The Yu Brothers’ Case Book

By the time Yan Si and Xiao Hai parted ways, it was already afternoon.

After finally buying shirts and some newly released movies, it was close to evening when Yan Si arrived in front of his front door.

With one hand carrying the bags, he struggled to use his injured arm to pull out his keys. Once the elevator doors opened, he planned on tunnelling back into his home and properly enjoying his rare vacation. However, when the doors did open, he remembered that as a result of his carefree chat with Xiao Hai, he had forgotten something…

“Hello, Yan-dàgē…” Yu Yin greeted with a strained smile on his face from where he stood on the left side of Yan Si’s front door.

“…” And standing on the right side of the door in front of the emergency staircase was Li Zi Hong, whose face was extremely dark.

Yan Si suddenly felt sympathy for his front door that had undoubtedly been glared at for heavens knew how long. I’ll have to check the door later to see if they glared any holes through it. I wonder if the landlord would be willing to fix such damages?

However, for some reason, this scene made him think of the green dragon and white tiger he had heard his juniors discuss from playing video games before ¹, and it made him feel super cool.

“How rare for the two of you to appear before my front door at the same time. Also, didn’t I give you a key? Why are you standing outside with the student that was ganged up on?” Yan Si eyed his former roommate, recalling that soon after moving in, he had definitely given a spare key to the prosecutor since they often went looking for each other, whether it was him going to the other’s to play video games or the other coming to his to watch movies. As a result, exchanging keys had made things much more convenient. In addition, since they had gone to each other’s places so often now, the building guards all recognised them, letting them enter to go directly to the residence rather than stopping them on the first floor.

“Eh, I only just arrived. Li-dàgē seems to have been waiting longer.” Yu Yin awkwardly smiled from the left. Actually, he had already waited for nearly half an hour by now too. Thirty minutes prior, he had been startled after the elevator doors had opened. Originally, he had been testing his luck – if the owner was not home, he would leave. However, upon seeing that the prosecutor was also waiting here, without the courage to just turn and flee, he simply decided to chat intermittently with the other person while waiting for the owner to return.

Only the heavens could help them, as they had no topics in common to discuss!

Moreover, Yu Yin was not as into video games as Xiao Yu was. It was very clear that the prosecutor had no interest in karaoke, hanging out, or working part-time jobs either. Neither of them wanted to discuss cases, so they could only try their best to think of topics, choosing to talk about the only thing that was absolutely safe: Super Mario Bros.

Why does he have even the newest edition?!

Yu Yin only knew of the original red and white edition from over ten years ago. After that, he just ended up listening to the other talk about the history of Super Mario Bros games, and thus painfully realised that he had walked himself straight into a death trap. If he had known earlier, he would never have brought up Super Mario Bros.

Fortunately, when the other was up to the Wii edition, Yan Si returned.

Just from Yu Yin’s bitter smile alone, Yan Si had a general idea of what had happened. “Come in first. Mr. Prosecutor, you weren’t waiting here for the whole afternoon, were you?” He had thought the person had only come to check on him while free; he had not imagined that the other would actually wait here until now. Otherwise, he would not have gossiped with Xiao Hai for so long.

“No, this is my second time here.” Li Zi Hong had actually already returned once. He watched the other person unlock the door as he said, “Arrived approximately forty-five minutes ago.” So it had been around fifteen minutes since he bumped into the university student that had also come for some reason. Seeing that the student had seemingly been quite interested in Super Mario Bros, he had passed the time by sharing his passion for games.

“Then why not go in?” Yan Si fell back to his original question as he turned the lock.

“You will find out in an instant.” Li Zi Hong indifferently replied with a strange answer as he leaned against one of the walls.

“In an instant…Weird?” Yan Si turned the lock several times only to discover that it was blocked. He handed the paper bag to Yu Yin, then tried a few more times. “Is my lock stuck?” Why not just tell me that from the beginning!

“To be more accurate, it may have been broken into.” Li Zi Hong had already considered this question forty-five minutes ago. He glanced at his watch and said, “They should be arriving soon.”

“Who is arriving soon?” Yan Si pulled his key back out, staring oddly at the unopenable lock. There were a few unnatural marks on it, which really did make it seem to have been broken into.

A robber?

There had been some new residents moving into the apartment recently, and with how careless the security guards were, it was possible that he had become a target since he was often randomly not home.

