YBCB2: V3C3

I laughed so hard at Ah Liu’s and Jiu Shen’s exchange here. What a perfect friendship,  just like Li Zi Hong and Yan Si together XD And Li Zi Hong popping up at the end like a boss haha.

Translated by: TaffyGirl13

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Chapter Three

There were some things he remembered.

The thin, white smoke blowing with the breeze, the adults’ confusion regarding the degenerated age.

Back then, there were still many things they did not understand about what would happen after growing up. All they knew was that their future world was full of various temptations. Once they could free themselves from the control over their current situation, it seemed like anyone could gain whatever they desired.

However, that was impossible.

The reason for death before the age of eighteen was far simpler than that after the age of twenty.

He, who had assumed they were discussing something too distant, had no idea that the future had already begun developing towards another direction.

He wanted to escape, wanted to break away from something else.

Later, he belatedly realised after leaving the walls built up by the adults that they were even more vast than he had imagined.

He abandoned all the hopes that had been placed on him, turning his back to grab onto the freedom he desired, ignoring the people falling into the swamp behind him as he walked towards the embrace of a different world.

It was then that he realised that he still had not actually let go.

***

“There are no records of Song Hui Chen receiving medical treatment for being with child.”

Jiu Shen pointed at the screen with the various records that had been sent over, blinking as he said, “There isn’t a record of her giving birth at all. Her last visit was a year ago, to take some cold medicine. So healthy…I’m envious.”

Yu Xia knocked Jiu Shen’s head with a fist. “What about others?” The lack of records on the health insurance card did not mean she had not privately visited medical professionals.

“Oh, we collected some powder-like things on the suit jacket. The analysis showed it was comprised of talc powder, zinc oxide, rust, etc. These are typical components of cosmetics. They were in her jacket pocket, so it was quite lucky that they had been left behind. I questioned her female colleagues about it, they all use the same things. They’re common items that can be purchased from places like Watsons or POYA; the make-up products are extremely inexpensive.” Jiu Shen cradled his head as he shakily handed over a report. “That brand has a travel-sized face powder product, so the deceased likely always carried that in her pocket…There were also some incomplete fingerprints; the paper is still being done.”

Yu Xia flipped through the report. Seeing that there did not seem to be any particularly useful information, he helplessly let out a sigh.

“B-Boss, you haven’t eaten lunch yet, have you? I just brought a bunch of snacks and instant noodles, do you want me to go boil some for you?” Noticing that Yu Xia’s expression wasn’t the best, Jiu Shen carefully asked, “It tastes pretty good. It’s seafood flavour?”

“I ate already.” Yu Xia shook his head. He had inhaled a cold bento box in the office.

“Did someone come looking for you to cause trouble again? Isn’t that dàshū working for administration? Why does he keep trying to pick things with you?”

“Who knows.” After dropped the dog off at home and heading to the station, Yu Xia had bumped into the other man, who had instantly cut in to criticize him about how he was running around as he pleased when the job he was in charge of for hadn’t made any progress yet, and that he lacked a sense of responsibility and whatever. If it were not for the large amount of people around making a fuss about nothing and charging over to make random excuses, Yu Xia would definitely have strongly considered throwing a punch.

The officer that had been transferred over from the northern district was called Wang Ke Zhi. He was nearly fifty now and was currently waiting to retire.

There had been a serious shooting incident up in the northern district two months ago. During normal work hours, three gangsters with guns had resisted arrest and charged into a bus station. Two officers were severely injured on the scene, four civilians and one officer were lightly wounded, and one civilian had died.

The three gangsters were seized on the spot, and both drugs and guns had been found in their dwelling.

Back then, Wang Ke Zhi had been appointed to the related police station. For some unknown reason, after the incident, Wang Ke Zhi had been tossed over to be transferred over to the current inspector’s office to handle some administrative work. There had been no internal announcement, though Wang Ke Zhi knew quite a few of the higher-ups.

On the first day of the transfer, Yu Xia had just happened to punch a certain hoodlum from a bike theft. Unfortunately, Wang Ke Zhi had witnessed this scene, and since then, had been constantly bugging Yu Xia.

