Chapter 14 — Mystery At 3 A.M

The flower branch stabbed into her palm but she did not dare let go. An An's voice suddenly rang in his ear.

“Mom, turn left.”

Khuong Hoa was stunned. The call on the backup phone has not been disconnected. On the other end of the line, An An was listening to footsteps and wind to judge her location.

“On the left there are two pine trees growing sideways.”

“Every time my grandmother makes her rounds, she passes by that place.”

Khuong Hoa gritted his teeth and turned. In front there are indeed two pine trees growing sideways. Between them there is a narrow path that is almost invisible. She bent down and crawled in. The tree branch brushed against her cheek, causing a burning pain. Dong Dien stopped for a moment behind. He didn't expect her to follow this path. At that moment, Captain Dien's men approached from both sides. But Dong Dien's reaction was extremely quick. He raised his hand and threw out a small black vase. Thick smoke immediately exploded. The light from the headlights was half swallowed by the smoke. Captain Dien did not chase after him casually.

“Khuong Hoa, don't turn around.”

“Run forward.”

Hearing his voice, Khuong Hoa's heart became even more tense. She knew that Team Leader Dien intentionally shouted to determine her direction. Also to tell her that he is still alive. At the end of the small road is an even older grave site. Many tombstones here do not have names. Some were even broken. Khuong Hoa ran halfway when he tripped and fell to the ground. The phone slid out, hitting a rock. An An's voice interrupted for a moment and then came again.

“Mom, say something.”

Khuong Hoa breathed until her chest hurt.

“Mom, it's okay.”

She was just trying to stand up when she suddenly saw an engraved mark on the back of the broken stele in front of her. Not the original words on the stele. But someone engraved it later. Three short lines, one long line. Khuong Hoa's heart beat strongly. This is the symbol her mother often uses when organizing files. She had seen it when she was young. Mom is afraid that she will forget her work and will classify important documents by engravings. Three short and one long means this is not the original, but the path to the original. Khuong Hoa immediately placed a bouquet of white chrysanthemums in front of the broken stele. She reached out to touch the back of the beer. In the crack of the rock there was a thin piece of iron inserted. The iron piece was rusty, but the two words engraved on it could still be clearly seen. Vong Giang. On the other end of the line, An An was silent for a second.

“Vong Giang?”

Khuong Hoa said softly.

“In the old neighborhood there is a Vong Giang photo shop.”

“When I was little, my grandmother used to take me there to take photos of documents.”

An An immediately asked the police next to him for a map. But she quickly realized that all network-connected devices could no longer be used arbitrarily. He turned his head to look at the hearse at the cemetery gate. Under the front windshield there is a paper city map. The girl ran to get it. The police stopped.

“It's not safe outside.”

An An raised her head.

“I know.”

“But your mother is more dangerous.”

The policeman gritted his teeth and told the girl to run to the car. An An opened the map, her finger quickly moved on the old neighborhood page. Vong Giang photo studio has been closed for a long time. But the alley where it was located remains. That alley is not far from Nam Kieu bridge, and also very close to the building of the old training center. What's more scary is that next to the map there is also a symbol. Former location of records archive. An An's heart gradually sank. Grandma said looking for their grandfather's grave, probably didn't want them to search the cemetery. But I want them to find the path in front of their grandfather's grave that they pass every year. The anonymous stele is only the first layer. Vong Giang photo studio is the second class. The place where Khuong Hoa's mother actually hid her things was most likely located at the old location of the record archive. In the grave site, Khuong Hoa had just put the iron piece into his pocket when behind him came the sound of a tree branch breaking. Dong Dien came out from the smoke. His shoulder was covered in mud, his face was cut by a tree branch and bleeding. But his eyes were still cold.

“Your mother is so biased.”

“She left all the roads for you.”

Khuong Hoa stepped back. Dong Dien pressed forward step by step.

“That year she could also leave me a path.”

“But she wrote me down in the original file.”

Khuong Hoa was stunned.

“Are you one of those kids too?”

Dong Dien's face was slightly distorted.

“I'm not those kids.”

“I'm the one in charge of making them no longer have the past.”

“People without a past are the safest.”

“But your mother must find the past.”

Captain Dien's voice came from far away.

“Dong Dien, put down what's in your hand.”

But Dong Dien suddenly burst out laughing. He raised his hand and pressed a small piece of metal onto Khuong Hoa's shoulder. Khuong Hoa only felt a numbness, half of his body immediately lost strength. She knelt on the ground. On the phone, An An heard a heavy noise and her face immediately turned white. Dong Dien picked up the phone and spoke softly into the microphone.

“Girl, you are very smart.”

“So you should know that smart people usually don't live long.”