The Yu Brothers’ Case Book

“Sorry, but I do not like having more than three guests in my home at a time.”

Jiang Zheng Hong tactfully refused the officers trying to step inside his residence, only allowing Yu Xia, who had arrived slightly earlier, to enter. He then requested for the others to stand outside with no intention of letting all of them in.

“You guys go search around the area.” Yu Xia shot the home’s owner a glance before giving this command to his colleagues.

Jiang Zheng Hong’s home was not very large. It was the same style as the home they had detained downstairs, but this owner’s quality of life was very clearly better. Although the residence itself was not big, it seemed quite comfortable to live in after being decorated. The ornamental ceiling boards were slightly lower, yet did not give any feeling of oppression.

The minute Yu Xia walked in, he noticed Jiu Shen sitting on the large sofa inside the living room with one hand pressing a piece of gauze against the wound on his neck that had not yet been treated. The other hand was writing down something on his work board.

“Boss,” Jiu Shen immediately greeted when he saw who had arrived. “I made a list of items. That guy had run back after fleeing just to request for me to give something to him…there must be something very important to him among the evidence brought back to the lab. We might even be able to find something related to the murdered among the objects, and then arrest him…That hurts!”

Before letting the other finish speaking, Yu Xia punched his head. “Stop that bleeding first!” He had not failed to spot the blood still seeping through the gauze.

“Argh, but I need to write it down first to make sure I don’t forget. Plus, I noticed something strange…Alright, I’ll go now.” When he met the other’s murderous glare, he immediately cowered back. “Um, Ah Yin is on the balcony. He knows everything already.”

Yu Xia turned around and indeed saw the other person standing outside the living room balcony.

“If you don’t mind, I can help.” Jiang Zheng Hong grabbed a first-aid kit from another room and shrugged. “As you know, a nightclub manager might need to know emergency treatment, in case someone in the club cannot wait for an ambulance to rush over.”

“Ah, I will have to trouble you then.” Jiu Shen inwardly thought to himself that he would still need to make a trip to the hospital later for a record. He moved his hand away to allow the other person to perform basic treatment on it as he swept his gaze around the house. “You have a girlfriend?” He noticed a few woman’s items inside the room that were tidily organised off to one side. However, the items were all sealed in bags, regardless of whether they were old or new. Maybe the owner was mysophobic or something.

“She comes over occasionally,” Jiang Zheng Hong replied with a smile.

Seeing nothing particularly strange inside the home, Yu Xia waited for a while before stepping out onto the balcony where Yu Yin stood outside, either for the fresh air or to contemplate something. His arms were crossed in front of him, and he only turned around upon hearing the noise.

For an instant, Yu Xia felt as if the child’s gaze was quite strange, seemingly not quite the same as usual. However, he could not place a finger on what the difference was.

“What’s wrong with you?”

Yu Yin knew that the other was asking about the various wounds all over his body. “Accidently got hit by a scooter. It’s not a big deal.”

He was fiddling with a piece of aluminum foil in his hands. It was a fever-reducing medicine that the house owner had recommended, and it was pretty effective. At least, his thoughts were now clear and orderly enough.

Looking down from this place, he could see that thing below. It was still wriggling around, stuck onto the ground. There might have also been something else in the dark corners of the street, as he could vaguely sense something moving about there.

He was unusually calm right now. Moreover, he had suddenly understood what those black shadows had signified.

Yu Xia leaned against the side, feeling the chilly evening breeze. Only then did he notice that this position was next to the building where the people had fallen from; if Jiang Zheng Hong had been here at the time, he might have seen or heard parts of what had happened. However, he had not been.

“Don’t stay out in the wind for too long, you’re still injured.” Yu Xia thought for a bit, but did not take the initiative to say too much. “I’ll call someone to bring you home in a bit.”

Yu Yin tilted his head to the side to look at the person whose face seemed even younger than his. “Uncle, did you…know that our house was vandalized?”

“I heard.” Yu Xia had just heard from his coworkers earlier, and he had sent some people in his group to go investigate. “I’ve already requested for the patrols to keep a closer eye out; there shouldn’t be any danger at the moment. But you two still need to be more careful when you go out. I’ve asked a cleaning company to go over tomorrow and tidy it up.”

Yu Yin nodded, flicking his fingers at the small bag that had already been rolled into a ball, making it impossible to guess what it had originally looked like.

