Taking the Fall and Framing

Dawn broke, and the morning light arrived.

So much had happened overnight, but Lan Mu had ultimately weathered it all. He walked now in his human form, and no one knew he was the instigator of last night's events that had left the Kuala Lumpur police utterly humiliated.

Lan Mu was currently communicating with passersby in English, but their broken English gave him a splitting headache.

Malai had its own languages, but English was their former official language, so many still spoke "Malaysian English," a colloquial form of English heavily influenced by Malay, Chinese dialects, and Tamil.

Though nominally English, it was likely only locals could truly understand it. Lan Mu's attempt to communicate with his "Chinglish" was like talking to a brick wall.

Furthermore, the person seemed to recognize he was Chinese and grew annoyed by his repeated questions. They directly raised a hand, pointed at a bus stop sign, and said an English word.

Lan Mu understood; they were telling him to go there.

After pointing at the sign, the person quickly walked away. Lan Mu didn't mind, noting it was seven in the morning and assuming the person was just in a hurry for work.

He patted his pockets. No money. In fact, he had nothing but his bow and arrows. Everything else was with Du Yu.

Lan Mu was in a truly sorry state. He thought, Du Yu has my things. According to my agreement with Fang Moqi, he'll definitely give my wallet and passport to Fang Moqi. If Fang Moqi is in a hurry to leave, he'll surely leave my things at our agreed meeting spot for me to pick up.

According to the agreement, even if Lan Mu didn't show up, he could still retrieve his belongings from the meeting spot afterward.

Once I have money and my passport, it'll be easy to go back.

"But the meeting spot is Huaxin Hotel. Where is that? I don't even know the way!"

Lan Mu was dumbfounded. His original plan was to call Fang Moqi to pick him up after arriving in Kuala Lumpur. But Fang Moqi had clearly already left, and he was penniless. He couldn't even take a taxi. His situation was incredibly awkward.

Just then, a bus arrived. Lan Mu looked up and memorized the station name the passerby had pointed to. Below the station name was an English label: Chinatown.

"So it's Chinatown. Maybe Huaxin Hotel is there. Even if not, there are many Chinese people there, so asking for directions should be easy."

Having decided on his destination, he ducked into an alley, instantly transformed into a Hunter, and then turned invisible. He leaped onto the roof of the bus, crouching there to ride for free.

He carefully observed each stop along the way, counting in his head, expecting to get off around the sixth stop.

However, after two stops, he discovered with tears welling up that these buses seemed to be free...

Because no one paid upon boarding, nor did they swipe a card. People just got on, sat down, and got off at their stop.

"What the... Free buses! And here I was, invisible on the roof..."

After six stops, Lan Mu jumped off the bus and looked at the sign. The name was indeed what the passerby had told him.

Furthermore, a prominent red archway stood at the intersection, inscribed with the traditional Chinese characters "茨厂街" (Jalan Petaling).

This was Kuala Lumpur's Chinatown. Chinese people were everywhere in the world, and while the names of Chinatowns varied, they usually had similar archways.

Chinatown wasn't bustling during the day. Only a few stalls sold snacks and cold drinks. The streets were empty, with very few people.

Chinese characters were everywhere in Chinatown, mostly simplified, with a small portion in traditional script. It felt familiar, like finally finding his people.

Kuala Lumpur was very hot in midsummer. It was only around eight o'clock, but the sun was already scorching.

A middle-aged vendor selling tea noticed Lan Mu and smiled, "Chinese?"

Lan Mu paused, seized the opportunity, and nodded, "Yes! I'm from Modu."

"Oh, great place! Hot, isn't it? Have a cup of Luo Han Guo, longan, rock sugar, and winter melon tea!"

Lan Mu was stunned. Luo Han Guo? Longan? Rock sugar? Winter melon? Tea? What kind of drink was this?!

The middle-aged uncle, slightly bald on top, had a kind expression and the shrewdness typical of a vendor. His accent was clearly Cantonese. Upon learning Lan Mu was from Modu, he immediately switched to Mandarin, albeit a Cantonese-influenced Mandarin.

Lan Mu was short on cash and found it hard to speak up, so he refused the uncle's offer of the winter melon tea.

