What Are They Doing 2022 Chapter 10

1

When Wang Guo and Liu Sang got out of the car, Liu Sang could see a bunch of people surrounding the footpath between the fields in the distance.

There were crime scene technicians and policemen, along with police tape surrounding the scene.

It was close to the main road so a bunch of people were watching. The traffic cops tried to get the crowd to disperse but it didn’t seem to have much effect.

Wang Guo lifted the police tape and walked closer. Everyone was familiar with him but they all gave Liu Sang questioning looks.

“It’s against the rules for me to bring you here so don’t talk,” Wang Guo said to him.

Liu Sang nodded—he didn’t want to talk either. There were too many people here and everyone’s heartbeats had converged, making him feel a little nauseous.

“You promise you’re not a reporter?”

“I’m not,” Liu Sang confirmed.

“Since there aren’t any private detectives in China, what kind of detective are you a fan of?”

“I already told you in the car that I have reasons for being interested in this matter. You’ll only hear them in exchange for bringing me on-site or providing me with useful information.”

Wang Guo looked at him and said, “You know, there’s a story where someone like you appears. They’re a highly intelligent detective and we policemen are all just a foil to make them stand out more. I bet you’re like this.”

Liu Sang sighed, “No, I’m not Conan.”⁽¹⁾

As they were speaking, they had already reached the coroner and Liu Sang could finally see the body in the field.

It was another female corpse. She was lying in the mud with something sticking out of her ear that looked like another rose stem.

The coroner looked at Wang Guo and then at Liu Sang before saying, “It’s exactly the same. There are no signs of sexual assault. She was drowned and her eardrums were pierced.”

Liu Sang squatted down. The female corpse’s face was in the mud so he couldn’t see what she looked like. He glanced at the onlookers and then closed his eyes.

Countless people’s heartbeats were all intertwined, but as long as he paid attention, he could distinguish the individual heartbeats one by one.

After all, everyone’s heartbeats were different.

As he listened, he found that the female coroner’s heartbeat wasn’t normal. He raised his head and looked at her, only to find that she was looking at Wang Guo.

Wang Guo didn’t seem to notice and just squatted down to look at the corpse, scratching his head in thought.

There was nothing special about the other people’s heartbeats. It seemed that the murderer wasn’t like other serial killers who liked to watch the scene.

At this time, he suddenly heard a strange sound coming from the female corpse’s body.

He paused and listened carefully, only to realize that it was an extremely weak heartbeat.

“She’s not dead!” He cried out.

After saying that, he went right up to the female corpse, turned her over, and started administering CPR. Everyone standing nearby was startled by his outburst and immediately moved to grab him. “You’ll destroy the scene like this!” The coroner shouted.

“She’s not dead!” Liu Sang shouted right back. “She needs first aid!”

Every time he pressed down, he could hear the blood in the woman’s body start to flow faster. This woman had a strong will to survive. Wang Guo held the coroner back and said, “Trust him. He’s like Conan.”

As the female coroner stared blankly at Wang Guo, the female corpse suddenly twitched and spat out a large mouthful of muddy water.

Liu Sang looked at the coroner and said, “Coroners have also learned how to save people.”

The coroner immediately came over to help but couldn’t resist saying, “I checked just now. Her pupils were definitely dilated.”

Liu Sang let go—he could already hear the woman’s heart beating— and let the female coroner take over. The EMTs on the side were about to leave but now they all rushed down to help.

The onlookers were talking excitedly amongst themselves, but at this time, Liu Sang heard a curse come from the rice field not far away.

The curse was very faint and sounded like it came from the opposite direction of the crowd. Liu Sang looked in that direction and saw that it was an endless rice field.

Someone was hiding in the field.

Liu Sang grabbed Wang Guo, “The murderer is nearby.”

Wang Guo stood up, “Where?!”

Liu Sang dragged him into the rice field and said to Wang Guo, “Shut everyone up and don’t say a word.”

Wang Guo shouted to the people behind him, “Nobody talk at all or you’ll be arrested for obstructing official business!”

It took a while for the crowd to gradually quiet down. Although they didn’t know what was going on, the other policemen also told the onlookers not to say anything.

Liu Sang stood in the rice field as the wind blew through the rice seedlings. The person must have been very far away because he couldn’t hear their heartbeat.

He probably heard the curse just now because the person was unable to control their emotions and let it slip out a little louder than they meant to.

Where are you?

Liu Sang walked further into the rice field, quickly followed by Wang Guo. He sank into the mud with every step but he still continued on for more than a hundred meters.

Wang Guo wasn’t carrying a gun but he did have a stun gun on him, which he was gripping tightly in his pocket.

At this time, Liu Sang heard a very unusual sound. Although it was harder to hear with the wind blowing, it wasn’t a heartbeat or a nature sound.

He came to an abrupt stop—he knew that something was near him but he didn’t know what it was since it wasn’t a heartbeat.

Wang Guo looked around as Liu Sang closed his eyes and turned in a certain direction. Almost at the same time, the two of them saw a man covered in mud stand up in the direction Liu Sang was facing. He was only about one meter away from Liu Sang and had a smile on his face as he asked, “How did you find me?”

Liu Sang was caught by surprise when he realized how short the distance was between the two of them. Then, the other person suddenly pulled out a screwdriver and tried to jam it into Liu Sang’s ear.

But at this time, Wang Guo came up and pushed Liu Sang aside. As a result, the screwdriver ended up stabbing Wang Guo’s collarbone.

Wang Guo kicked the man, who fell, got up, and started running. As Wang Guo immediately went after him, Liu Sang got up and started chasing him as well.

The people on the footpath saw all of this and also started chasing after them.

Wang Guo and Liu Sang had only been running for a few steps when Liu Sang suddenly heard a painful twitching sound come from Wang Guo’s heart. He grabbed Wang Guo and pulled him to a stop. The other man clutched his chest and shouted, “We need to hurry up and chase after him! Don’t stop!”

“Ambulance!” Liu Sang shouted. “Someone’s having a heart attack!”

Wang Guo looked at Liu Sang in confusion, “I’m not having a heart attack! Hurry up and catch him!”

Liu Sang looked at him and said, “Three.”

Wang Guo paused, “What?”

“Two,” Liu Sang continued.

Wang Guo touched his chest, suddenly feeling uncomfortable.

“One,” Liu Sang said.

Wang Guo suddenly felt his whole heart twitch. As he curled in on himself, Liu Sang grabbed him and slowly lowered him to the ground while shouting, “Heart attack!”

The EMTs in the distance finally heard him and rushed over with their medical kit. Around three minutes later, Wang Guo was given emergency medicine.

Liu Sang looked at Wang Guo being carried away on the stretcher and then glanced to where the murderer had disappeared in the distance. When the murderer had escaped, Liu Sang could finally hear the sound of his heartbeat and quickly memorized it.

Keep running, Liu Sang thought to himself.

<What Are They Doing 2022 Chapter 9><Table of Contents><What Are They Doing 2022 Chapter 11>

****

TN Notes:

(1) I was thinking of Sherlock Holmes lol. Conan is from the super famous and long-running Japanese manga/anime “Detective Conan”.