“The reason we didn’t tell you about Tong’s matter immediately was because we had some apprehensions. The incident was not released to the media either. I know you’re unhappy.” Yu Xia’s brows furrowed together, and he did not continue speaking.

“…It’s fine, I’ve already gone and seen him.” Yu Yin likewise had no intention of continuing the topic. He sighed and said, “There’s a noise coming from the roof of the house that’s pretty loud, so I don’t want to go in. Call me when you want me to go home.”

Yu Xia patted his shoulder and turned to walk back into the home.

Yu Yin stood on the balcony and looked down, his lips coldly curling up into a smile. Ah Fang’s motorcycle was stopped underneath, and the other person was looking up in his direction and waving.

He did not know how Ah Fang had found his way over to this place, but Yu Yin could not be bothered to contemplate this question either.

As Yu Yin re-entered the residence, he saw that Yu Xia was currently supporting Jiu Shen to drag him out. “Ah Fang’s here. I’ll just head back with him first. Also, Xiao Yu is at a friend’s home, he’ll come back tomorrow morning.” He shook his head; there was some incessant sound coming from the ceiling. When Yu Xia nodded in agreement, Yu Yin walked out of Jiang Zheng Hong’s home.

After the door was lightly re-shut—

Everyone inside the house was silent for a long while. Finally, Yu Xia looked at the home owner he had just met for the first time earlier that day. “Thank you for your help. I also wanted to ask if you could possibly describe everything you saw earlier?”

“Of course.”

Jiang Zheng Hong smiled.

***

Yu Yin walked up the stairs.

Because the testimonies and material evidence had already been collected during the day, there were basically no people on the sixth and seventh floors. There were only a few of the officers that Yu Xia had brought along patrolling up and down.

The cold wind on the rooftop made him shiver slightly.

He walked in a circle around the rooftop, but did not see anything odd. The police had probably taken everything away already. All that was left were some potted plants and junk.

After walking around twice and still not finding anything, Yu Yin decided to go downstairs to meet up with the person who had come to look for him. But the instant he turned his head, the metal door of the rooftop abruptly slammed shut, the loud bang echoing through the dark space.

He could not see the other party, but something was currently staggering over in his direction.

A strange odour slowly filled the chilly night air, slowly traveling over to his side with the wind and the slowly nearing footsteps of that thing. He could practically see the bright green gaze in the darkness.

Like a hunter’s summoning light, glows slowly lit up one after another in the darkness, surrounding him in a circle.

At that moment, his cellphone suddenly rang. Yu Yin did not realise until after subconsciously picking it up that he had actually just turned it off earlier.

There was the empty sound of wind on the other end, as if someone was leaning against the receiver and breathing. It was extremely clear – even when he held the phone away from him, the noise would just be amplified as if being put on the speaker.

After the unusual sound of breathing, there was something like the sound of voices over a radio transmitter. The static noise of interference drowned out the words. Without even realising, he focused on the noises.

The person on the phone was saying something—

“Are you guys mistaken about something? The one you’re looking for is me, not him! You can do whatever you want after this matter is over—”

It was his own voice.

Crimson slits abruptly appeared under the green, glowing eyes in the darkness around him.

A mocking snicker rang out from somewhere. The scenery now looked slightly different from the rooftop earlier. As the wind traveled closer and further, he could hear low mutters, but was unable to understand the slowed-down voices.

In that moment, all Yu Yin felt was anger, not fear, and to his own surprise, he remained abnormally calm.

“Our matter is not over yet, not over yet…” The flat whispers came from the other end of the phone, like a broken recorded repeating over and over.

“You have been over for a long time already.” Yu Yin cut the line, and after one final laugh, the phone returned to its original, shut-off state. It did not make any more sounds.

He looked up to see nothing around him. The closed, metal rooftop door made a quiet noise as it was pushed open. Jiu Shen appeared behind the door with a hand pressed down on his neck. Taken aback by Yu Yin’s presence, his eyes widened blankly.

“You’ll be wrung to death by Boss!” Jiu Shen made the motion of slitting his neck and quickly shut the door. He then began to turn on the small, yellow lamps around the rooftop. “You should have gone home.”

“You’re the one that will be wrung to death. Weren’t you supposed to go to the hospital?” Yu Yin shot back as he placed his phone back into his pocket.

