Chapter 121: Aunt and Niece Slain

This story is entirely fictional.

"Fan Wei hasn't been heard from since he left last night. I don't know how the boy is doing. He didn't even give me a call. Sigh, he really is a worry! You, you must never gamble again. You know that's a path of no return, don't you?"

"I know, Auntie Fan. I know that you and Zhang Chi have been kind to me. I promise I will never place bets on the periphery again. I'm buried in debt right now, and I don't even know when I'll be able to pay you back. I will never forget your immense kindness." Zhang Chi bowed to thank her.

"No need for thanks. As long as you live a decent life, Auntie Fan will consider it a good deed done." Auntie Fan remained deeply concerned for her nephew's childhood friend.

"If there's nothing else, I'll be going. Goodbye, Auntie Fan!" Zhang Chi said as he took his leave.

After parting ways with Auntie Fan, Zhang Chi went to the home of their teacher, Wang Yifa.

Wang Yifa was sound asleep, like a dead weight that couldn't be roused, seemingly still lost in a sweet dream.

Wang Yifa opened his eyes, still looking bleary with sleep. "Disturbing someone's beauty sleep early in the morning—what are you doing?"

"You ask me what I'm doing? I should be asking you the same. You dumped me at the karaoke hall and left me to sleep on the sofa until I woke up this morning. I've caught a cold, and you're asking me what I'm doing? You really went too far."

"Even if I went too far, there was nothing I could do. I had things to take care of—tasks assigned by the principal. I had to return, or he would blame me tomorrow. Now, our debts are settled, and there's over forty thousand remaining in the account. We can still live it up, or maybe place a few more bets to see if we can win back what we lost," Wang Yifa rambled.

"Gamble again? I am done with gambling. I gave my word to Fan Wei, and I cannot go back on it. People were kind enough to save us; if we gamble again, it might be fine if we win, but if we lose, no one will be able to save us again. My dear teacher, you need to wake up, too." Zhang Chi spoke as if he were the teacher; it was as if their roles had been completely reversed. "I'll tell you this: last night, I had a nightmare that Zhang Chi and his aunt were both dead. Isn't this dream a bad omen? Could it be a sign that we should stay away from the periphery?"

"It's just a dream, don't make such a fuss. As for omens, I've never believed in so-called fate. Our fate is in our own hands." Wang Yifa clenched his fist and waved it in front of Zhang Chi.

Ever since the match against Haima concluded, and after he spent the night at Auntie Fan's house in Hexi, Nian Weiyi had vanished without a trace.

He was truly terrified—afraid that his apprentice, Fan Wei, would meet with disaster. In Nian Weiyi's eyes, Fan Wei was innocent; at such a young age, he should not have to bear such a heavy burden. The match against Haima had been a complete accident, and the outcome of that accident was something he had never anticipated.

Before he received that threatening phone call, his anxiety had not been so severe. Although he was aware of the shady dealings outside the football pitch, he could not speak of them—he dared not. These were the unwritten rules of the industry, distinct from other professions and impossible to bypass.

Behind these unwritten rules lay real, living souls. In football circles, this was an open secret.

Just as he was filled with apprehension, a call came in from an unknown number.

Nian Weiyi glanced at his phone screen. It kept ringing. He hesitated: should he answer or not? A massive question mark formed in his mind.

Finally, Nian Weiyi answered. A cold voice came from the other end: "Are you Nian Weiyi, the head coach of Dahe?"

Nian Weiyi replied, "I am. I am Nian Weiyi. May I ask who you are...?"

"Don't ask who I am. I'm just someone paid to handle problems. Do you know what kind of capital offense you've committed?" the caller said.

"I am not aware of any capital offense I've committed. Could you tell me?" Nian Weiyi feigned ignorance.

"The match between Dahe and Haima—do you know what you've done?" the caller asked.

"I'm not sure what I've done. All I know is that I acted according to the club's instructions," Nian Weiyi replied.

"Acting on the club's instructions led to that result? Do you have any idea how much of a loss you've caused MC? Your problem is that you promised to follow MC's instructions, but you failed to keep your word. The result was an irreparable economic loss—three hundred million. Isn't your life a fair price to pay for that?" The caller's voice grew colder.

Upon hearing this, Nian Weiyi felt a chill run through his entire body.

