Translated by: Crooked

Edited by: Dust Bunny 

Listening to Si Yu’s analysis, Gu Xizhou looked around silently at the men and women coming and going.

They’re all… local tyrants…

“Mister, do you need something?” A waiter in formalwear humbly asked Si Yu, one hand behind his back and another bearing a tray of wine.

Si Yu glanced at the waiter and waved a hand. 

Gu Xizhou looked at the wine on the tray, and his heart began to stir, but the waiter didn’t pay attention to Gu Xizhou or Fang Zhi at all.

Gu Xizhou turned to look at Si Yu, at the end of his rope, and complained, “He’s too much… Is “poor” written on my face?”

Si Yu silently patted Gu Xizhou’s shoulder to console him. In his sympathetic expression, the word “yes” seemed to be written.

Gu Xizhou decided to change the subject from this heartbreaking topic and walked forward, saying casually, “Let’s go, ba. Let’s go to the club.”

Watching Gu Xizhou take the lead, Si Yu glanced at him and asked, “Do you know the way?”

Gu Xizhou raised his head and said stubbornly, “I might be a country bumpkin, but I’ve seen the surveillance videos, and knowing the way isn’t a problem!”

Si Yu stifled a smile at his act and made a gesture of invitation.

Pushing open the doors to the club, Fang Zhi felt like he’d entered another world. The music was deafening, the room full of decadence, and men and women ran their hands through their hair flirtatiously on stage. Once he entered, he found it a little hard to breathe. 

Si Yu covered the black bracelet on his wrist with his watch before he went in, followed by two country bumpkins.

The room was packed to the brim with all kinds of people, men and women alike. Once they entered, Fang Zhi’s brows directly furrowed into a 川 shape, and he asked frustratedly, “How are we supposed to look for the murderer in a place with so many people?”

Si Yu replied, “Your two victims stayed out all night, had chaotic romantic entanglements, and didn’t have a fixed partner. Do you know what this means?”

The upright youth Fang Zhi was completely clueless and turned around to look at Si Yu. In contrast, Gu Xizhou heard Si Yu’s words and seemed to think of something. He hesitated for a moment and said, “A one-night stand?” 

“Right. Finding the murderer in a place with this many people is difficult, but finding people who know them is much simpler,” said Si Yu.

After a moment of silence, Gu Xizhou pointed at the dance floor packed with men and asked, “How do we look through this many people?”

“If you were a woman, what kind of man would you want to sleep with? Especially for the first victim. She was a drug dealer. Compared with the second victim, she wasn’t short of money at all.”

Gu Xizhou couldn’t help but point at Si Yu, saying earnestly, “Someone like you!” 

Si Yu: “…Other than me.”

“Someone like me?” Gu Xizhou pointed at his own handsome face.

“Are you proud of yourself?” Si Yu obviously didn’t feel like dealing with Gu Xizhou’s thick skin. He asked a waiter for a glass of wine and pushed it in front of a single woman sitting beside them.

Gu Xizhou raised his eyebrows. Looking at the woman, he felt she looked very familiar? He seemed to have seen her somewhere before. She was beautiful and had a very graceful bearing. 

The woman took the glass of wine Si Yu delivered, smiling with two dark eyes like an endless expanse of spring water. She lightly parted her lips to take a sip, saying, “Thank you.”

Gu Xizhou looked at Si Yu, and the two people communicated with their expressions.

Gu Xizhou: “We came to investigate a case and you’re picking up girls?”

Si Yu: “Shut up. I’m not.” 

Gu Xizhou: “Then right now you’re-???”

Si Yu looked at Gu Xizhou coldly and said quietly to the woman sizing them up, “Hello, can you do me a favor?”

The woman nodded slightly.

Si Yu asked, “Excuse me, but do you come here often?” 

“En, I don’t know if a month can be counted as a frequent visitor?”

“It counts.”

“I have a question for you. It’s a bit presumptuous, so I hope you don’t take offense.”

The beautiful woman raised her chin slightly and said indifferently, “Sure.” 

Si Yu tapped the table lightly with his finger as if he weren’t paying much attention. “If you were to pick a man to sleep with out of the many here tonight, who would you choose?”

Ktf kbwjc vlvc’a tjnf ab atlcx jybea Vl Te’r defralbc. Vtf qblcafv ja tlw. “Tbe.”

“Dfrlvfr wf.” Vl Te qblcafv ja atf batfg wfc lc atf gbbw. “Ktlr defralbc lr nfgs lwqbgajca.”

Ktf kbwjc qblcafv ja Xe Wlhtbe. “Llw.” 