Yu Xia personally tried to avoid the other person as much as possible, even stretching his work hours until the latter got off work. However, they were bound to meet since they were in the same station, just like earlier. And whenever they did bump into each other, the cold, criticizing words were unavoidable. He really had no idea when he had offended this person he had never previously been acquainted with…Could it be that he had beaten up this person’s friend or something before?

Since there were too many possibilities, Yu Xia had just given up on trying to think about it entirely.

“So troublesome.” Jiu Shen sympathetically looked at the targeted person, suddenly feeling that he was quite fortunate where he was. At the very least, he did not need to clash head-on with strange people. All he had to do was properly stay holed up in the analytical labs and everything would be fine. “Anyways, you probably won’t be watched so closely once this blows over.”

Yu Xia let out a snort. He couldn’t be bothered to pay any mind about how others saw him. This wasn’t the first such instance anyways. After being in this job for so long, there were always people that tried to drag him down, so this case wasn’t surprising. Moreover, the previous incident with Tan Ya Yun had resulted in some people strongly disliking him too. In short, with his supervisor still keeping things in control, he just had to continue doing what he needed to do. “Let me know if there’s any development.”

“Oh.” Jiu Shen nodded.

Yu Xia glanced at his watch, then patted the other person’s shoulder before walking to the door. “I think you should go sleep for two hours first before you continue. I’ll go grab some snacks.”

“Huh? Oh, okay!”

With the reminder, Jiu Shen really did feel exhausted. He had barely slept these past two days while working overtime…Looks like I really should go lie down in the break room for a moment, or else it’ll be bad if my visions starts blurring while I work.

He organised the work he was doing, then stepped out of the lab. The elevator nearby opened right then.

The person that walked out made Jiu Shen’s eyes widen.

“Is Uncle here?”

Yu Yin, who had secretly run over, cautiously glanced around before pulling Jiu Shen into the break room.

“Just-just left.” Jiu Shen hurriedly scanned their surroundings anxiously as well. “Ah Yin, what did you run over here for? Didn’t Tong and Boss order you not to run over here anymore?”

“Shhhhh, I’m not trying to stick my head into others’ business. I was just helping someone bring something over…Here, this is for you. Look at it when you have time and see if there are any problems with it.” Yu Yin had deceived Yu by claiming he needed to give something to Ah Guan. He glanced at the time and decided he had to rush back. Thus, he hurriedly handed the small pile of dirt to Jiu Shen.

“Helping someone bring…bring this to me?” Jiu Shen suspiciously opened the paper bag only to see a bunch of dirt. Then his mind went blank for three full seconds and he nearly dropped the dirt. “Who! Who wanted you to bring it?! Were they alive, or was it something that cannot be explained with science? Ah Yin—”

“I guarantee that the dirt is scientific-based,” Yu Yin coughed in reply and smiled awkwardly.

After returning home with Fish Jerky, he had originally planned to wait for a better opportunity to find his way over [to the station]. However, when he lifted his head, he once again saw those feet suspending outside his window without warning. With lack of better option, Yu Yin could only make up an excuse to bring the item over first.

“It didn’t follow you here, did it…” Jiu Shen had been extremely tired just moments ago, but now he was completely on edge, to the point where he was unable to relax at all. He was currently terrified of what kind of thing would float out from that pile of earth…Gahhhh!

“It didn’t.” Yu Yin wasn’t sure why the ghost had left this dirt behind. He added, “Anyways, just take a look when you get the chance, Jiu Shen-gē.”

“Ugh…” Jiu Shen bitterly stowed the bag of dirt away, finding it too difficult to give an excuse for rejecting the request. He internally lamented about whether he would need to go visit [a shrine] again to beg for safety. “Is it really urgent?”

“I’m not sure either…maybe a bit?” Since the ghost was always just hanging there, he had no idea if it counted as urgent or not.

“Alright, I’ll let you know when I get results.”

