The Yu Brothers’ Case Book

“Is Jiu Shen not here?”

Yu Xia poked his head into the analysis department. After not seeing anyone, he gave a puzzled shrug and started walking back to his own spot.

“Boss Xia, wait,” Ah Liu shouted after Yu Xia. He yawned a few times, having not slept the entire night. After doing a few hard stretches, he ran out of the office to chase after Yu Xia. “Jiu Shen suddenly went missing this morning; I’m not sure if he ran home or went to the crime scene. He forgot to bring his cellphone. Also, I have a report to give you, a pretty serious one…” He passed over a thick information packet.

Jiu Shen had just left to get the watch earlier in the morning, but he had been nowhere to be seen ever since. There was no point in calling him either. However, Jiu Shen often ran off to crime scenes or other places the instant he suddenly thought of something, so they were all pretty used to it. He would probably come back himself later in the afternoon.

“Report?” Yu Xia accepted the pretty hefty packet of papers and looked at the investigation officer that he did not work together with much.

“It’s that…” Ah Liu glanced around, and after confirming there was nobody else in the hallway, leaned towards Yu Xia’s ear to give a general run-down of what he and Jiu Shen had discovered over the past two days.

Yu Xia narrowed his eyes slightly. “Are you sure?”

“Mm, I re-checked it multiple times; there is no mistake. Also, I’ve written down the watch shop’s address and phone number. They are willing to cooperate with the police, so you can just directly go look for the store owner.” Ah Liu pointed at the data and told Yu Xia that those documents were also inside. “The watch’s needle and other parts would not be contaminated with blood under normal circumstances. Seeing as it did, it means that the watch’s lens had fallen off at the time.”

“I understand, thank you.”

Ah Liu patted Yu Xia’s shoulder and turned to walk back to the analysis department, preparing to leave work. With the thick report in hand, Yu Xia turned to walk back in the other direction. But before he had gotten far, someone from his small group saw him from the distance and immediately dashed over.

“Did Ah Yi come in today?” Yu Xia cut in to ask first as soon as the person ran over, before they could actually speak.

“Huh, ah? No, haven’t seen him yet.” The officer then quickly remembered his own objective. As the two of them continued to walk forwards, the officer said, “The booking for rooms 837 and 839 in that Changhua hotel were cancelled this morning. I had asked a colleague at the local police station there to keep a close eye. In the end, the hotel’s Ah Sang told my co-worker that someone had called this morning to cancel it, saying they didn’t need the rooms anymore.”

“That’s to be expected.” After all, they had already dragged the people back to the station, so Yu Xia was not surprised at this news.

“Well, no, the main point is that…the call was made from a public phone near our station.” The officer had already asked someone to investigate it. He hurriedly told Yu Xia, “It wasn’t far at all. But that place is outside residential homes so there are no surveillance cameras. Also, it was too early [in the day], so nobody saw the person making the call.”

“What about the voice?” Yu Xia paused, stopping in his tracks.

“Male, and he apparently sounded pretty young. Ah Sang didn’t know anything else. The other person just said that they would not be able to stay at the rooms due to an unexpected event, so they cancelled…that’s it.”

Yu Xia nodded to express his understanding.

“There’s one more matter. We’ve gotten the files from the surveillance cameras at the markets near the apartment transferred over. That time, Ah Yi really did go and buy something. Why is that…”

“What did he buy?” Yu Xia interrupted his co-worker with a level gaze.

“Eh, clothes, pants, and a bag of sanitary napkins…He probably didn’t have any time to go home these past few days, and got a change of clothes…” The officer’s voice dwindled softer and softer while cowering back [from the look]. His voice then went silent.

“Did you think he was using sanitary napkins as underwear?!”

After hearing Yu Xia’s retort, the officer finally realised that if the other person had been buying a change of clothes, they had been missing something.

Yu Xia did not pay any mind to the grieving officer, instead focusing on the clothes that had been given to him that day…He had a feeling that those clothes had been bought specially for him. Since he and Liao Yi Ma wore different clothing sizes, there was no reason for Liao Yi Ma to make a trip just for buying clothing that did not fit him…Moreover, he should not have known that Yu Xia’s clothes would be bloodied.

And what happened to the extra pants he bought that day?

Actually, the answer didn’t require much thought. Jiang Zheng Hong had definitely hurt the criminal’s leg that day; if the perpetrator was an insider, then changing pants to avoid giving rise to suspicion was not strange at all.

