The Yu Brothers’ Case Book

He dizzily opened his eyes in the icy darkness.

He was not really certain how much time had passed. All he remembered was that every time he’d opened his eyes, he had only felt cold, as well as an intermittent, dull pain from his head. This made it impossible for him to clearly discern the circumstances of his surroundings as he would usually do.

However, he was still alive.

He did not remember why he was here. The last trace of his memories seemed to be of reading a ridiculously long and senseless text message from a certain someone. Then, just as he was about to go out and take a walk, he had picked up a call. Since it had been a bit urgent, he had gone out in a rush. As soon as he had stepped outside, he had remembered that he had forgotten his keys and was about to ask the security guard to help him find a locksmith…and he could not remember anything afterwards.

That’s right, he had urgently wanted to provide help in that moment.

Noticing his movement, the person next to him hurriedly came close. He could not clearly see the other person’s appearance in the darkness, but he knew that they were in a very small space, tiny to the point where he could touch the opposite wall just by stretching his leg out.

“Shh…shh, they’re still outside.” The person sitting there stopped him from trying to get up, then rubbed his head and placed something ice-cold on it to alleviate some of the discomfort. “Don’t worry…this place is very safe…they won’t know we’re here…”

He tried his best to move but could not summon the slightest bit of strength. The dizziness intensified trying to send him back into the darkness of unconsciousness…He did not know what time it was. There were still many things he needed to finish, matters and arrangements with others that he had to go back for. He could not let their work all go to waste. There were still various things he had taken a break from that he needed to continue dealing with…

Thus, he forcefully blinked and finally saw a bit of light. The line of light appeared in front of his eyes, not too far away. Cool air was coming from over there, as well as strange-sounding footsteps.

Then, the light was suddenly covered as the person sitting next to him blocked his vision and took off the ice-cold object on his head…It turned out to be a bottle of water.

Amidst his daze, he was fed water and some unknown food that had no taste when it entered his mouth. He could only tell that it was a bit gooey and pasty, mixed together with water to rinse down his throat. Then he retched, forcing everything back out, leaving a hot and stinging pain in his stomach and oesophagus.

He was once again fed the same thing and was cleaned up after vomiting it out. Then the same actions were repeated until finally, the other person stopped in satisfaction.

He felt exhausted, and the consciousness he had barely managed to gather with difficulty was now on the verge of slipping away again.

The other person covered his body with something a bit weighty, then carefully zipped it up. It seemed to be similar to an overcoat, but there was not the slightest bit of warmth to be felt. He still felt very cold, yet he lacked the energy to even shiver.

“It’s fine, just sleep well. I will keep watch; they won’t find us. I will protect you.”

“We’ll be alright, we just need to hide here for a bit.”

“They definitely won’t find us.”

“That’s right, they will never appear again.”

“Just like before. It’s okay.”

He let out a soft exhale as he heard the voice speak in a low voice. He could not think about anything else.

When that person shifted away, he once again saw the light. It’s probably a crack from a door? It’s a bit high, slightly more elevated than that of a typical door.

He then saw a pair of red eyes appear on the opposite end where the light was. The whites of the eyes were completely filled with crimson wisps of blood, and the pupils were covered with a turbid membrane. These eyes directly met his.

He noticed that these eyes were upside down.

However, he could not ponder over what this represented.

***

He abruptly opened his eyes.

Yu Yin tore off the blanket from his body and immediately looked out the French window in the living room. A black shadow instantly vanished into the darkness, the curtains fluttering from being moved despite there being no wind.

“If you’re awake, do you want to go upstairs to sleep?”

He turned his head to see Yu Tong just happen to be walking down the staircase. “Don’t get used to sleeping on the sofa like your uncle, it’s not good for the body.”

Yu Yin rubbed his eyes, momentarily unable to process what was happening. A few seconds later, he finally recalled that after returning home alone, he had randomly eaten something since Yu had not returned, then began to look through the material that Yi Tai had given him. He had probably fallen asleep unknowingly while reading through them. “Dad, when did you come home?”

“Just now. Dong Feng is sleeping upstairs. If he wakes up, remember to get him something to eat. I still have to rush back.” Yu Tong had only returned to gather some things. He glanced at the papers on the table. “Are you thinking of doing something strange again?”

