NABC 22: The aroma of stewed meat
22: The aroma of stewed meat
While rubbing his left arm and wincing in pain, Su Chen was still thinking about how to use the three men's keys to raid their homes.
These are extraordinary times. Although there are daily relief kits, it's always better to have as many items as possible to avoid waste.
He had just stepped out of the path through the green belt and turned onto the main road of the community when he suddenly felt a chill down his spine, as if someone was watching him.
Guided by his intuition, Su Chen subconsciously turned his head.
He saw the woman with the high ponytail in the next building holding binoculars, staring intently in his direction without moving.
Su Chen's heart skipped a beat: No way...
When the woman noticed Su Chen looking over, she slowly lowered her binoculars and then smiled at him.
That smile, in Su Chen's eyes, was just like the Mona Lisa—unfathomable, and carrying a mysterious, inexplicable meaning.
That smile made Su Chen feel extremely uncomfortable, as if she had seen through all his secrets.
Could it be... that she saw me kill someone?
I thought they were doing it discreetly, but it turns out they were broadcasting it live to people?
Su Chen frowned, ignored her smile, and turned to walk towards his own building.
The woman lives in Building 1, and he lives in Building 2; they're right next to each other, not far apart.
On the way back, Su Chen couldn't shake the image of that woman's smile from his mind.
He walked very fast, his injured left arm throbbing with pain with each movement, each step feeling like being hammered.
But what bothered him more than his arm was the presence of witnesses.
That's the most troublesome part.
If she tells anyone, what will the temporary team do?
In a time when order has not yet completely collapsed but is already teetering on the brink, what chain reaction would a public murder trigger?
The question is, will she report it?
It doesn't seem very likely, but it's not impossible.
After all, this woman was suspected of having kicked him into the fog before!
In Su Chen's opinion, this woman had always been mysterious and there was definitely something wrong with her. She had been very well prepared from the beginning, joining the expedition team uninvited.
What's even stranger is that her team of four found the village, but she was the only one who came back alive, bringing with her a bunch of supplies that even Su Chen couldn't understand.
Something was off about this woman, yet there was nothing you could do about her.
We can't just rush upstairs to silence them, can we?
Now, all we can do is hope she doesn't tell anyone.
"We need to prepare properly for our meeting tonight."
It seems we'll have to wait until we meet tonight to see if we can find out the answers to these questions.
But after witnessing the murder, would she dare to come again?
Su Chen walked to the entrance of Building 2 and couldn't help but look up at it again.
After giving him that smile, the woman raised her binoculars again and began scanning the entire neighborhood. Was it just a coincidence that she saw him earlier?
"Is it really that unlucky?"
Su Chen rubbed his arm, stood at the door, hesitated for a moment, glanced towards the alley, and finally sighed.
He had no way of dealing with the body, nor did he intend to.
The more you do, the more flaws you reveal. The neighborhood is only so big; if you stay in one place for too long, you'll be more easily noticed.
Anyway, the temporary law enforcement team had limited resources, and there were no surveillance cameras on that alley, so it was a good place for those three to rob.
Su Chen endured the pain and tried to walk into Building 2 as naturally as possible. He encountered two neighbors on the way, but they only glanced at him blankly before hurrying away with their heads down, without greeting each other.
After taking the elevator back to 1802, Su Chen locked the door and fastened the bolt he had added. Only then did he lean against the door panel, slowly slide down to the floor, and let out a long breath.
We're safe for now.
He grimaced as he took off his coat and rolled up his left sleeve. A large, swollen, bluish-purple patch had appeared on the outside of his forearm.
It hurt terribly when I pressed it lightly with my hand, but the bone probably wasn't broken.
Is there a bone fracture? I'm not sure.
It can move, but it can't exert any strength.
"Ouch... How do I treat this kind of injury? Is it too late to roll an egg on it? Ugh, this is taking too long. I don't have any liniment, will some liquor help? I can't worry about that now... Ouch! That really hurts!"
Su Chen took out a bottle of white wine, poured it on the swollen area, gritted his teeth, and rubbed it vigorously, trying to disperse the bruising.
The more I rubbed it, the more swollen it became. Now it's not just bruised and purple, but a big lump has formed, and my whole forearm looks thicker.
At that moment, he regretted that he had only saved those short videos about "essential skills for time travel" but hadn't actually memorized them.
Fortunately, he had sorted and put the supplies away properly.
"I once had a precious video in front of me, but I didn't cherish it. Now I'm at my wit's end and I regret it!"
Su Chen sighed and reached for the medicine.
There were antibiotics mixed in with the liquor, but he didn't care and just swallowed one.
After finishing all that, he finally removed the Nepalese kukri and pistol.
The pistol magazine was ejected; there were four bullets remaining.
The homemade muffler, made from cotton stuffing the mouth of a Coke bottle, had its stuffing cotton charred black and smelled burnt.
