Chapter 5 – Butterfly Effect

6pm.  

It’s the knock off time for the Inspection Division. As Li Hao isn’t a frontline worker, naturally, he knocks off on time.

Usually, Li Hao would have left by now.

But today, Li Hao did not leave in a hurry.

The Chief’s Office.

“Are you saying that you want to do reconnaissance at Zhang Yuan’s house?”, Wang Jie spoke in a deep voice as he took a glance at Li Hao.

“Yes.”

“Both of you are classmates, and now, the case might become a homicide case, it’s fine for you to check it out, but… for a Confidential Chamber staff to submit an application for firearms to be brought home, this is rather problematic.”

That’s right. Li Hao is here to request for firearms.

It has to be approved by Wang Jie before he can bring firearms back home.

Despite the red shadow being something unusual and firearms might be ineffective against it, it isn’t able to appear yet. Therefore, Li Hao has to be more cautious against humans instead.

Firearms are lethal if it’s against humans.

“Chief, it’s not about bringing it home, it’s needed for the case!”

Li Hao corrected him.

Wang Jie finally smiled. Bringing it home and using it for the case, they are two different concepts. This kid is worthy of being a member of the Silver City Ancient College. He changed the nature of it with just a sentence.

“We are from the Confidential Chamber, not the Enforcement Team.”

Wang Jie shook his head.  Li Hao was a little disappointed.

He has yet to come up with a better idea to go against the red shadow. But if he has a gun, it’ll somehow increase his sense of security because he doesn’t have much understanding about it yet.

“For Zhang Yuan’s case, it has only been briefly communicated with the Enforcement Team. We have yet to file this as a case, without that, you won’t be able to apply for firearms.”

Having said that, Wang Jie quickly added after pondering for a while, “How about this, the Silver City Ancient College will be going on an expedition soon. The Inspection Division will be sending some staff to carry out the protection work. Go and fill up the form and apply for it. With that mission that’s in-charge of protection work, you’ll have the qualifications to carry firearms with you.”

Li Hao was flabbergasted, and it turned into helplessness in no time.

It’s back to square one after going in circles?

Chen Na proposed it earlier this morning but was rejected by Li Hao.

He had heard that his mentor will be the one from Silver City Ancient College to lead the team. In other words, if he were to accept this mission, wouldn’t he be meeting his mentor again soon?

Wang Jie noticed Li Hao’s silence and sighed, “What’s wrong? Are you afraid of being beaten up by your mentor, Professor Yuan? I’ve heard that the both of you didn’t end on a good note when you dropped out of school. Xiao Hao, since you’re already with the Investigation Division, you should find opportunities to better your relationship with him. He’s your mentor after all.”

“Should Professor Yuan put in a good word for you, you’ll have a brighter future in the Investigation Division. But if the others know that the both of you aren’t on good terms, it’ll be bad for you. Even though Professor Yuan can’t interfere with the operations of the Inspection Division, others will still take him into consideration. There is no point for you as a 3rd Grade Inspection Officer to be on bad terms with Professor Yuan.

Wang Jie took great pains and was sincere in helping Li Hao without knowing the details. He had only heard that Li Hao didn’t end well with his mentor when he dropped out.

Although the other party does not have the authority to interfere with the promotions in the Investigation Division, the Investigation Division in Silver City will still likely respect him and take his opinion into consideration.

“If you want a gun, this is the best solution. You may also get to improve your relationship with your mentor, it’s killing two birds with one stone…”

He was about to give him a few more pieces of advice as he looked highly on Li Hao.

“Alright!”, before he could continue, he heard Li Hao with a nod.

Those words that he was about to say were jammed up in his throat!

Wang Jie looked at Li Hao bizarrely, didn’t they say that this kid has a stubborn personality although he is kind hearted?

Why did he come into an agreement that easily today?  

“Chief, the rumours out there might not be true. My relationship with my mentor isn’t as exaggerated as what you’ve heard. He was indeed unhappy when I dropped out, but it has been a year since then, he has gotten over it. He was even urging me to do my best at the Inspection Division a few days back.”, Li Hao smiled helplessly.

“That’s good, that’s good!”

Wang Jie nodded his head in satisfaction. Although he doesn’t know if that’s the truth, it won’t deviate too far from it as Li Hao is someone who is rather honest.

“Then you fill up the form. You’ll be heading out with the Inspection Division Team for the expedition in a few days’ time to protect the team from the Silver City Ancient College.”