Yu Yin let out a breath of relief and chuckled, “Thanks, Jiu Shen-gē. I’ll treat you to a movie next time.”

“Just don’t get me punched and you’re good…” Based on his experience, if he wasn’t careful and Yu Xia found out, he might not be able to get away with not being punched. Jiu Shen was filled with concerns about the future.

“Then I’ll take my leave first. If I’m out for too long, Xiao Yu will get suspicious.”

Jiu Shen nodded. Just as he was about to see the person off into the elevator, he noticed something sticking onto Yu Yin’s body. “Have you guys been keeping a dog recently?”

Yu Yin followed the other’s gaze downwards to see Fish Jerky’s fur on his sleeves. When he had headed outside, Fish Jerky had run over to rub against him, which was probably when the fur had gotten stuck. “Oh, a lost one. Uncle already left information about it, so they should be able to find the owner soon.”

“Ohhh, that’s great.” If it weren’t for the fact that his work was too busy to keep a pet, Jiu Shen also really wanted to raise one too. At the very least, if he bumped into anything unscientific, he could drag the pet with him to face off against it together.

“Yep, golden retrievers are actually pretty adorable.” Yu Yin saw the elevator open, so he happily patted Jiu Shen’s shoulder. “I’ll head home now. Jiu Shen-gē, make sure you don’t work too much overtime.”

“Have a safe trip.”

***

While waiting for the elevator, Yu Yin dragged a hand down his face and leaned against the chilly wall.

He could not understand what in the world that hanging thing wanted to do.

Either way, it was best to quickly go home first. He had arranged with Yu to go to a dessert place that his friends had recommended.

A faint sound floated over.

Like electronic music.

He instinctively turned his head. The noise he heard seemed to be coming from the elevator telecom. The button for the first floor was still lit up, but the elevator had instead stopped at the first basement level.

“…Dàgē, the analytical results won’t come out that quickly.” Is there a need to be so impatient? If I had known earlier, I would’ve told Jiu Shen it was an emergency.

As soon as he spoke, the elevator button suddenly went dark.

Yu Yin was silent for a moment. With little expectation, he pressed the telecom, but as expected, there was no response. The music coming from the speaker grew louder, however. When he listened more closely, it seemed to be like a musical bell that a child would play with. This was somewhat familiar to him, as there had been one hanging in his home when he had been small. It was a plastic toy where if one pulled its string, it would play music.

He vaguely recalled that his uncle had bought it. Back in elementary school, he would often pull on the string. Then when they moved houses, it had disappeared, likely lost while they had tidied up their things.

As he contemplated this, the elevator doors slowly opened.

Unclear about what the other party wanted to do, Yu Yin cautiously walked out from the elevator.

The surrounds were extremely quiet, completely different from when he come earlier. The corridor was silent, the rooms were silent, and the area had no signs of people. Even the colour of the lights were a cold white.

He felt as if he was not walking down the first basement level of the police station at all.

It was the same scenery, but a different space.

When he unconsciously turned his head to retreat to the elevator, he was absolutely not mentally prepared to see a female in the elevator, and he jolted in fright.

A pair of nearly dead eyes on an ashen, bloodstained face were staring directly at him.

The woman wore a suit, so once Yu Yin returned his senses, he immediately knew that this wasn’t the hanging one…This was the deceased from the case in Yu Xia’s hands.

…Makes sense. There’s always a chance of running into these when I come to the station. I just didn’t expect it to appear without warning like this.

Yu Yin clutched his chest and slowly exhaled to calm himself down first.

“You…”

Before he could figure out what he wanted to ask, he felt a hand suddenly grab his hair from behind and forcefully smash his face into the adjacent wall.

Yu Yin had no time to react to the sudden force. The only thing he felt was a burst of pain explode from his head as he collapsed from the dizziness. However, the attacker had no intention of letting him go like that. It pulled his head and continued to slam it into the ground several times until he was unable to move even his fingertips. His consciousness blurred.

He vaguely seemed to see someone walk over as the scarlet blood covering his vision began to spread outwards.

