13 Black Phantoms [1]

"Here you are," she said shyly as she handed the bag to him. "I was told that the clothes are inside. The hospital staff usually advises for the patient's family to take the clothes back to their houses but in cases like these when the family is unreachable, we store the clothes neatly in separate bags and return them to the patients when they are in condition to discharge."

Xiajun wasn't interested in any of this talk. Eagerly, he pulled open the mouth of the bag and looked inside at the pair of neatly folded jeans and a jacket.

"Do you wash the clothes?" Xiajun asked as he glanced at the nurse.

She shook her head. "We don't. The clothes are stored in whatever condition they come in to us."

Xiajun nodded, relief written all over his face. He told the nurse to leave which she reluctantly did and then he pulled the pair of jeans out.

It was a normal pair of pants, nothing out of the ordinary. Though Xiajun did notice that the fabric felt more expensive then the ones locals wore. He unfolded the pants and scrunched up his nose in disgust at the amount of dust on these. Xiajun reached for the pant pockets and felt inside. The front pockets had nothing but a few coins and an ID card with Yanlin's grim face on it.

Xiajun threw it aside on the couch next to him and turned the pants around to take a look at the back pockets. Sure enough, he felt something inside. He fished around and brought out a crumpled up white piece of paper the size of his hand.

"Interesting..." he muttered as he straightened it out.

His eyes widened as he stared at what was inscribed on the paper. It was a symbol that Xiajun knew well. A detective would be a sorry excuse if he hadn't known.

As if painted hurriedly by a brush, was a black symbol on the paper. A Chinese character that read 'Phantom'.

"Crap," Xiajun muttered as he realized who's wrong-doing this was.

'The Black Phantoms' also known as the 'Phantoms' were a notorious gang known widely amongst the criminals of China. Their branches were spread out to the entirety of the country and one even branched out to the USA. The Phantoms were known to attack famous people who had a huge say in the country's running and get what they want.

Just last year, their target had been Lang Jie, the right hand man of the president. It had been a bloody scene, a direct threat to the Chinese government, no less. And even worse, the gang members were still roaming the country, dissipating anyone who messes with them.

But why had they come after Wu Yanlin this time, Xiajun wondered as he stared at the paper in deep thought. Was Yanlin their real target anyways, or was it someone higher up the ladder...?

Xiajun folded the paper up neatly and stuffed it inside his coat pocket. Now he had a lead and he knew whom to go after.

Every member of the Black Phantom gang answered to one man, the man who gave out all the orders and sets up all the targets. They call him 'The Devil'.

Xiajun chuckled at their uncreative approach to names and stood up. He stretched his arms and proceeded to exit the hospital room. As he walked through the corridors, he saw blue figures of many elderly people, young people and even children who must've died there. After all, the hospital beds in here served as death beds for many.

Xiajun ignored as all the ghosts as the gawked at the man in the suit, some even tried to touch him but their hands swished right through Xiajun's body, causing him to shiver involuntarily.

On his way, he nodded to the familiar nurse who was attending to an elderly man and trotted out of the hospital doors.