Killer Nights

Wu Xiuping dragged his heavy legs across the ground as he trudged through the alley. Unaware that the police were watching him, there was no difference between tonight and any other night for him. As an insignificant journalist who photographed scenery, rushing about all the time was unavoidable. 

 

Under the cool caress of the night breeze, Wu Xiuping trekked forwards slowly. On both sides of the alley, there were still women trying to find clients. Wu Xiuping, a familiar face to them, held no interest to them. They all knew that he lived within the alley and wasn’t looking for pleasure. 

 

But today, Wu Xiuping was feeling a bit restless. He tried to glance covertly at the faces of the women who were by the road. It looked like he was waiting for someone to catch his attention. At that moment, A-Hui returned to the entrance of the building and quickly noticed Wu Xiuping slowly passing by.

 

“What’s up, handsome? Do you wanna play?” Being a prostitute, A-Hui was naturally able to detect the primal desire within his eyes.

 

“S-sure...” Wu Xiuping answered somewhat awkwardly. Although he lived in the alley, he had never once interacted with these women. After all, rabbits don’t eat the grass by their burrows!¹

 

“Then come with me!” A-Hui skillfully snaked her hand around Wu Xiuping’s arm and dragged him to the entrance. “You live nearby right?”

 

“Yes! How… How did you know that?” Wu Xiuping’s heart was thumping like a drum in a fast-paced song. He was nervous, but that was to be expected for someone doing something like this for the first time.

 

“Heh, I often see you rush by the alley!” A-Hui thought that Wu Xiuping’s question was kind of funny and thought to herself, ‘Look at how nervous you are. I can tell that you’re a total noob. You pass by here every day. If you don’t live nearby then could it be that you were patrolling?’

 

“Oh, right!” Wu Xiuping’s voice trembled a bit, “I… I do live nearby. The rent here is cheap. Righ- Right, your place…”

 

“Don’t worry about it! It’s very safe.” A-Hui glanced at Wu Xiuping again. Although he was quite slender, he was still a young lad and didn’t look too shabby. “You don’t have a girlfriend?”

 

“N… No!” Wu Xiuping answered honestly. Men were more likely to tell the truth in front of women, even if they frequented brothels to seek their romance. 

 

“Heh, let’s go! My room’s just up ahead.” A-Hui smiled happily when she heard Wu Xiuping’s response. Although she was an experienced old-timer in this field, she was still a young woman. Deep down, a bit of innocence still existed. Although she wasn’t naive enough to ask Wu Xiuping to be his girlfriend, she could still get away with naively pretending to be this man’s girlfriend just for tonight!

 

In the surveillance room, Jiang Zhengkai accepted the blankets Lu Xiaoqiang passed over. He softly placed it over A-Jiao who had dozed off on the chair. When he shifted his gaze back to the screen, he was surprised to see that A-Hui was no longer standing by the entrance. 

 

“Where’s A-Hui?” Jiang Zhengkai asked a policeman that was staring at the screen.  

 

“She just brought a man inside,” replied the policeman. “Inspector Jiang, you must be tired. You can rest for a bit too! We’ve got this!”

 

“Ok!” Although Jiang Zhengkai agreed, his gaze shifted to the other screens. His instincts told him that something important was about to happen. On the other screen, A-Hui was approaching her room with another person. Jiang Zhengkai thought that the person’s back looked a bit familiar, but there was a strangeness that he couldn’t explain. When A-Hui and that person passed by a stretch of the passageway that had better lighting, Jiang Zhengkai was appalled to see a long shadow behind A-Hui’s back, but as for the person next to her...

 

“Xiaoqiang! Look at that person’s back!” Jiang Zhengkai’s eyes were glued to the screen but his hands were waving wildly in front of him. Lu Xiaoqiang saw Jiang Zhengkai’s reaction and hurriedly rushed over, focusing on the screen. “Inspector Jiang! I’m here.”

