The Yu Brothers’ Case Book

“I had no idea you had an allergy.”

After Yu Xia had some others bring the two criminals out, he furrowed his brows at the person that had stepped out first.

“I mean, nobody likes constantly blabbing about their fatal weaknesses all day.” Yan Si smiled as he grabbed a cup of water, walking out together with Yu Xia towards the main entrance. “I just have to be slightly more careful. Of course, I won’t tell you what I’m allergic of, Boss.”

“If your words from earlier weren’t false, you’re likely allergic to extremely common and cheap ingredients, which is why you’re afraid of eating recklessly.” Yu Xia huffed in annoyance at the belated realisation that he did not actually know this person very well at all. “But you often come over to our place to eat, so those ingredients must be things often used at restaurants outside rather than something that would definitely be used in an average household. In addition, it’s not something in sweets, but main courses.” Yan Si was never picky when it came to eating sweets; he often fought over Yu Yin and the others over such foods.

“Hmph, you’re so sharp, Boss.” Yan Si chewed on his cup. He was not really surprised the other person would guess all this, so he cheerfully shrugged and said, “Don’t tell my old roommate. Not many people know.”

“Mr. Yang knows, doesn’t he?”

“Yep, how else could he help me prepare meals?” Since it had to do with food, he had naturally told Yang De Cheng ages ago. Thinking about it now, Yang De Cheng likely could see visitors now, so Yan Si planned on stopping by the hospital in the afternoon if he was free. There was an old classmate of his working at that hospital to help take care of things, which was why Yan Si was comfortable with handling matters here first. “Su Zhang probably isn’t his birth name, right?”

“Yeah. We checked our records; such a person doesn’t exist. He used a false identity for both his part-time position and his landlord. I’ve already sent the photo that was on his resume over for evaluation. You’d best be on guard for the time being, it could get dangerous. I’ll send someone later to guard you for a few days.” Yu Xia stopped at the front entrance, spotting his family’s older son not too far away, pushing a motorbike over.

“Huh? There’s no need to kick up such a fuss. The police are searching for him right now and he should’ve run away long ago. Where would he have the mental capacity to think about finding me?” Yan Si rejected [the offer] with a pained expression, thinking that being followed everywhere was a huge pain.

“This is your old roommate’s demand,” Yu Xia coldly retorted and crossed his arms. Everything had already been arranged. “On another note, I’m having the fingerprints retrieved from that name card you gave to Jiu Shen. It’s currently being analysed; we’ll see if it might have any relation to other cases. It would be great if there was some kind of trace.”

“I’m also really curious about who he really is. I’d never imagined there would be someone that could fly over roofs and walk on walls like you, Boss.” Yan Si coughed as he seriously wondered if this person was also someone that had come from Shaolin Temple. “I really couldn’t tell in the beginning. He had such a timid personality; it didn’t match up at all to the bloody face I saw that day.” He had only grown suspicious after gradually growing closer to the other person recently, in addition to Lai Chang An’s case. Only after carefully thinking about it afterwards had he finally realised that the two silhouettes were indeed similar.

“He is a murderer that is extremely skilled at disguising himself and is also terrifyingly level-headed.”

When Yu Yin caught up to them, Yu Xia stopped the conversation.

With the sun shining down on his head, Yu Yin had broken out into a sweat from dragging his motorbike over. As soon as he came up, he said, “Xiao Yu went over to Fang Yi Xun’s place today. I’ll go straight over to pick him up after I bring Yan-dàgē back home.”

“Don’t go running around again.” Yu Yin muttered a complaint in response, naturally not daring to voice it loudly. He tossed a helmet over at Yan Si. “Let’s scram.”

“Oh, right, let me return this to you first.” Yan Si pulled out the amulet and handed it back to its owner with a smile before automatically climbing onto the bike.

“Huh? You don’t need it anymore? That junior sister is still following him though.” Yu Yin started the motor, somewhat puzzled as to why it was being returned to him now. He had thought Yan Si did not want to watch his senior get haunted to death by a ghost.

Yan Si patted the university student’s shoulder and cheerfully quipped, “There are times when it’s best if children don’t ask too many questions.”