“That’s-that’s not it. These were given by a classmate. I was just passing the time while eating.” Yu Yin hurriedly cleaned up the material.

“…Do you think I would believe those words?” Yu Tong’s lips curled upwards into a smile. This time, he actually walked over and stretched a hand out. “May I take a look.”

The last sentence was clearly not a question. Yu Yin inwardly cursed at himself for being retarded as he obediently handed the items over. “Did you find Li-dàgē?”

“The criminal suspect has already been locked onto. Xia is sending people out to tail them. I’m temporarily helping him support another case, so you and Yu should be good and not run about. Don’t make us worry again.” Yu Tong skimmed through all the material and then returned the papers to his child. “Dong Feng is also very tired, let him get some proper rest. Don’t go bringing him around to do strange things.”

“It’s not like I’ve brought him around to do strange things [before],” Yu Yin immediately refuted.

“Have you not?” Yu Tong’s smile deepened.

“Maybe just a bit…” Alright, I have. But that was because he voluntarily helped on his own. Despite this being the case, Yu Yin only dared to mutter this in his heart. “If there’s any news about Li-dàgē, you have to let me know.”

Yu Tong did not immediately nod. After a moment’s thought, he said, “There are some things that just happen as they should. Don’t force such matters onto yourself as your mistake, alright?”

“I’m not…” Yu Yin stopped in the middle of his original retort. After pausing for a few seconds, he scratched his head in dismay. “I just feel like it would’ve been better if I had paid more attention back then. But that day, my head was filled with those puzzles from school, and I even had Li-dàgē help me until so late. Maybe he started being followed at that moment…” The more he thought about it, the more plausible it seemed, so it just strengthened the feeling of wanting to do something.

“You thinking Prosecutor Li was odd has no relation to this matter. He has his own issues with his work, just like how your uncle and I have cases, senior officials, etc. that we worry about as well. Don’t overthink it. He had been followed for much longer than you think. It’s not like what you’re imagining.” Yu Tong glanced at the time. “I’ll be heading back to the station first then. If you want to ask about anything else related to this, it’s fine if you ask Dong Feng. Just don’t let your thoughts spiral off.”

“Mn.”

Possibly because Yu Tong really was rushed on time, he did not continue forcing a confession out from Yu Yin like usual. After gathering some simple clothes in a luggage, Yu Tong quickly left a few final instructions before heading out.

Yu Yin felt a bit like he had evaded a calamity as he shut the front door and turned to head back into the house. Then, he spotted Dong Feng, who had unknowingly been stuffed into his home at some point, walk down the stairs crookedly. His complexion was very poor, and it seemed as if he was about to fall down the stairs every two steps.

“Are you alright?” Yu Yin quickly strode over to support the other person and partially dragged him over to sit down in the living room.

Dong Feng pressed a hand against his aching forehead and shook his head. “How long was I asleep…What time is it?”

“Nearly ten.” Yu Yin glanced up to check the clock, then heard noise from the front entrance. He turned his head to see Yu just happen to come home. “Why don’t you go back up and sleep some more?”

“No need.” Once the dull wave of pain passed, Dong Feng finally noticed that he had been shifted and was no longer in the police station. He had likely lost consciousness while organising the maps and gathering all the scenes where the criminal suspect had regularly moved around, thus was brought over here. The last time he had checked the time, it had been around eight-thirty. It seemed like he had not wasted too much time.

Yu put down his backpack and brought out some milk from the kitchen before squatting down next to Dong Feng to carefully examine the other’s appearance. Then, he stood up to walk back.

“My dad said you’ve already locked onto the suspect and they’re already being followed. You should just rest first, or else you might accidentally suffer a sudden death.” Yu Yin pressed the other person down onto the sofa and stuffed the milk into their hands. This time, Yu Yin was unexpectedly not scolded or rejected. After accepting [the drink], Dong Feng slowly sipped it as his gaze landed on the resources left on the table.

Dong Feng reached out to poke at the papers, furrowing his brows slightly after glancing at them. “Printed from the internet?”

