Midnight Bookstore

Panda Novel

“Old Zhang.”

“Huh?”

“Give me the gun.”

“I don’t have a gun.”

Zhou Ze looked at Old Zhang in surprise, “You, a criminal police officer, don’t have a gun?”

“I’m cooperating with the investigation in a foreign land. The case is over. Boss, what’s the matter?”

“Oh. Then help me do one thing now.”

“What is it?”

“Go out and strangle that little boy who was shouting in the corridor.”

“…” Zhang Yanfeng.

“If he doesn’t die, I’ll be played to death by him.” Zhou Ze gritted his teeth and said in puzzlement, “No, shouldn’t this forensic laboratory be in the police station? How did that little brat come in?”

“Crack!”

The door of the forensics lab was pushed open. The figure of the little boy was revealed. He was dressed in sportswear today. He even carried a backpack behind him. When he came in, he was all smiling.

However, when the little boy saw Zhang Yanfeng who was standing beside Zhou Ze, he was stunned. Then, he said angrily, “Uncle, you’re bad. You didn’t wait for me. You started playing with others first.”

“Old Zhang, beat him up!” Zhou Ze pointed at the child and said.

Old Zhang stood up and walked towards the boy.

To be honest, an old criminal policeman like him couldn’t beat up a child. However, he remembered that this boy was the child who stood beside the boss when he met him by the river last night.

This child was abnormal.

“Uncle, you have disappointed me!” The little boy stood with his hands behind his back. He looked angry.

“I came to see you out of kindness. I was afraid that you would be lonely lying here alone. Yet, you did not appreciate my kindness and asked someone to beat me up!”

Old Zhang walked in front of the little boy. He raised his fist but he could not swing it.

It was either the kindness of a woman, or he simply could not do it.

“Humph. I won’t talk to you anymore. I won’t play with you anymore!” The little boy turned around and walked out of the forensic laboratory by himself. When he ran, he seemed to be crying. It was as if he had suffered a great grievance.

“Uh…” Zhang Yanfeng stood on the spot awkwardly. He turned around and looked at his boss.

“That’s not right.” Zhou Ze muttered to himself.

Why is this little brat so obedient today? He was not just a child. Would a child go to the morgue to have a party at night without sleeping? Moreover, when he escaped last night, the order he gave his body was to kill Old Zhang.

“Boss, what do we do now?”

“Come over here and carry me out of here. Wait for Yingying and the others to come over during the day.”

Old Zhang nodded and immediately walked over to carry Zhou Ze on his back. Then, he pushed open the door and ran out.

In the depths of the shadow at the entrance of the corridor, clatter sounds could be heard. The person who walked out was Officer Chen’s figure.

She was habitually biting her fingernails. This seemed to be a habit of hers when she was thinking.

In her sight, Zhang Yanfeng was carrying a corpse as he walked away.

“Huh, what kind of game is this?” Officer Chen was a little puzzled.

What she didn’t see was that the corpse was the one she had in the head that night. If she had shot a living person, there would have been a lot of trouble.

However, investigations revealed that this was a corpse that had been dead for a long time. Even the identity of the corpse had been found out. It had been lost in the funeral home. So this matter had to be suppressed and not be published on social media.

“Sister, can you play with me?” The little boy with tears on his face walked up to Officer Chen in a wronged manner. He reached out and grabbed Officer Chen’s pant leg. He pulled.

He was a cute young man that she couldn’t help but pity. When other women saw him, they would probably instantly burst with maternal instinct and pounce on him while shouting “Real Kawaii.”

However, when the little boy’s hand touched her body, a layer of dark green light instantly flashed in the depths of Officer Chen’s eyes.

“Hiss… it hurts! Sister, it hurts!!!”

Officer Chen’s hand grabbed the little boy’s hair. Officer Chen’s face was expressionless. She didn’t even bite her nails anymore. From her temperament, it seemed like she had completely changed into a different person.

“Sister, let go, it hurts, it hurts!” The little boy kept shouting.

Officer Chen pulled on his hair and smashed him against the wall!