“…Oh.” Yu Yin decided not to think about what would happen to that Mr. Zhao. He waved good-bye to Yu Xia, then pushed down on the accelerator to head straight towards Yan Si’s residence.

After Zhao Jun Xi had been captured, Yu Yin had also heard from the adults in his family about how Su Zhang was the criminal suspect for the murder of that beverage supplier. While extremely astonished, he instantly understood why Yan Si had been so discourteous near the end.

Yu Yin just found it really difficult to equate that person with a murderer. He clearly looked like an introverted, rational person…plus he looked around my age. What exactly was his reason for killing people?

Yu Yin’s head was filled with possibilities throughout their whole trip. Yan Si sitting behind him unexpectedly did not interrupt him. Just like that, they smoothly arrived before the complex.

“Student that was ganged up on, do you want to come up and sit down for a moment?” Yan Si passed the helmet back, then grinned as he looked at the building.

“Nah, I have an arrangement with Xiao Yu. Yan-dàgē, you shouldn’t wander around anymore either. Just be good and recuperate at home. Otherwise, you won’t get away with just a slap from Li-dàgē next time.” If it weren’t for the fact that there had been many officers present yesterday, Yu Yin did not doubt that Li Zi Hong would’ve kicked this person rather than slap him.

“I return those words right back at you. Don’t get into any trouble along your way.”

“It’s clearly all been you this time!”

After watching Yan Si enter the building, Yu Yin completed his task and turned his bike around. Seeing that it was will fairly early, he considered going out to get some desserts after picking up Xiao Yu in a bit.

Just as he was about to leave, he suddenly stopped.

That girl was standing not too far away from him, her beautiful finger pointing at the building.

***

The moment Yan Si inserted his key, he noticed that his home had been broken into once again.

After some difficulty, he managed to unlock the door. Just as before, the inside was still completely untouched aside from the row of black shoeprints on the floor.

He took his jacket off and followed the shoeprints into the bedroom. This time, the markings infiltrated all the way to the bedside. The bed that had been neatly made when he had left earlier now had an addition – one of his fruit knives was stabbed deeply into a thousand-yuan bill on the pillow.

“This isn’t how one is supposed to return money,” Yan Si coldly voiced as he looked at the other blade embedded further down on the bed, around where the shoulders would be.

Just as he was about to call Yu Xia, Yan Si suddenly noticed a pitch-black shadow pounce towards him. He reflexively dodged, and his poorly gripped cellphone flew through the air, falling to the ground and ricocheting off the corner of the bed. Then, a person’s foot stepped on it.

Su Zhang, the person that the police was currently searching for, stood before Yan Si with a smile as he crushed the phone underneath him.

“And here I was thinking that you wouldn’t stay inside the house.” Yan Si slowly backed out of the room, noticing the other person’s gloved hand gripping one of his own house’s knives. It seemed that this person really did randomly choose his weapons.

“I stayed since I intended to end things.” At first, Su Zhang sported his previous, nervous expression. He removed his glasses and placed them in his chest pocket as he grinned. “Actually took quite a bit of time.”

“So you really are the type of guy that enjoys setting up the crime scene.” They had found it strange back then during the beverage supplier’s case. Why make it look like a robbery homicide? Then making Yu Yin’s incident seem like a random attack, and Yang De Cheng’s like a gas explosion…Yan Si knew how prudent Yang De Cheng was when it came to always checking [the stove] before starting work. Thus, something like accidentally setting off a gas explosion was completely unbelievable to Yan Si. The only possibility was that the perpetrator had caused it.

“I like setting up stories so that it opens up the imagination. Look at the beverage supplier’s home, for example. The set-up made it seem as if a robbery had occurred, which then makes people think he might’ve had a creditor, perhaps causing a disastrous chain of events. Just killing senselessly is too boring. Having a theme makes it more interesting.” Su Zhang twirled the knife in his hand, not in a rush to chase after Yan Si. At his own leisurely pace, he slowly followed Yan Si into the living room, then passed in front of Yan Si with one large stride to block the entrance and simultaneously lock the door. “Your lock is damaged. When I was breaking in, I planned it so that your action of forcing it open just now would cause the lock to get stuck. Which means if you really want to run away, the only method left is to jump out from the window.”

