The Yu Brothers’ Case Book

“Senior.”

He immediately turned his head to see a girl walk into the classroom with a giggle. Her beautiful face attracted many people’s attentions as usual, but they were not all stunned. Most instantly shifted their gazes away after a brief glance.

“Junior sister, how unusual for you to be the one looking for me.” He smiled at the girl who was a year below him.

“Mm, are you free tonight? Senior Lai wants to chat with you.”

Yan Si’s smile did not reach his eyes as he evaluated the invitation. He shrugged and asked, “Just me?”

“Plus some others that Senior Lai wanted to join in. Should be around eleven or twelve people total. We’ll be having a barbecue on the roof of the dorms – I’ll be going to buy some drinks and alcohol later. Does Senior Yan want to join? And would Senior Li from the law school want to come along too?” The girl clasped her hands behind her back, her smile as brilliant as unfurling blossoms.

“My roommate left yesterday to attend a self-improvement camp on the mountains. He won’t be back for another week.”

As he considered it to himself, the girl in front of him seemed to be waiting for his response. Her expression remained unchanged as she did not move from where she stood, having no intention of leaving. “Alright, I’ll go over once I finish a report with my classmates.” It seemed as if the girl really would not leave unless he replied. He did not have any activities tonight anyways, and his friends would also be going. Thus, he still agreed.

“Then we’ll be waiting for you.”

***

A car dangerously whizzed past a pedestrian.

“Fucking hell! You think the street belongs to you?”

The middle-aged man that had nearly been run over by the driver violating traffic laws shouted out angry curses at the car that abruptly turned and left, then angrily grumbled to the shop he was picking goods up in. “People are getting more and more unreasonable. Didn’t even apologise after nearly hitting someone.”

“That’s just how it is nowadays. You have to be more careful.” The apron-wearing owner of the breakfast shop smiled, softening the customer’s anger. “The same thing happened to my mom a few days ago. When she was crossing the street, she was hit by a youth. When the person saw that she only had scratches, they fled without even stopping the car. People these days…”

“Don’t have any decency. We older people are more sensible.”

“Yeah, society has gotten more chaotic too.” The owner checked the items in the box and calculated the month’s salary. “You guys make sure to watch yourselves when you’re running around delivering goods.”

“Eh, everyone’s living from hand to mouth. Even breakfasts get stolen now.”

After a moment’s pause, the owner agreed. The two people exchanged smiles, then continued with the payment.

“Hey, did you lock your car?” Just as the owner raised his head, he casually glanced over at the door to see someone appearing to be looking around the little truck, so he hurriedly reminded the other person.

“Fuck, I was just robbed last week.”

The man furiously ran out of the shop to chase away the person next to his vehicle. He then walked back inside and said, “I had several boxes of drinks stolen away last week. So infuriating.”

“Haha, the fact that you’re safe and sound is most important.”

“True, true.”

Just like the ordinary days they could not be more familiar with, they tossed aside the unpleasant experiences and switched to chatting about a new topic.

It was the same as every other day.

The weather this year was truly unusual.

There were the winter days that were not cold in the slightest, the spring days that barely stormed, and the multiple earthquakes and tsunamis…Although he wished these were all, the most frustrating part was the extremely hot and humid weather today.

He glanced up at the sun above the multi-storied buildings, inwardly questioning why the Houyi ¹ from the ancient times hadn’t shot at the last sun to critically damage it – At least then it wouldn’t be this hot!

Hah, if I knew [it would be this hot], I would’ve just lazed around at home instead of going through the trouble of coming out and buying clothes…If it were not because his last presentable shirt had ripped two days ago, he would definitely not have come out on such a hot day.

Yan Si could only shrug after thinking back to what had happened a few days ago. He glanced at the bandage on his hand, then lazily continued walking forward.

Unlike the abundantly air-conditioned underground streets in the northern district, there were still quite a few roads in the central district that were currently hot enough to fry eggs. The pedestrians also appeared more restless than usual, and he had just passed by a few in conflict.

If he had knew of this earlier, he would have bugged his former roommate into driving them around together. At least the car would’ve had air conditioning…

“Fuck!”

As Yan Si was starting to lose his mind from the excessive heat, he decided to turn into a random convenience store. While aimlessly looking around, he heard an extremely adamant curse float past his ear. It was so loud that all the people walking nearby also shifted their gazes towards the source:

A group of people were fighting across the street.

Typically, in these types of situations, Yan Si would dart off to enjoy the show from a distance then finally help call the police and ambulance once the young and vigorous youths had beaten each other up enough to vent most of their hot blood and anger. Or, he would put a stop to the situation before any fatalities occurred. However, it was clear that this case fell into neither of these categories, as the dispute ended before he had barely gotten any distance away.

A beautiful girl crossed her arms and shot a look of contempt at the five or six youths collapsed on the ground. The onlookers all stared in disbelief as a string of curses exploded out from her mouth like a torrent, “Are you idiots blind? Were your eyeballs all stuffed up your asses? You thought you could pick on someone as amazing as me just ‘cause I’m a chick? Do you need someone to scrub your eyes and dig them out? Trust me, I’ll definitely dig them out and toss them onto this street for you! Hmph!”