“Bang!”

For a moment, his face was bleeding profusely, kawaii’s face was no longer kawaii!

“Sister, I was wrong. Sister, I don’t want you to play with me anymore. I don’t want to play anymore.”

“Bang!”

“Bang!”

“Bang!”

The impact was still ongoing. Meanwhile, the few corpses that had been placed in the forensic medicine room had reached the entrance. At this moment, they seemed to have suddenly lost their strength. They fell to the ground dejectedly.

In the end, Officer Chen let go of his hand. She lowered his head. She looked at the little boy who was covered in injuries. Then, she looked at her hands that were stained with blood.

She was a little panicked and in disbelief. Officer Chen squatted down. She found that the little boy who was lying on the ground was still awake. Officer Chen pointed at her face and said, “Did I hit you?”

“No, no…” The little boy who was lying on the ground was so scared that he shook his head.

“Oh, I told you that it couldn’t be me who hit him. How could I hit a child?”

She took out a handkerchief and wiped the blood from her hands and then over the boy. She walked toward the entrance of the corridor where Lao Zhang had gone down. She didn’t forget to remind the boy, “It’s late at night. Children should get home early so that their parents do not worry.”

“…” little boy.

…

On a bench in front of the convenience store, Old Zhang had a cigarette in his hand. Zhou Ze sat next to him and changed into a new set of clothes.

Old Zhang blamed himself. He broke open the door of the clothing store and went in to get a set of clothes for Zhou Ze. However, he left money behind. This kind of thing was not right in the end.

“Old Zhang, do you think there will be more joint investigations like this in the future?”

Zhou Ze did not light the cigarette. He wanted to smoke but his internal organs were all incomplete. Smoking didn’t make him feel any better.

“Uh, I think so.”

Zhang Yanfeng didn’t tell Zhou Ze about Officer Chen’s intention to promote him.

“Next time, if you can push it off, don’t run around outside the city.” Zhou Ze reminded him.

“Why?”

“Every place has its system of ghosts. If you run across the border, it’s easy for others to mistake it as a violation and they may attack you.”

“Okay, I got it.”

“Okay.” Zhou Ze leaned against the bench, picked up Old Zhang’s phone, and dialed a number.

“Hello, Old Zhang, you b*stard. How is my boss now? I’ll sue you. If anything happens to my boss, I’ll make you pay with your life!”

“Yingying.”

“B*stard… Sob! Boss, I miss you so much.”

“I’ll send you a location on Wechat. Hurry up and come over.”

“Okay, boss. We’re taking the high-speed train. We’ll reach Xuzhou station in an hour. Then we’ll come to find you immediately. Don’t worry, boss. I’ve been protecting your body well. I’ve brought it with me.”

“Okay.” He hung up the phone. Zhou Ze stretched lazily. The knife in his chest almost split open. This body couldn’t take any more torture.

It was four o’clock in the morning. The sky was still dark, but it was almost dawn.

Old Zhang was wearing a police uniform. He was sitting there straight.

Zhou Ze was lying on the bench, browsing Weibo with Old Zhang’s phone.

A Porsche stopped at the entrance of the 24H convenience store. A woman in leather clothes got out. She was dressed beautifully. Wasn’t it hot to wear so much clothing on such a day?

The woman walked into the convenience store. She bought a box of condoms and walked out. When she reached the bench, she suddenly stopped. She looked carefully at Old Zhang.

Old Zhang felt a little uncomfortable being stared at, so he stared back. The woman smiled. She walked to the middle of the bench and unceremoniously pushed Zhou Ze’s foot away. She sat down beside Old Zhang. She also handed Old Zhang a cigarette.

Old Zhang was somewhat baffled. This woman didn’t seem like a prostitute. Although she came to buy a box of condoms.

Could a prostitute drive such a good car? Even if a prostitute could drive such a good car, she couldn’t possibly be soliciting customers on the street, right?

Moreover, she was wearing a police uniform. The woman made herself comfortable. She pushed Zhou Ze off the bench.

