The Yu Brothers’ Case Book

How exactly should friends be differentiated?

When he awoke, there was someone sitting by his bed, just as before.

He remembered that things had gone amiss, everything had failed. He needed to hurry.

The already slightly aged necklace was his conviction.

The person holding the necklace spoke to him about these matters as if confessing.

Consequently, the conviction was lent away, since at the moment, he needed it more.

He hoped for God’s protection.

***

“Are you hurt?”

After daybreak, Yu Xia had arrived at the temporary office to see investigators running in and out of Li Zi Hong’s original workplace carrying items covered in handprints.

Li Zi Hong pressed the gauze on his nape and shook his head. “A minor injury.”

“Your office building didn’t have any traces of having been infiltrated or broken into. I’ve already asked for Xiao Wu and the others to check the surveillance footage.” Yu Xia patted Li Zi Hong on the shoulders and yawned. “Is something the matter?” Yu Xia furrowed his brows when he noticed Li Zi Hong’s sombre expression.

“No…it’s nothing.” Li Zi Hong was not sure if it was simply him being oversensitive, but he had the nagging feeling that the infiltrator had not held the intent of killing him in the first place. Rather than coming to kill him, it would be more appropriate to call it coming to intimidate him. Li Zi Hong had undoubtedly been intimidated. “Those handprints are not mine. They might be from his other victims.”

“I think that as well. The amount of blood doesn’t match.” Yu Xia rubbed his forehead. He was starting to feel like more and more matters were building up recently.

“How is Ye Huan En’s condition?”

“Fortunately, he was discovered early. Although his injuries are slightly severe and he is still unconscious, he is no longer in any life danger.” Yu Xia recalled the chaotic situation from a moment ago and shook his head. “It’s weird, why would an officer from the northern district appear here? Also, Ah Yin said he moved down here recently. There’s no reason for him to come down near the end of his vacation.”

“There aren’t any documents?

“None. He did not receive any information about a collaboration. But he was very clearly targeting those few people; he even knew that they all had the same guns.” It looked like Yu Xia would need to make a trip to the director’s office to see what was going on. Yu Xia mulled over how he would go ask as he said, “In any case, my brother and Ah Yin are currently over there. They will immediately call and let me know if there are any issues.”

“Mn. Take some time to rest first,” Li Zi Hong stated as he passed over the search warrant for Kang Zhe Chang’s residence.

“I know how to take care of myself.”

With this reply, Yu Xia swaggered off.

Li Zi Hong let out a slow breath and wiped his face, glancing down to inspect the mess of case files. Su Zhang had not only trashed his office but messed up his work as well. There were some files that were no longer in their original sealed folders, while even the files in the computer had been moved around. It seemed that Su Zhang had been quietly amusing himself while waiting for Li Zi Hong.

But, why hadn’t he sensed these movements at all?

Li ZI Hong pressed the back of his neck and narrowed his eyes as he recalled that he had undoubtedly felt an unusual tiredness at the time. It appeared to truly be as Dong Feng had stated – he would have to go get a check-up later to see if he had been drugged without knowing.

“I told you that you’d die one day without anyone even knowing how.”

He looked up and, as expected, saw Yan Si standing at the doorway with a smile that did not reach his eyes. Li Zi Hong put down the files in his hands. “At least it’s confirmed that Su Zhang’s infiltration abilities are even stronger than we thought.”

“Do you think he’s a spy? Even calling it ‘infiltration abilities’ now.” Yan Si casually strode over and tossed the document folder in his hands onto the table, resulting in a loud noise. He then automatically pulled out a very worn-down chair to take a seat.

Li Zi Hong glanced at the thrown report. Picking it up, he flipped through it and saw that it was He Shi Jun’s most recent autopsy results. “It’s nothing, I believe Su Zhang simply treated it as a type of joke.”