Just because they are female does not mean they can be taken advantage of.

Yan Si understood this point very well, especially this chick that was currently still relentlessly pursuing a cop.

The youths, who had already experienced this truth by the pain in their flesh, continued to groan a bit on the ground. None of the pedestrians dared to approach and help, so the youths quickly crawled up hugging their beaten bodies and scampering away like mice.

“Hell! You’d better pray you don’t let me see you again. I’ll beat you up every time and teach you guys some discipline! If I see you trying to steal something again, I’ll knock you all out, break off your limbs, and toss them into the bottom of the Taichung Harbour!” The girl shouted out after the youths painfully fleeing. She then bent over to pick something up from the ground, walked to the nearby shop, and passed the item over to another female standing there while saying something in a lowered voice. The latter accepted the item and hurriedly bowed her head repeatedly in thanks.

At this point, Yan Si could pretty much guess what had happened. The beaten-up children were not very old, even younger than the student that was ganged up on. They seemed to be a group of junior and senior high school students that had likely been short of money for an internet café or something, thus deciding to steal instead. This type of thing was nothing new. It was just that they had been unfortunate enough today to get caught red-handed by that girl across the street.

However, if this kind of scene had occurred with his boss around instead, it would not have been much different. The kids would have still been badly beaten up, although his boss would have handled it differently afterwards: tie them up and drag them back to the police station, call their parents to pick them up, then severely reprimand the parents.

This could have subsequently caused multiple other events to unfold. For example, if there were foolish parents that thought a rookie cop, they would argue back, or even call for a legislator. Another possibility was that they would tearfully cry that their extremely obedient children could never do such a thing, that there must be some kind of misunderstanding. There were also some parents that would start calling reporters to tell them that a cop had used violence to beat up children, among other things.

…He sometimes honestly felt that his boss’s steadfast perseverance to the job was truly amazing. Soon after, he would feel even more respect for the higher-ups working from behind that could keep his boss from losing the position.

Might as well buy a snack and bring it over as a gift of appreciation…and see if I can hear any gossip.

As Yan Si amused himself with this thought, the female across the street finished apologising, and suggested something to the other girl, likely inviting her to a drink or a meal to show gratitude. The girl shook her head, heroically replying that it was not a big deal, there was no need for thanks, and that if they encountered those people again, to call her or the police and she would go and finish them off, etc.

After talking with each other for a few more minutes, the female finally said thanks for the millionth time and left.

Once the female had turned the corner and disappeared, Yan Si quickly jaywalked across the street to call out to the girl that was also about to leave. “Xiao Hai-mèimei ²!”

She stopped and glanced left and right before finally turning around to see the person that had stopped her. “Oh, it’s you. What a coincidence, I was just thinking about going to chat with Mr. Cop since I’m free.”

Yan Si chuckled. “Tong and Boss are both quite busy these past few days. Why don’t you wait a bit until things have started settling down? If you go now, you’ll just get targeted by the media.”

The girl – Fang Xiao Hai – let out a snort. “Can’t I just go over and help them beat down the hindrances?” She obviously knew that the police station was surrounded by reporters recently. The issue was that most of them had no morals, and randomly reported whatever they pleased. There was no way she could stay oblivious after nearly ripping up the newspapers she had read recently.

“If you fight your way in, they’ll probably report even more bullshit.” Yan Si pointed at the drink shop next to them. Without needing to say anything, Xiao Hai quickly understood and followed him inside to briefly enjoy the cool air and a refreshment. “I’ve already left to lay low for a while. It’s best you don’t cause any explosion around Boss and the others.”

“I know, I’m not some naïve idiot.” Xiao Hai waved her hand in dismissal and let out a grunt of understanding. She flipped through the menu on the table and ordered a random smoothie before returning the menu to the waiter.

In comparison, Yan Si elegantly read through the entire menu before ordering a tea, as well as some snacks.

Xiao Hai had noticed the conspicuous bandage wrapped around the forensic investigator’s left arm from the beginning. She also knew where the injury had come from after reading the media reports and hearing about it from her underlings. “Your injury’s fine?”

“Oh, thank you for your concern, it’s alright now. Just a few stitches – it’ll heal completely after some rest.” Yan Si waved his hand and smiled. “Since it’s an injury from work, I have the entire week off, so I’m quite bored. When I think back to how I had been going three days straight without sleep before, I feel so touched.” His work had been dumped onto a junior of his that had been temporarily called over to take his place, so he had nothing to worry about now.

Xiao Hai nodded, and did not ask any further.

Then, the shop staff brought over their drinks and snacks. After gently putting everything down, they left.

When looking out the window, it was clear that the weather outside was still extremely hot.

***

It was an incident that had occurred a few days ago.

When Yan Si had received the call, he had just happened to be eating specialty desserts and chatting with friends at a restaurant. The people around him were all his former classmates, juniors, and seniors from school. The shop was unusually lively.

After everyone had finally graduated from university, they had all gone various way. Yan Si himself had arranged to undertake advanced studies overseas after his completing the fieldwork, exams, and receiving his official license. He had only returned to Taiwan not long ago.

