"Poor little Ye Xuan, getting himself caught in such a pathetic state." Wu Nian sat in a soft swivel chair, pinching a photograph of Ye Xuan between her fingers. She occasionally pushed off the floor with her feet to spin the chair, her fiery red hem fluttering with a certain playful charm.
Her voice was soft and sweet, but her words were chillingly indifferent.
"Forget it, don't bother arranging any backup for him. He’s reached the age limit anyway, and he hasn't been very obedient lately. It’s the perfect time to swap him out for the next batch of little ones. Besides, the old injuries from his training are probably becoming impossible to suppress, aren't they? We don't have spare cash to keep him around."
As if remembering something, she clapped her hands and smiled. "Little Ye Xuan still had a few subordinates under him, right? Pick a few to release. It just so happens that the West City side has been vacant for a long time."
Wu Nian tossed the photograph into a paper shredder. Amidst the whirring of the machine, she spun her chair once more before hopping up. She waved away the surrounding people and walked straight toward the young man bound to a chair.
From beginning to end, the young man’s expression remained calm. His cornflower-blue eyes were cold and emotionless. Even though he had to look up at Wu Nian as she approached, his aura did not yield in the slightest.
"Ah, what a beautiful gaze."
Wu Nian paused slightly, her eyes suddenly sparkling with excitement.
"Speaking of which, little Ye Xuan was caught because of you, wasn't he?"
"But don't worry, we don't have those hypocritical rules here. As long as you are strong enough."
"And it looks like you have nowhere else to go."
The young man’s persistent silence caused Wu Nian’s enthusiasm to gradually wane. she stopped talking, her smile flattening.
Looking into the depths of his eyes—as deep and tranquil as the dark sea—she actually felt a ridiculous sensation that she was being scrutinized from above.
It was a feeling she had only ever experienced from the Boss.
"..."
She suddenly went mute, momentarily lost in that deep sea.
She had the distinct feeling that this wasn't just another low-level hound like the ones before.
The young man chose that exact moment of her hesitation to speak.
"Why stop?"
His voice was slightly cool, like ice clinking together.
His deep blue pupils carried an inscrutable emotion.
"Please, continue."
***
Mu Ran didn't get a reply from the System; instead, he heard the doorbell downstairs.
The children had completely forgotten the minor scare from a few days ago and had come to visit again in high spirits.
Mu Ran looked through the window at the two protagonists following behind the children, his face a mask of confusion.
*Why are you two here?!*
Now he couldn't refuse them at all.
"Yo, young man, we’re here~"
Shen Feibai entered the shop naturally behind the little sprouts, one hand pulling a stiff-limbed Mo Yuan.
As soon as he entered, he began looking around with great interest as if he had discovered a new continent, leaving Mo Yuan standing there at a loss. Mo Yuan could only meet Mu Ran’s gaze and offer a somewhat awkward smile.
"Hm? Who are they?"
Staring at these two tall strangers and remembering unpleasant past events, the little girl’s face scrunched up. She looked like a small animal with its ears pricked in high alert.
Shen Feibai answered very actively, "We’re police officers!"
One child looked at the toy he hadn't put down yet and questioned him ruthlessly, "But you’re playing with toys? That’s so childish! Not even as good as the one from before..."
Mu Ran: !
He reflexively interrupted the child. "Well, adults can play too. You’ve played in this area for a long time; why don't you go play in the back today?"
Only after saying it did he realize he didn't actually need to hide the fact that Ye Xuan had been to the shop. Doing this now actually made it look like he was trying to cover something up.
*Sigh, it’s all the trauma left over from working overtime in my past life...*
The front half of the shop mostly contained exquisite small accessories and finely crafted props. The children couldn't look away once they saw them. After obtaining the young shopkeeper's permission, they carefully took them out to gesture with. Gradually becoming absorbed, they began playing a game of "House" with princes and princesses.
Although they were curious if there were more toys deeper in the shop, they all suppressed the vigorous curiosity typical of human cubs.
"Yay!"
The children immediately stopped caring about the two strangers and happily ran to the back of the shop.
Shen Feibai fiddled with a vintage-style pocket watch in his hand, fascinated by the precise meshing of the gears and the detailed pattern design. "Wow... what a truly excellent design!"
Seeing Mu Ran’s somewhat tense expression, he gave an innocent smile and waved his hand. "Don't be nervous, we just wanted to browse the shop... and ask you one or two tiny questions while we're at it~"
"Have you heard any news about your brother?"
