Chapter 67: Don’t move, I’m thinking

Translator: Abo Dammen

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Case Four: Sicilian Defense

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Back in the room, away from the crowd and the crime scene, the surrounding air was no longer turbid, and the pain between his brows had somewhat eased.

His sense of smell was still very sharp. He could detect the grassy scent of the vegetation outside the window and the metallic smell of the heating radiator. Fortunately, these smells weren’t pungent, and the bedding retained He Yixun’s scent, which soothed the discomfort in Xu Pei’s nasal passages.

“Feeling better?” He Yixun asked, sitting by the bed. 

Xu Pei buried his nose in the duvet, eyes closed, and replied, “Much better.”

“How much, specifically?” He Yixun asked rigorously. “50% or 80%?”

That… was a bit difficult to answer.

The area between his brows was still very tense, like a nervous headache—once triggered, it wouldn’t easily subside. Although compared to before, the pain like being twisted by a nail had eased considerably, it still felt like there was a hook in his nasal passages, pulling on his entire forehead. 

“About 40%,” Xu Pei estimated.

“Then I’ll stay with you a while longer,” He Yixun said, lifting the duvet to get into bed.

An alpha’s scent is the best painkiller for an omega. Xu Pei also wished He Yixun could stay by his side. But Zhong Qiaoyi’s body was still downstairs. Officer He had more important things to do.

“No need, go investigate the case,” Xu Pei said. 

Before coming upstairs, the “♀” symbol had pointed suspicion towards Lin Mei. But Lin Mei’s one forceful retort made those who had suspected her without thinking immediately realize how absurd that notion was.

Especially Luo You, who said in realization, “That’s right, how could Aunt Lin kill someone? She’s counting on them to crack the vault.”

Subsequently, He Yixun pointed out that from the direction of the door, it was indeed the female symbol. But from Zhong Qiaoyi’s position, the symbol should be inverted, making it the character “古“. Therefore, for now, Gu Yan was still the prime suspect.

“The homicide unit has arrived. I can stay with you a bit longer.” 

Xu Pei shook his head. “I’m really fine.”

“I’m more interested in knowing when Gu Yan developed the intent to kill, if he is the murderer.”

“Why do you care about that point?” He Yixun asked.

“Last night when I went to the bathroom, I heard Zhong Qiaoyi exclaim ‘So that’s it!’, which is why I went downstairs. Anyone would normally think she had an idea, right?” 

He Yixun: “Right.”

“When I went down, she was indeed moving the chess pieces. It felt like she had solved the puzzle, very confident. But Gu Yan said he couldn’t hold on any longer and was going back to sleep.

“They had been in the study for a whole day, didn’t even have the mind to eat, just to open the vault before others. And just when someone else clearly had an idea and was solving the puzzle, he left. Don’t you find that strange?”

“Indeed,” He Yixun thought about it. “No matter what, he should have waited for a result.” 

“Even though Zhong Qiaoyi still didn’t manage to open it later, Gu Yan’s behavior was suspicious. Perhaps something happened between them, and he developed the intent to kill at that time.” Xu Pei paused. “Of course, that’s on the premise that he is the murderer.”

Actually, Xu Pei had found Gu Yan strange at the time, but that feeling was at most “Is he really that tired?” and not enough to have a premonition that a murder would occur.

But looking back now, Gu Yan claimed he was going back to sleep but didn’t return to his room. So, what he did after leaving the study was crucial.

And most importantly, where did Gu Yan go? 

“I understand,” He Yixun said. “I’ll investigate.”

The study was cordoned off with police tape. Forensics personnel were examining the scene. The bloodstained books, after being photographed, were moved aside, revealing the intact corpse body lying face down on the floor.

Zhong Qiaoyi had been stabbed several times in the abdomen and lower back. Blood had spread from under her body to the chessboard, now dried to a dark red.

Judging from the position where she fell and the bloodstains on the bookshelf, the murderer had likely taken her by surprise, stabbing her several times in the back first. She turned around to resist, and the murderer pushed her against the bookshelf, stabbing her several times in the front. Finally, she fell to the floor with her back against the bookshelf. 

The entire wall of bookshelves was fixed, wouldn’t shake, and certainly wouldn’t cause all the books to fall down and pile up into a small mountain just because the murderer stabbed someone.

“So, the murderer deliberately used the books to bury the body after killing her?”

Chen Zhen had also come to the scene. He was looking up at the several-meter-high bookshelves and the movable ladder, and no matter how he thought about it, it seemed like a hassle. “What a pain, isn’t it?”