“Eh, there was just something on my mind. I don’t think five minutes will make much of a difference…” Jiu Shen scratched his head. He had grabbed the chance to slip out while Yu Xia was still chatting with the house owner downstairs. He rushed over and said, “I couldn’t find any bullet shells earlier, but I think this place is really weird; it’s so clean that it doesn’t appear as though anyone had fought here.” He scanned the surroundings, and as expected, everything was the same as it had been when he had seen it earlier.

The rooftop’s ground was cement, like old-fashioned apartment buildings, and there were no decorations. The staircase was in the middle, and both in front and behind it were various potted plants, as well as old bamboo poles set up by the residents to lay out comforters and clothes under the sun. The ground had been swept very cleanly by someone, and the junk had also been tidied up very well. There was nothing unusual at all.

In the morning, Yu Tong and the target had fallen down from a more remote corner in the back.

After the incident, they had sealed off the area, so nobody could have come up.

“Too clean?” Now that Jiu Shen had mentioned it, Yu Yin also noticed the same. Logically speaking, if there had been people wrestling around here and fallen down, the area should be a mess. He looked around – although the adjacent apartment buildings were a distance away and not actually connected, it was possible for someone that had come for support to flee from the rooftops.

“What I find a bit odd is that Boss had been very cautious in the arrangements of the attack. If there was this kind of space between the neighbouring buildings, there would be several groups guarding it. Theoretically, there shouldn’t have been a way for someone to escape…see, everyone at the site today had been captured except for a few that slipped outside. But my bullet shell is missing, and the guy who killed the person that fell with Boss is missing. It’s really strange…” Jiu Shen pressed against his wound that was still burning in pain. No matter how much he thought it over, he still felt that something was fishy. He shrugged and said, “The records at the station should all be complete now. I’ll go back later and take another look to see if anything connects. Maybe someone that had been waiting for orders in a neighbouring building noticed something suspicious.”

At the time, everything had been a mess, and it was possible that nobody had noticed anything. Now that the initial records had all been completed, there must be something that could be discovered.

“Jiu Shen-Gē, I think you should still go and report into the hospital first. Or else, if you’re not careful, you’ll get attacked by that person again.” Yu Yin recalled what had happened earlier, and finally noticed the two transparent children crouching on top of the railing, as if waiting for him.

One of them shook its head at him, and then the two vanished together.

…Couldn’t catch up?

He had never known that it was possible for ghosts to be unable to chase after someone.

“Oh, okay.” Jiu Shen took another two photos before eyeing Yu Yin. “Let’s go together.”

“Mm.”

Before they left the rooftop, Yu Yin saw something gradually crawl up along the wall. Its blurry, thoroughly smashed up face from the crash slowly turned towards them. Black blood and some other unidentifiable fluid continuously dripped down from its distorted face.

Jiu Shen, unable to see it, shut the metal door. With a bang, the door isolated them from everything outside.

And all that remained was nothingness.

***

That night, or rather, early morning the next day, he went directly to Ah Fang’s place to spend the night.

When Yu Yin woke up the next morning, he saw breakfast and a piece of paper placed on the table next to him. The paper’s contents stated that Ah Fang had gone to school first, and for Yu Yin to remember to lock the door upon leaving. In addition, it also said that he had to return to the hospital for a check-up, since he had escaped last night.

He checked the clock – it was 11 AM.

“Sigh, I have to get my bike…” He had ditched his bike in downtown area yesterday…

Gulping down his friend’s compassionately prepared breakfast, Yu Yin turned on his cellphone that had been shut the entire night. The moment he switched the power on, over fourty messages and calls appeared. Some had been from Ah Fang, but most of them were from Xiao Yu’s cellphone. The final one had been sent a bit past three in the morning, when he and Ah Fang had just returned to the dorm. The two had immediately crashed into a deep sleep.

After thinking it over, he decided that although he had been somewhat unhappy about yesterday’s matter, it had actually been just as Fang Yi Xun had said before; he was originally just someone that had appeared only mid-way. Perhaps he should not have gotten so close to them in the first place.

Up until now, he still wasn’t sure what kind of life Shaodi Yu had lived before, how many relatives or friends he had. All he knew was the boy that had arrived at the Yu household who refused to speak, yet followed behind him all the time.

They were really not that close.

However, he felt that there might have been a period of time when they had truly shared a good relationship.

Yu Yin scratched his head as it began to hurt more and more, and decided it was best not to think about it any further.

Consequently, he boarded a public bus to downtown to retrieve his motorbike. By the time he reached the front door of his house, it was already past one in the afternoon. Just as Yu Xia had said, the cleaning staff had probably arrived in the morning, as the door was already scrubbed completely clean. There was absolutely no trace of anything left.

