Chapter 2: Why Is It You Again?
Inside the interrogation room.
Lin Jiangye glanced around. This was his first time entering a police station—let alone being questioned as a suspect.
The officers kept saying they wanted to learn more details from him as a “witness,” but their eyes betrayed them.
Suspicion. Scrutiny. Vigilance.
Those were not the looks one gave a mere witness.
Still, he wasn’t worried. Even if the surveillance at the crime scene had malfunctioned, there was a camera in front of his own house. It was enough to prove his movements.
“Mr. Lin, you said you smelled blood and, worried someone inside was seriously injured, you went in. But how did you know someone was hurt? Couldn’t the blood have belonged to some other animal?”
The officer questioning him had broad shoulders and a slim waist. Under the lights, his sharp brows and deep-set eyes looked especially imposing.
Instead of answering immediately, Lin Jiangye shifted his gaze to Yan Zhou standing beside Shang Fuyan.
Hadn’t this guy previously suspected he rushed in because of cat abuse? What—he didn’t mention that?
It wasn’t that Yan Zhou hadn’t said it; he simply felt the reason sounded too ridiculous.
Moreover, after reviewing the surveillance footage, even though they weren’t animal experts, they could tell that the cat’s cries didn’t sound like those of a creature being abused.
Which meant Lin Jiangye’s excuse didn’t quite hold up.
“Knock, knock.” Shang Fuyan tapped the table, drawing Lin Jiangye’s attention back.
“I didn’t know whether it was abuse or not, so I went in to take a look. But since you’ve reviewed the surveillance footage, you should’ve seen that I entered the villa after the victim had already died, right?”
That was true—his innocence had been confirmed.
Records showed that Mr. Lin had just returned to the country and had no connection whatsoever with the deceased, Gu Feng.
Surveillance from the residential complex showed he had originally been heading toward the main gate. Only after hearing the cat’s cries did he change direction. Footage from the neighboring villa confirmed he climbed over the wall only after the victim’s time of death.
If he were the murderer, why would he kill someone an hour earlier and then return an hour later pretending to be a passerby to report it?
Wouldn’t that be unnecessary?
Most importantly, the forensic doctor had provided another clue—the weapon had been thrust upward into the victim’s chest.
Judging from the surrounding scene, the killer could not have been seated during the attack. That meant the killer was shorter than the victim.
The victim was 178 cm tall. Based on wound estimation, the assailant was around 170 cm.
Lin Jiangye, however, had been measured earlier by the police—he was exactly 180 cm.
That didn’t match the profile.
No matter how the police tested him, Lin Jiangye firmly insisted that he had broken in out of concern for possible cat abuse, never once mentioning that he had understood the cat’s words.
Even if he told the truth, the police wouldn’t believe him. They’d probably think he was insane.
After being released, Lin Jiangye walked away from the station. Once he had gone some distance and the burning gaze behind him finally disappeared, his tense body gradually relaxed.
That officer half a head taller than him had definitely been suspicious.
“Whatever! Time to eat!” After all that back and forth, he was practically starving.
The police station was near the city center, which made finding food convenient.
Following his navigation app, he soon arrived at a food street. Breathing in the mingled aromas in the air, he felt as if he had finally come back to life.
The three years he spent in the Abyss had been the most agonizing nine years of his five-year otherworldly life.
Why nine? Because time in the Abyss stretched—nine years inside equaled only three years outside.
Lin Jiangye took a deep breath. Like a beast imprisoned for years, he pounced ferociously upon the food stalls.
Some vendors, seeing the way he devoured the food without restraint, didn’t look surprised. Instead, they smiled knowingly and kindly.
“Slow down, don’t rush. Just came back from studying abroad, huh?”
Studying abroad… well, that wasn’t exactly wrong.
After nearly eating his way through the entire street, he finished with a bowl of wonton soup. Sitting under a tree, he slowly sipped the rich broth. He felt his entire being ascend.
The stall was doing brisk business; every small table and stool was occupied.
In front of him sat a thin man.
It was only September, yet this man was already wearing a padded cotton jacket. The oversized coat contrasted sharply with his gaunt face, making him look like a round bun topped with a single shriveled goji berry—strange and out of place.
Lin Jiangye paid him little attention, focusing on his food.
But the pleasant moment was suddenly interrupted by a harsh caw.
[Shiny! Crow wants the shiny in his hand!]
Looking up, Lin Jiangye saw a jet-black crow perched in the tree, its beady eyes fixed eagerly on the thin man before him.
At first, he thought the crow meant the man’s buttons. But the crow’s next sentence made his appetite vanish.
[Such a long shiny! Once he takes it out, Crow will snatch it!]