The gathering this time had been summoned by the owner of the restaurant, who had said that since everyone was typically busy with their own activities, it had been quite difficult to finally gather them while they all had break. All the juniors and seniors working in the central district had been invited over too. Then, the ringing of his cellphone shattered the beautiful scene.

“Aren’t you off today?” The friend, a business proprietor, sitting across from him raised a brow as he tilted his head slightly and questioned, “Is it Xiao Li?”

“Mm, yeah, he said that there was a case just now and that I should go stop by if I have time later since he wants to transfer it to me.” Yan Si stowed his phone away and quickly downed the rest of his tea. “It’s rare to actually get a break. So much has been happening recently that it’s impossible to take a long vacation, sigh.”

“Ahaha, we’re all the same. Just look at Senior Chen – he’s in obstetrics and he’s not any more free. Although birth rates are low now, the cases of female illnesses have increased in number, so they’re still running around like crazy as before.” His senior of one year, Zhao Jun Xi, chuckled as he threw an arm around Yan Si’s shoulder and pointed at the person sitting across from them. Then, he raised his hands wrapped in bandages and said, “And then there’s me that’s in rehabilitiation. A single slip-up that even brought harm to the job. Now I just want to toss everything onto the interns and relax a bit.”

“Everyone is busy in their own ways.” The restaurant owner, Yang De Cheng, walked over to clear up their empty glasses. “Ah Si, did you drive here? Or do you need me to drop you off?”

“I can just go there by myself, my car’s outside. I think these drunkards need rides back though,” Yan Si answered in an amused tone as he glanced over at the bunch of health professionals in the restaurant that had gotten drunk in the middle of the day. Although it was a rare gathering during vacation, they had let themselves a bit too loose.

“Don’t worry, I’ll kick them all out – they can figure things out by themselves.”

Yan De Cheng’s words instantly stirred up a commotion as several seniors pounced over to teach the restaurant owner a lesson.

Zhao Jun Xi, who had been the one pointing out others earlier, stepped away from the ruckus to grab Yan Si before he left. “Did you know that Lai Chang An was looking for you?”

“Senior Chang An?” Yan Si was somewhat taken aback by the sudden mention of the name. He shook his head and answered, “Not at all. Why was Senior Chang An looking for me?”

“I don’t know, but he seems to have found out you were working in the central district after watching the news. He called several people to ask about you about a month ago, including De Cheng. We all said we didn’t know.” Zhao Jun Xi glanced at the restaurant owner who was still being forcefully reprimanded, then lowered his voice to say in a mysterious tone, “Since you haven’t been around in the past two years, there are some things you don’t know…If you do a quick check over at the police, you’ll understand. If Lai Chang An really does find you, just try to avoid contact with him as much as possible.”

“Oho, thank you for the warning, Senior.” Yan Si mentally took note and smiled in return, “Then this grieved junior of yours will be going back to work for now. If I can make it, I’ll drop by tonight to continue chatting with everyone.” He had heard that another group of people would be coming over in the evening. Unfortunately, Yang De Cheng would have to receive guests twice today. It seemed that knowing this, he had taken the day off today to let them use the whole restaurant.

“You should bring Xiao Li tonight. I bet the other seniors want to find him to reminisce together too.”

“OK.”

Yan Si left the restaurant and called someone at the office to bring him his work tools. Then, he drove directly to the crime scene he had been directed to. It was actually somewhat far – by the time he arrived, twenty minutes had already passed.

Because he was a bit late, the crime scene had already been sealed off with yellow tape, and the reporters had arrived already. The siren lights were flashing non-stop as several people attempting to break through were stopped by the police.

They were either people who did not know the laws, or simply pretended they did not.

Yan Si shook his head at the sight of the chaotic media. He could not be bothered at this point to criticise the reporters who simply created content on any hot topic regardless of how much truth it held.

Their previous visits to a certain person in order to randomly start rumours had caused Yu Xia’s temperament to reach an all-time low, and now Yan Si no longer dared to go have fun with the twin brothers anymore. If it were just the risk of getting some bruises, it wouldn’t be a big deal, but if he went over nowadays, he would probably get skinned alive.

The source of the matter was an unknown, idiotic rookie who had published an exclusive report regarding the major case Yu Xia was responsible for, titled: “Police Unexpectedly Hands Case to Young and Inexperienced Officer”. There had even been a photo of Yu Xia in his usual T-shirt and jeans, subtitled in gold letters about how he had just come out of the police academy and such.

The writer had likely gone through a list of newly joined officers. The officer name printed was correct, as was the year of graduation and their age. However, the photo was somehow of Yu Xia, therefore posing him as the newly joined officer, giving a seemingly earnest analysis on how sloppily the police were dealing with things.

This kind of mistake theoretically should have been impossible to make, yet it had happened anyways. Apparently, the moment Yu Xia had seen it at work, he had grabbed the newspaper and shredded it into pieces…Yan Si was certain that Yu Xia likely would have preferred to have ripped up that rookie [writer] as well.

