Having completed their task, Liu Wantong and Li Feifei departed.The Tangshan District of Nanling City was, for the most part, literally a desolate wilderness. Liu Wantong drove away from the site where they had disposed of the body, first navigating a winding dirt road.The headlights served as their sole source of illumination, and the minivan rattled violently as its tires crunched over the stones littering the dirt path.Li Feifei, meanwhile, was dozing.Liu Wantong still felt a lingering unease; he forced himself to take deep breaths, calming his racing heart, then leaned forward to gaze up at the sky through the car window.Rain was falling over Nanling, obscuring both stars and moon, leaving the heavens in utter darkness.After navigating several turns, the minivan finally reached a paved road, where a few sparse streetlights now dotted the roadside. Still, no other vehicles were in sight. It was only after another three or four minutes, when a small truck passed them heading the opposite direction, that the tension coiled within Liu Wantong’s heart began to unravel.
“Feizi, tell me, was simply tossing it there truly secure?”
“It’s already autumn.”
Li Feifei’s reply seemed to come out of nowhere.
“What?”
“Nanling’s flood season has passed.”
“Feizi, what on earth are you talking about? I don’t understand.”
“In autumn, trees shed their leaves, and decaying leaves will conceal any traces. With the flood season over, the water isn’t as swift. Moreover, it’s currently ‘Autumn Tiger’ weather, so the water temperature remains above sixteen degrees, and the fish are still eager to feed.”
Li Feifei sighed, his tone subtly profound.
“You didn’t make it clear earlier, but now that you’ve explained it, I understand.”
Liu Wantong offered an awkward laugh. As the minivan turned onto the intercity expressway, the road conditions improved considerably.
“Brother Liu, I told you to learn a few things, but all you ever do is play cards. I’ve asked a few locals from Nanling; the longest recorded disappearance in Tangshan dates back to before the reform and opening-up era. In any place, only the most desolate areas consistently report disappearances. Where there are more people, even if a death isn’t immediately discovered, the smell would eventually reveal it. But here, no one will ever know. What’s more, he had nothing on him; his teeth were pulled, his fingers severed, his stomach was slit open so he won’t bloat, and the body is caught in a fishing net, preventing it from surfacing. It won’t take two days for it to decompose. The fish will gnaw away every last trace.”
“Isn’t that because my mind isn’t as sharp? Should we head back now?”
“Back where?”
“To Nanling, of course.”
“Why rush? To leave surveillance footage as evidence? Two grown men leaving in the evening and returning past midnight in an empty car would only give people reason to talk.”
“What should we do then? I’ll follow your lead.”
Liu Wantong felt a significant sense of relief. Though he was nearing forty, his experience was shallow and he lacked conviction, otherwise he wouldn’t have called Li Feifei for help after killing someone. Fortunately, Li Feifei was reliable and logical in his actions.
“Let’s go to Anji Lake; there are guesthouses there. We’ll find a place to stay tonight, and tomorrow, I’ll take you to explore. I once had some delicious farm-style grilled fish there during college.”
“No, thanks. Those fish eat corpses; I find it repulsive.”
“What are you afraid of? The tap water for several districts in Nanling City comes from the Anji Lake reservoir. The natural environment’s ability to degrade foreign matter is beyond your imagination.”
Liu Wantong suddenly recalled something.
“Feizi, when I was a child, I lived in Arxan. The nearest place was called Zhalantun Banner, by the Ming River, where there were many stagnant ponds, just foul, dead water. Zhalantun Banner was a good place, not as ‘playful’ as Jiangsu Province, but much wilder.”
“How wild was it?”
“Let me give you an example: our tradition wasn’t for the eldest son to inherit, but the youngest. This was because only the youngest son was most likely to be genuinely yours.”
“What about your current son, then?”
Li Feifei opened his eyes, sensing that Liu Wantong’s words carried a hidden implication.
“Get lost! My son is my own; I was talking about my hometown. When we were kids, the young men and women from several families would drink together, and after a few drinks, things would naturally escalate. Especially while herding sheep; my childhood friend’s wife and he had their first time in a sheep pen. They simply mimicked whatever the sheep did. At that time, comic books were a rarity, yet such things were learned without any instruction.”
“Brother Liu, didn’t you say you’d been single for many, many years? Does that mean you were doing such things even as a child?”
“Nonsense! I went to Gusu when I was ten. Before that, in Arxan City, I knew nothing; I hadn’t even grown hair. When I herded sheep for my family as a child, I wore a fur robe. It wasn’t like the leather jackets worn by bikers here; the earliest fur robes were putrid. When you took one off, it would reek of decay. We also rode horses, and when those beasts ran, a layer of foamy substance would appear on their bodies, sticking to us and smelling foul.”