“Locksmith. He happened to be out on a job, so he said it would take him half an hour to arrive.”

As soon as Li Zi Hong said this, the elevator doors opened once more. This time, a middle-aged man and the building security guard walked out. “Oh? Are you the ones that had their lock broken?”

Yan Si watched the locksmith open the lock for a while before turning to see Li Zi Hong flash his ID to the security guard to request for the surveillance footage.

Although he really wanted to tell the other person that it was not that serious, the reality of the fact was that his door had been broken into. Yan Si decided that he would first see what the scene behind the door was once it was opened before deciding how to get back at the little robber after being caught.

“Boss Yan Si.” Yu Yin had been constantly glancing off to one side. He slowly approached closer, pulling Yan Si over as he asked in the quietest voice possible, “Have you touched anything unclean recently?”

“Oh? Was there another paranormal incident? What kind of victim this time?” Yan Si replied, his voice as low as possible. “Student that was ganged up on, please hurry up and share your information: did the deceased request something of you?”

“Freaking hell, do you think I’m a spirit medium?” Yu Yin shot a withering look at the person next to him. Then, he glanced around them. For some reason, he had seemingly spotted something flash past just earlier. However, it had been extremely fast, so he had not been able to catch sight of its appearance. But based on his previous experiences, he instantly knew that there was no way it had been a normal shadow. “Something flashed past you just now. Have you sensed anything strange?”

Yan Si followed Yu Yin’s gaze, only to see the yellowed wall next to the staircase. “Nope, I’ve been able to catch up on sleep on my vacation this week, which is basically the only thing that’s strange. It’s so rare to get a whole week off…”

Yu Yin could not voice his current thoughts. If he wanted to continue the conversation properly, he’d have to punch the forensic investigator next to him first.

Before they could continue their discussion, a sound came from the tightly shut front door. All of them turned their heads to see the locksmith successfully undo the lock. “Honestly, it’s safest if you just change the lock. Mr. Li had me bring a new one over in exchange, so I can do it for you later.” The locksmith collected his tools and opened the door.

The scene behind the door was identical to how it had been before Yan Si had left. Even the slippers inside the room had not been touched.

“A failed attempt.” Yan Si shrugged. It looks like this thief’s skills were quite lacking if they were unable to break through even this kind of ordinary lock. As he thought this, he stepped into his home, the others following in afterwards. The guard took the chance to rush downstairs and retrieve the surveillance footage.

After entering, Li Zi Hong surveyed the inside of the home once, confirming that it had indeed been an unsuccessful [robbery] attempt before walking back to the living room.

“There are such lousy robbers in this day and age still?” Yu Yin had assumed that thieves were all skilled at picking locks. He put down the bags he was helping to carry and curiously watched the locksmith replace the look.

“If all robbers had 100% success rate, that would be weirder, you know. If there are godly thieves, there are definitely rotten egg thieves too,” Yan Si retorted as he poured some drinks out for the locksmith and everyone else in his home.

“Rotten egg thief sounds pretty offensive.” Yu Yin accepted the drink and pointed at the environmentally-friendly bag he had just put down. “My dad wanted me to bring this over. I think it’s some kind of stew that’s supposed to boost recovery from injury. Dad said that you always buy take-out, so you have to make sure to take something nourishing too. Also, there’s a few desserts Xiao Yu made…he just went to the library, so he didn’t come along.”

“Wow, I’m so touched.” Yan Si opened the bag to see that there was indeed an insulated pot inside, and his heart instantly warmed. If that chick Xiao Hai knew that her Mr. Cop had cooked something nourishing for him, she would definitely be seething through clenched teeth in hatred.

I’ll try [saying] it for fun next time.

Li Zi Hong paid for the change of locks, then after seeing the locksmith out, shut the front door.

“Oh right, did you come looking for me because of work?” Yan Si glanced at Yu Yin as he brought over tea and snacks, speaking openly without hiding anything. They had known each other for a while now after all, plus because of the innate supernatural ability the university student had, there was no reason to keep him out of the loop since he always managed to get involved anyways.

Yan Si did not believe his former roommate would have come by twice in a row to check on him out of goodwill alone. There had definitely been something work-related that could not be said over the phone for his former roommate to have waited for his return home.

