YBCB2: V7C3

Translated by: TaffyGirl13

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Chapter Three

“What happened?”

Dong Feng noticed the abnormality in the house and walked over coughing.

“Our psychic master seems to have received news from the spiritual world.” Yan Si took Yu’s flashlight and shone it towards the second floor. However, no matter how he moved it around, the space remained pitch-dark. It appeared that the flashlight was completely ineffective.

“Do you want to go up and look?” Dong Feng could not make out heads nor tails, so he asked the sole person that could see.

“Um…I’m not sure what that was just now either.” Yu Yin described the object that had just appeared, but could not confirm the other party’s intent. All he knew was that there was undoubtedly something here.

Before he had decided whether to go up or not, Yu suddenly grabbed the flashlight again and began to walk straight up the stairs without hesitation.

Seems like we’re going up then. Yu Yin immediately followed, passing Yu to lead the way.

“How suspenseful and exciting.” Yan Si watched the two brave souls with piqued interest. “We should head up too…Are you alright?” He saw that Dong Feng was still coughing behind him, seemingly very uncomfortable with the air inside the house despite the odour having faded significantly.

Dong Feng shot the annoying person a glare before circling around and going ahead to follow the other two up the stairs.

When they arrived at the floor, they found their surroundings had turned even darker.

Yu readjusted his flashlight several times to emit the brightest possible beam, but remained unable to illuminate the space. The tool was only able to light up a few steps around them.

“I’ll have the people outside bring a few flashlights in for us,” Yan Si said as he called the officers waiting outside.

“You’re shameless enough to talk with them?” They were technically illegally trespassing at the moment. Dong Feng rolled his eyes at the person that was brazenly calling for help.

“I need to explain the situation to them too, otherwise what would they do if the house gets torn down? If they’re going to die, we should at least let them mentally prepare themselves first.” Actually, Yan Si had spotted several calls when they were opening the lock; the officers protecting them had absolutely no idea what they were trying to do. However, everyone more or less had experience dealing with Yu Yin and his inexplicable situations. If they were told it was enlightenment from the supernatural realm, they would immediately understand.

Sometimes, Yan Si truly believed that being Yu Xia’s teammate was an extremely challenging role.

In their brief moment of waiting, the four of them made a small circle around the second floor.

Unlike the first story, this level had a white-wood floor, with some sections clearly covered in mould stains, so dark that one could not see any sign of its original snow-white colour. But they could more or less conclude that the wood was of decent quality that must have cost a fortune.

They then saw a flower-shaped table surrounded by finely made chairs. There were also beautiful vases, tea sets, an ornamental cabinet…and various small pieces of art that matched along. However, all were covered in a thin layer of dust.

“Looks like a female’s style of decor.” Dong Feng took the flashlight and scanned the room, even spotting some pink wallpaper and an ornamental carpet, indicating that the owner had spent effort in designing this space. It was entirely different from the first floor’s function – this place could easily lower people’s guards.

“The rooms are the same. This second floor was arranged like a guesthouse.” Yu Yin checked the other two rooms on the level.

Despite the damage from old age, it was evident that this house had pre-designed internal decor.

When they returned to the staircase, the police officers had just arrived and passed over a few flashlights, even adding that they should leave quickly if they were done. After all, this neighbouring town was not their jurisdiction, so it would be bad to act up.

Yan Si told the officers to return to their cars and passed the flashlights out to the others.

While the illuminated area remained limited, it was much better than before. At least their visible range was larger.

Finally, the four of them no longer had to stick together, and they split up to search through the remaining rooms.

He remembered that the shadow had been dragged up, so Yu Yin carefully examined the white floorboards while walking in a circle, but did not spot anything out of place. There was only some more dark filth, as though something had recently been knocked over and someone had mopped in a rush without properly cleaning it, leaving some ugly stains.

He followed the stains forwards and arrived at a small wooden door once more. Just like the first floor, it belonged to the next staircase.

When he pointed his beam at the handle, he saw that there was still a key inside. Both the key and the keyhole were covered in that same filth. When he tried to tug it out, he found that the key was firmly stuck.

He slowly turned the key and heard the door unlock. It was an extremely sharp sound in the darkness.

He pushed the door open, but before he could light up the other side, Yu Yin saw the shadow suddenly whoosh down and instantly get dragged up to the third level.

“I’m going up to take a look.”