“You planned my theme to be jumping off a building? That isn’t anything special at all.” Yan Si kept the sofa as a divider between them as he stuck close to the back wall, trying his best to keep the other person from circling over.

“No. Since you’re a forensic investigator, of course I designed for you a story that made it seem like you were being haunted. These past few days have been pretty interesting, haven’t they? Did you feel like a dead person was looking for you?” Su Zhang stepped on the black shoeprints on the ground as he leaned against the door, happy to chat.

“I’m very sorry to inform you, but your designs were too inaccurate. I knew from day one that it was a human, so it wasn’t interesting at all.”Yan Si recalled the crimson colour that had come out of his faucet in the past. If he was in Su Zhang’s shoes, he would definitely do much better, making sure that the prey lived in fear. “But I do find something a bit odd. I don’t recall having any enmity with you, nor have I ever met you before. Exactly why bother going through so much trouble?”

Su Zhang shrugged and raised a brow. “Didn’t I say before that the two downstairs from me always argued? I often heard things like how Yan Si was the worst. Then I later saw you on TV and found out you were actually a forensic investigator…which meant you could be a pretty good challenge. I was surprised when you really did appear while I was waiting for my new prey, so I naturally made sure to carefully prepare a story theme for you too.”

“You were waiting for a new target that day when you were crouched on the balcony?” Yan Si suddenly felt that he should’ve let Yu Xia open the window that day. That way, he could’ve watched a genuine showdown between two strong Shaolin Temple experts.

“Yep. It didn’t matter if it was a reporter, his wife, his daughter, the police, or anyone, really. I had already decided an amusing, new theme. I hadn’t expected to bump into you so early, which actually ended up making me quite excited.” Su Zhang licked his upper lip as he stared at the target in front of him. He smiled happily and said, “Yu Yin and Yang De Cheng were just warm-up; you can think of them as gifts to you so that you knew I was nearby already. Not bad, right?”

Yan Si immediately understood the connection now. In the end, it was because they were all related to him…It seemed like Yu Yin had caught Su Zhang’s eye on the first day when he’d left Yan Si’s home after dropping off tonics. Su Zhang must have been watching from outside in order to grab this kind of chance to approach Yan Si. That was why he had attacked Yu Yin in the first place. By being the first person to find Yu Yin and grabbing him, Su Zhang had been able to cover the blood already on his body with Yu Yin’s, which was faster than changing clothes.

“Why did the beverage supplier die?” Since Yu Yin and Yang De Cheng were [attacked] because of him, Yan Si was more curious about the beverage supplier that had died first.

“Oh, there actually wasn’t any special reason. I just so happened to be taking a walk somewhere and was quite drawn to his car when I saw it. But he ended up yelling at me after I glanced at it for just a moment, so I decided to end him.” Su Zhang played around with the knife in his hand and added, “There were a few small dolls on the front dashboard of his car, so I just wanted to take a look. What a stingy person.”

“You wanted to kill him just because of that?” Yan Si concluded that this person’s mental state was definitely abnormal. He glanced over at the phone in the room to see that the landline had already been cut. It appeared that Su Zhang really had planned everything out and had just been waiting for Yan Si to return home.

Tch, I truly was too careless. I thought that since the police were after him, he’d be fleeing right now. I didn’t think that he’d be relaxed enough to sit here and wait to send me to my death.

Yu Xia was right, he’s a very level-headed murderer.

“That’s not exactly it, he was just a bit unlucky.” Su Zhang took a step forwards and grinned. “But in some ways, you could even call him lucky. I thought his theme through quite seriously, like how I did for you. But yours is a bit higher-grade so you should be happier.”

“That just makes me think of a butcher holding a knife, telling a pig that it’ll become a high-grade ingredient, so it should feel happier about being slaughtered.” However, Yan Si did not want to become said pig. Such a choice did not exist in his life plans.

“Thinking that way might make things easier. Incidentally, not struggling will make the death quicker too. Otherwise, getting sliced at in the wrong place could be pretty painful.”

“As if!”

The instant Su Zhang pounced forwards, the extremely tensed-up Yan Si just barely dodged the blade slashed out towards him. He then flipped the sofa over to block the opponent’s movements, temporarily running to hide in the bedroom.

