Afterlife Department

Chapter 114 - Mastermind

"So, you\'re saying, you\'ve found the witness but he kissed you?" Gu Xingfeng said when Liu Xi called him.

"… yes." Liu Xi said and looked at the young man who was rubbing his head after Liu Xi hit him.

"…" Gu Xingfeng felt speechless. "How is he now?" he asked.

"I\'m going to take him to the station with me and ask him about the incident today." Liu Xi answered and looked at the handcuff on their hands. "I feel like he knows something." He said and frowned.

"I thought you were bullying me before and making fun of me because of my poor eyesight." The young man said.. "I felt ashamed after I was told a liar. I hated you." He looked at Liu Xi. "Then, the parents my elder brother and I knew were actually traffickers. We escaped. I really felt worst." He said. "You actually looked for me, and even saved me and my elder brother from being chased." He said and smiled brightly at Liu Xi.

Liu Xi\'s brow twitched. Actually, he didn\'t think much about it before. He only noticed a teenager in the public conference held by the CEO of the X City train station after receiving many complaints. He yelled that someone was raped and he attracted a lot of attention. He immediately pulled him away but noticed the teenager\'s eyes were unfocused, so he mindlessly asked him if he was feeling well and if he is nearsighted. He didn\'t think it will discredit the teenager. He left to take his spare eyeglasses, only to return and saw the teenager was gone.

Then, the chief at that time asked them to find the teenager to confirm the teenager\'s allegations, only to go back empty-handed since they didn\'t see the teenager. Only the teenager\'s \'parents\' faced them and said the teenager was just confused. He felt the \'parents\' were suspicious so he went back again, only to hear them yelling at each other that the \'goods\' were gone. He found out they were child traffickers and immediately arrested them two. After he sent them to the station, he looked for the teenager but he never had seen him again. Starting then, it became a habit of him to bring the eyeglasses.

The young man saw him reminiscing and he chuckled. "You cared for me," he said.

Liu Xi\'s eyes widened. "I didn\'t!" he answered.

"You did. Or else, you wouldn\'t bring your spare eyeglasses with you." The young man teased him.

A vein popped in Liu Xi\'s forehead. "I bring my spare in case my eyeglasses broke. My work is dangerous." He explained.

The young man just smiled and didn\'t speak. Liu Xi felt ticked. "… if you want to flirt, do it when you\'re not calling me." Gu Xingfeng spoke from the other line.

Liu Xi\'s face darkened. He forgot the call is still ongoing. He immediately ended it. "Hey." He called. "Did you or did you not commit this crime?" he asked and pointed the burnt building. The police officers finally had quelled the crowd and had things under their control.

"I didn\'t." the young man answered.

"Really?" Liu Xi suspiciously looked at him.

"Yes." The young man answered.

Liu Xi\'s brows raised and he pursed his lips when he remembered the surprise kiss earlier. "Why did you kiss me?" he asked.

"I like you." The young man answered.

"You said you hated me." Liu Xi reminded him.

"But, I also like you." The young man looked at him. "You see, I only thought I hate you since my feelings were hurt." He explained.

Liu Xi\'s brows knitted. "What do you like about me?" he asked. "I did nothing special." He told him.

"You did." The young man said. "You\'re the only one who looked at me with honest eyes that\'re filled with respect." He told him. "That\'s why I was hurt when I thought you\'re like them after you discredited me in the public." He explained.

Liu Xi fell silent. "That\'s all?" he said.

"I like you more now, after I found out that you actually just cared for me and that you saved me and my brother." The young man smiled.

Liu Xi frowned. He has nothing against homosexuals. However – "If you want to start a relationship with me, you\'ll just be wasting your time." He told him. "I don\'t have plans in being in a relationship. My work is dangerous, too, and I can be killed at any time – " he explained.

"Don\'t say that." The young man said.

"Huh?"

"You won\'t die." The young man said and looked at him. His tears are falling. "You won\'t die." He said as he cupped his face and kissed him again.