Li Hao took over the form and took a glance at it. The departure date was set at the end of the month.  

However, the exact destination wasn’t stated and the expedition team is expected to wait for further instructions.

This is to prevent the information from being leaked. The ancient college is of esteemed status that has its value, furthermore, the expedition team from the ancient college will be personally led by my own mentor. It seems that the task isn’t that simple this time round.

It’s also uncertain if it will clash with the red shadow’s matter.

The Night Watchers will most likely come along for Professor Yuan’s expedition. It might actually be a good thing if the red shadow decides to take action during that period of time.

Li Hao filled up the application form in a flash while having thoughts running through his mind.

“Head over to the armoury to collect your armour!”

Wang Jie put away the form.

 “Chief, about Zhang Yuan’s case, it seems… to be a little weird. Do you think that supernatural forces are involved with it? Is our Inspection Division capable enough to take care of the matter?”, Li Hao did not take his leave and asked cautiously after hesitating slightly.

“Hmm?”

Wang Jie took a quick glance at Li Hao. His gaze moved slightly. “What did you hear?”, he asked with a frown.

“No, nothing.”

Although Li Hao was a little embarrassed, he couldn’t suppress his curiosity and crossed the line, “I’m just worried that the Investigation Division… might let the cat out of the bag, or get into trouble. I heard… that the Investigation Division… has another organization?”

“That’s enough!”

“Mind your words! I know you might have heard something about it, but this isn’t a matter that we should be discussing. Furthermore, should it reach that phase, it’ll be problematic! It’s always a load of trouble whenever they are involved!”, Wang Jie said with a frown.

He didn’t wish to elaborate, much less talking about the Night Watchers.

The appearance of these people is not a good sign.

It’ll be problematic once the Night Watchers are involved. Besides, they always bring along problematic matters with them.

Therefore, he doesn’t wish to be involved with the Night Watchers unless it’s the last resort.

As for the Enforcement Team, most likely they are unwilling to interfere with the other party too.

Naturally, the Night Watchers will appear whenever there are no alternatives. At that time, it’ll no longer be an option for the Inspection Division.

“Chief, they usually occur during rainy seasons based on my observation from the past self-combustion cases. It’s almost a year since the last incident. According to past references, it will be happening anytime soon should it be a homicide!”, Li Hao nodded but still decided to remind him again.

Wang Jie noted this down seriously.

As he just took on this case, it’s natural that he is still not as well-versed as Li Hao.

Wang Jie fell into a short silence and nodded, “I’ll inform the Enforcement Team. As for yourself, you need to be careful too when you recce at Zhang Yuan’s house. Do you need more manpower to help out?”

“Nope!”

Li Hao shakes his head. It’s not like he’s seeking for his own death. It’s just that it is useless if the others who are just ordinary people aren’t able to see the red shadow when it shows up.

It isn’t a big issue if he did not get to encounter the red shadow, as he has other plans for carrying the gun around.

Furthermore, most of the people in the Confidential Chamber are administrators. Should they encounter trouble, who is the one that needs to be protected is still questionable.

“You need to be more vigilant. Although he has been dead for a year, I don’t think there’ll be any danger.”

Wang Jie waved his hand to signal Li Hao to leave.

……

Li Hao felt relieved after he left the office.

Wang Jie is very thoughtful.

Li Hao walked towards the armoury while holding on to the approval paper from Wang Jie. Not long after that,  he arrived and collected a metallic looking black gun.

The 3rd generation revolver has a shooting range of 50 meters. Any distance that exceeds 50 meters will be inaccurate.

It was said that some of the big cities have started using the 4th generation revolver which can accurately shoot up to 100 meters. As the Silver City isn’t considered big and it has yet to popularize over here, some of the 1st -line law enforcement team are still using the 3rd generation revolver.

There’s a total of 18 bullets allotted. It can hold six cartridges per round and is able to fire continuously – a rather intimidating weapon.

[TL note: I have no knowledge about guns. My apologies if I did a bad job at describing it.]

Even though Li Hao is working in the Confidential Chambers, he was officially trained for a month when he joined the Investigation Division, and shooting was one of the training programmes. Therefore, he isn’t as bad as being unable to use it even if he has one.

It’s just that it has been a long time since he last used it as he has been staying in the Confidential Chambers all this time.

With a gun on him, Li Hao’s confidence level had a little boost.

It is still unknown if it is destructive against the red shadow. No one is able to see it except me. If I were to shoot it, would it be effective against it?