Just as before, the stairway behind the door was so dark it was impossible to see where the end was. A rotting stench faintly permeated the air, and there seemed to be a barely-there, low voice endlessly repeating something.

As Yu Yin took a step up the stairs, Yu spotted him and walked over, ready to follow. The flashlight beam waved around before landing next to his feet.

This made them automatically follow the beam, and in that instant, they saw a mass of shadows below them.

Before Yu Yin could figure out what this situation meant, he suddenly found himself falling backwards and crashing heavily into the wooden door. A loud noise rang out next to his ear as he felt a sharp pain shoot through his head. Then something grabbed his right foot with a strong jerk, forcefully dragging him back up the stairs.

He had no idea what was happening in the midst of chaos, but Yu flew over and the flashlight landed squarely on his forehead, inflicting extreme pain. Then Yan Si appeared out of nowhere shouting something indiscernible, and finally Dong Feng joined as well. Multiple hands grabbed his body and limbs to pull him back.

This deadlock lasted for only a few short seconds, before the force on his feet abruptly vanished.

And so they all stumbled and fell in a mixed heap.

 

“Wow! That was a bit too exciting.”

Yan Si was kneeling on the floor while shaking his aching right hand. When they had jumped in to intervene, the unknown power had suddenly let go and resulted in them falling while caught off guard. It was the perfect example of trying to pull out radishes. Yu Yin had dropped straight onto Yan Si’s hand, and the weight had made Yan Si seriously think his hand would break. “What was it?”

“Who knows.” Yu Yin shook his head, the tumble leaving him disoriented. He then pressed a hand against his head as the sharp pain from bumping into the door earlier persisted, and it took a while for him to return to his senses. Yu, who was next to him, picked up the flashlight that had rolled away. Fortunately, it was not damaged and was still working.

“Are you alright, my junior?” Yan Si approached Dong Feng, who was sitting by the door clutching the side of his head, only to find that there were strands of hair next to him.

“Who’s your junior!” Dong Feng immediately shot back. He lowered his hands and opened his palms, which had a few bloody scratches and a bunch of hair—in the mess, he seemed to have also been pulled down by something. His scalp was still stinging.

Yu Yin struggled to straighten his body and pull his pants up. He was not at all surprised to see the imprints of an adult’s palm and fingers around his right ankle. “Xiao Yu, you’re not hurt, are you?”

Yu shook his head by his side and picked up his bag to show the others the deformed zipper.

“…Yan-dàgē?” Yu Yin turned towards the extremely energetic person.

“Nah, I’m completely fine~” Aside from having a body thrown into him, Yan Si had no issues. “I guess I escaped unscathed because I’m such a good person.”

When Yu Yin saw that Yan Si really didn’t have any traces of being dragged, he wanted to complain.

Yu picked up the flashlight and went over to examine Dong Feng’s injuries, finding that the wound on his right side wasn’t light. When he touched the scalp, it was still bleeding, so he took out a handkerchief to press it against the cut.

“Junior, I really recommend you cut your hair. Just look at all the ghost movies in the world, they’ve taught the fact that our floating brothers love pulling people’s hair and running around. Now that you’ve personally experienced it, don’t you think you should listen to your senior’s words?” Yan Si earnestly suggested.

Dong Feng took Yu Yin’s flashlight to swing it straight at a certain forensic investigator’s face.

The targeted Yan Si had not expected the other to strike him without a hesitation, so he wasn’t able to dodge. In the end, he could only clutch his face as he walked to the side while enduring the pain.

Yu Yin speechlessly watched them. Having been nearly dragged away just now, Yu Yin’s current feelings were a bit complicated. Logically, after that experience, he should be feeling shock and fear, but none of those emotions remained. All he felt now was exasperation.

Once Dong Feng’s bleeding was stopped, they refocused their attention on the stairs.

After the chaos of being dragged, everyone was extremely cautious and did not carelessly go up the staircase to the third floor.

“Why don’t I call the fellows outside? I heard that police have stronger repelling auras, we can have them lead the way.” Yan Si peered at the passage, unable to see the end. Standing here and staring wasn’t a solution, so Yan Si brought up a realistic suggestion.

“…Yan-dàgē, they’re real people that have parents too.” Wouldn’t that just be asking for them to become sacrifices?

“Alright then. Since we only have limited time here, let’s just bravely go up.” Yan Si shrugged. Currently, he was the only mature adult, so he had to take the lead and make the first move.

