Chen Shi said, "Put out the marijuana cigarette that fell on the ground quickly."

He stepped forward and extinguished the marijuana cigarette with his foot. He picked it up after confirming that it had been completely extinguished. The cigarette butt had a bitter almond smell. It must have been mixed with poison.

Putting the cigarette butt into an evidence bag, Chen Shi checked the man's body again. When making inquiries in the village previously, some villagers had said that one of the rice collectors had a scar at the corner of his mouth and that part of his left pinkie finger was missing. The person fitted those characteristics.

"He is one of the two rice collectors." Chen Shi said.

"Damn, the lead that we struggled so hard to find has been lost. When we were chasing the truck just then, did you all see anyone escaping from the car?" Lin Qiupu asked. Everyone shook their heads.

Chen Shi glanced at the truck. "The truck is empty. This person should have come back to load the goods, and his accomplice would be waiting to provide support in another place... If he doesn’t take the initiative to contact his accomplice, the accomplice will run away. This is usually the arrangement."

Although the lead had been lost, it was fortunate that the missing policemen were found and still alive. The marijuana leaves found at the scene were hard material evidence that could be used to prosecute the syndicate in the future.

The case was already very clear, but it seems that the battle had just begun again.

In the middle of the night, a middle-aged man walked into a restaurant by the highway. The guy sitting behind the counter turned a blind eye to him. He was watching a 90s Hong Kong martial arts drama on a small TV. His grinning face which reflected the screen shone greasily.

Glancing at the menu on the wall full of incorrectly-written characters, the man said, "Egg fried rice... Egg fried rice!... Fuck, are you deaf? I want a bowl of egg fried rice!!!"

"I heard that. I heard that. Why are you yelling... one serving of egg fried rice." The guy turned his head around and shouted at the back kitchen, before continuing to immerse himself in the TV series.

The man swore softly before finding a seat. He took out a cigarette, took a puff, and suddenly remembered something before taking out two more. He lit them and inserted them into the gap of the “Eight Immortals’ table”[1] as if he was burning incense. He put his hands together and mourned.

"Little Long, may peace be with you the whole way." The man murmured.

Then he took out his phone and sent a message to a number. "Boss, I can't handle it anymore. I have to escape!"

Ten minutes later, the other party replied with just two words, "The goods?"

"They’re in a food warehouse in Xiaoyu Village that I rented under Little Long's name. You have to take them away quickly, or the police will find them."

"If that’s the case, you go and retrieve it later. I will send someone to come and collect it as well as give you some money for the road."

"Thank you, Boss!" The man breathed a sigh of relief.

"You’re welcome. I will arrange everything since you’ve been working for me for so many years. You can leave with confidence."

When he put down the phone, the three cigarettes on the table had already been extinguished. A blow fly had landed on the end of the cigarette and was sucking the saliva left by him. It made him feel sick. He stretched out his hand to slap at it, but the fly flew away.

At this time, the guy came and roughly put down a large bowl of egg fried rice. At least 50 grams of rice fell on the table. The guy sucked the thumb that was accidentally inserted into the fried rice and left without saying a word.

He didn’t even give the man tableware. The man had to go to the sterilizing cabinet to get his own chopsticks. He tasted a bite of the egg fried rice and his eyebrows immediately knitted together . As soon as he put down his chopsticks, the blow fly from just now flew onto the rice and started sucking.

"Fuck!"

Normally, he’d have overturned the table long ago, but he must keep a low profile right now, so he raised his voice, "The bill!"

"Here’s the bill. It's eighty in total."

"Isn't the fried rice only thirty?"

"The fifty is the tea fee."

"Did you pour me any tea?"

"It's called the tea fee, but you can also call it the service charge."

The man slammed one hundred yuan on the counter. He didn’t ask for the change and the employee didn’t give him change either. The employee put the money into the drawer, his eyes never leaving the TV screen.

"This job is so comfortable. It's even better than selling drugs!" He mocked, but the employee didn't hear him.

When he walked out of the store, he heard the employee scolding: "XXX, coming in to eat so late. So troublesome!"

The man had the urge to go back and kill the employee. His right hand even reached into his pocket to touch his butterfly knife. While hesitating, that blow fly landed on his nose, and the man slapped at it angrily with his hands, saying: "Get lost! Get lost!"

With this interruption, he gave up the idea of venting his frustrations.

After driving the truck to Xiaoyu Village, the man loaded the goods onto the truck and drove out of the village. At 1:00AM, an SUV appeared on the road and flashed their lights twice. In response, he also flashed his lights twice.

Two people jumped out of the car, wearing black jackets, sunglasses and black leather gloves. They looked mysterious and capable. The man stepped forward and offered cigarettes. The other party blocked it with his hand and said coldly, "The goods."

"On the truck."

The two agents went to the truck to inspect the goods. They tore off the plastic film and tasted the cannabis leaves. "Shouldn’t it be three hundred kilograms?"

"The police seized part of it. Where’s the money that Master Lie is giving me for escaping?"

The two walked back to their car without saying a word. At this moment, the blow fly landed on the man's nose again. The man flew into a rage. He didn't know if it was the one from the restaurant following him. It was too persistent. Was it because he still smelled of blood?

He had to kill the damn fly, so he ran back to the truck to get the insecticide. At that moment, he saw the two special agents get down from the SUV. One of them did carry a black satchel in his hand but his other hand was playing with a shiny switchblade.

He widened his eyes and suddenly understood that the police had only found the two of them so far. Now that Little Long[2] was dead, Master Lie only had to get rid of him, and the lead would be completely cut off. All the people upstream would be able to sit back and relax, and the business would still be able to continue in two years’ time. They just need to find a few people who are willing to sell their lives, give them some money, and feed them a few words of bullshit about underworld ethics. As for those upstream people, they still made money and they could still play with women as if nothing happened.

He quickly lowered his head. The fact that he had been betrayed filled him with anger, and he ground his teeth. The two men outflanked the back of the truck from both sides. After they passed, the man quietly pushed the truck’s door open...

The two agents went to the back of the truck with switchblades. They only saw each other's surprised face. They didn’t find anyone. They returned to the truck cab. When Agent A looked inside the window, the man jumped out from the grass beside the road. He covered Agent A's mouth, and stabbed him in the back wildly, blood flowing from between his fingers.

Only then did Agent B react. When the blood-stained butterfly knife pierced his throat, his cry was forcibly suppressed. The whole process went so smoothly that it was like slaughtering two helpless chickens.

He ignored the two struggling people on the ground, opened the bag they had thrown onto the ground, and laughed.

The bag was full of joss paper and coins. He remembered Master Lie's words in the text message - "Give you some money for the road."

"Hahahaha, this old man really keeps his promises!"

The two people on the ground gradually stopped struggling, and the blood flowed along the road to the side, nourishing the weeds at the side of the road. He knew that he had become an abandoned chess piece, and there was no road to the sky and no door to enter the ground.[3]

That blow fly came buzzing over, landed on the eyeball of a corpse and sucked the liquid on it. It seems that all flies love to suck there.

He suddenly thought that this fly had saved himself. Could it be Little Long[4] manifesting himself?

He knelt down, stared at the fly for a long time, and asked, "Little Long,[5] what should we do now?"

The fly rubbed its two front legs together, then buzzed as it flew away...

1. Old-fashioned wooden square table for eight people

2. Editor IJ: Author mentions “Ah Wei” here, but it was most likely an author typo.

3. He’s cornered.

4. As per previous note.

5. As per previous note.