But how would Liao Yi Ma have been able to stop his own bleeding in such a short amount of time?

Moreover, Yu Xia did not think Liao Yi Ma had shown any issues with walking back then.

“That’s not it…there’s something wrong with the timing.” He suddenly recalled that after he had run upstairs to chase the perpetrator while Li Zi Hong had run downstairs, the rest of the police cars had arrived not long afterwards. There had even been many people that day that had witnessed Liao Yi Ma being essentially the first person there. Then when did he go buy those things…?

“Where is the market’s surveillance tape?” Yu Xia grabbed his colleague, who had not dared to speak too much earlier, directly asking, “Was there a time on it?”

“Huh? The clip is still on the computer, you can go over and take a look later if you’d like. Of course there’s a time…although I don’t remember it…” The officer chuckled in slight embarrassment, afraid of the other person welcoming his head with a fist.

“Go and check that first, and pass these things onto Officer Li. Once you find out the time, call me immediately!” Yu Xia stuffed the documents into his co-worker’s hands as he abruptly thought of another extremely fishy matter.

He felt that there was a high chance they had overlooked something.

“Huh? Boss, you…”

Before the other officer could ask what was going on, he blankly saw Yu Xia disappear around the corner with astonishingly fast speed.

Is it a toilet emergency?

***

Yu Yin suddenly stood up.

“What’s wrong?” Ji You Yin was startled from where he was standing nearby with paper cups filled with warm drinks in his hands.

Yu Yin caught sight many black shadows blocking the glass door at the hospital entrance. Their red mouths were cracked open, as if hooting at him. However, with a slight distortion, the figures quickly vanished.

“Sorry, Little Class President, but I think I might have to leave first. I’ll come back and return the money I borrowed from you in a few days.” He had also noticed that the two children seemed to look abnormal, although he could not quite say how. Their originally half-transparent bodies had become a black fog; only half of their faces remained visible now, making it hard to really see what they were unless he looked closely.

“Huh? But the doctor just said…”

“Ah, don’t worry, I’m used to it.” Yu Yin bitterly chuckled, realising suddenly after voicing his response just how sad it was that he was used to going to hospitals. “I have something I need to do, so I need to leave now. I’m really glad that I was able to bump into you here.”

Ji You Yin placed his cup down and hurriedly pulled out a few loose bills and a red coin wallet to give Yu Yin. “You can use this to call a car, Teacher…Be careful.”

Yu Yin stared blankly in response for a while, unsure of why the boy was saying something like this. Finally, he just took the money and answered, “Alright, I promise I’ll come back to return the money. Be good in school!”

Ji You Yin nodded earnestly.

As Yu Yin left, he seemed to hear the sound of water.

He could not help but glance backwards, and saw a girl standing next to the boy in the hospital, waving at him with a smile.

The girl did not have the same resentment she had possessed before, nor did she seem abnormal in any way. With one hand gripped around her brother’s sleeve, she disappeared with a smile.

When Yu Yin turned back around, he felt pain sear through his eyes again.

All the things around him seemed to get clearer.

Yu Yin shook his head and waved a cab over. Once he boarded the car, he saw the child sitting in the front seat turn around with a smile on its half-rotting face that he couldn’t tell was malevolent or not. However, as the car moved, its darkening flesh began to drop off chunk by chunk, as if it had barely been stuck together with glue. The entire seat was now covered with it.

For a second, Yu Yin felt the strong urge to vomit.

“Where to?” The cab driver in front found it odd that the client that had gotten on the car looked pale and green at the same time, without speaking a word. Suddenly, he thought of the recent news report about an incident involving a youth killing a taxi driver for no reason. He lowered his voice, afraid of personally encountering a customer demanding for his life.

After all, he was only earning enough money for meals.

Yet children nowadays were beyond comprehension, thinking that killing others looked cool, and would happily repeat the attacks. In a messed-up system of values, it was average people like him that only just got by with their earnings who ended up suffering calamities.

After the incident, the deceased would not revive, yet there were still many people who believed the injurer should have a second chance.

He did not want to become that kind of victim.

Yu Yin did not sense the driver’s anxiety. After glaring at the shotgun seat for a second, he answered with another hospital’s name, waving his bandaged arm in the air to indicate he wanted to get it examined.

