Watching videos

Wang Zikai still hadn't caught on. He blinked. "What kind of videos, exactly?"

"The kind you usually use to... work out your right arm." Gaoyang looked embarrassed.

"Oh!" Wang Zikai slapped his thigh, his face lighting up. "Why would I have those videos? When have I, Wang Zikai, ever been short of women? Never!"

Gaoyang had no time to play along with his act. He rolled his eyes. "Hurry up. I've got serious business to take care of!"

Wang Zikai glanced at Pang Jun behind him, then pulled Gaoyang out of the underground garage and into the living room.

"Don't talk about that stuff in front of other people! I've got a reputation to protect!" Wang Zikai looked a little embarrassed. "So, which actress do you want?"

"Doesn't matter. Any of them," Gaoyang said.

"All right, wait here." Wang Zikai ran off.

Gaoyang sat on the sofa and closed his eyes to rest, sorting through his thoughts while he was at it.

After thinking it over, he decided to call Officer Huang. This area was still under Officer Huang's jurisdiction. He could make up some excuse, like a burglary, to get him to come over.

Just then, Wang Zikai ran back with a laptop. He sat down on the sofa with a solemn expression, then glanced at Gaoyang beside him, looking a little shy. "Let's get started."

"Started with what?" Gaoyang froze.

"Watching videos!" Wang Zikai said.

Gaoyang pressed a hand to his forehead. "You've got the wrong idea. They're not for me."

Three minutes later, Gaoyang and Wang Zikai returned to the underground garage.

Pang Jun started wailing. "Gaoyang! Zikai! That really wasn't me just now! I didn't want to hurt you... my hand wouldn't listen to me! Don't kill me! I swear I'm really not a Beast! I don't want to die..."

"Don't be scared, Pang Jun. We won't kill you," Gaoyang said.

"If we wanted to kill you, you'd be dead already!" Wang Zikai snorted smugly.

"True..." Pang Jun calmed down a little.

"Pang Jun, do you like men or women?" Gaoyang asked.

"What?" Pang Jun thought he'd misheard.

"Do you like men or women?" Gaoyang repeated.

"Women... wh-why?" Pang Jun was baffled. Why was he suddenly asking this?

"Good." Gaoyang opened the laptop and clicked on a random video. He glanced at Wang Zikai. "Go take his pants off."

Wang Zikai froze. "Huh?"

"Just do what I say!" Gaoyang couldn't be bothered to explain.

Wang Zikai stripped off Pang Jun's jeans, revealing yellow Pikachu underwear, bulky thighs, and thick leg hair.

Gaoyang turned the laptop screen toward Pang Jun. "Relax and watch closely."

"O-okay..." Pang Jun was still very nervous at first, but after watching for a few minutes, he slowly got into it.

Throughout the process, Wang Zikai's blank expression gradually gave way to a mocking smirk.

Pang Jun sensed Wang Zikai's contempt. His masculine pride took a hit, and he actually forgot his fear and shouted indignantly, "I'm having an off day! It's not usually like this!"

"Oh, reeeally?" Wang Zikai dragged out the last word, sounding as obnoxious as possible.

Bang. Just then, the garage door opened. Officer Huang froze in the doorway.

Well, damn.

Pang Jun was trussed up, his pants stripped off.

Gaoyang was holding a laptop playing a decidedly adult video, with the speakers on. Indescribable sounds echoed through the air, while Wang Zikai stood beside him with his arms folded, looking like a spectator at a match.

"Ahem. I'll come back in a bit." Officer Huang adjusted his police cap and gently shut the door.

Ten minutes later, Gaoyang and Officer Huang stood in the underground garage. Wang Zikai had been sent away.

Officer Huang wore an odd expression. "I see. Qingling taught you this trick for telling Beasts apart from humans?"

"Yes." Gaoyang lowered his voice. "Don't let Wang Zikai find out."

"Understood."

"Pang Jun, don't hold it against that idiot." Gaoyang glanced at Pang Jun, who was still tied up.

"Don't worry! I'm human and he's a Beast. I'm not stooping to his level." Pang Jun was still a little angry. Apparently, the earlier blow to his pride had cut deep.

"There's only Coke and beer!" As the three spoke, Wang Zikai returned to the underground garage, carrying several bottles of chilled soft drinks and cans of beer.

Officer Huang took a bottle of Coke, opened it, and held it to Pang Jun's lips.

Pang Jun was already parched. He quickly stretched his neck forward and gulped down a couple of mouthfuls. He immediately perked up, and even his eyes grew brighter.

Officer Huang pulled over a chair and sat down, looking ready to interrogate a suspect. "All right. Take your time and explain properly. Tell us everything you remember."

"Okay, okay!" Pang Jun licked his lips and began recalling what had happened. "You know how my hotel caught fire? Aunt He burned to death, and I got hurt too. Following our original plan, I closed the hotel and stayed home to recover. I didn't dare go out these past few days. I was just waiting for you to contact me. Then, in the middle of the night yesterday, I was asleep when a strange sound woke me up..."

"What kind of sound?" Officer Huang lit a cigarette.

"It sounded like a cat that wouldn't stop meowing. It was driving me crazy, so I got up and went out onto the balcony. Sure enough, I saw a white cat. It looked a bit like a Ragdoll Cat, but smaller, with ears that stood up really high and green eyes."

Officer Huang nodded, motioning for Pang Jun to continue.

"The white cat seemed really smart, too. As soon as it saw me, it stopped meowing. I felt sorry for it. I figured it must be someone's lost pet, so I went over to pat its head..."

"But holy crap!" Pang Jun shouted. "Not only did it refuse to let me touch it, it suddenly bit my finger! It hurt so much I passed out right there."

"And then?" Officer Huang prompted.

"Then I was all groggy, like I was dreaming. In the dream, it was really crowded, like being crammed into a subway car. The car was packed with people, and all these wandering hands were groping me, touching me all over..."

"Who would want to grope you?" Wang Zikai looked disgusted.

"It was a dream!" Pang Jun protested, feeling wronged. "When I woke up, I saw Gaoyang and Zikai... then my right hand stopped listening to me and started attacking Gaoyang... you know what happened after that."

After hearing him out, Officer Huang's expression darkened.

He stepped forward and gave Pang Jun a few more mouthfuls of Coke, until he finished it.

Officer Wang threw away the Coke bottle, took two steps back, and drew his pistol without expression. He aimed it at Pang Jun. "Pang Jun, I'm sorry."

"No! Don't kill me!" Pang Jun cried out in despair. "I'm really human! I swear! I swear... Gaoyang, save me! Save me..."

"Officer Huang," Gaoyang said, unable to bear it, "why don't we keep him under observation first..."

Bang! Officer Huang fired.