Shi Dazhuang said, "Overdosing on drugs can lead to mental problems, and this isn't the first time we've encountered this."
"They've drawn blood; this guy hasn't been doing drugs at all. Either he's faking it, or he's genuinely insane! I bet he's faking it!"
Peng Jiahu spoke, he slammed his fist on the table indignation, causing the water in the paper cup to spill out.
"It's only now that they're putting on this 'civilized law enforcement' act, even installing sniffer cameras to record arrests and interrogations. If it were before... ugh! Laozi just don't understand, why the hell are they so polite to these drug dealers!"
Shi Dazhuang shook his head and said, " Tiger, you haven't changed your bad temper at all!"
Peng Jiahu said, "I can never change this in my lifetime!"
Qingmu's heart skipped a beat, and he asked, "Have there ever been cases of mentally ill people dealing drugs before?"
Peng Jiahu said, "Last year we did arrest a Madman and took him to the city for evaluation. He was indeed mentally ill, but he hadn't used drugs, so we released him in the end."
"The source of the drugs could not be found?"
"Investigate my ass! He's a Madman known for miles around, who knows where he picked up the drugs? Come to think of it, drug dealers aren't stupid, who would let a mentally ill person carry the drugs all the way from Masuba to Ruihekou for a transaction? What if he ran off to Xishuangbanna halfway? The worst thing is if he's faking his madness." Peng Jiahu waved his fist and said, "It used to be easy, a beating would cure any madness! Now it's different, interrogating him will drive you crazy! If I die in the future, it'll definitely be because of these bastards, you believe me!"
"What kind of discouraging nonsense are you spouting!" Shi Dazhuang cursed.
Peng Jiahu chuckled, "It's alright, I'm lucky to be alive!"
Shi Dazhuang frowned, tapping the table rhythmically with the end of his chopsticks. His veteran detective instincts told him something was amiss, " Tiger, you'd better be careful. Someone might be exploiting this loophole, using mental patients to smuggle drugs."
Peng Jiahu said, "Don't worry, I'm taking it very seriously! At most, it'll be a few days before the city finishes its assessment and sends it back, and then Teacher Qingmu will review it again. Hey, you guys can't leave so soon! Once Yu Gang's martyr's certificate comes through, let's go to the martyrs' cemetery to pay our respects, and it'll be a good opportunity for our old comrades to get together!"
Shi Dazhuang said, "I only have seven days off, ten at most. I need God's blessing so that no major cases happen in Wuzhong."
After saying that, he looked at Qingmu.
Qingmu said, "I don't care."
Peng Jiahu liked men who dressed casually, drank heartily, and acted without hesitation. He laughed heartily, finding Qingmu increasingly endearing, and remarked that Shi Dazhuang had brought a good brother.
It was almost 2 PM when they finished their meal. Shi Dazhuang and Qingmu said goodbye and drove away from Ruihekou into the mountains.
The winding mountain road stretches as far as the eye can see. Some sections are so narrow that only one car can pass at a time. If a car is coming from the opposite direction, it has to find a notch to stop and wait for the other car to pass before it can continue.
Shi Dazhuang continued to demonstrate his superb driving skills.
Qingmu joked, "You're driving under the influence and speeding, how many points should you get deducted?"
"It's been so many years since I've taken off my police uniform. I'm finally wearing civilian clothes again, so please let me indulge myself this once in a while! Everyone needs to indulge themselves occasionally!"
Shi Dazhuang, as if he had returned to his youthful days of fighting.
The road was dangerous and the car was fast, but fortunately there were very few cars on that section, so the journey was relatively smooth. They arrived at a small town called Mangdian before nightfall.
It's called a town, but it's really just two streets, filled with single-story houses and low-rise buildings of two or three stories. The five-story hotel where they parked had a sign for the Mangdian Grand Hotel on its roof, making it the tallest and most upscale building in town.
"Don't let its small size fool you, business is booming! It's the only decent hotel for miles around," Shi Dazhuang said as he led Qingmu inside. "This used to be a drug dealer's hideout. Many Venomous Snake crossing from Mianyue liked to trade here. After they were busted, the government took control of it, and later it was contracted out to a private individual."
There were many people coming and going in the hotel, most of them speaking a local dialect that Qingmu couldn't understand.
Shi Dazhuang said, "This place is inhabited by Jing, Dai, and Han people, as well as some from Mianyue, so the accents are very mixed. If you came here before, you really couldn't get by if you didn't speak the local dialect. Now it's different; everyone has started speaking Mandarin, especially the young people, although their pronunciation isn't very accurate."
A filthy, disheveled, and Madman burst in from outside, only to be stopped and yelled at by the hotel staff, "What are you doing here again, you damned beggar? Get out!"
The Madman, baring his teeth and claws and shouting "Ura ura!", tried to force his way in, but was pulled out by two men who held him by the elbows.
As he passed by Qingmu, the Madman suddenly fell silent for three seconds, staring intently at Qingmu, before babbling on and on.
Aoki asked in confusion, "What did he say?"
The hotel staff glanced at Qingmu's attire and said with a smile, "He thinks you're gay."
Qingmu saw the Madman outside the hotel's revolving glass doors, still shouting "Ula ula!" at him.
Shi Dazhuang asked the hotel to arrange a room and said to Qingmu, "It's too late today. We'll go into the mountains tomorrow and bring the Beauty out."
Qingmu asked, "Is 'Beauty' the name of your comrade's daughter?"
Shi Dazhuang said, "Yes, my comrade-in-arms, Yu Gang, spent his whole life dealing with drug dealers. Do you know there's a flower that looks exactly like a poppy?"
" Yu Meiren?"
"That's right! He wanted his daughter to be a beautiful Yu Meiren, not a deadly opium poppy."
The rooms at the Mangdian Grand Hotel were very basic, and the number of mosquitoes inside was not much less than outside. Despite having prepared mosquito repellent, Shi Dazhuang still got bitten quite a few times on his body and legs.
When Shi Dazhuang woke up the next morning, he looked at the clean-cut Qingmu and exclaimed, "Huh! Do the mosquitoes here prefer to kill those they know?"
Qingmu blurted out out of the blue, "Mosquitoes dream too."
Shi Dazhuang laughed and said, "Don't tell me you hypnotized all the mosquitoes!"
When I went out, I ran into that Madman again.
The Madman saw Qingmu and ran over to him, babbling incomprehensible words.
Just as he was about to crash into Qingmu, another Madman suddenly ran out from the side, also yelling incoherently, and collided with the Madman.
The two Madman started fighting, tearing their pants and revealing their dirty, black buttocks. They continued wrestling along the side street, attracting many children who followed behind, clapping and cheering.
After leaving Mangdian, and after a bumpy ride on an incredibly rugged and treacherous mountain road that only a true off-road vehicle and a driving skill comparable to Shi Dazhuang could traverse, Shi Dazhuang parked the car on a barren piece of land.
"It's about five li ahead to Kuaziba. Cars can't go in, you'll have to walk." Shi Dazhuang took out the gifts, including Tushu, that he had prepared earlier from the car, while looking at Qingmu's slippers. "The mountain road is difficult to walk on. I have shoes in the car, would you like to change?"
Qingmu got out of the car, walked a few steps, and said, "Don't worry, my shoes are of very good quality."