The driver sighed in relief and smoothly drove the car down the street, making a u-turn and quickly making their way towards the destination.

Yu Yin kept his gaze locked onto the constantly writhing child in the front seat. He did not really understand the reason for the sudden, intense change, nor the reason for the other’s disappearance. Is it because…?

“Weird…”

After the cab had driven for a period of time, the driver broke out into a cold sweat as his gaze was steadfast on the taxi meter that he normally only glanced at occasionally. Finally, he spoke with a trembling voice, “Um, Mister, would you like to get on another car…I won’t ask for you to pay…” What a disaster, how is it possible to bump into this kind of thing in broad daylight?

“What’s wrong?” Yu Yin had originally been planning on napping a bit, but he opened his eyes and instantly knew what the driver was referring to.

After driving quite a distance and turning the corner, it was still the same hospital appearing before the cab. Moreover, the driver did not seem to have taken a circle…

“That’s, that’s something I also…” The driver glanced at the road that had re-appeared before them, as well as the still running taxi meter, and decided to simply stop. He did not tear his fearful eyes away from the meter that had now jumped up to a fee of over 300 yuan.

The car went quiet as it stopped, but the abnormal taxi meter continued to increase the price, jumping from 335 to 340 to 345 yuan…The ear-piercing sounds from the electronic device was excessively sharp to the ear inside the quiet car space.

The driver held his breath and swallowed hard. The electronic sounds that he logically should already be accustomed to were now giving him an extremely great pressure. It felt as if an invisible hand was gripping his neck, making it hard to breathe.

The cars around them whizzed past. Since the cab had come to a sudden stop along a red line on the curb, they could see a patrolling officer walking towards their direction from the distance.

The first to break the unusual silence was a soft thudding noise.

As if something had fallen onto the roof of the car.

Yu Yin and the driver in front exchanged a glance, and they slowly tilted their heads up in unison to look at the ceiling where the sound had come from.

As if in time with their movements, the car abruptly shook. It was like a heavy object had crashed into the roof with a loud bang. The driver shouted loudly, his nerves on end. He really wanted to tear off his seatbelt and open the door to bolt off into the distance, but whether it was due to his weakened hands or other reasons, he was unable to unlock the car doors no matter how he tried. Even the automatically controlled locks did not budge.

The noises from the rooftop continued, the thuds turning into rustling as something above fumbled about and approached the edge.

Then, Yu Yin saw a distorted, burned face appear by his window.

It was his first time truly getting a clear look at those shadows’ appearance.

It carried a faintly burnt stink mixed in with the peculiar smell of soil. The marred, dark flesh could be glimpsed behind the dry and cracked black skin. Behind the burnt skin were areas glowing green, with black constantly dripping down from them.

The driver had apparently not seen the thing sprawled against the window, as he continued to tug at the door’s lock in extreme panic while the repeated noises continued. However, as if purposely opposing him, the doors did not budge in the slightest.

Yu Yin glared at the window. The black face was completely stuck up against the pane, its green eyes right before the glass, leaving practically no space in between. The force from the knocking caused the window to creak slightly, followed by a sharp clink as a crack appeared.

The driver instantly fell quiet. Yu Yin’s gaze followed the crack.

At nearly the same time, the lock suddenly clicked, and both the front and back doors suddenly opened by themselves.

“Save me—” The instant the driver saw the lock snap open, all he wanted to do was flee from his usual money-making tool without caring about its condition.

When Yu Yin saw a grin unfurl on the burnt-up face, he immediately threw himself at the front seat. “Don’t go out!”

The moment he grabbed onto the driver, a coach bus appeared out of nowhere and slid past them, cutting past their door extremely closely, causing the driver to let out a blood-curling scream. His outstretched leg, as well as the wide-open car door, had been drawn into the collision between the coach bus and the taxi. Crimson blood splashed everywhere.

Yu Yin held fast onto the driver’s body. He also felt the impact from the car crash, and before he could get dragged out from the force as well, he wrapped his other, injured arm around the seat. A fierce pain shot through his body.

Through the now shattered glass window, he could see a black hand covering the coach bus driver’s eyes. When the black hand removed itself, there was alarm and fear clearly seen on the coach bus driver’s face.

The taxi driver continued to wail in anguish, his face filled with tears from panic. He had automatically defaulted to unintelligible sobs, his entire body trembling from pain.