“There are times when I can’t take jokes, especially when I haven’t gotten enough sleep recently.” Yan Si chuckled coldly and crossed his arms. “He Shi Jun’s corpse had traces of narcotics. He was still taking drugs before he died.”

“…He should have already been detoxified by then.” It looks like the situation may not be as simple as we think?

Yan Si shrugged. “That’s your problem.”

As the room fell silent, a cellphone next to them began to ring.

Li Zi Hong answered the call. After hearing the information from the other end, he sighed, suddenly feeling his exhaustion instantly flood through him. “The blood in the office wasn’t a human’s.”

“Bastard.” This was Yan Si’s only thought.

***

“This is a gun from a gang.”

Ah Liu accepted the offered coffee, having also pulled an all-nighter. He opened the computer records and said, “Other districts have searched for these before. There are seven of them in total, including the one from the case in the northern district two months ago. Back then, half of the seized guns had identical marks. The ones that the criminals had used had them too.”

“So, Ye Huan En really was privately investigating this matter.” Jiu Shen carefully studied the bagged gun in his hands, comparing it to the file on the screen. It was indeed very similar.

“Combined with the information Boss got from his end, we know that the northern sector was investigating this case two months ago. Then, the information was leaked, and the police lost some people while capturing those few criminals. Afterwards, He Shi Jun ran over to our side and was immediately extorted for a confession and buried. A month later, Ye Huan En appeared here.” Ah Liu spread out his hands. “The people with the same guns are probably from a central branch.”

“Huh? Is there a southern branch too?” Jiu Shen was astonished as he studied the records. “There isn’t anything here about it. The sightings were all recorded in the northern district. Should we quickly notify our southern sector colleagues?”

“…Idiot, they know already.” Putting aside the fact that the movement of the guns was definitely being monitored, something at this large of a scale likely had locations all over Taiwan, not just in the southern district. Ah Liu looked at his colleague somewhat sympathetically. Jiu Shen should have known these matters, but his brain would occasionally stop working. “You should really go to sleep, or else your memory will burn up.”

Jiu Shen was stunned for a moment, but then coughed in embarrassment. “Boss is going to search Kang Zhe Chang’s residence. I’ll be going with him in a bit.”

“Be careful.” Ah Liu sat up and sternly stated, “The license plate you guys provided yesterday was registered with Kang Zhe Chang’s company. It might have a connection with the case. If so, then Kang Zhe Cheng may have firearms.”

“Mn, okay, understood.” Jiu Shen nodded and prepared the things he would need to bring. “I wonder if there’s any problems on Prosecutor Li’s side.” Originally, he had wanted to go over and take a look after receiving the notification early this morning. However, he had really been too tired, so his responsible female co-worker wouldn’t let him go. As a result, he had only been able to obediently stay at home and wait for them to return.

“It should be fine. But if the overworking continues, it might soon cause problems.” Ah Liu yawned and rubbed his smarting eyes, deciding to go and sleep first. “How can you guys last for so long? I’m tired to death.”

“…Actually, I’m trying really hard not to close my eyes right now. It feels like if I close them for too long, I won’t be able to open them again.” Jiu Shen swayed as he stood up. Even when he walked, it no longer felt like he was on the ground.

As Ah Liu watched his friend stagger off, no longer able to even move in a straight line anymore, he suddenly felt like he seriously was quite fortunate. At the very least, he could run back home any time now. How great it is not to be a workaholic.

After seeing Jiu Shen off, he suddenly heard a knock on the glass outside right as he prepared to go rest.

Ah Liu turned his head to see that the group that had left in the morning had returned. The female colleague in the lead was currently waving at him outside.

“Let me show you something interesting.”

***

He slept very deeply.

Isolated from disturbances of the outside world, his dreamscape was completely black. An extremely tall control tower stood not too far across from him. It was like the one for sacrifices that he had seen before. It had multiple different levels, with a dark humanoid silhouette in every frame.

Just like the past several times, the figures were flat, as if stuck on invisible glass. They moved about silently.

