Bai Huo was bored, crisscrossing his legs,peeling a wild persimmon for the little dragon to eat.
　　Because of the bitter cold, the persimmons hadfrozen into an ice chunk, Bai Huo expanded a lot of effort to peel it. In theend, only a small portion remained, most of the flesh disappearing under his clumsyhands.
　　“This persimmon’s no good.” Bai Huo talkedbig, feeding the remaining portion to the little dragon.
　　Luo Wen Xu’s uniform had been thrown aside, onlyleaving his vest on. With a loud bang, the trunk of the jeep was pried up, thetires finally getting free of the potholes.
　　”Wow.” Bai Huo sat crookedly on a stonewall and observed.
　　Luo Wen Xu already didn’t want to exchangewords with this guy anymore. If he wasn’t so anxious to save Ji Bei, he really wouldbe tempted to tear this free-loading bastard apart bare-handed.
　　The little baby dragon nibbled on thepersimmon, incessantly squirming in Bai Huo’s embrace.
　　”What’s wrong?” Bai Huo looked down,“Should I peel another one for you?”
　　Luo Wen Xu wiped off his sweat and pulled hisclothes back on: “Maybe he wants to pee?”
　　Bai Huo was stunned, and the little dragon cubblushed inexplicably, shamefully burrowing into Bai Huo’s clothes.
　　”Oh…” Bai Huo touched his nose andgot up, carrying the little dragon behind a big tree.
　　The two had just turned their backs when the littledragon cub quickly slipped out of Bai Huo’s arms, and looked back at Bai Huo, blushing.His eyes seemed to say, “Don’t come over, I’ll go by myself.”
　　Bai Huo was amused, standing in place, he smiledand said: “Go on, I’ll be waiting for you here.”
　　In the end, he couldn’t resist teasing:“Don’t wet your pants!”
　　Watching the little guy fleeing in embarrassment,Bai Huo almost laughed out loud, this child was really interesting.
　　“Is he your son?” Luo Wen Xu inspectedthe jeep, asking.
　　”Yeah.” Bai Huo said, smug.
　　”He doesn’t look like you.”
　　”He looks like his mother.”
　　Luo Wen Xu frowned: “If I’m rememberingcorrectly, your household registration said unmarried.”
　　Bai Huo turned his head, clearly seeing theword “Animal” in Luo Wen Xu’s disdainful eyes. He choked, feeling wronged.
　　The even worse off than Dou E papa Bai Huo saw his son sticking his head outfrom behind a tree trunk, looking hesitant. Thinking that he’d really wet hispants, he walked over and asked: “What’s wrong?”
　　The little dragon had already pulled up hispants, seeing Bai Huo approaching, he pointed to another tree.
　　”What?” Bai Huo was puzzled, raisinghis head in that direction, he exchanged eye contact with a round ball-likeobject hanging upside down in the tree.
　　Bai Huo: “…”
　　Fat bird: “…”
　　”Ooh, what a coincidence.” Bai Huo smiled;his smile was extraordinarily brilliant.
　　The fat bird’s mouth twitched, then it clawed atthe bird net that had caught it: “Stupid dragon, get me out!”
　　Bai Huo grinned and said: “Beg me.”
　　The fat bird was furious: “F#ck off! BaiHuo you scoundrel, this Dapeng will one day – oof.”
　　The little dragon cub plucked a feather fromthe bird’s tail, frowning unhappily.
　　”Pipe down, someone’s nearby.” BaiHuo pulled back the hand covering the bird’s beak and asked. “How did youend up here?”
　　The fat bird was no match for the two, bitterlysaying: “What else could’ve happened? After you left last night, I heard amovement outside so I flew over to check it out. Who would’ve guessed that thatbig thing could move so fast? I followed it all the way here, but while Iwasn’t paying attention…”
“See, I told you to eat less but youdidn’t listen,” Bai Huo said sadly, “Now you’ve screwed up where itcounts.”
　　”Shut up and let me down!”
　　”What happened to that jeep?” BaiHuo asked.