A knocking on the window came from behind them.

Yu Yin turned around to see a person standing outside an intact window. The black hand was lightly knocking against the glass, the sounds echoing over. Then, a second [person] joined, followed by a third. The hands continued to grow in number, filling the entire car with knocking noises.

The time had come for their arrival.

The traffic police that had originally planned to give them a ticket had alarm flash across his face when he saw the car accident occur. The cars all around them seemed to suddenly freeze, as everyone stared at the unexpected accident with wide eyes.

A bunch of white-uniformed personnel ran out from the nearby hospital, some with stretchers and others with emergency aid tools. There were also a few observers that had gathered to watch the commotion.

Yu Yin lowered his head to look at his own hand. It was entirely black now, and shaking.

A banging of a palm against the window interrupted the usual noise.

“Idiot! Hurry up and get out from there!”

For some unknown reason, Fang Yi Xun’s face appeared outside the window. “Quickly!”

Yu Yin took a deep breath of the air now sticky and reeking of blood, and released the driver who was constantly screaming for him to not let go. Then, he dragged his already numb arm over to open the car door. The instant he stepped out, the girl immediately grabbed him and stuffed him into another nearby car before other people could arrive. Once he was pushed inside, the girl jumped on as well, and the car immediately raced out down the streets, shaking off the traffic cops trying to pursue them.

“Put this on first.” Fang Yi Xun pulled out a thin red string from somewhere from her seat next to him, and tied it around Yu Yin’s neck. Her force was so great that he struggled slightly, thinking that the other was trying to strangle him. Once the string was tied, he discovered that some kind of copper coin was hanging from it.

Then, he finally saw that the person driving was Teng Qi. Moreover, the speedometer in front of him was pointing at a number of ninety, and still continuing to climb. The racecar snaked around the packed together cars, shaking off the large amount of honking and cursing.

A few minutes later, the racecar leapt onto a small side road and turned to a street with less cars and people.

“Do you know a person named Fang Xiao Hai?” Fang Yi Xun grabbed Yu Yin’s hand and began to pluck out the broken glass shards that had come from the shattered car window from the earlier car accident. “Don’t worry, she’s not our relative; she just has the same surname.”

“Xiao Hai…Xiao Hai ¹? Why are you asking about her?” Yu Yin snapped out of his daze and turned to look at Fang Yi Xun in surprise.

“Our old friend Yi Tai called and said to bring you over to her. Apparently, you will be fine as long as you stay at her place for tonight.” Fang Yi Xun patted Yu Yin’s face as she explained in more detail. She then leaned closer to him and narrowed her eyes. “Have you not noticed how super horrible your complexion has been recently? The image of death is completely visible. I thought you could see it, so I figured you would watch out for yourself. Are you trying to die?!”

“Image of death?” Yu Yin gave her a stunned look for a few seconds.

“Simply put, your complexion is extremely off; your face is completely dark. And have you been able to see those things super clearly, and have constantly been brought to weird places by them?” When Yu Yin nodded in response, Fang Yi Xun sighed. “I don’t really understand it either, but one of our elders said that because you’ve already gotten close to the point of getting pulled over soon, the things you could not see as well before have become clearer. It’s like how people about to die can see some too…But after you are able to see it all, you’ll follow them over [to their side]. Yet in such a situation, you still keep approaching them. Are you an idiot?”

Yu Yin subconsciously covered his eyes. Although he had more or less already known what was going on, he couldn’t help but inhale sharply.

“They’ve already hooked onto you several times, it’s obvious just from looking at how your spiritual and physical conditions keep worsening. Normal people wouldn’t be affected, so they try to harm you first. Once the time is ripe, they’ll definitely come demand for your life.” Fang YI Xun pulled out several tissues from a box to wrap around Yu Yin’s bleeding arm, using a rubber band to bind it together.

“I…”

Just as Yu Yin was about to tell the girl something, Teng Qi suddenly shouted from the front seat in English that Yu Yin did not understand. Then, the car made a thump, as if they had bumped into something like the previous time. The entire car was instantly sent skidding down the street, crashing into an electric pole.

Because of the decent momentum, Teng Qi collided straight into the car window, while Yu Yin and Fang Yi Xun tumbled together all over the place in the back seat. It took a while for them to finally realise what had happened.

All Yu Yin could think of was how unlucky Teng Qi was, to have had his racecar hit something twice in the short past few days. The maintenance fees would definitely not be low.