“Looking at Chief Wang’s reaction, it seems like the Enforcement Team is unwilling to inform the Night Watchers just yet. But we are short on time, can they handle it without the help from Night Watchers?”

“If I reveal that I am able to see the red shadow at this point…”

An idea flashed across Li Hao’s mind.

But he cannot help but recall the previous cases. Eventually, a group of them who were able to see the red shadow died.

What happens after they die?

For cases such as being able to see the red shadow, there’s a possibility that the Night Watchers will interfere, but those people were either missing or dead in the end.

Li Hao has no idea if those people were dead or were recruited into the Night Watchers.

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This kind of uncertainty caused Li Hao to struggle.

If the Night Watchers have the ability to deal with the red shadow and are also willing to take care of it, it is worthy to get himself exposed. He’s just afraid… are the Night Watchers colluding with the red shadow?

Should he expose himself in advance, will the Night Watchers deal with the red shadow or will they deal with him first?

“The mysterious power… The Night Watchers and the red shadow are similar. Are they together in this or are they opposing enemies?”

Li Hao is unable to determine as he is lacking in his intelligence network.

What Li Hao worries the most is that they’re actually colluding with each other, and whoever discovered the existence of red shadow had all been silenced.

This is a pain in the neck!

Li Hao felt vex at this moment.

He wishes for the Night Watchers to deal with the red shadow, to help his parents and Zhang Yuan to take revenge, but he was also afraid that he might be silenced by the Night Watchers should he expose himself.

“Let’s wait for a few more days…”

Li Hao knows that he’s in danger, but despite that, he’ll rather wait for a few more days to see what the Enforcement Team has decided on.

For now, he is just someone who had accidentally stumbled upon the abnormal self-combustion cases. He trusts that the Enforcement Team will notice it soon if they get serious about it.

Li Hao feels that if there’s someone who is smart in the Enforcement Team at that moment,  they’ll contact the Night Watchers in advance.

Just a few moments ago, Li Hao revealed that another self-combustion case might happen anytime soon. This is to make the Enforcement Team feel the urgency. If he is able to lure out the Night Watchers via the Enforcement Team, he no longer needs to expose his ability to see the red shadow.

“Furthermore, Prof Yuan will be leading a team for an expedition soon. By right, the Night Watchers are supposed to appear at that time. Even if there aren’t any Night Watchers in Silver City, they will be rushing over within these few days.”

After going through the matter once, he is convinced that the Night Watchers will appear. With that, Li Hao ditched his idea of exposing himself.

We’ll know very soon if they are in cahoots.

If the Night Watchers didn’t appear before the weather turns bad and approach him to understand more about the situation… he’ll have to think of other methods to expose himself.

……

Stepped out of the Investigation Division.

The scorching sun has set, the sky is slightly tinted in red, and the night is rising.

There aren’t many pedestrians as the weather has been humid recently, even at around 8 – 9pm. Thus, not many people want to come out.

Li Hao’s place isn’t far from the Inspection Division – about 7km to 8km away.

Li Hao hopped onto his bicycle after retrieving it. He has been cycling to work in the past year.

Part of the reason is to train his physique, and the other reason is to avoid the dangers.  

It is difficult to detect danger at crowded places.

Ever since Zhang Yuan died, Li Hao has been vigilant.

After he hopped onto his ride, he looked around casually as though he’s just checking the traffic and admiring the view. But in actual fact, he’s checking to see if anyone is tailing him.

Especially on this day, after he verified that he’s the next target of the red shadow.

Li Hao ponders, how did the red shadow pinpoint their location?

According to Li Hao’s deduction, the appearance of red shadow isn’t long. They’ll disappear very quickly whenever they appear. If that’s the case, how did it manage to pinpoint their location accurately?

Could there be someone who is secretly observing in advance while waiting for the red shadow to take action?

There’s a possibility in this.  

Although he wasn’t a professional inspector, Li Hao still possesses some basic anti-reconnaissance capabilities.

“No findings for the time being, could it be that the red shadow has the ability to detect our location directly? Does it have anything to do with the Sword of Starry Sky that’s on me? Is it able to locate us via these heirlooms?”

The bicycle moved slowly. The 3rd generation revolver was placed in the inner pocket of his top. He unbuttoned it which makes it seem like he’s enjoying the wind, but in actual fact, it allows him to reach his gun at the fastest speed.   

As per usual, Li Hao did not notice any problems.