The palm of the hand holding the phone was soaked in cold sweat, and beads of sweat the size of beans broke out on his forehead. He looked utterly terrified. After hearing the caller's words, he felt his end was near. Perhaps he had played the lackey for the powerful too often, and the retribution had come too fast—so fast that he hadn't had a chance to prepare.

"Where are you hiding now? Instead of living life on the run like this, why not just end it? Just like your apprentice, Fan Wei—he died quickly and cleanly! If you don't believe me, turn on your television right now and watch the real-time news. See how miserably Fan Wei died. Hahaha!" The voice on the phone sounded like a ghost.

Nian Weiyi turned on the TV and saw the Dahe television station broadcasting the news of Fan Wei's death: "This morning, the Dahe Police Department received a report from a citizen that a male corpse had been discovered in the stones of Dahe. The name is Fan Wei. Police have confirmed the deceased was a forward for the Dahe Football Club. During the match between Dahe and Haima, the player was substituted in for an injured forward near the end of the game and scored the winning goal for Dahe during stoppage time. On the day the match ended, senior management and several players from the Dahe Club were suspected of gambling on the periphery and were placed under investigation. Fan Wei had gone missing. After nearly two days of tracking, the police received a report and found his body in the stones of Hexi. The case is currently under further investigation."

Following this report, the broadcast showed footage of the authorities taking away Dahe Club members Zhang Xu and Huang He. When interviewed by journalists, Dahe Police Chief Ma Shengwei used bureaucratic jargon to stall the crowd: "We will release further information to the public as the case progresses."

Upon hearing the news of Fan Wei's murder, Nian Weiyi was at a loss, sobbing uncontrollably in the room that no one else knew about.

His son had been taken away by the authorities, and he himself was reduced to hiding from place to place. He felt a profound sense of sorrow, especially after hearing of Fan Wei's death. He regretted sending his beloved apprentice to his grave at the final moment of the match.

He was already an old man; finding himself in such a predicament, he could not help but feel utterly depressed.

He began to regret allowing his son to step into this bottomless quagmire, effectively ruining his future. He wondered if he would end up like Fan Wei, dying without anyone knowing the truth. If that happened, there might not even be anyone to collect his body. He struck his own head with his fists, producing a series of dull, thudding sounds.

While worrying about his son, Nian Weiyi was also anxious about Auntie Fan's future.

He felt fortunate that when he had stayed at Auntie Fan's house, he had handed his bank cards over to her. Otherwise, he feared he might not even have had that opportunity.

Nian Weiyi drifted off into a hazy, dreamless sleep.

The nightmare left him drenched in a cold sweat. What filled him with the most despair was that the woman he loved had been murdered, but he did not know by whom—the face of the killer was completely blurred.

He sat up in bed, overcome by a sense of foreboding. His unease grew more intense. As he thought of these things, his heart ached faintly.

Nian Weiyi finally could not hold back any longer; he picked up his phone and dialed Auntie Fan's home.

The phone rang incessantly, but no one answered. He felt as though something truly terrible had happened and scrambled out of bed.

Nian Weiyi dressed and prepared to go to Auntie Fan's house in Hexi in person. He wanted to know if she was safe, praying silently, "Bodhisattva protect her, Bodhisattva protect her!"

He started his sports car. In the dead of night, the engine's roar was particularly distinct. When he slammed on the accelerator, the car shot forward like an arrow released from a bow.

There wasn't a soul on the streets; only the roar of the sports car echoed through the roads of Hexi.

When Nian Weiyi arrived at Auntie Fan's house, he parked the car and walked to the entrance. He immediately smelled something unusual—the stench of death.

Nian Weiyi sensed that the dream he had just had was a grim reality; Auntie Fan's death had already occurred.

He pushed the door gently, and it swung open. As he entered, he tried to turn on the lights, but the power seemed to have been cut.

Using the light from his phone, Nian Weiyi made his way to Auntie Fan's room on the second floor. He saw her lying quietly on the bed.

He reached out to feel for a pulse, but there was no breath left in her.

He immediately began scrolling through his phone, looking for the number of the officer named Wu Zhengzhe.

He clearly remembered that during a previous interrogation, he had received protection from Wu Zhengzhe and had learned that there was a mole in the upper echelons of the Dahe Police Department. At this moment, his priority was his own safety; he had to find someone he could trust absolutely.

(To be continued)