The Yu Brothers’ Case Book

9 PM. After Yan Si escaped and arrived at the Yu family home, he heard some alarming information firsthand.

“The student that was ganged up on is missing?”

When he walked into the living room, he was shocked to hear this news from the university students inside.

“Yeah, he didn’t go to class today.” Ah Fang, who had brought Yu home, said, “That was what ticked us off, since he usually calls classmates to help him write his name down for attendance when he skips class. But nobody got any calls from him today, and his number isn’t connecting.” He had found Yu at the drinks shop after wrapping up his basketball game, thinking that Yu was waiting for Yu Yin to leave class as usual. When Ah Fang then kindly went to the classroom to pass on the message, he finally realised that Yu Yin had never entered the classroom at all today.

“Xiao Zhong didn’t get a call either, so we thought Ah Yin went to the police station again.” Ah Guan had found it suspicious as well. Since he had noticed Yu Yin seeming somewhat down recently, Ah Guan had wanted to invite Yu Yin to a hangout with friends, only to unexpectedly discover that Yu Yin had not come to school. “But when we called to ask, the people [at the station] said they hadn’t seen Ah Yin either. So we ended up searching around the area in the afternoon, but we didn’t find him nor his motorbike.”

“We asked some of the gang aside from Ah Guan as well, but none of them have seen Ah Yin either. The group that hangs out together outside school hasn’t spotted him nor has the hair salon.” Li Lin Yue, who had followed them back, glanced over at the clearly worried Yu and patted his shoulder. “We only just brought the little brother back; we’ll go out and do another search in a bit.”

“I’ve asked my younger sister to help keep an eye out too. Hopefully nothing’s wrong.” Ah Fang sighed. He had warned Yu Yin to be careful literally two days ago; who would’ve imagined the danger to arrive immediately after? “Why does it have to happen exactly on a day Yi Tai isn’t here…”

“The super godly youngster isn’t here?” Yan Si raised a brow. He had assumed that these university students had gathered here to hold some kind of extradimensional search meeting.

“He was summoned out by a friend in the eastern district two days ago. Apparently it was something urgent. I have no idea where he went, but his cell signal is very poor and communications won’t go through.” Ah Fang scratched his head, seriously feeling like the timing was too unlucky.

“He didn’t leave behind three tips or anything?” It appeared that there were times when the youth was not that godly. Yan Si swiftly dialled the police station to inform Yu Tong of the matter first. If these children were not mistaken, then Yu Yin had immediately gone missing as soon as he had left the home in the morning. His classmates probably had not reported to the police simply because Yu Yin had a horrible track record of running around all the time.

“…Nothing of the sort. But he did say before he left that nothing big should happen, so I didn’t particularly ask him either.” Ah Fang had not expected Yi Tai would not remind them of this. He was starting to get a headache; if things were as usual, they wouldn’t be so anxiously looking. But these past few days had been different, and despite feeling a duty as friends to help, they had not known how to do so.

“Weird, at the very least, the student that was ganged up on wouldn’t just abandon Yu…” Yan Si had a gut feeling that there was something very wrong. He contemplated to himself for a bit before saying, “I’ll be asking for everyone’s help for now. I will head back to find Boss and the others and ask them to retrieve some of the street surveillance footage to speed things up.”

Yu had been sitting on the sofa. When he saw Yan Si turn to leave, he hurriedly ran over to grab Yan Si.

“You want to come too?” Yan Si narrowed his eyes. “What if the student that was ganged up on comes back and can’t find you? Plus, you’re still injured, young friend.”

“I’ll just wait here then. There shouldn’t be a problem if Xiao Yu is with a doctor, right?” Li Lin Yue raised her hand. “You guys hurry up and go search. Not being able to contact him right now really isn’t a good sign.” Any normal person would be fine, but anyone with eyes could see how prone to disaster Yu Yin had been recently, so it was best if they located him first.

“Alright then.”

With Yu in tow, Yan Si opened the front door to head towards his car. However, he was instead startled by something crouched outside the entrance. “Holy crap! Even if you want me to die, this isn’t the way to do it, junior Xiao Dong-zai. Sooner or later, you’ll frighten someone to death. Do you actually have some kind of grudge for the student that was ganged up on to be lying in front of his door like this?”

Dong Feng had originally bent down to rest, but he instantly stood up when he heard an extremely insufferable voice, an expression of loathing on his face as he straightened. “Why are you here?”

“Hmph, in terms of friendship, I’ve known the student that was ganged up on much longer than you and I’ve come to his home hundreds of times. Jealous?” Yan Si crossed his arms with a smug expression.

“Tch.” Since someone annoying was here, Dong Feng decided not to bother going in to look [for Yu Yin]. He turned around to wave at the taxi that had just dropped him off before it could leave.

“Wait, junior Xiao Dong-zai, since you’re already here, might as well join our search team.” Yan Si shot an arm out to grab the person attempting to flee, ignoring Dong Feng’s struggling back. “The student that was ganged up on disappeared. If you have nothing to do, come help us look.”

“Don’t know who that is.” Dong Feng had no idea who Yan Si was talking about as he tried his best to claw the other person’s arm away.

“Ah, Yu Yin, student Yu Yin.” Yan Si sensed the resistance stop and he let go of his hold. “He’s been missing since this morning and nobody knows where he ran off to play. Help us find him.”

“Where was he last seen?” Dong Feng asked as his eyebrows slowly arched upwards.

Yan Si gestured at the house behind them.

“His house.”

***

He could smell the strong stench of blood.

He vaguely recalled having actually planned on going to school. After seeing Yu Xia off, he had organised his backpack and swung his keys around while walking out the door. Everything up until then had been fine. Afterwards, while waiting at a traffic light at the end of the street, he had felt a sudden dizziness, and his vision had gone black. Only after being sharply honked at by the car behind him had he struggled to recover.

After crouching on the side of the street to rest for a while, he had prepared to continue heading towards the campus. But by the time he regained his senses, his motorcycle was already stopped at a narrow side road that he did not recognise.

He had a general understanding of what had occurred based on his past experience, so he decided to park his bike and lock it. Then, he prepared to contact others for help.

But when he stretched his hands out, he saw that the palms were covered in blood, assailing his nose with a rusty smell.

Amidst his dizziness, he had heard someone speaking nearby. It was a familiar voice shouting in anger.

“Fuck! What the hell are those two policemen even looking for! You guys don’t know the prosecutor above them? …What the fuck do you mean I’m to blame too! That bitch’s entire family owes me, fucking the daughter was just a coincidence. That ‘holy maiden’ was outside spreading her legs wide for others to jump her…Whatever, who cares. You think of a way to level this whole thing over. What do you think I gave you so much money for, to make me tea? Don’t forget that this position of yours was thanks to my efforts too…Ok, ok, I can hand over some more money for the bail. Just get the situation dealt with!”

This wasn’t right.

She had not been willing.

She had been threatened. He had scared her with photos that he would post all over social media, send them to her school, enlarge them and gift them to her parents. So that the whole world could see what she had been up to.

She could only cry and beg for him not to.

