The Detective of the Noble Male Academy 12

12

Yuwen Qing had a dream.

It was a reenactment of the sailing race from the afternoon before yesterday.

Yuwen Qing had only watched half of the sailing race before leaving midway.

This year, the school team had many new members, almost all of them fresh faces. Hearing the cheers for them made him feel rather bored.

When the top-tier student won the championship, Yuwen Qing couldn't be bothered to care. He was busy killing time under a sun umbrella—playing a game.

At first, he didn't notice anyone moving quietly nearby. The beach was crowded with people coming and going, filled with the sounds of laughter and crashing waves.

In his peripheral vision, a shadow appeared, swaying on the golden sand.

At a distance neither too close nor too far, his position moved forward, and the shadow followed. When he stopped, the shadow also stood still.

Yuwen Qing sat at the edge of the sunshade. At this time of day, the shadows on the beach were stretched long, which happened to let him see the movements of this shadow clearly.

Several palm trees away, that person was silently hiding behind a trunk, like a piece of fruit. Before long, they would quietly step out, their feet making almost no sound on the sand. They would stop at a place very close to him, then turn back and retreat into the shade of that tree, repeating this back and forth.

The wind blew in from the sea. That person had long hair, which was lifted and then let down by the breeze, falling back onto their shoulders.

There weren't many people in the Noble Male Academy who kept long hair; they were all from the art department.

...Like a certain stalker.

As a game reached a critical moment, Yuwen Qing was distracted for a few seconds. He glanced in that direction, and the mysterious figure was flickering behind the tree, like a cat peeking out.

His headset suddenly exploded: 'Brother, what are you doing?! Are you AFK?!'

He had intended to just quit the game, but then he thought, does the person behind... like watching people play games?

Yuwen Qing couldn't help but scoff inwardly.

He adjusted his chair, turning his back to the sun. At a glance, it looked like he had just changed to a more comfortable position to play.

Sure enough, the figure in the edge of his vision started moving too. That person hid their entire body behind the tree trunk, blocked completely from view, yet the sea breeze here was merciless; a strand of soft, dark hair was blown out, waving and dancing as if to say hello.

...

the dream had a brief blank space here.

When he opened his eyes again, the noisy crowd on the beach had faded, leaving only a few empty sun umbrellas stuck in the sand.

Yuwen Qing was sunbathing. He turned his face to the side, and the youth who had been hiding behind the tree appeared, having sat down beside him at some point.

Ji Yue's long hair was a bit messy from the sea breeze, with a few strands scattered against his cheeks, swaying constantly. He leaned slightly closer to Yuwen Qing and asked, 'What were you doing at the Art Studio that day?'

Yuwen Qing looked at him. Today, this person was wearing ripped jeans with fair knees poking through the holes, a graffiti-covered purple T-shirt, a diamond bracelet on his wrist, and sparkling earrings.

On the beach under the sun, the light was so bright it made one's heart feel restless.

'Nothing,' Yuwen Qing paused and looked away. 'Stay away from me. Also, what do you want with me?'

'Let's play a game together.'

'Just like that?'

'Yuwen Qing, I have liked you for a long time.'

'Then what is your relationship with the top-tier student? I checked his records; there is nothing special about him, yet you two are always very close.'

'Just friends.'

'Hmph.'

...

Yuwen Qing woke up from the dream, his breathing uneven.

Noises from the Horseback Riding Class drifted in through the window. Someone was calling his name downstairs: 'Aren't you coming down yet? Hurry up, hurry up—'

the images from the dream were still before his eyes, that pale, small face leaning in, that airy 'What were you doing at the Art Studio that day?'

It was just a dream.

Annoying.

the Horseback Riding Class was the same as before. Compared to when he first enrolled, Si Jing's level had reached the point where it could be called excellent. He dismounted and found a place to sit on the sidelines. At the other end were Yuwen Qing and his companions; his relationship with Yuwen Qing was very ordinary, with almost no interaction.

the grass was boundless, and a few oddly shaped white clouds drifted in the distance. Si Jing suddenly wondered, what was Ji Yue doing right now?

