You Owe Me, My Love

“Xia He has political conflict due to the previous incident. Her words cannot be taken as testimony.” Gu Mingchen explained to Bai Rong.

“Then who was the one who killed Tang Xiaojiu? Is this related to the gold bar incident? Or is it because someone didn’t want you to find out the truth and prove your innocence?” Bai Rong had a headache thinking over the situation. She had to lean on Gu Mingchen's shoulder to ease her headache.

Gu Mingchen remained silent as he couldn“t wrap his head around the situation as well. The man turned to the girl lying on him and tightened his grip on her hands

“Chief, should we eat something? Both of you haven't eaten anything today.” Chen Zhi suggested. "Alright, let's find somewhere else for dinner. We cannot stay back in our previous room anymore. I suspect someone followed us here. Be alert of any spies and hidden cameras. We need to find a safe place to stay the night.” Gu Mingchen instructed.

“Roger that.” Chen Zhi answered and stopped in front of a restaurant.

Bai Rong opened the door, only to hear a loud clunk. The girl instinctively turned to the source of the sound.

It was a dagger. Seemed like it belonged to Tang Xiaojiu.

The girl picked up the dagger in surprise. “How on earth did Tang Xiaojiu's dagger get into the car? I remember he never rode with us and he had been holding it in his hands!”

Chen Zhi's face paled at the sharp blade. “Don't tell me his ghost placed it in our car?”

Gu Mingchen glanced at his subordinate. “Don't talk nonsense; there's no such thing as ghosts! If his ghost had the ability to put the dagger in our car, then he should've used it to kill the man who murdered him instead.”

“That's true. But how on earth did it get into our car?” Chen Zhi was confused by the sight. The dagger's appearance really creeped him out.

Gu Mingchen turned to Bai Rong. The moment he glanced at her pocket, the alert man immediately understood how the dagger ended up in their car.

“Rong, Tang Xiaojiu was still alive when you rushed to him, right?” Gu Mingchen asked.

“Yes, I'm very sure. But not for long.” Bai Rong replied in an upset tone.

“He had used up all his strength just to put that dagger into your pocket. You were in an emotional state at that time, that's why you never felt it. The moment you entered the car, the dagger slipped out because your pocket was shallow and it fell out of the car once you opened the door.” Gu Mingchen analyzed.

Chen Zhi's confusion was cleared by his chief's deductions. “I think the deductions make sense. But what's the reason for putting the dagger in Madam's pocket?”

Bai Rong blushed at the formal address and clarified, “I'm not your Madam.”

Chen Zhi glanced at his chief, trying to read his expression. “I thought it's just a matter of time before you're Madam?”

Gu Mingchen did not deny the statement. He took the dagger and had a good look at it. Then, he twisted the handle and noticed it was hollow inside. The man inverted the handle and a USB drive dropped onto his hands.

Bai Rong looked at the USB drive in astonishment. “A USB drive! What do you think it contains?” “Let's get in the car.” Gu Mingchen replied alertly.

The trio immediately climbed back into the car. The military chief took out his laptop and inserted the USB drive in the port. Inside the drive contained two video files.

He opened the file titled “My Village’ and went through the video.

“This one is the village head of Tanggian Village.” Tang Xiaojiu was recording himself before shifting the camera to a gravestone, his voice choking with sobs. “My family, my relatives, my friends, my wife and children, they're all buried here.”

Tang Xiaojiu sat beside the gravestones and continued recording himself with red eyes. “All this while, I somehow know that I'll be killed as well, so I must leave some evidence to let everyone know of our story. I don't want to die without knowing the reason like my fellow villagers. 5 years ago, we dug out a hole in our village; inside the hole contained 10 metal caskets. To our delight, the caskets contained gold bars. There were at least a thousand of them! Besides, we also discovered a treasure map. My father suggested handing over the treasure to the country and central government but I did not agree to that. What did our country ever do for us? For so many years, our government never helped us to pave the roads nor provide much needed electricity. With so much gold to spend, we can sell them to get the money needed to pave the roads and connect the village with electricity. Of course, my father did not listen to me. I was mad at him and ran away from home. I don't know who my father looked for to hand over the treasure later on, but I was sure he came back with a bunch of monsters. They killed all 107 villagers plus a relative of a villager from another town. Clearly, these monsters came for the gold and the treasure map. I believe that Heaven's vengeance is slow but it's definitely coming. Never have these monsters thought that I managed to steal the treasure map and delineated an exact copy out of the original one. Unfortunately, I cannot understand the map. I wonder if these monsters can decipher it?”

Tang Xiaojiu wiped his tears and directed the camera to the gravestones once again.

He then took out the delineated copy and placed it on the floor, which he recorded in detail. Then, he burnt the map before the gravestone.

“I hope that one day, whoever discovers this video can trace the murderer through this map and avenge us.” The recording ended here.

Gu Mingchen copied the video and saved it in Google Cloud. For safety’s sake, he even saved another copy in his email.

Then, he opened the other video file. The title of the file was Cheng Bin, the name of the Governor. “Today, I'm going to kill Cheng Bin, the damn corrupt governor who killed all 107 people of my village. This is my CCTV footage, pretty good right?” Tang Xiaojiu explained.

He turned the camera to the CCTV screen, and the interior of the prosecutor's office was clearly displayed on it.

“I've modified the gun to follow the CCTV movements and detect Cheng Bin's face. Once Cheng Bin appears, he'll be dead in a bang! Oh, I also sent a remote-controllable smoke bomb in there.” Tang Xiaojiu smiles creepily as he explains his actions.

He had placed the video recorder at the side where both himself and the CCTV screen could be clearly recorded

The man in the video had made himself a cup of noodles while waiting. Halfway through his meal, Cheng Bin appeared on the CCTV.

He swiftly put down his noodles and detonated the smoke bomb with his remote control. However, Cheng Bin's face was still very clear on the screen.

The man adjusted the direction of the gun. With a click on his mouse, the gun let out a loud bang and killed the target on the spot. He even added another 3 shots to make sure the governor was totally dead.

Once Cheng Bin was dead, Tang Xiaojiu picked up the video recorder and filmed himself. The man smiled victoriously, “I've settled the first monster. For the next few people, just wait; I'll put down all of you, one by one.”

The recording ended here.

Gu Mingchen turned to Bai Rong. “Seems like even God wants me to marry you.”

“Are these recordings enough to prove your innocence?” Bai Rong was still worried, afraid that all was just a dream.

“This murder footage alone should be enough. From the video ID, it seems like the location of filming was not around here. It should be somewhere near the prosecutor's office. I'll go and check around the police station and the prosecutor's office itself. From there we should be able to find out the house he rented, together with his filming devices and DNA. That should be enough to prove Tang Xiaojiu's crime.” Gu Mingchen explained patiently.

Bai Rong let out a relieved sigh. At least they could finally prove his innocence. This journey was not a waste after all.

Gu Mingchen grabbed the girl's hands tightly as well, his tensed emotions finally relaxed after the hectic mission...