Since someone was willingly walking to their own death—willingly running up, the other three exchanged a look and followed upwards.

However, after walking a few steps and approaching the end, Yan Si suddenly stopped. “Wait, you guys stay here first. Don’t move. I’ll go take a look first,” he turned to say when he noticed some unnatural dark stains on the floor.

Before they could reply to Yan Si’s sentence, the wooden door on the second floor behind them suddenly shut with a bang. Yu, who was the last of the group, twisted the doorknob a few times, but the door remained tightly locked.

“Just don’t move from here.” Yan Si shrugged and crossed the final step to arrive at the third level.

Unlike the first story’s everyday functionality and the second story’s deceiving decor, the third story was entirely empty. It was simply one large room with a few tables and a computer. There were some pillows and comforters on the floor and a door leading to a bathroom, but that was it.

Yan Si glanced at the few items, then turned towards the bathroom. When he opened the door, he found a massive space with an onsen-styled bathtub and other luxurious facilities.

It really is as I suspected…

When he returned to the staircase, he looked down at the three younger ones. “Ready to go back down now?”

“There’s something else first, Yan-dàgē…”

Yu Yin, who stood closest, saw that Yan Si was casual enough to shine the flashlight beam right under his face like someone telling ghost stories. As a result, Yu Yin found it very hard to voice what he saw—You have a bunch of undefined shadows looming behind you—!!!

“Eh~ If I get pushed down, you three should be able to catch me.” Yan Si could more or less guess the truth from Yu Yin’s expression. However, with three meat cushions below, it seemed fine.

“No, no, we definitely will not be catching you.” Yu Yin was pretty sure that it was better to just let this kind of person fall a few times.

In tacit agreement, Dong Feng and Yu each parted to move towards opposite sides of the staircase.

“Oi, oi, you guys are heartless.” Yan Si clicked his tongue as he started walking down while taking out his cellphone to send some information out.

The shadows behind him did not move to push him down. Yu Yin watched them slowly dissipate in the darkness as though they had no ill intent to further harm them. Moreover, the moment Yan Si reached the bottom, the door to the second floor clicked quietly and opened.

So, they just wanted us to find them…?

***

“I asked the administrators I know here to come in the morning.”

They left the abandoned house without incident and entered the car. Yan Si told the others, “I hope it’s just me overthinking, but it’s very possible that the tub in the bathroom once had large amounts of blood.”

When he had opened the bathroom door, his flashlight had illuminated the pitch-dark tub that had not been a result of many years of mould, but because of some thick liquid that had stuck to its surfaces. Since it had not been properly cleaned years ago, the traces had remained until today.

As he looked out of the car, Yu Yin saw the abandoned house illuminated by car headlights. Several slim silhouettes stood behind the window. He could see a small section of stained, red-striped clothing from behind the damaged part of the window.

And then everything disappeared.

“That’s it for now, let’s head back.”

They could only go this far tonight. Yan Si started the car and slowly backed out of the farm path.

As they returned to Taichung, they stopped in the middle to buy some mineral water at the convenience store for Yu to help clean Dong Feng’s wound and treat it.

By the time they arrived at Yang De Cheng’s restaurant, it was nearly sunrise.

Despite having waited for the entire night, Yang De Cheng did not say much when he saw them. He simply let them in to rest while also greeting the officers that had followed them around the whole time.

 

“You can use the office, bathroom, and bedroom upstairs, or the staff lounge. I have some clean spare clothes up there too.”

Yang De Cheng brought over hot drinks to the bar and handed a first-aid kit to Yu. “Take turns washing up, then eat a bit before going to sleep.” He saw the exhaustion on their faces. The police officers wore the same looks; even without asking, he could tell that they were all very tired…Fortunately his restaurant was closed today.

“Thanks,” Yan Si flashed a thumbs-up at his friend.

“We’ll go up and wash first then.” Yu Yin told Yu, who was already eating the pudding. Yu Yin then pulled up Dong Feng from where he was dozing off on the table and dragged him upstairs. It would be much easier to bandage the wounds after showering – there was no knowing how filthy that house had been. While they had done emergency treatment on the way, it was best to completely cleanse and disinfect the injury.

Yu waved his hand as he watched the two leave, then held his spoon in his mouth while digging out the damaged letters from his backpack.

“You brought them back, huh.” Yan Si leaned over and saw that the letters were indeed addressed to “Zeng Jian Zhe” without mistake.