Mu Ran: "..."
He lowered his eyes, carrying a hint of melancholy and helplessness. "Why do you ask that?"
"Mm-hmm, seeing us come to your door, and you don't even ask about our investigation results?" Shen Feibai secretly gave Mo Yuan a look, then used his body to block the youth's field of vision.
Mo Yuan understood and walked toward the depths of the shop with very light steps.
"...I thought I wasn't allowed to ask about those things proactively." Mu Ran blinked and naturally changed his tune. "Then may I ask the detective, what brings you here today? Is there any news of my brother?"
Shen Feibai spread his hands, his expression regretful. "I'm very sorry, but there is still no news so far."
"However..." He changed the subject. "We do have information on another criminal. Do you recognize him?"
He took out the photograph of Ye Xuan.
Mu Ran was extremely grateful for the vision problems of this shell. Thus, even though he was a step late in expressing surprise at the mummy-wrapped Ye Xuan, it was still a plausible explanation.
"Um... it’s him, right? The person you mentioned who was following us." Mu Ran seemed to feel a pang of fear at Ye Xuan’s seemingly miserable injuries, and his voice softened considerably. "What happened to these injuries... how terrifying."
The youth looked harmless and timid. His lilac eyes kept darting away as if he couldn't bear to see the tragic state of another, yet he couldn't help but reveal a hint of melancholy, as if he were sympathizing with the person in the photo.
Even though he already knew the other's true identity from the police, he still unconsciously felt a sense of pity.
Seeing Mu Ran’s reaction, Shen Feibai set aside his internal suspicions and put the photo away.
It seemed the youth truly didn't know about Ye Xuan’s situation.
He had originally speculated whether Ye Xuan had come to the door in the middle of the night and been caught by that other young man, who then beat Ye Xuan up to protect the boy.
After all, Ye Xuan’s strength was well-documented; the only unaffiliated person known to have the motive and ability to suppress him was that young man.
The boy was indeed well-protected. He got this flustered just looking at a photo that wasn't even that graphic. If it were Shen Feibai, he couldn't have acted out that kind of feeling even if he tried.
"Right, then there’s nothing else." But since they were already here, they might as well investigate the shop a bit. Shen Feibai thought this as he casually pulled up a few more topics to stall for time. When he estimated it was about time, he looked behind Mu Ran and spoke with feigned surprise. "Oh my, how did Young Master Mo end up in the back?"
He acted as if he had just realized something. "Oh, I see. He’s truly a child at heart~ He must be very lonely usually, being surrounded by boring adults, right?"
Mo Yuan, who had just finished gathering information from the children: "..."
The child standing next to him imagined heaven-knows-what and suddenly became enthusiastic toward this adult, actively sharing the toy in his hand and completely forgetting the conversation from a moment ago.
Shen Feibai turned to Mu Ran, his eyes curving as he made a request. "Could we stay a bit longer? Otherwise, I’m really worried he’ll start crying internally in a moment~"
Mu Ran: ??
He looked at Mo Yuan’s crisp, clean silver-gray suit, his cold and elegant low ponytail, and the consistently restrained curve of his lips. He really couldn't imagine the man’s inner self being that fragile.
But it didn't matter.
"Please, suit yourselves."
***
A medical kit?
Shen Feibai drifted toward a corner unnoticed. Using a flashlight, he quietly observed the white box underneath.
A layer of thin dust had settled on the side latches; it looked like it hadn't been used for several days.
It seemed the young man really hadn't returned.
Based on their guess about the relationship between the two, they had thought the young man would at least come back once. Shen Feibai sighed inwardly. To avoid arousing suspicion, he used the movement to continue admiring the items in the display case.
His gaze moved left, down, down.
Then left again, up—and suddenly stopped.
The surface of the cabinet illuminated by the white light of the flashlight wasn't as smooth as it had been the last few times. It seemed... uneven?
Shen Feibai squinted and stared for a moment, then reached out to feel along the undulations on the cabinet surface.
These patterns weren't a language, nor were they arranged in any regular order.
Finding no results from his exploration, he changed his approach and lightly tapped on the cabinet door. Finally, amidst the subtle differences in sound, he discovered a section with a different structure.
It seemed... it could be turned.
The curiosity and desire for exploration unique to a detective led Shen Feibai to follow his hunch, tentatively turning that area.