They wanted her to not disclose anything, to not tell a single person, or else her schoolmates would know about this. They would spread her photos all over the internet and show her what an accidental explosion looked like. They wanted her to live as she had been before, to smile at her classmates, to smile at those around her, to smile at everyone. But when she entered the home next door, her bedroom, she would have to take off all her clothes.

She…really wanted to die.

She really wanted them to die.

Why couldn’t anyone else understand this kind of hatred? Why had others on the news decided to give them a new opportunity, why could these people go back and start life anew so soon?

Why had others kept her from returning to her beloved studies without a single worry?

She was very dirty.

They were very filthy.

But as she fell down to Hell, they were instead able to start over.

Who could she speak of this resentment to? Who would know? Even if she was dead, she would drag them into Hell with her. Why couldn’t she?

Tears fell from her eyes as she reached out with her hands covered in fresh blood.

“Who are you!”

The familiar face standing at the end of the road showed astonishment, at a loss as he stared at her bloody hands. “Were you-you in a car accident…university student? Be more careful, where did you come from…so careless.”

“Why don’t you…need punishment?” She looked at the hated person, disgust filling her body. She could even smell the nauseating oily sweat. She had been restained under this body without any way to resist, only able to curl up and cry.

She was dead now, but they were still here.

“What the hell are you talking about!”

“You threatened me, saying you’d kill my parents.” She heard a female voice that belonged to her. It made the other person shut his mouth in fear from hearing her voice. “Look at me…all the blood…all the blood…”

“Cut the devil act! What exactly are you after!” The man roared out angrily as he took several steps backwards. In this kind of small road, there was not even a single passerby. He picked up a rock in panic, brandishing it threateningly. “If you come closer…I’ll kill you!”

“I hate you all…”

She did not want to wait for “punishment”. She knew it could not eliminate her resentment. They had never once repented after she had died. What meaning did the decision on paper have on them?

She…she wanted them to die.

But—that isn’t right.

He held his head, forcefully trying to shake off the dizziness. “No, my Dad and the others are helping you…You can’t…You will definitely get your justice…”

Ice-cold hands stretched out from behind to cover his line of sight. The reek of blood diffused outwards. Through the light from the finger cracks, he saw the tragically smashed up face. Crimson blood continued to drip downwards as those hate-filled eyes were practically right in front of his face.

I didn’t want to die.

I didn’t want to die—

“We can definitely help you…ah!”

Just as he was about to persuade her, there was a burst of pain from his forehead. He staggered backwards a few steps and watched the rock fall, landing before his feet. The blow made him extremely dizzy, and he barely kept his legs from going weak at the knees to collapse on the ground.

“Who cares who you are? Don’t even dream of trying to threaten me!” The person’s eyes were red as he picked up another nearby rock and smashed it downwards towards his head.

I have to dodge or else I’ll definitely get beaten to death when I go home. But his body was unusually heavy, not listening to his commands at all. His head was spinning so much that he was on the verge of losing consciousness, and his vision blurred.

Through the haziness, he seemed to see another person appear, an adult male wearing a hat. The hat was worn extremely low, making it impossible to see the face.

The man seemed to say something, but he could not comprehend it at all. All he felt was slight shock at the person’s tone.

In his daze, all he heard was a female voice—

Why aren’t they all dead?

I really want to kill them…

I’m so dirty, so afraid. I don’t want to see them…

“Xiao Yun?”

He seemed to hear that adult speaking to someone.

Then the other person grabbed his shoulders and clearly declared:

“I will definitely help you.”

Yu Yin felt his entire body grow heavy.

He vaguely sensed someone help him onto the backseat of a car. The car had a faint fragrance he could not recognise. The scent mixed together with the stench of blood on his body and was quickly suppressed.

When the person helped him into the car, they grabbed something to wipe his forehead and hands, then rubbed on some type of medication and performed simple bandaging.

Outside the car window, he saw the dark night sky.

What time is it…?

Xiao Yu should already be at home by now, right?

After the bandaging was done, the car was started.

He saw a figure sway before him in the front seat. “Who…” His vision was blurry, only seeing dark grey. Just the outline of the person’s back was a struggle to make out, let alone anything else.

The other party adjusted the rearview mirror, a suspended white, little fish charm swinging with it.

“BB. I will help you.”

The male voice came from in front. For some reason, Yu Yin thought it sounded very familiar. A feeling of grief that did not belong to him surged.

“What can you do if you’re dead? Why get yourself into such a state, it’s not like nothing can be done.” The voice spoke again, flat without any emotion. “But whatever, at least I’ll send two down for you.”

“No…you can’t do that…” Yu Yin fought against the lightheadedness, trying his best to keep his eyes open. He had a vague feeling that if he closed his eyes, something would happen. “Have to hand it to the police…”

“You are truly quite interesting.” The car made a turn onto a different street. “Since you’re already here, just sit and watch the show.”

“That’s wrong…you can’t…”

Yu Yin was finding breathing a bit difficult. Despite his struggles, he was tightly bound to the seat. The bloody face neared him, keeping him from resisting. A gaze flooded with deep hatred and resentment locked onto him, the smell of blood wrapping around the air and never dispersing.

He saw a girl banging the car window from outside, attempting to approach him. However, it was shaken off and left far behind.

The odour of blood slowly permeated his body, the fluid gradually turning into ice. He really wanted to fight back, but the pain and dizziness just continued forcing his consciousness to fall further.

Time blended together in the darkness. Yu Yin did not know how long he was in the car for.

He regained awareness a few times as a result of the car owner shaking him awake, feeding him water or something he was barely aware of. He felt that no matter what he swallowed, it carried with it the heavy taste of blood. Then he would continue his deep sleep again.

Once, twice, the driver seemed to prick him with a needle which made him feel an even heavier exhaustion.

He did not know how much time had passed by the time the car stopped and was carefully parked. The cold, wet air of the early morning instantly flooded into the car the moment the door was opened.

Yu Yin was shocked awake by the cold, and slightly regained his senses to discover that a very thick jacket was covering him and the owner of the car had disappeared. The car was stopped at what appeared to be a parking lot with several other cars neatly lined up nearby. The sky was dark blue and a faint mist surrounded the area.

He went through his pockets – his cellphone, wallet, and other items were all gone. He could not muster the energy to move, and when he tried to push the door open, he discovered that he was still tied down by the seatbelt and the car had been locked, making it impossible to open.

He was half lying down in the backseat, his mind a complete mess and so heavy that he had no idea what he should do. It was like something was peeling away his ability to think. All he could do was quietly sit there.

Then, a brief shout pierced through the silence.

When he listened more closely, it seemed to be someone fighting and begging to be saved.

The sound quickly vanished.

Soon after, the car door was opened. He saw someone wearing a large overcoat enter, the hat on their head pressed low. When the person turned around to look at Yu Yin, he saw a blank space without any facial features.

The completely empty face turned back around and started the car, slowly sliding it out of the parking space.

He looked outside the window. There was blood on the ground.

The car passed by a person lying on the ground of the parking lot, a large amount of blood gushing out from the neck. That person was fighting to crawl, but could no longer make any sound. A blood-soaked utility knife was on the ground next to him. The blade that had been pushed out was already split into halves, soaking in a pool of blood.