...He hadn't come to follow him for several days.

Was he buried in the Art Studio doing that assignment, or was he in an art theory class?

At the edge where the grass met the sky, clouds churned, and a few moving shadows appeared. When they walked a little closer, Si Jing realized they were students carrying art supplies, all dressed in colorful clothes like poisonous mushrooms growing out of the grass. It was probably a sketching class from the art department.

Was Ji Yue among them? It was too far; he couldn't see clearly who was over there.

Si Jing immediately sent a few messages.

sj: [Are you sketching?]

sj: [I am here (location)]

'It is almost the holidays, do you have any plans?'

Zhou Zhou was washing his paintbrushes when he suddenly remembered the holiday.

Ji Yue was reading messages on his communicator. Mixed in with a vast sea of spam were only a few related to the F2 top-tier student.

LI: [Little sister, want to have dinner together tonight^^]

The account noted as [Mickey] had sent a few photos of a group of people sea fishing on a boat, with He Yuanxi holding up a large fish for the camera.

yan: [When do you plan to prune the garden?]

[This person doesn't even look at the ID, he probably thinks you are some school gardener uncle!]

The System cackled.

Ji Yue was still thinking about who the top-tier student's boyfriend was.

Horseback Riding Class.

He suddenly remembered that Si Jing and Yuwen Qing both took Horseback Riding Class and never missed a session. The two did have a small conflict before, but there was no follow-up afterward.

Was it him?

Or was it Li Xihé, did they meet because they spilled a cup of coffee?

Holiday...

Ji Yue only looked up a beat late: 'Are you talking about the imperial long holiday next week?'

'Yeah, I plan to go to the K3 planet to play. What about you?'

Once the long holiday arrived, the vast majority of students at the male academy would leave campus to travel.

Ji Yue's holidays were usually spent going home or going out to play.

This year was different.

The detective's holiday was naturally used for investigation.

The System issued today's plot prompt: [F2 Yuwen Qing and the top-tier student have a conflict at the Restaurant! F2 wants to destroy what he cannot have, mocking the top-tier student for not being worthy of coming to the Upper City.]

'Is it almost time for the forced love?'

[Soon, soon!] The System rubbed its hands together. [Once we collect all the forced love fragments, we can leave the island!]

Ji Yue went to the Restaurant a step ahead.

He had done this kind of task before and had already figured out the patterns. He booked a table in advance, choosing an inconspicuous corner of the Restaurant to make it easier to film the situation, even using a fake name when booking via the communicator.

He sat at a table with a green plant in front of it and reached out to turn on the micro-camera in his bag.

The waiter gave him a paper menu. Ji Yue lowered his head, pretending to study it seriously, while his gaze shifted from the edge of his peripheral vision. At noon, guests were entering the Restaurant one after another.

He observed these people quietly, feeling like a mushroom hiding in the dark.

The original work didn't specify what time the incident happened. After waiting for half an hour, he still didn't see Yuwen Qing and the top-tier student appear.

Another half hour passed. Ji Yue was poking at his steak, just waiting for the pudding to be served, when the wind chime at the top of the glass door was blown open. Accompanied by a crisp bell, three or four young men strode in. The one in the lead had light blonde hair, dark skin, and mixed-race features, dressed as sparingly as ever.

The front desk led them to a large table, just two tables away from Ji Yue.

'Your pudding.'

The waiter carried the tray, set the pudding down, and couldn't help but let his gaze linger on this customer.

For some reason, the customer ignored the caramel pudding and picked up a magazine, opening it and holding it vertically, which almost blocked his face. From this angle, one could only see his long eyelashes fluttering one after another.

He suddenly raised his eyes and looked at the waiter.

A pair of beautiful blue eyes, like cold jade.

The waiter hurriedly looked away.

Can't stare at the school beauty for too long...

However, why did the school beauty look so sneaky and suspicious?

-----------

There were four people at Yuwen Qing's table.