The amateur writer’s editor had later apologised, claiming that they had only reviewed the text before the distribution of the paper since the photo had been added in later. They added that if they had seen the photo, they definitely would not have published it, and that they would be more cautious in the future.

In the end, the rookie writer had not only refused to admit they were at fault, but even stubbornly published on a blog a claim that it was due to the poor performance from the police recently causing a reason for distrust that he had mistaken the “senior” officer for a newbie…with the word “senior” bolded.

As a result, the incident had led to another wave of discussion, with Yu Xia bearing the brunt of it. Thus, the higher-ups had specifically warned him to lie as low as possible for the time being so that the media could not grab him for their use. His criminal-seizing stunts had also been prohibited completely.

As a result, Yu Xia’s temper shortened even more, to the point where his own twin brother tried not to lecture about how dangerous his actions were anymore. Yu Xia’s group was also unusually quiet, as they no longer dared to cause any ruckus.

With these thoughts running through his head, Yan Si grabbed a pair of gloves, a hat, and his own bag. As he entered the crime scene, he discovered that Li Zi Hong was already there.

“Drinking in broad daylight?” Li Zi Hong raised a brow at Yan Si after catching a whiff of the alcohol as they stood close to each other. “Did you drive yourself?”

“As if. The seniors were the ones drinking. It’ll be even more hardcore later tonight.” Yan Si automatically lifted up his arm to smell it. As expected, there really was the faint scent of alcohol. He figured it had likely seeped through, especially since someone had accidentally spilled some on him earlier. “If you’re free, do you want to go together later? The seniors even called you out.”

Li Zi Hong helplessly shook his head. “I doubt I will be able to leave this case even by tomorrow night.”

“Looks like I’ll have to pass too then. Guess we can’t do anything about it…Also, didn’t you come too quickly? We just received the call. Has the highspeed rail started service on the roads now?” Based on his calculations, his former roommate that was even busier than he was should have arrived after him. Neither of them was always required to be at the crime scene, let alone have to urgently rush over like this.

“I just happened to be handling some things nearby, so I came straight here after receiving the call,” Li Zi Hong indifferently responded. He was already very accustomed to hearing the other person’s nonsensical quips. “Come over and take a look first.”

It was a common residence, more or less identical to the surrounding buildings: a four-story building covered in galvanized sheets of iron for enforced protection. Upon entering, the first thing to be seen was the many beverages laid out on the first floor, some piled even higher than their heads. A few of the officers that were making their way inside had made sure to pass cautiously, afraid of accidentally hitting one and having the whole thing collapse. For that matter, several had already fallen inside the room, so the scene was quite a mess.

Over the phone on his drive over, Yan Si had already learned of the owner’s occupation: a wholesale distributor for beverages that collaborated with the manufacturers to receive the bulk products and then ship out to nearby drink shops, breakfast joints, etc. in the nearby districts.

The dead body lying in the middle of the home just so happened to be said owner of the residence.

Male, 43 years old, 168 centimetres, medium build.

The wife and daughter who had come home later were currently standing outside and being interrogated by the police. They had gone out around eleven in the morning to go watch a movie. The man would typically not come home until after his rounds finished at two or three in the afternoon, so their home had been empty for a period. The neighbours in the area had not noticed any abnormalities or heard any disputes until around half past three when they had heard the loud crash of the box of drinks fall down. When they came over to check out the noise, they discovered that the man had already died, and quickly contacted the local police. About ten minutes later, the deceased’s wife and daughter had returned home.

Yan Si glanced at his watch. It was currently 4:17 PM.

“A large amount of blood loss.” Yan Si crouched down next to the stiffening body, shifting it slightly to perform a general inspection of its state and surrounding conditions. “The fatal injury was in the back. The wound appears to be inflicted from a sharp weapon. Looks like the first stab was to the cervical vertebra – the wound here looks clean and swiftly executed. Next was the cut at the carotid artery – this one appears to have had more drag resistance. There are also similar cuts on the arms that show resistance – these were injuries inflicted prior to death. The execution was very skilled. Based on the amount of blood and the livor mortis only just starting, the death should have occurred within the past two hours.”

“The scene is extremely messy, showing signs that they bumped into things during a fight. However, the neighbour’s testimonies all stated that they did not hear any disputes,” Li Zi Hong informed his late friend. He scanned the beverages that had spilled out of the knocked-over boxes all around them. Some had already burst open, covering the ground with milk and other drinks. “The cash on the deceased’s body is completely gone. The deceased’s wife and daughter just stated that he should not have had done anything to arouse dislike, so we cannot eliminate the possibility of this being a robbery homicide.”

“Knocked over during a fight, hm…?” Yan Si tilted his head in through as he rummaged through the body’s clothing. However, he did not see any bruises that would have formed upon impact. Just as he was about to continue onto the next step [of inspection], he heard some commotion from outside. When he turned his head, he saw Yu Xia wearing a foul expression as he pulled up the yellow tape and entered the home.

“The group of bastards outside just asked me if I had any thoughts about the mistake last time.” Yu Xia bent down next to the body and bitingly said to Yan Si, “They asked me how I felt about being mistaken as a newbie while at a crime scene!”