“They have to take some responsibility for things to have come to this.” The person sitting in front said, “Those two should have died long ago. I finally had the chance to act now after they dragged things out.”

“Shouldn’t have died…” Yu Yin weakly leaned against the car window and gazed out at the parking lot in the distance. He could not read the signs along the street so he had no idea where he was. “They…”

“Save it. Do you think you can save everyone? Putting normal people aside, you think you can save even people like that who don’t know to repent? Such a baffling goodwill.” The car jolted, as if driving down a rugged path. “You really are a bunch of good people.”

“That’s not…”

That’s not it. He did not want to care about those people that did not know how to repent either.

But they couldn’t be killed. Because then the case would not truly end. There would be no way for the family and the deceased to get their justice.

I don’t want any justice.

The bloody face of the girl appeared in front of him, the blood-stained body filled with unshakeable fury.

I just want them to die.

***

“Did you find them?

Yu Tong and Yu Xia had not slept the entire night. When they finally managed to free themselves, they quickly rushed to the monitor room.

“Dong Feng-xiǎodì found some traces.” Yan Si pointed next to the mummy standing in front of various monitors. “Xiao Dong-zai is pretty amazing. He’s able to simultaneously watch a bunch of footage all by himself.” What a godly skill. Why hadn’t he ever heard his former roommate mention such a godly skill?

“He was near the deceased’s home.” Dong Feng did not move, gaze still fixed at the moving scenes as he replied without turning around, “Although the cameras didn’t catch it, he may have been brought away by a black car. If you compare the times, Yu Yin disappeared when the car left.”

“We just gave the car’s license plate number to Xiao Wu. It turns out that it was a stolen car reported last night. The original owner apparently discovered his car was gone when he got off work. It had been parked along the street in the morning for work, around eight or so in the morning. The owner never left his company building afterwards.”

Yan Si shrugged. Yu was also sitting next to them with his eyes glued to the screens, similarly not having slept the entire night. “We asked Xiao Wu to transfer the footage for the entire street and found that the car headed down National Freeway 3, headed south.”

“If he was planning on murder, he would not have specially taken the National Freeway. There might be a target destination.” Dong Feng pressed pause and rubbed his smarting eyes as he turned to face the twins. “Any further and we’ll need access to the next district. We needed to apply for a report, so we’re still waiting for the clips. It was around three in the afternoon when the car got onto the National Freeway. In that time, the car stopped several times at convenience stores, but the person was always wearing a hat, so their face was not caught.”

“In addition, the person captured is really interesting. Boss, you guys will definitely recognise him too.” Yan Si stretched his waist and waved them over with a grim smile. “Come take a look at the very familiar figure.”

Yu Xia and Yu Tong patted Yu for him to move while they each went up to a monitor. Then their eyes widened.

The person walking into the convenience store was limping slightly, and seemed to be in a rush. Although the hat was lowered to cover the face, the person’s back could not be more recognisable.

“Su Zhang!” Yu Xia clenched his hands into fists. “Ah Yin’s in his hands?”

“The murderer from last time? The one that was lost?” Dong Feng had thought it quite a pity that the forensic investigator next to him had not been killed. Really, quite a shame. When he had seen the news, he had believed the criminal to be a huge failure, having been unable to kill Yan Si even with several chances. Is that guy even a proper criminal? “He doesn’t plan to kill Yu Yin for the time being.”

“Yes…he bought two of everything.” Yu Tong barely forced himself to calm down and carefully scrutinised the items the person had purchased. Most things had been purchased in twos, including water and food. The final stop before going onto the National Freeway had been a larger amount, which indicated that the target destination was likely some distance away that had required prior preparations. If the plan had been to kill immediately, there would not have been need to go through all this trouble. Su Zhang undoubtedly knew they would inspect the surveillance cameras. He was not afraid of being caught on camera, and likely knew they would pursue after him.

He indeed did not want to kill Ah Yin. Moreover, there was an extremely high chance that his original plan was to release Ah Yin.

But that was just their current speculation.

“Got the National Freeway’s…huh? Oh, you’re all here.” Xiao Wu walked in from outside with a bag of food. He instantly sensed the sombre atmosphere filling the room and he couldn’t help but cower back a bit. “I asked my colleagues over at the National Freeway [section]. They followed the car and found that it stopped last at the highway interchange near Kaohsiung. But someone reported this morning that the stolen car had been located, parked at a field not far from the interchange. Because there aren’t normally people over there, there were no witnesses.”

“They changed to another car.” Dong Feng accepted the borrowed disk while Yan Si flashed out to take a call.

“Oh yeah, the morning news bulletin mentioned that the throat-slitting wolf appeared in Tainan, but the victim actually died this time.” Xiao Wu placed the bag of food down on the table and gestured for the others to quickly eat some. “At a bit past five in the morning, a person was found dead in a community public parking lot. The technique was identical to the throat-slitting wolf’s, but it seemed like that the victim had fought back, causing the accidental severy of the carotid artery. When a morning jogger living in the area found the victim, they had already died from excessive blood loss. A complete report should be coming in later.”

“The one from before?” Yu Xia furrowed his brows, his instincts sensing something fishy. It was just too coincidental. “The throat-slitting wolf that appeared when we were chasing after Su Zhang?”

“Yeah, they were still committing the crimes a few days ago. Nobody expected them to have run all the way to Tainan.” Xiao Wu chewed on a rice ball as he said, “Transportation is too convenient now; the criminals can easily run all over the place and change their positions quickly.”

“Who’s responsible?”

“Hm? Ah Chen’s group next door.”

Yu Xia glanced at Yu Tong then directly stepped out to request information from next door.

“Contact me if you guys learn any information. I’m going to head to Kaohsiung right now.” Yu Tong turned to leave immediately.

“Wait a minute, let me announce some awesome news first.” Yan Si re-entered at this time, blocking off the exit just in time as he declared to everyone present, “My senior from Tainan just called and said that the throat-slitting wolf’s victim came from here. It’s truly a ridiculously matchless coincidence…the deceased’s name is Song Jie Han.” When they had found the deceased’s ID, the senior forensic investigator that was also Yan Si’s friend had immediately given him a call.

“Song Jie Han’s dead?” Yu Tong was stunned.

“Yep, couldn’t be more dead, really. He lost an excessive amount of blood. How had the throat-slitting wolf just happened to choose him?” Yan Si shrugged. “Senior said that the cut had been an accident because of a brawl, since there were several shallow cuts on the neck as well. The movements seemed to be a bit coarse, which made it appear as a typical slip-up.”

“That’s too coincidental…” Xiao Wu said in a thoughtful voice.

“Could you all get out.” Dong Feng interrupted the group’s conversation before stating in a scathing tone, “The noise is disturbing me. Out.” These people made it impossible for him to properly concentrate all his focus on the monitors.

“Junior brother, you…”

Before Yan Si could start another friendly group conversation, a phone ringing broke through his words.

Yu Tong lifted his cellphone and frowned at the name displayed on the screen. “Ah Yin? Where are you?” As soon as he said this, Yu instantly stood up from his seat. Even Dong Feng turned around. Everyone’s gazes were fixed on Yu Tong.