“Plop”

Boss Zhou, who was browsing Weibo, was pushed to the ground.

“…” Zhou Ze.

“Brother, are you here on business?” Seeing that Old Zhang didn’t take her cigarette, the woman took the initiative to ask.

“Yes.” Zhang Yanfeng answered.

“That’s good.” The woman smiled, lighting her cigarette. She said, “Next time when you come to Xuzhou, give me a heads up. It will be convenient for me to receive you. You’re welcome.”

This kind of natural familiarity was very strange. Zhang Yanfeng immediately thought of the woman’s identity. She should be a local ghost cop of Xuzhou.

“You’re welcome. We people of Xuzhou are the most hospitable. We welcome all friends to be our guests.”

The woman stood up. She stretched out her leg and kicked Zhou Ze, who had just been pushed down by her. She said, “Brother, are you on the path of refining puppets? Isn’t this puppet’s material a little too bad?”

“…” Zhou Ze.

“Ah. Uh. Hehe.” Zhang Yanfeng bent down and helped Zhou Ze up. He knew that it was best to speak less at this time. If the other party misunderstood him, then so be it.

Zhou Ze closed his eyes. He did not speak, nor did he move. He silently chanted in his heart, “I’ll endure it! You better not leave, big sister. When this daddy’s physical body arrives, I will stab you until you call me daddy! So what if it’s a ghost?’

Who knew that the woman was not in a hurry to return to the car? Instead, she covered her mouth and laughed, “What a coincidence, brother. I happen to have a friend in the car. He has very high attainments in puppet refining. Let me introduce him to you. Master Qin, I have a friend who is traveling with you. Do you want to get to know him?”

‘Are the people of Xuzhou so enthusiastic?’ This was the thought shared by Zhou Ze and Zhang Yanfeng at the moment. ‘Big sister, why don’t you just take your condoms home and have fun?’

“Kacha!”

The two doors of the back seat were opened. Two men in suits came out. The two men walked to the front passenger seat. One held the top of the door with his hand while the other opened the door.

He walked out of the car wearing sunglasses at night. Perhaps he was afraid that others would not know that he was not an ordinary person or at least a crazy old man.

“Huh… Bah!” The old man raised his head. He was clearing his throat.

A man in a suit beside him immediately reached out to the old man’s mouth and caught the thick phlegm that the old man spat out. He did not dislike it at all.

Then, two men in suits stood on both sides of the old man. They looked like the most competent bodyguards.

No, Zhou Ze looked at them with some doubt. These two men in suits were puppets!

“Yo, where did you come from?” The old man pushed up his sunglasses and asked.

“Tongcheng.” Zhang Yanfeng replied.

“Tongcheng?” Hearing this the old man took off his sunglasses. He looked at Zhang Yanfeng carefully.

“Hehe, there are so many capable people in Tongcheng. I just went to Tongcheng a while ago and had a drink with a few local ghosts. Why haven’t I seen you before, brother?”

The old man seemed to be implying something.

At this moment, Zhou Ze’s eyes widened. At first, he only felt that the two men in suits were a little familiar. It meant that he had seen their figures not too long ago and not their faces.

When Zhou Ze started to imagine painting the suits of these two men into black, he was instantly shocked. In his mind, these two guys overlapped with the two black shadows that suddenly appeared during the resolution of the Zhu Shengnan incident in Tongcheng!

It was them. They were the two black shadows that appeared that night. They even used the same moves as Lawyer An.

“The law of Yin is orderly, and the law of death is merciless…”

They meeting this group of people right now under such circumstances?

Zhou Ze wasn’t sure about this local female ghost in Xuzhou but this old man was involved in the Zhu Shengnan incident and the kidnapping of the memorial archway village in the mountains. He might not be the leader, but he participated in it.

When he recalled that he was currently in Xuzhou and wasn’t very far from the mountain area where the incident occurred, he was even more certain of this.

Boss Zhou did not move at all. To be honest, he felt a little guilty. Was he going to rely on this body to fight or was he going to rely on Old Zhang, an ordinary police officer, to fight? Especially since Old Zhang did not even bring a gun!

