Translator-Rhapsodite
Editor- Koneko, Proofreader- Spring Flower
Jiang Nan’an may be a newcomer to the group, but Wei Fuyuan had been with Sāntúchuān for a full four months now, and this was the first time he had encountered such a frustrating case.
Since progress couldn’t be made immediately for the case, the only thing that could be done was to go to sleep.
Of course, Bei Quan had not just been sitting idle, he had asked the talented group from the “Special Seven” to help with the investigation.
After listening to Bei Quan’s request, Qing Zhu said that assisting with the case was not a problem, but investigating the real information of a user in a forum hosted overseas could be quite troublesome, and it would take at least one or two days.
All that could be done now was for everyone to wait patiently.
“Alright, let’s have lunch and then take a nap,” Bei Quan said.
Bei Quan asked Zhu Ling to send the post to Wei Fuyuan and Jiang Nan’an’s phones separately, requesting them to look at it frequently while trying to imagine and visualize the specific appearance of the ‘door’ in their minds.
Jiang Nan’an, as a self-proclaimed Buddhist practitioner, had done similar meditation training in the past- although it didn’t show much effect, at least he had some experience and knew where to start from.
He was at a loss and turned to face Bei Quan with his brow furrowed.
“It’s not even half past ten yet, isn’t it too early for lunch?”
Bei Quan smiled slightly at Jiang Nan’an, “You can also choose to go to sleep now, if you wish.”
“That won’t do!”
Jiang Nan’an muttered softly, “We still need to eat first!”
With this said, he opened a food delivery app on his phone and contemplated on what he should order to eat.
After they had all eaten, Bei Quan and Wei Fuyuan retired to their rooms.
Wei Fuyuan really wanted to perform this task well in front of his lover.
He had been constantly scrolling through his phone, repeatedly reading what Zhu Ling had sent him.
He carefully pondered the meanings of the poorly written words, not even overlooking the crude illustrations. He studied every single line, hoping that he would dream of the “Two Pole Gates” as soon as he closed his eyes.
Unfortunately, the more he dwelled on this matter, the more excited he became.
He didn’t feel even the slightest bit sleepy, due to the early hour and not being in the habit of napping.
There was no use in him taking out his phone again to continue reading the post, even trying to lull himself to sleep with the boring words didn’t seem to work.
“What’s wrong?”
Bei Quan felt Xiao Wei next to him tossing and turning like a pancake, turned to face Wei Fuyuan, and touched his face.
“Can’t sleep?”
Wei Fuyuan nodded with a wry smile.
“Will this method really work?” He idly fiddled with his phone.
“And, even if I can dream of that ‘Two Pole Gate’, it’s going to take several days to get in, right? When will this case be resolved?”
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.
“Gbc’a kbggs, lo bcf vjs rbwfatlcu vbfrc’a kbgx, atfc kf ralii tjnf wbgf vjsr… lo bcf kffx la vbfrc’a kbgx, atfc atfgf jgf ralii wbgf kffxr jtfjv kf mjc ags,” Dfl Hejc gfqilfv klat j rwlif.
“Ccskjs, atf ‘Kkb Ubif Xjaf’ mjc bcis yf rffc lc vgfjwr jcv la vbfrc’a joofma beg lcnfralujalbc bo batfg mjrfr, gluta?”
Wei Fuyuan had a sudden realization.
——Other cases can be investigated while this one is waiting to be solved!
They can still investigate the ‘Two Pole Gate’ in their dreams while also having the [Thriller Night Talk] once a week!
Since people always have to sleep, the two aren’t in conflict, and it’s a great way to make use of time.
“Now, are you feeling better?” Bei Quan saw Wei Fuyuan’s furrowed brow relax and he smiled as he rubbed the corners of his temples.
Wei Fuyuan obediently closed his eyes. Five minutes later, he opened them again and found himself looking directly into Bei Quan’s crescent-shaped eyes.
“Ahem.”
Wei Fuyuan blushed. “I… can’t sleep.”
“Well, I knew you couldn’t sleep,” Bei Quan sighed.
He then lifted the thin summer blanket covering them, sat up, and firmly pressed his hands on Wei Fuyuan’s legs.
“Since that’s the case, let’s exercise a bit.”
Bei Quan slowly unbuttoned his own shirt. “It helps with sleep…”
———————–
On August 27th, Friday, at 3:45 PM, Bei Quan came out of the room wearing thin summer loungewear. He closed the door and made his way downstairs.
In the living room, Tian Jia Xin was standing on a chair, trimming and pruning the potted plants on the windowsill.
“Oh, you’re awake?” He heard Bei Quan’s footsteps and glanced upwards.
“There’s freshly made peach blossom cake and mung bean cakes in the kitchen. Help yourself if you want any.”
Bei Quan was indeed feeling peckish, so he turned around and entered the kitchen, placed some pastries on the dining table and brewed himself a cup of tea.
“I heard Zhu Ling say that your case this time was about ‘sleeping’, so I didn’t wake you up.”
Tian Jia Xin continued to snip and chat, “But, you sure slept for a long time! Is Xiao Wei still not awake?”
“Hmm, let him sleep a little longer,” Bei Quan replied.
Of course, Bei Quan wouldn’t tell Tian Jia Xin that they had been ‘exercising’ until almost 2 o’clock in the morning before going to sleep.
He just leaned over and adjusted his sitting posture to allow his sore waist to lean against the back of the chair.
Tian Jia Xin hopped off the chair and ran a few steps to see the shape of the potted plant from a distance.