When he walked in, he noticed that Xiao Yu had already returned home, as his shoes and bag were dumped at the entrance. There was a bag of something on the living room table, probably containing food or the like.

The house was unusually quiet.

“Xiao Yu?” He touched the bag to discover that it had already gone cold. The liquid foods inside had already solidified together. Yu Yin realised that this was probably not breakfast, but something that had been brought back the previous day. “Xiao Yu!”

He charged up to the second floor and opened each room door, but still did not see anyone. At that moment, Yu Yin felt that something was wrong. “Xiao Yu? Are you home?”

He slammed the washroom door open, but did not see anyone there. Just as he was about to turn around, he noticed that the drawn curtains around the bathtub seemed to have something behind them. When he pulled them open, Yu Yin finally sighed in relief.

There were a bunch of pillows and blankets stuffed inside the bathtub for some reason, bundled so tightly into a large ball that it was almost suffocating, cutting off any means of air.

Yu Yin pulled the blankets apart to see the person he had not seen anywhere earlier, curled up into a ball and sleeping inside. When he yanked the blankets away, he discovered that the nest was extremely warm. Xiao Yu’s entire face was flushed red, likely from the heat. He did not wake from Yu Yin’s movements, and remained in deep sleep.

“Are you not afraid of suffocating to death? Xiao Yu, wake up, don’t sleep here!” Yu Yin did not know why the other was sleeping in the bathtub. After a few tugs, Xiao Yu finally opened his eyes sleepily, before flipping over and continuing to sleep. It was different from usual, as he typically woke up after one pat.

“Go back to your room.” Yu Yin pulled the other up while cursing about why he, an injured person, was doing something like this, and dragging Yu out of the bathtub. Once he had pulled out all the blankets and was carrying the person on his back, he heard something drop into the bathtub. When he turned around, he saw a utility knife had fallen next to a pillow.

Why was he holding a blade in his sleep?

As Yu Yin wondered this, a hand suddenly reached out from over his shoulder, shocking Yu Yin to the point where his soul nearly left his body. Then, he realised that Xiao Yu had already woken on his back.

“Hungry…” Xiao Yu slowly crawled down and yawned, He grabbed the utility knife and staggered out from the bathroom so naturally, as if walking out from his own bedroom.

“Wait, hey! Why were you sleeping over here yesterday? And what is that blade for…oi! Don’t just pretend you can’t hear me!” Yu Yin directly tossed the blankets and pillows next to the laundry machine and ran down the stairs to chase after the other person.

By the time he had gone down, Xiao Yu was already heating up the bag of food that had been on the table. After smelling the aroma, Yu Yin realised that it was the noodles sold in the alley that they would sometimes buy back as a midnight snack when it was late and they were too lazy to walk very far.

Yu Yin stood at the kitchen entryway, waiting for the other person.

Once the pot of food that was more than a single serving was gently boiling, Xiao Yu knit his brows together and said, “I didn’t mean to deceive you…was going to tell you sooner or later…”

Yu Yin shrugged. “It’s fine as long as you’ve made your decision.” It wasn’t like he could do anything if the other did not speak anyways.

Xiao Yu shot him a glance and sighed.

“I’ll go prepare some clothes for Uncle, he definitely won’t come back these next two days.” Yu Yin could not be bothered to continue chatting. When he turned around, a piercing pain suddenly stabbed through his eyes again. Because it was so abrupt, his vision went completely dark and he collapsed onto the ground.

A hooting sound echoed from all around him.

He could smell the stink of dirt.

He remembered…

He still had a faint memory of that time when he had been walking down the dark road, the synthetic rope gradually disappearing…

He had seemed to have forgotten something in the darkness. Because he had no memories of it after the incident had ended, he had not cared about what had happened. But the darkness before him was faintly…

“I don’t remember!” Yu Yin gripped his head and suddenly woke up to discover that he had broken out into a cold sweat. The injuries he had gotten from the car crash yesterday were starting to throb. Xiao Yu was crouched beside him, tightly clutching his wrists with a rare expression of alarm.

“I’m fine.” He patted Xiao Yu’s head and stood up while leaning against the wall once the dizziness faded. Then, he smelled something strange. “Your thing is burning, hurry up and shut off the fire!”

Xiao Yu studied him in slight concern before quickly walking back into the kitchen.