 

Jiang Zhengkai felt Lu Xiaoqiang’s presence and immediately pointed at the person next to A-Hui. “Look here! Do you notice anything strange?”

 

“Nothi- He… He has no shadow?” Lu Xiaoqiang was halfway through his words when he noticed something strange. His mouth immediately widened in shock. How is this possible? The light is shining on both of them, but only A-Hui is casting a shadow while the person next to her has nothing. 

 

“Immediately notify the people in the alley to pay close attention to those two!” Jiang Zhengkai stood up straight, “Also, ask them to confirm in person whether the person next to A-Hui has a shadow or not!” One after another, the police officers used their walkie talkies to quietly notify the hidden units at the scene. 

 

“Let’s go!” Jiang Zhengkai pointed at Lu Xiaoqiang then casually made a circle in the air. Those who were on call saw Jiang Zhengkai’s gesture and quickly stood up with a tacit understanding. They followed Jiang Zhengkai and Lu Xiaoqiang into the alley. 

 

The commotion jolted A-Jiao awake, who was previously in a deep slumber on the chair. Although A-Jiao had no idea what was going on, she knew that something unexpected must have happened within the alley. A-Jiao removed the blanket draped over her and followed behind the police officers as they rushed into the alley. 

 

“Okay! We’re here.” A-Hui unlocked the door to her place. The rented apartment was on the spacious side. It was a two-bedroom house with a living room. The bedrooms were used by the sisters to conduct business, but the interior decor of the living room made it seem like a normal home.

 

After Wu Xiuping walked in, A-Hui casually pointed at the sofa. “Wait here! I’ll go see if my sister has finished.” She pressed her ear next to one of the bedroom doors and, from what she could hear, the people inside were probably in the middle of getting dressed. She hollered, “A-Rou, hurry up!”

 

“Oh, alright! What’s the rush anyways.” A woman that was just as young as A-Hui opened the door.

 

“I’ll take care of this one.” A-Hui smiled fawningly at the woman as she explained, “It’s a regular! I don’t have the heart to give him to you.” The woman who opened the door glanced at Wu Xiuping. Then she half-jokingly suggested as she walked into the hall, “What? Then why don’t you go out with him? Ok! Stop being stingy. I’ll replace you outside for a while.”

 

“Thanks sister!” A-Hui smiled naughtily at the woman. When the client left, A-Hui first went into the room to check the interior before calling for Wu Xiuping, who was still sitting in the living room. “Come in, handsome!”

 

After A-Rou sent her client off through the back door, she went to the bathroom again before leaving for the front to find more customers. The moment she walked out, the entrance was swarmed by Jiang Zhengkai and Lu Xiaoqiang along with a group of police officers.

 

“Ah…..” A-Rou walked out to see three or four people surrounding her. She was about to scream in shock when the policeman next to her immediately covered her mouth. “Don’t scream! We’re the police.”

 

“Inspector Jiang, there’s some movement in the room!” At the same time, the voices of the police in the surveillance room came through on Jiang Zhengkai’s walkie-talkie. “Inspector Jiang, it’s the room to the left! There are strange noises but we can’t hear them clearly.”

 

Jiang Zhengkai pointed at the door. “Keys!” Then, he looked at A-Rou. Her mouth was still being covered tightly by the policeman next to her. She shook her head robotically and the muffled voice coming out of her mouth seemed to be trying to say, “I don’t have it!”

 

“Stop talking nonsense! Your sister is in danger. We’re not the vice squad,” Jiang Zhengkai chided in a low voice. “Mff! Mff!” A-Rou unwillingly let out a few whimpers. Then, she reached into her pocket and took out a chain of keys stringed together, picked one out, and lifted it up.

 

“Let her go! Quickly open the door,” Jiang Zhengkai ordered in a low voice. The policeman behind A-Rou took the key and nervously rushed to the door and inserted the key inside the lock.

 

The moment the door was opened, a shrill cry rang from within, briskly cutting through the quietness of the night.