Once the car finally settled down, the sound of quiet knocking on the window rang out once more.

Teng Qi pressed a hand against his injured forehead and quietly cursed some more. This time, Yu Yin could barely catch them; they were curse words, the kinds that often played during movies and such.

“It caught up with us.” Like the other two, the driver had also heard the noise from the window. Teng Qi shook his head in attempt to reduce the powerful dizziness overcoming him, then tried to re-start the racecar’s engine. However, the motor just kept dying over and over, with several attempts to re-start ending in failure. The knocking sounds from outside grew louder. “Where is it?”

Fang Yi Xun was staring in shock at the several black shadows that had appeared outside. She gulped and answered, “There are a lot, outside the car…This is the first time I’ve seen something like this.” She kept her gaze on the blood-red grins on those black, humanoid shadows as they relentlessly knocked on the car. The repetitive sound gradually turned more and more urgent.

Yu Yin could see the large amount of green eyes on those burnt corpses. He braced himself, uncertain of whether he was waiting for those things to charge in or not.

“Did Āmā mention what to do if they came back?” Teng Qi turned to glance at the girl sitting in the back before attempting to re-start the engine again.

“Āmā just said to put on the amulet, she didn’t say anything else!” Fang Yi Xun was also starting to panic about their current situation. She pulled out her cellphone, but the screen was pitch-black; it was impossible to dial out.

“What Āmā?” Despite being the involved party, Yu Yin was completely lost on the conversation going back and forth between the other two.

“Our family’s grandmother,” Fang Yi Xun quickly replied. She continued to watch the approaching shadows, an unprecedented fear growing at the bottom of her heart. She had never felt like this with humans before. Although she knew those things were not aimed at them, it was still…

“Why don’t we see if there are any shrines nearby first?” Teng Qi slapped the completely uncooperative steering wheel and said, “There should be an Earth God shrine near here.”

“We can’t go out right now.” As Fang Yi Xun listened the clamour outside, she tried to search for a possible crack between the shadows.

As if tired of waiting, the force of knocking suddenly increased. A few seconds later, it transformed into powerful banging. Now, it was not only the window shaking, but the body and roof of the car as well. The noise from the strikes filled the entire space, and the “people” outside were also pulling on the lock.

Teng Qi tilted his head and pulled out a necklace very similar to the one now hanging on Yu Yin’s neck. He removed it from and transferred it to Fang Yi Xun. “You wear this first and bring him to a nearby memorial for ancestor worship, or a place where deities reside to hide out for a bit. I’ll contact that Fang Xiao Hai person to come over.”

“OK. Call Yi Tai first, he should have a way to contact her.” Fang Yi Xun placed the necklace on properly before turning around to face the doors, waiting for the best moment to charge out.

Under normal circumstances, it wouldn’t be so troublesome if Yu Yin had his cellphone on him. He had even received Fang Xiao Hai’s name card before. But now, all he had were a few hundred dollar bills he had received from his rescuer, and nothing else.

He looked down at his hand which had seemed to darken even more, then at the two others trying to figure out a way [to escape]. He had the sudden feeling that he was out of place as someone even more detached than an outsider.

He could not really say what it was that made him so indifferent. However, he did know that he was possibly bringing danger to the other two people…They were unrelated, complete outsiders, yet they were currently being surrounded by those crazy things on the other side as well.

“Get ready—” Fang Yi Xun gripped Yu Yin’s blackened hand, having noticed an area off to the side where there were fewer shadows. With the mindset of simply pressing their luck, she pushed down the car lock button.

However, her plans were destroyed half a second later.

The knocking on the car came to an abrupt halt, and following it came the anguished wails of those things. They instantly vanished without a trace, at an unfathomable speed.

Before they could even figure out what had happened, they heard the unique sound of a motorbike’s engine. Soon, what appeared next to the back window of the car was—a female rider.

Wearing a denim jacket and hot pants, Xiao Hai took off her shades and safety helmet, then straightened up her body. Her slim figure greatly contrasted the Wolf motorcycle underneath her.

Xiao Hai glanced at the people behind the car window and after spotting and seemingly recognizing Yu Yin, waved at him. She then pressed the Bluetooth earpiece she was wearing to report to the person on the other end that had not hung up. “Yi Ta-Gē, I found them.” Right after saying this, the line was cut.