With his back still against the wall, Yu Yin slowly slid back down to sit on the ground and buried his head in his knees. When he lifted his head, he slowly opened his left hand. A thin, black line stretched across the back of his hand starting from his fingertips, connecting with his veins and spreading out under the skin like a spider’s web. It continued to extend towards his wrist at an extremely slow pace.

He had known this whole time.

He had never forgotten what had happened that night.

Just like how he had never forgotten everything he had seen when his mother had disappeared.

***

“Time to eat.”

It was afternoon already by the time Liao Yi Ma got into the station. He circled around to the analysis department and knocked on the glass window, warmly calling out to his colleagues inside, “I bought a ton, everyone should come out and take a break to eat some.”

Jiu Shen, who was currently waiting for the test results, opened the door and stuck his head out to say, “Wait, let me go over and look for Boss too.”

He abandoned the co-worker behind him and took off his gloves to grab the folder while walking out. “I’m seriously about to die, I only slept two hours at the hospital last night.” After taking a trip to the hospital, he had returned to settle the case, gathering the evidence collected and classifying it all properly. Then, he had borrowed the sofa in the resting room to lay down for two hours before work started again in the morning.

“Huh? You didn’t go back last night?” Jiu Shen casually asked when he saw that the clothes of the police officer next to him had not changed from yesterday.

“Oh, I have several pairs of the same clothing. My wife always buys a ton whenever there’s a big sale,” Liao Yi Ma replied with a chuckle.

“Must be so nice to have a wife. But since we’ve been so busy with cases recently, it must be hard on your wife too. I’m sure she has plenty of complaints.” Although Jiu Shen did not have a girlfriend yet, he knew that many of his colleagues in the station ended up fighting with their marital partners as a result of their occupation being unstable. “These days, it’s absolutely impossible to take any vacation.”

Liao Yi Ma shrugged. “What else can we do? The situation has gotten so serious.”

Because this was an extreme situation, nobody had complained about it.

“Did you find any clues?” Liao Yi Ma asked indifferently as he stuffed a cream puff into his co-worker’s hands.

“The drugs inside the bathroom have completed analysis. They’re similar to the incense we found in previous cases, but composition and its effects are of a lower grade. I suspect it’s a low-quality good that inflicts a great burden on the body. Because it was not made properly, the slightest overdose or use could be instantly fatal or cause harm to the mind.” Jiu Shen bit down on the snack as he flipped through the test results he had just received. “But regardless, it can more or less be confirmed that this group should have a relation to the people that made the incense.” That was one of the reasons why Yu Xia had been fixated on this bunch for so long. Ever since Xiao Yu’s case, they had been paying close attention to similar cases. This time, they had discovered that the people renting this apartment were not only involved in drugs, but also in firearms, and had committed numerous serious crimes. Thus, they had expended a lot of effort and manpower into chasing these people down.

It was just that nobody had imagined such a result.

The person who had fallen down, the head of this organization branch, might have also been responsible for some of this “business”. However, now that he was dead, they could not ask him for any explanations. Instead, they had to rely on others and the material evidence from the searches.

“The other thing I need to tell Boss is that I found evidence that can finally stop the bullshit that legislative official keeps blabbering.” Jiu Shen instantly thought of the bastard that had indirectly caused this result to occur. He spat out through clenched teeth, “That bastard tried to throw away a bunch of items including clothing and a cigarette lighter, all of which had the victim’s blood! There was even his DNA found under the body’s fingernails and inside the wounds they got while struggling. It’s more than enough to keep him in prison!” He would definitely make absolutely sure the media wrote that guy to death!

And make that damn official pay. As if he can really win!

Liao Yi Ma dryly smiled at his co-worker who he couldn’t tell was hot-blooded with eagerness or burning in rage. “At least one matter can close up for now.” That way, they could focus on the task on hand without worrying about that official constantly giving speeches to them. “Oh right, what’s with the injuries on your face?” He asked in confusion after noticing the minor scratches on the other’s body.

“Nothing, really.” Jiu Shen subconsciously rubbed his neck. When he had returned to the station in the morning, he had bought a high-collared shirt nearby to change into so as to make the larger wound less conspicuous.

When they walked to the office, a few colleagues passing by gestured at them covertly.

Before Jiu Shen could figure out what they meant, he noticed Li Zi Hong standing next to his boss discussing something. He immediately realised which prosecutor was in charge of this case.

As soon as Yu Xia spotted them enter, he waved them over.