“And unnecessary,” He Yixun added. “If the murderer wanted to conceal the body, blocking it with the sofa would suffice.” 

“Then why make such a mess with the books?” Chen Zhen asked.

He Yixun had some vague ideas, but explaining them to Chen Zhen would be troublesome, so he didn’t say much. “Let’s check the surveillance.”

Although the manor was ancient, its security system kept up with the times and was equipped with surveillance cameras, albeit not many.

Luo You, having finished giving his statement to the officers first, acted like the leader of a civilian investigation team and proactively led He Yixun and Chen Zhen to the surveillance room. 

“This is the surveillance feed for the first-floor corridor,” Luo You pulled up a view on the large screen that clearly showed the study entrance. “There are no cameras inside the study. Grandpa didn’t want others to see how he opened the vault.”

Dragging the progress bar back, Zhong Qiaoyi and Gu Yan appeared in the corridor. Luo You asked, “This is after dinner last night. Start from here?”

This was the last time Zhong Qiaoyi’s figure appeared on the surveillance feed.

“Fast forward at the highest speed,” He Yixun said. 

After Zhong Qiaoyi and Gu Yan returned to the study, Cai Jia and Xing Yong also entered the study one after another, but they each left not long after and went to the second floor, presumably having given up on solving the puzzle.

For the next few hours, the two people in the study occasionally came out to use the restroom. No other figures appeared on the surveillance until 2 AM, when Xu Pei came down from upstairs and entered the study.

“It’s Pei Pei-ge!” Luo You said in surprise.

Earlier, Xu Pei hadn’t had time to mention this due to his physical discomfort, so Luo You’s surprise was understandable. 

In less than a minute, Gu Yan came out of the study, leaving only Xu Pei and Zhong Qiaoyi inside.

Luo You gasped sharply. “So the murderer is Pei pei-ge!”

He Yixun slapped the back of Luo You’s head. “Gu Yan didn’t go upstairs. See where he went.”

Luo You rubbed the back of his head discontentedly and pulled up the surveillance footage from the main building. They saw Gu Yan moving through various camera views, finally arriving at— 

The kitchen.

The vast kitchen had only one camera, and the distant view was quite blurry. Chen Zhen leaned closer to the screen. “What did he go to the kitchen for?”

“Was he hungry?” Luo You also leaned in. Their heads were very close. Luo You suddenly turned to look at Chen Zhen and said, “Gege, you smell so good.”

“Huh?” Chen Zhen was startled, momentarily dazzled by the exquisite face so close to his, his old face blushing. “I took a shower before going out.” 

“What shower gel do you use?”

“I—”

He Yixun grabbed one head in each hand and made them face forward. “Watch the surveillance for me.”

Gu Yan circled around the kitchen, seemed to take something, then passed through the main building again and returned to the study in the separate wing. 

After that, no one else appeared on the surveillance until the next morning, when the servant came to the study and discovered the arm under the pile of books.

“So the murderer is Gu Yan?” Luo You asked.

From the timeline, Gu Yan was the last person to appear in the study. It seemed only he had the opportunity to commit the crime.

He Yixun didn’t comment. “Let’s go check the kitchen.” 

Luo You wasn’t very familiar with the kitchen, so he called the elderly butler. The group followed Gu Yan’s route through the kitchen, stopping where he stopped, and quickly discovered what was missing from the kitchen.

A boning knife and a roll of plastic wrap.

“…He really intended to kill,” said Chen Zhen.

“But where is he?” Luo You asked, puzzled. “Did he run away after killing?” 

Just then, He Yixun’s phone rang. It was a colleague from Forensics. “Sir He, we found a set of footprints at the scene, extending all the way to outside the study window. Come take a look.”

The group returned to the study.

Actually, the study wasn’t a sealed space. Several windows were cracked open for ventilation. So, the timeline wasn’t conclusive; others could also have entered or exited the study via the outside lawn, besides Gu Yan.

But considering this possibility seemed somewhat superfluous. 

Gu Yan’s behavior was the most suspicious, coupled with the dying message left by Zhong Qiaoyi, it almost ruled out the possibility of anyone else being the perpetrator.

“The right heel of this set of footprints has a trace of blood on it. It wasn’t very noticeable on the dark floor so the suspect probably didn’t realize it,” the forensics colleague said, using a UV light to illuminate the floor. They could see the bloodstains extending from the bookshelf to the window, the color becoming fainter and the shape smaller, but clear traces were still left on the windowsill.

