Captured By The Cold Detective (BL)-Chapter 531: Abnormally Normal

For two whole days, He Juan drifted in and out of reality as the high fever eroded his consciousness. He looked like he was in constant nightmares, punctuated by his unintelligible mumbling and groaning. There was even a frightening moment when he nearly suffered a seizure, forcing Jia Molei to administer a tranquilizer.

Throughout this period, Jia Molei did not get a wink of sleep in lieu of monitoring him, and when the man woke up, he... he acted just like usual. As though nothing had happened at all. As though he had not gone feral and slaughtered a dozen police officers with his pheromones alone – or so Chen Youzhi had reluctantly told him after all the threats he spewed out.

Jia Molei would have been duped had he not witnessed He Juan clinging to a corpse like an insecure child even in his unconscious state.

He Juan was acting normally, but that was the most abnormal part.

Jia Molei couldn’t be rest assured, so he tagged along with He Juan and Chen Youzhi when they went to cremate the body, and it was only then that he learned the corpse’s identity, who was none other than He Juan’s brother. Blood-related brother. Hell, there was no fucking way that this bastard would be fine with that!

He snuck a few tentative glances at He Juan who was staring at the young man’s portrait on the flower arrangement. He couldn’t seem to read anything from He Juan’s expression, and it made him all the more antsy. As he surveyed the empty funeral hall, he couldn’t stop himself from blurting out the first question that crossed his mind, "No one else is coming?"

"No," He Juan replied, his voice still carrying a trace of hoarseness. "It’s only me and him."

Fuck, wrong question. Jia Molei bit the inside of his cheek and resolutely decided to stay silent from thereon.

They stayed for a while longer before leaving. The funeral parlor seemed extraordinarily busy today, with almost half of the halls occupied. Flower wreaths lined up along the walls, and people dressed in somber black attire moved about, creating an atmosphere laden with sorrow and despair. Upon closer observation, Jia Molei discovered that the funeral ceremony was dedicated to the fallen officers who tragically perished in an unfortunate accident two days ago. Or in other words, they were He Juan’s victims.

Alas, He Juan appeared utterly detached as he walked through the scene, his expression not even changing. Jia Molei couldn’t even guess what was running through his mind right now.

Until at one point, He Juan’s footsteps paused in front of a particular hall. Jia Molei followed his line of sight to find that He Juan’s gaze was fixed on the middle-aged woman who was bawling her eyes out on the ground. On either side of her, two teenage girls wept inconsolably. They wore white sashes over their black clothing, indicating that they were direct family members of the deceased.

The woman’s anguished cries reached their ears, "How could you leave... how could you be so heartless to leave me and our two girls alone? What am I supposed to do without you now?!"

Jia Molei’s gaze shifted from the portrait to the nameplate beside the entrance.

Yi Peizhi.

Who was this? XIU’s acquaintance?

Jia Molei was about to open his mouth to ask, but He Juan chose that moment to continue walking, his gait betrayed none of the injuries marring his body. Jia Molei could only click his jaws shut, sigh and go after him. He Juan was still a recovering patient, so it was only right for him to exercise more patience, no matter how much he really wanted to know about the details of that harrowing night.

Chen Youzhi was waiting for them beside the car, smoking. The left side of his face was concealed beneath bandages, and people kept sneaking glances at him when they walked past, though he did not look like he cared about it at all. He straightened up when he noticed He Juan and Jia Molei approaching. But before he could move to extinguish his cigarette, He Juan stopped him.

"Give me one," He Juan requested, surprising the other two for they knew very well that he had never smoked before.

Jia Molei’s brows furrowed in displeasure, "Bastard, do you even realize that you’re—" he was still halfway through his sentence when Chen Youzhi swiftly produced another cigarette, handing it to He Juan and even lighting it for him. Jia Molei almost choked in anger. Resisting the urge to curse, he raked his fingers through his crimson-highlighted hair and extended a hand toward Chen Youzhi, grumbling, "Give me one too."

In the parking lot, the three of them smoked by the car. Chen Youzhi and Jia Molei’s actions were practiced and smooth, while He Juan coughed as soon as he took his first drag. His shoulders were wracked in trembles, and the corner of his eyes turned red. However, he quickly recovered and took another inhale, and soon, he started to get a hang of it.

"How is Sirius doing?" He asked Jia Molei after a moment of silence.

Worry about yourself first, idiot, was what Jia Molei wanted to say. But because he was a kind and understanding doctor who understood his patient’s concerns very well, he could only respond in a grumpy tone, "He’s doing better than you, at the very least. Do you think his brother would leave him defenseless? He has trained guards following him everyday, and more hidden in the shadows that he can’t even see."

He Juan slowly exhaled a ring of smoke, his gaze fixed on the distant overcast sky. "Good."

He then shifted his gaze to Chen Youzhi, who promptly provided an update without him needing to ask, "My eye is fine. It’s just a superficial injury."

Jia Molei couldn’t resist adding a snarky comment, "Oh yeah, fucking superficial, indeed. You would have gone blind if the bullet had been a millimeter closer."

A feeling akin to relief washed over He Juan, though he could no longer tell for certain because he had become numb all over since he woke up. "How about Mo Feng?" He continued to ask, recalling the youth in his early twenties who readily sacrificed himself in the name of atonement.

In response, Chen Youzhi merely shook his head silently, and He Juan no longer asked after that. Perhaps he had perished in that place, or maybe he had managed to crawl his way out of that hellhole.

In the end, did it even matter?

Inhaling another lungful of tobacco, Jia Molei inquired with knitted brows, "What are you going to do now?" He added before He Juan could reply, "Let me fucking warn you – do not do anything stupid. If it were up to me, you’d still be bound to bed until next week!"

The corner of He Juan’s lips twitched into the beginning of a smile, though it failed to form in the end. The muscles of his face seemed to have frozen over, and it took him ample effort just to form a particular expression. "I have a favor to ask," he said instead of giving Jia Molei an answer.

Jia Molei shot him a sharp, wary look. He had a hunch that whatever this bastard was about to say couldn’t be anything good. "What is it?"

And facts had proven that Jia Molei could be such a touché sometimes.