Pristine Darkness

Chapter 16

Bo Jinyan, Jian Yao and Fang Qing continue their investigation, and unearth even more missing girls. It looks as if the Yao family situation is just the tip of the iceberg. Knowing Ding Mo, we're going to be venturing into some deeply twisted territory soon . . .

**********

Translator: shl

**********

It was 5 o'clock in the morning. Fang Qing, who had been dozing in the duty room for a while, got up. After washing his face, he stood in the corridor smoking and gathering himself.

The distant clouds brightened layer by layer, turning a rosy red. However, the bitter chill lingered in his chest, seemingly trapped and refusing to go away.

He had a sudden sharp desire to talk to someone.

He took a drag on his cigarette, took out his cell phone and dialled a number.

Someone finally answered after more than 20 rings. The voice on the other end of the line was slurred, the person obviously having just awoken. "Hello?"

"Hi, what are you doing?" he blurted out, then realised that his voice was especially gentle.

At the other end, Jin Xiaozhe seemed to have been struck dumb for a second before she asked, "Why are you calling me? Is something wrong?"

"Nothing, it's just that . . ." I'm thinking about you.

"I think you called me the day before yesterday, but I was just leaving the scene of a crime, and couldn't pick up in time. Was there anything?" he asked casually.

"Forget it." Jin Xiaozhe replied.

"Oh."

"If there's nothing else, I'm hanging up." Jin Xiaozhe said.

"Jin Xiaozhe, I . . ." he thought about the transfer application that was sitting in his drawer.

"Next time, don't call me at this time." She went on coldly, "I attended an evening performance yesterday, and only slept at 4 a.m.. I have a shoot at 8 o'clock today. You have work to do, and so do I." The line went dead.

Fang Qing stared at the screen of his cell phone, which had just gone black. He badly wanted to say "f**k you*", yet was reluctant to actually say the words. The morning air was cool, but his heart was on fire. He played listlessly with his phone for a while, unwilling to put it away, before finally replacing it in his trouser pocket.

*T/N literal words used: "我草" (wo cao)

Two people appeared at the top of the stairs. Emerging from the morning mist, they both had precisely the same bright and calm expressions.

Bo Jinyan and Jian Yao. Fang Qing had asked them to come over first thing in the morning.

——

5 missing persons reports lay in front of the 3 people.

First: 2008

Name of Missing Person: Tang Lian Lian

Age at Time of Disappearance: 24 years

Place of Disappearance: After vacationing in the ancient city, she went to visit other cities and disappeared.

Second: 2010

Name of Missing Person: Tong Sheng

Age at Time of Disappearance: 23 years

Place of Disappearance: After vacationing in the ancient city, she went to visit other cities and disappeared.