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墨書 Inktalez
Chapter 457: Human Skin Puppet (Part Two)
I rushed over, ignoring Qin Jian's frantic shouting on the phone, desperately searching for Ling Juan. The surface of Branching Stream was like a mirror; not even the slightest ripple disturbed its stillness. With how Ling Juan had fallen, there should have been some commotion.
At that moment, my mind was a mess. Ling Juan, a living person, stood right behind me. How could she possibly fall without making any noise? I looked left and right, forward and backward, sweating in panic. I couldn't dare to mention to Qin Jian that something had happened to Ling Juan; I was just frantically searching.
Just when I was about to lose my mind, a figure suddenly burst out from the shadows. She clapped her hands and laughed, her voice trembling with delight. "Hahaha, Brother Qi, I'm sorry! I played a little joke on you. Seeing you so anxious, I really couldn't keep it up any longer and had to jump out."
I was stunned for a moment before my expression darkened. I asked flatly, "Have you lost your mind?"
Ling Juan innocently replied, "I didn't! Brother Qi, please don't be angry!"
"You little brat, go back where you came from! I don't have time for your jokes. Do you know what I just saw?"
Ling Juan looked at me with an innocent expression and asked, "What did you see?"
"The Bone Demon."
"Ah! The Bone Demon? No way! Isn't that from the movie with Sun Wukong? How could it possibly appear in reality?" Ling Juan glanced nervously over her shoulder and quickly moved closer to me. "Brother Qi, you scared me to death! Please don’t scare me like that!"
"I’m not scaring you; just be quiet and don’t make things worse," I said, genuinely angry. If something happened to Ling Juan, it would be a serious issue. She had just graduated and was an intern assigned to work with Qin Jian and me. If anything happened to her under my watch, I'd be in deep trouble.
This was the first time Ling Juan had seen me so angry, so she stuck out her tongue and dared not make a sound, obediently following me wherever I went.
Qin Jian heard what I said to Ling Juan earlier, so when he answered the phone again, he kept asking what had happened.
"I'm telling you, this is serious. You need to find a way to cut off the flow; otherwise, we might have to part ways."
"How dare you threaten me? Think about it, it's not even dawn yet. What good does your fuss do? Besides, you have no evidence. Just because an idea popped into your head, you want to cut off someone's flow? I'm not the highest authority here, nor am I a major figure, so your demands are a bit excessive..." Qin Jian was furious, cursing at me with all his might. I covered my ears and faintly heard a woman's voice asking him something. His tone changed as he seemed to cover the microphone and whispered to stop her, then turned back to me and said, "Keep an eye on Juanzi; don't let the girl suffer. We'll deal with other matters when it's light out."
I was frustrated, wondering where that light had gone. I propped my chin on my hand, deep in thought. Finally, I said to Qin Jian, "The thing I'm looking for is related to the bizarre case in the private room. Can you help me?"
"Are you sure? If it’s not related and we stir up a bunch of people, who will take responsibility?"
Yeah, I wasn't even sure if what I saw earlier was connected to the bizarre case. Although I was confident I could find valuable clues from the living Plastic Model, I thought about how long it had been since that Plastic Model fell. Who knew where it had been swept away to? If I really called someone in to cut off the flow and couldn't find it afterward, would I just get scolded?
Seeing me staring intently at the water's surface, Ling Juan chimed in, "Brother Qi, come on! I was just joking with you; why are you taking it so seriously?"
"Mind your own business and go back to sleep." I thought again about how dark it still was outside. Occasionally, two beams of light pierced through the clouds with a dull sound that gradually faded away. It really wasn’t light yet; continuing like this would be pointless. Those departments weren't under our Station's jurisdiction and weren't set up just for us; everything had to wait.
I turned back to glance at the Branching Stream's surface every few steps, ignoring Ling Juan's strange questions. My mind was a mess with no clear thoughts as I returned to my room empty-handed.
I had never felt this defeated before; my silence startled Ling Juan. She paused her questioning, glanced at me, and obediently went back to sleep.
Sleep—this time, no matter what happened, I didn't want to be disturbed again. I took out a sleep mask specifically for this purpose and put it on before settling down for some rest.
However, that sleep was far too short. Before I could even dream or fully wake up, there came a loud knocking at the door. Damn it! Who was that clueless staff member? Knowing full well that I'd been sleeping late and probably just lay down moments ago, they were impatiently knocking on my door.
I yawned and put on my pants while the knocking continued stubbornly. I couldn't be bothered to respond and slowly fastened my belt while wearing a snug thermal shirt before walking over to open the door.
As soon as I opened it, the person outside seemed even more anxious than I was. Before I could see who it was clearly, they rushed in with hands on their hips and asked urgently, "What’s going on?"
"Pfft... it's you..." I yawned again and flopped back onto my bed. "It's nothing; you can go back to having fun! I'm really sorry for interrupting your plans last night."
Qin Jian angrily pointed a finger at my nose and shouted, "Still sleeping? Get up! I have something important to ask you."
"What important thing?" I was genuinely not awake yet. It was early in the morning, and I wanted to sleep. I turned over, closed my eyes, and tried to continue my comfortable slumber. The chattering noise in my ears grew fainter, but then I felt something cold on my face. What the hell? My face felt icy. I reached up to touch it, opened my eyes, and snapped, "Qin Jian, are you even human? I stayed up so late last night, and you come here early in the morning to splash cold water on my face."
Qin Jian set down the basin of water with a cold smirk. "An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. The good deed you did last night made Rongrong angry and she left in a huff."
I sat up; surprisingly, that half basin of cold water had fully awakened me. My hair and clothes were wet, and I would have to take a shower. Hearing that someone had left in anger made me laugh. Ha! Here I was, staying up late searching for clues while you two were at home playing house. It's no wonder she got upset after I called and ruined your plans.
I walked to the door and told Qin Jian I'd take a shower first before diving into the bathroom and turning on the hot water faucet, letting the water cascade down.
Through the door, I could hear Qin Jian coughing violently; he must have smoked too much and choked on it. I ignored him and let my entire body sink under the steaming water, feeling incredibly refreshed and comfortable. This hotel setup was practical and space-saving; a huge patterned glass wall separated the bedroom from the bathroom, which included a toilet, sink, and a wall-mounted hairdryer.
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