Yu nodded and pulled out his tablet to check the images of the postcards, zooming into the words on them to compare the handwriting to those on the letters. Fortunately, one of the letters happened to require an application form to be filled in, and had “Zeng Jian Zhe”’s signature.

“The handwritings looks pretty similar.” Yang De Cheng curiously examined it from the other side of the bar. Even he could tell that the male handwriting on the two items were alike, down to the way they wrote dots. It definitely appeared to be the same person writing.

“Indeed, it’s not surprising for an internet friend to use a fake name either.” But if they’re using a fake name, why give her their real address? Yan Si pondered to himself.

“Yeah. I’ve recently been using a fake name to play games too. Who knows what you’ll encounter on the internet?” Yang De Cheng spun around to turn off the boiling soup, then put in some pre-prepared ingredients and slowly stirred it. Soon, a delicious aroma began to waft out.

“You have time to play games?” Yan Si stared at his supposedly very busy friend.

“Occasionally, to balance out my life, get in touch with the internet world, and look at different species. Sometimes it even helps me come up with new menus.” Yang De Cheng brought over a tray with a few bowls filled with hot soup as he said, “I recently helped a friend design a series of late-night meals that are good for digestion, specifically for those night owls. It even helped people relax and sleep better. I heard it’s been selling well, and quite a few bloggers have called them out. Most of those that pull all-nighters like eating instant noodles and cookies which are terrible for their health if eaten too often.”

“Oh~ Then you should also help out the restaurants near us. There’s so many with terrible food.” Yan Si took the tray. Right as he was about to stand and give some to the officers at the other table, they had already walked over to gratefully take them and carry it away.

“No one has asked for me to help.” Yang De Cheng shrugged. “Plus it’s probably only terrible because it doesn’t match your tastes.” To this friend of his, “terrible food” meant it was hard to find food he could eat.

“So? The games?” Yu suddenly asked as he grabbed his second pudding.

Yang De Cheng was a bit surprised that Yu would be interested in this subject, but he replied, “After playing them for a while, the more enthusiastic players wanted to exchange modes of communication or create forums. I created one under a fake name for them to join, but I still haven’t particularly wanted to meet any.” He was fine with occasionally chatting, but since their lives were so different, he did not want to go further.

“No girls?” Yan Si side-eyed his friend with slight disapproval.

“How should I put this…there were a few times where we unconsciously started discussing food, and there’s plenty of young people now that can’t cook. They don’t even know how to steam an egg, and it took a bit of time for me to teach them. As a result, I apparently was mistaken to be a girl, and they wouldn’t believe me no matter how many times I told them I was male, and then I gave up.” Actually, Yang De Cheng didn’t care much either way; he didn’t particularly need to prove anything since it didn’t affect his life or his work. Besides, he experienced some interesting conversations that he normally wouldn’t have in real life this way. “Some even asked to hookup with me. Kids these days are really open these days. They want to have one-night stands with people they haven’t even seen before.” Of course, he just found it amusing.

“…Not bad.” What a mother hen…even people online can tell. Yan Si was deeply impressed.

“And on that subject, I think that some young ones actually ended up going.” Although it was not any of Yang De Cheng’s business, it really made him think public morals were degenerating by the day. “But who knows what’s real and what’s fake in the world of the internet? Maybe they’re just saying empty words to show off.”

“That’s just how it is these days. There’s already been many cases of online sexual assault and being tricked into having sex. There are plenty of victims that have run away from home because of it too.” This made Yan Si recall one of the cases that he had been involved with. “When I was in a different region before, there was a case where a young girl slit her own wrists. In the end, we found that she had been two-months pregnant. Later in the investigation, it turned out that the girl had run away from home and relied on her internet friend, and after living with them for a month, was abandoned. She was too afraid and ashamed to go home, so she wandered around struggling to live and ended up getting so sick that she couldn’t handle it anymore and slit her own wrists. Her neighbours only called for the police when they smelled her dead body.”

When they had notified her family to confirm her identity, the girl’s mother had cried so hard at the sight of the unrecognisable, decayed corpse that she had collapsed and been sent to the hospital where she nearly died from a stroke.

Through his relations, Yan Si had seen some of the girl’s words posted in her online group when she had left home. Most of them were related to her being fed up with her boring family and her parents’ disciplining, so she wanted to find herself a new life…then she disappeared until she returned in a different way.

This was not the only incident.