A low chuckle came from the opposite end. Yu Tong instantly knew this was not Yu Yin’s voice and turned on the speaker function. “Is this Su Zhang?”

“As I expected, you’re quite fast. Not bad.”

The other person using Yu Yin’s cellphone spoke in an amused tone, “But there’s no need for concern. Student Yu is my unexpected guest; he isn’t within the scope of my work. I just brought him around to enjoy some scenery and should be able to return him by noon.”

“Where are you!”

Dong Feng gave Yu Tong a hand signal, then started to attempt tracking the call with one of the nearby computers.

“Buying some local products. As I recalled, Student Yu enjoys buying sweets quite a bit, so I figured I might as well purchase some gifts since we were already out catching some fresh air. Running all this way is quite exhausting by itself.” They heard the rustling of a plastic bag. “There’s no need for you to go through the trouble of watching the surveillance cameras and tracing the call, we’re nearly back already. You won’t find anyone if you continue chasing that way.”

“Where are you bringing Ah Yin? Let him answer the phone,” Yu Tong asked through clenched teeth, his hands curled into fists.

“I’m afraid that isn’t possible. But don’t worry, I’ll bring him back to where he first got into the car. Come over and pick him up yourself.”

“You—”

Before Yu Tong could finish his sentence, the line was already cut. Yu Tong immediately spun around towards Dong Feng, the latter shrugging to indicate that the position had not been traced.

“Wasn’t the student that was ganged up on kidnapped near the deceased’s home?” Yan Si grabbed a water [bottle] and glanced at the rarely furious Yu Tong. “Should we head over first and ambush him?”

“Yes. Xiao Wu, come and assist.”

“Understood!”

Seeing Yu Tong leave, Yu hurriedly followed as well.

“Junior brother, are you not going to join the fun?” Yan Si asked the person still standing in front of the screens as everyone else ran away.

“I’m not your junior brother. Get lost.”

***

What time is it now?

Yu Yin wriggled his fingers as he realised that he had once again fallen into a deep sleep. He had no clue how long he had been unconscious for; his body and mind were both still very heavy.

Unlike earlier, he was lying down completely now, the space seemingly wider. It appeared to be the back of a large, spacious van. Aside from the driver’s seat and the front seat, there were no seats in the back; just luggage space. He was lying all the way in the back, and to his surprise, there was a very familiar bag of pudding next to him.

He was very tired. His entire body was weighed down with exhaustion in addition to various types of pain that did not seem to fade.

The air was hot and humid. The windows and doors were tightly shut without allowing the slightest breeze.

He flipped over with much difficulty, using all his strength to lift himself up. When he moved, something fell from his body, and he finally noticed that it was his own cellphone that had been changed to silent mode. There were many missed calls marked on the screen. His blurred vision could only make out the fact that they had been from his dad, uncle, and Yu. He shut his eyes, waiting until his vision cleared up slightly before he could finally see that the time displayed on the screen was around 10 AM.

It appeared that he had already been lying here for a very long time. His mouth was extremely dry.

He weakly collapsed back down, reaching out to grab the phone and clicking a random number to start the call. With impeccable timing, the cellphone beeped to signal that it was nearly out of battery.

He closed his eyes, waiting a few seconds before the line connected.

“Where the hell are you, you damn brat—”

For some reason, Yu Yin suddenly laughed. He felt bizarrely happy to hear the furious roar now.

He moved his mouth, and with great difficulty, managed to speak in a voice so weak that he couldn’t even hear himself. “In car…trunk…”

“What car? Is that bastard Su Zhang next to you?”

“Nobody…van…” He really wanted to crawl up and survey his surroundings, but he was too tired and truly could not move. All the energy he had spent to flip himself over earlier had already caused him to see stars from dizziness, and his vision was starting to fade to black. “Car…”

“Don’t hang up!”

“Mm.”

He turned his head to the side and saw the blood-soaked girl sitting next to him, her half-destroyed face pointed outside, as if waiting for something.

“Why…”

Why do you have to go through such extremes to settle things?

She did not want the case to come to an end. She simply wanted the assaulters to vanish from this world.

The girl slowly turned her head and the injured face began to twist together, slowly returning to its previous appearance. She was truly a beautiful girl, possessing a beauty that would definitely attract many people’s attention when walking down the street.

She stretched a hand out to cover his eyes, a chilly air surrounding him.

He knew she had originally been a girl that easily felt content, extremely happy just to be able to read and attend class without stopping. Her love for studying surpassed everything. Whenever the arguing flared up in her house, she would still continue to earnestly study with all her ability.

After graduation, her advanced degree and extensive knowledge would definitely allow her to earn plenty of money for her family. She would buy a large house for her parents to live in, with a large library filled with books. Community college was fine, cram classes were fine. She would continue doing what she loved. That was also why she had good relationships with her classmates. She never stole anyone’s boyfriend, never competed against others for beauty. She simply loved attending lectures, so she could never become anyone’s enemy.

Before exams, she would even help everyone draft the main points to help their studies.

She was very fortunate. She had nothing else to request from her life. This was enough.

But everything was destroyed by the neighbours of her rented apartment. They had appeared to be a perfectly fine husband and wife, often enquiring about how she was doing after she had moved in. This had given her the impression that they had great personalities, so she had not raised any guard at all. Until one day, the husband alone at home requested for her to help with something. Instead, she had been pressed down against the ground, and her life had been shattered.

She had begged for mercy, but the other party had showed everything, making it impossible for her to resist.

She had pleaded for the wife to help, instead receiving a cold glare and a warning not to spread it around, or else she would be called a hindrance to the household and cause her entire family to lose face.

She was afraid, so the only person she dared tell everything to was an internet friend she had never met. However, that could not change anything.

Then one morning, when she couldn’t take it anymore and wanted to go home, she was pushed down next on an empty road by the husband that had followed her out, forcing her to cooperate.

This then somehow became the tool that the restaurant owner downstairs from her parents threatened her with.

She could not escape. Her previously beloved books turned unfamiliar, no longer giving her a single hint of joy. Her classwork even took a deep dive, yet she could not care less.

She had not done anything wrong, yet had become so dirty.

I don’t want to die.

I don’t want to die…

That’s why…they should die.

“That’s…still not right…”

He could not approve of this method.

The girl smiled at him. It was a very pure, breathtakingly beautiful smile.

That’s fine. Everything has already come to an end.

“What?”

An enormous explosion took the place of the girl’s reply.

Yu Yin felt the car shake violently from the shock, heavily tumbling off to the side.

He could not remember anything following that.

There was shocking news of a well-known snacks shop suffering from a gas explosion yesterday. Because there were many stock gas cylinders lying around the shop, the explosion was quite large, to the point where even residents a few streets away sensed the aftershock.

According to reports, the burst of gas had given rise to a great fire. Fortunately, it just so happened to have been a day off for the shop, so there were not any employees wrapped into it. The people living above the restaurant had also coincidentally been outside, so they were not caught in the damage either.

Only after the fire brigade had extinguished the fire in the afternoon did they discover a burnt, male corpse inside the shop. Apparently, it was identified as highly likely to be the restaurant owner. The scale of the explosion was…

As he woke, he heard the news broadcast playing on TV.

“Awake?”