She shrugged and jumped off her bike, charging forwards to forcefully slap the window with her palm without restraint.

“The student sitting back there, you’re coming to sleep at my nightclub today!” She thought about it for a moment, realising that something wasn’t quite right, before amending her statement. “Never mind, all three of you should just sleep there together. I’ll help get you guys a room.”

Yu Yin silently stared at the girl in utter embarrassment.

After being brought to the nightclub, Yu Yin spotted another familiar face.

“Ah Fang?” Although he knew of Ah Fang’s and Xiao Hai’s blood relationship, it was still somewhat shocking to see Ah Fang here.

“I got a call from Xiao Hai; I know you’re in a bind right now.” Ah Fang tossed the cellphone in his hand to Yu Yin and let Xiao Hai lead everyone to a room. He also lent some clothes to Yu Yin to change into after washing off the blood and filth covering his body.

Once they had rested for a while, everyone gathered to sit or stand in the somewhat dark, medium-sized room.

“How did Yi Tai know I was in trouble?” Yu Yin had gotten the profound sense that during this entire time, something had been amending his way to death’s door. That thing was a certain person that both faced and braved death.

“Don’t ask me, how would I know?” Ah Fang shot a question back in response and rolled his eyes. There was no way he knew where his friend’s terrifying sixth sense popped out from. “Xiao Hai, go get a first-aid kit.”

The girl clicked her tongue, but she still obediently walked out of the room.

Fang Yi Xun turned on all the lights in the room, before immediately switching off the glaringly bright disco-lights that she accidentally turned on. Then, she found a comfortable spot to sit down.

Aside from bringing back a first-aid kit, Xiao Hai also brought a server with an elaborate plate of cut fruits, as well as some other dishes. Then, the entire room fell into a sudden silence.

“Where’s Yi Tai?” Yu Yin glanced over at Ah Fang, who was helping to bandage his wounds. He had only just now realised that it had already been several days since he had last seen the person handling matters. It had almost always been others coming in Yi Tai’s place.

“He suddenly went to the southern district a few days ago…I think it was the day we bought lunchboxes. He just randomly skipped class and ran off, then called me in the middle of the night to say he was at that pension in the southern district. I was completely shocked, but honestly speaking, he does do things like that sometimes so it’s not really anything strange.” Already somewhat used to it, Ah Fang calmly said, “I think you’re more serious [of an issue] right now. You’re completely covered in injuries; you might as well just wrap you up like a mummy.” There was nearly no place from Yu Yin’s head to toes that had gone unscathed. The wounds from the scooter collision hadn’t gotten better yet, there was another wound on his arm now, and his entire body was covered in bruises of various sizes, making him a terrible sight.

“Today’s the critical point. Once we brave it through, we’ll be fine.” Fang Yi Xun eyed Yu Yin’s face, then reached out to grab his blackening arm and flipped it over to inspect it. She then bluntly stated, “Your image of death isn’t the normal kind where you are just supposed to die. If they cannot hook onto you today, it’ll be even harder for them to do it next time.”

“Can there not be a next time…” Yu Yin helplessly smiled.

“Just wear that amulet from now on. If you can see those things so easily, you should be wearing a protective item. Do you normally not carry one?” Teng Qi shook his head as he stared at the university student with an incredulous expression.

“Eh…” Actually, I did originally. Yu Yin swallowed these words and did not give any explanation.

“What image of death? Brother, is your friend about to go off the other end?” Xiao Hai stabbed an apple with her fork and very crudely plopped down on a bar stool nearby. She had a questioning look on her face as she bluntly stated, “I know a funeral and interment home, I can get you a discount.”

“Could you please shut up.” Ah Fang shot a glare at his younger sister and waved his fist at her.

However, the extremely intrigued Xiao Hai completely ignored the threatening fist. She spun around on her bar stool and then asked Fang Yi Xun, “You can see that he’s about to kick the bucket? Then when will I die?” She asked excitedly while pointing to her own face.

Ah Fang had the sudden urge to kick his own sister out the window.

Fang Yi Xun shook her head after briefly squinting at the person asking the question. “Your face is very bright, which should mean you have really good fortune. You won’t die anytime soon. But your murderous aura is pretty strong…As for the rest, I have no idea. Although, that’s probably why those ‘good friends’ of ours don’t dare to come over.” The instant they had entered the nightclub, she had noticed that wherever Xiao Hai went, there would be no ghosts to be seen. Even cats and dogs would suddenly flee in terror from the sight of Xiao Hai. It was clear to see just how formidable this girl was.

