Captured By The Cold Detective (BL)

"Auntie, we’re traveling from out of town. This is the first time we have been here," one of the officers piped in. "I haven’t heard of any Master Cui before..."

"Aiyah, that’s such a pity!" Auntie Zou slapped her thigh enthusiastically. "Master Cui is a very excellent feng shui master and fortune teller. Don’t look at me like that. I swear that it’s all legit! Let me tell you ah, Old Zhang initially complained that his daughter seemed to be involved with bad people in the city. And then, he managed to ask Master Cui to give him a protection talisman. And guess what? Less than a month later, the police caught a few people and one of them was Old Zhang’s daughter’s boyfriend! Goodness, it turns out he’s a drug addict!

"If you still don’t believe it, then you can ask Old Yang from the travel agency next door. A few months ago, he asked Master Cui to check his feng shui because his business has been especially bad. And then, after Master Cui asked him to move a few things and burn joss paper at midnight, a few days later he received a big order and earned a huge sum of money!" The more Auntie Zou talked, the more excited she was. Her freckled face flushed and her eyes were bright in awe. It was apparent that she really idolized Master Cui.

Tak Jung-Hwa raised a brow, intrigued. From Auntie Zou’s words, it seemed like this Master Cui was the real deal. If Tak Jung-Hwa had not suspected that Master Cui was the same Cui Yan he had been searching for, he might even be interested in getting his fortune told.

Another officer cleared his throat and asked tentatively, "Auntie Zou, you’re saying that whose daughter’s boyfriend is a drug addict...?"

"Ah, you mean Old Zhang?"

"Yes, yes, Old Zhang. Could it be... was he caught by the police a week ago?"

Auntie Zou’s eyes rounded. "Yes, yes, you’re right! Oh God, you know it too? Has the news spread so quickly?"

Tak Jung-Hwa and the others exchanged yet another glance. What a coincidence. This so-called drug addict boyfriend was one of the little fishes they had caught last week.

"Hehe, I know a little tidbit." The officer scratched his head with an awkward look. "Did Old Zhang find out about it from his daughter?"

"Uh-huh, poor girl. She called Old Zhang in the middle of the night and cried so hard. I heard she became so depressed that she wanted to return here to stay."

"Master Cui is so knowledgeable." Tak Jung-Hwa put on an astonished look and rubbed his chin contemplatively. "Did he already know that something like this would happen when he gave the protective talisman?"

"It should be..." Auntie Zou nodded with a solemn expression. "I told you, he is really skillful. Some people said that he’s got the Yin Yang Eyes and could predict disaster before it happens!"

"Hmm..." Tak Jung-Hwa narrowed his eyes. The more he listened to it, the more he felt like Master Cui’s image was so different from Cui Yan he had heard of. Was he really the same alcoholic who frequented bars and brothel houses? "He must have stayed here for a long time, then?"

"I don’t know for sure, but... it should be a few years ago? Mingguang Temple used to be a dilapidated house. It’s only when Master Cui moved in that the building was renovated to what it is now."

"Ah, so it’s like this!" Tak Jung-Hwa was precisely like a curious child whose mind was full of innocent questions. "Do you know his name, Auntie?"

Auntie Zou shook her head. "Nah, no one dares to ask him something so personal." Then she leaned forward to whisper with a conspiratorial tone. "Let me tell you something. Even though Master Cui’s prestige is high, he doesn’t really show his face around here. At most, he only returns to Mingguang Temple once or twice a month. If you want to meet him, you have to go inside the temple and put down your name and phone number. If Master Cui sees that you’re fated with him, then he will give you a call. Old Zhang needs to wait two months before he is summoned by Master Cui!"

"Really? So he is not in right now?"

"En," Auntie Zou nodded with a sympathetic look. "Little Guo said that he’s busy preventing disasters in other places, so he won’t be returning soon. If you really want to meet him, maybe you can put down your name and phone number too?"

