Chapter 62: The Investigator
The meeting room was bright and clean, a potted pothos plant on the table, a neat stack of folders forming a small, blue mountain in the center.
Xiang Er sat down cautiously:
“How should I address you?”
“My surname is An, my given name is Yue, like the Five Sacred Mountains. You can call me Officer An.” *(yue (岳) is high mountain, characters used in The Five Sacred Mountains)*
Just the name itself brought a sense of reassurance, someone associated with mountains, a police officer, that was good.
An Yue didn’t open any folders, nor did she take out a notebook. Instead, she pulled out a long, thin cigarette, looked at Xiang Er, and raised an eyebrow:
“You don’t mind, do you?”
Xiang Er hesitated and said instinctively:
“But this is a no-smoking area…”
But An Yue ignored her, went to the window, opened it, lit the cigarette, took a deep drag, and exhaled, turning her head towards the window.
The muscles in her neck, taut as she turned, resembled a wolf stalking through the snow.
She turned back to Xiang Er, her gaze, sharp and intelligent yet seemingly affable, piercing through the swirling blue smoke.
She must be a skilled interrogator… Xiang Er thought.
“Your name is Xiang Er, correct? According to our records, you exhibited some unusual behavior after work last Friday, entering an alley without surveillance cameras, staying there for a long time, and emerging with injuries, accompanied by another person… What exactly happened during that time?”
An Yue’s voice was clear and strong, her gaze unwavering, not missing a single flicker of emotion on Xiang Er’s face.
Xiang Er had nothing to hide, and the fact that someone was finally taking this seriously made her feel a surge of excitement. She could finally report what had happened!
She even leaned forward slightly, her hands on the table, her voice eager:
“It’s like this, Officer An, I encountered a mutated person, General Manager Cheng, after work that day…”
She recounted the events of that day, describing General Manager Cheng’s appearance in detail, her voice rising slightly as she spoke, worried that An Yue wouldn’t hear her, but An Yue’s reactions reassured her.
An Yue’s responses were carefully measured, nodding occasionally, sometimes feigning surprise or confusion, encouraging her to continue, her expression neutral, not betraying any judgment, making Xiang Er feel comfortable enough to reveal more.
She described General Manager Cheng’s monstrous form, their conflict, omitting, of course, the existence of the small eyeball.
Meanwhile…
A loud boom echoed from the elevator lobby, and everyone looked up, startled, their faces pale, their gazes fixed on the elevators.
The elevator doors had been blown open, the heavy metal doors ripped from their hinges, sparks flying from the mangled frame, people who had been waiting for the elevator screaming and running, clutching their faces!
“Aaaaaah…”
“It hurts, it hurts!!”
Their screams formed a strange, harmonious backdrop as a pair of black high heels stepped through the wreckage, emerging from the elevator.
Shen Yuhe, in a white blouse and black suit trousers, stood before the destroyed elevator, her teeth clenched, her eyes dark as ink. A barrier had been placed on the elevator, a barrier targeting her power, although weak and insignificant, it had delayed her!
But… she couldn’t frighten Little Ears. Shen Yuhe, using the mangled elevator doors as a mirror, calmly adjusted her clothes as the people around her screamed and fled, even touching up her lipstick, applying a coat of blood red.
She knew Little Ears liked bright red lips.
Back in the meeting room, the interrogation continued.
Xiang Er knew that An Yue was a professional, possibly even a person with special abilities, so, wanting to make Shen Yuhe look good, she described Shen Yuhe’s arrival as a dramatic, almost divine intervention, emphasizing her bravery and selflessness.
“…And that’s what happened. My friend, Shen Yuhe, was injured, but she risked her life to defeat the mutated person. That’s when I realized she was a member of your organization, sent to investigate these incidents. You’re probably the same kind of people, right? She’s truly amazing, incredibly capable, she’s very dedicated to her mission, she not only protected me but also the entire company, you should give her a medal…”
Xiang Er, praising Shen Yuhe, spoke eloquently, her eyes shining, her cheeks flushed.
An Yue listened patiently, her expression one of polite interest, not interrupting.
The cigarette had burned down to its halfway point, and Xiang Er exhaled:
“That’s everything that happened.”
An Yue nodded, then asked seriously:
“How do you know that Miss Shen is… one of us? Did you see any identification?”
Xiang Er was taken aback:
“No, but she was able to defeat the mutated person…”
An Yue raised an eyebrow, casually crossing her legs:
“Then where is the body of the mutated person now?”
Xiang Er:
“Huh? I didn’t see a body…”
As soon as she said the words, she realized… something wasn’t right.
No body? Why wasn’t there a body? That mutated person, impaled by bone spurs, why hadn’t he left a body behind?
Shen Yuhe had gone to the hospital with her after being injured, she hadn’t seemed to do anything else, had her colleagues retrieved the body? But Xiang Er remembered that Shen Yuhe hadn’t used her phone at all, not even at the hospital.
Her thoughts turned dangerous. And just then, An Yue, her gaze sharp as a wolf’s, grabbed Xiang Er’s wrist:
“You know… as far as I’m aware, no one has been assigned to investigate this incident. And within our organization, we’re called ‘special investigators,’ not… people with special abilities.”
What did that mean? Xiang Er’s eyes widened, the implications of those words hitting her like a ton of bricks.
She looked up at An Yue, whose face, although not conventionally beautiful, possessed a wild, rugged attractiveness, her eyes like searchlights, piercing through Xiang Er, sending a chill down her spine!
She stammered, her voice barely a whisper:
“Are you saying… Shen, Miss Shen, she…”
An Yue didn’t answer.
Xiang Er looked at her and saw that her gaze was fixed on the meeting room door.