Looks like I'll have to pull some more cotton out of the quilt and stuff it back in.
After checking all of this, Su Chen finally breathed a sigh of relief and slumped onto the sofa to rest with his eyes closed.
But as soon as he closed his eyes, the faces of the three men before they died flashed through his mind, and he could almost hear their family members crying and demanding that he pay with his life.
Su Chen seemed to see the three men glaring at him, their faces contorted with rage, grabbing his neck and shouting: "A life for a life! A life for a life!"
He suddenly opened his eyes, feeling hot all over. He touched his forehead and found his hand covered in cold sweat.
"Had a nightmare?" Su Chen muttered to himself. "Looks like I'm not as ruthless as I thought."
He stood up, walked to the window, and looked out at the hazy fog.
"I did nothing wrong. In this dog-eat-dog world, no one has the right to judge me, not even a ghost!" he said, as if trying to convince himself.
He moved a chair to the window, picked up his binoculars, and, imitating the woman, began to observe the neighborhood.
The main thing is to see if anyone comes out of that alley and whether the body has been discovered.
For lunch, he didn't make anything too complicated. Since his left hand was inconvenient, he just heated up some braised beef and ate it with rice.
The taste wasn't actually that great, not as good as the small restaurant downstairs from before, but when I thought about what other people are eating now, I actually enjoyed the meal quite a bit—indeed, people often comfort themselves by comparing themselves to those who are not as good as them or those who are not as good as them.
After finishing my meal, I was still feeling uneasy, and out of the corner of my eye, I caught sight of the binoculars next to me.
He couldn't help but raise the binoculars again to look at the murderous path. Everything was crystal clear through the binoculars.
He saw people passing by along the path, but none of them seemed panicked or alarmed at the discovery of the body.
It's as if nothing happened.
Su Chen became increasingly puzzled.
His method of disposing of the body was far from skillful; in fact, it could be said that he didn't dispose of it at all, simply throwing it into the bushes in the green belt. Anyone passing by with a little attention would have easily noticed.
Su Chen put down the binoculars, his mind a jumbled mess.
"We've been discovered?"
"Still haven't been discovered?"
"How many traces did I leave at the scene?"
As various thoughts raced through his mind, Su Chen felt increasingly uncertain, and finally let out a heavy sigh.
"Now I understand why criminals in TV dramas love to go back to the crime scene."
"I have to go take a look too, otherwise I won't be able to sleep tonight..."
I glanced at the time; it was 3 PM.
With the pain in his left arm lessening, Su Chen grabbed his Nepalese kukri and pistol, got ready, and headed out the door.
He strolled along slowly until he came to the green path again.
He ran into a few familiar neighbors on the street. His expression remained unchanged, and they nodded indifferently. No one gave him a second glance, no one spoke to him, and everything seemed the same as usual.
As he approached the green belt, Su Chen's heart began to race. He slowed his pace, pretending to look for something on the ground, while his eyes quickly scanned his surroundings.
There were no police tapes, no onlookers, and no one even glanced in that direction.
Su Chen waited until everyone else had walked away before casually turning into the path.
Then, he froze.
The area around the bushes was clean and tidy.
There was no body, no blood.
What... what happened? Where's the body?
Look at it more closely.
Even the bloodstains have been washed away!
Someone cleaned up the scene, and did it quietly.
who is it?
A temporary team? Unlikely.
If they had discovered the body, they would have conducted a public investigation, at least questioning everyone involved, instead of disposing of it secretly like this.
Those three were accomplices? That's more likely.
But why didn't the accomplices make a fuss? Were they afraid of attracting attention and revealing that they were also robbing someone?
Or... do you have other plans?
Or perhaps, it's that mysterious woman?
Regardless of whether it was her or not, Su Chen felt a little more at ease. After all, so much time had passed, the woman hadn't reported it, the body had been disposed of, and no news had broken out, which meant that the matter could be put on hold for the time being.
Even if that woman really had other motives, there is still room for maneuver.
Thinking this, Su Chen turned and left.
As he walked out of the path, he forced himself to maintain a natural expression.
As he walked across an open space where old clothes were drying, he suddenly smelled a odor.
The aroma of stewed meat.
The smell was wafting from an apartment on the first floor of the building next door. The window was open, and you could see people moving around inside. The smell was strong, a heavy, slightly fishy meaty aroma, unlike the pork or chicken you usually eat.
Where does the fresh meat in our neighborhood come from?
A chilling thought uncontrollably crept into Su Chen's mind.
Could it be... that someone secretly picked up the body because of this?
Thinking hard.
Su Chen quickened his pace, almost jogging, and left the area. The smell of stewed meat seemed to have followed him for a while, sticking to his nose and refusing to dissipate.
Impossible. It shouldn't be that bad... He hasn't reached that point yet, has he?
As he walked, he kept contradicting himself in his mind.
At this time, the sky gradually darkened, and the gray fog outside looked even thicker.