Xiao Hai rubbed her face, seemingly very pleased with the answer, and she did not ask any further questions.

“Anyways, did Yi Tai want me to stay here until tomorrow?” Aside from Ah Fang, the other three people in front of Yu Yin had evidently come because of phone calls. Yu Yin scratched his face, unable to understand that person’s intention.

“The call I got said that I needed to go over to the hospital to find you and bring you to Fang Xiao Hai, then tell you to stay with her tonight,” Fang Yi Xun answered Yu Yin. Teng Qi had just been dragged by her to be the chauffer.

“Yi Tai-Gē called me to say that I had to follow to where he was guiding me to, then bring you all back to sleep here for the night. Brother’s classmate is absolutely not allowed to leave, but if the other two are unwilling [to stay], they can leave by themselves. However, they have to go separately, without walking the same path. Apparently after this matter passes over, this Yu Yin student will have to treat me to a good meal.” Indifferent to what had just occurred, Xiao Hai also stated the tasks she had received. “So I called my brother, which is why he’s here.”

Yu Yin looked around at everyone present, momentarily unsure of what to say.

They all barely knew each other.

“I will wait here until it is confirmed that student Yu is truly out of trouble. I have never had the experience of spending the night at a nightclub before, so it will be quite interesting anyways.” Teng Qi was the first to declare his decision. “However, it may be best if you go over and keep Xiao Yu company.”

Fang Yi Xun smiled grimly. “Make sure to keep in contact.”

“I’ll stay here as well. Ah Yin, since you’re pretty heavily injured, I think you should just sleep first.” Ah Fang patted his friend on the shoulder and requested for the server to bring a few sets of pillows and blankets over.

They pushed the sofas together to make a temporary bed.

One they fixed everything up, Xiao Hai clapped the dust off her hands and surveyed the two adults planning to camp out here. A pretty smile appeared on her face as she said, “There’s nothing much in this place for entertainment. There’s just a single Wii here. Brother, you’ll just have to foster your friendship with this mister here. If you really can’t stand it, I’ll get some sexy women in here to keep you guys company.”

“…Get out and go back to work.” Wii, my ass!

“The nightclub doesn’t open until 5 PM.”

Xiao Hai tapped her watch; it was exactly noon.

Yu Yin glanced around at the people noisily bantering. Extreme exhaustion suddenly overcame him, and he lay down on the sofa to slowly shut his eyes.

Perhaps everything would be okay after waking up.

***

He had a dream.

He was surrounded by flat, mirror-like surfaces. The black silhouettes inside moved back and forth without stopping. There were males, females, adults, and children, all in different spots and moving in different ways. Actually, it was just like the shadow puppet show he had seen previously. Each flat shadow was acting on its own.

Perhaps there were people he knew there, softly calling out his name.

The 2D world stuck against the glass was exceptionally nostalgic. They seemed to wave at him, inviting him to join them inside. As he looked over, he felt his footsteps grow heavy. However, he continued longing to step inside as they summoned him almost hypnotically. A faint aroma and the sound of young children laughing came from that world inside.

He had never seen such a place before.

Yet it gave him a sense of déjà vu.

As a result of his intuition and his occupational habits, he advanced forwards, fumbling about. His fingertips touched the ice-cold mirror, covered in a faint, white mist…he could see those cut-outs turn to face him. Several people leaned over to raise their hands and slowly touch his wrist—

“Jiu Shen-Gē, you can’t go there.”

A familiar voice floated out. He turned around and saw a bright, piercing light shoot through a thin crack that had formed amidst the darkness.

With a pain searing through his eyes, he subconsciously stumbled backwards, his back bumping into an unknown object with a thud. It was so painful that he bit through his lip. However, he quickly realised there was something wrong.

A fragrant aroma mixed with the scent of leather passed through the hot and stifling air around him that threatened to suffocate him. A cool breeze traveled over along with the blinding light. Jiu Shen instantly realised that he had been stuffed into a small space. His entire body was soaked in sweat. As his consciousness slowly recovered, he noticed that his limbs had already gone stiff and numb, which showed just how long he had already stayed in this position for.