This was probably the last thing he saw. The music mixed with voices that had originally been soft now seemed extremely loud. Even the song’s tune was clear in his memory now.

He heard someone speaking but was unable to discern who.

The darkness attacked.

***

He did not know how much time had passed by the time there was some movement next to him. Someone attempted to shake him by the shoulders, then patted his face.

Yu Yin slowly regained consciousness.

The first thing he saw was a stranger’s face carrying a stern expression but with a hint of relief.

When the other person noticed he was awake, he stopped his actions. “…Are you a visitor?”

Yu Yin shut his eyes and re-opened them to finally wake up completely. He got a clear look at the old man he did not recognise in front of him. “Ugh…” He gripped his head and sat up with the other person’s help.

The blood from earlier had completely vanished. When he opened his palms, there was indeed nothing there. He could not feel the pain and whatnot anymore either. The only thing that lingered was the dizziness. He vigorously shook his head, and the lightheadedness faded for the most part.

“Anemia?” The old man squatting next to him asked again.

“…Probably.” Yu Yin could not be bothered to explain too much to the stranger. Once he confirmed that the bout of discomfort had completely vanished, he slowly stood up. He eyed his watch and saw that only ten minutes had passed since he had gotten on the elevator…

“Are you a visitor?”

This time, Yu Yin finally noticed the question. Typically, the people that asked this type of thing were from the station. However, he was certain that he had never seen this old man before. “I came to find Jiu Shen-gē and was just heading back. I probably pressed the wrong button because of the anemia.” He did not know this other person’s history, so he could only try his best to dodge around the questions.

“The investigation group’s?”

“Mhm, I just happened to pass by the station and heard that Jiu Shen-gē had been working overtime for a few days already, so I came to drop off a drink and give a greeting.” Although it was a lie, Yu Yin was not at all concerned about this person seeking confirmation. Having played around this place since he was young and growing close to Jiu Shen once the latter had joined, he was sure that even if this person went to ask Jiu Shen, the answer would definitely be something similar.

The old man likely didn’t see any problem [with this answer] and nodded, not continuing the questioning.

Yu Yin secretly glanced at the other person’s nametag that said Wang Ke Zhi…I really haven’t heard of this person before. He must be a new transfer. Yu Yin scratched his face. “I’m sorry, but I should be heading back now. Thank you for your help.”

Wang Ke Zhi waved his hands to express that it was nothing, then helped lead the person back into the elevator and pressed the button, bidding farewell outside the doors.

The moment the elevator was closing, Yu Yin saw it.

That pair of feet appeared behind Wang Ke Zhi.

Then the doors shut and the scene vanished.

***

Yu sat in the living room, flipping through a book while patting the large dog lying next to him.

Yu Yin, who had agreed to bring them out for some good desserts, had apologetically said about an hour ago that he suddenly needed to give something to Ah Guan, and had Yu wait for him at home.

Yu checked the time again and let out a sigh as he closed the book after reading the last page.

The books he had borrowed from Dong Feng truly were different from the ones at Yan Si’s…or rather, Dong Feng had a much more diverse book selection. Unlike the medicine-focused books at Yan Si’s or the law-focused books at Li Zi Hong’s, some of the books he had borrowed [from Dong Feng] were even arts-related.

Since they were all original texts, Yu Yin originally had not paid them much attention. These types of books were actually the kind he liked more though. Yu had read a few similar works from Yu Yin’s barren bookshelf in his bedroom. Since Yu was not too interested in this genre, he had only gone through them a few times.

Yu had originally planned to note down some translations after reading these ones to give to Yu Yin. However, it was clear that the other person had been busy with other matters these past few days, having been too absent-minded to notice what type of books Yu had borrowed.

It wasn’t as if Yu could not tell that going to find Ah Guan was likely an excuse.

So where should I start looking from?

Taking advantage of the fact that the owner of the bedroom was out, Yu had already checked Yu Yin’s computer. Skimming through the history had indicated that Yu Yin had been particularly focused on the case in Yu Xia’s hands…then he had switched to some gourmet food sites and other unrelated webpages.