“Once on the lawn, the footprints are hard to identify. The blood was mostly wiped off, and there was no reaction with Luminol reagent either,” the forensics colleague added.

“So the murderer escaped through the window,” Chen Zhen summarized. 

“That’s not right.” An aged voice spoke up. Everyone followed the sound and saw it was the unsmiling elderly butler. “This manor isn’t a place one can enter and exit freely. The perimeter has a high-voltage electric fence so the murderer couldn’t have climbed out. The main gate has security on duty. No one left last night, and no suspicious persons were spotted.”

“So, Gu Yan killed someone and is hiding?” Luo You, scared, clung to Chen Zhen’s arm. “The murderer is still in the manor!”

“Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid,” Chen Zhen soothed him. “Gege is here.”

Still not right. 

He Yixun felt more and more that this case was pervaded by strangeness.

Since Gu Yan took the plastic wrap, it meant he had intended to dispose of the body. What happened that made him switch to using books to cover the corpse instead?

The vibration of his phone interrupted He Yixun’s train of thought. A message popped up on the screen:

【[Little Dog]: ><】 

The little dog isn’t comfortable.

“You keep an eye on things here,” He Yixun said to Chen Zhen. “I’m going upstairs for a bit.”

The scent of He Yixun in the bedding was like a consumable item. The more he smelled it, the fainter it became. The discomfort that had somewhat improved to sixty percent bounced back to 40%, same as it was when he first came upstairs.

Xu Pei wanted He Yixun by his side but didn’t want to disturb him. He endured for a while, then restrainedly sent an emoji. 

As a result, one minute later, He Yixun appeared in the room.

“Still not comfortable?” He Yixun came to sit by the bed, consciously loosening his tie and unbuttoning the top two buttons of his shirt, exposing his neck as much as possible.

Xu Pei sat up, threw himself into He Yixun’s arms, buried his entire face in the crook of his neck, and kept nuzzling. “I don’t think this is working.”

“Maybe I should take you home first,” said He Yixun. 

“No, the case isn’t solved. I don’t want to leave.”

“But you’re not comfortable.”

“Then… why don’t you let me suck it.”

The soft hairs tickled his neck, distracting He Yixun. He didn’t catch what Xu Pei said clearly. “What?” 

“Let me suck it,” Xu Pei lifted his head and looked at He Yixun.

“Suck what?”

Xu Pei blinked.

He Yixun guessed immediately, and fell silent for a moment. It wasn’t entirely out of the question. 

Considering he still had to go downstairs later, time was tight. He leaned back against the headboard, didn’t take off his clothes, just pulled down his pants zipper. “Let’s make it quick.”

Xu Pei said, “Okay.”

He Yixun thought the little dog just wanted to suck on a lollipop. But after Xu Pei used his hand to make ‘it’ stand up, he didn’t put his mouth on it. Instead, he took off his pants and sat down on it.

He went straight to the soft, deep inside. 

He Yixun: …..

His little dog seemed a bit excessively horny.

Xu Pei let out a long sigh, the sickly look completely gone. “Comfortable now.

“Tell me about the case.” 

Xu Pei didn’t move, but the softness enveloping a certain part was constantly wriggling.

Even though He Yixun had become desensitized, he still found it utterly fatal.

“After you left… Gu Yan went to the kitchen.

“Took a boning knife… and plastic wrap. 

“Windowsill… has the murderer’s footprints.

“The manor can’t be entered or exited… He’s still here.”

He Yixun tried his best to concentrate on describing the case, but his attention was hard not to be diverted. He could only speak in fragments.

Xu Pei, however, was very focused, as if receiving an IV drip. His complexion kept getting better. “So, the murderer is Gu Yan, but he’s vanished.” 

“Mm.” He Yixun was on the verge of losing control. It was as if a devil was whispering in his ear. Finally, a breach appeared in his defenses, and he uncontrollably thrust upwards slightly.

Xu Pei naturally felt He Yixun’s movement and frowned slightly. “What are you doing? My body isn’t comfortable, I don’t want to do it.”

He Yixun was silent for a moment, his voice hoarse as he asked, “Or… I’ll make it quick?”

Having said that, he tried to turn over, but was stopped by Xu Pei. “Don’t move. I’m thinking.” 

He Yixun took a deep breath.

Right. You don’t want to do it.

Your reproductive chamber is about to bite me in half.