Chapter 21 – Stickers
“Well, you are 3 centimeters taller.” Qi Yuan flicked the door frame.
I’m not very happy, Ye Zhan thought. He touched the lowest one on the left door frame and sighed with emotion, “You are really overgrown.”
He couldn’t help but think about many things from the past.
The first night that he picked up Qi Yuan, they curled up in the same bed to sleep. The north wind carried the sand through the hall, the room was full of crackling sounds, the temperature was close to zero, and there was only tattered cotton wool on the bed. Qi Yuan had a high fever because of his illness, his body was hot, and when he was half asleep and half awake, Ye Zhan subconsciously approached the heat source, his cold hand directly attached to the child’s soft belly.
“Ahh”, Qi Yuan’s voice immediately choked, “Let go of my ……”
“Shut up.” Ye Zhan pinched his little navel, his whole body like an ice cube, he rolled him into his arms, wrapped his hands around his waist domineeringly, pinned his cold feet between his calves, and rested his chin on the back of his head, as if he were a large hot water bottle.
At that time, Qi Yuan was thin and small, and he had no power to resist, so he could only curl up in the arms of the bully tremblingly, and let go of his tears.
Slowly, however, they warmed up.
When he woke up the next day, the two teenagers naturally hugged each other, and Qi Yuan’s high fever also subsided. Ye Zhan touched his forehead, making sure that he had eased up. He was in a good mood now that he could save a sum of money to see a doctor! He let the child stand up straight, pressed his big hand on the top of his head, and compared it to himself before scratching his chin, so he smiled, “Boy, how old are you?”
“12.” Qi Yuan’s voice was as low as a mosquito, and his hand nervously pinched the hem of his clothes.
“Why are you so short, won’t your rich father give you food?” Ye Zhan laughed at him.
“Because I’ve been sick…” Qi Yuan was a little shy and a little angry, and he said solemnly, “I’ll grow taller!”
He didn’t say anything untrue, it’s annoying to think about.
As soon as he cut off his memories, Ye Zhan ignored the people behind him, strode into the house, and saw the furnishings inside, almost being swept away by tons of memories.
Nothing has changed, things were exactly the same as when he left five years ago. The evening breeze blew into the twilight of dusk, and every little object was dyed with the golden color of memory. It was as if they had just gone out for a walk at noon and returned before sunset.
“I haven’t been home in the past few years, and I haven’t come to live here,” Qi Yuan looked around left and right, also feeling a little bit nostalgic, “I didn’t expect nothing to change.”
“As long as you don’t touch it, of course, things won’t change,” Ye Zhan sat down on the bed and blocked his words, “It’s only people who will change.”
“In my eyes, you haven’t changed much,” Qi Yuan naturally sat beside him, “You are a person who is difficult to be changed by the outside world.”
Ye Zhan hesitated for a moment, thinking that he didn’t seem to have changed much in the past few years, and he was still so heartless and drifting with the flow.
“The five years you have been by my side have been the happiest and only happy time in my life,” Qi Yuan looked at him, his dark eyes glowing with a gentle undertone, “Before you arrived and after you left, there was only misfortune in my life.”
Ye Zhan thought to himself that he was planning to take the gentle route, but he couldn’t help but slow down his tone, “What, are you going to rebuild the old relationship with me? You are so unconfident that I can’t find the murderer of your father?”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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Hehe, if I hadn’t been almost torn by your hand a few days ago, I might still believe your nonsense. Ye Zhan said, “You can’t give me what I want.”
Qi Yuan said, “I can give you anything, as long as you want, as long as I have it.”
“I want to be free.”
“Except for freedom.”
Having said that, there was another stalemate. The two looked at each other, and both found the same stubbornness in each other’s eyes.
“So you see, we don’t have the possibility of communication.” Ye Zhan sighed softly, “It’s better to be practical, who do you think the murderer of the old man maybe?”
“I suspect it’s someone from the inside, or at least someone from the inside is covering up for them.” Qi Yuan said, “Otherwise, it can’t be so coincidental, as soon as the pro-guard team left, the murderer attacked.” Five years ago, Qi Chaiyuan had become the general of Xuancheng, and Kong Zhao was secretly cultivating the forces of Red Coral, and they were both highly suspicious. Although the research institute has no motive, they have high-tech means to kill people invisibly. Finally, the possibility of the act itself being done by the guards was not ruled out.
“You have counted the major forces in Xuancheng one by one.” Ye Zhan yawned, “You need to be more specific, for example, what happened at the scene at that time, what about the photos, and whether there is any human and physical evidence?”
“On July 19, 184, when my father was recuperating at the headquarters of the research institute, he had just undergone a benign tumor removal operation. And I was in graduate school while he was receiving regular treatment. That night, the dragon’s blood boiled in my body, and suddenly lost control, destroying the building of the Institute, and you seized the opportunity to steal the flying ship and take me away. My father immediately sent his personal guards to chase after you, and Xuancheng was in chaos, giving the murderer a chance.”
