Breaking Through the Clouds - Chapter 16

 Translated by 231yolu :)

At the junction of the inner and outer windowsills, the wooden frame was covered with grease from years of smoke and fire. On top of the black grease, there were a few extremely indistinct horizontal lines.

— Shoe prints.

Yan Xuan leaned out and carefully observed for a long time. Finally, he found traces of climbing on the fire escape ladder that was close to the wall of the tube-shaped apartment.

Yan Xuan gestured for Jiang Ting to wait and then made a phone call. "Hello, Old Qin..."

"Where are you?" On the other side of the phone, Qin Chuan was obviously driving. The background was very noisy. "We have already searched Fan Zhengyuan's house. We will report to you in detail when we get back to the station. The other hiding place is the Yihong Bathing Place in the Northern District. I heard from my informant that you didn't go there. "

"I have asked Ma Xiang to bring people there. Why?"

"Hey," Qin Chuan laughed. "You are the one who did not want to see those hundred and eighty Hatano Yui. You can't blame me for that."

"How can a place like that..." Yan Xuan glanced at Jiang Ting from the corner of his eye and suddenly felt the need to protect his personal image. So, he suddenly changed the topic. "Who is Hatano Yui? Why are your thoughts so dirty?"

Qin Chuan was speechless.

"Don't talk nonsense. I am in Hu Weisheng's rented apartment. There are some new clues here. Since you are close, come over." Yan Xuan interrupted before Qin Chuan could reply. "If there is nothing else, I will hang up first. Hurry up! Bye! "

Jiang Ting took a photo of the shoe prints and put one hand on the wall. He wanted to climb the fire escape ladder outside the window. However, halfway through his action, Yan Xuan grabbed his shoulder and pulled him down. Yan Xuan scolded him, "What are you doing? Go to the back."

Yan Xuan pushed Jiang Ting behind him and tightened his gloves. He grabbed onto the window frame and with a "hmph", he flew out of the window and hung on the fire escape ladder without any protection. He looked up at the roof. "F * ck!"

"There is something?"

"This Hu guy is a talent," Yan Xuan said loudly. He quickly climbed up to the rooftop and reached out to pull Jiang Ting up.

The heat-insulating felt on the rooftop was rotten beyond recognition. Trash, waste building materials, and broken pipes filled the space. The metal doors on both sides of the rooftop were mottled and rusted. They had long been locked up. At the edge of the rooftop, there were three illegal buildings built with bricks and iron sheets. The sound of a generator could be heard.

"Self-built small penthouse. Pretty creative. It's a pity Hu Weisheng didn't learn to be a bricklayer." Yan Xuan walked up to the straw hut and looked inside. "How did you think of opening the window? Don't talk to me about intuition! "

In the evening, there was a strong typhoon. Jiang Ting wrapped his coat tightly in one hand and covered his nose and mouth with the other. He said in a muffled voice, "Sixth sense."

"..." Yan Xuan asked, "Are you a woman?"

Jiang Ting looked back at him without any expression. His fair upper eyelids were slightly red from the cold.

Yan Xuan glanced at him a few times. "Alright, police flower. Stand outside. I'll go in and take a look."

There was a row of three small huts. Yan Xuan entered the leftmost one. The door made of plywood opened with a push. The dust in the hut caused Yan Xuan to cough a few times. When the dust was almost gone, he bent down and crawled in with the light from his phone. He saw a space of four to five square meters filled with junk. There wasn't even a space to turn around.

The cabinet covered in cobwebs was piled with all sorts of plastic products and scrap metal. They were all rarely seen equipment. Some were wrapped in plastic, while others were covered with yellowed white cloth.

Yan Xuan looked at the shape of the equipment and had a rough idea of what it was. He took a few dozen photos, and then, without caring about the dirt, he lifted the cloth.

Drip bottle, reaction tank, heater, dehydrator …

Yan Xuan took half a step back.

Amidst the numerous spider webs, there was actually a batch of poison-making tools!

"… Captain Yan."

Outside the hut, the night wind whistled. Jiang Ting's gaze swept across the rooftop and landed on the metal hut not far away, which was emitting the sound of a generator. He hesitated for a moment and repeated, "Captain Yan?"

The hut was rustling. He had no idea what Yan Xuan was doing.

Jiang Ting narrowed his eyes and thought for a while. Finally, he walked over.

The windows of the metal hut were covered with plastic, and the metal lock was hanging in the air. He only needed to gently pull the latch to enter. This hut was different from the other two. The dark and narrow hut was relatively empty. The generator was piled in the corner, and a few different colored wires led to the other end of the hut, which was half the height of a person.

Jiang Ting pressed his hand on the felt and confirmed that there should be a rectangular electrical appliance underneath. He then forcefully lifted the thick felt up.

With this action, a cloud of dry, moldy ash rose into the air. Jiang Ting turned his face away and coughed a few times before stopping. Unsurprisingly, there was a small, single-door refrigerator under the felt.

For some reason, Jiang Ting's fingers were a little unsteady. He opened the refrigerator door, and shockingly, there was a pile of bottles and cans in the freezer.

Transparent beakers and opaque brown medicine bottles were mixed together in a mess. Most of them were already empty, and there were still traces of different colors on the bottom of the glassware. Only a few glass bottles still had liquid in them. Because they were not sealed properly, they emitted the pungent smell of chemicals.

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