Chapter 38: The Dead Sinker

“Dead Sinker? Uh… is that some kind of snack?”

“No.”

“Then what is it?”

“It means exactly what it sounds like.”

“Exactly what it sounds like?”

“A person dies, falls into the water, and then we pull them out.”

Tan Wenbin: “…”

In the past, Tan Wenbin would’ve thought this was just some boy’s nonsense. But now, he wasn’t so sure.

“Brother Xiaoyuan, is dead sinker work fun?”

“It’s fun.”

“How fun?”

“More fun than studying.”

In his mind, Tan Wenbin pictured two scenes—one of himself hunched over test papers in a classroom, and the other of standing by the riverbank with a giant net fishing out corpses.

As creepy as the second one was, it really did sound more fun than studying!

“Brother Xiaoyuan, do you do it a lot?”

“Not that many people drown in the river every day. And even among those who do, only a small number actually turn into dead sinkers.”

“Aren’t all drowned people called dead sinkers?”

“We use the term more specifically—for those who drowned and can still move on their own.”

“They can still move after they’re dead?” Tan Wenbin’s face twisted in confusion. “You mean like drifting with the current?”

“They move by themselves. Some can even walk ashore.”

“That’s…” This time, Tan Wenbin couldn’t hold back his doubts. “Brother Xiaoyuan, are you just making up stories to scare me?”

“No.”

“But I don’t believe what you just said.”

“Mm.”

“Unless you take me to see one—one of those dead sinkers that can move.”

“I won’t.”

“Why not?” Tan Wenbin didn’t understand. Isn’t the natural reaction to being doubted to try to prove your claim?

“Dead sinkers are dangerous.”

“It’s fine, I’m not afraid.”

“Brother Binbin, you don’t know anything. Taking you would just be a burden. It could put me in danger.”

“Uh…”

After a moment of speechlessness, Tan Wenbin leaned in, grabbing Li Zhuiyuan’s hand. “But the more you say that, the more I want to see one.”

Li Zhuiyuan shook his head.

“Please, Brother Xiaoyuan, come on, please!”

“No.”

“Brother Xiaoyuan, if you take me to see a real dead sinker, I’ll do whatever you say from now on!”

“Brother Binbin.”

“You’re agreeing?”

“What can you even help me with?”

Tan Wenbin fell silent.

From the living room came Tan Yunlong’s voice: “Binbin, bring Xiaoyuan out to eat.”

Dinner was lavish, with a lot of main dishes—some clearly just canned food dumped into a bowl for show.

Zheng Fang apologized, “Xiaoyuan, next time you come, let’s eat out. Your auntie really doesn’t know how to cook.”

“Auntie, you worked hard. There’s already so much food, we can’t even finish it.”

While pouring soda into Li Zhuiyuan’s cup, Tan Yunlong said, “No worries, whatever’s left, Binbin can eat it slowly.”

The dinner atmosphere was warm and harmonious—a typical family of three, with Tan Wenbin as the guest.

As they neared the end of the meal and shifted more into chatting, Tan Yunlong’s pager went off. He glanced at it and immediately stood up.

Zheng Fang, long used to this lifestyle, quickly grabbed his coat. “Xiaoyuan can stay over tonight, right?”

But Tan Yunlong shook his head as he put on the coat. “We didn’t tell his family he’d sleep over. If he doesn’t go home tonight, they’ll worry. Come on, Xiaoyuan, come with Uncle.”

“But you’ve got a case to handle at the precinct, right?”

“Just on the way. I’ll drop the kid off first.”

“Alright, be careful. The wind’s strong tonight—don’t let the boy catch a chill.”

Li Zhuiyuan left the table and walked to Tan Yunlong’s side. Zheng Fang handed him a red envelope she’d already prepared, stuffing it into his hand.

“Xiaoyuan, first time visiting—go buy some candy.”

“Thank you, Auntie.”

Li Zhuiyuan accepted the envelope and slipped it into his pocket. Knowing Tan Yunlong was in a rush, he didn’t bother declining.

As they descended the stairs, Tan Yunlong said, “The hospital surveillance team called. Someone came to visit those two, and we’ve got him.”

“How many?”

“Just one.”

“That can’t be all.”

Water Monkeys tend to operate in groups. Two posing as out-of-town businessmen to lease fishponds already seemed shady—there had to be more behind the scenes.

“Those two are still injured and unconscious, so we can’t get any statements. But now we’ve got someone who can talk—we might finally get a breakthrough.”

Tan Yunlong mounted the motorcycle. Once Li Zhuiyuan was on, he handed him a helmet.

Their earlier exchange had sounded like colleagues strategizing—natural, since the lead had come from the boy.

With the motorcycle roaring beneath them, they arrived at the community clinic.

Tan Yunlong didn’t bother hiding anything and took Li Zhuiyuan straight into the inpatient wing.

The Si Hai father and son and the two “businessmen” were all in first-floor rooms—one on the east end, one on the west.

In the center of the floor was a cluster of long benches, filled with people. Because of the room shortage, many patient families chose to sleep here.

The security office was the first room on the west side. Inside were three men—two in plain clothes standing, and one in handcuffs seated.

“Captain Tan.”

“Captain Tan.”

“Any confessions yet?”

“He won’t admit anything. Says he was just asked to drop off a fruit basket and milk.”

Tan Yunlong frowned. “How could that be a mix-up?”

“This guy’s got a theft record. When we asked him to cooperate, he bolted—we caught him. He did admit to two recent thefts, but insists he doesn’t know the two unconscious men.”

“Officer, I swear I don’t know them! Some woman paid me to deliver that stuff.”

“Who paid you?”

“A lady with short hair and a mask. She was all wrapped up, even though it’s the middle of summer.”

Tan Yunlong turned to his colleague. “Probably the wrong guy. He’s speaking the Nantong dialect—that gang’s not from around here.”

Grave-robbing rings are mostly kin-based—rarely outsiders, much less from another province. The real fear in corpse-looting isn’t the dead, but being betrayed by your partners.

“Captain Tan, do you think we’ve been made?”

“Looks like it. You guys weren’t careful enough. They might’ve spotted us already and slipped away. Or maybe this is just them testing the waters.”

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