He had also seen cases of boys running away from home to join violent gangs, girls selling themselves to prostitution, youths joining drug-selling groups, etc. Even after being found by the police, they would never turn back and continue sinking deeper and giving up on their future. While some could one day regain their lives, others would never open their eyes again.

The internet was so convenient, but its dark side corroded away many young lives. The victims would struggle to filter through the information and protect themselves, easily falling into deep trouble.

“Kids these days are in crisis everywhere.” Yang De Cheng shook his head. He truly believed that being a child was difficult in many ways. “By the way, someone also offered to be my sugar daddy.” The gamers that asked to hook up with him not only offered him money, but also his gaming expenses.

“You have the gall to say that out loud?” Yan Si chuckled. “I’ll have to join in on a few games one day.” This big brother loves playing games with people like that~

“You know, the computer really is like Pandora’s Box. It’s like a treasure chest that doesn’t necessarily hold treasure, but something that might summon demons or calamities.” Yang De Cheng had always believed that when going online, the technology truly became a double-edged sword.

“True. And it stores many secrets.” Whenever I die in the future, I should make sure to remove my hard-drive and clear it first.

“Are you hiding things in there that you don’t want people to know about…”

“There’s always things that you don’t want others to see~”

As Yu listened to the discussion continue down a tangent, he grabbed his third pudding with a yawn.

***

Cough, cough…

Yu Yin turned his head to look outside the french window. The sky was beginning to turn into the blues of a beautiful dawn. Aside from some herbs and plants outside the work area, there wasn’t a single person around.

However, this time he had heard it loud and clear; it was undoubtedly the same raspy cough as last time, the faint sound floating in the air.

“Excuse me, is something the matter?” Yu Yin stood and tried to focus as he scanned the room. There was again nothing to be seen. “I really did not understand you last time.”

“Who are you talking to?”

The thing in the air did not respond, but Yu Yin heard a different voice from the open bathroom door. Dong Feng walked out while drying his hair with a towel. “Did something follow you again?” Considering the bizarre series of events they had just gone through, it would not be surprising if something did follow them.

“Er…I’m not sure yet.” Yu Yin noticed that Dong Feng appeared wide awake. After some internal contemplation, he decided to take advantage of the chance they were alone and asked, “Um, why did you go back to your old school?”

“Can’t you just find out the answer to that question by asking Officer Yu or my seniors?” Dong Feng was not particularly trying to hide it considering many people knew the reason already. He rubbed his aching scalp – the shower seemed to have opened the wound again. “I also saw everything regarding you and Xiao Yu through my own means…particularly Xiao Yu’s incident.”

“That’s true, but I think chatting isn’t bad either. Plus now that we all know each other so well, you can just tell me what you want me to know. Of course, you don’t need to tell me about the incident, anything you want to talk about is fine. How about it?” Yu Yin asked carefully, internally feeling a bit like a swindler.

“…” Dong Feng held the towel down on his head and sighed. “I just…feel like some things need to be confronted directly, so that’s what I did.”

In recent times, meddlesome people had gathered around him. All of them were annoying as hell, and they had dragged him into various kinds of situations multiple times. He honestly wanted to move away and leave these people as soon as possible.

But…

“I seem to have dragged you into my issues as well…” So he had started thinking he had to go back and face his own issues, or else one day, “that person” would drag in others too. Putting aside Li Zi Hong and Yan Si who were currently investigating his case, it was very likely that these idiots that clung onto him with a death grip would be targeted.

“What?” Because Dong Feng had spoken so softly, Yu Yin had not quite heard him.

“There was a homicide case at this school ten years ago.”

Dong Feng removed his towel and turned to stare at Yu Yin straight in the eye. “Though it wasn’t on campus. At the time, the corpse of an unmarried female teacher was found in her rented apartment.”

“Huh?” Yu Yin was taken aback by how the other one had unexpectedly cut straight to the topic to tell the story in a formal, official manner.

“The teacher’s name was An Tian Qing. She was twenty-seven years old, and worked as a homeroom teacher for the third year of the senior high division. Because she was pretty, devoted to teaching, cared for her students, and taught interesting classes, many students and parents liked her.” Dong Feng slowly looked away as he walked over to the french window and stared out at the green plants that were well taken-care of. “Then one afternoon…she was found dead in an apartment near school. By the time she was discovered, she had already been dead for a long time…When the police officers checked the tapes from nearby streets, they said someone had been following her for a while…so…”

“…She was your teacher?” No way, shouldn’t he have been only in junior high back then? Though maybe she taught one of his other classes considering it’s a combined school. 