With a faint sound of mechanical parts moving, the seemingly ordinary cabinet door slowly rotated open.
The smell of stale decay wafted from the gap, like flipping through the ancient, yellowed pages on the highest shelf of a library.
Shen Feibai cautiously pushed the opening only a tiny bit and shone his flashlight inside. The sight that met his eyes made his heart skip a beat.
A small figure with nothing but black holes where its features should be lay slumped in the narrow space. Fine stitches lined the corners of its mouth and eye sockets, leaving gruesome marks on the delicate, fair skin.
The small figure’s face was turned toward the cabinet door. The torn mouth and hollow eye sockets seemed to be smiling eerily at the visitor.
Looking in from outside the secret, dark crevice, its limbs were twisted and curled up inside the cabinet, looking exactly like a ghost doll stepped out of some horror movie.
*Thump-thump—*
The violent pounding in his chest called Shen Feibai back to his senses. He cleared his mind from the momentary shock, exhaled softly, steadied himself, and turned the flashlight to its maximum brightness to carefully observe the doll inside the cabinet.
Yes, a doll.
Although at first glance it looked far too much like a tragic victim from some clandestine criminal case, whether it was the delicate white skin or the thick, jet-black hair, one could eventually perceive the anomaly.
Shen Feibai, who had just breathed a sigh of relief at this realization, moved the flashlight downward and was startled again by the new sight.
Spread beneath the doll were dense clusters of eyeballs, shimmering with different colors, each one lifelike. Looking closer, they were mixed with various angles and shapes of nose bridges; there was even a small, discarded heart lying in a dusty corner.
Combined with the fine stitches on the doll itself and the stitching at the ruptures that looked increasingly frustrated and crude, these parts were likely rejects after a process of constant selection.
Recalling the beautiful and exquisite finished dolls in the shop, this was probably a leftover from a failed creation.
...At first glance, it really was terrifying.
Shen Feibai, who had almost thought he had stumbled upon another case, let out a breath. Looking at this highly impactful scene, he couldn't resist taking a photo of it.
He felt he could use it to prank those young police officers whose heads were filled with nothing but solving big cases~
Ah, but...
***
"Um, are all the dolls in the shop made by you?"
Mu Ran recalled the few lines of background setting. "No. Most of them were made by my grandfather."
"Most? So some were made by you?" Shen Feibai hesitated for a moment, unable to stop himself from asking, "But your eyes?"
"Yes. Making these things is easy once you're familiar with it. The key is the perception of the hands."
"Oh~ a very professional answer." Shen Feibai looked at the tool cabinet that had clearly been gathering dust and hadn't been opened for a long time, then casually asked a few more questions. "It looks like you haven't made any in a long time. Is it because of your health?"
Mu Ran: "..."
*Why are you suddenly asking so many questions again? Are you overthinking things again?*
Mu Ran decided to bring out the grandfather from his background story to act as a shield and shut the detective up.
"It’s not entirely because of that..." He lowered his eyes, his tone gentle and sorrowful. "It’s just that after Grandfather left, I could no longer find any interest in creating. I feel like the surroundings would only trigger painful memories."
The youth’s slender white fingers resting on his lap curled slightly, as if he were remembering a sad past.
"Is there... anything else you want to ask?"
Mo Yuan couldn't listen anymore. He pressed down on Shen Feibai’s head and steadily apologized for him. "Apologies, we didn't mean to offend." Then he warned the person beside him in a low voice, "You are not allowed to pry into the private family matters of citizens that are unrelated to the case."
"Alright, alright~" Shen Feibai raised his hands in surrender.
...
"I’ve said it many times: do not investigate matters unrelated to the case, especially now that our focus has shifted." Mo Yuan took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose, sighing helplessly. "I really should watch over you every second and drag you away whenever you intend to offend someone."
"...Damn it, don't make it sound like I have no discipline!"
"Cough, besides, my intuition tells me that kid didn't really mind me asking those questions~"
Mo Yuan put his glasses back on and gave him a cold, sweeping glance. "Your intuition only works on those with antisocial personalities. In normal times, how many times have you misinterpreted the emotions of ordinary citizens seeking help?"
"...Tch." Shen Feibai ignored him and walked away quickly.
Falling behind, Mo Yuan stared blankly at his back.
*A fellow who follows his whims too much.*
He truly feared that one day something would happen where Shen Feibai felt there was no problem and let a criminal go.
***