　　The fat bird stubbornly flapped his wings, butthe bird catching net was too tightly wrapped. He couldn’t open it up with hisstrength, so he had no choice but to accept his fate: “That thing did it. Itwas too fast, I couldn’t really see what happened, but I saw it dragging someoneunderground.”
　　”–Can you guys hurry it up?” Luo WenXu shouted impatiently.
　　Bai Huo nodded and bent over to pick up the littledragon: “Okay, go back home first. I’ll go take a look at this thing.”
　　”Oh right, there are two fishes by thedoor…” Bai Huo walked halfway, then looked back, warning. “Thoseare my son’s fishes, don’t touch them.”
　　“Untie the rope ah!” As soon as itshouted, the bird net broke open, and the fat bird shrieked as it plopped intothe snow.
　　Luo Wen Xu, who was starting up the engine, lookedup sharply: “What’s that sound?”
　　Bai Huo carried the child into the jeep andclosed the door: “The branch he peed on broke.”
　　Thelittle dragon: “…”
　　*
　　Ji Bei was sick.
　　His constitution was originally weak, add inthe wound on his neck and the piercing cold of the cave, after sitting on theground for hours, it was no surprise that he’d started a high fever. At thesame time, his bronchitis had started flaring up, and he found it difficult to breathe.Forget about shooting a gun, he couldn’t even sit up now.
　　The big scarf was the only thing keeping him warmat the moment. Ji Bei had wrapped his entire body in it, but he still shivered fromthe cold.
　　The only luck he had was that the twobehemoths in front of him never came to attack him, only peacefully guarding thecave.
　　After the glass bead incident, the smallerbeast had started bringing him some strange things: a few live fish, bloodypieces of meat, a few shells, and even a broken light bulb.
　　Ji Bei’s body was ill, but his brain was stillsober. He vaguely felt that these two behemoths were mistaking him for someone.Whenever they brought him things, their humble posture looked more like theywere offering him treasures to please him. But he was just an average human,what connection would he have to these two animals?
　　Ji Bei’s throat felt dry, and his breath was hot,he painfully wrapped the scarf tighter around his body.
　　Ji Bei had a biological clock. Although hecouldn’t see the sky, according to his state of hunger, he guessed that it was alreadyaround noon. Luo Wen Xu must’ve discovered his disappearance a long time ago.At this moment, he should be frantically searching for him.
　　With LuoWen Xu’s temper, no one could hold him back when he wasn’t around, Ji Bei couldonly hope that he didn’t get himself into trouble. Ji Bei felt a headache,thinking, no, he’ll definitely get into trouble, it’s only a matter of if itwas big trouble or small. If he could escape, he’d be able to help mediate, butif he couldn’t escape, that guy would just continue to offend people, then whatwould happen in the future…
　　Ji Bei smiled bitterly, who would’ve guessedit, he was a proper detective who has been fighting criminals for most of hislife, but in the end, he fell to the hands of two strange animals. Talk aboutdying without dignity. But he’d always been curious about what those who hadbeen forced to the edge of death thought in their last moments. Were they justfilled with the desire to survive? Did they feel loathing? Did they realizethat they’d reached the end of their lives?
　　As a violent crime detective, Ji Bei had seentoo many people’s death. The least favorite part of his job when he was arookie was informing the victim’s family. Those grief-stricken expressions, thegut wrenching sobs, just thinking about it… Ji Bei suddenly opened his eyes, forcinghimself to stay awake with willpower alone.
　　No, he couldn’t die in this obscure place. Ina few years, when someone dug out his corpse, Luo Wen Xu would be called in to identifyhis body. He didn’t want to see that kind of heartbroken look on that fearlessman’s face.
　　The two behemoths were lying on the cave floor,quietly resting, one big and one small, like a mother and child.
　　Ji Bei took out his gun and pointed it at thesmall one. But when he tilted his head at a certain angle, he suddenly clearly sawthe two behemoths’ eyes. It turns out…the two creatures were actually blind.
　　Many of the animals that lived in the deep seaor deep underground had visual impairments. These animals relied on smell,temperature and sound to distinguish everything around them.
　　Ji Bei grabbed a small stone and threw it tothe side, testing.
　　“Clank”, the small stone bounced off the walland rolled around on the ground.
