Lei Mi - Profiler

Fang Mu snatched the book back from him and slammed it onto the table. "Whether or not you believe me, the clue to the seventh crime is in here!"

"There's a serial killer in Legends of the Hulan River ? Ha!" Zhao Yonggui leaned back and laughed loudly at him. His laugh was almost immediately cut short, as if he had suddenly realized something. A slight change of visage came over him.

Fang Mu no longer wanted to say anything else to him. If he did, he was afraid that he'd curse him out. He stuck his pen in his pocket and put the book beneath his armpit, and then grabbed his tray and started to leave. Before he could take two steps, Zhao Yonggui snatched his arm and pulled him back.

"Get the hell off of me!" he yelled at the officer, no longer able to control himself.

But just as the words left his mouth, he was shocked to discover that Zhao Yonggui now seemed a completely different person than he had been only moments before. He was frowning deeply, a look of astonishment on his face, as if he was thinking about something that he didn't dare believe.

"Sit!" He pointed at the chair opposite, his tone of voice making it clear that Fang Mu had no choice in the matter. At the same time, he pulled Legends of the Hulan River from Fang Mu's arm and began scrutinizing it.

Fang Mu sat down.

"HulanRiver…HulanRiver…" Zhao Yonggui muttered himself, his frown deepening. "Just now you said this book had something to do with a serial killer?"

Puzzled by the officer's behavior, Fang Mu couldn't help but nod.

For several seconds Zhao Yonggui appeared lost in thought. Then with what seemed a great deal of determination, he looked up and asked, "Have you ever heard of the Great Knight of Hulan?"

"The Great Knight of Hulan? Never heard of him. Why?" Fang Mu asked impatiently. "Who was he?"

"This was back in the eighties, in Hulan County, Heilongjiang. He was a fierce bandit who committed a number of terrible murder cases."

"Then why do I feel like I've never heard of him before?"

"Of course you've never heard of him, because at the time they were never able to crack the case, so they sealed away all information about it. Only us old-timers know about this one."

"So what kind of crimes did the Great Knight of Hulan commit exactly? And why is he called the great knight ?"

"Great Knight? That was just the title he gave himself," Zhao Yonggui said. "The guy was a savage criminal, nothing at all like a great knight. Because he was dissatisfied with the social system that was in place back then, he shot a number of people to death. There was also a common characteristic to many of his crimes: he made a point of specifically attacking the police…"

Before Zhao Yonggui had even finished speaking, he saw Fang Mu begin frantically searching his pockets. Not finding what he needed, Fang Mu's hand shot out to the officer.

"Your cell phone, now!"

Startled, Zhao Yonggui unconsciously pulled out his phone.

Fang Mu practically tore it out of his hands, and then punched in a number as fast as he could.

Several seconds later, a faint voice from the phone relayed: "The phone you are dialing is powered off."

Swearing under his breath, Fang Mu redialed the number. He got the same message. He tossed the phone back to Zhao Yonggui. "We need to go find Tai Wei now!"

He leapt to his feet and ran out of the dining hall.

Fang Mu ran as fast as he could to the northeastern end of campus.

He needed to find Tai Wei immediately.

The next victim was none other than him !

It had been nearly two days since Tai Wei had last come to see him. That wasn't like him. Having focused all his energy on decoding Legends of the Hulan River , Fang Mu hadn't even realized what was happening.

And the fact that Tai Wei's phone had been off the whole time gave Fang Mu a faintly ominous feeling.

Please don't let anything have happened, please!

The road seemed unbearably long. Luckily he could already see the old KMT bunker. Fifty feet past that was a low fence marking the edge of the campus. Once he climbed over it, he could grab a cab in the small street beyond and take it to the PSB headquarters.

As he ran past the colossal concrete structure, it seemed to be silently gazing around at the lonely corner of campus.

Fang Mu's steps suddenly slowed.

He stared blankly at the section of bunker that rose above ground.

Seven?

As if drawn, Fang Mu walked slowly forward.

When he reached the entrance he saw that the bunker's rust-covered doors were unlocked. The iron chain that usually fastened them shut was nowhere to be seen.

He walked cautiously up to the doors, grabbed the rusty handle, and pushed hard.

The doors were old and would only open wide enough for one person to fit through. Cold, moldy air blew against Fang Mu's face. Inside it was pitch-black. He could only make out the space just beyond the entrance.

Taking a deep breath, he walked inside.

Thanks to the sunlight filtering through the doorway, Fang Mu could see that an approximately 30-step-long cement stairway descended before him. He carefully began walking down one step at a time, but before long, the way was completely engulfed in darkness. When he looked back, he could only make out the thinnest ray of light coming from the doorway. After hesitating for several seconds, he gritted his teeth and carefully lowered one foot down until it reached the next stair. Continuing on this way for over a minute, he finally reached a section of flat cement.

His surroundings were pitch-black and terrifyingly silent. He stood in place for several seconds and did his best to look around, but in every direction it was too dark to even see his own fingers.

The darkness seemed to have a mass of its own, and as layer upon layer of it wrapped around him, Fang Mu quickly sensed its weight. His body felt heavier and heavier and his legs started to go limp.

Whether from fear or the cold air inside the bunker, Fang Mu's whole body began to tremble. He could even hear his teeth start to chatter. Suddenly, he remembered that he had his lighter in his pocket and he hurriedly pulled it out.

He flipped open the lid, flicked the wheel, and a small bright flame appeared in his hand.

No longer surrounded by darkness, Fang Mu discovered that he was standing in a large hall, roughly 360-square-feet in size.

The room was rectangular, made entirely of concrete, and empty except for some old desks stacked in the corners. A section of the wall directly in front of Fang Mu seemed a little different than the dark gray concrete around it. In the flickering light of the flame, it appeared to be a door.

The little flame actually made Fang Mu feel a lot warmer, and his body stopped shaking so violently. Pulling out his dagger, he took a deep breath and ventured forward.

It really was a door, or rather a pair of rust-covered doors shut together. Putting his hand on the crude, ice-cold door handle, he could tell it was free of dust. Someone had come that way recently.

Giving it a try, Fang Mu pulled hard on the door. It opened with an ear-piercing creak.

An even stronger odor of mold burst forth, choking him until he could barely breathe. He stood in place, holding up the thin flame of the lighter and surveying what was in front of him.

He seemed to be standing at one end of a long corridor. Suddenly he felt overcome by a nearly uncontrollable panic and his hand holding the lighter began to shake.

In the light of the flickering flame, the walls of the corridor appeared to sway. Feeling himself go lightheaded, Fang Mu quickly grabbed onto the door to steady himself.

His hand gripped the rough handle of the dagger in his palm, a contact that gradually calmed him. Composing himself, he did his best not to look at the pitch-black far end of the corridor and used the lighter to survey his surroundings.