Having already reached a temporary cooperative agreement, Qi Junyang was no longer as guarded against Zhuang Zhuoyi as before. When he asked to borrow the bathroom to take a shower, Zhuang Zhuoyi immediately barged in with seven or eight bottles of body wash, instructing him to use every single one of them.
Looking at Zhuang Zhuoyi’s serious expression, Qi Junyang realized this person definitely had a severe case of germaphobia!
Though Qi Junyang appeared wooden and reticent in front of others, his expression grew markedly more vigilant the moment he entered the bathroom alone.
After washing up, he stood before the sink, turned sideways, and suspended his shoulder over the basin as a sharp blade sliced open the skin on his arm with careful pressure.
Droplets of fresh blood fell into the basin. Without even frowning, he laid down the blade and firmly squeezed the thin wafer hidden inside the flesh, causing a faint red glow to flash within. Afterward, he pried open the wound and shoved the wafer back inside.
Using one hand to retrieve a medicated gauze from his backpack, he tightly wrapped the wound on his arm until he was certain no blood would seep through before putting his clothes back on. Raising his head, he caught sight of his own shock of silver-white hair in the mirror, yet his gaze remained chillingly indifferent.
In his twenty-seven years walking this earth, he had seen very few ordinary, normal people, but plenty of freaks and anomalies. It was not as though he had never encountered someone like Zhuang Zhuoyi, whose thinking and actions extended far beyond conventional bounds. However, compared to those others, Zhuang Zhuoyi possessed an extra layer of upright righteousness entwined with an eerie allure.
From the very first moment he laid eyes on him, Qi Junyang had felt a strong repulsion toward him.
Yes, repulsion rather than hatred. Therefore, this did not preclude the possibility of mutual exploitation between them.
Xiao Liu was considered a formidable overlord in the underworld, and the subordinates under his command executed tasks with absolute perfection. The information they had gathered in just a few hours left Zhuang Zhuoyi exceedingly satisfied.
“This Wen Chen is a young master of the Red Gate. You know about the Red Gate, right?” Xiao Liu darted his eyes around as he spoke, eager to catch a glimpse of the cold-hearted man Sun Chen had mentioned.
“The Red Gate?” Zhuang Zhuoyi furrowed his brow slightly. “Guo Sheng’s outfit?”
“That is the one. Since it involves Guo Sheng, I suggest you exercise caution. Take a look at Wen Chen’s files first.”
Just then, having changed into clean clothes, Qi Junyang emerged from the bathroom. Under Xiao Liu’s astonished gaze, he walked straight across and took a seat on the sofa. Ignoring him entirely, Zhuang Zhuoyi concentrated fully on the documents in his hands.
Yet the moment Zhuang Zhuoyi glanced at Wen Chen’s photograph, he was struck dumb with shock! The young man in the photo looked to be at least twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, with long, wispy strands of hair draped over his shoulders. Judging by his facial features, he was an exceptionally cute youth. Qi Junyang asked in exasperation, “This is Wen Chen? This is Bobby?”
“Indeed,” Xiao Liu replied.
“Hell! This is not him at all!” Without missing a beat, Zhuang Zhuoyi handed the photo directly to Qi Junyang.
After taking a single look, Qi Junyang also furrowed his brows. “This is not the deceased.”
Astonished, Xiao Liu took back the photo, thinking to himself: I couldn’t possibly have gotten this wrong, and this kind of thing simply doesn’t happen by mistake. Just as he was about to offer an explanation, he heard Zhuang Zhuoyi declare, “I understand now!”
Xiao Liu blinked, thinking: What on earth do you understand? Displaying his characteristic prudence, Xiao Liu refrained from pressing further, let out a long sigh, and said, “I checked into it. Aside from hosting tables at the Red Gate, this Bobby also frequented the Tone Nightclub. You know the owner of the Tone Nightclub as well, Zhuoyi.”
“Who is it?”
“Dong Wei, chairman of the Shengshi Financial Group. Furthermore, Dong Wei is a VIP guest at the Red Gate who frequently visits to seek amusement, and he also shares a certain camaraderie with Guo Sheng…”
Hearing this, Zhuang Zhuoyi retrieved a pre-written check from his desk drawer and handed it to Xiao Liu. “You do not need to concern yourself with this matter any further. Go take a trip, clear your head, and spend a few days enjoying yourself with the brothers. Return a month from now.”
Xiao Liu stood stunned for a moment, then accepted the check with a smile and said, “Waiting for your good news,” before taking his leave.
