Chapter 8: Dark Diamond (2)
"I took the wrong path — I walked for a whole day and night before I realized. I was exhausted, sick and miserable, fell into a valley while gathering herbs — everything was wrong, it felt like I was the only person left in the world, so… I just didn't want to keep going."
She thought, in silence — her life had always been like that. Not just the day she fell off the cliff. It had always felt like everything was wrong, like she was the only one.
It hurt too much. Even giving her a gold mine hadn't made her happy.
It was pathetic enough that she was confiding this to a drug lord.
She gave a bitter little laugh.
Li Yufu gently rubbed her back and said slowly: "Little one, you've suffered."
Elyse huddled in his arms, knees pulled to her chest, hugging them. She didn't answer. The episode had left her drained, and she seemed to have fallen asleep.
3.
Northern Myanmar, three hundred-odd kilometers in a straight line from Tikka, in the forest.
Mr. Herod, Li Yufu, and several other Black Moses members interested in the gold mine were all present. Their convoy's engines roared through the forest, followed by a survey team and heavy arms.
Li Yufu had brought Elyse, but she spent nearly the entire ride curled up asleep in the back seat of the SUV.
Nothing could wake her.
Following the coordinates Elyse provided, they first found the cliff — the coordinates actually pointed there.
It took time to descend into the valley, but they found the stream, though it was nearly dry.
The river was located quickly, too.
This was actually a tributary of the Uru River — because it passed through an extremely rugged and complex stretch of uninhabited forest, the river itself was deep and fast.
When the collected silt was washed, a small quantity of placer gold was indeed found.
Excitement surged. By evening, the survey team also located the mountain Elyse had described — on a very winding stretch of river, one hillside showed evidence of an old landslide, and the mud and debris had even partially redirected the river.
The geologists analyzed their samples, reporting progress back to camp.
On a gentle slope above, twenty or thirty white tents had been erected, camp lights blazing.
Northern Myanmar's kingpins treated the gold hunt like a vacation — drinking cold beer, playing Texas Hold'em, the unpleasantness on the cruise ship seemingly forgotten.
Various underlings lit bonfires, grilling meat amid great enthusiasm.
Actual dog-head gold was found, wrapped in newspaper and brought to camp. Everyone gathered to look, voices raised in celebration.
The geological team estimated the vein's gold content was likely significant.
And so on.
In the vehicle, Elyse sat silently in the dim light, leaning against the seat, expressionless.
A young man suddenly yanked open the rear door —
"Sister Elyse, Boss Yu told me —"
He was startled by the deathly pallor in her eyes.
"I brought you some kebabs. You, uh, you want some?"
He held out a fragrant skewer with trembling hands. He looked like he was afraid that if Elyse didn't eat the kebabs, she might eat him instead.
Those black-glass pupils swept toward him. She didn't move a muscle. Her voice was low and flat: "Get lost."
The young man fled.
A moment later, Li Yufu opened the door and climbed in. He still carried the crisp bitterness of beer foam. Without much preamble, he reached over and pulled Elyse onto his lap.
The SUV's back seat was spacious, but Li Yufu was tall and long-limbed, so it was a bit cramped. He folded himself, trying to cradle his little one as best he could.
What was to be done — she made him increasingly uneasy. He couldn't stop looking, feeling she might shatter at any moment. The little thing.
He'd just realized — this was where Elyse had tried to kill herself.
Turning his face to study her expression, Li Yufu was shocked to find no sign of the fragility or grief he'd imagined. She was smiling. The smile looked carved into her face, utterly unmoving.
For some reason, a sudden chill went through him.
The feeling was one Li Yufu hadn't experienced in a very long time.
The last time had been — when he was being ambushed by an enemy.
Boom!
…
The shockwave rocked the entire vehicle. Li Yufu's three parts of drunken haze evaporated instantly. He pulled Elyse down with him, half-crouched in the lower space between seats, scanning the windows vigilantly.
His men were converging on their position.
Ratatatat…
Gunfire. The camp lights were shot out. In the darkness, only two or three headlight beams remained. People scattered everywhere, a chaos of shouting, cursing, frantic calls for help.
Who was it? Who was attacking?