When Jiu Shen approached them, he saw the piles of documents sprawled all over the table next to them. Some were the notes that had just been completed yesterday. “Ah Yi, you go do and do your own work,” Yu Xia said. When the investigation officer came over, Yu Xia began to flip through the documents next to him. “These were completed after the preliminary [investigation] yesterday. I want you to gather all the clothes and guns used by these people on that day.”

“Huh…!” Jiu Shen froze and stared at the two before him with wide eyes.

“Do it secretly, do not disclose anything.” Li Zi Hong then added, “If the other person has an issue with it, just tell them that I think those that were near the site location may have gotten some drugs or other substances stuck onto them, and that I want to keep them as records.”

“Oh, okay.” Jiu Shen nodded, knowing that the situation was not so simple. He lowered his voice and asked, “Is there something wrong?”

Yu Xia and Li Zi Hong exchanged a look. “Nothing at the moment, we are just a bit suspicious.”

“Understood.” Jiu Shen carefully stowed away the list of names. Yu Xia tilted his head at him and after they tidied up the items on the table, they prepared to transfer over to a private office.

Liao Yi Ma was standing not too far from them. He glanced over and said, “Ah Xia, you guys should take some food in. I bet you didn’t eat anything this morning.” With that, he stuffed a paper bag towards Jiu Shen, who was slightly closer.

“You think you can bribe me like that?” Yu Xia shot a sideways glance at his colleague and sneered, “If I come out later and you guys are still loitering around, you’ll all be dead meat.” Don’t think you can win a chance to slack off just because you gave me some food.

The several co-workers that had already gathered to split up the food all replied with dry laughter before quickly beginning to eat.

Yu Xia made sure to herd the people through the door. Once those involved entered the office, he shut the door. The surrounding air instantly fell quiet.

Jiu Shen carefully snuck a peek at Yu Xia, then at Li Zi Hong. After standing there for a few seconds and realising that neither of his superiors had any intention of speaking first, he rubbed his nose and passed the case involving the legislative official over to them. “Eh…is there something else?” If they had specially called him inside, there had to be another matter they wanted to discuss.

“We discovered a slight problem with the report,” Li Zi Hong spoke up first. He had stayed up the whole night to complete the notes. He glanced over at Yu Xia, who had likewise pulled an all-nighter. “Because the siege was premature, the dealers fled upon arriving after noticing something wrong, and only one of the three were captured. As a result, a total of four living people and one dead body were taken into custody.”

Jiu Shen accepted the notebook passed over to him and quickly flipped through it. He nodded and said, “That should be correct. We collected some lunchboxes, drinks, and cigarettes from the site, and we’re currently trying to analyse how many people had used that house.”

“According to the information Yu Xia had received beforehand, there should have been six people living in the two apartment floors. Two of them were responsible for making the drugs but had gone down to the southern district a few days ago, and were not to return for another week. The remaining few were the leader and suppliers. In the initial testimonies, nobody admitted to going to the rooftop. In addition, our comrades below were not at the location; they were not supposed to be called over unless support was needed during the close-in.” Li Zi Hong crossed his arms and silently stared at the investigation officer in front of him.

Jiu Shen blankly stared at him, only understanding his meaning after a few seconds had passed. “Wait, then which bastard stole my bullet shell?”

“It isn’t clear yet. Perhaps someone was lying. However, that bullet shell was not found in anyone’s possession, so we suspect that someone escaped. We just do not yet know who.” Li Zi Hong tilted his head in thought and added, “So we had to request for you to obtain further clarification.”

“That’s how it is for now. I’m going to go over there again today.” Yu Xia had reached the same conclusion. He organised the things on the table while saying, “So Jiu Shen, come and make the trip with me. When you come back, look over everything again.”

Jiu Shen stared at his boss, and then stared at his other boss next to him before taking a step back. “Um…can you ask someone else…there’s something unscientific there…” Although he could not see it, Ah Yin had said it was there. The thought of that thing still remaining in that place was enough to give him goosebumps all over.

Li Zi Hong glanced up at the ceiling, then picked up the data files. “I’ll head back first to the prosecution bureau. I thank you both for your trouble.” With this, he shook his head and opened the door to walk out.

Once the other person left the door, Yu Xia immediately reached out to clutch his investigation officer’s neck. “Do you want to go look, or do you want to become an unscientific thing yourself?” You actually dared to use such an excuse to refuse to work? Are you trying to die?