“Jiu Shen’s group found absolutely no traces of the murderer from the objects they collected at the crime scene.” Li Zi Hong sat down as he continued in an even tone, “There was nothing outside on the balcony either. Just the victim’s blood.”

“What about on me?” Since Yan Si had fought with the criminal, they had taken samples from him after he was escorted to the ambulance post-fight.

“The collected samples that were sent for analysis came back as belonging to an adult male, likely the perpetrator. According to the state of his skin cells, he was around thirty years old. However, none of the testimonies gathered at the scene match this, so he should not have previously been associated [with the victim] or was simply never caught.” Li Zi Hong paused and studied his relaxed friend, suddenly finding the other person too calm about it, as if they had not been the person attacked. Li Zi Hong could not help but inwardly sigh to himself.

“I hope he’s found. That guy’s quite merciless in his attacks.” Yan Si had a very deep impression on his first life-or-death fight with a criminal, and he really wanted to know what kind of morals that person had.

Plus, back then, the criminal’s face had been covered in blood, thick enough to form a bloodred mask. As a result, he had only been able to see the person’s general stature and facial features.

Yu Yin chewed on some snacks as he listened to the simple conversation, very tactfully not interrupting. His father and uncle had been troubled with this incident recently. Because the outside reports were a complete mess, there was a tremendous pressure on the responsible officers.

Despite this, Yu Xia had still strictly rejected Yu Yin’s suggestion to get a personal look at the crime scene.

Yu Yin had thought it over: a decent amount of time had passed since he had fallen into the ocean last time. The injuries had mostly recovered as expected, and Xiao Yu had grown more amiable. However, ever since that incident, his uncle had completely forbidden him to meddle with any cases. Yu Xia and Yu Tong had even minimised the amount of work-related discussion at home and tidied up the case-related information that had previously been scattered randomly all over the house. All of this was solely to prevent him from getting mixed into it.

Yu Yin knew that he had previously gone a bit overboard back then; plus, he had nearly been forced to repeat a year. However, he felt that there were quite a few instances where occasionally helping a bit had not been bad. And even when he had encountered disastrous events, they had quickly passed over.

Compared with these disastrous events, wouldn’t they all be happier after breaking a case…?

Although Yu Yin understood his guardians’ apprehensions, he still felt that they were being overprotective. It wasn’t like he got into trouble 365 days a year. Was there really a need to be that anxious?

When Yu Yin snapped out of his reverie, he discovered that the other two adults had already started chatting about something else instead of the previous topic.

“Senior Zhao and the others called to ask how things are.” Yan Si had been getting calls constantly these past few days. He added, “He said that after my wounds heal, I should go find him for rehabilitation; he said he’ll take good care of me.”

“Then just go,” Li Zi Hong bluntly answered as he watched the forensic investigator rub his wounds.

“Too lazy. Besides, I know the general concept, so I should be fine doing it myself.” No point in making a special trip. Everyone of his classmates and seniors had wanted to discipline him for a very long time, so they would never let this chance go. Yan Si knew that if he really did accept the invitation, the other person would definitely end up using the most unideal, troublesome, and complicated method just to frustrate him, then say something like “just be good and listen to your doctor”.

Actually, everyone’s personalities had become steadier over the years. If this happened while they were still students, they might have directly pressured him to his execution ground.

Yu Yin also knew that Yan Si often “moonlighted for drinks”, so he was not surprised to hear that the forensic investigator knew doctors in other specialised fields. He did not interrupt as he watched the other two chat naturally.

When it got later, Yu Yin hurriedly took his leave to rush to his part-time job.

“What were you two privately talking to each other about earlier?”

Li Zi Hong casually asked as he helped clean the table. As he had been accessing the surveillance footage he had requested from the guard, he had noticed the other two’s movements. However, it had not been appropriate to ask directly until now.

“Oh, the student that was ganged up on seems to have seen something again.” Yan Si subconsciously surveyed his surroundings, but still did not spot anything. He easily replied, “He said there was something that had flashed by here, but he didn’t see what it was since it was just for an instant…Speaking of which, when I met up with Xiao Hai-mèimei this afternoon, I also saw something weird outside. I thought it was just my eyes playing tricks on me. Back when I found the criminal on the windowsill, it was also because of a shadow flashing past that I even tried to open the window.”

So does that mean my vision isn’t actually deteriorating?