What long, shiny object?
Combined with the man’s odd appearance, a sense of foreboding surged within him.
“No way…” Could he really be that unlucky?
Soon enough, his premonition came true.
While people around them were still enjoying their food, the man suddenly lunged toward a stall, a knife as long as a forearm appearing in his hand.
The sudden attack stunned everyone. Only the stall owner reacted—but he was disabled and unable to move quickly.
Just as he thought he was about to die, a plastic bowl flew from behind the attacker. Scalding broth and wontons splashed over the man’s head. The burning heat made him freeze and scream.
The next second, someone yanked him backward. He fell hard onto the ground.
A young man with tousled short hair and a clean, obedient-looking face delivered a cold, merciless punch. The blow knocked the attacker flat.
With a clang, the knife fell to the ground. The man lost consciousness.
The already quiet street fell into dead silence.
No one expected this tall, lean young man to have such strength.
One punch—and the attacker was out cold?
But it wasn’t over.
Before the bystanders could recover, the crow swooped down, cawing wildly. It stomped furiously on the man’s face, leaving bloody scratches with its sharp claws.
In Lin Jiangye’s ears, it sounded like a string of curses.
[You bad man! How dare you bully him! Crow won’t forgive you! Die die die die!]
Small body, explosive temper.
The man, who had been unconscious, was scratched awake. Covering his face, he screamed and flailed at the bird.
At that moment, Lin Jiangye abruptly turned his head.
He had just sensed several malicious gazes directed their way. But the area was crowded—he couldn’t tell where exactly those hostile looks came from.
Suspiciously, he glanced at the stall owner.
Those malicious gazes were aimed at him.
Who exactly was this man?
The stall owner’s face was pale. Surprisingly, despite nearly being stabbed, there was no fear in his eyes—only deep helplessness.
As if he had long expected someone to attack him.
Strange.
Seeing the crow still venting its anger and someone already calling the police, Lin Jiangye quickly suppressed his doubts and grabbed the bird.
“Go back, go back. Don’t scratch him to death, or you’ll all be in trouble,” he whispered. If the crow killed someone, the city might start some kind of crow extermination campaign.
The crow paused and stared at him.
This human smelled pleasant—unlike any other human Crow had encountered!
Fine! Crow is magnanimous. Crow will spare that bad man’s life!
Puffing out its chest proudly, it flew onto the stall and cawed at the owner.
[Human! Crow helped you get revenge! No need to thank me—just give Crow the shiny!]
Unfortunately, the shiny had been the weapon. It couldn’t take that.
Just then, the man on the ground began convulsing. Saliva dripped from his mouth. His pupils constricted, his expression twisted, and he crawled toward the crowd.
“Give me… give me… I want…” he gasped, as if suffering a seizure.
The bystanders were horrified, staring at the crow.
The bird only cawed once, and the man turned into this—could it be…?
The crow jumped back in fright and hurriedly flew off.
[Not Crow! Not Crow! Crow didn’t do it!!!] Humans are terrifying! Run run QAQ!
While people were still suspecting some bacterial infection, someone suddenly shouted, “Could he be high?”
Everyone froze, then stared at the man.
“Now that you mention it… he really looks like it!”
Lin Jiangye was startled too. Instinctively, he looked at the stall owner and caught a flash of bitterness in the man’s eyes.
Alright. He had a guess now about what this man used to be.
The attacker, crawling wildly like a mindless zombie, was quickly tied up with rope provided by a kind vendor to prevent further harm.
At last, the police arrived, pushing through the crowd.
The first thing they saw was a familiar face.
“Why is it you again?”
Lin Jiangye, still sipping his soup, looked up in equal confusion.
“Why is it you again?”
The two officers who had interrogated him earlier stood before him once more. Six eyes met, all filled with speechless exasperation.
“What exactly happened?” Shang Fuyan stepped forward and asked directly.
Yan Zhou and the others questioned witnesses while the attacker was shoved into a patrol car to be taken to the hospital for examination.
After recounting the entire incident, Lin Jiangye lowered his voice.
“I suspect he was high.”
Then he glanced at the stall owner being questioned and added even more quietly, “I think someone’s targeting him. After I knocked that guy down, I felt several malicious stares. You need to protect him.”
If his guess was correct—that the stall owner had once been an undercover anti-drug officer infiltrating a cartel—then even returning to ordinary life wouldn’t mean safety.
Shang Fuyan’s gaze sharpened as he looked toward the stall owner.
After observing him closely, he did sense something familiar about the man.
The aura of an unsung hero hidden in the shadows.
—
Author’s Note:
Crow: The shiny’s gone [ugly crying]