“…Just say ‘I use Songshan Pearl Powder to slow the splendour of aging so that everyone thinks I’m eighteen, and I aim to order the first ten products that are on 95% off promotion’, and you’ll be good.”

The only reason Yu Xia did not beat up the forensic investigator was because the prosecutor next to them immediately stopped it. Li Zi Hong shot a warning glare at Yan Si before leading the officer off to one side to explain the situation, leaving the corpse behind with Yan Si.

After inspecting the corpse and recording his results, Yan Si transferred the body over to a young female co-worker to transport it back to the lab.

At this point, Yu Xia and Li Zi Hong had already circled the scene once. The investigation officers had collected quite a few objects for evidence as well.

It was honestly difficult to navigate around the house with the multiple knocked-over boxes and canned beverages – to the point where one could say it was near impossible to move even a single step. Aside from the heavy odour of blood, there was also the sweet fragrance of some unknown drinks. When he quickly searched around, he saw that aside from drinks, the family also distributed some snacks and baked goods for sale as well, including jam-filled breads, which was where the sweet scent came from.

It was hot and stuffy inside. Although the air conditioning was on, it was not much use with the doors and windows constantly being opened by people walking in and out.

Jiu Shen approached the others who had temporarily paused. “I think these boxes and drinks fell after the death.”

“Oh?” Yu Xia surveyed the unbearably messy space before focusing on the investigation officer.

“There aren’t any bloodstains on the boxes of the canned beverages.” Jiu Shen pointed at a few of the objects and stated, “The blood was underneath the boxes and cans, which means the person fell first before the boxes. And carefully enough to not crush the deceased.” He and his group leader had noticed the cleanliness of the boxes the instant they had arrived.

“Understood. You can go back to work.” So the boxes were purposely pushed over to stage the scene…Yu Xia glanced to the far right side of the room where the upwards staircase was, likely leading to where the residents usually stayed. “I’ll go take a look upstairs.”

The local police station would have inspected the area upon arriving, but since the scene of the crime was the first level, the personnel had all gathered there to seal off the space. There were not many people upstairs, waiting for someone to go up and retrieve evidence in their idle time.

After informing the female owner, Yu Xia began to head towards the staircase. Just then, the prosecutor, and Yan Si who had been examining the corpse, suddenly bounded over too. “Boss, I’ll go up with you.”

“Do you have nothing to do?” Yu Xia gave a look at the person that showed zero signs of seriousness, then locked his gaze onto Yan Si’s gloves that still had blood on them. The expression on Yu Xia’s face made it clear that if the other touched his clothes, he would make sure Yan Si became the second corpse.

“I’m done, so I really don’t have anything to do now. The body is already being transferred; I’ll continue with the rest after going back.” Yan Si accepted the warning and chuckled as he changed his gloves, tossing them at a nearby officer and grabbing a new pair. “I want to take a look at their kitchen.”

“Kitchen?” Yu Xia led the way, picking up the high heels blocking their way.

“You know, just for the murder weapon~” Yan Si followed up the stairs as he said, “Based on the wound, it looks like a typical household kitchen knife. While I’m waiting for the body to be shipped back, might as well see if I can find any similar knives around here. If there are, I’ll have little Jiu Shen bring them back to analyse.”

Yu Xia nodded to indicate his understanding after hearing Yan Si’s explanation.

When they entered the second floor, it was much quieter.

Yu Xia briefly spoke to the officer standing next to the staircase. After confirming that there had been no abnormalities, he sent the officer downstairs to handle other matters.

Just like the first floor, there was nothing wrong here. The second floor was divided into the living room and the kitchen, with a bedroom around the corner. Further up on the third floor was supposedly where the other bedrooms were, as well as a fourth floor extension for a personal shrine and a balcony to hang out clothes.

Yu Xia circled around the floor once before heading up to the next level. This time, Yan Si did not follow, instead turning towards the kitchen.

Just as he had expected, it was a small kitchen that could not be anymore ordinary. It was so small that he suddenly felt like the kitchen at Yu Xia’s house was much more comfortable. There were a bunch of cabinets inside, so it was somewhat difficult for the two people to squeeze in. There was a narrow fire escape outside the kitchen window, but because the houses here all violated regulations, the fire escape did not hold much practical use as it was covered with a canopy to block out rain and was filled with junk. If a fire really did occur, the fire brigade would have been extremely pained to see such a state.

When Yan Si opened the cabinets and counted the kitchen knives lined up next to the door, he discovered that there really did seem to be the standard meat cleaver missing. However, it was possible that it had simply been placed somewhere else…

He shut the cabinet. Just as he was about to start searching other places for a knife that would fit the murder weapon conditions, he suddenly noticed a shadow seem to flicker outside the shut window.

He recalled that he had seen a cement balcony outside there from the first floor earlier, so there should not have been anything outside.

Although he thought this, he decided that he might as well open the window to let some fresh air in, since the smell of blood downstairs was so strong that he could smell it even up here.

Thus, Yan Si lazily pushed the window open.