“Ah, a classmate gave it to me. Is something wrong?” Yu Yin picked up the papers Yi Tai had given and spread each one out. Yu came out from the kitchen again with some congee this time, placing it down on the table before also looking at the material.

Just as Yu Yin had seen earlier, these were supernatural stories that one could find through some online searches.

Yu Yin had already looked through them in detail upon returning home. Most of them were about the same story, but the way it was told wasn’t quite the same. Some had been embellished by people online, while others had directly changed various parts of the content. There were only a few critical words or related scenes left. Online stories were all like this, with quite a few people casually making things up as they pleased.

In comparison, there were a few other papers that seemed to be photocopies of cut-outs from a periodical or a newspaper. These seemed to be a bit aged already.

“This one should be the closest to the original, right?”

Yu Yin had originally assumed Dong Feng was speaking to him, but when he lifted his head to respond, he discovered that Dong Feng was talking to Yu. The pair was currently focused on one paper, and Yu nodded, seemingly agreeing with the other’s words.

Yu Yin took the paper and was astonished by how it was quite lengthy. It appeared to be a created work submitted to a periodical, a recommended horror story at the time.

“I’ve committed murder…”

I don’t know how to tell anyone else about this.

Although there were others, the only ones left in the living room were probably just Jia Ming and Bo Zhong. They definitely wouldn’t believe in something like tis. I couldn’t gather the courage to go back and confirm what exactly had happened to Liu Jian Sheng and Cai Qian.

I staggered through the silent garden and barely managed to return to the living room.

Then, Cai Qian appeared before me.

“Why were you washing for so long?” Cai Qian smiled at me, as if nothing had happened.

Then, I saw Liu Jian Sheng also in the living room, with Jia Ming, Bo Zhong, and the others next to him, laughing and chatting together about something unknown.

“What are you standing there for? Quick, come eat. Once you eat your fill, go to sleep early.” Bo Zhong waved at me as he said, “We still have to go pretty far tomorrow. Don’t waste your energy.”

“That’s right, hurry up and eat.” Cai Qian walked over and smiled as she pulled at my hands.

Perhaps everything just now had only been a hallucination. Cai Qian had finished her preparations ages ago and returned to the living room, and Liu Jian Sheng hadn’t come looking for me in the bathroom. It was actually just me being oversensitive.

Thinking this, I let out a sigh of relief and unconsciously relaxed. Until I saw Cai Qian’s feet.

She was wearing that pair of sandals.

I abruptly looked up. Liu Jian Sheng was still in the living room, chatting and laughing with Bo Zhong and Jia Ming as if he had not sensed anything unusual.

“What’s the matter?” Cai Qian smiled at me, but now I felt like her smile was extremely abnormal. An indescribable odour came off from her body, almost identical to the stench from inside the bathroom earlier. As if she did not see my terrified expression, she reached out to touch my face. Then she opened her mouth again. “Did you think…you were still alive? You should all go to Hell…and die there together.”

Instantly, my mind went blank.

I could not sense anything else. It was as if someone had pressed a stop button. In that second, I had nothing to do with anything, and I can no longer remember what else happened.

By the time I regained awareness, I was standing outside the bathroom once more. The air was ice-cold, the surroundings were pitch-dark. There wasn’t a hint of light.

There was a sticky fluid on my hands.

A beam of light shone next to my feet. It was the weak glow from a flashlight, illuminating the pair of sandals discarded on the ground and a large bloodstain.

I mechanically turned my head to see the black silhouette standing at the end of the corridor, seemingly mocking me as it met my eyes.

[In the space] between us, someone stumbled out from the kitchen that was faintly glowing in the darkness. It was not Cai Qian, but Bo Zhong. He looked extremely horrifying, his right arm snapped unnaturally in the opposite direction, his face covered in blood. When he saw me, his expression twisted, as if he had seen some kind of evil spirit. He then forcefully shouted, “Hurry up and run…”

I saw the shadow that was already standing behind him.

With a click, red blood spurted out onto my face.

I darted away from the collapsed Bo Zhong. Rather than resisting or rescuing, I just wanted to leave this place alive.