　　Sure enough, the little beast immediately gotup and crawled to where the sound was made, sniffing.
　　So, it turns out… they can’t see me, Ji Beihad an epiphany. He stared at the way the beast carefully sniffed the smallstone, and a strange thought crossed his mind. He slowly lowered his head and sniffedthe scarf on his body, then he looked at the scattered items around him, likethe glass bead, and an earth-shattering conjecture came to mind.
　　*
　　The foot of Wuluo Mountain.
　　As soon as the sun came out, the snow in themountains started melting, and the snow chunks flowed down the streams, making softtinkling sounds, the forest sounded very lively.
　　Bai Huo and the little dragon cub sat side byside drinking milk, watching Luo Wen Xu break open stones and dig a hole in thesoil.
　　The veins on Luo Wen Xu’s forehead pulsed. Hewiped the sweat off his face and shouted: “If there are no clues, this holewill be your grave!”
　　Bai Huo sucked on the small milk box’s straw, askingcuriously: “Now that you’ve brought that up, why are you trusting me somuch?”
　　This really puzzled Bai Huo. As a human being,especially as a policeman, when his most important companion disappeared, insteadof relying on the power of the police, he just followed an outsider around. Thiswasn’t consistent with common sense.
　　”I don’t trust you,” Luo Wen Xu clenchedhis teeth. “I just trust Xiao Bei. I honestly can’t figure out why hethinks you’re capable.”
　　Bai Huo found this reasoning very novel.
　　”So, you’d better show off those abilitiesof yours.” Luo Wen Xu wiped his sweat off with his clothes and took twosteps back. “Is this hole big enough?”
　　The originally level land had been excavatedby Luo Wen Xu on Bai Huo’s instructions. He was asked to dig a large hole half aman deep. The little dragon curiously poked his head over the hole but was snatchedup by Bai Huo.
　　”Give me the shovel.” Bai Huo tookthe iron shovel from Luo Wen Xu and circled around the bottom of the pit. Thenhe attacked the surface of the pit with a powerful shove, and the soilcollapsed, revealing a cavern.
　　”What is this?” Luo Wen Xu frowned.
　　”An old mine road.” Bai Huo said,“It was built in the 1960s, during the gold rush.”
　　”You mean Xiao Bei is below here?”Luo Wen Xu didn’t believe him.
　　”Let’s go down and find out,” BaiHuo hugged the little dragon, intending to jump down. “Follow me closely, ifyou bump into anything strange, don’t scream.”
　　”Wait!” Luo Wen Xu didn’t move, stoppingBai Huo, “What do you know? Tell me now and make it clear.”
　　Humans… Bai Huo felt a slight headache. Hethought for a bit, then explained, “Don’t you think that Officer Ji’sexperience is similar to the three recent murder cases in Xi City? The onlydifference is that the previous three victims all died on the spot. Only OfficerJi went missing, indicating that the murderer kidnapped him for some reason.”Â
　　“Why?”
　　“That you’ll have to ask the murderer,” BaiHuo said. “I’ve read your analysis of these three cases. You summed up the commonpoints pretty well, but you missed the most important one. Of course, I don’tblame you for that, it’s the fault of age and misinformation.”
　　”What?”
　　”The three incidents and Officer Ji’saccident all happened over the old underground mine roads.” Bai Huo explained,“From the surface, you’ll notice that all four places have small trees, nohigh-rise buildings, and no subways nearby. I think you should’ve heard about XiCity’s urban development history. The official story says that Xi City’s gold rushera started in the early 1980s, but that’s a lie. The previous decades were toochaotic, it’s much too easy to re-write its history. “
　　Having said this, Bai Huo didn’t need to goon, Luo Wen Xu had obviously understood the information, he frowned: “You’renot that old, how do you know these things?”
　　I’m old enough tobe your grandpa, Bai Huo said in his heart. He smiled. “OfficerLou, now doesn’t seem to be the best time to chat.”