Her back went cold, a faint sweet fragrance reaching her nostrils, her body trembling involuntarily, her fingers twitching.
So, Shen Yuhe, who was she… had she come?
“Little Ears.”
An incredibly gentle, incredibly sweet voice, like honey, flowed into her ear from behind.
Xiang Er’s neck stiff, she slowly turned her head, and seeing Shen Yuhe, she smiled instinctively, a fleeting moment of happiness.
But the smile, like melting snow in spring, quickly vanished.
Shen Yuhe pushed open the glass door of the meeting room, a gentle smile on her face, and walked quickly towards them:
“Why aren’t you at your desk?”
Her gaze, casually yet pointedly, swept over Xiang Er’s wrist, held by An Yue, a coldness in her eyes.
Xiang Er followed her gaze and saw that An Yue’s state… was suddenly very wrong.
Her normally stylish wolf-cut hair was now standing straight up, as if electrified, a comical halo around her head, her facial muscles twitching, drool trickling from the corner of her mouth, her forehead creased, the veins in her temples throbbing visibly!
Xiang Er gasped and reached out to grab An Yue’s wrist:
“Oh my god, Officer An, are you okay?!”
Her outstretched hand was caught by Shen Yuhe, who smiled at her, shaking her head, and whispered:
“If it’s a sudden illness, you shouldn’t touch her.”
Xiang Er reluctantly stopped, then immediately reached for her phone:
“Then I’ll call an ambulance!”
Shen Yuhe didn’t stop her, the smile on her lips fixed, like a wax figure, her gaze, however, turning icy cold in a direction Xiang Er couldn’t see.
Her pupils, dark and reptilian, like a predator’s, were fixed on An Yue.
This one’s willpower… was stronger than she had anticipated, but it wasn’t a problem.
Shen Yuhe stared into An Yue’s light brown eyes, as if wanting to gouge them out and devour them.
An Yue’s body continued to twitch, her hands reaching up, as if trying to clutch her head, but stopping before reaching it, her fingers trembling, her muscles tense, as if fighting against some invisible force…
Then, suddenly, her shoulders relaxed, the veins in her forehead receding, her hair falling back into place, the contortions in her face disappearing, replaced by a calm, peaceful expression.
Xiang Er, stunned, lowered her phone and looked at An Yue. She still looked the same, but… something was different.
Like a wolf that had been tamed, transformed into a dog… Xiang Er frowned.
An Yue stood up and, suddenly, saluted Shen Yuhe, her voice filled with respect:
“Greetings, Ms. Shen! I’m An Yue, a Class A special investigator from the Lǜ’è City Police Department. I didn’t expect to see you here, it’s an honor to meet you!”
Shen Yuhe casually raised a hand in acknowledgment:
“Hello, Officer An.”
She stood casually, one arm at her side, her aura still commanding, her delicate face aloof and dignified, as if she were of a higher rank, not interested in further interaction. Her gaze swept over An Yue’s face, and she said softly:
“How is your investigation going?”
An Yue hesitated, a flicker of confusion in her eyes, then she quickly regained her composure and said:
“It’s concluded.”
Xiang Er:
“Huh? It’s… it’s over already?”
She was puzzled. An Yue had seemed to have something important to tell her, and she had been concerned about what she had said about Shen Yuhe…
Shen Yuhe suddenly turned to look at her, and Xiang Er’s thoughts scattered.
Shen Yuhe turned back to An Yue, a faint smile on her lips:
“Then, you can go back to your other duties.”
She nodded politely, turned to Xiang Er, and extended her hand, her palm open and inviting:
“Now, my Little Ears, shall we go?”
Xiang Er looked at her hand, and although she didn’t understand, she felt… a sense of unease.
Something… wasn’t right.
An Yue’s sudden change in attitude, what she had said about the missing body, the discrepancy between “person with special abilities” and “investigator”… too many questions, too many inconsistencies, more than just “confidentiality” could explain.
But… Xiang Er looked up at Shen Yuhe, her gaze soft and trusting.
On that beautiful, sculpted face, affection, like dew drops trembling on a flower petal, was clearly visible.
Her eyes were gentle and vulnerable, her red lips parting slightly, as she said:
“What’s wrong, Little Ears? Are you… unhappy with me?”
Xiang Er, of course, wasn’t unhappy.
She didn’t hesitate any longer, extending her hand, taking Shen Yuhe’s, and walking towards the door.
As they left the meeting room, she turned to say goodbye to An Yue, but An Yue just stared at them blankly, like a puppet.
Even stranger… but Xiang Er didn’t care. She had Shen Yuhe, and Shen Yuhe was clearly more powerful than An Yue, more capable of protecting her.
Shen Yuhe lifted Xiang Er’s hand and kissed it, sending shivers down Xiang Er’s spine, a smile blooming on her face, impossible to suppress.
She even forgot that they were at the company, that her colleagues might see them, but when she looked around, the office was… completely empty.
“Huh? Where is everyone?”
Xiang Er asked in surprise.
“There was an accident with the elevator, it malfunctioned, they all went to see what happened.”
Shen Yuhe said casually.
“Huh? What’s so interesting about an elevator malfunction?”
Xiang Er asked.
“I don’t know. But I think… in an empty office, we should do something like this…”
Shen Yuhe’s voice, light and playful, caressed Xiang Er’s ear, a cold finger suddenly pressing against her lips.
Shen Yuhe’s gaze, hungry and possessive, fixed on Xiang Er’s soft lips.
She wanted to pull her back into the cage, to reclaim what might slip from Her grasp.
In other words… She wanted to kiss her, very much.
Leave a Reply