“I’m sorry, I was wrong. I will immediately go prepare.” The instant Jiu Shen saw that abnormally fierce baby-face near him, he immediately felt that nothing unscientific could be scary.

What can be fiercer than my boss?

As he thought this to himself, Jiu Shen suddenly froze. “Huh…?”

“What’s wrong?” Yu Xia tossed the person aside and began to collect the useful documents on the table to bring them out with him. He turned to see the other person in a blank daze, and he waved his fist in the air.

“Eh, nothing.” Jiu Shen rubbed his neck and glanced at Yu Xia briefly before saying, “Oh right, our administrative unit’s Ah Liu just checked and said that there was nothing wrong with the wireless, nor did it have any malfunction.” The investigation group’s administrative unit collected back the items that the group had been using that day, checking for the defects that had appeared out of nowhere.

“What about the transmission?”

“No issues. There might have been something else interfering that caused the malfunction during the mission…probably? Ah Liu said such a situation is possible, but that we need to check if there is anything at the scene that could damage a signal. We did not see anything like that among the evidence we brought back, but who knows if the apartment has one or not. They’ll send over the results later.” Jiu Shen shrugged as he passed on the information that his co-worker had painstakingly collected for now.

Yu Xia tilted his head and furrowed his brows together. After a long while, he finally turned around to speak, but his words were regarding an unrelated matter. “That’s right, regarding the attack on you yesterday, I’ve asked for some of the group members to protect you when you come and leave work. You have to be more careful these next few days when you walk around…”

“Ah, there’s no need. I don’t think anything will happen. Besides, I’ve also learned basic self-defense before. On the other hand…Tong, Tong’s side has to be watched. They seem to plan on making a move at the hospital; I’m really worried.” When Jiu Shen recalled the attacker, he felt chills go down his spine. Although unscientific things were very frightening, these kinds of people were terrifying as well, people that were difficult to punish by the law despite harming others with ill intentions and doing whatever they pleased.

If they were left roaming outside, it was possible that other co-workers, or even civilians, could end up injured.

Yu Xia softly patted Jiu Shen’s shoulder and gave him a sideways glance. “I’ve already handled everything over at the hospital. You just need to obediently work together with me. My main goal is to catch that guy; protecting you is just a side task.”

Jiu Shen silently wailed to himself: So it turns out that Boss is actually planning on dragging the perpetrator out with his fangs. “I understand. But what exactly did that guy want?” They had brought back over a hundred things yesterday. What had he wanted among all of it?

“As if I know.” Yu Xia shrugged and thought of another matter. “But I think I know what the meaning of that message on the poster is. Last night, I called all the hotels and theatre boxes in the city that were over eight levels tall or had eight as its first number.”

“Ah! Boss, you’re a genius!” Jiu Shen gave him a thumbs-up, instantly understanding what the other was saying.

“That’s just basic common sense!” Yu Xia punched Jiu Shen on the head. Having stayed up the entire night, he did not have much patience left. “But in the end, the place I found was not here, but rather in Zhanghua city nearby. Apparently, there’s a small hotel next to the station there that doesn’t have much business, so they rented a bunch of places below them for businesses, and only have the sixth to eighth floors left. Next Saturday, rooms 837 and 839 are both booked by the same person at the same time. Moreover, the booking is for three days straight. The money has already been paid, and they apparently have not withdrawn from their reservation yet.”

“So the activity over there hasn’t been cancelled yet?” Jiu Shen stared at his boss for a while as he thought this over.

“Not necessarily. But we’ll definitely make a trip over there when the time comes. Put this in your notes and keep a watch out. Maybe we’ll end up finding a related clue among the material evidence that was brought back.”

“Understood!”

Seeing that the other person did not have anything more to say, Jiu Shen quickly told him that he needed to look over the case with the legislative official, before grabbing his things and heading back to the office to organise them.

The moment he ran out, he coincidentally saw Liao Yi Ma walking over. “Done talking?”

“Mm, if you have something to tell Boss, you’d better to it quickly. We’re going to head out later.”

“Thanks.”

Liao Yi Ma watched Jiu Shen leave before walking into the office and shutting the door.

He watched the other person rummaging through some items before slowly opening his mouth to say, “Are you really Ah Xia?”

The person standing next to the table turned to look at him before slowly opening his mouth as well:

“If you have nothing fucking better to do, go scram and find the suspects!”

***

“Over here~”

Yan Si had been waiting inside his parked car alongside the road. The minute he saw someone walk out of the police station’s door, he immediately waved happily at the other person.

