After careful consideration, my unease grew stronger.
"Did you kill those two tools?" I asked directly.
"No, I didn't know there were dead people inside. My orders were that you were kidnapped, and I was to rescue you in the guise of a policeman."
This was where I felt something was wrong. Wu Sheng's secret order should have been to take me to the landlady's place. If he was an accomplice of Wang Fugui and the others, they could have taken me and then dealt with us together. There was no need to kill them.
"Which tool was the policeman who came in with you?"
"He's not a tool. When I arrived, I saw this kid smoking in a nearby police car. I communicated with him in the capacity of a colleague. His name is Xiao Zhang. He's very proactive and, knowing there was a kidnapping case nearby, immediately followed me to carry out the mission."
"We're going back."
"We can't go back. Impersonating a police officer and stealing a police car, Luo Bo could handle such matters, but it would cause delays. If we don't go to the landlady's place now, we might lose contact with them completely."
"Go back, we must go back, quickly!"
I became increasingly certain and shouted loudly. Wu Sheng looked bewildered, but he still sighed and turned the car around, heading back.
"What exactly happened?"
"That policeman, like you, was also fake."
"How is that possible?"
"This alley is very narrow; people who aren't familiar with it wouldn't drive in. That patrol officer wanting to be lazy and smoke, there was no need for him to drive into such a narrow alley."
Wu Sheng wasn't just a brute; he said puzzledly, "Based on this alone, you can't conclude he's fake."
Of course, it wasn't just this. I carefully recalled the scene. Before they arrived, I had already told Da Huang to hide in the basement. Wu Sheng pointed his gun at me and told Xiao Zhang to check if anyone else was there. At that time, Wu Sheng was pushing and shoving me out, and this abnormal action caught my attention.
Upon realizing the fake policeman was Wu Sheng, I thought for a moment. The coffee shop was quite large, and if one were looking for someone, the area behind the bar would be a possible location. However, Xiao Zhang didn't go to the bar at all; he went straight to the basement. This indicated that Xiao Zhang knew about the basement.
Chang Ke and Wang Fugui were dead, in the short time we left the street. Killing two people in such a short time and escaping the scene without encountering Wu Sheng and us, did he grow wings?
When we brought Su Xi out of the trunk of the car, we had already confirmed there was no one at the intersection. However, when Wu Sheng arrived, the killer had just killed Chang Ke and Wang Fugui, and the two had not encountered each other.
I didn't see a police car or hear a siren when I left the alley. And when Wu Sheng drove out just now, it wasn't in the direction Xiao Zi'an was.
This indicated that the alley had two exits. The killer killed Chang Ke and Wang Fugui, and then left, inevitably encountering us or the newly arrived Wu Sheng. However, none of us saw the killer. So, the situation might be this: After we left, the killer happened to drive the police car in from another direction. They perfectly missed us, then entered the coffee shop and killed Wang Fugui and Chang Ke.
Afterward, they didn't leave but returned to the police car to smoke. It was then that Wu Sheng arrived. Seeing the police car, he had a sudden impulse and used the trick of a real and fake policeman to break into the coffee shop.
After listening to my analysis, Wu Sheng smiled awkwardly. "Tang Nan, it's not that I don't believe you, but what you're saying is too coincidental. That's right, I came here on orders, and these orders might have been issued by the Queen of Hearts. I also arrived on time. But one point is impossible: the Queen of Hearts couldn't possibly know when you defeated Wang Fugui and Chang Ke, nor could he precisely calculate the time you left the coffee shop."
"Do you think I could lose to Wang Fugui, Su Xi, and Chang Ke?"
"No."
"Do you think Wang Fugui, Su Xi, and Chang Ke could cause you trouble?"
"Definitely."
I sighed. "In the art of scheming, we talk about Heaven, Earth, and Man. Earth refers to the location of the setup and the arrangement of the scene. Man, naturally, refers to the tools, and it is the most complex aspect, but if arranged properly, the dynamics of the tools can be clearly predicted. The most difficult aspect of plotting is Heaven, which is a trend. Plotting according to the direction of events is the hallmark of a mature schemer."
Wu Sheng understood. "You mean, my going to apprehend you and deliver you to the landlady was part of the scheme?"
"Yes!"
Wu Sheng frowned, lost in thought.
"The Queen of Hearts went to kill at a specified time, and my order was to bring you to the landlady. From a strategic perspective, when I arrived, the Queen of Hearts, Leng Yu, should have been in the midst of slaughter. I rescued you from his hands. Using the police was a spur-of-the-moment decision, an unexpected element of this scheme." I nodded. That's right, this is what this scheme should have looked like.
That policeman was likely the Queen of Hearts. The secret order wasn't issued by him; he was merely accepting orders to kill. Moreover, I suspected his secret order was to kill everyone except me, but something went wrong. Xiao Zi'an disguised himself as Su Xi, and we quickly broke through the situation. Coincidentally, we had briefly left when the Queen of Hearts arrived.
The Queen of Hearts killed Wang Fugui and Chang Ke, and also saw the situation in the secret room. He thought we had escaped and didn't expect us to return. Just then, Wu Sheng appeared. Wu Sheng probably saw the Queen of Hearts' police uniform and thus fabricated a reason to invite patrol officer Xiao Zhang. Patrol officer Xiao Zhang's intentions were not merely to help; he agreed to cooperate with Wu Sheng.
Wu Sheng took me away, and patrol officer Xiao Zhang went straight to the basement, indicating he was still carrying out his mission to kill everyone else besides me.
Da Huang was hiding in the basement because of me. That guy went straight to the basement. He was still a bloodthirsty killer, and I was in a terrible hurry. Wu Sheng had already driven the car back to the alley. Before the car even stopped, I jumped out of the police car.
As soon as I reached the entrance, I saw patrol officer Xiao Zhang, covered in blood, staggering out. I didn't even look at him and ran directly towards the basement.
Upon reaching the basement, I saw Da Huang lying there covered in blood, and Xiao Zi'an was trying to press on the blood vessels to stop the bleeding.
"Call an ambulance, and get my toolbox," Xiao Zi'an shouted at me. I quickly ran upstairs. When I reached the alley, I saw patrol officer Xiao Zhang already collapsed in the alley. Wu Sheng stood beside him, with several onlookers nearby. I heard Wu Sheng shouting, "This is police business, help me call an ambulance."
"Tang Nan..."
Wu Sheng saw me and wanted to speak, but I couldn't spare the time. I ran to the car, grabbed Xiao Zi'an's toolbox, and ran back with all my might.
"Tang Nan!" Wu Sheng called out again.
"The ambulance is here, have them help the person inside first."
Xiao Zi'an's toolbox contained a first-aid kit, medicine, and gauze. I held my breath and watched her finish the operation, then asked, "Can Da Huang make it?"
"It depends on his fate. Your brother is a skilled fighter and avoided vital points, but he was stabbed twelve times and lost a lot of blood."
I looked at the narrow space being pushed by the mobile stretcher. Da Huang was hiding in the gap, and the Queen of Hearts, Leng Yu, was preparing to kill him with a knife. The two met head-on. Da Huang had always been a warrior who feared no death, even in the face of a cold-blooded killer, he showed no fear.