Since there was actually some distance, he wanted to take a closer look at the scene. However, as soon as he took a step forwards, he discovered that there was a deep chasm before him, too dark to see the bottom. The split gap was so large that he could not easily jump over either.

Yet, he felt that he had to go over. The scene seemed to be something that he had to know…He did not know why, but that was the feeling he had.

That backdrop was inexplicably familiar. It was not the image that was familiar, but rather the location; he seemed to know it originally. He knew it so well that he felt like he should stay here.

There would undoubtedly be a day when he would step over this crack and touch that tall tower.

Then, he turned his head to see a girl standing behind him, just like how she had done so many times before, appearing constantly and pointing them towards a path.

But this time, she did not do anything at all. She simply stayed behind, speaking as if chatting idly with friends.

She told him that at the time, there was something only he could do, so he had to stop those events from occurring…They were very bad things that would only leave many with feelings of regret and hurt; there would be no redemption.

She told him that humans would oftentimes only reminisce about the past when it was already too late, but would be unable to face the reality currently before them, not reaching their hand out to grasp what had not yet passed away.

She told him that if it became too late, that person would undoubtedly feel regret.

However, she never said how she had been killed.

***

“Are you awake?”

As Yu Yin gradually awoke, all he could feel was an intense headache and weariness.

Before he could jump out of bed as he usually did, someone suddenly pressed him down. “Don’t move recklessly, the IV will disconnect.” It was at this time that he finally noticed there was an IV needle in his wrist.

As his vision began to clear, he saw Yu Tong sitting next to his bed. Ye Huan En was sitting up on the other bed, already awake and watching him with a tilted head while a doctor was next to him, performing a check-up.

“Seems like your fever has dropped.” Yu Tong reached out to press a hand against Yu Yin’s forehead and let out a sigh of relief. “It’s afternoon now. When we arrived at the hospital early this morning to deliver Mr. Ye to this ward, we temporarily slept here on the family bed. Then the nurse on duty later discovered you were running a high fever…Do you remember anything?”

Yu Yin closed his eyes and waited for a few minutes before sitting up. “No, I [only] remember sleeping on the family bed.” He scratched his head and spotted that the sky outside had already started to darken. It looked like he had been dead asleep for a long time.

Yu Yin wiped his face and let the nurse remove the IV. Once he confirmed there were no other issues, he went to wash up in the bathroom. When he came back out, the doctor that had been performing the examination was leaving the ward.

“Can you talk now?” Yu Tong glanced at Yu Yin and changed positions to go sit next to Ye Huan En’s bed.

Ye Huan En touched the bandages around his neck and made a few dry and rough noises before nodding. “Might…be some issues…”

“It’s fine, you can nod and shake your head, or write to communicate.” Yu Tong opened the document folder in his hands and raised his head to gesture for Yu to close the door as he walked in right then. “Firstly, we have confirmed your identity. You are an officer of the criminal unit like us and are currently recovering from injury.”

Ye Huan En nodded.

“Did you come down to pursue the case in private?”

“No…not exactly…” Ye Huan En discovered that speaking was still quite difficult, so he took a pen and paper and wrote: “Senior officer suggested for me to come down and properly think things through while recuperating. But it was mainly to find a friend.”

“He Shi Jun?”

Ye Huan En nodded again.

Yu Yin took a seat next to the bed as well, taking the drink that Yu passed over. When he turned his head, he was nearly frightened to death.

That human mound was now sprawled across the bed he had just been lying on earlier. Although it looked somewhat better than before, the mutilated flesh was more distinct now, and the half bloody face was still grinning at him in a terrifying manner…He decided to turn back around.

Ye Huan En swiftly wrote a few sentences and handed it to Yu Tong. “He was the inside connection for the previous search. After the shooting incident happened two months ago, our people sent him to hide in the south. However, we lost contact with him after he got off the bus. I…came down to search for his body.”