“That secretion is called foam protein. I heard someone say it’s what horses use to dissipate heat, much like sweat.”
“I don’t know, but the smell was disgusting. Speaking of fur robes, we’d hang the sheep and skin them. The inside of the hide had a layer of fat that first had to be scraped clean with a knife, then coated with lye water to remove the wool. The remaining hide couldn’t be used for much else, so we simply wore it. After a while, it would acquire the stench of rotting flesh. Everything smelled terrible back then, but I didn’t notice it much, as I rarely washed more than a few times a month. When I was too dirty to be seen, I’d go wash in the Ming River. Once, after I was discharged from the army, I returned home, and a fur robe was still in a chest. When I pulled it out to air, it reeked of a corpse.”
“Ultimately, it was due to poor craftsmanship, and the scarcity of chemicals back then was perfectly normal.”
“Actually, they weren’t scarce. Many dangerous items now considered controlled substances could be bought freely back then. After all, it was a frontier region, and even earlier, it was largely wilderness. Think about how few cities there were in Inner Mongolia before the founding of the PRC. People lived in yurts, moving when the grass was depleted. Even further back, my area lacked salt; half a catty of salt could buy a prime breeding sheep. My old man used to say there was a ‘big neck disease,’ with all the elderly in a village suffering from goiters.”
“That was due to iodine deficiency. Without seafood and only consuming well salt, they certainly wouldn’t have gotten enough iodine.”
“Exactly, exactly! I was just trying to remember what that deficiency was called; the word slipped my mind.”
The expressway saw a noticeable increase in traffic. With its small wheels and delicate suspension, the minivan began to shake once it exceeded 120 kilometers per hour. After driving past the regional boundary and seeing road signs indicating their proximity to Tangshan’s main mountain, the minivan exited the highway once more.
The car pulled up to Tangshan Metro Station, the stop for Anji Lake National Park, which the municipal government had only completed building the year before last.Previously, when the only public transport to Tangshan District was by bus, Anji Lake Forest Park was truly a desolate wilderness. However, since the completion of Tangshan Station, the number of Nanling natives visiting for leisure during short holidays, especially Qingming Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival, had noticeably increased. Even at night, there were still a good number of tourists.
“Feizi, this is quite close to where we disposed of the bo—”
“Don’t say ‘disposed of the body.’ Let’s call it ‘dropping the package.’ Why do I feel like your mental fortitude isn’t strong enough? You’re scared over such a small task?”
“It’s not that I’m scared; just look around! There are people everywhere. It’s night, and it’s raining, yet there are still so many people.”
“It’s twenty or thirty kilometers away. Why are you acting so cowardly?”
Li Feifei rolled down the window and met the gaze of three people standing by the roadside. One of them wore a Nanling Normal University shirt, presumably a college student.None of the three had umbrellas, and they were currently scurrying along the street, using their hands to shield themselves from the rain.Li Feifei called out to the one standing in the middle of the trio.
“Hey, buddy, don’t run. I have some spare raincoats; they’re yours.”
With that, Li Feifei handed over the two raincoats he and Liu Wantong had worn while disposing of the body. The student, looking somewhat bewildered, quickly expressed his gratitude.Li Feifei, being thick-skinned, grinned cheerfully upon seeing him accept the raincoats.
“Buddy, be careful. Nanling gets a lot of rain, so don’t just focus on having fun and catch a cold.”
The three on the other side divided the two raincoats, one wearing a coat individually, while the other two shared the remaining one, holding it over their heads. With their clothes already half-damp, they looked rather disheveled.These three unfortunate souls, believing they had encountered a kind Samaritan, profusely thanked him.Li Feifei’s expression was subtle; he wanted to laugh but held it back, his profound gaze making him seem inexplicably eerie. Noticing one of them pulling out a wallet to offer him money, he repeatedly waved his hand.
“No need, buddy. Could you tell me if there are any reliable restaurants nearby?”
“Yes, there is. Drive straight ahead, and you’ll see a temple. Right next to it is a Shandong-style restaurant called ‘Chunjiang Spring.’ They specialize in fish, all wild-caught from Anji Lake—very fresh, alive, plump, and large.”
Upon hearing ‘fish from the lake,’ Liu Wantong’s expression shifted uncomfortably. He leaned forward and addressed the student.
“Young man, do they have anything without fish?”
“They do, yes. Their duck and crabs are also quite delicious. The ducks are free-range from Anji Lake, and the crabs are wild-caught from Anji Lake.”
The student replied with a blank expression. Liu Wantong’s face twisted into a bitter grimace; he seemed about to say more, but Li Feifei forcefully elbowed him, silencing him instantly.
“Thank you, buddy. That’s all I needed.”