The middle-aged uncle had already noticed Lan Mu's disheveled clothing and lack of luggage, suspecting he might have encountered some trouble.

Seeing him sweating profusely and not buying any drinks, he smiled and said, "It's on the house. Drink up."

Lan Mu felt awkward and quickly waved his hands, shaking his head, "No need, I'm really not thirsty."

"Hey, it's only about two yuan in soft currency. Drink up!"

The uncle placed the secret recipe tea into Lan Mu's hand. Lan Mu smiled, tilted his head back, and drank it down.

Surprisingly, despite the mixture of many ingredients, the taste was quite good. It was cool, soothing, and flavorful.

After drinking the tea, Lan Mu took the chance to ask, "Uncle, can you give me directions? Do you know Huaxin Hotel?"

"If not, can you tell me how to get to the airport?"

The uncle thought for a moment and said, "Huaxin! I know. Go to the end of the street, turn, and it's next to Zhenhua School."

Lan Mu understood and thanked him before walking down the street.

He reached the end of the street and turned right. Suddenly, a group of students surged towards him, chattering excitedly. They were holding banners and performing some sort of ceremony or activity, all speaking Chinese. They gathered together, chanting slogans like "Revitalize Chinese," and seemed to be local Chinese descendants.

People in the shops along the street smiled at the sight. The students also looked relaxed, and as they chanted, they started playfully roughhousing.

It seemed like an activity regularly organized by students from the nearby school, likely to foster a learning atmosphere, perhaps related to Zhenhua School.

"It looks like it's just ahead."

After walking for about five minutes, Lan Mu spotted a school. Not far from the school was a seven-story hotel – Huaxin Hotel.

"Finally found it."

Lan Mu entered the hotel and saw only a young girl at the front desk. He asked, "Hello, a friend of mine was staying in room 0501. Has he checked out already?"

The girl was stunned and replied in broken Mandarin, "Please wait a moment..."

This girl's Mandarin was far worse than the uncle's, and she had a heavy Minnan accent.

The girl rummaged through the front desk for a moment before saying, "Yes, room 0501 checked out today. Is there anything else, sir?"

Lan Mu exclaimed, "Checked out today? Didn't they say they'd wait for me until the fourth?"

"Um, did he leave anything behind? I'm his friend. He must have told you someone would come looking for him, right?"

The girl blinked, struggling to understand Lan Mu's words. She said, "No, I don't know."

Lan Mu chuckled, speechless. He thought to himself, What is Fang Moqi up to? Am I really going to have to sneak onto a plane?

He shook his head with a wry smile and walked out of the Huaxin Hotel, wandering aimlessly through Chinatown.

His luggage, including his wallet and passport, was all with Fang Moqi. It was impossible for him to go home through normal channels. It would be good enough if he wasn't found out as an undocumented immigrant by the local authorities.

As for being deported, Lan Mu dismissed the idea immediately. He'd rather sneak back directly than be deported as an illegal immigrant. It would be better to do it quietly.

Without realizing it, Lan Mu had wandered back to the entrance of Chinatown.

The group of students was also at the entrance. They weren't shouting the slogans they learned in school anymore. Instead, they were huddled together, discussing something.

The tea stall uncle was nearby, talking to a man with a worried expression.

Lan Mu walked over and overheard someone say, "I can only beg Boss Yang. Our circus is truly out of options."

The uncle replied to the man, "How did it get this bad? Li Wei is such an honest person, how could he get into such serious trouble?"

"It really wasn't him! Li Wei doesn't have that kind of capability! Last night, the entire city's police force was mobilized. I heard many police officers died. Li Wei was watching TV with us at the circus when the police suddenly burst in and arrested him. It doesn't make any sense!" The man looked distressed and spoke with great grievance.

The uncle sighed, "The matter is too big. The entire city was in an uproar last night, and now it's a sensitive time. Even Boss Yang can't do much!"

The students, however, were indignant. "We all know a major case happened last night, but that was at Great Han Mountain! It's over a hundred miles away, why would they arrest someone in the city?"

"Look! Look! This is the news that was just released!" a student shouted, holding up his phone.

Everyone's attention was drawn to the news.