“How’s it going? Have you made any progress with this yet?”
Bei Quan shook his head, “Not yet.”
Tian Jia Xin replied with an “Oh,” and noticed something unsatisfactory. He climbed back onto the chair and continued to work hard.
About twenty minutes later, Wei Fuyuan descended down to meet the two as he was awoken by hunger. He sat down at the dining table, very consciously, and started eating Tian Jia Xin’s Chinese vegetarian dim sum, one bite after another.
“How’s it going?”
Bei Quan poured a cup of tea for his little boyfriend, “Did you dream about the ‘Two Pole Gate’?”
Wei Fuyuan shook his head and his ears turned bright red. Earlier, he and Bei Quan embraced each other’s company, going back and forth for three rounds.
They wrestled and loved each other until they were both exhausted, falling asleep soon afterwards. When he opened their eyes again, two hours had already passed.
He slept soundly and deeply, not even dreaming, let alone thinking about the ‘Two Pole Gate’.
“Well,” Bei Quan helplessly shrugged, “Both of us failed, now we can only rely on Xiao Jiang.”
…… ……
……
At 5:30 in the afternoon, Jiang Nan’an walked into Sāntúchuān.
“I saw it!”
As soon as he entered, he grabbed Bei Quan’s arm and excitedly shouted, “I really saw the ‘Two Pole Gate’!”
Bei Quan raised an eyebrow.
This was his surprised expression.
After their consecutive failures, Bei Quan had mentally prepared himself for a few more days of delay. But, he didn’t expect Comrade Xiao Jiang to be so amazing and to actually see the ‘Two Pole Gate’ after just a nap.
Jiang Nan’an released his grip off of Bei Quan’s arm and quickly walked to the sofa in the living room.
He sat down and started talking non-stop.
“I’m telling you, there really is such a door!”
He curved his left and right hands, then crossed them in the air, forming a ‘circle’ shape.
“It was just like a yin-yang fish, half black and half white… constantly rotating clockwise, it was very beautiful…”
Bei Quan raised his hand showing his palm, making the gesture for him to stop talking.
“I have a better way,” he said with a slight smile towards Jiang Nan’an.
“But Xiao Jing, I need your cooperation.”
Jiang Nan’an: “??”
Wei Fuyuan: “…”
——Here we go again!
Xiao Wei shouted in his mind.
Every time Bei Quan expressed that kind of smile, he was definitely thinking of how to trick someone again!!
Unfortunately, Xiao Jing had only recently joined Sāntúchuān and didn’t know Bei Quan well enough to understand the hidden meaning behind his smirk.
Xiao Jing simply nodded and asked, “How should I cooperate?”
“It’s simple,” Bei Quan’s smile deepened. ”Let me and Xiao Wei take a look at your dreams.”
Wei Fuyuan: “…”
——Okay, I’m going to be ’slapped’ like a ball again…
However, this time, Bei Quan didn’t plan to use empathy.
“While empathy is convenient, only one person can empathize with Xiao Jiang each time, which would be too troublesome,” Bei Quan explained.
“Moreover, frequent empathy can make Xiao Jiang feel uncomfortable.”
After all, empathy is like temporarily fitting two souls into one body. If we compare it to wearing clothes, it’s like squeezing two people into one outfit. It not only feels cramped but also makes both parties uncomfortable.
“If it was just for the convenience of solving a case, it might be understandable to do it in urgent situations. But since there is plenty of time, there is no need to put ourselves through the torment.”
——And also…
Bei Quan smiled.
“Given the current situation, it’s likely that we’ll have to go through this more than once.”
After dinner, Wei Fuyuan and Jiang Nan’an moved the sofa and coffee table together to clear the living room. Zhu Ling and Tian Jia Xin brought three cushions and laid them on the empty living room floor.
Bei Quan set up a table next to the cushions, preparing for the ritual.
“We’re going to do a little trickery.”
Bei Quan summoned the Qingguang Vientiane Brush, wrote three talismans, folded them up and put them into his own pocket, as well as Wei Fuyuan’s, and Jiang Nan’an’s.
“We’re going to share the dream with Xiao Jiang – this way we can keep our progress consistent.”
In Bei Quan’s words, ‘progress’ referred to the progress of investigating the ‘Two Pole Gate.’
The art of entering dreams could only be considered a ‘foundation’ for Bei Quan.
It’s not difficult to use, and the nature of the ‘Two Pole Gate’ appearing in dreams was just perfect for him to cheat with by using this method.
After placing the talismans down, Bei Quan gestured for the three of them to sit on the cushions.
Tian Jia Xin brought through three cups of strangely flavored herbal tea.
Bei Quan, Wei Fuyuan, and Jiang Nan’an drank this unusual liquid and rested themselves down onto the cushions.
Tian Jia Xin helped by lighting the incense again.
The scent of the incense was surprisingly sweet and fragrant. As soon as it was lit, the whole living room felt like it was immersed in honey infused with various flowers.
“Wake us up in two hours,” Bei Quan instructed Zhu Ling and Tian Jia Xin.
Then he folded his hands on his chest, closed his eyes, and said, “Alright, let’s go to sleep now.”
Wei Fuyuan and Jiang Nan’an glanced at each other and saw the same thought in each other’s eyes.
——We just woke up not long ago, can we really fall asleep?
They were not sure if it was the sleep-inducing effect of the herbal tea or the hypnotic scent of the sweet incense, but as soon as they closed their eyes, they lost consciousness.
Perhaps only virgins see the gate?