Then, a head covered in blood appeared below the window. The half-dried blood covered the face, making it impossible to see the person’s original facial features. It was abnormally unusual.

Yan Si had not expected that the criminal would possibly be bold enough to stay around the crime scene and was startled by the sudden sight of the head, nearly breaking the window of the home that did not belong to him. However, after the initial shock, his instincts kicked in. Before the other person could turn and flee, he automatically reached down without thinking to grab the person’s collar, yanking forcefully to drag the person in.

It won’t be good if I let this kind of person escape into another residence. That was all Yan Si thought at the time.

Eyeing the bloodstains outside the window, Yan Si slammed a fist down at the other person before they could react so that they could not run away.

The other person had likely not expected to be suddenly grabbed like this and was clearly stunned for a few seconds. They snapped out of their daze after the attack and began to pull back against Yan Si. The two stayed in a deadlock – one inside and one outside, loudly banging against the small window, the sound echoing through the second floor.

“Ah Si, what are you doing?!” Rapid footsteps were heard as Yu Xia let out this shout and raced down from the fourth floor.

“Catching the criminal!” Yan Si shouted back in reply, tugging back with more force and dodging an incoming blow. Then, he heard some commotion from both upstairs and downstairs, likely as a result of them noticing what was happening.

This all ended as he felt a sharp pain in his left hand.

Yu Xia, who had been the fastest to arrive, only saw Yan Si loosen his grip as the person stuck outside shot a cold smirk at the forensic investigator inside before turning and escaping. Without a second thought, Yu Xia tunnelled out, but discovered that the criminal swiftly landed, flipped over the balcony, and instantly covered quite a bit of distance.

“Where the hell do criminals learn how to climb walls these days!” Yu Xia angrily spat out into his wireless communication device and began to give chase.

If the police station has Songshan ³ apprentices like Boss, then it’s understandable that there would also be Spiderman-like pickpockets and robbers.

Yan Si was still somewhat dazed as he watched Yu Xia quickly vanish several blocks away from the fire escape. The rest of his group quickly raced out to flank the two per command. If things went without any mishaps, they would be able to smoothly capture the criminal.

He turned to see a few officers he was acquainted with rush over anxiously. “The reporters downstairs saw,” one of them said with an expression of impending doom.

The perpetrator had not left the crime scene, instead hiding outside. What was worse was that they had appeared and fled while a bunch of reporters were still present. A drama-like scene such as this just had to have played out as part of the case they were handling.

Although there had not been any reporters on the fire escape, which meant they had not captured any photos, the ruckus alone would definitely be enough to end up on the newspapers and TV broadcasts tonight.

The officers just could not figure out how the criminal had been hiding in such a conspicuous location without being noticed by anyone for so long. At the very least, the neighbours that would have looked out their own windows out of curiosity should have noticed the person.

Could it be that they had originally been hiding elsewhere before turning back?

“You guys should quickly check the house again, then bring little Jiu Shen over. The guy outside just now definitely left some kind of trace behind,” Yan Si urged the other officers. He then looked up to see his former roommate walking over with an extremely unsightly expression. “Yo, I might make the lottery today if I go buy a ticket now.” Being able to strike a criminal simply from opening a window was truly too lucky, enough for him to feel the urge to set off fireworks.

“Stop joking around.” Li Zi Hong’s expression was not merely unseemly, but also extremely ashen. He turned to grab an officer about to leave and said, “Call the ambulance right now.”

After being scolded, Yan Si finally relaxed and belatedly discovered that his left arm was now in intolerable pain. He raised it to see that his entire sleeve was now soaked in blood. The cut stretched straight up his arm, the wound long and deep, shining crimson from blood. Although there was no injury to any critical arteries, the blood loss was severe, dripping non-stop onto the ground. It was quite a horrifying sight.

“Looks approximately ten centimetres long.” He calmly analysed his cut from the sharp blade and attempted to pull out a ruler to measure it.

Li Zi Hong nearly spat out blood himself as he suppressed the urge to punch the other person. He quickly rummaged around the kitchen to find some clean rags and plastic tape, swiftly helping to staunch the bleeding from the wound that the forensic investigator was still inspecting. Shortly after, Li Zi Hong noticed the bad scratches and numerous bruises on the arms, as well as some abrasions on the face.

“It’s so rare to run into a chance to have a close combat fight…It’s a good thing I don’t go up against live humans as my job. Otherwise, I’d probably end up dead within a few days.” Yan Si ran his mouth as he finally realised how tragic of a state he was in. He had only focused on capturing the person earlier, but now that he had relaxed, both his arms flared in pain.

Li Zi Hong ignored Yan Si’s shamelessness. After quickly stopping the bleeding, the sirens of the ambulance came into earshot. He dragged the forensic investigator, who still wanted to wait for Yu Xia’s return, down the stairs and tossed him at the ambulance personnel under the other officers’ shocked gazes. After ordering for the officers to split up the reporters rushing forwards, he refused to speak further.

It was truly a disaster.

***

“So in the end, the person still hasn’t been caught?”

Xiao Hai, who had also been paying attention to this incident recently, grabbed a snack and tossed it into her mouth, loudly chewing as she said, “Mr. Cop #2 let them escape, and ended up looking bad in the media.”