　　It was already noon; they really couldn’t delaymuch longer. Luo Wen Xu had always been tough as nails, wearing only his vest,he directly jumped into the mine. It was just one man high, and there was a cloudof humidity surrounding him. The bone piercingly cold pool of water under him reachedhis instep, he ignored it, straightening up and reaching a hand towards Bai Huo.
　　”No need.” Bai Huo smiled anddeclined his help, hugging the little baby dragon with one hand, he jumped gracefully,barely disturbing the water with his landing.
　　”You’re bringing a child with you?” LuoWen Xu glanced at the little cub.
　　Bai Huo and the little dragon cub looked ateach other, seeing the same doubtful question in each other’s eyes, “Why not?”
　　”It’s fine, I’m here.” Bai Huo flickedon his smart phone’s flashlight and urged, “Let’s go find your loved one.”
　　The underground mine roads crisscrossed, openroads in almost every direction, very impressive. If you looked down from abovewith x-ray vision, it’d look more like a labyrinth. Luo Wen Xu had lived in XiCity for so many years, but he never realized that there was such a secret layerunder his feet.
　　”It’s no wonder so many buildings startsinking,” Luo Wen Xu said with a grave expression. “The city wasbuilt on an ant colony.”
　　”Some of these mines were laterrefurbished into sewers,” Bai Huo said, “Wuluo Mountain is theclosest mine to the surface. If you want to find the other mines, you’ll haveto dig down for a few hours.”
　　”You mean, the murderer has beentraveling through these channels to commit their crimes?” Luo Wen Xu asked.
　　”Yes, think of it as a game ofwhack-a-mole,” Bai Huo said. “Your surveillance cameras won’t work onit.”
　　”This is nuts.” Luo Wen Xu saidcoldly. Since they started down the mine roads, he’d felt somewhat anxious, butnot wanting to reveal it in front of Bai Huo, he’d forced it down.
　　Besides the pool of water, the tunnels alsohad some garbage floating in sewage. Above, there was some water seepage. Asudden drop on the neck could drive someone to panic. Bai Huo carefullygathered the little dragon into his arms.
　　The two men had been walking for quite a whilewhen the light of the flashlight flicked past a reflective thing on the ground.Bai Huo stopped and bent over to pick it up, discovering that it was afist-sized tooth.
　　”What the—what creature has such bigteeth?”
　　Bai Huo stared at the black fang, his faceblank, only returning to his original expression when Luo Wen Xu walked over tohim: “…… No idea.”
　　However, Luo Wen Xu suddenly bent down andpicked up an even more frightening object beside him: a human finger bone. Lookingat its state of decay, it should be less than a month old.
　　When he saw the bone, Bai Huo’s complexionturned deathly pale, and he closed his eyes and turned away.
　　Luo Wen Xu had seen many dead bodies, he kepthis cool and calmly took out a physical evidence bag from his back pocket,dropping the finger in. He looked at Bai Huo’s pale face in surprise, this guydidn’t seem like the timid type.
　　”I’ll get a DNA test done later,” LuoWen Xu shoved the bagged finger bone into his pocket without hesitation, thenhe continued down the path. “Maybe it’ll be a match for one of the threevictims.”
　　Setting off again, now Luo Wen Xu led, and BaiHuo followed.
　　The little dragon cub sensed that somethingwas wrong, he raised his head from Bai Huo’s embrace and licked his chin.
　　”It’s nothing.” Bai Huo smiled faintly;his face still pale.
　　“This place is too big, how about we split-” Luo Wen Xu had just turned to discuss his plans with Bai Huo, whensuddenly, a gunshot was heard deep in the mine tunnel ahead.
　　The sound bounced back and forth in the confinedpassage, echoing in all directions, and the two men suddenly looked up.
　　”It’s Xiao Bei!” Luo Wen Xuimmediately took out his gun and ran towards the source of the sound.
　　Bai Huo was in a bad state, and he was half abeat slow. When he finally snapped out of it, he immediately chased after LuoWen Xu, shouting: “Hey! It’s dangerous! Come back!”
The even worse off than Dou E- Dou Eis a character in a Chinese play called Dou E Yuan, she’s a child bride whogets wrongly convicted of many crimes and is executed. Basically, BH is sayingthat he’s being treated more harshly than Dou E.