The corners of Yu’s mouth tilted upwards slightly in a faint smile as he stood up. Fish Jerky also energetically jumped up next to him and circled around his body.

If going to find Ah Guan was false, then I’ll probably have to wait some more before he returns…Or perhaps he would have to prepare himself for the other person to come back extremely late again, and apologetically say that they would go try [the desserts] another time.

Yu was not particularly stuck onto not trying [the desserts]. He really just did not want to say the truth that “I don’t have to eat desserts every day, I just find it very amusing to see Yu Yin’s different expressions of distress”.

Yu Yin had a very straightforward mind, which was something that Yu had known from the very beginning. As long as someone caught Yu Yin’s attention, he would willingly help, even if he had disliked the opposite party at first.

Yu was not sure if this was because of Yu Tong’s and Yu Xia’s mixed teachings, but in Yu’s eyes, Yu Yin was almost stupidly easy to fool. Moreover, this softheartedness was also why Yu Yin frequently suffered, and even ghosts would set him up.

Despite this, Yu Yin would still hotheadedly charge straight into different dangers and traps.

This is the kind of family I have now…

His irreplaceable family had already disappeared. The him from back then had not possessed the ability to stop everything that had happened. However, the current him was already grown up. His body had started getting stronger. There were many disastrous matters that he would not let repeat.

If there was a second instance, he would kill the opponent without any hesitation.

Once something has gone, it won’t ever return no matter how much you forgive. That was why he would absolutely never let the destroyer go again. And he had no way of restraining his urge to kill.

His family now was just as irreplaceable as his previous one.

His way of thinking might have originally been an effect from the drugs back then, but now he could no longer prove it. Yu stared at his own hands. Ever since his entire family had died that day, his hands had always been bloodred. Even though the murderer had already died, the colour would never fade.

Fang Yi Xun had been right at the time. They were not originally from the same world.

Even so, he still tried his best to clutch onto what he now possessed. It didn’t matter if he had to feign being well-behaved or was thought of as annoying. Just like how others struggled to continue living, he could also disguise himself in order to live here forever. This was his current choice.

Hiding the faint emotions of anger forever was fine as long as he could continue this same lifestyle.

He thought, Dad probably hoped for this too.

***

Fish Jerky suddenly became excited, running over to the front entrance.

Two seconds later, Yu heard the door open as expected. Then Yu Yin apologetically said, “I’m sorry, Xiao Yu, to come home late. I bought some glutinous riceballs on the way back, since they looked tasty when I passed by.”

Yu Yin then leaned against the wall to kick off his shoes. He spotted Yu stick a head out from the kitchen with a pot in hand to cook something.

Fish Jerky circled around him, constantly sniffing at the plastic bag and forcing Yu Yin to lift the bag up high to prevent the dog from accidentally eating it. “I think we might as well go out dinner.”

Yu glanced at the dog and shrugged.

There was no way the motorcycle could carry the dog and it wouldn’t be easy to bring it onto a bus as well. A taxi would definitely not let the dog on either…plus the fee would be expensive.

Yu Yin had realised this same issue. He scratched his face and crouched down to look at the dog with a slightly vexed expression. “Crap, I didn’t think that we’d end up with an extra dog. Abandoning it at home doesn’t seem to be a good idea either…”

Fish Jerky tilted its head to stare at the human for a moment, then suddenly licked Yu Yin’s face.

Yu Yin stopped the dog from licking more, hugging the dog’s neck as he once again apologetically looked at Yu standing in the kitchen entrance. “Is it okay if I bring you to dessert another time?” They couldn’t just leave the newly arrived dog in this new environment.

Yu raised the pot in his hands and went back into the kitchen to continue preparing dinner.

Seeing that Yu had actually already started preparing, Yu Yin felt relieved. He took out the jerky to play with Fish Jerky for a bit, then let the dog gnaw at the strips by itself.

Wonder if any results will come out from testing that dirt.

Yu Yin petted the dog’s soft fur and furrowed his brows as he thought back to what had happened in the basement.

There are two people total…two deaths.

