Such a Rotten Personality

In the spacious music classroom, piano keys rang out, and elegant, soothing music flowed from between the girl's fingers.

Her long hair hung loosely over her shoulders. Her profile was gentle yet spirited, and her light makeup made her features even more refined. Her fingers were long and slender. Even dressed in a fashionable thin top and hot pants that did not quite suit the piano, she still seemed like an elf—lively and serene.

After an instrumental introduction, the girl leaned toward the microphone and sang a melody tinged with longing.

[Suddenly, in an instant, we grew up]

[Like a painting blurred by the hand of time]

[Where are we each going?]

[What a foolish question]

[Who could answer it?]

[Longing never speaks]

[The goodbyes that came too late are so clamorous]

--

The phone set aside suddenly vibrated. The young woman glanced at the notification on the screen from the corner of her eye, paused, and both her singing and piano playing stopped at once.

"What's wrong, Zhu Yan?"

Seeing her stop in the middle, the several people watching nearby all asked curiously.

"You guys practice the other performances first. Something suddenly came up." Zhu Yan unlocked her phone, opened WeChat, and, seeing that the message was from her pinned contact, immediately headed out of the music classroom.

"Don't tell me her boyfriend texted her?" A girl from the same club snickered.

"Uh..." Zhu Yan heard that and showed none of the embarrassment of being teased. Instead, her expression changed as she gripped her phone, muttering inwardly, Boyfriend? Oh my god, good thing he isn't. I don't even dare imagine being with that...

She thought for a long time. Words like "devil," "wolf in sheep's clothing," and "monster" rolled through her mind, only to be rejected one after another. Dejectedly, she realized that even after all these years, she still could not find the most fitting word to describe that person.

"Wolf in sheep's clothing" was fairly fitting, but sometimes he could not even be bothered to pretend. He was just black through and through. Well, black once you cut him open, anyway...

Forget it.

She did not dare think of him as a boyfriend. Maybe, perhaps, probably, he counted as her boss and brother?

Without answering the girl's question, Zhu Yan left the classroom, found somewhere deserted, opened a picture sent by "San," studied it carefully for a while, then replied with amusement.

"You drew this? Why doesn't this target have a photo this time? Do we need to identify him from a drawing now? And it isn't lively at all—it looks like an ID photo."

San: Mm~~ Anyway, my drawings are no different from photos. You just need to investigate whether he is a real person.

The request was a little strange, but Zhu Yan asked nothing and agreed directly. "I'll do it as soon as possible. Do you need me to ask the police—"

San: No. He may not be a criminal. This is a personal matter. Oh, his name may contain Zheng or Song.

What kind of bizarre hint was that? Zhu Yan raised an eyebrow in surprise, replied with another "Oh," and ended the conversation.

She thought that she would tell the others in the club later that she was confident enough in her performance and did not need any more rehearsal.

She needed to free up enough time to investigate the new task her boss had sent her—sigh, who would have known that the thin calluses on her fingertips were not from playing the piano, but from...

In the study, Yu Xing put down his phone, looked at the detailed sketch before him, and pressed his fingers to his temple.

Drawing was easy enough, but recreating Zheng Song's photo from memory after seeing it only once took some effort.

Inside the transparent document bag, there was an ID photo of Zheng Song attached to the file labeled Doctor Zheng Song's "medical record." If Yu Xing's memory had not been exceptionally good, he truly would not have remembered it.

He tidied up simply. Seeing that it was still early, he grabbed a baseball cap, put on a mask, and headed out.

Bishui Garden was located in a prosperous area of Mijin City, a newly developed residential complex completed only recently.

The villa district overlooked both the lake and artificial scenery. Not many people had moved in yet, and it was quiet. The sun was gradually moving westward, while the scorching wind was firmly shut outside by the floor-to-ceiling windows in Zhao Yijiu's living room, where it spun in an unwilling swirl.

The air conditioner was set to a comfortable temperature. Zhao Yijiu reclined in a lounge chair in the living room, reading. A pair of Maekin blue-light-blocking prescription glasses rested on his nose, and he wore a loose shirt. The outfit softened some of his cold hardness and gave him a more scholarly air.

"Little Jiu, I'm so touched! Last night was the first time I turned on the air conditioner this summer!" A man's cheerful voice came from the sofa beside him, carrying the delight of someone who had gained the entire world.

Zhao Yijiu turned his head and glanced at him expressionlessly. "Zhao Mou, have you never seen an air conditioner before?"

"Watch how you talk! I've been busy with a high-difficulty deduction these days and only just made it back alive. Can't you say something nice? And who told you to call me Zhao Mou? Call me brother—" The man sprawled on the sofa looked twenty-seven or twenty-eight. He wore an exquisite shirt, neatly pressed suit trousers, and silver-rimmed glasses. His features were fairly delicate, and his black hair had been meticulously slicked back.

If one ignored his completely unrestrained slouch, his appearance and temperament alone made him look every bit like a refined scoundrel.

"...Brother." Zhao Yijiu fell silent for two seconds. Remembering that the other man had rushed over to treat his injuries as soon as he emerged from the deduction game last night—and that he was indeed his biological older brother—he reluctantly changed how he addressed him.