Xe Wlhtbe mbeivc’a tfiq yea kjca ab qgjlrf atf kbwjc jcv weaafgfv delfais, “Pa’r cba ibbxr ktfgf P ojii rtbga, yea atf klmxfv qbkfg bo wbcfs.”

Si Yu sent a glare at Gu Xizhou that meant ‘are you investigating the case or not? You’re quite proud, aren’t you? Are you a peacock?’

Not to be outdone, Gu Xizhou glared back.

There were more and more people in the room. Si Yu clarified, “Besides the three of us. I’m talking about the regulars here at the club.” 

The woman put down her wine glass. After thinking for a moment, she answered, “Out of the regulars? You Tianyi, ba.”

“Why?”

“He’s a regular at the club. I’ve only been coming here for a month, but everyone knows he’s a famous ‘Gun King’ with good technique and handsome looks. He usually works out, and he has a little money he’s willing to spend on a woman,” said the woman, forthright and without shame. “Many people here have made an appointment with him, both the wealthy and the poor.”

Si Yu raised an eyebrow and pointed at the club, asking, “Is he here today?” 

“There, that man surrounded by several girls.” The woman picked up the wine glass and turned around to look at Si Yu to say, “Thanks for the wine.”

The woman took out a card from her bag and handed it to Gu Xizhou, whispering in his ears, “You’re police officers here to investigate a case, right? Next time you’re here to play, look for me. Don’t worry, I haven’t been with that ‘Gun King’.”

After she finished speaking, the woman gathered her things and left.

Gu Xizhou watched her leave, sinking into thought. How did she know he was a police officer? He shouldn’t have been recognized from that video, right? 

“What are you looking at? She’s already gone. Don’t you have her number? Can’t you just call her if you miss her?”

Gu Xizhou gave Si Yu a strange look. Why is his tone so off?

He shrugged and explained, “No, I just thought she looked a little familiar.”

Si Yu: “Hehe.” 

However, when Fang Zhi heard Gu Xizhou, he started to earnestly think back. After a few seconds, he said, “It’s her!”

Gu Xizhou: “Who?”

Si Yu raised an eyebrow: “En?”

“It seems like last time when we were investigating the Phoenix Mountain dismemberment case, she… was that one hostess living next door to the murderer,” said Fang Zhi, looking stunned. 

“Right, she was the one who told us there was a problem with the Feng Shui of the flower pot arrangement. After that, we dug through those flower pots and found the victim’s head!” With Fang Zhi’s help, Gu Xizhou connected the two people in his mind. No wonder this woman knew he was a police officer!

In response, Si Yu looked deeply at the departing woman. After that, the three of them moved directly to the middle of the club and found You Tianyi. His mood disturbed, You Tianyi raised a displeased eyebrow as he looked at Si Yu and the others. He asked, “Do you need something?”

“Do you mind if we sit down and talk?” Si Yu said mildly.

“Do as you will.” 

Gu Xizhou took out two pictures of the victims and pushed them in front of You Tianyi, asking, “Do you know these two people?”

You Tianyi glanced impatiently at them, quirking the corner of his mouth, and said, “No, I don’t.”

After You Tianyi’s flat denial, Gu Xizhou frowned at the same time as Si Yu spoke: “Don’t worry, this isn’t my girlfriend. They borrowed some money from me here. I came to look for them to repay me.”

You Tianyi pushed the wine glass toward Gu Xizhou and Si Yu. “Oh. Since you didn’t come to look for trouble, I’ll invite you to drink.” 

“No need.” Si Yu very simply refused You Tianyi’s kindness, saying, “I still have to drive home.”

“Okay.” You Tianyi picked up the pictures and looked for a moment, then said, “I don’t know. They both have snake spirit faces. I can’t tell.”

Gu Xizhou pointed at the photograph and asked, “Are you sure?!”

You Tianyi shook his head firmly and said, “I really can’t tell. Look at the women here. Can you tell them apart?” 

Gu Xizhou looked all around. “…….” He really was a little faceblind.

After he spoke, You Tianyi suddenly began to cough. Then, a girl wearing revealing clothing came over from the side to pat his back with distress. She asked worriedly, “What’s wrong with you this time? You haven’t recovered from this cold for almost a month.”

You Tianyi used a finger to lightly swipe the girl’s nose and whispered something in her ear, provoking her to hammer him with a small fist.

Gu Xizhou felt embarrassed. He suddenly felt that having good hearing wasn’t a blessing. For example, when you hear, “Even with a cold, I can still fuck you til’ you’re calling Daddy”, it isn’t very appropriate. 

You Tianyi stood up and apologized, “Alright, I have something to do, so I’ll go first. You can ask the others.”

The other person wasn’t a suspect, nor was he an eyewitness, he didn’t have the evidence to keep the other behind. He touched the badge inside his pocket but let the other leave.