It seemed like he was always seeing the skeleton face whenever he woke up recently. He pushed the skeleton away, and Yu’s face appeared in front of him.

“…What happened to me?” The first thing he felt was his body’s complete lack of strength. Yu Yin shut his eyes and took a few deep breaths, re-opening his eyes after regaining some energy. As expected, he was in a hospital. The white ceiling, white sheets, and the smell of disinfectant filling the air were all too familiar. He could recognise it without even looking.

“The snacks bar had a gas explosion. Several nearby cars were overturned from the shockwave. The fire brigade pulled you out from one of them. You’re honestly extremely lucky you don’t have any major injuries.” Dong Feng was sitting next to him. He switched the TV channel as he continued, “It’s already the evening of the next day.”

Yu Yin asked Yu to help him up, then twisted around to see that the person currently changing TV channels actually had on an IV drip. “And what’s wrong with you?”

“Junior Xiao Dong-zai pulled an all-nighter without eating and ended up fainting at the police station, so he was carried in as well. Just as a note, you’re currently both in a double room, and sleeping together happens to split the room costs too.” Yan Si pushed open the door of the ward, walking in just in time to help provide the explanation. “Student that was ganged up on, did coming back make you feel touched on a spiritual level?”

“Not at all.” Yu Yin glanced at Yu’s concerned expression as he rubbed his head. He then belatedly discovered that there was something strange about his head; when he touched it, he felt bandages.

“The mark on your forehead was from getting hit by a blunt object. Based on the appearance of the wound, it was likely smashed by something like a rock. Do you have any impression of this, student that was ganged up on?” Yan Si passed the fruits and snacks he was holding over to Yu and then grabbed a chair for himself to sit next to the bed.

Yu Yin touched his head thoughtfully. “No.” His mind simply felt dazed, without any memory.

“You don’t have any recollection of having run a circle around southern Taiwan?” Yan Si looked very intrigued.

“…No.” It felt like he had stayed somewhere, but Yu Yin still could not come up with anything.

“You can’t remember streaking down Gold Coast naked and even getting caught by a TV reporter as the headline for the entire day? There’s nearly a hundred thousand views of your butt on Youtube already!”

“Fuck, that’s a lie, Yan-dàgē!” Yu Yin’s mind instantly cleared.

“Pfft.” Yan Si sat up straight and opened the files he was holding. “Alright, I came here for work. Do you feel any dizziness?”

“There’s still a bit.”

“Do you still remember anything from when you were alive?”

“…I’m still alive now. You aren’t here for work at all, are you!” Yu Yin reflexively threw a pillow at Yan Si.

“Okay, okay, let me take a look at you.” Yan Si closed the file. Since he really was here for work, he began to examine the condition of the injuries while easily continuing to chat. “Do you remember who brought you out?”

“Not really…Should’ve been a male, he seemed to have said something…” Yu Yin furrowed his brows and closed his eyes, trying his best to recall something from the mess in his mind. However, he really could not think of much. “The deceased was on me…then there was blood, someone dead at the parking lot…the driver didn’t have facial features…no, probably just covered…I can’t remember anything, weird.”

“That’s normal, you were drugged—Mm, someone injected you with a tranquilizer, which could have side effects. Anyways, you just need to spend these next two days eating well, sleeping well, and pooping well, and you should be fine.” Yan Si wrote on the files as he completed his examination, then stuffed the documents into his workbag. “Let me tell you this first, Song Jie Han and that Boss Luo have already ascended. One of them was murdered in Tainan, the other was burned to death in his shop’s gas explosion. According to the on-site reports, the kitchen was filled with broken bottles of alcohol, so it’s possible that he got drunk and accidentally caused the gas leak.”

For some reason, Yu Yin was not surprised at all. It was as if he had already known this would happen, and his mind had already been prepared perfectly so that he did not feel any shock. “It really was as expected, huh…” He vaguely recalled a girl telling him that everything had come to an end.

They deserved to die.

And so, they did.

“I still need to go back and face that over-charred corpse, sigh.” Yan Si glanced at the news, thinking about how pitiful he was. But compared to Yu Xia and the others that were in complete chaos now, his situation was quite good already. He only had to face a dead body, not the media.

“Hurry up and get lost,” Dong Feng spat out, having refused to look at that bastard the entire time.

“Junior Xiao Dong-zai, is there a need to act so unfamiliar—”

“Don’t touch me! Go away!”

Yu Yin let out a long sigh as he heard the noise next to him.

Yu touched Yu Yin’s head and asked in a low voice, “All gone?”

“Can’t remember anything.”

Yu Yin stared up at the ceiling. All he felt was a helpless, profound sense of regret.

The seated woman was silent.

“This is Song Jie Han’s wife, Chen Xiu Min. She turned herself in this afternoon.”

Yu Xia looked at the wife inside the room, then nodded at the officer and walked in.

“Did you catch the criminal that killed my husband?” While the woman’s complexion was slightly pale, one could still see her delicate and pretty features as she stated in cold fury, “The throat-slitting wolf has already appeared for so long, yet why hasn’t the police caught them yet? They even murdered my husband. This is all your fault.”

“Regarding this matter, the police are continuing their investigation.” Yu Xia eyed the woman in front of him and flatly said, “Before that, we would like to ask you about something else. In regards to Tan Ya Yun, the deceased that rented the place next-door to you, we have absolute evidence to believe that you were also present at the time of the incident. In addition, we have already found the knife from that day with bloodstains that did not entirely belong to Song Jie Han.” The fingerprints on the hilt had belonged to the deceased.

“So? You want to get a sample of my DNA to analyse?” Chen Xiu Min sneered and pulled down her collar to reveal half her chest, showing faint knife wounds on her pale skin. “No need to go through the trouble. I was indeed present. It was just to teach that meddling woman a lesson for thinking so highly of herself. Who knew she would go and jump down on her own?”

“We have an eyewitness that personally saw you and your husband push her off the balcony. After searching, the investigators found several fingerprints left behind from the fight.” Yu Xia kept his gaze locked onto the extremely calm woman as he said, “In addition, we hoped you could clarify why you were following Tan Ya Yun that day at the market.”

“You can use children’s lies as evidence?” Chen Xiu Ming tugged at her hair, then pulled out a box of cigarettes, before the officer opposite her pointed at the no-smoking sign in the room. She put it back away as she replied, “I saw that meddlesome woman looking at knives in the marketplace that day, so I was uneasy and called my husband to warn him. I didn’t expect that bitch would actually try attacking my husband with a knife. Luckily, I rushed home just in time. When I was disciplining her, she fell down herself. We even tried to save her out of kindness, but didn’t expect she couldn’t hold on by herself and fall down.”

“This is different from what our eyewitnesses said.” Yu Tong frowned.

“Then go find the proof, look for footage. You want to use a child’s lies to falsely accuse us without any evidence?” Chen Xiu Min curled her hands into fists as she spat out in annoyance, “Don’t tell me the police wants to use this excuse to cover up my husband’s case? He died, you know!”

“The matter of the throat-slitting wolf is being pursued by our colleagues in the southern district to the best of their ability. Whether or not the children lied is something I’ll let the proof speak for. There will definitely be evidence showing if she fell out or if you two pushed her down.”

