Chapter 9: Case Closed

Chapter 9: Case Closed

The lieutenant sat on the side of the ship, watching the reef explode and the other ships sink into the sea one by one. He was sitting ramrod straight as he clung to the airtight jar.

Since they were heading home, all of the soldiers were very happy, and no one had noticed that the seated lieutenant had actually died.

Everyone was destined to meet someone, and their lives would change because of it. After completing his mission, no one knew what the lieutenant had been thinking as he sat there dying.

Zhang Haiyan pushed the rubble away and climbed onto the reef, finding that the ships around him had already been sunk. There were only a few hundred laborers left on the reef, and they were all huddled together like penguins.

He coughed violently, and pulled the unconscious Zhang Haixia up. He couldnt hear a thing at all, and knew there was blood trickling out of his ears and nose. He felt as if his chest had been hit by a pile driver more than a dozen times, and thought that his internal organs had probably become something like mushy watermelon. Despite all this, he still desperately shouted Zhang Haixias name several times.

His hands suddenly started to feel unbearably itchy, and he pulled his clothes up to find that his body was covered in a layer of blood blisters.

But they werent burns from the explosion. He turned to look at the other laborers and saw that they had also discovered they had blood blisters on their bodies, and were starting to scratch them.

Zhang Haiyan felt cold all over. He knew this was the result of the disease infecting their bodies after the explosion.

On such a small reef, the next few months would be a real hell on earth without any boats or food. To him, plague and hunger always seemed to follow him wherever he went. (1)

Even though the Flower Reef case was closed, there were still some unsolved mysteries. But even to this day, Zhang Haiyan never revealed the details.

Six months later, Chen Libiaos family took a fishing boat out to look for them. They found Zhang Haiyan and Zhang Haixia on the reef, but no one else was with them. They took the two back to Malacca.

No one knew where the other people on the reef had gone, except for those who read the confidential telegram from the Southern Archives.

In the end, the Flower Reef case was marked as unresolved. The so-called "unresolved case" meant that there was a result, but they couldnt publish it.

A single piece of information entered the archive room in the basement of the Southern Archives, while all the other files were destroyed.

The Southern Archives Southern Xinjian branch had taken over the investigation as to why a Guixi warlord wanted to look for a plague ship in the South Sea and obtain the source of the wudou disease that was inside. Whether they found the answer or not, Zhang Haiyan would never know.

Three years later. The Southern Archives.

It was dusk, and Zhang Haixia was sitting on a wicker chair as Zhang Haiyan silently washed his feet. Zhang Haixia looked towards the sea, and saw a bunch of children running up and down the beach.

Just let me lie on the bed. Why bother moving me around every day? He was still a little embarrassed to see Zhang Haiyan washing his feet with so much care.New novel chapters are published on

He said that he cant treat my legs. He also said that Im dying, and I wont be able to rest in peace because Ill become a monster. Zhang Haixia said. I wont die because of my legs, but Ill die because of other things.

Zhang Haiyan was angry upon hearing this. That stupid guy doesnt know what hes talking about. Ill burn his house later and see if he dares talk nonsense.

Zhang Haixia interrupted him, He said Ill die for what I should have died for before.

Zhang Haiyan was silent for a while, and then sighed. He knew that Zhang Haixia was upset about what happened on the reef, but he didn't want to talk about what happened back then.

Oh yeah. Zhang Haixia took a newspaper clipping from his shirt pocket, Look at this and see if its what I think it is.

Zhang Haiyan took it, and found that it was a simple article. There was a strange disease in Penang and its nearby villages that was spreading very fast. It was suspected to be an infectious disease brought by foreigners, much like how syphilis had been brought over back then.

But the newspaper clipping described the patients as having many tiny blood blisters in the early stages of the disease.

Zhang Haiyan frowned. Wudou disease?

Although theres no payment from the Southern Archives anymore, we still have a duty to warn the locals. Its convenient to travel by boat in the South Sea now, so thousands of people end up traveling between Xiamen and Malacca every day. If it really is wudou disease, then it can easily spread all over the world. Shouldnt you go and check it out?

Zhang Haiyan lit a cigarette, which was a brand Zhang Haixia had recommended to him. He took a puff and faced the wind, vaguely feeling like something was wrong.

If it really was wudou disease, then the unresolved case from that year would have to be reopened. What kind of conspiracy was behind it?

Zhang Haiyan said, Penang isnt it that guys territory?

Zhang Haixia nodded. Yes, exactly. Its that guy, so you have to be careful when you go there. In Penang, people are rewarded with a thousand dollars if they can kill someone from the Southern Archives. Youd better change your appearance before you goOh, and by the way, take a proper shower.

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TN Notes:

(1) Zhang Haiyan had the nickname Plague God, and it was mostly because he was famous for killing people when he was in the South Sea area.

(2) The Gulangyu, Gulang Island or Kulangsu is a pedestrian-only island off the coast of Xiamen. Wiki link here

(3) This refers to Cantonese warlords.

(4) Just think of him as a witch doctor. If you dont remember, Maleficium is an act of witchcraft performed with the intention of causing damage or injury. In general, the term applies to any magical act intended to cause harm or death to people or property.