“Why were you certain that he was already dead?”

“When I was in the hospital, he came to visit me and told me that if he disappeared as soon as he left, it meant he had been captured. The high senior official responsible for this search case was someone that relished grandiose acts. Before the unit had completely investigated the scope of the group, he had already submitted a report without permission and had run a press conference. Furthermore, after the casualties occurred, he wrongly pushed the responsibility onto the officers to monopolize the credit. At the time, He Shi Jun told me that death was likely his only path, but he would try to lie low to the best of his ability.” Ye Huan En smiled weakly and continued to write, “I saw the photos of your sculpture and knew that the body was him…You guys were even able to recreate the old scars on his face. That sculptor’s ability is truly amazing.”

“So you called to make a report.”

Ye Huan En nodded.

“Then, before He Shi Jun left, did he play with your dog?”

Ye Huan En was somewhat surprised, but he nodded in affirmation and wrote: “Fish Jerky and Chicken Jerky loved him. Both their collars were originally made by him too…He definitely played with the dog before he left.”

“Alright, you should rest first. Another officer will come later…you know the procedure.” Yu Tong closed the folder and gestured for Yu Yin and Yu to leave the ward with him.

When they stepped out into the hallway, Yu Tong shut the door and sternly turned to face the two waiting children.

“I’m fine now.” Yu Yin pressed the back of his neck and rotated his neck. The problems that the fever had brought had quickly faded away, leaving no effects at all. Moreover, since he had slept very deeply, his body had rested fully and he felt quite comfortable now.

“In the morning, Xia brought a group of people to raid and search Kang Zhe Chang’s residence but did not find anything. Even the first-aid kit had been changed. Seems like he had already raised his guard. The company car had been cleanly disposed of too; he just said that the company was run by someone else and that he never played any part in it. There was a baby inside the house, but without any evidence at the moment, we cannot confirm it is Song Hui Chun’s child. In addition, his wife seems to have some psychological impediment, so we could not obtain much information.” Yu Tong quickly said, “Those captured people are currently being interrogated, but they have denied all questions, and also claim that the car had been stolen for use. At the moment, the car is being taken in for inspection. The administrative officers have ensured us that the people monitoring our home have already retreated, so you and Xiao Yu can go home and rest. For the time being, there will be several people nearby to protect you two. The cat and dog will also be sent over.”

“But—”

“Ah Yin.” Yu Tong cut him off and looked at them with an extremely stern gaze. “No more talking. Go home immediately. I’ve already asked for people to wait for you two downstairs.”

“Fine.”

***

A bit later, after Yu Yin arrived back home, the officers not only dropped off the cat and dog, but an additional Dong Feng as well.

“Welcome to the detention group.” Yu Yin patted Fish Jerky’s head as he smiled and waved at Dong Feng. Without even asking, Yu Yin knew that one of the adults in his family or Li Zi Hong had forcefully had this person dragged over to their home after considering its security and the ease of protecting a group as a whole.

Dong Feng, who was already too furious to even speak, completely ignored him.

“You can use the guest bedroom.” Yu Yin pointed upstairs. “My bedroom works too; it has a computer.”

Dong Feng shot him a glare, then took his backpack and went ahead upstairs. Chicken Jerky swayed its tail and jumped up onto the steps as well, instantly vanishing upstairs.

Yu Yin played with Fish Jerky as he entered the living room. Yu, who had been sitting there playing video games the entire time, stretched out an arm when he saw the dog and let Fish Jerky cuddle up by his side.

Seeing that there weren’t any abnormalities outside the window, Yu Yin called Yu Tong to confirm that Dong Feng had indeed been sent over by Li Zi Hong, then hung up.

“Looks like the ghost’s request has been settled.” Yu Yin plopped down next to Fish Jerky and rubbed the dog. He was almost certain that He Shi Jun had wanted them to save Ye Huan En. But why didn’t he reveal the perpetrator? Is there some kind of rule in the ghost realm that they can only choose to do one? Or will another problem come up later?