Yan Si suddenly felt somewhat excited. It looked like work was really going to get interesting this time.

Li Zi Hong could easily guess what his friend was thinking. He coolly eyed the other person as he asked, “Did you really not see what it was?”

“Nope, it was just an instant; it vanished right after.” Yan Si shrugged. Before the other person could smash their cup into his face, he quickly stood up to stow away the cups and plates on the table, scurrying into the kitchen to wash them. “It would be better if I could see them more clearly like the student that was ganged up on.” He was quite intrigued by the other realm.

As soon as he said these words, he shook off some water from the dishes and raised his head. In that moment, he saw a black shadow dart past outside the kitchen window.

This time, unlike their first encounter, the shadow stopped outside the window. Moreover, it approached closer until something like fingerprints appeared below the borders of the window.

He watched the cold shadow appear unguarded and freeze there for an entire three seconds. As expected, his first thought was to instinctively run over as quickly as possible and open the window. But the shadow immediately disappeared, leaving only the evening scenery backlit by a few nearby lamps. Even the fingerprints he had seen just seconds ago were gone.

“What’s wrong?” Li Zi Hong heard the slight disturbance and walked into the kitchen.

Yan Si sharply turned his head to smile excitedly at his former roommate. “I might have also found the path to spirit communication!”

“…”

Li Zi Hong was silent.

***

“By the way, I helped check the information on Lai Chang An that you inquired about a few days ago.”

Li Zi Hong decided to ignore the topic of spirit communication; he doubted the friend he had known for so many years would have instantly gained the ability to walk alongside spirits anyways. Shaking his head, he pulled out an envelope that he could not hand over earlier with Yu Yin present. “Theoretically, I am not allowed to bring this out for you to see.”

“Why not compromise then? After you memorise the contents, you can recite it all from beginning to end for me.” Yan Si flashed his former roommate a thumbs-up from where he was preparing tea.

Li Zi Hong instantly slammed the object down on the table.

“Stingy,” Yan Si grumbled as he brought over the tea tray with a single hand.

“My job is not to be an audio book.” After being acquainted with Yan Si for a long time, especially after being poisoned as his roommate for a few years, Li Zi Hong naturally knew how to respond accordingly.

“Hmph.” Yan Si put the tea tray down, and after serving tea for the both of them, grabbed the data. “Don’t you often re-read to criminals?”

Li Zi Hong could not be bothered to argue over such trivialities. He grabbed the remote control to turn off the TV that was still showing a movie. “Why did you suddenly ask me to see if there were any cases related to Lai Chang An?” Moreover, he had actually found some.

While Li Zi Hong had studied at the law school as a student, he knew quite a few of Yan Si’s friends and seniors from their school as a result of having been Yan Si’s roommate. He had occasionally been dragged by his roommate to gatherings, just like the one from a few days ago. Yan Si’s seniors and classmates all knew Li Zi Hong, and they shared some semblance of a relationship.

“Oh, apparently Senior Chang An was looking for me,” Yan Si casually replied as he flipped through the records. He did not notice his friend abruptly stiffen. “Senior Zhao told me that everyone had pushed him away, since nobody knew how to contact me. Then, he said that I should look into this. Seems like Senior Chang An hasn’t exactly been doing well these years.” Although the stranger part was that, despite not being as well-known as some of his bigshot seniors, it should not have been that difficult to contact him by just asking around a bit based on his forensic investigator occupation. He was not really sure what the other person had meant to do.

“He has a criminal record of robbery and inflicting harm.” Li Zi Hong kept his gaze locked onto the information he had already read through as he slowly stated, “He carried out his prison sentence of a few months. Currently, it appears from the records that he is doing some common cleaning odd jobs.” Li Zi Hong was not actually familiar with this person. He had only heard bad criticisms about this person from the medical school’s side. In addition, this person had never been among the friends that Yan Si had introduced him to.

“No wonder.” Yan Si nodded, now slowly starting to understand why Lai Chang An had not come straight to his door to find him. “Huh, the person he harmed was his colleague?” He asked with a raised brow while reading one of the data entries.

“Mm, he actually had a [full-time] job before at an ordinary insurance firm as a salesperson. But around three months ago, he was accused of attacking his colleague, maliciously pushing them down the stairs and causing severe fractures. The other party reported the incident.” Li Zi Hong refilled their cups of tea. “The company’s comments on Lai Chang An were not positive. He had allegedly clashed with multiple people by then, and he was immediately fired after that incident.”