With that, Li Feifei rolled up the window, and Liu Wantong continued driving.
“Feizi, everything here seems to be from the lake. Is there anything not sourced from Anji Lake? Why don’t we just eat instant noodles tonight?”
“What are you scared of?”
“What if the fish we eat had feasted on that dead bastard?”
“Impossible. It’s only been so long. Even a busy restaurant would receive fresh stock in the morning. The fish would have been caught yesterday or this morning at the latest. How could they possibly catch one that’s currently feeding on a corpse?”
“Didn’t you say that if someone died in Anji Lake, they wouldn’t even be discovered? How can you guarantee those fish haven’t eaten him?”
Li Feifei sighed in exasperation.
“How vast is Anji Lake? It would take you ages to drive around it. A hundred-plus-pound person would be enough for only a few fish to eat. Just relax and eat. You and I did nothing tonight; we simply came here to unwind and have some fun.”
Liu Wantong parked the minivan in front of the ‘Chunjiang Spring’ restaurant. It was already seven or eight in the evening, precisely the peak business hours for restaurants in small tourist spots.Li Feifei hopped out of the car and ordered braised fish fillets, ‘Immortal Duck,’ and salted shrimp from the waiter. Since it was Mid-Autumn Festival, he also ordered four crabs.Liu Wantong looked listless, having little appetite.
“Feizi, you said my mental state isn’t good. Have you done something similar before? You completed such a major task without a blush or a racing heart, and you even have an appetite.”
“One of my university dorm mates was also a transferred soldier. He was previously in the army and became an armed police officer in Xin Province in 2008. He told me that, initially, Turkey offered a bounty of 200,000 for a police officer’s head there. My dorm mate worked in Xin Province from 2008 until 2010.”
Li Feifei lowered his voice. He noticed two pairs of men and women at a nearby table: one man was quite handsome but exuded an air of being a scoundrel, while the other was a stout man without any distinguishing features.However, the focus was on the two women; both were beautiful enough to rival celestial beings, absolutely the prettiest two women Li Feifei had ever seen.
“Your dorm mate has seen some serious shit, but how have you also seen some serious shit? You’re not just relaying what you’ve heard, are you?”
“Experience is also a part of knowledge. Those lunatics would hang police officers’ heads on poles, and my dorm mate would force those madmen into caves and burn them with flamethrowers. There’s no video, but there are photos and medals, forever honoring loyal warriors. You know, when I saw those medals, I kept thinking, if I had been in Xin Province at that time, how would I have dealt with those imbeciles? It’s like you; what you saw and heard in Inner Mongolia as a child still affects you now. I dare say, if it were anyone else, even if that bastard deserved it, they wouldn’t have dared to actually do it, would they?”
“No, no, I really didn’t mean it.”
Liu Wantong lowered his voice, following Li Feifei’s gaze to the pretty women at the next table.
“Feizi, look at those two girls.”
“I see them.”
Liu Wantong swallowed hard.
“Holy crap, how can they be so big? They look underage! Kids nowadays really have good nutrition.”
As he spoke, he covertly gestured with his hand at his own chest.
“You’re so crude. Stop staring. Others will notice, and no matter how beautiful they are, they have nothing to do with us.”
Li Feifei lowered his voice.
“You never know. Back in my hometown in Arxan City, boys would even resort to knives fighting over pretty girls like goddesses.”
“This is Jiangsu Province, not Inner Mongolia. Still, I must admit, they’re truly fair-skinned, both of them.”
“Feizi, which one do you think is prettier?”
“The one with the bigger chest. She has a good figure, a seductive look, and wide hips—good for childbearing.”
Li Feifei was honest, speaking quite candidly.
“Aren’t you also only looking there? How can you scold me for being crude?”
“That’s right, you are crude, but you are a man, and I am a man. I directly gaze at what I like, and what I desire, I will strive to obtain. So, liking it is perfectly normal.”
“That’s all twisted logic; you’re just spouting nonsense because you know I haven’t read much.”
“No, this is quite normal. Reading, looking at anything, always requires a preconceived stance, especially now. If you read until you lose your balls, then what you’re reading is crooked literature.”
“So my good temper is also because I haven’t read much?”
“That’s innate; congenital personality is merely the foundation.”
“Didn’t I just say I haven’t read much? My company has a project where they send those with lower education levels to Gusu University for a two-year training program.”
Li Feifei and Liu Wantong locked eyes. Liu Wantong felt somewhat guilty under the scrutiny.
“You want to go?”
“I do, but I’m getting old.”
“Then go.”
“But it’s two years. After two years, I’ll be 36.”
“But even if you don’t study, you’ll still be 36 then.”
Liu Wantong’s gaze drifted, lost in thought, before once again straying to the pretty women at the adjacent table.