When the old man heard Zhang Yanfeng’s reply that he had come from Tongcheng, the two men in suits beside him slowly walked over. If it was the old man’s faction that instigated the Zhu Shengnan incident, then Zhou Ze, Lawyer An, and the others had undoubtedly thwarted their original plans at that time. This could be considered as enmity.

“Oh, I usually don’t take care of things. I just let the juniors do it. I’m busy serving the people.” Zhang Yanfeng said lightly.

The old man was stunned.

Zhou Ze was stunned.

The woman was stunned.

Acting cool like the wind while always accompanying me! Old Zhang picked up the police cap next to him. He shook off the dust and put it on his head. He slowly tidied up and stood up.

At this time, Old Zhang, who was wearing a police uniform, was shining brightly under the light of the convenience store. The brilliant image and temperament of the people’s police could be seen at a glance!

Old Zhang had been a good policeman for two lifetimes. In his previous life, he had died together with the criminals to save his child. In this life, the body he possessed was that of a drug enforcement officer who had sacrificed his life.

There was no need to fake this aura. He puffed out his chest. It was just the motherf*cking righteousness! The national emblem on the police cap was so bright that it pierced his eyes!

Zhou Ze had experienced this feeling before. The last time when thousands of taxis collectively sent off the police chief, the dead soul of the police chief had once entered a bookstore to buy books. That aura was now reappearing on Old Zhang.

A police officer of high moral character was itself an existence that was invulnerable to evil. It was much more useful than those donkey excrements and mud babies enshrined in the temple.

“Why? Do you have something to do with the juniors?”

“Nothing.”

The two men in suits beside Old Zhang stopped in their tracks. The old man’s eyes revealed a hint of doubt. Among them, there was also a hint of fear!

Zhang Yanfeng stretched lazily. A meaningful smile appeared on his face. He extended his hand and pointed at himself. He said, “If you have something to do, don’t hide it and tell the police. Helping people solve their problems is the responsibility of the police. Don’t you think? Yes?”

“Yes, yes.” the old man echoed. The local female ghost of Xuzhou didn’t dare to say anything.

Zhang Yanfeng walked up to the old man. He reached out and patted the old man’s face.

“Smack!”

The old man didn’t dare to move. Zhang Yanfeng slapped harder.

“Pa! Pa! Pa!” It was almost like a slap to him.

The old man didn’t dare to move. The old man was cowardly. The most important thing was that the old man couldn’t sense any energy fluctuations from Zhang Yanfeng’s body!

This meant that the strength of both sides was not on the same level!

Fear. Great fear! The person in front of him was unfathomable. Damn it. That Tongcheng is Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon!

The strength of both sides is indeed not on the same level. The old man was right but he’s going in the wrong direction.

Zhang Yanfeng stopped when the old man’s face was flushed. He looked carefully at the old man, “Next time you come to Tongcheng, you can come to me directly.”

“Okay, okay.”

“If there’s a problem, I can help you solve it.”

“Okay, okay, okay.”

“If we really can’t solve the problem, we can solve the person who raised the problem. That’s a way to solve the problem. Am I right?”

“…” the old man.

Zhang Yanfeng turned around and walked back to the bench. He slowly sat down again.

The old man on the other side bowed and nodded to Zhang Yanfeng, “You’re busy, I’ll be leaving first.”

The female ghost messenger, the old man, and his two puppets all got into the car.

The men watched the Porsche drive away. It disappeared at the end of the road.

Old Zhang heaved a long sigh of relief. Then, he almost collapsed on the bench. “Boss… My back is full of sweat…”

“Old Zhang, you did a good job.”

Zhang Yanfeng looked at Zhou Ze and smiled while telling the truth, “I was scared to death.”

“You know them?” Zhou Ze was a little surprised. He had not asked Old Zhang to participate in the incident with Zhu Shengnan.

“I don’t know them, but my intuition as a police officer for so many years tells me that the old thing just now was about to kill me.”