Daomu Biji: A Thousand Faces

Ah Tou and Liang Yanyan walked out of the hospital and stood in front of the building for a while, both a little dazed. Ah Tou was a little scared to go back to her own house, but she also didn't know what Liang Yanyan’s next plan was. After seeing a bubble tea shop on the street corner, the two made eye contact and came to a tacit understanding. They walked over and each ordered a cup of bubble tea. 

"You guys never run away from difficulties but face them directly, right?” Ah Tou asked her. If Liang Yanyan were to immediately run to her house now and solve her problem, Ah Tou would think she was made of iron.

"Most of the time, yes. But we've already done a lot of things and made some progress, so we can give ourselves a pat on the back." Liang Yanyan looked across the street from the bubble tea shop and saw that there was a nail shop. When Ah Tou glanced at her, Liang Yanyan looked back at her.

The two finished their bubble tea and went over to get their nails done.

There was a line in the shop, so Liang Yanyan went in and got her nails done first. While Ah Tou was smoking outside of the shop, she suddenly saw Tu Dian walking towards her with a bag in his hand.

Ah Tou wasn’t familiar with him, so she gave him a polite nod. Tu Dian came over and handed her the bag. 

"What’s this?"

"Dr. Liang's files. She’s a doctor at our hospital,” Tu Dian said. "She hasn’t been working for several days, so my supervisor asked me to give her these. When she finishes her vacation, she can start on this case immediately."

"Oh, ok. I'll give it to her later," Ah Tou said while thinking to herself, Liang Yanyan also works at this hospital? Tu Dian didn’t leave after he finished talking but smoked a cigarette beside Ah Tou. The two smiled awkwardly at each other.

"So, you’re a friend of Boss Xie's? I heard him talking about you," Tu Dian said. "I'm not a professional, so I don't know what you guys are doing. But I saw some wounds on your body. You have a cat, don’t you?"

Ah Tou suddenly remembered Tintin and couldn’t help but feel a little sad. She nodded, “She’s gone. She died a few days ago.” 

"Oh. I have a cat, too. Cats always scratch you," Tu Dian said. "See, I'm telling you this just in case you miss an important clue—the strange stones that grow in people’s brains weren’t found in your brain, so I’m thinking that maybe your cat had one in its brain?"

"But I always kept my cat at home. Plus, she’s never been to Boss Xie's house," Ah Tou said.

"Cats can run away."

"The two places are too far apart for a cat to come back after it ran away,” Ah Tou said. “Plus, I always kept her shut up at home. Tintin wasn’t a very smart cat."

"Oh. I might be overthinking it then," Tu Dian nodded and began making his way back to the hospital. But after taking a few steps, he suddenly turned back and said, "Do you know Boss Xie well?"

"I’m not familiar with him."

"In most circumstances, whatever Boss Xie shows on the surface is very different from his actual purpose. I grew up with him, so I’m always in the habit of suspecting him whenever I encounter something strange that can’t be explained. He always has his own plans and I’m just one of his little pawns to be used in those plans. None of you have a stone in your brain, but your cat died. I think you should take a look at it anyways. If your cat couldn’t possibly be infected by that kind of stone, then you should think about whether it was infected by someone on purpose."

Ah Tou was stunned for a moment before she suddenly recalled the questions Boss Xie had asked her when they first met. Apparently, Boss Xie had known her quite well. It was also quite odd that he had asked her to draw ghosts.

Tu Dian was obviously implying that Boss Xie was hiding something. Or, to be more clear, he was implying that Boss Xie had planned the whole thing out for some purpose.

She tried thinking it over, but her mind had gone totally blank and she wasn’t able to infer anything at all. 

"Dr. Liang might be taking orders from Boss Xie, so don’t tell her what I told you,” Tu Dian nodded and then left. Ah Tou was a little bewildered, but she also felt a little uncomfortable at the same time.

After she finished getting her nails done, she went back to her house with Liang Yanyan and saw the place where Tintin had been burned. "What's wrong?” Liang Yanyan asked her.

"Where’s Tintin's body?”

"I buried it. It’s under the tree."

Ah Tou walked over and saw an area under the tree where the soil had been freshly turned over. She found a branch and began to dig it up. Soon, she dug out the charred body and plastic bag covering it. The plastic bag and carcass had already formed into a single lump. Liang Yanyan walked over silently, thinking that Ah Tou was sad because of the cat. But then she saw Ah Tou pick up a nearby brick and smash the cat’s skull open.

After fiddling with the crushed bones, a stone suddenly fell out from the pile. The stone was bigger than a finger joint and shimmered brightly under the sunlight. The two women looked at each other in dismay. 

**

When Tu Dian had been chatting with Ah Tou, Black Glasses was watching them from a distance. He shook his head, but at this time, he suddenly received a text message: Go to Golmud. Now. 

****