After waiting for him to go, Gu Xizhou whispered, “Didn’t that girl just now also have a snake spirit face?”

Si Yu couldn’t help but reply, “Just because you look down on the snake spirit face doesn’t mean you don’t like it, understand?” 

Gu Xizhou: “…I really don’t understand this.”

Fang Zhi raised a hand weakly, agreeing with Gu Xizhou. “I don’t understand either.”

Si Yu didn’t feel like paying attention to them, merely sweeping his gaze over the departing figures of You Tianyi and the girl. When he stood up, he inadvertently overturned the whole table to the point that You Tianyi’s wine glass fell to the floor and shattered.

A waiter hurried over. Gu Xizhou watched Si Yu silently expose the black wristband and easily fish out some cash to hand to the waiter. He said with the utmost courtesy, “For your trouble.” 

Gu Xizhou looked at the waiter who was grinning from ear to ear and once again bowed before the wicked power of money over man. He was a little sour. “All that work for nothing in the end. You Tianyi didn’t know the two victims… Even if he did, he didn’t have any impression of them. What do we do now?”

“Just because he doesn’t remember doesn’t mean the others don’t.” Si Yu smiled at Gu Xizhou, directly leading him to a place nearby where a few girls stood. “Good evening. Can I ask you a favor? You should have all heard just now, right?”

Si Yu took the photos of the victims from Gu Xizhou’s hand and spoke, looking distressed, “They borrowed money from me here, and I came to look for them to repay me. It’s been several days, but I haven’t seen them. Is there anyone that knows them?”

When Gu Xizhou looked at these girls, he realized why You Tianyi kept looking behind him earlier. He really was a ‘Gun King’. 

When the picture was placed on the table, Gu Xizhou noticed that each of the girls wore a small, round medal. These girls were employees here and should be familiar with many people.

As expected, when the photos were placed down, one of the short-haired girls pointed at Hu Shanshan’s photo and said, “Oh, her, ya, that slut. Last month, You Ge had originally promised to go out with me, but he changed his mind at the last minute and went with this woman!”

Gu Xizhou was surprised. Hu Shanshan’s bracelet was clearly similar to his. Hu Shanshan only came once and spent the night with You Tianyi?

“They all look almost the same, but you can recognize them.” He struggled to avoid looking stupefied. 

The employee said indifferently, “How could I not! We don’t look even the slightest bit similar, humph! After all, outstanding older brothers like you are also a hot commodity here.”

The other girls also teased Gu Xizhou’s group. “If it’s the three of you, we can, too, ah.”

Fang Zhi was frightened into shrinking his neck, and he hid behind Gu Xizhou like a startled chick.

Gu Xizhou went stiff, and he waved his hands, saying, “No need.” 

Si Yu thought for a moment and asked, “Do you have You Tianyi’s contact details? Can you give me his number?”

“This isn’t good, ba?” The girls hesitated.

Si Yu silently took out a card. “No cash, is a credit card okay?”

Gu Xizhou watched as Si Yu spent more than 10,000 on You Tianyi’s phone number, feeling sick… He muttered, “You won’t get reimbursed for this, ah! I don’t have the money!” 

Si Yu: “…Don’t worry about it.”

After swiping the card, the employees directly gave You Tianyi’s phone number to Gu Xizhou.

Si Yu returned the card to his pocket. When he had taken only a few steps away with Gu Xizhou, he suddenly turned back and said to the staff members, “Oh, that’s right, I’ll remind you. Go to the hospital to get an examination. Take medicine early, treat the disease early. You can consider this money my donation, ba.”

The staff members cursed him in unison: “Psycho!” 

Gu Xizhou raised an eyebrow and asked Si Yu, “Why get an examination?”

Si Yu: “Use your brain.”

Gu Xizhou: “……”

“We have the phone number, so let’s go back, ba,” Si Yu said mildly. “There are too many women here. The two of you can’t handle all of them.” 

“Is this number vital?” Gu Xizhou looked at the phone number worth 18800 in his hand.

“You’ll use it.” Si Yu looked confident.

Gu Xizhou raised an eyebrow. “Do you think he’s the murderer?”

Si Yu said indifferently, “Maybe it’s him, or maybe it has something to do with the people around him.” 

“The people around him?” Gu Xizhou was silent for a moment before he came to a realization.

Si Yu drove him back to the parking lot. Gu Xizhou looked at the departing sportscar silently, looking thoughtful.

By only knowing how to say ‘use your brain’, doesn’t this person know that he’s in dire need of a spanking by saying these words? 

After Gu Xizhou sent Fang Zhi home, he returned to his own house and went to bed. As expected——a new victim showed up.