Chen Xiu Min slammed a palm on the table. “Then go find the evidence that will speak for it. I’m a victim; that meddlesome bitch destroyed my family, wanted to murder my husband. And now my husband has died from dubious means. Is the police only capable of forcing things onto family members!”

Because of the other person’s overly aggressive tone, Yu Xia had to restrain his discontent, trying his best to keep his tone calm. “It was Song Jie Han that forced things onto others first.”

“If that woman had the guts, she should’ve reported to the police! So many hotlines and she couldn’t make a single call? It was fine for her to come whenever my husband asked? If she really didn’t want it, she would’ve resisted! And she even used my husband’s cellphone to come whenever she wanted. How could there be someone that low? Spouting about how it was a scam, yet the two of them did it in my house so many times in the past six months. Me not disrupting her family was already very tolerating!” Chen Xiu Min stood up and furiously shouted, “I felt sick from seeing her lying naked in my bed every time I came back from work! Pretending to be abused, pretending to be pitiful, how pathetic could she be!”

“Thank you for confirming the sexual assault portion. You can slowly discuss the other matters with the prosecutor.” Yu Xia also stood up and glanced over, deciding that the recording was pretty much finished. “That’s all I wanted to discuss.” If he did not end the conversation now, he would seriously punch her in the face. Why is it that people nowadays are able to spout lies in such a self-righteous manner, as if they’ve done absolutely nothing wrong?

“Stop right there! Do you know who’s supporting me? You’d better watch yourself!”

Ah, yes, they even all say the same things now.

Yu Xia lazily turned his head to answer, “I don’t know who’s supporting you, nor does it matter. Do whatever you’d like.” Ignoring the shrill screams, he walked out of the room and told someone else to keep a close eye on the suspect and resolutely headed home to catch up on sleep.

He had barely slept these past two days and still needed to deal with more and more issues. He was starting to feel slightly exhausted.

He glanced at the time. It was already dark outside; another day had passed without him knowing. Yu Xia was seriously starting to believe he was getting a bit old. He was all kinds of tired. Looks like I’d best schedule some time off. It had already been a very long time since his last proper long vacation. There were too many annoying matters and people. Perhaps it would be better not to see these things for a while. It was about time for him to recharge himself.

“Is something wrong?” Yu Tong walked out with a report and just happened to spot his brother spaced out in the hallway.

“No, just thinking about how it was a good thing that sister-in-law was so sensible.” Yu Xia shrugged and yawned.

“What?” Yu Tong chuckled, then passed the report over and leaned against the hallway [walls] as well. “Dong Feng skillfully helped us trace the surveillance footage to where the car was abandoned and they changed to another vehicle. It was also a stolen car. They immediately turned back. The cameras at the parking lot in Tainan just happened to break that day, so nothing was caught on camera. However, the camera on the streets captured them entering the area in Tainan in the early morning. They then switched to another car and left; based on the timestamp, they should have returned at around seven or eight in the morning. The call about bringing Ah Yin back at noon was to mislead us. All the cars used along the way were stolen. But by chance, none of the car owners had noticed or reported the missing cars until after they had been used, so there was absolutely no record of the stolen cars on the National Freeway.”

“What a devious bastard,” Yu Xia cursed as he reviewed the information listed.

“In reality, none of the cameras caught the scenes of them switching cars. They always drove into very remote areas or places without surveillance and disappeared. Dong Feng had to filter through everything before locking on the car again and continue tracking it.” Yu Tong could not help but admit that the youth was a bit intriguing. He pointed at the neat handwriting on the paper. “He connected the entire trip up until they drove back to Taichung in an SUV. The notified owners of the stolen vehicles and even those that didn’t know their vehicles had been stolen have all reported their cases. Overall, there shouldn’t be any errors.”

“Used after confirming there were no issues, probably.” Yu Xia closed the folder and sighed. “Do you think the throat-slitting wolf is Su Zhang?”

“If it is, then the previous victims were intentional diversions.” Yu Tong had not forgotten that the fleeing criminal loved fabricating stories. “Song Jie Han was his true objective, and he made it seem like it was the throat-slitting wolf’s mistake.”

“I think so too. But he had no reason to kill Song Jie Han.” Trying and failing to come up with a reason for Su Zhang to have gone through all this effort to kill someone unrelated made Yu Xia’s head hurt a bit.

“Perhaps he was actually after two people.”

“Luo Qiang?”

“Mm, we saw photos of him wandering back and forth in front of Luo Qian’s shop. He also appeared there when Ah Yin was taken. Ah Yin was also brought back to that place, with Luo Qiang’s shop exploding afterwards. He died inside it too. Do you think things could be that coincidental?” Yu Tong looked at the face identical to his own and calmly stated, “A friend at the fire brigade told me that the gas explosion at Luo Qian’s restaurant was pretty much the same cause as the one at Yang De Cheng’s, just at a larger scale…What if Yang De Cheng’s was just his practice round?”

The atmosphere instantly fell silent.

“We don’t have proof.” Yu Xia sighed.

“Yes, we don’t have proof.” They did not have evidence regarding the throat-slitting wolf or the gas explosion. “We don’t even have a motive…If it really was him, there was no reason to do so from his standpoint.” Moreover, they did not know why Song Jie Han had appeared at that parking lot so early in the morning. And the fact that he had been killed just then left everything unsolved.

“That kind of person doesn’t need a reason.” Yu Xia gazed up at the ceiling. At times like this, he felt a sudden desire to go home and laze around on the sofa with a cup of hot tea. “Maybe he just saw the report on the news and decided to act on a whim.”

It was just that Yu Xia himself could not believe this explanation.

“Or perhaps the perpetrator really was someone else.” Yu Tong smiled grimly as he patted his brother’s shoulder, feeling the same exhaustion from defeat. “Come on, let’s clean up and go visit Ah Yin together.”

He knew that he was not the only one that could not accept the conclusion of this case. This kind of ending was impossible for anyone to accept. The family of the victim had already told the media on the evening news that the assaulters’ deaths could not wipe out their crimes. Everyone painstakingly turned the case over, using this method to announce it as closed. “Let’s go.”

“Yeah.”

***

9 PM.

“Great Prosecutor, you’re still working?” Yan Si stuck his head in with a drink in hand, glancing around the inside of the office and seeing his former roommate sitting at his desk as expected. There was still a pile of folders next to him.

Li Zi Hong looked up and finally noticed the time. “Mostly done.” He closed the folder in his hands and smoothly stood to sit down next to the sofa.

Yan Si chuckled at his friend. “You bastard, you were totally spacing out just now.” If he had been reading the case file, he would not have dropped it so easily.

“I was just thinking if the perpetrators died like this, without any prosecution or verdict, whether it counted as closed or not.” Li Zi Hong gripped his hot paper cup. He just couldn’t seem to feel any relief.

“They’re already dead, what else can be done? At most, the charges will be determined. It’s not like they can lock up the bones…Honestly though, why can’t bones be locked up? If the person’s already dead and ceased to be, might as well toss the bones in with others and scare them. You know, like ‘Ugh, even after dying, my bones will be imprisoned’. That might even reign in some criminals!” Yan Si bit down on his fork as he earnestly suggested, “Next time, let me try drawing the prosecution. Based on the severity of the crime, I can recommend jailing the bones. Let’s see if it passes.”