That immediately pleased Zhao Mou. He eagerly sat up and leaned closer, speaking mysteriously. "Let me tell you, last night, I got so excited just thinking about air conditioning that I used the TV remote as the air conditioner remote. And then—"

His tone was so suspenseful that Zhao Yijiu considered his brother's identity and hesitated. "It turned on?"

"Heh, guess what? It didn't turn on!"

"..." Zhao Yijiu's face darkened. "Boring."

His brother truly fit other people's impression of Tianjin natives—like someone who performed crosstalk.

"Hey, Little Jiu..."

"What now?" He could not even read in peace. From the corner of his eye, Zhao Yijiu caught sight of the bandages around his shoulder beneath his loose shirt. At least he restrained himself from throwing a punch without warning, as he would have done when they were children.

Zhao Mou noticed his intention and was not afraid at all. He leisurely crossed one leg over the other. "I was going to say, you don't need to return that Stab Heart to me yet. You're planning to do the assessment game tomorrow anyway. Once you become an official Deduction Player, you'll be able to use that knife."

"It's clearly called [Heartshatter]." Zhao Yijiu corrected him coldly, then added, "I wasn't planning to return it yet anyway. I promised someone I'd let him take a look at it."

Though... he could not contact Yu Xing at all.

Zhao Mou became interested. He got up and took the book from Zhao Yijiu's hands, gossip gleaming in his eyes. "Right, I didn't ask last night because you looked too weak. With your ability—how did you get hurt?"

At that question, Zhao Yijiu, who had been about to snatch his book back, frowned slightly and reflected, "I lacked experience. I was careless."

Although he was skilled in a fight, his way of thinking had not adapted to the rhythm of deductions, which had nearly cost him his life. He had kept that firmly in mind ever since returning home.

He could not make the same mistake again.

"You'll adapt." Zhao Mou looked at his younger brother, the corner of his mouth lifting as he quietly placed the book farther away. Seemingly casually, he said, "You mentioned that another person who took the test with you made it out alive too, right?"

"Mm."

"What's he like?"

"Very strong."

"Strong? Stronger than you?" For this withdrawn younger brother, who had almost never thought highly of anyone since childhood, to admit that a newcomer was strong... Zhao Mou's eyes flashed behind his lenses. "What kind of strong?"

"He..." Zhao Yijiu thought back and found that he could not immediately come up with a description.

Good at acting, especially skilled at pretending to be afraid?

Decent in a fight, but physically weak as hell?

Very good-looking... forget that one.

After a long pause, Zhao Yijiu reluctantly began praising him. "He's unusual. He hides a lot, and he's quite intelligent. His personality... is rotten. What, are you interested in him?"

"Oh~" Zhao Mou narrowed his long, thin eyes. His smile was gentle, but the shrewdness within it was impossible to ignore. "Of course I'm interested. If he's a promising prospect, persuading him to join us would be a good choice. Oh, right—what exactly makes his personality so rotten?"

Just then, the doorbell at the front entrance suddenly rang.

Their conversation immediately stopped. Zhao Mou got up and went to the door, where the security monitor showed a man outside wearing a baseball cap and a mask.

A stranger.

The outfit hid the man's appearance completely, and Zhao Mou could not help becoming wary.

He asked through the intercom, "Hello, who are you looking for?"

Although he was casual and improper around his younger brother at home, he spoke to outsiders in a polite, gentle tone, like a fox with its sharp claws hidden away.

Zhao Yijiu's expression shifted, and he looked over.

"Hello!" The person outside sounded a little nervous. "I-I'm surnamed Yu. I met Zhao Yijiu yesterday."

There were only Zhao Yijiu and Zhao Mou in the house, and it was very quiet, so the voice naturally reached Zhao Yijiu's ears as well.

Zhao Yijiu's temple twitched at once.

Here he was again!

Putting on an act again!

Under Zhao Mou's astonished gaze—You actually told him our home address!?—he walked over. Seeing that Zhao Mou was not pressing the intercom button, he let out a cold snort. "Hmph. Didn't you ask what made his personality rotten? This is it—using who knows what method to investigate someone else's address, then arrogantly coming straight to their door."

With that, he opened the door and coldly glanced at the young man outside.

Seeing that it was him, Yu Xing's only visible eyes curved into crescents. "Surprise~"

Zhao Yijiu immediately tried to shut the door.

"Don't, don't~" Yu Xing quickly braced the gap with his hand. His strength was enough to make Zhao Yijiu pause in surprise, and in that instant, Yu Xing pushed the door fully open. "It wasn't easy getting here. Could you—"

He caught sight of Zhao Mou.

"Could you take me in for just a little while, Brother Jiu!" In an instant, his lightly teasing tone shifted, making him sound small, pitiful, and helpless.

"Come in."

Zhao Yijiu could not be bothered to say anything else and stepped aside.

"Hehe, thanks, Brother Jiu." Yu Xing said it with particular ease. Noticing Zhao Mou's interested gaze, he asked, "And this is?"

"Cut the act. You tracked down my home address—don't tell me you don't know who he is." Zhao Yijiu immediately exposed him.

"Oh, Mr. Zhao Mou, it's a pleasure to meet you." Yu Xing went along with it, immediately removing his mask as a sign of courtesy. He calmly extended a hand and smiled. "Hello."