It didn’t take long for them to identify the victim this time because Gu Xizhou and Fang Zhi recognized her at the crime scene as one of the girls from the club yesterday who Si Yu told to go to the hospital for an exam.

Xiang Yuan crouched by the corpse wearing white gloves. Seeing Gu Xizhou, he immediately explained the situation to him. “From preliminary observations, the technique is the same as the former two murders, but she…”

Gu Xizhou gestured for Xiang Yuan to stop. Compared to the previous two corpses, this one was obviously much more pitiful. The hair was a terrible mess, there were bruises on her body, and there were bloodstains on her lower body. “She was raped.” 

“That’s right.” Xiang Yuan pointed at the evidence bag on the side. “This is the semen withdrawn. Maybe it can help solve the case today.”

Gu Xizhou stood up and beckoned over the busy Fang Zhi. “Is the victim’s phone still in her purse?”

“The phone is missing, and the purse is still here, but there’s no money in it.”

Gu Xizhou turned and walked back toward Xiang Yuan. Xiang Yuan tilted his head quizzically and asked with a grin, “What is it? Did Captain Gu think of something important? Get a headache?” 

“The DNA identification isn’t urgent. Instead, examine the pathology of the three deceased and check whether they were all infected with the same disease.” Gu Xizhou recalled the dialogue from last night at the club and added, “For example, HIV.”

Xiang Yuan was at a loss, but he still nodded. “Okay, I’ll arrange it.”

Gu Xizhou wanted to understand why Si Yu refused You Tianyi’s wine yesterday and even reminded those girls to go get an examination. A month-long cold wasn’t good, and it indicated a weak immune system. AIDS’ alternative name was ‘acquired immunodeficiency syndrome’. The destruction of lymphocytes made the body’s immune system gradually weaken!

Yesterday, when Si Yu flipped over the table and the wine glass, that was probably on purpose! 

It was too horrible to contemplate, ahhh!

As Gu Xizhou pondered, he felt a chill down his spine, and his scalp felt numb. Did this person think of it yesterday?

He took out his phone and called Si Yu. After a brief busy tone, the call connected.

“Did you already figure out that You Tianyi might have AIDS yesterday? The people who had sex with him might be infected, and the killer shouldn’t be You Tianyi since he picked up a little sister yesterday and wouldn’t have time to commit a murder… So the murderer should be someone infected by him? …So that’s why you told those girls to go to the hospital yesterday?” 

Listening to the questions raining down on him from the phone, Si Yu set down the document he was holding and squinted at the sun outside. He spoke indifferently, “So you still have some brains.”

Gu Xizhou ignored Si Yu’s jab and continued, “This morning, a third body was found… We met her at the club yesterday. She was one of the girls.”

“Short hair.” Si Yu asked a question, but his tone was flat.

“Right, her.” Gu Xizhou was surprised, and he asked, “How did you know?” 

“Not important.”

Gu Xizhou said lowly, “If you’d told me yesterday, she might not have died.”

Si Yu frowned on his sofa. “You blame me?”

“That’s not what I mean… I know the murderer kills according to the situation.” 

“If I said I didn’t know she would die, would you believe me?”

“I’d believe you.”

“That’s good enough.” Si Yu’s expression relaxed, and he reminded Gu Xizhou, “It’s not me you should be calling right now. You have to call You Tianyi.”

Gu Xizhou listened to the dial tone and felt very angry. Then, he silently took out the phone number worth 18800. He turned to see that Xiang Yuan had already covered the victim with a white cloth… 

Suddenly, he realized——President Si’s money was stolen, dammit.

It was just a coincidence, but Gu Xizhou still felt it was a little uncanny. He dialed You Tianyi’s number, but his phone must have been shut off.

“Have the tech department investigate this number,” ordered Gu Xizhou, handing You Tianyi’s number to Fang Zhi.

Fang Zhi didn’t ask before he called the tech department to tell them to investigate. Only then did he ask Gu Xizhou, “Gu Ge, didn’t You Tianyi go out for the night yesterday? It shouldn’t be him, right?” 

Gu Xizhou nodded and said, “It’s not him, but it’s definitely related to him.”

“I seem to have heard the same thing from someone yesterday…”

Gu Xizhou glared at Fang Zhi, who shut his mouth with a grin. After about a half hour, the telephone card was put through the identification system and verified You Tianyi’s name and company. Gu Xizhou took Fang Zhi straight to the ground floor of You Tianyi’s company.

The author has something to say:     Gu Xizhou: I heard that my CP is Si Yu? 

Si Yu: Don’t listen.

Gu Xizhou: I’m a little flustered to fall in love with him, ah!

Si Yu: ^_^