“It won’t.” Li Zi Hong instantly replied these two words, shooting Yan Si a look out of the corner of his eye as he took a sip of his drink. “How are you able to spout so much nonsense?”

“You’ll have to ask my mom that. I can’t do anything about it either if she talked drivel during the time before giving birth to me.” Yan Si ignored his friend’s suffering expression and openly lay down on the sofa. “If their families think this is the best conclusion, then just accept it as is. The student that was ganged up on also said that the ghost was on him at the time. The deceased’s ghost probably hoped for this herself.”

“Do you think they all deserved to die?” Li Zi Hong stared at his reflection in the cup and quietly asked, “Even though they didn’t kill anyone, like one of the victims of Zhang Mei Ning’s case. Did they really deserve death?”

“Putting aside Zhang Mei Ning’s matter, I think sexual assault should be severely punished. That’s clearly a family-splitting tragedy. The girl has no means to protect herself, and the only thing we can do afterwards is help heal her as best as we can, but we cannot give her back her former peaceful life, am I wrong?” Yan Si lazily glanced at his friend that was likely internalising a mess of knotted emotions. “But lynching is never any good. You guys probably have strong feelings about it, right? Even though you know that they might have been murdered, you don’t have any evidence.”

“With regards to the law being unable to truly hold a trial, yes.” But the families had believed this as the best resolution. This was what they had desired. However, it should not have been this way; society was disorderly enough as it was. Li Zi Hong sighed. “However, I’m sure the family members believe the opposite.” If they had gone to court today, it would have been very likely that both Song Jie Han and Luo Qiang would have been fine. Or perhaps they would have been able to return to society after a few years. This would just be a blow to the victim’s family.

This was precisely why Li Zi Hong could not let it go.

Even though the results of their searches had all pointed to the truth, the only person still alive – Chen Xiu Min – still insisted claiming otherwise, and continued to bring up a lawsuit.

Delaying the sentence vs. immediately bringing things to an end. Legal vs. illegal.

“I cannot agree with the conclusion of this case.” But the deaths had finally drawn an end. The matter of the victim’s sexual assault, being threatened, etc. were all impossible to verify now with these three deaths. Li Zi Hong only felt heavy failure. He had only wanted to help pacify the deceased, yet there was no need any longer.

Yan Si patted his friend on the shoulder. “Eat up and go home to get some proper sleep.”

Perhaps he would have some other revelations after waking from sleep.

“What are your thoughts on the events this time?” Li Zi Hong suddenly asked as he watched his friend grab some food.

Yan Si stopped and grinned. “Are you sure you want to know my answer?” It felt a bit immoral to land a heavy blow on his depressed friend.

“…Never mind.” Li Zi Hong didn’t want to know anymore.

“But I can more or less guess Xiao Dong-zai’s thoughts.” Yan Si chuckled as he poked the cupcakes inside the box. “That brat kept saying he didn’t want to help, but ended up overworking in the end, even writing a report on the trail. He wanted to capture the criminal, regardless of whether it involved Su Zhang or Tan Ya Yun. Don’t you think he appeared too often? He also doesn’t want the truth of the matter to be covered up.”

Li Zi Hong chuckled and began to eat his late dinner.

“That’s why I said I’m not like him.”

A few days later, Tan Ya Yun’s jumping incident was reported by the media once again.

The media revealed the truth of the sexual abuse, broadcasting the entire tragedy over and over, speaking and showing the description of the horrible situation the deceased had been in. They would cut back to the scene of the family’s interrogation every day, playing their anguished crying repeatedly.

Who would blame the victim? They approved of the timely deaths.

Chen Xiu Min’s lawsuit continued.

A few more days passed. The incident began to gradually disappear from the news, just like any other article. After repeating countless times, it would lose its value as news and finally be forgotten.

The person claiming to be BB smirked up at the TV screen on the building, lowering his head and vanishing into the crowds.

“Xu Zhi Gao recovered well. They think he should be able to leave the hospital soon.”

After Yu Tong finished packing up their things to leave the hospital, he turned around to see Yu dragging Yu Yin over. “Children really do have amazing recovery abilities. His injuries no longer hinder him. In comparison though, Ye Yi is truly pitiful; he might never wake again.” The other victim had been the exact opposite these days. The child’s mother had stayed next to the bed, still believing her child would wake, insisting that she would never stop watching over him.

“He might wake up.” Yu Yin leaned on Yu’s shoulders. He had mostly recovered in this period. The wound on his forehead was significantly better, as was Yu’s [injury]. Li Lin Yue and the other rascals had also run over to the hospital to mock him and request for compensation, claiming that his disappearance had caused them all to stay up the entire night looking. They had said he owed them a giant meal after his release from the hospital, a direct blow to his wallet. “Anything can happen with kids. I’m sure he’ll come around.”

“I hope that is the case as well.” Yu Tong zipped up the bag and patted it. “Ah Yin, are you still unable to remember anything?” Since being sent to the hospital, Yu Yin had yet to divulge what had happened the day he had been taken away.

“Mm…” His memories were still blurry, unable to piece together the fragments. Yu Yin shook his head. “I don’t remember, but that girl already left, so you guys don’t need to worry anymore.” He knew why Tan Ya Yun was no longer by his side. She had disappeared after the two assaulters’ deaths, completely vanishing.

“Hopefully.” Yu Tong let out a soft sigh.

“It’s true. You can relax, Dad. She probably already finished what she wanted to do.” He walked over to wrap an arm around his father’s shoulders. “Aren’t they all like that? Once the deceased’s wish is fulfilled, they ascend to rest in peace.”

“Did you learn that from Ah Si?” Yu Tong smiled and turned slightly to look at his son. “But those that live still have things to pursue, so what should they do, Ah Yin? Didn’t someone say that nothing would happen, that everything would be reported, not thinking that they would still end up getting kidnapped over to the south, pressuring everyone to chase after him? What should be done about that?”

Yu Yin suddenly felt his back turn cold. He fearfully took a step back, only to discover that Yu was staring at him with a calculating gaze too. He instantly felt like a piece of meat on the chopping block. “May I inquire if Uncle happened to have gone home early today?” Crap! I forgot there’s still Hell waiting at home!

“Accurately speaking, Xia has the day off today. If nobody has gone looking for him, he should be at home right now contemplating how to deal with you.” Yu Tong sympathetically shrugged when he saw his son look like calamity was looming over him.

“Wait a second, as my father, should you be saying that? You should be helping me dissuade Uncle instead! He’s your younger brother, how could you let him constantly hit your son!” This is domestic violence! Yu Yin was suddenly convinced that his position in his household was an extremely miserable one.

“How should I put this? He’s also your ‘dad’, so just humbly accept your father’s teachings.” Yu Tong patted Yu Yin’s face as he realised he was looking forward to enjoying the show. “In short, you should take this chance to self-reflect a bit.”