“Oh…”

“In addition, his housemate Liao Xue Yi, younger than him by a few years, was also seized. She had swindled roughly a hundred thousand yuan from people through an internet scam and was later investigated and captured by the police.” Li Zi Hong pointed at another set of information as he asked curiously, “She was also a student at the medical school?”

“Yeah, a grade below me, so she was my junior.” Yan Si glanced at the case to see that their addresses were indeed identical. He did not find it particularly odd, rather it was as to be expected. “They were romantic partners, and they left school together…I assume they’re still in a relationship.”

“Your seniors and classmates all refused to help him contact you? Were there issues with these two already back in school?” Li Zi Hong voiced a question that had been bothering him.

“Oh, there were a few events, but nothing major. Basically, all contact was lost with them after they left school. I find it weirder to hear that they’re looking for me.” Yan Si shrugged, avoiding the critical point of the question and casually replied to his former roommate, “Just curiousity, really.”

Li Zi Hong furrowed his brows. “Is there enmity between you two that would warrant him looking for you?” These kinds of cases were common, so his thoughts naturally went this route first.

“I have no idea. If it were for revenge, I doubt he would’ve waited and dragged it out up until now.” Yan Si waved his hand in dismissal and chuckled, clearly very relaxed compared to Li Zi Hong. “Although there were a few conflicts, the balance was already evened. Logically speaking, they would not have come looking for me again, so I wonder if something happened to him and he was looking for some help?”

Li Zi Hong really wanted to ask why the other person was so certain that it was not for revenge but a request for help that they were being sought for. However, he could tell that his friend had no desire to discuss this very deeply, so he did not continue questioning further.

Yan Si was the type who would say things when he wanted to, but if he was over-questioned against his will, he would torture the opposite party into misery. This was something Li Zi Hong had known for a long time now. Thus, he decided to end the topic; he did not particularly enjoy interrogating others on their private matters anyways. There would come a time when he would find out.

Yan Si mentally noted all the information before returning the files into their envelopes and pushing it back.

Li Zi Hong sighed, deciding to talk about something else for now. “What are you doing about dinner? Do you want me to buy some for you?” Although Yu Tong had made stew, it was not quite enough for dinner.

“No need, De Cheng’s part-time worker will bring some over,” Yan Si happily answered. That was the arrangement for the next few days.

“…You bugged Yang De Cheng to prepare and deliver three meals a day for you?” Li Zi Hong was speechless.

The Yang De Cheng they were talking about was the restaurant owner from the gathering Yan Si had been to a few days ago. He had originally also been a student at the medical school but had suddenly realised midway that he did not actually have much interest in the field – the only reason he had studied medicine was because of its future potential. But he struggled more as he progressed, and eventually dropped out in the first semester of his third year. After a huge fight with his family, he self-studied for a food and beverage license and gathered some friends to set up a small stall to sell food. With nobody’s support, he worked hard to pave his own path, and earned a huge sum of money in just a few short years. Later, after paying out all the people that had collaborated with him from the beginning, he had opened a restaurant, which was just around when Yan Si had gone overseas.

Soon after returning to Taiwan and being transferred to work at the central district, Yan Si had gotten into contact with Yang De Cheng and the two of them would often grab meals together with Li Zi Hong as well, so Li Zi Hong was also closely acquainted with Yang De Cheng.

The restaurant that Yang De Cheng ran was quite well-known, often completely filled during mealtimes. However, he stubbornly refused to expand the shop front, forbade customers from bringing in external food, and maintained a fresh and delicious quality of food. Of course, Yan Si had instantly broken these regulations the moment he had returned. Moreover, Yan Si had once gone as far as to have Yu Yin and Xiao Yu fetch take-out for him before when they had come over to play. Yu Yin had later asked curiously why the store had let them take food out when it was forbidden; moreover, the dishes and pricing had been completely different from the menu.

Sometimes, Li Zi Hong truly believed that anyone within Yan Si’s group of “true friends” were, in a way, quite ill-fated.

Yan Si did not at all find fault in this. He raised his injured arm and self-righteously answered, “I only said it because he asked me how I was eating my daily meals while injured. It’s not like he refused.” It had simply changed from him retrieving the take-out to having a restaurant staff member deliver it. Besides, he was also paying a delivery fee to the staff.