The female is simple; she just wanted me to experience her death. I might have to wait until Uncle comes back before having a “friendly” discussion with her.

The hanging one was trickier.

He had absolutely no idea why it had suddenly come looking for him, having already appeared before he had entered the station. That meant he had probably come into contact with something that had caused them to find him…but the question was, where? What had it been?

Yu Yin contemplated this carefully but did not think that he had touched anything he should not have in these past few days. He had been living quite normally in this period of time. Basically, aside from going to school and his part-time job, at most he would just be eating delicious food with Yu. He had spent all the rest of the time at home and had not come into contact with anything at all.

A more possible explanation was that that it might have been transferred from Yu Tong or Yu Xia?

He unconsciously looked up to abruptly see the darkness outside the living room window with a pair of feet appearing there, slowly swaying.

The darkness was an extremely deep black colour. The streetlamps outside had gone out, and the air seemed to completely freeze as well.

Fish Jerky began to growl lowly by his side once more.

Just as many people stated, animals seemed to possess an acute sense to the other space.

Before he could make any heads or tails of the situation, the feet suddenly vanished. Taking its place in the darkness seemed to be a human silhouette. It was sprawled on the window, its wide, bloodred eyes staring into the house.

The next second, the shadow instantly disappeared with a whoosh.

Yu Yin returned to his senses with a start to discover that the scene outside the window had returned to its former appearance the dim glow of the streetlamps reflected on the surrounding walls.

He turned his head to see Yu stop at the living room entryway with a pot of seafood noodles, gazing at him questioningly.

“It’s nothing…”

Probably.

***

“Jiu Shen, where did that dirt sample on your table come from?”

It was evening. After taking a two hour nap in the break room, Jiu Shen stepped back into the labs to hear Ah Liu voice this question.

“Huh? What sample?” Jiu Shen halted, momentarily unable to process what the other person was talking about as he stared blankly at his friend.

“When I came in during the afternoon, I saw some dirt in the glass dish on your table. I thought it was an urgent item, so I helped rush it for analysis.” Ah Liu waved the other person over to look at the analytical results after opening the nearby notes. “Did you bring it back from Boss’s case? There was blood in it.”

“Huh…huh??? No, this is from—from somewhere else.” After nearly exposing Yu Yin, Jiu Shen knocked his own head to wake up a bit more.

Ah Liu furrowed his brows at this response. “It’s not from the stuff we brought back from the crime scene?” When they had searched the site, the personnel there had brought back some dirt as record of the environment.

“No.” Jiu Shen eyed the report and also began to suspect something was wrong. The dirt had been given to him by Yu Yin, who couldn’t have run over to dig up the ground at their crime scene. If he had gone, the people there would have noticed.

“That’s weird then. Take a good look at this. I thought you had taken it from the scene so I opened the environment’s data file. If you factor out the blood content and some external effects, this dirt’s composition is basically identical to the dirt you guys brought back. I figured it’s probably from a deeper layer.” Ah Liu watched his friend’s reaction as he said, “Also, this dirt…”

“Ah Liu.” Jiu Shen interrupted the other’s words and put the report down, his face white as he hurriedly backed away. “Let me calm myself down first.” He needed to first suppress his various urges that had risen from this unscientific thing.

“Go ahead.” Ah Liu then watched his friend let out a long scream and dash out of the lab. “Don’t forget to eat before coming back to work!” He kindly reminded his colleague already tearfully running off into the distance. He figured that the other person had likely worked overtime and had only slept for a moment in the afternoon. That meant Jiu Shen had definitely not eaten dinner.

“What are you both doing?”

Ah Liu turned around to see Li Zi Hong walking over with a briefcase still in hand, likely another person that had run over overtime to check on progress.

Straightening his expression, Ah Liu waved at the other person before passing over the recently completed analytical report. Putting aside where exactly Jiu Shen had gotten the dirt from, this matter was a very serious one.

Li Zi Hong frowned after reading the analytical results. “What are the blood levels?”