This abruptly surfacing clue completely disrupted Zhuang Zhuoyi’s plans. Handing Qi Junyang some cash to purchase daily necessities and tidying up a guest room for him, Zhuang Zhuoyi utilized the interval to track down Manager He, the man who had hosted Zhuang Zhuoran on the night of the incident. Having just been pummeled by the police without a moment to catch his breath, Manager He was cornered right at his own doorstep by Zhuang Zhuoyi. He wailed and wailed that he was being wronged, yet failed to elicit the slightest shred of sympathy from Zhuang Zhuoyi. Consequently, in order to dispatch this life-claiming ancestor as quickly as possible, he spilled everything he knew like beans pouring from a bamboo tube.
Through Manager He’s account, Zhuang Zhuoyi reconfirmed that the person brought out from the Red Gate was Bobby, not Wen Chen.
“Tell me about that night in detail,” Zhuang Zhuoyi ordered.
Wiping the sweat from his face and organizing his thoughts, Manager He explained, “I first treated Chairman Zhuang to dinner, then handed the pre-arranged room key to Wen Chen so he could wait in the room. After dinner that evening, I escorted Chairman Zhuang to the elevator and did not follow any further.”
“When was the last time you saw Bobby that night?”
“At seven-thirty. I handed him the key at the hotel entrance.”
“Are you certain the person at that time was Bobby, brought straight from the Red Gate?”
“Positive, absolutely positive!”
Faced with Manager He’s frantic, garlic-pounding nods, Zhuang Zhuoyi suspected that sometime after seven-thirty, Bobby had been swapped out and replaced with Wen Chen. The question was, why go to such lengths?
A little before four o’clock in the afternoon, Zhuang Zhuoyi arrived back at his doorstep, running right into an unexpected visitor—Zhuang Zhuoran. This suspect, still under police surveillance, seemed completely unburdened by stress. Seeing Qi Junyang open the door, he even found the leisure to tease his younger brother: “Did you scam yourself another one and bring him back?”
“Instead of wasting time making snide remarks at me, you would be better off explaining the actual situation. Junyang, pour my unfortunate older brother a glass of ice-chilled water so he can wake up!”
In response, Qi Junyang simply sat by the edge of the bed staring blankly outward, entirely ignoring his employer’s command.
Zhuang Zhuoran chuckled softly, only to be hit with a severe glare from his younger brother.
“Let’s talk business,” Zhuang Zhuoran said, setting his briefcase down and pulling out a bank card. “This is the consultation fee Uncle Liu gave you. Since you refused to accept it, he transferred it to me.”
Without a word, Zhuang Zhuoyi stared at him coldly.
“Stop glaring at me. I can clarify the situation. Would you like to ask questions, or shall I just give my own account?”
Disliking his older brother’s distracted demeanor and wishing to save time, Zhuang Zhuoyi bypassed everything else to demand why his normally level-headed brother had succumbed to aphrodisiacs on the night of the incident!
Zhuoran replied, “The police ran a blood test on me, and the results indicated I was indeed drugged. I suspect this matter is inseparable from Manager He, though I doubt he harbored malicious intent—he was likely simply hoping I would accept that ‘gift’.”
“A fatal gift, no doubt. Wen Chen was murdered, and all the evidence points directly at you. If not for that business with Liu Tie, you probably wouldn’t have walked out of the police station.”
At the mention of Liu Tie, Zhuang Zhuoran showed not a shred of surprise, smoothly shifting the conversation back to Qi Junyang instead: “Mr. Qi, could you tell us how you managed to discover Director Liu back then?”
Qi Junyang acted as though temporarily stricken deaf, paying no heed whatsoever to Zhuang Zhuoran’s inquiry. Unfazed, Zhuang Zhuoran continued, “The police are also quite concerned about this point, but Zhuoyi called me this morning insisting that we protect your identity no matter what. Afterward, you will still need to make a trip down to the police station, so we ought to discuss things beforehand. Especially regarding Director Liu’s matter, which concerns me greatly as well.”
This combination of carrot and stick would likely have broken the silence of anyone else. Seated off to the side, Zhuang Zhuoyi enjoyed the show, relishing the sight of his brother pressing Qi Junyang. In truth, it wasn’t out of malice; he simply wanted to test the depth of Qi Junyang’s feigned ignorance.
Qi Junyang finally bothered to turn his head, though instead of addressing the questioning Zhuoran, he locked eyes with Zhuoyi, who was sitting back to watch the drama unfold. The latter felt a minor flash of displeasure: “What is that supposed to mean, looking at me like that?”
“Nothing.”
“What do you mean, nothing? Me or my brother?”
“Interpret it however you wish.”
“So it is me, then?”
“As I said, interpret it however you wish.”
“What is wrong with me? You could search the world over with a lantern and never find a second employer as entertaining as me.”
“I do not recall you being my employer. We are merely in a temporary partnership.”
“Ha! Does that mean you no longer want that ten-thousand-dollar salary?”
“I harbor doubts regarding your solvency.”
“What?”