Li Zi Hong felt like there was honestly no reason to be overly concerned about his friend after all. Yan Si was easily capable of arranging for his daily needs without feeling any sort of guilt.

“Since I’ve been more idle even in my free time recently, might as well find a time to go see Senior Chang An.” Yan Si played with his bandages as he lazily commented, “Do you think he still lives at the address listed in the documents?”

“You’d better not run around any more these days.” Li Zi Hong’s expression instantly turned grave when he heard Yan Si’s words.

“Don’t worry. When have I ever run around before?” Yan Si grinned at his somewhat angered friend.

“The whole day today,” Li Zi Hong levelly pointed out. He warned in a serious tone, “If there is nothing extremely important, you can just contact him through other classmates. Do not go over by yourself.” Especially when the person in question is unquestionably not the virtuous type and has caused conflict before.

“Alright, I’ll be on my best behaviour.” Yan Si’s reply was still not very serious, so he quickly added before his friend could blow up, “In short, I’ll immediately contact you or Boss if I feel anything at all is off. Don’t worry.”

After hearing this promise, Li Zi Hong finally suppressed his displeasure. “In short, you should just stay home and recuperate fully. I will come over again when I have the time.”

“Whoa, you still need to check in on me? Don’t be like that. I’ve finally gotten the chance to have a week-long vacation, you should let me have at least some time to enjoy myself, right?” Yan Si complained in an exaggerated manner with an expression that clearly said: “I’ll die like that”.

“Don’t worry, I’ve bought many new games. Playing for a week won’t be a problem.” Li Zi Hong’s reply could not be more unperturbed.

Yan Si was really close to fainting this time.

***

Yu Yin suddenly whirled around.

“Is something wrong, Ah Yin?”

It was late night as Ah Guan threw an arm around his friend’s shoulder and asked this question.

“Nah. I just keep having this feeling that something has been following me ever since I left a friend’s place.” Yu Yin scratched his head. He has absolutely no idea what was going on…Unless the thing he had seen at the forensic investigator’s had followed him out? Do such predictable things actually happen?!

As Yu Yin thought over this possibility, he immediately turned his head around to look behind him again. However, he still did not see anything, nor did he sense anything unusual or strange.

“Don’t tell me you saw another ghost friend?” Ah Guan pushed at his friend as he also looked back. “Give me a heads-up if you do, ok?”

“If you haven’t done any shameful deeds, you shouldn’t be afraid of ghosts knocking on your door.” Yu Yin hummed in response as he shot a look at Ah Guan.

“Who are you saying does shameful deeds? I just want to avoid them after bumping into them a few times before.” Ah Guan still had some lingering fears after the handful of bad experiences he’d had. There was no way he wanted to get killed by a ghost at such a young age; he didn’t want to be wronged that way. “Forget it, let’s not talk about that. Your brother’s at home today, as well as the adults, so you can finally come karaoke with us. Ah San’s group has been asking why they haven’t seen you at all recently…I mean, children should be looked after, but you’re not his mom. Is there really a need to constantly stay tied together all day? You haven’t even stayed in contact with your friends – you’d better not be surprised if they stop recognising you.”

“You guys don’t have enough people again? How many this time?” Yu Yin shoved his friend back impatiently as he asked. He knew that there was no way his friend was inviting him out of goodwill.

“Ah…there are two more girls now. We’re going to go enjoy some of the night-scenery at a high-rise while eating some midnight snacks, so we need two rides.” Ah Guan chuckled while scratching his cheek.

“I knew it. Why don’t you guys ever plan things properly before inviting people?” Yu Yin glanced at his watch. His part-time job would end around eleven. Going to karaoke with girls would take at least two hours. By the time they ran over to a high-rise, it would already be two or three. With all the trips back and forth plus eating a late-night meal, he wouldn’t be able to get home until the next morning. What kind of person had planned so horribly? Yu Yin rolled his eyes in exasperation. “Not going.”

“Come onnnn, Ah Yin, how can you be so merciless?” Ah Guan instantly threw himself on the person that had a motorbike. “We’re only short two people! You know the girls definitely wouldn’t go on the car if they weren’t all together to keep each other company. Do you really have the heart to watch your friends all end up empty-handed tonight?”