Yu paused the game to gaze at him with furrowed brows.

“Ah, of course it’s best if everything’s good…Wait a second, when did you start playing this?! I haven’t seen this scene before!” Yu Yin pointed at the newest image of the game on the screen and shouted, “I played for three days!” His dignity as an older brother had been attacked again!

Yu smirked and exited the game to show the save file. It was clearly way past Yu Yin’s progress, and it had been achieved in half the time as well.

The only thought left in Yu Yin’s mind now was the urge to strangle the other person. He resentfully ground his teeth together, contemplating whether to secretly delete Yu’s file later. As he was happily plotting this, Fish Jerky suddenly straightened up next to him.

“Dead,” Yu quietly said as he stared at the screen. The game that had been smoothly running just now had instantly crashed, now completely frozen.

“Weird, Li-dàgē didn’t say this game was unstable.” Yu Yin studied the monitor that was currently filled with colourful rectangles and scratched his face. “Try restarting the machine?”

“Doesn’t work.” Yu pressed the power button several times but saw that there were still no changes to the display.

Yu moved forward to shut the power source and frowned as he discovered that the TV could not be shut off either. It remained stuck on the countless rainbow rectangles.

Just before he could unplug it, the sound of footsteps came from the staircase and he saw Dong Feng quickly run down. “Come up and take a look at this.”

Yu Yin exchanged a look with Yu and patted the dog before the two of them followed Dong Feng upstairs one after another.

Dong Feng led them into Yu Yin’s bedroom and pointed at the desktop screen. It was just like the TV display, covered in multi-coloured blocks in an identical manner.

Thus, Yu Yin instantly knew that it was definitely a message from a third space.

“You don’t think these people look familiar?” Dong Feng crossed his arms and spoke in a monotone.

“These people?” Yu Yin had question marks written all over his face as he stared at Dong Feng. “Who?”

“Four people.” Dong Feng pointed at the coloured blocks on the screen and asked again. “What do you think?”

“…I can tell you that I have no idea what this is.” He turned towards Yu for help, but Yu also shrugged back to indicate he did not understand. Yu Yin could only ask again, “Could you please explain?” His IQ was honestly just not up to that level of amazing.

Dong Feng was silent for a moment. His brows knit together as he glanced at Yu. “Could it be that your memory is word-based?”

Yu did not comprehend the other person. He studied the image for a long while, before finally showing a trace of astonishment.

“May I ask if someone could explain the current situation?” Seeing that the two had apparently finished communicating, Yu Yin suddenly felt like he was being outcasted as someone with the intelligence of an average person.

“I’ll see if the computer can still be used.” Dong Feng sat down and inserted a USB flash drive into the computer in attempt to restore the image capture function. However, before he even started, he discovered that the computer had abruptly returned to normal. The image on the screen flashed a few times, then jumped back to the desktop. After opening a drawing software and sketching out the rectangles and recombining them, an image gradually appeared.

As the picture grew clearer, Yu Yin was shocked by the realisation that it was a picture caught by a raised surveillance camera pointed downwards. The background was a room that looked a lot like a baby’s room. There were warm-coloured decorations all around. The baby lay in a rocking crib, and a woman stood next to it with her head lowered. There was another woman in a suit lying on the ground, crimson blood flowing out from the side of her head and spreading to form a circle around her. Finally, there was man crouched down next to the woman in a suit.

Yu Yin instantly felt his blood run cold as he stared at the small rectangles. “Song Hui Chun and Kang Zhe Chang had video cameras in their homes.” Back when he and Dong Feng had gone to that home, their every action had been caught on camera. It was possible that everything in the bathroom had been captured as well, which was why the other party had decided to come down to meet them.

“The man is Kang Zhe Chang, their figures match.” Dong Feng finished piecing together the image and tried his best to make it as clear as possible before sending a copy to Li ZI Hong. “Hopefully it’s not too late to seize their camera footage…Can ghosts not provide entire video clips?”

