Human Affection

"10:00 PM tonight, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong Museum of Art? Is Xiahou Wu looking to challenge a master of 'legs'?"

Putting down the phone, a faint glimmer of excitement flickered in Yang Chu's eyes.

After witnessing the duel between Xiahou Wu and Shark Yan, he had gained a great deal. Not only had he replicated and learned several lethal martial arts techniques from their exchange, but he had also gained a deeper understanding of how to generate force within the human body.

However, it was still early. Yang Chu wasn't prepared to rush to Tsim Sha Tsui just yet; he didn't want to waste time. At this moment, he needed to read more books and have a talk with Xu Xi.

Rising to clear the dining table, Yang Chu grabbed his keys and headed straight out the door.

He didn't take a taxi, choosing to walk instead. As his understanding of the human body deepened, he treated even simple walking as an opportunity to train his muscles, ligaments, and cardiovascular system.

Passing through the bustling, noisy streets, he arrived near Po On Road after about an hour of walking.

Hong Kong wasn't actually that large, but the high density of buildings and the massive population often created the illusion that places were much further apart than they actually were, even just a few streets away.

Entering the Municipal Building, Yang Chu stepped into the library. From a distance, he saw a slender woman in the office area, flailing her arms and stomping her feet, sobbing.

"Tracy, it's just a breakup. It's nothing to be afraid of. There are so many good men out there, you can take your pick."

"Exactly. Rich men have no conscience. As the saying goes, a woman should seek a virtuous man for a husband."

Beside the woman, three men in their forties or fifties surrounded her, offering soft, gentle words of comfort.

Yang Chu naturally recognized these people; they were all library staff. The oldest among them, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, was the director of the Po On Road Public Library.

However, other than his interactions with Xu Xi, Yang Chu was only vaguely familiar with these people.

As the old director with the gold-rimmed glasses walked past him with a box of tissues, Yang Chu asked casually, "Is she going through a breakup?"

"Yes, several times a month."

The library director's voice was filled with helplessness. He glanced at Yang Chu and asked, "Here to read again?"

"Yes." Yang Chu nodded slightly, scanned the library, and asked, "Is Xu Xi not here today?"

"He called to say he'd be a bit late today. Seems he has some business to attend to."

The library director finished his sentence in a rush and hurried back toward the slender woman.

Yang Chu had no interest in watching three men comfort a woman. Since Xu Xi hadn't arrived yet, he wasn't in a hurry and walked toward the rows of bookshelves in the reading area.

Sports Anatomy, Exercise Physiology, Anatomy Trains: Myofascial Meridians for Manual and Movement Therapists, Sports Nutrition, Anatomy Trains, Human Development, Practical Orthopedics, Orthopedic Surgery... He pulled down every book he thought might be useful and flipped through them rapidly.

Just as Yang Chu began to enter his reading state, in the library's work area nearby, the director took a tissue and continued to comfort the slender woman named Tracy.

"Tracy, you need to be realistic and find an ordinary man. As they say, there are fragrant grasses within ten paces; don't look so far ahead, look a little closer to home."

"Exactly, exactly." The other two staff members chimed in, puffing out their chests as they spoke.

"Are you talking about yourselves?" The slender woman named Tracy stopped sobbing and pointed at the three old men surrounding her.

"Of course not." The director pushed aside the two men still posing and waved his hands quickly. "I meant Xu Xi... oh, right, Xu Xi isn't here."

As he spoke, the director's gaze shifted toward the reading area where Yang Chu was. "That one, the one who comes to read often, he's not bad."

"Ew—" The slender woman named Tracy shook her head immediately. "He's just like that piece of charcoal; it seems like he's not interested in anyone except Xu Xi. And Xu Xi too... the two of them..."

As she finished, the slender woman pulled down the corners of her mouth and stuck out her tongue.

"Hee hee hee..." Including the library director, the group began to giggle softly.

Meanwhile, at an open-air cafe not far from the Po On Road library.

Xu Xi looked at Chen Guibin, who was sitting across from him with his head bowed, clutching his hair with both hands. A shy smile remained on Xu Xi's face. "Hey, you called me out early in the morning—don't tell me your work pressure is so high that you need me to play chess with you? I'm not as free as you are at work."

Chen Guibin rubbed his hair vigorously, then suddenly jerked his head up. His bloodshot eyes stared at Xu Xi for a long moment before he finally let out a long sigh of relief. "Good, that's good."

"What's wrong? Is there something on my face?" Xu Xi asked with a smile.

"Nothing. I just suddenly feel that there are too many people in this world who are two-faced."

Chen Guibin shook his head, patted his forehead with his palm, and looked at Xu Xi again. Suddenly, he asked, "How much do you know about this man, Yang Chu?"

"Not much." The smile on Xu Xi's face faded slightly. Seeming to notice Chen Guibin's oppressive gaze, he added, "Just like you and me, I've never made it a point to look into anyone's past."

"He's a murderer!"

Chen Guibin grew agitated. His voice rose slightly, drawing the attention of others in the open-air cafe, so he lowered it again. "I have evidence now that he has killed at least two—no, possibly three people. This man is very dangerous."

"Is that so?"

Hearing Chen Guibin bring this up, a smile returned to Xu Xi's face. He pointed at the Chinese chess set on the table. "Do you still want to play?"

"I'm not joking!"

Chen Guibin watched Xu Xi, who seemed to be ignoring him entirely, and his tone grew agitated once more. "This Yang Chu must be a martial arts master, the extremely dangerous kind. Did you see the news about that 'Butcher Driver'? It was likely him. And he's involved in other cases... damn it, do you understand?"

"You're saying he killed the 'Butcher Driver'? So he's that mysterious vigilante from the TV and newspapers?"

Xu Xi's hand, holding a chess piece, paused. He said casually, "That makes him a good guy, right? Are you going to arrest him?"

"The evidence isn't sufficient yet. I don't want to alert him. Sigh, forget whether he's a good guy or a bad guy for a second."

Chen Guibin grew increasingly frustrated and helpless at Xu Xi's tendency to miss the point. "In short, he's a dangerous individual—the kind with blood on his hands. He isn't simple, and I can't see through him. Xu Xi, this world is very dangerous. You'll get hurt if you keep acting like this. You need to learn how to protect..."

"Protect what..."

Xu Xi did not notice anything unusual about Chen Guibin, only that his voice had grown quieter. He looked up to continue the conversation, but the moment he did, he found Chen Guibin staring at him with a strange expression.

"What's wrong with you?" Xu Xi asked, looking at Chen Guibin with some confusion.

Chen Guibin stared intensely at Xu Xi for a long moment before suddenly sinking into his chair, shoulders shaking as he began to laugh while shaking his head. "So, it really is true that everyone has one."

"What do you mean, everyone has one?" Xu Xi was even more confused.

Chen Guibin had already stood up. He took a deep look at Xu Xi—or rather, a look at the figure in black wearing a black mask standing behind Xu Xi—and took a soft breath. "I'm heading back to the police station. Where are you going?"

"Me?"

Xu Xi stood up as well. He vaguely sensed that Chen Guibin's attitude toward him had undergone a subtle change.

Nevertheless, he still offered a shy smile and reached out to tidy up the chess pieces on the table. "I'm going back to work at the library, of course. And, well, I need to return a favor while I'm at it."

Tomorrow marks the start of a new week, and I'm asking for your support with tips, votes, and comments! I'm about to drop off the New Book Rankings; we climbed to 11th place this week, so please help me push for a spot in the top 10 next week!