It was pitch-black, the garden was just as dark as before. I rushed through the dried-up weeds and heard a sharp noise behind him, then the anguished cries of a male locked in the bathroom. This mix gave me reason to not glance back under any circumstance.

And I continued to run away.

When I raced back into the living room, I saw Jia Ming lying down next to the luggage. Cai Qian’s back was facing my direction. She was in an extremely bizarre posture, with both her palms on the ground as she squatted down next to him.

I was holding my breath as I cautiously circled around them, not even daring to grab the luggage as I retreated to the front door. All I wanted was to leave this place, to leave these people. Regardless of what would happen to them, I did not want to continue staying here any longer.

The instant I opened the door, I saw Liu Jian Sheng standing outside.

“Where are you going?”

He grinned, blood flowing down from his forehead.

I let out a scream and backpedalled into someone, forgetting what was behind me in my panic. When I snapped my head around, I suddenly saw Jia Ming standing behind me, seemingly also very alarmed.

“What’s wrong with you?”

My eyes widened, unable to respond. Everyone was behind Jia Ming. It was as if nothing had happened to them. They were all sitting together, laughing and talking as they drank tea. Even Liu Jian Sheng was there.

This is a nightmare.

This has to be a nightmare.

There was nothing outside. Everyone was here. I could not take it anymore and crouched down, a sick feeling rushing through me. My head was spinning and hurting endlessly, and I trembled all over.

What in the world is it?

If this is a dream, why won’t I wake?

Are these people safe to be with?

Oh right, why are the people that were with me earlier now gone?

I slowly raised my head. Jia Ming was still standing in front of me; he had not disappeared. However, looking past his feet, the others were nowhere to be seen.

I unconsciously continued looking upwards. They hadn’t vanished. Cai Qian, Bo Zhong, and Liu Jian Sheng were still there. They hung upside down from the ceiling, with their feet on top and their heads on the bottom as they stared at me, their pale arms powerlessly hanging limp, swaying in mid-air…

I once again lost consciousness.

When I awoke, my surroundings were completely quiet.

A centipede crawled over the back of my hand. I unsteadily sat up and blankly looked around.

In front of me was that same black door as before. Behind the half-open door were people lying down, swallowed by darkness. Thick, sticky blood covered my arms and legs. The girl wearing sandals lay in front of the kitchen. There was another person lying down next to me, with limbs twisted and face flat on the ground.

I stood up, barely aware of myself as I crossed over the bodies and began to walk back to the living room step by step. There was still a person lying on the ground there. After passing by him, I walked up to the front door.

A chilly wind violently blew past my body.

“What are you running outside for?” Laughter rang out from inside the house.

I slowly turned my head and saw everyone giggling inside as they looked at me. They had gathered together in a circle to play cards, the empty food containers next to them.

In the end, which is the reality?

I felt like I had partially gone numb. While these things continued to go on in unusual ways, I suddenly felt like an observer instead, as if I was just sitting there and watching a screen. The people here, the time here, none of it had anything to do with me.

I walked out from the front door and closed it. In that moment, everything quieted down.

Ultimately, I really was unable to escape that place.

Before me was the door to the bathroom, with the kitchen next door. The dim lamp inside swung around, illuminating the ground.

I must have gone crazy, that’s why I can’t escape here.

Perhaps it was because I had truly gone mad that I was unable to discern what was actually real and what was actually fake.

The ground I stood on was covered in fresh blood. The light behind me illuminated moving bodies.

Thus, I reached out to lightly push open the bathroom [door]. An odd stench wafted out, and the flashlight hanging there swung back and forth. After walking in, I twisted open the faucet to slowly rinse off the filth from my hands. The old sink’s dirt mixed with dirty water to slowly flow into the water pipes.

The empty echo reverberated through the dark space.

After washing my hands, I retreated backwards. When the door was closed, I sat in a corner and curled up into a ball, my eyes fixed into a glare at that little window.

The silhouettes reflected on it gradually became clearer. The small, white hands opened it a crack and reached in to try sliding towards me bit by bit.

Behind the pushed open window were many old pipes that wrapped around a black object. Then, “it” opened its bloodred eyes and grinned.

I hugged myself and waited, and waited.

Everything would come to an end.

I knew it would.