Based on the deduced route the van had taken,
Lin Qiye arrived at a sewer entrance.
“So the one who stole the victims’ bodies is hiding in a place like this?”
Lin Qiye jumped down into the sewer and moved through the dark, narrow passageway.
At the end of the corridor stood a figure wearing a mask, his face obscured.
Lin Qiye looked at the person in front of him with vigilance.
“I’ve found you.”
The other party remained silent.
Suddenly, countless frost-covered vines burst from beneath Lin Qiye’s feet and began climbing up his body.
Some of them even slipped in through the legs of his pants.
The icy vines coiled around his waist.
Lin Qiye realized that these vines did not seem to carry much malice, if anything, they felt more like they were playing with him.
His head filled with question marks. What was going on?
With a forceful tug, the vines pulled Lin Qiye right in front of the other person.
“Qiye, we meet again.”
The person whose face had been hidden removed his mask, revealing a familiar, handsome face.
The tear mole at the corner of his eye, in the darkness, added a touch of allure to him.
“An Qingyu?” Lin Qiye clearly saw the face in the shadows, his expression full of confusion.
Shouldn’t An Qingyu have already had his memory erased, forgetting everything related to him?
Looking at Lin Qiye, whose eyes were slightly reddened from being bound by the vines, a cruel desire rose in An Qingyu’s heart.
He really wanted to make Qiye cry.
In the dim light,
An Qingyu restrained his impulse and released the vines that had bound Lin Qiye.
“Come with me. I’ll tell you everything you want to know.”
Lin Qiye followed behind An Qingyu, somewhat curious.
“How do you still remember me?”
An Qingyu entered the password to the laboratory door.
“I awakened a Forbidden Domain, something like a superpower.”
“I can analyze the mysterious and apply their abilities to myself.”
“Like this.”
An Qingyu formed an ice blade and slashed it hard against his own arm.
A gruesome, blood-red wound instantly appeared on his arm, but it quickly healed and vanished.
“This is the application of a lizard’s regenerative ability,” An Qingyu said enthusiastically as he demonstrated his power to Lin Qiye.
Lin Qiye couldn’t bear to watch.
“You’re really going all out. It looks painful just watching.”
An Qingyu pushed open the laboratory door, undisguised interest shining in his eyes as he looked at Lin Qiye.
“There’s a mysterious power within you. I’m very interested in it, I’d like to study your body structure carefully.”
Lin Qiye’s first reaction was that this guy wanted to dissect him.
He took half a step back and quickly stopped him.
“Don’t. Drop that idea immediately.”
He had no intention of being dissected alive.
An Qingyu curved his lips, his tone carrying deeper meaning.
“What are you afraid of? Even if I wanted to dissect you, it wouldn’t be the kind you’re imagining.”
The purpose of dissecting organisms was to study their specific structure.
He didn’t need a scalpel to dissect Lin Qiye to understand his body structure thoroughly.
Lin Qiye didn’t quite understand but felt it sounded impressive, so he began examining the layout of the laboratory.
He pointed at the specimens soaking in formalin.
“Why did you steal the bodies?”
“Not steal,” An Qingyu shook his head. “Using certain special methods in the pursuit of truth is completely understandable.”
He spoke as if it were perfectly natural.
“Some of them I borrowed. The rest came from mysteries I killed that were endangering human lives.”
How could pursuing truth be called stealing?
Lin Qiye’s mouth twitched. It took real talent to describe stealing corpses in such a refined way.
He crossed his arms over his chest, feeling somewhat helpless.
“Even so, you still pose a risk to society. According to regulations, you should be detained.”
Hearing this, An Qingyu lowered his gaze.
He turned his palm upward, looking resigned.
“In that case, I’ll have to leave myself at your disposal, Qiye.”
Anyway, in this world, aside from Qiye, there was nowhere else that could hold him.
Looking at the exceedingly cooperative An Qingyu before him, Lin Qiye instead felt somewhat at a loss.
If he reported him, An Qingyu indeed hadn’t caused harm to any residents.
What’s more,
An Qingyu had even killed mysteries that endangered human lives.
But if he didn’t report him, that would violate the organization’s regulations.
After a long while, Lin Qiye finally compromised.
“If I ever discover that you’re harming civilians, I definitely won’t go easy on you.”
An Qingyu pushed up his glasses, his tone turning ambiguous.
“Mm, then many thanks to you, Qiye, for not reporting me.”
Listening to the sudden shift in An Qingyu’s tone, Lin Qiye felt that something about this was starting to sound off.
As if he were secretly giving An Qingyu special treatment behind the organization’s back.
An Qingyu grabbed Lin Qiye’s wrist.
“Qiye, come with me. I’ve made some discoveries.”
He led Lin Qiye to an experimental table.
An Qingyu adjusted the two beakers on the table.
“I simulated the blood loss of the corpses. I suspect the bar wasn’t the primary crime scene.”
Lin Qiye tapped his fingers against the lab table.
“To be honest, I had the same suspicion. But we’ll need to see the bodies to know the specifics.”
An Qingyu naturally made his request.
“Take me with you. After all, with me there, the case will be solved faster.”
“Although you’re very smart, compared to me, you’re still just slightly inferior.”
Lin Qiye stared into An Qingyu’s eyes without saying a word.
An Qingyu’s expression grew slightly unnatural, and he quickly changed his wording.
“What I meant just now was that I have more experience handling corpses than you do.”
Lin Qiye gave a light snort.
“That’s more like it.”
This kid An Qingyu really had no sense of tact, he was clearly much smarter than An Qingyu, alright?
An Qingyu took in every subtle change in Lin Qiye’s expression.
Lin Qiye pressed his lips together, clearly displeased by what An Qingyu had said earlier.
An Qingyu lowered his gaze, hiding the smile in his eyes.
Qiye like this was really… too cute.
As the two of them left the sewer, several rats scurried about in the dark, damp tunnels.
Lin Qiye accidentally stepped on one, his body tilting as he nearly fell.
“Careful.”
An Qingyu reached out and clasped Lin Qiye’s waist, pulling him into his arms.
Lin Qiye crashed straight into An Qingyu’s warm, firm chest, his expression stiff. “Thanks.”
Actually, he could have regained his balance just now.
For some reason, that rat had seemed blind, running straight under his shoe.
It almost made him fall and look so awkward.
How embarrassing.
An Qingyu’s hair brushed against Lin Qiye’s ear.
“This stretch of road is a bit hard to walk. Why don’t you hold my hand for the rest of the way?”
Just as Lin Qiye was about to refuse, An Qingyu firmly gripped his wrist.
The words of refusal were stuck in his throat.
Forget it, An Qingyu was helping him out of good intentions anyway.
In the darkness, a barely noticeable curve lifted at the corner of An Qingyu’s lips.
In a pleasant mood, An Qingyu held Lin Qiye’s hand as they left the sewer.
Not long after they departed, the rat that had deliberately staged the “collision” stood obediently in front of the little white mouse, Snowball.
“Squeak, squeak—” Lord Snowball, I did a good job completing my task, right?
Snowball extended a paw and symbolically tapped the gray rat’s head.
“Squeak—” Well done. Our master is very satisfied.