“The time of the crime was about half past eleven in the evening, and a guard patrolling the corridor heard a strange noise in the ward, and immediately entered the door to check, just in time to see the masked sneak attacker slashing my father’s head with a knife, and the two guards who had been on duty in the ward had been killed by him. The guards immediately pulled out their guns and fired, and the murderer, seeing this, fled through the window and we have lost his whereabouts ever since. The knife caused my father to crack his skull, hemorrhage in the skull, and cause brain damage, he has not yet woken up. The Dragon Scale Legion went out to block and investigate, but the murderer was never found.”
“What about the appearance of the murderer?”
“They were about one meter tall and in their early seventies, of medium size, had no special smell, had a shoe size of 40, and their whole body is wrapped in black so their gender cannot be identified. The tool used to commit the crime was an ordinary machete, the most common style produced by the Long Ye Arsenal. They were quite good, entered through the window, and attacked two guards from behind, both of them killing with a single sword.
“There are no distinctive features, it looks like it was carefully planned.” Ye Zhan muttered, “But why didn’t they use a gun…”
If they had fired, Qi Zhen would have died a long time ago.
Of course, he didn’t say that out loud.
“Xuancheng has strict gun control, and it is easy to trace the source of the gun, and the murderer was careful enough to avoid this,” Qi Yuan said, “Or they just want to enjoy the pleasure of the blade.”
“What do the people investigating the case say, these can’t be the only clues, right?”
“The pro-guard team is solely responsible for the investigation, but they refuse to provide me with any information,” Qi Yuan frowned, “The pro-guard team was formed by my father and has absolute privileges. They protected father so tightly that even his children could not come near them at will.”
“The pro-guard team- oh, the ‘tongue-pulling crows,’ dressed in black from head to toe, flew around in flocks like crows but would barely say a single word.” Ye Zhan said, “Especially the captain of the guards, his name is Long Yin, right, and he also beat my ass with a stick!”
“Who told you to go out over the wall at three o’clock in the middle of the night, Long Yin was already very polite to you.” Qi Yuan said.
Xuancheng has a strict curfew system, and if one is found to be in violation, the lightest punishment is expulsion from the city.
“I was just looki—” Ye Zhan said halfway, and suddenly stopped talking.
It was when Qi Yuan was sick and isolated in the hospital, and he secretly went out to find him over the wall at night, just because Qi Yuan was in so much pain that he couldn’t sleep, and he could only take a nap when they held each other then.
Ye Zhan hated himself for speaking too fast, he could not help but avoid thinking about his life in the past on the ship, but since he returned to the Qi family, everything became different. The memories here are so dense that they are like explosives in the air and the slightest friction can cause an explosion.
Qi Yuan kindly let go of his momentary gaffe, “Yes, his name is Long Yin. He was absolutely loyal to my father, trusting no one and not leaving the investigation in the hands of others. The Long Ye Convention stipulates that the pro-guard only needs to obey the orders of the City Lord and has supreme privileges, so it is reasonable and legal for him to conceal information. If we want to pry more details of the case out of Long Yin’s mouth, we can only do so if I become the new city lord.”
“But when that day comes then the City Lord would’ve already been dead, there will be no meaning.” Ye Zhan said, “Is there a truth you want to hear?”
“What?”
“I didn’t know where to start this case back then, but now if I investigate it, the chance of finding out the truth is very small. If it doesn’t work out in the end, what are you going to do?”
“What can I do, throw a cup and lose my temper like a child?” Qi Yuan said, “After failing after trying everything, I can only accept the reality.”
“Not that, what should I do then?” Ye Zhan hinted frantically.
Of course, Qi Yuan knew what he meant, “If this mission fails, I will give you a second mission-I haven’t figured out what it is. In short, you will always have a chance to regain your freedom, this is my promise.”
“Then should I thank you?” Ye Zhan pouted, but it is better to have a chance than not to have a chance, and there are always ways to retreat.
That night, they slept in the same bed, just like when they were children. It’s just that at that time, everything they could talk about was talked about, the little young master’s voice was crisp and soft, and he often read bedtime stories to the little bastard, and the little bastard would cross his feet while he talked about where he went to play with cats and dogs, how he poked at Lou Zi all day long, which always made the little young master purse his lips and smile.
Then they’ll say that they were tired so they’ll hug each other and sleep together, although unconsciously, with the change in height, Ye Zhan changed from the one who hugged the person to the one who was being hugged……
Now, Ye Zhan was leaning against the wall with a high degree of nervousness, and Qi Yuan was lying on the edge of the bed with restraint, leaning sideways to prop up his head, discussing topics such as “xx weapons have excellent performance, and they are accurate in a headshot”, “xxx can be bought and used”.
