Chapter 404: What the Hell Are You Smiling At?

Night.

The stars in the sky twinkled like blinking eyes. A thin veil of gray cloud slid aside. The obscured moonlight poured freely over the earth.

“Reporting in. What are you doing?” Mu Qingwu’s gentle voice drifted into Xiao Yu’s ears through the phone.

“Reporting,” Xiao Yu replied, lying in bed, staring at the moonlight outside the window. “I miss you today, Sis. I miss our baby. I want to come home.”

“Is that so?” Mu Qingwu chuckled teasingly, “Then, did you work hard today?”

“Very hard.” Xiao Yu sighed. “Unfortunately, the enemy is too cunning. We haven’t found him yet.”

Half a month had passed.

The suspect—this so-called ‘Big Bro’—had vanished without a trace. With no confirmed identity or solid leads, tracking him down through deduction alone was like searching for a ghost.

“Keep going. Catch the bad guy soon,” Mu Qingwu encouraged gently. “Come home early. I’ll be waiting.”

“Waiting to see each other?” Xiao Yu smiled. “You know what Miyazaki once said? That the point of meeting again is to release all the longing we bottled up when we were apart. When we’re not together, we take care of ourselves, live our lives and learn not to fear. Autumn will always come around again, and the people meant to meet will meet again. The romantic part isn’t the autumn itself, it’s the autumn with you in it.”

“I’m not afraid. I’ll wait just like this,” Mu Qingwu said softly.

“There’s no need to be afraid,” Xiao Yu murmured. “We met so late in life, but we’ll walk together for a very, very long time. Sis, good night.”

As he hung up the phone, he looked up to see Wang Dong entering the room.

He wouldn’t have to wait much longer to go home.

***

J City, suburban bungalow district.

The site of both recent murder cases.

“Didn’t expect that after all this running in circles we’d end up back here.” Wang Dong’s expression was complicated as he looked out across the area. “According to the investigation, Che Yu used to come around here a lot in high school. And it was around then that he started learning Muay Thai. After cross-referencing multiple sources, we’ve confirmed that a young man here was once an award-winning Muay Thai fighter. We’re fairly certain it’s him.

“Guan Changxuan. Male. 29 years old… Six years ago, he made a name for himself in a Muay Thai tournament. But not long after, he was diagnosed with lung cancer, early stage. Now, six years later… it’s progressed to mid-stage. He doesn’t seem to have the physical capability to commit the murders now. But all signs suggest Che Yu learned Muay Thai from him.”

Cancer?

Xiao Yu let out a short laugh.

What the hell kind of plot twist is this?

Got cancer, and then what? Started murdering people to extend his own life through ritual sacrifice?

Xiao Yu and Wang Dong arrived at the suspect’s home—a walled courtyard.

Group Two agents had already sealed off the entire house and grounds.

“He’s supposed to be good at Muay Thai,” Wang Dong grinned, baring his teeth. “Why don’t you go first?”

‘So you’re a coward, huh?’

Xiao Yu rolled his eyes. “I’m worried that my invisible wings won’t be enough to shield you.”

Wang Dong, “…”

‘Why does this little brother always have so many smartass lines?’

Just then, a man stepped out of the bungalow. Well, “young man” if twenty-nine still counted.

He stood around 1.8 meters tall, built solidly. His face was plain, but it carried a soft, warm smile that radiated harmless friendliness.

Looking at that smile, Xiao Yu felt the man longed for connection and trust.

But beneath that warmth, he could feel it a chill in his bones. A dangerous edge. Enough to make people instinctively keep their distance.

This was the suspect: Guan Changxuan.

A cancer patient.

“Can I help you?”

Standing inside the courtyard, Guan Changxuan looked at Xiao Yu and Wang Dong with a smile.

“We’re here for you.” Xiao Yu approached the gate.

“For me?” Guan looked genuinely surprised. “You sure you’ve got the right guy? I don’t know any Che Yu.”

Snort. Upper lip raised, brows lowered, eyes squinting. Classic signs of disgust. Xiao Yu stared coldly at the man.

‘You show disgust just hearing the name, but you claim you don’t know him? Bullshit.’

“What’s the point of lying?” Xiao Yu’s voice dropped, icy.

“Lying?” Guan’s expression was startled. He raised a hand to rub his nose. “What are you talking about?”

Another microexpression. Rubbing the nose to suppress the truth. Men’s nasal sponge tissue often itches when they lie.

Startled expression lasting more than a second?

Fake surprise.

Xiao Yu was now certain he had found the right man.

“The family massacre five years ago,  that was you, wasn’t it?” Xiao Yu didn’t waste time.

“Massacre?” Guan looked him in the eye. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Holding eye contact while lying—a tactic to make the lie more believable.

Xiao Yu sneered. “Putting on a calm face in front of me is useless. Your Seven-Star Life-Extension ritual failed. Che Yu committed suicide. You must be furious, right?”

“…”

Guan didn’t speak, but his pupils dilated sharply.

Fear. Rage. Fury.

Xiao Yu stared him down.

“I killed off a lot of brain cells trying to find you. Half a month, gone. And even now, I don’t fully understand how you committed two full-scale murder cases and left not a single trace behind.”

Still, Guan didn’t respond. That gentle, harmless smile had completely vanished from his face.

Now, he simply looked at Xiao Yu. Eyes filled with cold contempt. One corner of his mouth curved upward in mockery.

“Haha.” Xiao Yu chuckled. “What the hell are you smiling at?”

“You haven’t noticed yet…” Guan finally spoke, his voice frigid. “You’re standing a little… too close to me.”

“Oh?” Xiao Yu smiled even wider. “And then what?”

Then, Guan made his move. His hand lashed out, lightning-fast, reaching for Xiao Yu’s neck.

It was quick.

In an instant, his palm was only centimeters away from grabbing Xiao Yu’s throat. Just two more centimeters and he would’ve had him.

But his hand stopped.

Dead still.

No matter how he strained, it wouldn’t move another millimeter. The chill drained from his face, replaced by stunned disbelief.

He looked down.

A hand—not his own—had clamped down on his wrist.

Crack!

He stared in shock as his wrist was snapped with a single hand. The blinding pain rushed up his arm and spread through his entire body.

Staggering back, his face twisted in disbelief.

How… is this possible?!