“I do,” Yu Yin instantly answered before pulling the other person off. “Shoo, shoo. My first class is at nine tomorrow, I need to go home and sleep. If you want to catch girls, you’d better think of something yourself.”

“Ah Yin, you’ve really changed.” Ah Guan gripped his chest and staggered back. “You not only reject your friends in need, but even throw stones at them. Is sleeping really more important…”

“If you guys just wanted to grab me because you didn’t have enough rides for the girls, and still plan on splitting the cost for karaoke and treating the girls to midnight snacks as well as have me pay for the gas fees from running back and forth in the middle of the night, I would much rather go home and sleep.” If it were just a bunch of friends going out to catch the wind and fool around at night, Yu Yin would’ve agreed. But recently, the invitations to take girls out had increased. Most were just asking for help to pay and serve them. There was no way he wanted to do that.

However, perhaps due to having encountered various near-death situations and because he was now closer to Yan Si and the rest, Yu Yin’s thinking had also started to change. Recently, he had cut off many friendships and hangouts. Aside from the costs of going to play only a few times, he was also slowly reducing his spendings to save up a bit.

“Sigh, alright. You’re getting harder and harder to invite, Ah Yin.” Ah Guan sighed and helplessly shrugged. “I’ll go get some others then. If you change your mind, give me a call and let me know. We can all hang out and have fun even without girls too.”

“We’ll see.”

After parting ways with Ah Guan, Yu Yin circled around the area his part-time job was in, buying a few types of desserts to bring to the forensic investigator that was still on recovery leave. However, seeing as it was quite late already, it was possible that Yan Si was already asleep. As a result, Yu Yin decided to just bring the snacks back home.

When he pulled his bike over to a small alley, he began feeling like there really was someone following behind him.

He snapped his head around but there was still nothing to be seen.

“Was I mistaken…”

These kinds of darker side-roads gave off a faint chilling sense. However, the night market was not far from here, so it was unlikely something would happen.

Just as Yu Yin was about to turn around and unlock his bike, he suddenly felt someone clap strongly onto his shoulder, and he jumped in fright, dropping his keys. When he quickly turned around, he did not see anything there.

There was nobody in the narrow alley, just a few cars that had parked there.

Based on his plentiful experience, Yu Yin instantly knew something wasn’t right. He quickly picked up his keys from the ground and murmured, “Please stop playing with me” while urgently attempting to start his bike.

However, for some reason, his bike just would not start. Then, he glanced towards the back of the street again.

Standing at the very far end was a girl he did not recognise at all. She stared at him with a pale, expressionless face.

“What…”

Yu Yin swallowed. Just as he was about to ask what the other person was doing, he was interrupted by the noise of someone selling things nearby.

In his slight shift of attention, the girl vanished.

I don’t think I’ve been near any murder sites recently?

As Yu Yin contemplated this, he once again had the deep suspicion that it had followed him out from a certain forensic investigator’s place. The more he thought about it, the more worried he became, and he decided to first fish out his protective amulet.

But as the air shifted oddly, Yu Yin, who was completely focused on rummaging through his bag, did not sense the person behind him until a beat later. A chill came wrapping him from behind, covering his nose and mouth.

Yu Yin violently struggled back, and the sudden movement seemed to throw the other person’s aim off. Yu Yin felt something ice-cold cut his shoulder, a sharp pain remaining as he pulled away. Having gotten used to being beaten up by Yu Xia recently, his first reaction was to slam his body backwards to push the person behind him into the opposite wall of the alley, as well as loudly crash into the surrounding cars.

After their attack had failed, the other person pushed Yu Yin aside and fled.

Yu Yin collapsed among the cars and touched his unbearably painful right shoulder. When he lifted his palm away, he found it drenched in blood; he had no idea how deep the wound was. The late-night snacks he had bought were now spilled all over the ground, no longer edible.

Yu Yin shakily took out his cellphone. Before he could call the police, he heard footsteps come from the alley entrance.

“Someone’s injured here!”

^{1. Traditionally per fengshui, the green dragon and white tiger are positioned next to each other, one on the left and one on the right. The green dragon represents the unyielding sun and the male sex, while the white tiger represents the gentler moon and the female sex. I assume that there are many video games that utilise and play with these as themes. ↑}