Ji Yue observed their movements while keeping an eye out for the top-tier student appearing in the room.

After waiting for a long time, he still didn't see Si Jing push the door and enter. Watching Yuwen Qing's table finish their meal and prepare to leave, Ji Yue picked up his communicator, intending to call the top-tier student over.

The next moment, the magazine placed in an L-shape in front of him was suddenly taken away, and a blonde young man sat down at the table.

'Why are you here too?'

Yuwen Qing's voice was tinged with mockery.

[This line sounds very F4! Last time you dirtied his Meters Bonwe, and he hasn't dealt with you yet! Little brat, how dare you appear in the same restaurant as me—wait, why is this plot similar to the part where F2 attacks the top-tier student in the original work?]

The Restaurant went quiet for a moment.

The Restaurant went quiet for a moment. Yuwen Qing was famous, and his actions were quite loud, his tone wasn't great either, so many people looked over. Of course, he didn't care; he remained sitting in front of Ji Yue, examining his outfit for the day.

It was a very ordinary college student look: white T-shirt and green backpack, no jewelry, and a pair of ripped jeans.

It was neither similar to the dream nor entirely different.

Yuwen Qing raised an eyebrow: 'Did you follow me here on purpose?'

This look seemed to have seen through something.

—It wasn't the first time he had been noticed by the F4 for appearing too frequently.

This time, Ji Yue rarely retorted: 'I came to this restaurant earlier than you. I made a reservation beforehand; you can ask the waiter.'

'Are you saying I wronged you?'

Ji Yue didn't speak again, lowering his head to continue what he hadn't finished, preparing to call the top-tier student over.

From Yuwen Qing's perspective, he was typing on the screen, and one could vaguely see it was a dialog box, with a man as the profile picture on the other side.

Unfortunately, before he could click send, his hand was pressed down by Yuwen Qing.

'I know you...' Yuwen Qing looked at his face, his voice lowering for the second half of the sentence. 'Don't even think about it, and don't play any tricks. Understand?'

Ji Yue didn't make a sound, just looking into Yuwen Qing's eyes. The other party seemed to be brewing some emotion, and it didn't look like he was angry about being stalked?

But there was no stalking this time.

[The detective's grievance.]

Even so, he wouldn't agree to stop.

Eating the pudding in one bite, Ji Yue waved his hand to let the waiter come over to pay the bill.

He put on his bag containing the camera and walked out, pushing the door open.

And so, he didn't hear the whispers in the Restaurant.

'Yuwen Qing is too much, threatening the school beauty for no reason?'

'What does that mean, is he telling the school beauty not to have a crush on him?!'

'The school beauty looks so sad, rejected in public by the person he likes, running out with tears in his eyes...'

'Maybe he will be emotionally hurt because of this...'

-------------

Ji Yue's communicator was mostly just for show; he didn't like looking at messages, nor did he like replying.

An urgent warning tone popped out from his headset.

Not only him, but even the System was stunned.

This was the notification sound set after contacting the employer, so he could see it in time if the employer sent a letter.

Ji Yue didn't expect to receive a letter from the employer.

[How rare! The employer in the original work never officially appeared from beginning to end, only briefly mentioning that he received the information provided by the detective.]

He opened his mailbox and confirmed the employer's ID and that the email address IP came from some remote overseas island.

The email had only one sentence: [Get the evidence as soon as possible, I am counting on you.]

[It seems the employer is very anxious... The changes in the plot have led to the employer appearing early as well.]

'I really want to know who he is.'

[No one knows.]

After the System finished speaking, it read in a monotone voice without giving up: [The detective tried to find more evidence, so he broke into F2's home again! This time he found the information on the top-tier student that Yuwen Qing had collected!]

'Yuwen Qing has this kind of thing at home?'

Last time he went to Yuwen Qing's house, Ji Yue couldn't enter places like the bedroom, only wandering in the study.

If he was investigating the top-tier student, then he should be interested in the top-tier student, but he didn't know how far he had investigated.

[Hard to say!]