A stray bullet punched through the roof over their heads, shattering the rear windshield altogether.
Li Yufu ducked. He felt around the car and couldn't find a weapon. The front passenger door suddenly jerked open, and someone dove into the driver's seat, shouting in the strobing muzzle flashes:
"Boss Yu! The keys!"
It was one of his men. Li Yufu flipped him the keys and demanded: "Who is it? What's happening?"
The man frantically started the engine, wrenching the wheel and shouting back: "Can't tell who! But our people are taking fire — Herod's side has killed several of ours! Fucking bastards are probably trying to take us out and take the gold!"
Li Yufu's face went cold.
Not impossible — that gold mine was rich.
Unbeknownst to him, on the other side, a fleeing Mr. Herod was thinking the exact same thing. The kingpins all suspected each other of wanting the whole prize.
Each side wanted to drag the traitor out and drink his blood.
The real "traitor" — Elyse huddled in the gap between the front and back seats, face buried in her arms. She looked like she was trembling with fear, but no one could see — hidden in the dark, she was laughing silently, madly.
It was me.
It was me!
The intelligence I sent out!
The police I called!
Haha, haha, hahaha…
It was exhilarating. So fucking exhilarating — getting revenge with her own hands. Truly, so fucking exhilarating!
A bunch of fools.
Her head felt like it might explode from the gunfire, but she couldn't help screaming in cathartic release inside!
Bang-bang —
Li Yufu had grabbed the gun from the driver. Kunjiao's ruthless brutality bared its fangs — he fired two shots at a fleeing Herod. One hit the Black Moses boss in the thigh; the other blew out his vehicle's tire.
In Herod's apoplectic gaze, Li Yufu's modified Humvee rammed through the obstructing cars and roared into the dark forest.
4.
Baishan City.
The door of a deputy director's office was violently thrown open. Several officials and police officers with an arrest warrant marched in and hauled away a big ghost who'd been hiding for years.
Cang City, Criminal Investigation Division.
Chen Shen had just shuffled to his desk when he noticed everyone was staring at him in silence instead of working.
"What's with you guys?" He rubbed his face, bewildered.
He might have made a joke.
But the youngest officer, Wei Shu, was already stepping forward. Click — the handcuffs snapped around his wrists.
His heart dropped — like stepping into empty air, his brain buzzing.
His closest teammates were looking at him with eyes as cold as strangers. Chen Shen tried to say something, his lips moving wordlessly.
But their captain snapped the order — "Take him straight to the interrogation room."
His legs gave out.
It couldn't be. How could it be? They must be bluffing. Right — if he just denied everything…
On the other side, the other ghost was thinking the exact same thing.
Director Lin and Captain Zhang were entirely unmoved by this routine. Zhang threw down the bomb:
"Deputy Director Ma, drop the act."
"Black Moses's supreme leader, Herod Hoffpari, was arrested in a joint China-Thailand-Myanmar special operations raid last night. He'll be delivered to Baishan City for interrogation this afternoon."
Ma's face went blank for several seconds.
"Whoever speaks first, before Herod does, gets the better deal."
"You have a half-day advantage."
Ma Ming's eyes darted, calculation already flickering across his face.
"Also apprehended were multiple Black Moses members. Your roster of over two hundred names — international task forces have had it for some time now. Care to guess your ranking?"
Captain Zhang sneered: "Number 141. Deputy Director Ma — you joined quite early!"
Director Lin slammed the table: "How many undercover operatives did you murder? Count them yourself!"
A sheaf of black-and-white photos was flung at him.
Ma Ming looked down — and met the eyes of Winter Lee in police uniform, smiling faintly.
He jerked his head away, his heart hammering.
"What do you want to know."
After a long moment, he forced the words out through a dry throat.
Director Lin and Captain Zhang exchanged a glance — they hadn't expected him to fold so fast. Both let out a breath.
"Kunjiao, the kingpin of Charlie Group, escaped during last night's raid. We believe he's retreated to his lair."
"How much do you know about the White Tower of Tika? Tell us everything."
"Tikka…"
Ma Ming stared into space, dodging Winter Lee's airtight gaze, and said with dread:
"The mountain is hollow. Kunjiao packed it with explosives."