“Can I see your father before the birthday banquet?” Ye Zhan gradually became a little sleepy and asked with drooping eyelids.
After all, he was responsible for a part of this matter and Ye Zhan has always had some bumps in his heart. In his heart, Qi Zhen is a very good elder, he has received a lot of care, and he has learned a lot from him.
Even if it’s not for freedom, Ye Zhan has the will to find the murderer.
“I submitted my request, but it was rejected by the guards, they said that there had been a recent attack by mutant beasts in the city and the security situation was tight, so I should not trouble them – that’s exactly what they said. Maybe on the day of the birthday feast, we can see him from afar.”
When the son wants to see his own father, he has to submit a request, which had been rejected- it was a bit outrageous. Ye Zhan yawned, “Then what are we going to do tomorrow?”
“How about going to see an old friend?” Qi Yuan quietly moved closer, “Do you remember Xia Mingyan? He is now the head of the inspection team of the research institute.” ”
“Okay.” Ye Zhan nodded, Xia Mingyan is his buddy, the kind of bond is iron enough. As soon as he heard that he was the team leader, Ye Zhan was even more pleased, this was his hope of escaping.
“Then let’s get some rest.” Qi Yuan turned off the light.
“You are not allowed to sneak near me in the middle of the night.” Ye Zhan’s eyes were also bright in the dark, and he warned Qi Yuan.
He found that the two of them would be separated by a thousand miles before falling asleep every time, but every morning when they woke up, the two would be close together. Ye Zhan looked down on Qi Yuan’s secret rubbing behavior.
“I didn’t do such a thing.” Qi Yuan adjusted his nightcap and lay down straight, his hands flat at his sides.
Ye Zhan didn’t pay attention to his words, rolled over the quilt and turned his back to him, and seemed to be muttering something like “You have a thief’s heart but no thief’s guts”.
Qi Yuan chuckled softly.
He has had a hard time falling asleep since he was a child, and even if he does fall asleep, it is very light and he can be woken up at any time. As the depravity deepened, the problem of insomnia became more severe. Many times, he simply does not sleep and carry out tasks all night, so as not to lie in bed with their eyes open and do nothing.
But when Ye Zhan returned, he discovered a new means of sleeping, that is, counting Ye Zhan’s breathing.
The light breath like the tide, light as a butterfly flapping its wings, became long and sluggish little by little, like a quiet river, winding in the deep night. Qi Yuan closed his eyes, got rid of all the distracting thoughts in his heart, and slowly immersed his consciousness in the river.
Of course, he still has a little expectation in his heart.
It didn’t take long for Ye Zhan, who was asleep, to turn over, and then unconsciously move a little towards him, and then a little more, the process was slower than a snail crawling, but the direction was always firm. Finally, he leaned his head over and pressed it against his shoulder, sniffing it thinly, snorting like a small animal.
Ye Zhan had never concealed this, he was very eager for his scent but Ye Zhan probably didn’t guess that he couldn’t help but get close even when he fell asleep like a puppy always sleeping with his favorite toy.
Qi Yuan moved slightly, making Ye Zhan more comfortable, then closed his eyes and fell into a short light sleep.
The next day, when Ye Zhan opened his eyes, he found that he and Qi Yuan had been pasted together again, and he couldn’t help pouting. He didn’t mind being taken advantage of, or rather, Qi Yuan was willing to please himself, which was better than bullying himself. He just thinks that Qi Yuan is too naïve, boring, and shameless, and he has talked about it, why does he need to keep teaching him?
Qi Yuan opened his eyes, his eyes were very clear, and he didn’t look like he had just woken up, “Good morning.”
“Good morning.” Ye Zhan replied kindly.
The two of them washed up briefly, then went to the research institute to visit an old friend. The steward provided them with a car and a driver, and the road was full of Dragon Scale Legion guards under martial law, it was said that a strange beast ran into the city a few days ago, attacked people in the middle of the night, and has not been caught so far, which made people panic.
Xia Mingyan is five years older than him, a Beta who grew up in the research institute, and is a passionate and studious young man. In his early years, he wandered outside the city and was blinded in his right eye, and when he had nothing to do, he put on a pirate-style monocle blindfold and called himself “Captain”. Because of his disability, he was ostracized among his peers, and it happened that Qi Yuan and Ye Zhan were also despised by the upper circles so the three of them had the same experience and became brothers.
And among the three, Ye Zhan and him are closer to one another, because the two have kept a common secret.
Ye Zhan went to see Xia Mingyan with great hopes, but he was dumbfounded as soon as he came to the door.
“Xia Mingyan?” The deputy leader of the inspection team was old and was smoking pipe, “He has been isolated, he was the one who was attacked a few days ago!”