Li Zi Hong had not expected someone to be waiting for him, so he was momentarily stunned when he saw the other person. However, he quickly walked over, and spoke first before the other could, “Are you trying to get accused for a parking violation?” You actually stopped next to a major pedestrian crossroad, and along a red line for that matter? Definitely asking for trouble.

“I only got here two minutes, and I’m leaving now. Hurry up and get in the car, Honourable Prosecutor.”

Li Zi Hong shot his friend a look before silently making his way into the front passenger’s seat. “What are you doing?”

Smoothly driving the car along the road, the driver shrugged. “I was just bringing a report to you, but in the end, someone in your office said you had come over here. Since I was getting off work, I figured I might as well pass by and test my luck. I was planning on leaving directly if I didn’t see you.” Yan Si pressed down on the brake as he said, “After staying up the whole night with a corpse, I was covered in its stench. I couldn’t even wash it off, and had to toss the shirt in the end.”

“I recall you saying before that you had purchased a dozen specifically to be discarded.” Li Zi Hong looked at the person sitting next to him with a wry smile, having been forcefully dragged to buy clothes together last time.

“Why do you have such a good memory?”

“If I didn’t, how would I continue working?” Before Li Zi Hong took out his notes to start thumbing through them, he noticed that the path they were taking was not quite right. Puzzled, he tried to confirm their destination. “Where else do you want to go?”

“Circling around to a train station. A previous female junior of mine went into cosmetics after graduating high school, and she’s very skilled in the profession now. She even went overseas to take advanced studies and is frequently featured in magazines. She recently came to Taichung for work, so I’m picking her up and bringing her to my place to stay for a few days. I have an empty room, and I’m not home much anyways, so I figured I could help cut her expenses.” Yan Si shrugged and changed the topic. “The report has already been issued. I’ll just give you a brief summary first; I suspect that the dead person you guys seized did not actually die on top of or below the building. He likely died in the middle.”

“What does that mean?”

“Well…I think that since Tong and the other person were standing very close to each other at the time, the gunshot fired by someone else from behind passed through Tong’s shoulder and directly struck the victim’s head. Then, the victim probably lost the centre of gravity and fell from the rooftop. Tong caught him, and the sudden force left traces of dislocation on his arm. However, for some reason, he suddenly toppled over as well. During that moment, the victim should still have been alive, and he died while falling. Then, there was likely a period of time before he actually hit the ground and bit the dust, having been hitting or getting snagged by other residents’ canopies or balconies along the way. And so, the body that fell from the building died before landing. That’s pretty much it.” Yan Si finished his simplified explanation and stopped at a traffic light, glancing around for other cars. After being shot at last time, he was more cautious, afraid that there would be another person coming after his former roommate.

“Wait… they were wrestling with each other at the time. Shouldn’t that have been how they both simultaneously got shot?” Li Zi Hong suddenly noticed the discrepancy in his friend’s wording.

“Did I say they were wrestling?” Yan Si paused briefly before replying, “There were no traces of wrestling on the body. Was your report written incorrectly? The bruises and abrasions on the body were mostly surface wounds inflicted during the fall. There were no injuries that could have been caused during self-defence. Did our friend Jiu Shen not look into this?”

“He only determined from the preliminary inspection that the rooftop had no traces of wrestling. The other objects are still being analysed…Jiu Shen was attacked yesterday at the site location. The other party wanted to take back one of the evidence items. At the moment, this incident has not been made public.”

“Oh…? That’s intriguing.” Such matters were not exactly uncommon, as criminals would always grow nervous at the thought of the police finding a determining piece of evidence. Even Yan Si had personally encountered someone that had tried to forcefully break into the autopsy room or prevent the autopsy altogether.

“We’ve already requested for the investigation group’s administrative unit to check for anything particularly outstanding among the items as soon as possible. The other party will likely approach again, so the protective measures around Jiu Shen and Yu Tong have both been strengthened. Hopefully, we can capture the person.”

Yan Si nodded as the car turned to head towards the highspeed rail station.

A woman waved at them from a distance. She wore a simple, neat black top along with shorts. A large cosmetic trunk and suitcase were piled next to her beautiful, long legs.

Almost instantly, their discussion ended.

The car soon stopped before the woman, who did not hold back as she directly opened the back door and tossed her luggage inside. Finally, she sat down in the back seat.

“Well then, Senior, are you bringing me to work?”