“It was not just a bit, it was completely soaked through. The dirt was filled with blood.” This was why Ah Liu had wanted to ask the origin of the dirt. “In addition, there were some subcutaneous tissues too…Weird, the blood was quite fresh, as if it had bled through not long ago. But the other analysed material samples showed that a period of time has already passed. The time stamp of the blood doesn’t match.”

So strange. There’s no reason for the blood to be fresh – completely unreasonable, really.

“…Go bring Jiu Shen back here.”

Five minutes later, Jiu Shen was dragged back by Ah Liu.

“I really don’t know where that dirt is from.”

Jiu Shen trembled with fear as he studied the faces of his colleague and the prosecutor while inwardly cursing at Yu Yin for putting him in another mess.

“You’d best confess quickly. This matter is extremely important,” Ah Liu stated with crossed arms.

“Uh…” Could he only sell out Ah Yin now?

“Wait a minute.” Li Zi Hong knit his brows from where he stood. “You just ran out of the labs…Did Yu Yin bring this?”

After working here for a period of time, Li Zi Hong could easily determine the difference between Jiu Shen’s usual exit and his terrified escapes. Usually, there was only one reason for the latter, a reason that everyone knew.

And there was also only one person that could typically cause it.

“I didn’t say it! I didn’t say a thing!” Jiu Shen jumped up from his seat and nearly choked on his own saliva. “That-that’s…just how it is. I really don’t know where the dirt is from. Ah Yin didn’t mention its origin either, he just said he helped someone bring it here…”

Li Zi Hong pressed Jiu Shen down by the shoulder as he directly called Yu Yin.

“Didn’t Boss say not to bring Ah Yin over?” Ah Liu quietly said, “Nobody’s been messing with Ah Yin recently. Boss and Tong had carefully requested for us to no longer let him know too much.”

“He ran over here by himself…” Jiu Shen’s shoulders slumped in depression. He had been extremely unwilling too.

As these two were exchanging whispers, Li Zi Hong finished asking for information and hung up. He turned to them and said, “Yu Yin said he does not know the origin either. It was…mm…given to him through some other means.”

Although he had made sure to modify his words, Jiu Shen still shuddered.

“The two of us arranged to visit the crime scene together tomorrow.” Li Zi Hong sighed at the two wide-eyed gazes pointed at him. “I figured that even if I tried to stop him, he would still use some method to secretly go. In that case, it would better if the police were also present. It would lessen the chance of a mishap occurring.”

“That’s true too…but Boss will definitely come looking for us.” When Jiu Shen thought of the imminent “disaster”, he wondered if he should take vacation and run now before Yu Xia murderously came after him. He could collect his fears at the same time as well.

Li Zi Hong coughed. “Anyways, Yu Yin and I agreed to meet at his school at 11am tomorrow. He only has two classes in the morning.”

“Ah, then I’ll go too.” Jiu Shen hurriedly checked his work schedule and confirmed it would be fine if he did not come back to the lab until the afternoon. “If I take a look at the crime scene, I should be able to tell which dirt layer it came from.”

Ah Liu next to him actually really wanted to remind his coworker that this place likely had something unscientific. However, Jiu Shen would always forget these things when he was earnestly focused on work…I’ll wait and see when he remembers.

It was fine as long as Jiu Shen wanted to go willingly.

***

He heard music.

The faint music gradually sounded from the darkness.

It was a tune that practically every child knew. Accompanying it was a baby’s happy laughter.

Then, the noises all vanished.

And he sensed a dull pain.

He was surrounded by a rhythmic sound. Even though his eyes were shut, he could sense the piercing light and an unusual smell in the air.

His entire body was weary, unable to muster any strength. Even the thought of opening his eyes to see his surroundings was very difficult.

Someone was speaking next to him, someone was pacing back and forth nearby. His senses were exceptionally acute in the darkness. The noises were right next to his ear, jumping in and out.

Then there was the faint reek of blood.

He was abruptly able to open his eyes. When he subconsciously scanned his surroundings, he saw a female lying next to him in the dark space, her waxen, white face pointed straight at him.

It was a face void of any expressions. He could practically smell the ice-cold air.