“…I’ve never been a ghost, how would I know?” Yu Yin hadn’t expected Dong Feng to ask such a question so seriously so he nearly choked on his own saliva. “Usually hallucinations are more frequent.”

“Hallucinations aren’t evidence. Concrete proof is needed to arrest someone.” Dong Feng knocked away on the keyboard and sighed. “Handling a case relies heavily on actual proof. She can’t make the investigators and judges see hallucinations, can she?”

As soon as he spoke, the door of Yu Yin’s bedroom slammed into the wall with a bang. Then the other doors in the house were swung open with a series of thuds, including downstairs. When the front door was finally thrown open with a loud bang, an unnatural silence echoed through the air.

Yu Yin looked at Yu and Dong Feng and chuckled weakly.

“Want to go?”

***

“The obstetrics clinic confirmed the one that visited the outpatient service was Song Hui Chun.”

Yu Xia quickly strode into the temporary office and placed the report on the desk. “The nurse clearly remembered that the person accompanying her claimed to be her younger cousin, Lin Zi Lei…What are you looking for?” He asked as he watched Li Zi Hong flipping through mounds of files.

“After I finished organising the messed-up documents, I discovered there were some missing.” Li Zi Hong stopped his movements and pressed his hand on his faintly aching forehead. “Some cases have disappeared.”

“Are they very important?” Yu Xia frowned as well, knowing the severity of the situation.

“No…I lock those with security concerns inside a drawer. The ones taken away were a few minor cases or references, like some drunken disputes and such. The most important thing is that the copy of Song Hui Chun’s report is gone.” He had been looking at it before resting. After spending a good portion of the day to clean up the scattered files, he had discovered that this specific case report was included in the list of stolen items. Li Zi Hong felt an extreme helplessness. “The obstetrics clinic is absolutely certain it was Lin Zi Lei?”

“Yeah, so she wasn’t employed recently. She must have been working over there for at least a year already. The nurse identified her as having stayed with Song Hui Chun for the prenatal exams from the beginning. In addition, Song Hui Chun has always claimed to be Kang Zhe Chang’s wife. Also, we requested some of the surveillance footage from the nearby neighbours and found that the cameras had captured Song Hui Chun leaving Kang Zhe Chang’s residence half a month ago, so they must know each other.” Yu Xia slid the report across the table towards the other person. “The most interesting part is that the people we captured from He Shi Jun’s and Ye Huan En’s case were also caught going in and out of Kang Zhe Chang’s home.”

“Handle the cases together. Immediately go and bring back anyone related.”

Yu Xia nodded and pressed keys on his phone as he walked out. Just before he left, he thought to himself for a moment and stuck his head back into the office. “Be careful.” They did not know what exactly Su Zhang wanted to do. Since he had come once already, they could not eliminate the possibility that he would appear a second time.

“Mn.”

Li Zi Hong waited until Yu Xia left before heaving out a sigh. He stared at the piles of documents that he had already organised, his head starting to hurt again.

“It won’t just grow out from there no matter how much you stare.” Yan Si opened the door and entered [the room] to spot the piles of papers that were nearby about to burst into flame from being glared at. He suddenly felt that being a file wasn’t easy at all, as they had to be attacked by this gaze every day. “Was the penalty announced?”

“Not yet.” Li Zi Hong was also waiting for this. He let out a long exhale and accepted the cold drink the other person had brought. When he lowered his head, he noticed that the drink was dark brown. “What is this?”

“Grass tea. It’ll help cleanse and heal your liver.”

“…”

“Did you know that shop actually sells anoectochilus tea? Taiwan’s drink shops are seriously magical, you can find the most bizarre things in them. I might even be able to buy a boba anoectochilus tea one day.” Yan Si paced in a circle around the tiny office and sighed. “Hopefully the penalty will be stronger. It would be great if we could get some more vacation.” We’re already on the verge of dying from overwork. Without a designation to leave work, we’ll all end up perishing hand in hand sooner or later.