However, he quickly discovered that the room’s lock had also been broken, as was the one for the bathroom inside. It looked like Su Zhang had destroyed all the locks in his house, which meant that hiding in any other room was impossible.

He abruptly recalled the advice Xiao Hai had given him not too long ago and he shook his head with a bitter smile. He did not have the powerful ability that girl had to beat this person up.

In a short few seconds, Su Zhang appeared at the doorway of the room. The expression on his face was clearly relaxed and delighted, as if he were playing a game.

Yan Si watched the other, grabbing the nightlamp next to his bed as well as his wallet and tossing them outside the window. The lamp dropped straight down into the garden, making an explosive sound as it shattered, stirring some commotion downstairs.

At the same time, Su Zhang had already appeared in front of him. Yan Si automatically grabbed the other person’s hand outstretched towards him. But just as he was about to break the fingers, Su Zhang unexpectedly twisted free with a single turn. Moreover, before Yan Si could retaliate, Su Zhang grabbed Yan Si’s neck, firmly choking him.

“In order to easily kill people, I’ve learned wrestling and some other trifles, and I often go rock-climbing too. Why don’t you just be more compliant?” Su Zhang restrained the other with a single hand, smirking in amusement as he was in no rush to kill off Yan Si so quickly. As he waited for the prey to struggle back a bit more, he abruptly retracted his hand, narrowing his eyes at the bleeding cut now on his wrist.

After being released, Yan Si crashed into the bed’s headboard behind him, holding his neck and coughing. The blade gripped in his right hand had been pulled out from the bed, the bloody bill silently floating down to the ground.

At nearly the same time, the doorbell rang along with incessant banging on the door outside. The sound of the police floated over. “Mr. Yan?”

Su Zhang shot a glance at the living room and sighed. “No more playing around. You’ve ruined my story like this.”

“Why don’t you just come up with a new story about a murderer being arrested?” As the other person thrust their knife down, Yan Si was a step faster as he charged forwards and slammed into Su Zhang. He then cut Su Zhang at the critical joints: the right wrist, elbow, and shoulder in order to restrict half his mobility.

However, it was not without repercussions. The household knife slashed down at Yan Si’s shoulder, inflicting a hot, sharp pain.

Su Zhang had not expected to be attacked at the joints. Momentarily unable to muster the appropriate strength, Su Zhang crashed down on one side, then used his left hand to hold the house knife as he stood and directly kicked down Yan Si, who was trying to get back up. He then kicked Yan Si’s blade away and pressed Yan Si down. “I can still use both my hands, you know…Screw it, I’ll just finish dealing with you first!” He used the knife to slowly make several cuts on Yan Si’s back to return the greeting.

“Wait! One last question.” Yan Si could not flip over while he was being restrained against the floor. Panting painfully, he turned his face to see that blade pressed against the nape of his neck. “You’re definitely not a university student. How old are you?” He recalled his old roommate mentioning that this person’s cells were aged to the degree of a person at least thirty years old.

“Good question. The plastic surgery industry is actually not bad at all.” Su Zhang stooped down to voice a number directly into Yan Si’s ear. “OK, knowing you was quite enjoyable. Bye-bye, Yan-dàgē.”

That voice of death was so very close, just as it had been many years ago when he was still a student.

The unnatural noise outside the hall suddenly turned distant. All he could think of was that if he was killed here, his old roommate and Yang De Cheng would beat up his corpse later. The thought of it made him really unwilling to die.

And so, he mustered the last of his strength to fight back. The ice-cold blade missed its target, sliding down the area in front of his nape, slicing out a long but not too deep wound before getting stuck in the decorative rug, the glinting blade right next to his injury.

The last thing Su Zhang did was grab Yan Si’s hair to hold him in place.

The next second, the front door of the forensic investigator’s home made a terrifying boom, as if it had been blown up, blasting open with a bang.

“This is the police! Freeze!”

***

In that instant, Yan Si honestly wanted to tease at the people who had finally destroyed his door. However, when Su Zhang yanked him up, he discovered that the person that had broken down the door was not Yu Xia, as he had expected.

“Fuck! I said I’d cooperate with the police, but why is kicking open a damn door my job?” Xiao Hai stood outside the entrance, yelling angrily at an officer next to her after using some kind of method to smash down the locked door. Behind her was Yu Yin, who should’ve already left, and the police, as well as some residents that had come to watch the show.