Yu Xia had failed to capture the criminal that day. Instead, he had only brought back a broken piece of the murder weapon. Just as Yan Si had guessed, they were able to confirm by using the female owner’s fingerprints that it was indeed a normal kitchen knife. Moreover, upon analysing the wound on the corpse, it was discovered that the broken off top was still imbedded in the victim’s vertebra.

The news report that evening had been: “Red Alert from Public Security. Police Incapable of Handling Case, Forensic Investigator Injured by Criminal in Broad Daylight.”

“The criminal’s movements were really quite skilled.” Yan Si glanced down at the bandages around his left arm. At the moment, moving it still faintly hurt. Fortunately, there had been no injury to the muscles and bones; it was just a serious flesh wound. And he didn’t rely on his face to make a living, so it wasn’t a problem even if his face stayed bruised for a while. Otherwise, his currently troubled former roommate would be in even worse shape right now. “They fled crazy quickly. If they were able to escape on Boss’s watch, they must be specially trained.” He could clearly imagine just how painful of a beating the person would get as soon as they were caught. I’ll have to make sure I keep my camera charged at all times.

“Actually, I asked my underlings to look around as well, but it isn’t someone from our line.” Xiao Hai shrugged. She had investigated the matter as soon as she had first heard of it. After the criminal’s escape, the police had created a sketch of the person including their rough features and figure according to the witnesses on-site, and the descriptions from Yu Xia and Yan Si. Thus, Xiao Hai had been planning on using this as an opportunity to win over Yu Tong. However, she had not found anything at all over the past few days, which meant they could not have been someone from her field.

“You really are kindhearted, Xiao Hai-mèimei.” I’m amazed you ran around investigating. It could not be any easier for Yan Si to guess what the girl had been planning. She had definitely wanted to capture the criminal, stick a few hundred roses on the body, and then deliver it as a present to the older twin.

Is it amazing or horrible fortune to be pursued like this?

“I’m a good citizen, you know. Cooperating with the police is a given,” Xiao Hai unabashedly replied, completely ignoring any mockery pointed at her.

“You are indeed quite a good citizen.” Delivering the criminal with some flowers as a gift to the police – collaborations with the police have gotten quite creative this year.

Yan Si could easily imagine the how helpless Yu Tong’s expression would have been upon seeing the criminal.

“Hehe.” Xiao Hai accepted these words as praise, smiling proudly.

“Oh right, Xiao Hai-mèimei, since you’ve known the outside world for so long now, I wanted to ask you a question: Have you ever met someone who has wanted to kill you at first sight?” Yan Si’s mood automatically also lifted when he saw the girl’s bright smile.

Xiao Hai tilted her head, scratching her chin in thought. “I have, but that type of person is quite rare. Even if a fight does break out, it’s usually controlled if they haven’t already had their brains beaten out of them. I’ve only encountered such people a few times. One of them is that bastard that dropped into the ocean with Ah Yin.” The one that had left the deepest impression on her was that person, since she had lost her first kiss with it as well.

“That’s an exception. I’m talking about the kind where they try to instantly kill you on the first meeting despite not having any deep-rooted hatred or personal objective.” Yan Si waved his hand, bringing her focus back from the thoughts he knew she was having.

“If that’s what you’re asking about, then just one [person].” Xiao Hai raised a single, pretty finger as she seriously answered, “I passed by him on the street, and he suddenly pulled out a knife to try to kill me. This was around my second year at senior high, before I left school.” After that, her automatic reaction was to kick the guy in the balls, flit over to snatch the knife, then grab the other person’s wrists and break them.

Now that she thought about it, she had really been too pure back when she was a student. That was all she had done before handing it over to the police. If such a thing happened now, she would definitely hang the guy over the roof of a skyscraper so that he would forever remember the retribution for bullying kids.

“I remember the police later said at school that it was an impulsive crime. He had apparently been dumped by a girl and had been swindled by a few million yuan, so he had been looking for a random target on the street to vent his anger. He didn’t have any particular reason to choose me.”

That person had likely not imagined that he would end up being beaten up to a pulp instead.

Even if this had happened a few years ago, Yan Si had no doubts that the girl would have let the other go lightly. As a result, he actually felt some pity towards the criminal.

“Did you encounter it recently?” Xiao Hai furrowed her brows in suspicion and said, “Be careful then. It’s best if you don’t ever bump into that kind of person, but if you really do, you can come find me for help. I have plenty of ways to deal with them that won’t make things harder for you guys.”

“Ahaha, I’d go find Boss Yu Xia first.” If I really did find you, the criminal would probably end up being driftwood! He had not forgotten how she had threatened those children earlier.

“Whatever.” Xiao Hai shrugged and did not question it further. Yan Si did not seem to be the type that would have bumped into someone like that anyways.

“By the way, what did the kids you beat up earlier do, Xiao Hai-mèimei?” Since they were already sitting together, Yan Si did not mind chatting a while. He found the girl quite amusing and had a decent impression of her. Although they had only met each other a few times and were not too well-acquainted, her open-mindedness was something he enjoyed.

