His wife, "Red-beaked Gull," was touching up her makeup to the side, muttering filthy curses about Yang Qi and that damned dog.
Suddenly, the wail of police sirens echoed from the end of the village road.
Not just one, but several.
WAIL—WAIL—
Three blue-and-white police cruisers, their red and blue lights flashing, came tearing down the road. They kicked up a cloud of dust before screeching to a halt right outside the gate to Yang Qi's courtyard.
The doors flew open and seven or eight officers filed out. Their movements were crisp and their expressions were grim.
Jiang Dafu and his crew were stunned. They stood there, dumbfounded, the brutish scowls on their faces frozen solid.
'What's going on?'
'Why are the police here?'
'And why so many of them?'
A man in plainclothes got out of the passenger seat of one of the cars. It was none other than Luo Kaifeng, a captain from the Forest Police.