Despite Yan Si’s dizziness, Yan Si was absolutely certain that his door had been destroyed through brute force.

“Yan-dàgē!” Yu Yin stared in shock at the mess inside, spotting the owner inside the bedroom with a blade pressed against his neck by Su Zhang, who had been assumed to be on the run right now.

“Put the knife down!” The officer that had originally come just to patrol was also alarmed by the scene, the other officer hurriedly using the wireless communicator to report back to headquarters with a request for support.

Su Zhang shrugged, exerting a bit more force on the knife in his hand so that a new bleeding cut appeared on Yan Si’s neck. “Please put your gun down.”

The two officers fearfully looked at the criminal inside the room, then exchanged a glance with each other before the one with the gun slowly placed it on the ground. “Put the knife down, don’t hurt the hostage.”

“Seriously, now that it’s already gotten to this point, I’m not even in the mood to think of a new theme anymore.” Su Zhang gripped his hostage and calmly retreated towards the balcony. “But changing to accidental manslaughter while officers were trying to capture a thief wouldn’t be bad. What do you think?”

“Shitty.” Yan Si was extremely pertinent.

“Then it can’t be helped, there’s only one choice left.”

“You…can also choose the thief’s defeat.” Yan Si grasped the timing of when the other person was not paying attention. He attacked the injury he had previously inflicted on Su Zhang’s hand by directly stabbing his fingers into the flesh and ripping outwards.

Caught off guard by the move, Su Zhang let out a low roar of pain, accidentally dropping the knife he was holding.

In the blink of an eye, Xiao Hai raced out to the balcony, swiftly slamming a heavy fist into Su Zhang’s nose. She then yanked Yan Si over and tossed him outside the house, right onto Yu Yin who was currently rushing over belatedly from behind.

Despite sporting a bleeding nose, Su Zhang was surprisingly not thrown off by Xiao Hai. Rather, in the moment Xiao Hai threw Yan Si backwards, Su Zhang shoved her aside and then shot a bloody grin at everyone else as he climbed onto the balcony bars and jumped off.

The two officers ran over and cried out. When they reached the balcony, they discovered that there had been a rope tied to the bars that Su Zhang was now using to descend, quickly increasing the distance between them. Although the officers knew they would not catch up in time, they still turned to rush down the stairs.

“Fuck! Bastard! Trying to run away after losing to a girl!” Xiao Hai glared at the guy sliding down and she picked up the knife on the ground to hack at the several times at the rope. The rope forcibly snapped while the other person was around the second floor, causing both person and rope to simultaneously crash down below. But since they were not too high up, the murderer did not die from the fall. He stood back up after a few seconds, flipping over the surrounding walls, turning corner after corner to escape.

Xiao Hai let out a few more indignant curses as she fished out her phone to call her underlings, ruthlessly declaring that they’d better stop the criminal with their lives.

“Yan-dàgē!” Yu Yin held up the person covered in blood, asking the nearby officers and residents to quickly help find bandages and towels to stop the bleeding.

Yan Si was dizzy from the significant blood loss, having no energy to respond to the call. Basically, the retaliation just earlier had used up the last of his strength.

Then, the sound of police sirens resounded from outside the complex, the sirens of the ambulance following soon afterwards.

Not long after, the noisy flock of reporters would likely arrive as well.

It was very likely that someone would publish a major article on what had happened in this building.

It was even more likely that they would start drilling the police for being incapable in their job.

When he woke, the room was exceptionally lively.

“These four are for Yan-dàgē. Don’t eat them accidentally. Xiao Yu, yours are here.”

“This room is seriously small. I’m telling you, if you change over to the hospital I know, he can stay in a VIP room!”

“It’s plenty big already, you know—”

Although Yan Si did not know why the three young ones were with him, as he gradually woke up, he realised that they were around a nearby table. The table had a bunch of pudding and jello desserts piled on top. A small box had been abandoned on the ground next to them.

The first one to notice he was awake was Xiao Yu. He tugged at Yu Yin, and the three of them instantly surrounded him.

