Work Prophet
Chapter 569 - 1 Nightmare

Chapter 569: Chapter 1 Nightmare

"Captain Han, Captain Han, wake up, we’re almost at the place you mentioned."

Song Hongbiao woke Han Bin, who was in the passenger seat; the latter opened his eyes, stretched, and instinctively reached into his pocket, pulling out half a pack of cigarettes.

Han Bin took one out and placed it in his mouth.

He then searched his pants pockets for a lighter, but after rummaging around, he couldn’t find it. Eventually, it was Song Hongbiao, who was driving, that took one out from the glove compartment and handed it to him.

"Captain Han, you were having a nightmare just now."

"Huh?"

"I saw you frowning in your sleep, muttering to yourself, ’It’s all fake, it’s all fake.’ Did you dream about the end of the world again?"

Han Bin lit his cigarette, took a deep drag, then opened the car window and flicked the ashes outside, "Maybe I’ve been too tired these days."

"But last time after that homicide case, you only slept for two days out of the week, and you looked as lively as ever. You didn’t go back home to catch up on sleep but instead called people over to play mahjong."

Han Bin snorted, "I’m already thirty-five, do you expect me to keep pulling all-nighters?"

"Then don’t go looking for trouble," Song Hongbiao said, parking the car by the roadside.

"The guys came to Z City to catch someone and are already exhausted from staking out the target every day. Captain Han, you think that’s not busy enough, running over to the neighboring L City on top of everything. If Director Guo finds out, we’re both definitely in for a scolding."

"Cut the crap, I’m just going to meet someone and ask a few questions before heading back," Han Bin said, "You think about what we’ll eat tonight while in the car."

"So you’re treating, Captain Han?"

"If I say I’ll treat, then I’ll treat," Han Bin replied, while pushing open the car door and getting out.

Song Hongbiao watched as Han Bin’s figure disappeared into the residential complex opposite, then he turned on the car’s radio and found a station playing comic dialogues to listen to for a while.

About a quarter of an hour later, the passenger side door was pulled open, and Han Bin got back into the car, proceeding to take another cigarette out of the pack and light it up.

"Let’s go, back to Z City."

"You done?"

"Done."

"How’d it go?" Song Hongbiao asked curiously.

Han Bin shook his head.

"I just don’t get it," Song Hongbiao shifted gears as he spoke, "Captain Han, why are you so fixated on that company called Third Era? Haven’t we already checked them out? They didn’t do anything illegal."

"And even if they did something illegal, shouldn’t that fall under the jurisdiction of the economic crime division? What does it have to do with us? Hate to say it, Captain Han, but you’re kind of like a dog trying to catch mice, sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong."

"Who are you calling a dog," Han Bin said, "Drive, I’m hungry. Let’s head back to Z City for some rice noodles."

"Hey, rice noodles again? Captain Han, you told me to pick, and I want to eat at Haidilao!" Song Hongbiao protested.

"No time for that," Han Bin said. "Don’t you have to go on a stakeout tonight?"

"Damn!" Song Hongbiao exclaimed, "Captain Han, you’re that kind of person, huh? You never really intended to treat me properly from the start."

"Alright, alright, stop complaining. Just remember, once we wrap up this case, I’ll treat you to Haidilao,"

"That’s more like it," Song Hongbiao finally satisfied.

Meanwhile, Han Bin had smoked half of his second cigarette. He opened the car window again, and the cold wind from outside somewhat eased his irritable mood.

Song Hongbiao spoke up again at this point, "Right, I remember reading something online before, saying that dreams are a manifestation of your subconscious. If you often have the same nightmare, it is very likely related to some tragic event in your childhood."

"I didn’t have any tragic events in my childhood."

"Then it must be because you watched a similar movie or read a novel recently."

"No, I’ve been too busy to death, when would I have time for entertainment and relaxation."

"That’s strange, why would you, Captain Han, have nightmares? And keep having the same one over and over."

After a moment of silence, Han Bin said, "Tang Mengjia."

"What?"

"Tang Mengjia, I just visited her grandparents," explained Han Bin.

"Then this Tang Mengjia..."

"Eleven years old, female, lived in B city with her parents, fifth-grade elementary student. Two months ago, she fell down the school stairs, tragically hitting the back of her head. She was taken to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead."

"Oh. I seem to remember now. Captain Han, didn’t you initially suspect campus bullying in this case?

"But after asking around, whether it was her parents or her classmates and teachers, everyone said they hadn’t seen her being bullied, so, it probably was just incredibly bad luck."

"What, Captain Han, have you found some new clues?" Seeing the traffic jam ahead, Song Hongbiao honked twice, but there was no movement. Hence, he could only continue waiting and turned his attention back to the conversation with Han Bin.

"I haven’t found anything else about the cause of death, but later, Tang Mengjia’s mother, Dong Yuanli, came looking for me," said Han Bin.

"Really, when? What for?"

"She told me she had seen her daughter again."

"Ah, that’s quite common. Family members of the deceased, due to excessive grief, do experience hallucinations. But when a person is dead, they are dead, and the body was cremated..."

"Tang Mengjia’s body wasn’t cremated."

"Ah?"

"Her parents signed a body donation form, so after she died, the Red Cross immediately took her body away."

"I see, is there a problem?" asked Song Hongbiao, puzzled.

"There’s no issue with the procedure, but when I went to the Red Cross, I found that Tang Mengjia’s body was sent to a research institute. When I got there, however, the researchers wouldn’t let me see Tang Mengjia’s body.

"Not until I threatened to apply for a search warrant did they tell me that Tang Mengjia’s body had already been cremated because there was an issue with the research, and her body was no longer useful.

"So, I checked all the crematoriums in the city, and sure enough, I found Tang Mengjia’s name at one of them. But this time, I had the foresight to ask the cremator responsible for that day.

"However, the cremator had no recollection of Tang Mengjia. When I asked if he could have forgotten, he said that because of his job, he sees many dead bodies every day, but for someone so young, he wouldn’t forget so easily if he had seen them."

"So where did Tang Mengjia’s body go?" Song Hongbiao was astonished.

"That is the question," Han Bin said. "I continued to investigate the research institute and found that among their donors was a company named Weide Health, who donated the most money and did so most frequently.

"This is an international company with headquarters in Switzerland. I can’t find much information about them here in China, but while investigating, I discovered a consulting firm called the Third Era had a rather close connection with Weide Health.

"They are a consulting company. It’s normal for them to provide advice to clients," said Song Hongbiao, who wanted to smoke as the car was stuck in the middle of the road.

"The problem is, the Third Era is not a normal consulting company," Han Bin said indifferently.