"Suspect arrested for murdering police officers at Great Han Mountain. Sixteen police officers died in the line of duty... The suspect, Li Wei, male, 26 years old, is guilty of heinous crimes. He is a Malaysian Chinese, a zookeeper at the Longyue Circus, skilled in hypnosis, and possesses special hallucinogenic drugs. He used the Asian red foxes he kept at the circus as a cover for his crimes, fabricating them as ghosts to commit murder... After a night of effort by the police, he has finally been arrested and brought to justice... Extremely vicious, he will be brought to court for prosecution tomorrow..."

Lan Mu also squeezed into the crowd to watch the news. This was information released by the local police, and all the media outlets had started reporting on it early in the morning.

The news also included photos of the arrested suspect and the fox. Li Wei had a square face and looked bewildered. The fox made Lan Mu even more speechless. It was clearly a red fox, small in stature, measuring only about 1.4 meters including its tail.

Lan Mu's first reaction was that the police had arrested someone to take the blame. Moreover, he had killed more than forty people last night, and they were only reporting sixteen here. It seemed the police couldn't withstand the pressure.

One student asked blankly, "Li Wei is skilled in hypnosis?"

Another student angrily replied, "Are you stupid? Even if he knows hypnosis, could he kill sixteen police officers? And the fox reported by the media last night was clearly white! Are they treating us like fools by showing a red fox today!"

With that said, who could still deny that the information released by the police was false? It was clearly nonsense!

The Longyue Circus was very famous in Chinatown. Every year, Boss Yang, the leader of Chinatown's Chinese community, would spend money to invite them to perform in Chinatown several times a year. The circus members were all well-known to the residents of Chinatown. Li Wei was just an ordinary zookeeper there. He didn't just keep foxes; he also kept pigeons, cats, dogs, monkeys, bear cubs, and even large pythons.

This person was usually very honest. If Li Wei had inexplicably gone to the Great Han Sha tropical rainforest in the suburbs last night to kill sixteen police officers, they wouldn't believe it even if they were beaten to death!

"Uncle Yang is here! Uncle Yang is here!" As the students were arguing angrily, someone suddenly shouted.

Lan Mu looked back. A black car drove over and stopped by the roadside. An old man with graying temples got out. He looked very energetic and was probably only in his fifties.

Behind him followed a young man in a suit and tie. Seeing him, everyone present sincerely called out, "Boss Yang."

The old man was Boss Yang. He walked up to the students with a stern face and said, "What are you all shouting about? Stop shouting and go back to class! Aren't you going to your first class?"

Despite being reprimanded by Boss Yang, the students were still defiant and shouted, "Li Wei was arrested! He's definitely being framed!"

Boss Yang said solemnly, "That's none of your business. Go back to class! Little Ancestor! Especially you! I'm calling your dad to drag you back right now!"

One student, singled out by Boss Yang, shrank back into the crowd.

The other students didn't dare to make a fuss anymore and obediently returned to school.

Finally, the troublesome students were dealt with. Only the circus man, the tea stall uncle, and Lan Mu remained.

Boss Yang sized up Lan Mu and asked, "Who are you? I haven't seen you before..."

Lan Mu smiled, "Hello, my name is Lan Mu, I'm from Modu..."

Boss Yang exclaimed, "You? Lan Mu?"

"Huh?" Lan Mu was surprised. "You know me?"

Boss Yang chuckled, "You're Xiao Fang's friend, right?"

Lan Mu suddenly understood and smiled, "Fang Moqi is my friend... Did he leave anything..."

Boss Yang patted Lan Mu's shoulder. "He told me to look for you before he left. I didn't expect you to find me yourself. That's right, your things are all with me. I'll take care of everything regarding your return to China."

"Thank you so much!" Lan Mu quickly thanked him, thinking to himself that Fang Moqi had quite extensive connections. This Boss Yang clearly seemed like a local influential figure with great prestige in Chinatown. If Fang Moqi needed to do anything in Malai, he would likely have to seek his help.

Boss Yang said with a smile, "What's there to thank? If you're Xiao Fang's friend, you're my friend Yang Xiong's friend!"

Just then, the circus man couldn't help but interject with a worried expression.

"Boss Yang, about Li Wei's matter, I can only beg you! If you don't save him, he's dead!"