But when he reaches a downhill road and the moment his bicycle starts to speed up, his heart skips a beat.

While speeding down on his bicycle, Li Hao saw a car in the opposite lane. A normal looking black sedan is approaching from the opposite side. There is no difference with the other cars on the road.  

“Silver 7219!”

Li Hao’s heart shook. It doesn’t feel right.

He just saw this car. Although the street is full of cars like the one here, which is a very basic form of transport where 10 out of 9 are these, but… Li Hao remembered this car plate!

For Li Hao who was admitted into the Silver City Ancient College, he has his own strengths.

It is necessary to have a good memory.

If he doesn’t have any merits, Professor Yuan wouldn’t have noticed him nor will he become a student of his.

“Something doesn’t seem right. The car was travelling with me in the same direction earlier on. Since I’m riding, I’m slow, and this car overtook me and left 7 minutes ago!”

According to the speed of this car, for 7 minutes, if it were to keep going forward, it’s a straight road ahead without any suitable stops.

If it’s running errands like driving someone there, it’s also impossible to be back so soon.

Now that the other party has driven back towards Li Hao, it indicates that it drove back shortly after he left.

Li Hao appeared to be calm, but his heart was trembling.

“It has never happened before, this is the first… is someone tailing me?”

“Why?”

Li Hao came to a conclusion. His report to Wang Jie… might have been… leaked!

“There’s a mole in the Inspection Division!”

“Most likely someone from the Enforcement Team!”

This is the first thought that came to his mind. His heart felt heavy unknowingly. Although it might be a coincidence for the other party to drive back, Li Hao doesn’t dare to treat this as a mere coincidence.

Any coincidence should be treated as being fully prepared.

“Chief Wang went to inform the Enforcement Team about the self-combustion cases. If the team knows that I’m the one who requested for a review of those cases, there’s a high possibility that they’ll target me! But if the Enforcement Team needed clarifications, they could have approached me directly. There isn’t a need to tail me as I’m just a classmate on the surface who’s concerned about the case…”   

“Previously, all the people who reported their sightings of red shadow were quickly found to be… Actually, I’ve been suspecting that there’s a spy from the red shadow or Night Watchers in the Inspection Division!”

Li Hao has seen those case files. Those who reported their sightings of red shadow were either dead or went missing soon after that.

Naturally, it is actually hard to be noticed if no one is concerned about it.

Many inspectors who receive cases like these will just record it and gloss it over. They will never revisit the cases as they are kind of insignificant.

However, there is someone who is concerned about it.

What does that mean?

It proves that there is someone in the Inspection Division who is paying extra attention to this. As soon as someone makes a report, the other party will get wind of it immediately.

“Am I being targeted?”

“Is it because I’m the one who brought up the self-combustion cases, and are they trying to verify if I’m able to see the red shadow, or did I notice it by chance?”

“When Xiao Yuan died last year, I dare not reveal the fact that I saw the red shadow. From my actions, they will most likely assume that I chanced upon it instead of my ability to see the red shadow. Otherwise, I would have reported it last year!”

Within a short span of time, Li Hao thought and analysed a lot of things.

At any rate, he is a 3rd Grade Inspection Officer, and also the one who noticed the problems of those self-combustion cases. Li Hao conjectures that even if someone is in cahoots with the red shadow, they wouldn’t have chosen this time to attack him. It will only prove that those self-combustion cases are questionable, which will cause more problems.  

“This is getting interesting!’

Li Hao snorted in his heart. On the surface, he appears to be indifferent and continues to cycle.

As for the car that was marked by him, it disappears not long after that too.

……

Silver 7219.

In the car that was driving towards Li Hao, other than a middle-aged male driver, there was also a plain looking middle-aged woman sitting beside him.

Just like any other regular middle-aged couple, there is nothing special.

“No discovery.”

After driving past Li Hao, the car was silent for a moment before the woman spoke in a low voice.

The driver appears to be inattentive.

“Most likely an accident. He must have paid extra attention to this case as Zhang Yuan was his best friend.”, the driver replied in a calm voice after a short while.

The woman nodded lightly.

The car resumed back to its silence.

“We shouldn’t exclude other possibilities. Let’s continue to observe from afar for the time being. Be more vigilant recently as those troublesome guys might be coming to Silver City.”

“Understood!”

The woman nodded her head again as she knew who the driver was referring to. Those guys are definitely troublesome.

The car fell into complete silence.

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