The Past

For a moment, Yu Xing almost thought that his poor condition was already common knowledge. First Wen Qinghuai, Zhao Mou, and Zhao Yijiu, and then Qu Xuanqing. It seemed that he had only appeared a little sleepy and lazy, and yet everyone had noticed.

However, he quickly convinced himself that Zhao Mou and Wen Qinghuai were both very observant, Zhao Yijiu was someone who understood his personality relatively well, and Qu Xuanqing had been taken care of by him for a period of time and had witnessed his declining health at that time.

Yu Xing yawned. It would have been better if he hadn't mentioned it, because the thought brought waves of drowsiness back. He couldn't deny that the decline in his vitality was still a deep-seated curse for him. Since everyone around him could see it, it meant that there was no need for him to continue. Otherwise, it would only cause more worry.

He felt the massage pressure that Qu Xuanqing was trying to control, and he felt a sense of gratitude for his daughter's thoughtfulness. He said, "You're right. Then keep an eye out for the red-armbanded ghosts in this building who are bloated or have large bellies. I suspect the source of the contamination is inside their bellies. Go and investigate. If you have any news, contact me during the day."

"Hmm." Qu Xuanqing down and could only see Yu Xing's slightly messy hair. She suddenly chuckled.

"?" Yu Xing looked up at her. "What are you laughing at now?"

"It's nothing, I just suddenly thought of the first time I saw you a long time ago." A hint of reminiscence flashed in Qu Xuanqing's eyes. "Back then, when I saw you, I only thought you were a weak and doomed adult. I think I even insulted you?"

"... It wasn't exactly an insult, just a cocky way of telling me not to bother you and to get lost so I wouldn't hold you back." Yu Xing also had a deep impression of the first time she saw Qu Xuanqing. "How should I put it, he was cocky with a hint of stupidity, I didn't even have the nerve to argue with him."

Qu Xuanqing: "..."

She suddenly pressed down with a little more force, causing Yu Xing to gasp.

"Anyway, I thought you were an older brother back then, but now you seem like a younger brother." Seeing Yu Xing endure a hundred times the pain under the ghost's claws without making a sound, yet show no fear or weakness in front of familiar people, she couldn't help but ruffle his hair. "What should I do? You've greatly distorted my perception of you."

"But even if you're young, you're still from my ancestors' generation. Making you call me 'brother' before was already letting you off easy." Yu Xing slapped away Qu Xuanqing Xianqing's defiant hand. "I know I'm handsome, don't fall for me, it'll only lead to unhappiness."

"Hmph, you're overthinking it," Qu Xuanqing said calmly. "It just feels nice to the touch, softer than Carlos's hair. His hair has become stiffer after dyeing it, and it doesn't feel comfortable to touch."

"Heh..." Yu Xing knew that Qu Xuanqing was actually trying to distract him and make him relax a bit, so he wouldn't always be so tense.

But his thoughts did indeed drift back to ten years ago.

Meeting Qu Xuanqing was purely accidental.

He was just passing by when he noticed a bloody smell coming from a suburban house. Since he was looking for the entrance to the Absurd Deduction Yugi, he wanted to get involved in this kind of thing, so he went and looked through the window.

Unexpectedly, many children under ten years old and just over ten years old were kidnapped in this house. The kidnappers occupied the entire low building. On the first floor was a couple. Yu Xing heard them make phone calls one by one, extorting money from the children's parents, threatening to kill the children if they didn't pay the ransom.

Kidnappings do happen from time to time, but even with Yu Xing's experience, he had never seen so many children kidnapped at once. The kidnappers all looked to be in very poor mental condition, like desperate fugitives with nowhere to turn. Once the matter is exposed, it will become a major case.

Frankly speaking, for Yu Xing at the time, the building posed no real danger, even though the kidnappers were well-equipped and had stockpiled explosives... But for the ordinary children inside, all of that was potentially fatal.

Yu Xing had no idea that this would trigger a supernatural event, and once again it had nothing to do with Absurd Deduction, but since he had already seen it, he suddenly decided to do a good deed and simply rescue the person.

He didn't call the police because he was in a very indifferent state at the time. He didn't want to have any relationship with the police. He just wanted to rescue the person and throw them in a safe place and be done with it. He figured that so many kids had mouths and would find the police officers themselves.

A few minutes before sneaking into the house to rescue the people, he saw a little girl in black clothes near the house. She was only twelve or thirteen years old, perhaps about the same age as the kidnapped children. Her long hair, which was past her shoulders, was casually tied behind her head. Her still chubby face was full of world-weary indifference. She was a very cool and sharp girl.

That was Qu Xuanqing.

Out of curiosity, he glanced at Qu Xuanqing a few more times, only to discover that her destination was also this house. Once she got nearby, she started circling the house, as if trying to probe something.

The strangely-looking little girl, holding a cell phone, wandered around for a while before finally confirming that this was the kidnapping location. Then, she stood in what she thought was a very secluded spot and dialed the police.

Yu Xing heard her say in a detached tone, "Hmm, Jinquan Road, hmm, I don't know, anyway I heard the kidnappers making a phone call, hmm, yes... I understand, I hope you get here soon, I don't know if my friend has become one of those killed."

She was calm, but inexperienced.

The kidnappers inside the building were very vigilant and frequently sent people out to patrol. The spot where Qu Xuanqing was standing was actually a patrol point.

Seeing that Qu Xuanqing was about to be discovered, Yu Xing took action to pull her away in advance. After avoiding the patrol, he noticed that Qu Xuanqing's eyes were calm and unperturbed, without the slightest fear of almost being discovered.

"What are you doing?" Yu Xing didn't give her a friendly look just because she was young. "Standing in that lousy spot, in such a hurry to go in and join them?"

"You know there's a kidnapping case here, and who are you?" Qu Xuanqing looked at him with a world-weary expression, the curve of her smile somewhat peculiar.

Qu Xuanqing's call was indeed to the police, who were on their way. Unfortunately, the kidnapper, whose mentality had collapsed, didn't care at all about the level of criminal law that killing his kidnapped victim would raise. He only cared about demanding the ransom and then cruelly murdered the most unfortunate child.

That happened to be Qu Xuanqing's "friend," which was the reason she came here.

Yu Xing later learned that Qu Xuanqing was able to find the kidnapping den simply because of a sentence her friend had said. She guessed where her friend was going that day and followed this clue, tentatively arriving at the outside of a house.

Anyway, when she saw the kidnappers' brutality, Yu Xing didn't want to wait at all and just wanted to go in and rescue them, but Qu Xuanqing grabbed her.

Qu Xuanqing said very seriously, "Don't go. If you go in, it might not just be one child who dies, but all the children will be buried with them."

This is the euphemistic version translated by Yu Xing afterward. The real version was probably that Qu Xuanqing ruthlessly told him to stop causing trouble and get lost, saying that if he moved around recklessly, he would kill everyone. He was stubbornly held back by the persistence of a thirteen-year-old human child.