“Mm…for a period of time, she volunteered to help me with extracurricular school work because the school’s program was too easy…”

Dong Feng rubbed his forehead. Although the last thing he wanted to do was recall the incident, his memories continuously materialised so that they were impossible to ignore. It was as if it had just happened—

Oh? You’re so talented, you answered everything correctly.

I really think you’re amazing, and you might become an even more amazing scientist or scholar in the future. When that happens, make sure you remember to come back here so that I can see it.

At this rate, by the next semester, you’ll have surpassed me.

Or, when you get your PhD, I can go and join you. We could become colleagues!

Let’s pinky promise.

“But she died.”

Becoming a corpse that would never speak again, never able to fulfil her promise. “The police concluded that a stalker broke in and murdered her. The case was investigated further, but the matter was left unsettled, and no one ever brought it up again.”

Yu Yin noticed that Dong Feng’s tone was gradually turning rougher, and he hurriedly grabbed Dong Feng’s shoulders. “That wasn’t your fault…”

“You don’t understand.” Dong Feng looked up, his chest and head aching terribly as he fought with all his energy to breathe and continue, “I was the first one to find her…I was the very first one to find her…”

He had happily brought his textbooks with him to her apartment as scheduled, only to find the unlocked door open just a crack, as though waiting specifically for him.

Then the crimson blood had slowly spread out from underneath the door, towards his feet.

Hadn’t we promised?

He had robotically opened the door he was so familiar with, and the chimes behind it had tinkled as usual.

The person had been sitting with their back facing him, yet their face had been twisted backwards so that it faced him directly upside-down.

It looked like a doll with its head twisted and broken. Large amounts of blood poured down the neck and spread across the floor like a red carpet welcoming him, the bright scarlet searing into his eyes.

He still remembered everything in that moment.

Just like usual, the table had sliced cake on the special tray she used for students, while the teacher’s plate had a half-eaten cookie. There had also been a mug of fruit tea…

He hadn’t noticed when he had dropped the textbooks in his hand that were now lying in blood.

And everything froze until a passing neighbour screamed.

 

“Ah Yin, move aside!”

Yu Yin stepped away as Yan Si charged past to lift the collapsed person from the ground. “Junior, take deep breaths to my count…”

“What happened?” Yang De Cheng shifted over to let Yu run past and support Yan Si.

“It’s fine, let me borrow the bed in your room.” Once Yan Si confirmed the young one had calmed down a bit, he directly picked Dong Feng up and carried him to the room Yang De Cheng led them to.

Everything had happened too quickly for Yu Yin to even react.

He only snapped out of his daze when Yu came over and pushed him.

“The incident from ten years ago…” Yu Yin carefully thought about Dong Feng’s words, and recalled that he had seemed to have heard the news a long time ago. Something along the lines of a female teacher being robbed and killed by a stalker, with the unknown criminal having run away. Although he had still been very young at the time, Yu Tong and Yu Xia had discussed it after work. Based on Yu Yin’s memory, the criminal had never been captured, and the case just vanished in the mess of society. It had been ages since he had heard anyone mention it, and he hadn’t ever asked any more about it at such a young age.

Now that he considered it, the case had indeed ended too quickly. While it was expected that the media would not continuously mention the same incident, he never even saw mentions of pursuing the case or other related progress.

“Look it up?” Yu asked despite not knowing what this case from ten years ago was.

“Yeah, let’s look it up.”

Yu Yin had never imagined that the first person to find the victim would have been Dong Feng. After some contemplation, Yu Yin relayed the events to Yu.

After the two of them finished chatting, Yan Si and Yang De Cheng walked out one after another from the bedroom attached to the working area.

“Is he better now?” Yu Yin immediately asked.

“Let him sleep.” Yan Si rested his arms around Yu Yin and Yu and led them upstairs while leaving Yang De Cheng behind to take care of Dong Feng. Once the trio left the work area, Yan Si asked, “What kind of stimulating topic were you guys talking about?”

Yu Yin could only repeat their conversation again while reflexively glancing towards the stairs. “I didn’t think he’d feel that much pressure.” Because of Yu by his side, he would sometimes subconsciously compare cases to Yu’s. As a result, others didn’t seem so bad in comparison; after all, very few people encountered such incidents.

But after thinking about it again, the level of trauma left on the victims could not be compared based on the scale of the case.