His limbs were tense and paralysed, making it impossible for him to move. He could not even turn his head away. This forced him to only meet the other’s gaze, unable to make a sound either.

After an indeterminate amount of time passed, the white face slowly turned away. He saw the crimson blood on the side of her head; the black and red fluid pouring out gave off an indescribable, strong odour.

She then stood up with unnatural movements; the clattering of bones shifting was right by his ear. Freezing limbs slowly pressed down on his chest, the force and extremely cold temperature causing him to momentarily lose his ability to breathe.

Since he could not shift his head, he could not see what she was doing. The only thing he knew was that the ice-cold body was now horizontal across his body, the chilling air that smelled of blood blowing into his ear.

Find him…

Bring him back…

That’s mine…

Bring him back…

Rigid fingers plastered around his neck, the cold seeping through his bones. The taste of blood seemed to rise from his throat, but he was unable to spit it out.

Then, the eyes next to him met his—

Yu Yin’s eyes snapped open. He immediately rolled off his bed to switch on the light by his bed.

There was nothing in the dark room.

He rubbed his face; at some point, he had broken out into a cold sweat. Taking a deep breath, he glanced at the time. It was only a bit past four in the morning. Just as he prepared to lie back down to get some more sleep, he caught a glimpse of scarlet.

“What the hell…”

The red, bloody handprint was plastered right on his pillow, right next to where his face had laid.

Now that it’s like this, there’s no way I can lie back down…

With a deathly glare, Yu Yin bundled up the pillow cover and tossed it onto the ground for now, deciding to deal with it after the sun rose. There were still many things he had to do today, so he had to sleep some more while he could.

When he lay back down on his bed covers, he let out a slow exhale. Just as he blinked, about to go back to dreaming, an enormous shadow suddenly fell down from the ceiling and nearly crashed onto him. But before it landed, a force pulling in the opposite direction sharply stopped the object with a startling sound. Two suspended legs swayed mid-air.

Yu Yin, who had instinctively rolled off the other side of bed in shock, was still shaken as he stared at the shadow above his bed.

Just as the previous few times he had seen it, the dark casual pants and sneakers were lightly swinging back and forth. Darkness swallowed the upper half of the body, making it impossible to identify any other traits.

A pair of red eyes looked down at him from the darkness above.

Yu Yin unconsciously held his breath as he crouched down and slowly retreated back towards the door. The red eyes turned to follow him, permanently locked onto him.

He was seriously convinced that he might one day actually die from either shock or psychasthenia. Right now, Yu Yin was pretty much experiencing how Jiu Shen usually felt. A normal person would truly be unable to take this kind of fright.

A wind blew from the window that had unknowingly been opened at some point, carrying the smell of blood as it coldly cut into the room.

He could practically hear the grinding friction of ropes come from the ceiling.

Right before he could charge out of the room, Yu Yin suddenly heard a scratching sound from outside the door, like claws of some kind were grating against his door. He blanked out for half a second before recalling that there currently was a dog in his home. When he snapped out of his derailed thoughts, the legs were already gone.

He opened the door and saw Fish Jerky scratching at it as expected. Seeing the door open, the dog stopped its actions.

Fish Jerky blinked its bright, round eyes and naturally made its way into the bedroom to sit next to his bed, waving its tail at him.

Since Yu Yin had already been terrified enough tonight, he sighed and shut his window before returning to his bed and looked at the dog while patting the mattress. Fish Jerky immediately jumped up and obediently curled up next to Yu Yin.

“Don’t tell me your owner also lets you sleep on the bed…” Perhaps because he now had a companion, Yu Yin quickly calmed down as he smelled the faint fragrance on the dog and intermittently rubbed the shaggy neck.

The silhouette in the darkness outside the window slowly faded.

Yu Yin yawned and leaned into the warm dog as he began to feel the sleepiness return.

Before he lost consciousness, he felt a string of English on the inner surface of the collar that felt like an email address. Probably the owner’s contact email.

Then he succumbed to sleep completely.

He knew the other party was intentionally staying away.

---

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