“Zhuoyi, keep your voice down,” Zhuoran cautioned his younger brother with a smile, warning him against making a raucous fuss. Turning his gaze back to Qi Junyang, he continued, “I have already arranged for someone to handle identity-related matters; we should have results in a week.”
This straightforward style of communication fostered a degree of respect in Qi Junyang toward Zhuang Zhuoran. He nodded slightly. Seeing Zhuang Zhuoran turn solemn once more, he shifted his attention to Zhuang Zhuoyi. “Zhuoyi, you have chosen an assistant who keeps his lips sealed tightly. Aren’t you worried your secrets will leak out?”
“What secrets could I possibly have?” Banish the smile from his face, Zhuang Zhuoyi asked, “Brother, what time did you arrive home after leaving the hotel at 06:00 this morning?”
“Seven-thirty.”
“And your car? Did it remain in the hotel parking lot the entire time? When you left, did the valet parking attendant retrieve it for you, or did you get it yourself?”
“The car stayed in the hotel’s underground parking garage. I didn’t leave through the main lobby in the morning; I used the side door that leads directly to the garage. I sent my driver home the night before and drove myself away in the morning.”
Pondering for a moment, Zhuang Zhuoyi asked further, “According to police investigations, you fell asleep immediately after having relations with Wen Chen. Wen Chen departed ahead of you, and you woke up at 05:00 AM. Think back carefully: was there anything abnormal in the room after you woke up?”
Zhuang Zhuoran lit a cigarette and took a couple of puffs, speaking in an even tone: “I recall taking a shower before going to sleep, and I was wearing a pair of underwear when I fell asleep. When I woke up, however, I was completely naked.”
“Did you consume anything after entering the room? Or did Wen Chen offer you something to drink?”
“He poured me a glass of water, but my stomach felt bloated so I didn’t drink it. I left it sitting on the bedside table.”
Abruptly shifting topics, Zhuang Zhuoyi asked, “You had been drinking and were drugged that night, so your cognitive faculties could hardly have been clear. While you were showering, did you harbor any regrets about sleeping with Wen Chen?”
“That is not how it works,” Zhuoran answered offhandedly, noticing that Qi Junyang, who had remained silent throughout, was casting occasional, subtle glances toward Zhuang Zhuoyi filled with a mixture of strangeness and detachment that felt intensely unsettling. Zhuang Zhuoran disliked this man and could not fathom why his younger brother insisted on keeping him around. Yet this was hardly the time to probe, so he simply said, “A gigolo’s identity is inconsequential; what’s done is done. I am merely displeased that someone dared drug me. I intend to investigate this matter myself; Caili and the others are already on it, and you can coordinate with those two sisters.”
Zhuang Zhuoyi nodded, then suddenly pivoted to the person standing by the window: “Why are you staring at me? Do you have something to say?”
“Do you both assume Manager He is the one who administered the drug?” Qi Junyang finally spoke up. While it sounded like an expression of his stance, in truth, he simply wished to avoid watching the brothers bicker.
Unsure how the Zhuang brothers interpreted this remark, Zhuang Zhuoyi beamed with delight. “You suspect the culprit who drugged him is someone other than Manager He?”
“You just met that person. If he were the perpetrator, based on your personality and methods, he would have confessed everything to you by now.”
Hearing this, Zhuang Zhuoran shook his head helplessly. “Zhuoyi, are you acting recklessly again?”
“So what if I am? If it weren’t Manager He, would you have been dragged into a homicide case? Don’t tell me you plan to let him off lightly, because I certainly won’t believe it.”
“That is a matter for later. You should listen to what Mr. Qi has to say.”
Steering the conversation back on track, Qi Junyang patiently explained, “Administering drugs requires timing tied to the pharmacological effects. You can analyze the chemical composition of the drug in detail to deduce the exact time it was administered, and deduce backward from there. Once you establish that timeline, it becomes abundantly clear who had the opportunity to administer it. Since this is a premeditated murder, there can be no superfluous individuals involved. In other words, an orchestrated crime of this scale leaves no room for useless characters. Once you identify this person hey, what are you doing?”
Like an unruly child, Zhuang Zhuoyi reached out and ruffled Qi Junyang’s shock of silver-white hair. Due to his swift movements, the other man failed to evade in time and was ruthlessly ruffled.
Across the room, the moment Qi Junyang shoved Zhuang Zhuoyi’s hand away, Zhuang Zhuoran had already initiated his network of contacts to secure a thorough chemical analysis of the drug composition.
Seemingly elated, Zhuang Zhuoyi paid no mind to being shoved away roughly. Lightly brushing his fingertips against a strand of white hair, he murmured softly, “Only the dead can keep a secret.”
At those words, Qi Junyang’s expression wavered into a momentary trance.