The dizziness and the pain from the back of his head attacked him at nearly the same time. However, before he could let out a groan, a shadow covered the light, and a single eye appeared outside the crack.

Jiu Shen wasn’t sure if the other party noticed that he was already awake. However, he heard a blurry voice outside say, “Still not awake.” He relaxed slightly at this.

Then came the sound of an engine.

A car. He was in the trunk of a car.

Although he was already awake, his head was in pain, now swollen and feverish, and the dizziness and nausea did not fade. Even through his hazy mind, he could tell his condition was not good, especially when he was in a hot and stuffy trunk that made it hard to breathe.

It wasn’t like Jiu Shen had never been part of a case involving a body in the car trunk. He had even opened one once and found the whole thing filled with corpse fluids, the stench so bad that all his co-workers within three meters had not been able to escape it.

However, this was the first time he had been stuffed inside one. It was quite a novel experience.

“Sigh…what am I getting all happy for…” Jiu Shen banged his head against the wall, but immediately regretted it a few seconds later. Then, in his extremely light-headed state, he evaluated his current situation.

He vaguely remembered being in the office, then Ah Liu had gone to grab something…

When he had raised his head, he had seen Liao Yi Ma standing outside, waving at him, saying something like having matters to discuss. Although wary, he had figured that nothing much would be done at the station, so he had followed the other person to the balcony outside…then there had been a sudden pain in the back of his head, and he did not know anything that happened afterwards.

He had been tricked.

After belatedly realising all this, Jiu Shen shifted around. He wasn’t sure if the people who had captured him were super self-confident or what, but they had not tied him up at all. They had simply cuffed his left hand to some kind of pole.

He used his other hand to rummage around a bit. As expected, his cellphone was no longer on him…or rather, nothing he had been carrying could be found. They had thoroughly swept him clean.

There wasn’t anything else inside the trunk. He probed around according to his memories, and after flipping around a few times, finally found a notch. When he pressed down hard on it, the car trunk let out a soft ring, then opened slightly. The chilly wind quickly gushed in, replacing the shortage of air.

After greedily taking in a few deep breaths, Jiu Shen straightened up a bit to look at the constantly receding scenery. The sky was already starting to darken slightly; he could see the rays of dusk and a slightly traffic-jammed street. Using the light, he finally saw that his hand had actually been cuffed to an iron rod on top of the trunk lid. It was likely that he had been hit several times before losing consciousness, as his wrist and palm were covered in scrapes and bruises. It had probably been a result of his capturers double-checking [his unconsciousness].

A few minutes later, his stomach began to make noises. However, it wasn’t that bad; he doubted a day had even passed since getting stuffed into here.

He did not recognise where the car was, however it seemed somewhat familiar too…

After confirming that there really wasn’t anything he could use in the trunk, Jiu Shen began to debate in distress whether to simply open the trunk now and plead for rescue to the outside. After all, there were quite a few cars outside right now. There would definitely be someone able to rescue him immediately. However, he really wanted to know why Liao Yi Ma had tricked him. If it was because of the evidence, Boss and Ah Liu already knew of it too, and detaining just him would not make any difference. Turning him into another body would be an excessive move too, as dealing with a corpse would not only delay things, but also give rise to other questions. He could not understand the other person’s actions at all. If he did not make any commotion, maybe he could figure it out. But he didn’t really want to play around with his own life either…

So difficult…

Just as Jiu Shen was stressing over how to deal with his current situation, he saw a hand appear silently out of nowhere and block the opening crack of the trunk. Immediately assuming someone was about to open the trunk, he began to panic. However, a few seconds later, he abruptly remembered that the car was still moving. There were other cars next to this one; there was no way they could have stopped in the middle of the street to suddenly open the lid.

Then, he discovered that the hand was stretching up to enter the trunk at an angle from underneath the car.

He suddenly felt like it would have been better if he had not woken up.

This feeling grew even stronger when bloodshot, ash-grey eyes appeared in the crack.

“Save-save me…”

^{1. Fang Yi Xun was saying Xiao Hai’s actual full name, Fang Xiao Hai (方晓海), which is what Yu Yin echoes the first time. Yu Yin previously only knew her nickname on her name card, Xiao Hai (小海), which is the what Yu Yin says the second time. They sound the same though, which is how Yu Yin makes the connection, along with the fact that he found out she was Ah Fang’s sister earlier. ↑}