“That’s not right, what’s with that attitude of asking me to just accept my fate? Aren’t you actually the one learning from Yan-dàgē, Dad? Xiao Yu, criticise him…” Yu Yin grabbed the person next to him, only to realise that Yu’s face clearly said something like, “Rest in peace”. “Xiao Yu, you agree?! Agree with what?!”

“Not keeping your word.” Yu held onto the grudge from the missing cake and the promise to go together, so he planned on watching the excitement from the sideline.

“That-that’s a bunch of misunderstandings.” Yu Yin instantly remembered his promise from before.

“Not keeping your word,” Yu insisted in reply.

“I’ll slowly explain everything to you once we get back. We can go eat desserts until our stomachs burst, alright? And we can go to Yilan for a few days, there’s lots of yummy things to eat there.” Yu Yin belatedly attempted to swindle the child as he lifted his belongings and threw an arm around Yu’s shoulders to start laying out the dark trap. “How about it? There’s fried ox-tongue pancakes, filled tapioca balls, and more. Don’t you want to try eating those? That woman, Li Lin Yue said they have milk-flavoured popsicles too.”

“…”

“It’s a deal then.”

The corners of Yu Tong’s mouth tilted upwards as he watched his two children walk out while laughing and talking as he followed behind.

“Let’s go home.”

“Thank you very much for your help this time.”

Li Zi Hong placed aside the items he had bought to open the completely empty kitchen cabinet. Shaking his head, he began to move the cup noodles and dry goods he had purchased inside [the space] one by one. “Let’s find time to go out and eat a meal together?”

“No thanks.” Dong Feng did not even bother to turn his head from where he sat in the living room molding clay as he replied, “Just refrain from bothering me.”

“Can Yu Yin’s group come looking for you in their free time?” Li Zi Hong strode out of the kitchen, casually glancing at the desktop. Just like last time, it was emitting a strange noise; he could not tell if the computer was malfunctioning or if it was some kind of sound effect. “He might also bring his friends, a few children that are around your age.”

“…Strangers aren’t allowed inside my home.”

“Then I’ll pass the message on. Don’t forget to eat all three meals. I’ll come again next time.

“Good-bye.”

The inside of the room became silent once more, aside from the noise the computer made.

After a while, Dong Feng stabbed the carving blade into the already extremely scratched wooden table. He stood and cancelled the screensaver. A photo of a female quickly appeared on the desktop. Several open windows flickered constantly as they ran.

He stopped his search and all kinds of reports related to the deceased named Tan appeared, from the beginning to the end [of the case]. Her family, who had originally been preparing the funeral for the suicide victim, had later ended up furious, resentful, sorrowful and grieved after learning of the sexual assault.

One of the reporters had done a short interview with the deceased’s older brother:

“May I ask how you felt after learning that your younger sister had been sexually abused and killed?”

“…The entire family was extremely angry and sad.”

“If you had a choice, would you have wanted to know the truth? Wouldn’t a simple suicide case have been less upsetting?”

“That’s true. If we had known earlier that she had been sexually abused and killed, then maybe the original mistaken belief that she had committed suicide would have been better. We are really very grieved. My parents spend all day crying when they think of my sister. Her death was too tragic. In comparison, those two criminals died too easily. They didn’t experience any of my sister’s misery…Honestly, not knowing might really have been better, it wouldn’t hurt so much now that way…”

Hearing the sorrowful words from the clip, he felt a sudden surge of disgust.

Various memories flashed through his mind until he was unable to suppress the feeling anymore. He slapped a hand over his mouth and raced into the bathroom to vomit, wanting to throw up everything unhappy.

As the owner left, the computer continued to play the clip.

“But despite this being the case, we still wanted to know the truth.”

“Thank you to those that helped us find the truth.”

***

“Zǐzǐ will wait here for you, so don’t take long.”

The day Xu Zhi Gao was released from the hospital and escorted to his foster home, he had specially requested for the social worker to let him see Ye Yi.

After communicating with the hospital, he carefully arrived outside the ward.

The small body lying in the sickbed was his best friend. When the neighbours, teachers, and classmates had avoided him, this friend had been all he’d had. Even when others had told Ye Yi not to get involved with him, Ye Yi had simply continued to play with him, hide with him, and even split his pocket money and lunch with him.

He did not quite understand what the adults had said. All he knew was that Ye Yi might stay like this forever, lying in that bed without knowing about anyone, without hearing anything, without standing up again like before. And he would not be brought to places by Ye Yi anymore.

These were all because of that person. That person hadn’t been satisfied with just beating him, but had to hurt his friend too.

His mom didn’t want him, his teachers didn’t want any relation to him, and his classmates didn’t like him either. So it was fine if he was hit, it would just hurt for a while. But why had that person hurt his friend?

When he walked in, Ye Yi’s mom looked up and saw him. A hint of loathing flashed through her eyes. All the adults were like that; he had already gotten used to it.

Ye Yi lay on the bed, his eyes half opened. It felt like he was the same as usual, but there was no reaction.

“Get better soon, I’ll give you all the marbles you said you really wanted last time.” He placed a lot of marbles next to the pillow, at a loss on what else to do. “I need to go. Next time I come back, you’d better be awake.”

The social worker zǐzǐ waved at him from outside.

Xu Zhi Gao bid farewell to Ye Yi’s mother then ran out to let the girl lead him away. When he turned away from the ward, Ye Yi’s mother gently picked up the marbles and placed them in the garbage can.

The adults had already helped arrange a good foster home for him. Apparently, the new dad and mom there were very nice people that were loving and patient. The household was taking care of a few other kids like him that lived happily in the home they cherished.

He was a bit nervous. When they brought him before a large house, he swallowed hard, unsure of what the future would be like.

He could hear the other kids playing and laughing inside.

“No need to feel nervous, they’re very good people,” the social worker encouraged him, then helped him press the doorbell. A little girl quickly ran out to open the door for them.

The girl was extremely adorable, cute to the point where Xu Zhi Gao could only stare at her in rapture. He had never seen such a pretty girl at school before with such a sweet smile. She was exactly like a doll.

“Dad and Mom have already waited for you guys for a long time.” The delicate, doll-like girl smiled brilliantly to welcome the visitors. “We made a bunch of cakes and sweets this morning, come in quickly.”

“Wow, thanks, Zǐzǐ is delighted. Xiao Gao must be happy as well.” The social worker smiled back in response, as if very used to happily talking with the girl.

“Mm, yeah…” Xu Zhi Gao finally managed to snap out of his daze but could not keep his eyes off of her. Only after the girl turned to look at him with her black, bright and clear eyes did he unconsciously lower his head as his face heated up.

“Hello, Xiao Gao. You’ll be living with us from now on.” The girl walked over naturally and stretched her hand out, a faint, delicate fragrance around her. “This place has its own dad, mom, and the brothers and sisters they have given us.”

Xu Zhi Gao grasped her hand in embarrassment and barely mustered the courage to introduce himself. “I’m Xu Zhi Gao…eh, you know that already. You-you’re…”

The girl grinned slightly.

“You can call me Shuang Shuang. That’s what Dàgēgē always called me.”

“Shuang Shuang…”

He murmured [her name] as he stared at her in captivation.

The girl’s smile widened.

“I’m Su Tong Shuang.”