"Little Guo?" Tak Jung-Hwa asked, confused. Where did this one come from again?

"Oh, Little Guo is Master Cui’s little disciple," Auntie Zou elaborated. "He is the one who guards and cleans Mingguang Temple when Master Cui is not there. If you guys go there, you will definitely be able to meet him!"

"Oh..." Tak Jung-Hwa drawled out in a meaningful tone. "Auntie, so you mean to say that Little Guo and Master Cui are in frequent contact with each other?"

Auntie Zou scrunched her nose, uncertain. "It... should be?"

To prevent Auntie Zou from getting suspicious, Tak Jung-Hwa smoothly switched the topic and they chatted animatedly about the specialty shops in Jiangnan Road while enjoying a bowl of piping noodles. The group of men were strong and capable, and their stomachs were even more so. They slurped down the noodles and even ordered for seconds, making Auntie Zou smile so wide that her eyes disappeared behind the creases. In the end, Auntie Zou even gave them a 50% discount and eagerly asked them to come again.

Tak Jung-Hwa walked out and pretended to look around, the tail end of his eyes were fixated on the red-colored wooden door to detect any signs of activity inside. Alas, Mingguang Temple was built with high gates and slanted roof, preventing Tak Jung-Hwa from peering in.

Like a group of real tourists, they strolled along the specialty shops and bought a few trinkets and local snacks.

Tak Jung-Hwa asked in a casual tone, "What do you think? Is it him?"

"My instinct said that’s him," one of the officers sneered. "What are the odds that he can give Old Zhang the talisman just a few days before we did an ambush?"

Tak Jung-Hwa cast him a sideway glance. "So you’re saying that Master Cui has already predicted our movement and... he also knows that we’re coming for him?"

The group fell into a contemplative silence. Now that Tak Jung-Hwa said it out loud, it became quite horrifying the more they thought about it. They thought that they had gotten a lead when they dug out Cui Yan’s name, but what if everything was nothing but a carefully crafted trap? 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Tak Jung-Hwa knitted his brows. He had been an Interpol agent for years and had fought against many vicious criminals. And yet he could not deny that this case kept giving him a strange feeling. How to describe it? He felt as if there were a pair of eyes staring at him from the dark, watching over each and every of his actions. He was like a blind man, led step by step into the net that had been prepared for him. And even though he was aware, he was utterly helpless against it. It felt very uncomfortable.

Well, whatever it was, he could not stop now. Not when he had gotten to this step. It was best if this feeling was just his paranoia talking, but if everything he feared was true, then... he would just cross the bridge when he came to it.

"Let’s go," he told the others.

Next, they finally went to Mingguang Temple. Once again, Tak Jung-Hwa faced the red-colored gate and the old talismans. He pressed the doorbell and waited for a few seconds until a youthful voice came from inside, "Who is it?"

Tak Jung-Hwa gave a greeting in a friendly manner. "Hello, we are from out of town. There’s a problem we want to consult Master Cui with. Do you think we can get in and leave our number?"

"Okay, please wait a minute." There was a sound of door opening and closing, then the rustle of sandals against the cement floor. Tak Jung-Hwa put a warm smile on his face, ready to make a good first impression on Master Cui’s so-called little disciple. Alas, he was still taken aback when the gate swung open and Little Guo appeared in front of him.

When he first heard about Little Guo from Auntie Zou, the first image that came to his mind was a bald young monk, or an obedient child half-stepping into adulthood, or whatever appearance that suited someone who stayed in a temple all day long, not... this. Definitely not like this.

The person in front of him was young, tall, slender and mixed-race. His western features were accentuated through his high cheekbones, extremely fair skin and prominent double eyelids. His raven hair was thick and luscious. And his eyes...

They were the color of the clear ocean underneath the dazzling sun – a blue so brilliant that Tak Jung-Hwa seemed to see the undulating waves within, calm and all-encompassing.

"Come in," the young man opened the gate wider for them.