“The penalty will not be that severe.” Li Zi Hong shot a sideways look at his friend. He rubbed the back of his neck as he continued to ponder why Su Zhang had specifically taken those documents away. Per his records, those minor cases were irrelevant and had no connection to each other. They were ordinary conflicts that had occurred at different times, places, and circumstances.

“Oh, I came to see if you were still alive. You haven’t gotten your car back yet either, right?” Yan Si spun his car keys around his finger and chuckled. “Going to my house would be safer?” At least it’s way safer than this.

“No need, I’m going to drop by the police station. I just told Yu Xia to go bring back persons related to Kang Zhe Chang.” Li Zi Hong cleaned up his things and picked up his cellphone, belatedly noticing he had received a message. When he clicked it open, he frowned and immediately dialed the number back. However, he was directed straight to the answering machine.

“What’s that?” Yan Si swiped the phone away and saw the picture that had been sent. “Holy crap, where did he get that from?” If it was real, then that basically confirmed Kang Zhe Chang’s people truly were the perpetrators that had killed Song Hui Chun.

“The child is Song Hui Chun’s. She might have gone to take it back in regret and was instead killed.” Li Zi Hong swiftly put on a jacket and quickly left the office. “There may be some other reasons why she could not go in. It’s likely that Kang Zhe Chang’s group refused to let her return, so she put on that suit and pretended to be a worker knocking on the front door.”

“Then her body was discarded. But why would Kang Zhe Chang stab her another two times?”

“It may not necessarily have been him. Perhaps it was the person that disposed of the body. Dong Feng mentioned that He Shi Jun’s condition was not caused by a single assaulter. Maybe the one responsible for throwing the body away thought it would be fine if they directly pushed everything onto the murderer if they were found.” Li Zi Hong took a seat in Yan Si’s car as he forwarded the image to Yu Xia. “Or maybe he believed he had double protection. Aside from not worrying about the location because of its difficulty to find, he could also do something to make sure others wouldn’t suspect them.” This could also explain the person that had attacked them at the scene, possibly someone that had deliberately stayed there to monitor the body’s discovery. Perhaps they had come into contact with some switch that had caused the other party to suddenly attack.

“The responsibility of burying the corpse and discarding it probably fell on the same person.” Yan Si started his car and turned out of the driveway. “This type of rough, heavy work unmistakably often falls onto pawns.” He glanced at his friend next to him. Seeing Li Zi Hong answer a call, Yan Si shut up and focused on driving.

A while passed before Li Zi Hong finally hung up. “Let’s head directly to Kang Zhe Chang’s side.”

“Then I’ll start charging a fee starting from now.” Yan Si struck a pose and gestured at the sound system, only to receive an eyeroll in response.

After calculating the time, Li Zi Hong lowered his seat and closed his eyes.

***

“Stop here.”

Dong Feng passed the paper bills to the driver and was the last to leave the taxi.

“Wait, let me calculate the cost.” Yu Yin studied the street to estimate how long it would take to walk from here to Kang Zhe Chang’s residence; they had gotten off the car two streets away. After leaving the cat and dog under a neighbour’s care, the three of them had called a taxi and rushed straight here.

“No need,” Dong Feng casually replied, too lazy to calculate something like that.

“Fine then, I’ll treat you to a midnight snack and breakfast.”

“…A hundred-forty.”

Before Yu Yin could criticize the other’s wrong action of choosing to take money over eating, Yu stretched out a hand to cut off their trivial conversation and pointed at the street.

As if aware of their arrival, the originally lit streetlamps suddenly went out one after another. Both the lampposts for public use and the front door lights of private residences faded out in succession, the darkness spreading forwards.

Yu Yin took a deep breath and led the way, stepping into the dark area.