“Yan-dàgē, are you alright?” Yu Yin pressed the nurse bell. When he saw the other person trying to get up, he quickly helped reposition the pillow. “It was really dangerous; you lost a lot of blood and were unconscious for an entire 24 hours.”

Yan Si glanced at the clock inside the ward indicating it was afternoon. He then recalled the matter of Su Zhang attacking him at his home.

“I told you that these injuries couldn’t kill him.” Xiao Hai stood with her hands on her hips as she said, “I’ve had even more intense clashes before and I’m still alive and healthy.”

“Don’t compare Yan-dàgē to yourself.” Yu Yin was certain that even if Xiao Hai had her head cut off, she would still manage to make sure she snapped the other person’s neck as well before falling.

The nurse and doctor entered the room. After completing their examination and passing on some instructions, they left again.

Yan Si read through his own medical records and confirmed that there would be no residual effects before tossing it aside. “Was Su Zhang caught?”

Yu Yin shook his head. “He escaped.” And it had blown up all over the news.

“I told my brothers to keep an eye out for him. Since we have pictures, finding him won’t be hard.” Xiao Hai sat down on a chair, swinging her pale legs as she said, “But it was quite a coincidence that I just so happened to have taken these past two days off work.” She had not known Yan Si lived there but spotted Yu Yin as she was passing by. When she went over to greet him, she ended up being dragged straight inside.

“Oh yeah, why were you over there?” Yu Yin recalled that Xiao Hai’s activities were usually in another district; he had actually meant to ask her this yesterday. He glanced over at Xiao Yu, who was grabbing water for the injured patient and quietly tidying up the items around them.

“For some bizarre reason, Yi Tai-gē suddenly told me to buy something for him at some shop over there right at that time. In the end, I bumped into you before I could buy it.” Xiao Hai opened a jello pack and unreservedly began to eat.

“Eh…” Yu Yin decided not to continue pondering this too deeply.

Yan Si surveyed the three young ones and let out a sigh. He then remembered his final question. “Damn it, that Su Zhang isn’t in his twenties at all.”

“Huh? He’s not a university student?” Yu Yin was stunned.

“He’s even older than me, 34 years old.” When Yan Si had heard the other person’s age, he had clenched his teeth in fury. “He must’ve had plastic surgery. I can’t believe he was thick-skinned enough to call me Dàgē. Just the thought of it makes my skin crawl.”

“Holy shit, isn’t that a bit too extreme?” Yu Yin shook his head; he hadn’t imagined that this person would be only a few years younger than his father.

“Damn it, if he gets plastic surgery again, his face will change again once the hyaluronan swelling fades.” The short-term effects would not last long, usually somewhere between six to twelve months. Yan Si considered it carefully; with how level-headed of a criminal Su Zhang was, he likely would not use the same face for a long period of time. It was very possible that he would end up changing identities again after another facial modification.

If they ran into each other again, Yan Si might even get fooled once more…Hopefully there would not be a next time.

The door was pushed open. Yu Tong and Yu Xia walked in one after another, the former holding an insulated pot in his hands. The actually decent-sized single-person ward suddenly became more crowded after two more people squeezed in.

“Bastard! Fighting with a criminal is really dangerous, you know!” Yu Xia had barely managed to shake off the media outside to find the time to visit. The moment he sat down, he scolded the person that had been repeatedly admitted into the hospital recently.

“As a human, I was just trying to survive.” Yan Si looked around, letting out a breath of relief when he did not spot his former roommate. At the very least, it was a good thing to not get struck by lightning right after waking up.

“Your work injury leave has been extended. Make sure you properly rest and heal this time.” Yu Tong placed the pot down on the table and glanced over at the girl sitting nearby.

Before he could even open his mouth, Xiao Hai’s eyes lit up as she grabbed the chance to take the credit. “I helped this time! Do you think I’m awesome, Mr. Cop?”

Yu Tong smiled helplessly, rubbing the girl’s head in reward. “I’m truly thankful for your help.”

Xiao Hai flushed with happiness.

“Tch, maybe I should train a guard police dog while on break.” The type that often bites others. Yan Si stared at the scene before him that seemed like a Daoist priest subduing a powerful demon. Xiao Hai had definitely come to this room just to wait for Yu Tong!

