Chapter 78.3: The Most Direct Threat

There’s no such thing as guarding against a thief every single day. When it’s time to rest, you rest. When it’s time to bathe, you bathe.

Just like it said in Wei Zhengdao’s book: We represent the orthodox path.

And what kind of orthodox path has its people always acting jumpy and paranoid?

He had just poured the first basin of water over himself and was rubbing shampoo into his hair when he heard footsteps behind him.

Li Zhuiyuan kept washing his hair as usual. He had good ears—he could remember someone’s footsteps after hearing them just once.

“Hey, well if it isn’t the prodigy! What a coincidence!”

Lu Yi, six-foot-one, a textbook northern bruiser.

“Hello.”

“You’re showering too, Prodigy? Uh, no, I mean, what a coincidence, you’re showering too!”

“Mm.”

“What are you doing back at school so early?”

“Ghost hunting.”

“Heh heh heh, Prodigy, you sure are a jokester.”

Li Zhuiyuan started soaping up.

“Splash!”

Lu Yi dumped a basin of water over himself.

“Whew, that’s the stuff!”

Then he looked at Li Zhuiyuan, winding his towel tightly around his hands.

“Prodigy, let me scrub your back.”

“No need.”

“It’s fine, back home we all scrub each other’s backs in the bathhouse.”

As he spoke, Lu Yi reached over.

“Seriously, don’t.”

Clatter!

Just then, the whip Li Zhuiyuan had set beside the sink slipped and fell.

Lu Yi’s eyes went wide. He stared and asked, “Prodigy, you guys in Nantong use this thing to shower? How do you use it? Is it any good?”

“I’m done.”

“Oh, okay. Wanna grab some late-night snacks? I’m cooking dumplings in the dorm. Want a bowl?”

“Won’t that trip the power?”

“Funny you ask—my major’s electrical engineering. Our dorm never trips the breaker.”

“I’ll pass. Thanks though.”

“Then how about coming by later? I play guitar.”

“Don’t you have remedial class tomorrow?”

“No classes tomorrow. It’s a rest day.”

“Then you should rest.”

“Hey, Prodigy, you still haven’t said where you’re ghost hunting?”

“There’s one right in the dorm.”

Li Zhuiyuan picked up his basin and left.

“Heh… the Prodigy really is something else,” Lu Yi muttered. He picked up his own basin, but before he poured the water, a shiver ran down his spine. He rinsed off quickly and bolted back to his dorm.

Back in his own room, Li Zhuiyuan pushed two chairs against the door, opened the window, and then lay down on the bed.

He closed his eyes and slept.

He slept straight through till morning. The pain in his head had noticeably eased.

He got up, got dressed, moved the chairs away, washed up, and sat down at the desk to start writing his investigation plan.

Just as he finished, he heard Tan Wenbin’s footsteps outside.

The dorm door swung open, and Tan Wenbin poked his head in. “Xiaoyuan, I brought you breakfast.”

Steamed buns, fried dough sticks, and soy milk.

While they ate, Li Zhuiyuan handed Tan Wenbin the plan. Tan gave it a quick once-over, saw nothing wrong, then folded it and slipped it into his pocket.

There were only two items on the list: an investigation into the old Zhao Junfeng and Qiu Minmin case, and another into Ran Qiuping.

The second just required interviews. The first meant finding the case file—ideally even someone from the original police team.

“Binbin, can your dad help?”

“Probably. He only transferred to Shigang later, but he’s got a wide network from his school days and previous postings. And even if my dad’s no use, there’s still my grandpa and my maternal grandpa. Both old cops. But I’ll need a bit of time, Yuanzi.”

“No rush. That Dead Sinker from yesterday won’t be recovering any time soon. We’ve got plenty of time—should be enough to wait for Runsheng to recover.”

“Runsheng’s doing great. When the doctor checked his wounds this morning, he said the guy’s built like a bull. And when Yin Meng came to relieve me, she brought ointment from Aunt Liu.”

“Good.”

“Should we contact Liang?”

“It’s got nothing to do with Liangliang.”

“No, I mean—this sounds like fun. Don’t you want Liang to join in?”

“Forget it. He’ll just find some excuse to go back to Nantong and investigate on his own again.”

“Pfft… hahaha!”

After Tan Wenbin finished laughing, he suddenly remembered something and asked, “Xiaoyuan, but isn’t there no one helping you now?”

“I’ve got someone.”

After Wenbin left, Li Zhuiyuan packed a few things into his backpack, then slung it over his shoulder and walked to another dorm room. He knocked.

The door opened quickly. Lu Yi looked like he’d just woken up.

“Well hey, Prodigy.”

“Bro, name your price. I’m hiring you for a day. Come with me.”

“Ha!” Lu Yi leaned down and threw an arm around Li Zhuiyuan. “What are you talking about? We’re bros! Just say the word. No need to talk about money. Gimme a sec to brush my teeth.”

Lu Yi washed up quickly, locked his dorm, and said, “Let’s go, Prodigy. Where we headed?”

“General Mountain.”

Next Chapter >>>