My Wandering Swordsman

Chapter 60 The Grand Finale

The streetlights cast our shadows long and short, like two puppets toyed with by fate. Occasionally, extras finishing their work would whiz by on their electric bikes, leaving behind a trail of laughter and profanities. Every day, other people's stories unfold in this small town. Who would have thought that my story with Ruan Tang was hidden in some unknown corner?

I took out a cigarette, lit one, and handed it to Ruan Tang.

"I don't smoke." She shook her head.

"Can I borrow a light?"

"Are you asking for trouble?"

I chuckled, lit a cigarette, and took a deep drag. The smoke swirled under the streetlights and drifted into the night sky.

"You said your father went to jail for intentional homicide. What about my crime?" I turned to look at her.

Ruan Tang paused, frowning as she looked at me: "What crime did your father commit?"

"smuggling."

"Smuggling? Smuggling what?"

"I don't know. He was sentenced to seven years and is still in jail." I exhaled a puff of smoke. "My dad was an honest, hardworking man who worked in a factory. If it weren't for that note, I would never have believed he was involved in smuggling."

Ruan Tang stopped talking and started kicking pebbles on the road.

After walking quite a distance, she suddenly stopped: "Ji Xiaosong, have you ever considered one possibility?"

"What's possible?"

"Did we meet our fathers in Hengdian?"

I was stunned.

"That makes sense." I nodded. "What year did your dad come to Hengdian?"

"When I was sixteen, about five years ago."

"My dad was the same." My voice was a little tight. "Five years ago, he had worked in the factory for half his life, and suddenly said he wanted to go out and travel. He went for a year."

Ruan Tang's eyes lit up: "The timing matches!"

"So what if they match? We still don't know what happened." I gave a wry smile. "The three most crucial moles are still a complete mystery."

Ruan Tang bit her lip, then suddenly seemed to remember something: "By the way, you said your dad asked you to find three moles, did he say why?"

"no."

"My dad did too." Ruan Tang frowned even more. "He just said that if we find that person, we'll know the truth."

I stubbed out my cigarette and threw it into the roadside trash can: "Did your dad say who that woman is?"

"no."

"Then how did you know to look on the film set?"

Ruan Tang was silent for a moment, then lowered her voice: "I... I don't really know either. I just feel that among so many women in Hengdian, the easiest to find are actresses. Besides, my dad worked as an extra in Hengdian that year, so I think most of the women he knew were also in this industry."

I nodded; that logic makes sense.

"So what now?" I looked at her. "What are you planning to do?"

"What else can we do? Keep looking." Ruan Tang sighed, then suddenly looked up at me intently. "Ji Xiaosong, how about we team up?"

"cooperate?"

"Yeah, you're in charge of the male actors, and I'll be in charge of the female actors. We'll turn Hengdian upside down, but we have to find those three moles."

Just as I was about to speak, my phone suddenly rang.

When I took it out, I saw it was my aunt.

I hesitated for a moment, but answered anyway: "Hello, Auntie."

"Xiaosong, where are you?" Auntie's voice sounded a little anxious on the other end of the phone.

"I'm out on the street, taking a walk with friends. What's up?"

"Come back right away, something's happened."

My heart skipped a beat: "What happened?"

"My house... my house has been broken into."

My mind went blank, and without saying a word, I hung up the phone and ran back home.

Ruan Tang called out from behind, "Hey, what's wrong?"

"A thief broke into our house!"

Ruan Tang was taken aback, but quickly followed.

I ran frantically, my mind a complete mess. My aunt's house was in the old street of Hengdian, a place with always been safe. How could a thief have broken in?

When I ran back to my aunt's house, panting, I saw her standing at the door, her face ashen.

"Auntie, what happened?"

My aunt pointed inside the house: "Go in and take a look."

I rushed into the house and saw that the living room was a complete mess, all the drawers had been pulled out, and things were scattered all over the floor. I quickly went into my room and found that my suitcase was open, clothes were strewn everywhere, and worst of all—the note I had hidden in my bag was gone.

The note my father left me, which read "Go to Hengdian and find a woman with three moles on her buttocks," is gone.

I froze completely.

"Ji Xiaosong, what's wrong?" Ruan Tang followed him in, and was stunned by the scene inside. "What did you lose?"

"The note." My voice trembled slightly. "The note my father left for me is gone."

Ruan Tang's expression changed as well: "Our only clue left is that note?"

"right."

Ruan Tang bit her lip, then suddenly turned and ran outside.

"where did you go?"

"Something went missing from your house. What about mine?" Her voice drifted in from outside the door. "Do you still have the note my dad left for me?"

I was stunned for a moment, then quickly followed him out.

Ruan Tang lived in a cheap rental room at the other end of Hengdian Town. We ran all the way there, and by the time we arrived, it was completely dark. She took out her keys to open the door, her hands trembling.

The door opened, and the room was pitch black.

Ruan Tang turned on the light, and then she froze.

Her room was also turned upside down.

I hurried into her bedroom and saw that the bedside table drawer had been pulled open, and everything inside had been emptied out. Ruan Tang rushed under the bed, pulled out an iron box, opened it, and found it empty.

"Where's the note?" I asked.

"It's gone." Ruan Tang sat on the ground, dejected. "The note my dad left for me is gone too."

I squatted down in front of her, looking at her pale face, feeling as if something was blocking my heart.

Is this a coincidence?

impossible.

Someone has been watching us, or rather, someone has been watching those two notes.

"Tangtang," I said in a deep voice, "think about it, was anything unusual today? Was anyone following you?"

Ruan Tang looked up, her eyes filled with confusion: "No... I did what I always do today, spending the day on set peeking over walls, and then going home tonight... Wait a minute!"

"What's wrong?"

"This afternoon, when I was climbing over the wall on set, I felt like someone was watching me from behind," Ruan Tang recalled. "At the time, I thought it was just some extra, so I didn't pay attention. Now that I think about it, it seemed to be a man wearing a baseball cap, but I couldn't see his face clearly."

Do you know him?

"I don't know him."

I stood up and paced back and forth in the room.

Someone stole the note. What does that mean? Does it mean we're getting closer to the truth? Or does it mean someone is preventing us from getting closer to the truth?

"Ji Xiaosong..." Ruan Tang suddenly spoke, her voice a little strange, "Do you think... we might have been set up from the very beginning?"

I paused, turned to look at her, and asked, "What do you mean?"

"I mean, could the note our father left not have been for us at all?" Ruan Tang stood up, her eyes gleaming. "But... could someone have deliberately let us find it? Was their purpose to bring us to Hengdian?"

I was stunned.

I had never thought of this idea before.

But if that's really the case, what exactly are the people behind it trying to do?

"And another thing," Ruan Tang continued, "why did you suddenly go to the film set to find me during the day today?"

"I..." I was about to answer when I suddenly froze.

Yeah, why did I suddenly go to the film set to find Ruan Tang today?

This isn't right.

Something is very wrong.

My mind went blank for a second, and I turned and ran outside.

"Ji Xiaosong! Where are you going?" Ruan Tang called from behind.

"Go find my aunt!"

I ran out of the rented room and rushed into the night.