“What in the-?” Yu Xia shot a withering look at the injured patient, not bothering to bicker at the moment. “Just move to another place once you recover. Although Su Zhang shouldn’t appear again, the fengshui of your current place is seriously horrible. We’ll help you find a new home during this period.” A death had occurred there before, and now a near-death. Regardless of the safety or other aspects, Yu Xia felt it was best not to live there anymore.

“Huh? Boss, since when did you believe in fengshui?”

“Shut it!”

Yan Si smiled faintly at the noisy people around him.

These people really were quite amusing. That’s why it was better to keep on living.

When will Senior Chang An and Senior Zhao experience this kind of joy?

Whatever, it has nothing to do with me.

“By the way, Li-dàgē should be arriving soon too.”

“Tell him not to come!”

The next second, the door was pushed open again. Yan Si only saw a powerful demon with a dark expression standing there, a harsh blizzard behind him.

The entire ward fell silent.

“Decoration fees, ingredient costs, reconstruction payments…I’ve had to spend so damn much…”

Yan Si smiled at his friend preparing to leave the hospital. “I told you, let me help pay for half of it, since I was the one that got you involved. Just think of it as my support.”

“Obviously. Once I deduct the insurance fees, I’ll come and discuss with you again after I see how much loss remains,” Yang De Cheng bluntly replied as he packed his clothes and leaned on his equally injured friend. “It’s pretty bad luck to have been dragged for no reason into grudges directed at you…Speaking of which, did junior sister really vanish just like that?”

“Oh, she’s probably happily playing with Senior Zhao.”

“…” Yang De Cheng decided he did not want to think of what this happiness entailed.

The two left the hospital and grabbed a taxi. The driver was currently playing the news broadcast on the radio.

“Let me ask you something.” Yang De Cheng stared at his laid-back friend. He had thought through many things in his several days at the hospital and had come to an aggravating conclusion at the end.

“Hm?”

“I remember you often saying that Yu Yin’s group walk the path towards the spiritual world, and they seem to know some equally strange friends that could’ve intervened to deal with junior sister…I also think that you’re the type that enjoys watching the show [from the sidelines]. But this time, you refused to let them help.” Yang De Cheng kept his gaze locked onto the other person’s face as he slowly asked, “Is it because you thought that if you let Liao Xue Yi stick to you, she wouldn’t go looking for the next senior or classmate as her target?”

After pondering this for many days, this was the only possibility he had come up with.

Liao Xue Yi wanted to kill them, so Yan Si had tried his best to make sure she followed close to him. If he had chased her away, she would have gone after the others. It had only come to a stop after Yan Si had agreed to help clear Lai Chang An from the crime of murder.

Now, Liao Xue Yi was following Zhao Jun Xi.

In the end, perhaps he would soon be able to regain his freedom and start a new life under the sun.

If he wanted to have a fresh start, it would not be too late even after being released.

Recently, Yang De Cheng felt that although he harboured resentment towards these people, they had still helped them in life-or-death situations, such as that time Su Zhang had sought out Yan Si to follow him to the third floor. Perhaps Lai Chang An was not as bad as everyone thought he was. That was also why Yan Si did not completely despise the other party.

Regardless, Yang De Cheng still listed this person as someone he never wanted to come into contact with again until he died.

“Do I seem like that kind of a person?” Yan Si did not think he was that good of a person.

“I just know that you treat everyone aside from your friends badly, but the moment you draw them into your friends circle, you earnestly stand with them.” It’s just that this method isn’t necessarily right.

Yang De Cheng had later heard about the matter with the amulet as well.

That was probably the exact moment when Yan Si had removed Zhao Jun Xi from his circle of friends.

“Who knows…”

Yan Si smiled thinly as he touched the bandages around his neck.

“Why were you trying to find me a month ago? That should’ve been around when junior sister died, right?”

“…Don’t know. Probably because…I wanted to ask you for help. I know it’s quite laughable, but the only person I could think of from school was you…”

With its passengers seated inside, the taxi smoothly drove down the road, leaving the hospital.

Behind them, the girl that had been standing there disappeared into the shadows, leaving only the sound of the news broadcast carried by the wind:

“Currently, the whereabouts of the escaped murderer are unknown. If any citizens learn of details regarding the person in this photo, please contact the police…”