Saying Goodbye to the Past

Saying Goodbye to the Past

The new Detective Agency was warm, comfortable, and cozy.

As Wu Xian made over his home, his heart was gradually cleansed as well.

He was an orphan.

He couldn't remember anything from before he turned ten. After that, an old detective took him in and forced him to attend half of college.

Why only half...

Well, because the old man had died.

Wu Xian dropped out and took over the Detective Agency. Then he began investigating the Fudi Case. During that time, he didn't care at all what became of him. He only wanted to uncover the truth about Fudi.

Wu Xian bit off a piece of crispy pork, then caught sight of a handsome young man with earrings and dyed blond hair sneaking toward the lockers.

"So there was something watching me."

But when he opened the locker and felt stacks of banknotes through the cloth bag, he let his guard down and quietly pulled the package open a little.

If Overbearing Little Puppy had been smart enough, he would have noticed how full of holes Wu Xian's story was. But Wu Xian didn't think a gambling addict who blackmailed his girlfriend had that much brains.

Wu Xian didn't know how things would turn out from here.

So he wanted to live earnestly, and make every moment count.

Wu Xian returned to his room and answered the phone. A bright, energetic male voice came through. This had to be that "Overbearing Little Puppy."

He peered through the gap and immediately turned livid, stamping his feet in fury.

Wu Xian smiled faintly and replied in a formulaic tone.

Then he set up a scheduled email and packed the phone along with some Yellow Paper into a parcel.

Wu Xian crouched on the floor, packing up and sealing away old belongings he couldn't bear to throw out. When he came to a Photo Frame, he stopped and hesitated for a moment before setting it on the bedside table.

Wu Xian looked through Lu Yuzhu's transaction history. This Little Puppy had never once repaid the money he borrowed.

"Let's bark like dogs together, woof woof woof..."

But if Fudi's influence on the real world ran deep enough, something interesting ought to happen soon.

Little Puppy was overjoyed. "Sure, that works! Absolutely!"

Plan A wouldn't work, so he'd try Plan B.

He had put the parcel in the locker the night before.

"You're finally here."

The photograph in the frame showed Wu Xian with an old man.

"But even if I die, I'll make my voice heard!"

"Our rules don't allow us to hand over personal effects in person. So I'll put the parcel in a locker opposite Qipei Restaurant on Chuhe Road before noon tomorrow. Once it's there, I'll send you the locker number and passcode. Would that be all right?"

Two hours earlier, an email had been sent from Lu Yuzhu's account to the editor-in-chief of Fu Yuan City's largest newspaper.

It was almost midnight.

The security cameras here had been out of order for ages, and he had deliberately avoided any routes where he might run into people. No one would know he had left the package.

"Now, I only have one last thing to do before I can finally say goodbye to the past."

"No wonder I investigated for three years and never found a single useful clue..."

"I was trapped in it forever, unable to leave."

"Tch. Still a gambling addict."

The email read:

"Hello, this is Ping'an Funeral Home. Are you a family member of Ms. Lu Yuzhu? She was cremated at our facility three days ago. May I ask..."

"I'm afraid everyone who dared to defy this warning disappeared without a trace. Their fate may have been even more horrifying than death."

He deleted the folder he'd made earlier, then downloaded the complete Calabash Brothers series and encrypted it several times, turning it into a Compressed Package. He saved the package on Lu Yuzhu's phone and wrote a note to go with it.

But once he entered Fudi, his heart strangely settled down instead.

"I want to expose the terrifying truth. Everything about the Fudi Case is on my phone. My beloved will tell you everything."

He went outside the Detective Agency, climbed a ladder, and took down its sign. As passersby stared in surprise, he tossed it into a trash can without a backward glance.

"The secrets of heaven must not be revealed."

That ringtone didn't belong to Wu Xian. It belonged to Lu Yuzhu.

But as Wu Xian tried to save the file, a sudden, inexplicable wave of dread seized him.

A wisp of foul air seeped from the computer. A shadow in a black robe suddenly appeared, its blackened hand resting on Wu Xian's shoulder as its indistinct face leaned close to his ear.

The young man was none other than Overbearing Little Puppy.

The house was all tidied up now, too.

If Wu Xian let information about Fudi slip into the hands of people who knew nothing about it, something terrible would happen to him.

His name was Huo Gai.

In a simple disguise, Wu Xian ordered a few dishes and a bottle of Tingba Brand coconut juice, then sat by the window and savored his meal, eyes half closed.

Just as Wu Xian was reveling in the exhilaration of breaking free, he suddenly heard a phone ringing in his room.

"Just follow your rules. I'm in no hurry!"

"Damn, she died? Don't come asking me to pay for the funeral. I barely knew her."

"Please, don't hide it anymore. Let everyone know the truth!"

It was time to look into a few things. Wu Xian wasn't a detective anymore, but he'd be going into Fudi often from now on. He needed to get some things straight before he could feel at ease.

The next day.

Wu Xian's lips twitched. "No, Ms. Lu's belongings are a phone and some cash. Would you be able to collect them?"

"Hey, Yuzhu, help! I lost at cards. Send me a thousand yuan. I'll pay you back once I win."

Wu Xian brushed the dust off himself and stood up.

That black-robed shadow must have been Fudi's warning to him.

Wu Xian sighed helplessly.

Wu Xian went to the newly renovated Esports Room.

Wu Xian sat in the ergonomic chair for quite a while before he could move again. The mental shock from that single line, "The secrets of heaven must not be revealed," had far exceeded even that of the Child-Seeking Ghost Mother, the previous Fudi's final boss.

Huo Gai was worried that Lu Yuzhu's parents might come to collect her belongings, so he kept watch over the area.

Back when Wu Xian first got Lu Yuzhu's phone number, he'd already noticed that this Little Puppy was manipulating her.

"A good life doesn't need a job."

Soon, it was almost midnight.

Wu Xian hung up.

The file was bait.

Wu Xian narrowed his eyes.

He turned on the computer, its RGB lighting blazing, and started putting together a file. He entered the notes Qi Zhiyong had given him, added details from this latest Fudi, and included some of his own theories about Fudi.

After saying that, the shadow vanished without a trace.

He was a Chosen One now. Fudi wouldn't keep certain things secret from him anymore, so he should be able to find out more than before.

Chuhe Road, Qipei Restaurant.

The package wasn't full of cash at all.

It was packed with stacks of Underworld Money!