“Oh, they were probably short on money for PC games, so they found a random person to steal some cash from.” Xiao Hai spread her hands out. Honestly, this had not been her first time bumping into such people – she had done the same last week too, just with different people. “Those damn kids these days are all like that. They play games until their brains rot to the point where they think that there’s nothing wrong with braving their guts to do something bad. I’ve already seen it happen plenty of times; it’s even happened at our place.” However, since the stores around her shop were all covered by them, any customers trying to steal would be dead meat. Of course, she would never say this out loud to the person sitting across from her. Chatting was chatting – there were some private matters that were best not to let outsiders know about.

Yan Si had recently heard officers grumbling about similar incidents increasing in number as well. He nodded in understanding; it was pretty much exactly what he had surmised earlier.

If it was simply looting some money, it was not too big of a deal. The most terrifying instances were when the robber attacked the person as a result of being unable to obtain the money. That was when things truly were dangerous.

“It’s not like they would be able to use stolen money for long anyways. It’ll go the same way it comes.” Xiao Hai blinked her large, beautiful eyes and earnestly met the other person’s gaze. “Just like how the person that hit someone with their car last time ended up getting hit by another car later and died that way. Nothing in this world is given for free. There will be a time when the pay needs to be returned.”

“That sounds quite like something the student that was ganged up on would say.” Yan Si chuckled. The only difference is that he always says this after exchanging his own flesh for it.

“It’s something Yi Tai-gē ⁴ said.” Xiao Hai shrugged. Of course, she knew who Yan Si was referring to as well. “Plus, rogues like us that act justly would never do something like that. There’s proper conduct and proper morals. We know what the limits are. The people that are dissatisfied with that are the ones you guys need to watch out for.”

“Understood.” Yan Si knew exactly what the girl was talking about, although he had no intentions of spelling it out as he accepted her advice with a smile. However, all the people he faced were already passed on. It didn’t matter what their backgrounds were. Caution was needed around the living, but there were obviously no issues among the dead.

In tacit understanding, they changed topics.

Xiao Hai did not particularly want to talk too deeply with someone she did not know well, and Yan Si had no interest in talking about work when he wasn’t working. They were quite in sync in this way, so the next topic was gathering information on Yu Tong’s life. Since Xiao Hai had managed to bump into someone close to Yu Tong, she was definitely not going to let this chance go. She diligently tried to dig out more information about him to plot a new wave of attack.

Mr. Cop’s defenses are really too strong!

When she sent him bento boxes, he would pay her back or sum up all the boxes and treat her whole shop in turn. When she sent flowers, they somehow ended up being returned as floral jam. When she sent gifts, they would end up becoming gratuity to orphanages. Previously, she had ridden her beloved Wolf motorbike over, coolly wearing a helmet as she planned on escorting the other to and from work, before she shockingly recalled that he had a car.

Fang Xiao Hai was currently in the peak of her youth. She could not understand why a man’s heart was even harder to ensnare than a woman’s heart.

Although in her mind, a man’s heart was comprised of more things, there was no reason for it to be completely unmovable.

“Is it ineffective because I forgot a move?” Like lighting candles on a beach? No, Mr. Cop wouldn’t have the time to go to a beach and look at impractical candles. Should I light them outside the station?

There are quite a lot of police cars and private cars outside the station, lighting them there might end up causing a huge fire.

Yan Si watched the girl sitting across from him sink into quiet thought. He knew exactly what she was plotting; he was just waiting to watch the show. It was quite amusing, after all. Ever since he had transferred to this district, his sources of amusement had increased greatly. It was as if his life was now filled with a great variety of colours.

As a result, he naturally would not go tip off the older twin that a new pink attack wave was about to hit.

Midway through their chat, Yan Si’s cellphone suddenly rang. After giving the girl a heads-up, he walked out of the shop to pick up the call. As expected, it was his former roommate calling, mostly rebuking him for running around outside instead of obediently staying at home to recuperate.

Yan Si instantly knew that the other person had likely gone to his home while free, and then devoted that same free time to call and lecture him.

After replying back, he hung up the call and surveyed the street.

Everything was as usual. Pedestrians walked to and fro, some more leisurely while others more rushed. When he simply stood still and watched like this, he felt as if he was in another world watching a scene unrelated to him.

Yan Si chuckled. He would soon return to acting as another member of that world.

Just as he was about to head back, Yan Si caught a glimpse of a blurry, female silhouette standing right across the street, staring straight at him through the reflection in the glass [window]. He automatically whirled around to glance at the opposite road, but only saw pedestrians rushing back and forth. When he turned back, there was nothing reflected in the glass.

Probably just my imagination.

^{1. Per an old Chinese legend, there were once ten suns in the sky scorching the earth, and an immortal archer named Houyi shot down the extra suns to save the earth. ↑}

^{2. mèimei (妹妹) = younger sister, not necessarily related by blood. ↑}

^{3. Songshan is a sacred Taoist mountain where the Shaolin Temple is. ↑}

^{4. [dà]gē ([大]哥) = older brother, not necessarily related by blood. ↑}