“Mm~ Looks like Xiao Dong-zai is quite honest and open with you.” Yan Si obviously knew about the matter because he had seen the case files, and his former roommate was the same. In reality, Yu Yin was the first one to hear about it directly from Dong Feng. This made Yan Si feel like he needed to help wipe away empathetic tears for his former roommate, who had cared for the brat for so many years yet did not succeed as much as this great master had in this short period of time. Life is truly full of challenges.

“Huh?”

“But he was too strained just now if he collapsed before he even finished speaking. Since he wanted you to know and spoke up on his own initiative, I’ll tell you what he didn’t manage to.” Yan Si pushed Yu Yin down onto a bar stool as he walked to the opposite side of the bar and familiarly picked up the tools to mix some fruit juice. “That year, my junior was indeed the first one to discover the body. When the neighbours found him, he was standing blankly at the doorway. Because he often spent time with that teacher and my junior looks—you know, pretty distinct—most of the residents recognised him. Some even only found out he was a boy after they had gone to the police to record testimonies, how sad.”

When Yan Si received the copy of files, he had naturally received a copy of the recordings as well. Listening to the recordings, Yan Si felt like he could hear the shattering heartbreak of the young male resident back then. After all, it was quite a blow for a cute girl to suddenly become a cute boy, destroying future prospects instantly.

“And?” Yu Yin accepted the tri-coloured fruit juice and earnestly looked Yan Si in the eye.

“Of course the neighbours were terrified and immediately called the police. When the police rushed to the scene, they found that the victim’s entire neck had been broken. The murderer had even used several kitchen knives from the victim’s own home to chop through her neck, to the point where it was barely hanging on by a few pieces of skin from the nape…”

“Wait.” Yu Yin cut off Yan Si as he felt his eyelid twitch. He had not actually heard Dong Feng talk about the appearance of the deceased earlier because Dong Feng’s voice had turned extremely low and quiet from distress. “Don’t tell me the deceased was sitting on a chair with its back facing the entrance, and the head hung over the top of the chair with the face pointed upside down towards the front door?”

“…Xiao Dong-zai described it to you in that much detail?” The police had not publicised the deceased’s tragic state during the case back then, and the media had only released the fact that the neck had been sliced open. As a result, the general public should not have known the victim’s detailed state. Yan Si’s brows arched up — the student that was ganged up on had never seen the case files, which meant these details had to be heard from Dong Feng’s words just now. But Yan Si also did not believe Dong Feng would describe it so vividly to Yu Yin.

“…” Yu Yin covered his face with his hands. He now knew exactly what that thing he had seen in his house yesterday was.

“Ah, as expected of a great master.” Yan Si immediately guessed the truth from Yu Yin’s expression. He had originally wanted to comment, “Are you actually the culprit?”, but it turned out he would not be able to utter the famous phrase. “Alright, since the great master has already seen everything, we can just continue from there. In short, Xiao Dong-zai was the first one to encounter that scene, and he collapsed from the mental and emotional distress. A few days after he was sent to the hospital, he was finally able to speak, and aside from describing the scene in detail, he firmly insisted he knew who the murderer was.”

“He knew who it was?” That was quite a surprise to Yu Yin.

“Mhm, but those records were removed.” Yan Si rubbed his chin. A lot of the documents he had gotten from Li Zi Hong had been tampered with. There was no knowing what had happened back then, and many of the officers on that case at the time had already left their jobs or been transferred to remote districts. His former roommate was actively trying to contact some people now, with little success. Those he found were either tight-lipped or directly hung up the phone. “I guess because they weren’t used. The officers on the case believed he suffered from extreme shock and subconsciously wanted to make someone responsible for such a horrifying situation, so he just came up with a random person.”

“But if Dong Feng himself was certain, then it should be properly considered.” While Dong Feng had been young at the time, Yu Yin believed that his intelligence would not have been any lower than now. If Dong Feng said the perpetrator, there was definitely a level of certainty with it.

“But there was a reason the officers could not believe it~” Yan Si smiled. “The person Xiao Dong-zai accused was confirmed to have never been on the scene. Moreover, considering the circumstances, it was quite unlikely this person could have committed such a terrifying method of murder.”

“Who did he accuse?” Yu Yin immediately asked.

Yan Si flicked off some grains of sugar from his fingertips and shook his head.

“One of An Tian Qing’s third-year students from the senior high division”.

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