Liu Xi\'s eyes widened and he immediately tried to push the young man. However, the young man didn\'t budge. Liu Xi raised his hand and was about to knock him out when he heard him sobbed. He stared at him and saw his tear-filled eyes. He suddenly felt something tugged the bottom of his heart. His hand that was on the young man\'s nape moved – no to knock him out, but to pull his head closer to him and deepened their kiss.

Ah… whatever. He thought and smiled as he wiped the young man\'s tears. Maybe I really had cared for him, as what he said, after all these years. He thought as he wrapped his arm around the young man\'s waist. I\'ll just leave these all to fate. He added and closed his eyes.

He had never felt his chest became this full and close to bursting.

The police officers who were about to report but saw their chief was romancing with a beautiful young man. "…" chief. We had never thought you\'re actually this romantic? They sarcastically thought when they saw the two\'s handcuffed hands but they\'re kissing, and the burnt building in their background.

S City Police Station.

"What did Liu Xi say?" Hao Baiyun asked.

"He\'ll send me the witness\' statement later." Gu Xingfeng answered.

"So, there\'s really a connection to the train station case?" Hao Baiyun said.

"He thinks so, too. He said the serial murder case must also be…" Gu Xingfeng as he tried to recall something. "The serial murder case happened not long after the train station case." He added.

Hao Baiyun nodded when he remembered the event. "Their death is really brutal." He said and shivered when he remembered one of the victims in the serial murder case has his skull opened and his brain was floating in the toilet.

Gu Xingfeng saw Hao Baiyun\'s face twisting in disgust and he held his hand to reassure him. Suddenly, his phone rang and he answered it. "Liu Xi – " he called. He was cut off by a loud shriek outside the office. He immediately went out together with Hao Baiyun and saw a female officer was deathly pale. "What happened?!" he asked.

"C-chief… the hospital called…" she said and her hand holding the phone was shaking. "Officer Zhang was stabbed and is in a critical condition. Meanwhile, the suspect Rong Zhe…" she said. "He\'s dead. He was stabbed." She explained.

Gu Xingfeng was stunned. At the same time, he heard Liu Xi\'s voice from his phone.

"Gu Xingfeng. There really was a girl that was raped in the train." Liu Xi said. "Her name is Shang Mi. However, her father\'s name is not known." He explained. "Shang Mi had committed suicide, but before she died, she had drawn the face of the people who were on the train. The one who committed the serial murder case, and exploded the X City\'s train station\'s CEO\'s building, eventually killing him, is Shang Mi\'s father." He told him.

"Who is he? Who is Shang Mi\'s father?!" Gu Xingfeng immediately asked. "How did the witness know this?" he asked.

"Because he had a contact with Shang Mi\'s father." Liu Xi answered.

"What?!"

"Shang Mi\'s father was gratified since he had finally connected the dots of what happened to his daughter." Liu Xi explained. "Thus, he spared him." He said.

"Liu Xi. Are you sure this witness isn\'t Shang Mi\'s father\'s accomplice?" Gu Xingfeng asked.

"No." Liu Xi decisively said. "Since he\'s your subordinate\'s younger brother – " he said. " – Zhang Su. His elder brother is Zhang Bao." He told him. "Zhang Su is a senior student in Tsuting University, where Huo Ling, Xu Ke, Lu Ming, Su Lin, Ye Ting, Rong Zhe and Zhu Min are studying." He explained.

"What?!" Gu Xingfeng said and looked at the female officer who answered the hospital\'s call. "Why is he there?!" he asked.

"Because he wanted to confirm something." Liu Xi answered.

"Confirm what?" Gu Xingfeng asked.

"Confirm is he will be targeted next by Shang Mi\'s father." Liu Xi answered.

"What do you mean?"

"The CEO dying is the signal of Shang Mi\'s father to Zhang Su to kill him – the witness." Liu Xi answered before he paused. "Gu Xingfeng. The Tsuting University\'s students being killed one by one… I think…" he said.

Gu Xingfeng immediately caught his meaning. "You think they are also in the train station at that time?" he asked.

"No." a voice answered. "They are definitely in the train station at that time." Zhang Su said.