Yuwen Qing had a dog at home, which was troublesome.

Ji Yue looked at the clock; it was still early. On days with Horseback Riding Class, Yuwen Qing usually wouldn't go home.

Thinking of this, he decided to go and see.

His luck this time seemed a bit better than before. He didn't encounter that giant Golden Retriever inside or outside the door. At dusk, the villa was quiet and soundless, the interior dark, with no one home.

Feeling his way to avoid the robots, he reached the study. On the desk were some stationery, and the bookshelves had only a small portion of books, with many trophies placed there.

He retreated and entered the bedroom.

The large bedroom was kept very clean. There was nothing on the bedside table, nothing on the small sofa either. Ji Yue felt around everywhere, but gained nothing until he opened the door to the walk-in closet.

The light suddenly turned on.

When the door was pushed open, Ji Yue saw Yuwen Qing's figure.

Yuwen Qing walked in and closed the closet door behind him.

His gait was slow, backlit, carrying a sense of oppression.

When he was only a few steps away, Yuwen Qing stopped, looking down at this uninvited guest in his bedroom.

'What are you doing?'

The question, devoid of emotion, made one's spine chill.

The more Yuwen Qing looked at him, the gloomier his gaze became.

The moment the light turned on, that person was standing in front of the clothes rack, back to the closet door, having just reached his hand into the cabinet, his long hair hanging quietly behind him.

Only when he discovered the light was on did he turn his face slightly, half of his face blocked by his long hair. Only when he turned his face fully could one see his expression.

There was no guilt or panic in those blue eyes.

Ji Yue was just silent, putting his hands behind his back, wondering how to explain his actions.

There was silence in the walk-in closet, with only the faint sound of breathing between the two.

Yuwen Qing's gaze stopped on his other hand—Ji Yue was clutching a men's T-shirt.

'Why are you taking my clothes?'

'...'

It was just that when he opened the cabinet earlier, it fell to the ground.

'Is silence useful?'

Yuwen Qing walked forward step by step, his footsteps like slow drumbeats.

Ji Yue took half a step back.

Behind him was the wardrobe; there was nowhere left to retreat.

Yuwen Qing didn't give him any time to react, grabbing that thin wrist and dragging him straight out.

The world spun.

Ji Yue looked closely and saw he had been thrown onto a soft bed.

[It's over, it's over!] The System jumped up and down. [F2 has a terrible temper! When you get beaten later, I will turn off the camera!]

The world spun.

By the time Ji Yue focused his eyes, he had already fallen into a patch of soft bedding, his shoulders pressing into layers of silk-textured fabric, as smooth as water.

His pitch-black long hair was scattered, almost melting into the dark-colored sheets.

His pale skin was set off as if it were a trace of snow.

...Bed?

Ji Yue blinked and looked at the person standing by the bed.

The bedroom light wasn't on, with only the light from the walk-in closet faintly filtering through. Yuwen Qing's face, whose expression couldn't be seen in the shadows, seemed to reveal a mocking smile at him at this moment.

He didn't know when, but he had already retrieved a camera from Ji Yue's bag.

'You really...' Yuwen Qing asked him in a low voice, 'want to know about me that much?'

The mattress seemed to sink a little, because Yuwen Qing's hand was pressed against his side, in a posture that forced a person into a corner.

[How can we explain so he believes you aren't a detective!] The System cried uselessly. [You are just a simple android detective, you never thought about hurting anyone!]

Ji Yue's mind was still spinning, thinking about how to reasonably explain his presence here.

I'm afraid no matter how he explained it, the other party wouldn't believe him.

The silence in the room was soon broken.

Seeing his appearance, Yuwen Qing was furious. This person was lying on his bed, his eyes drifting around, without any explanation or movement, looking like a dead cat that wasn't afraid of boiling water.

Caught red-handed, yet he wasn't panicked at all, even distracted.

He sneered, a kind of annoyance he couldn't explain himself bubbling up in his heart: 'Do you like me to this extent? Not even afraid when caught, thinking I wouldn't do anything to you?'