Detective at Noble Boys' Academy — 22

22

Ji Yue had half-expected something retaliatory to happen in the car — the kind of thing the System had described, like getting a bag thrown over his head.

Why ask that sort of question?

[Is He Yuanxi actually worried about you, or worried about the scholarship student???] The System was furious. [A homewrecker like this deserves a beating — throw him in a pig cage!]

[I get it now — he must have conjured the whole thing from some weird little details! But you really have been spending a lot of time with the scholarship student. He Yuanxi caring about two people at once must keep him very busy every day!]

Ji Yue was the kind of person who could sit in silence without the slightest awkwardness. He simply treated it all as background noise.

He Yuanxi had come all this way to collect him — there had to be another reason, and it certainly wasn't to analyze anyone's emotional state.

The silence stretched for a full minute before He Yuanxi broke it himself.

'Can't say? I shouldn't have asked something like that. Sorry.'

He Yuanxi looked at him with genuine seriousness, his posture lowered almost to the point of humility — the kind of bearing that, at first glance, could easily pass for sincerity.

Ji Yue still didn't spare him a single glance.

He Yuanxi shifted topics: 'Were you at the seaside? Yan City is so far away — I didn't think you'd go all that way for a boyfriend.'

A little over an hour by plane wasn't really that far. The actual distance between the upper and lower cities was nothing compared to the psychological gulf that existed in a noble's mind.

Ji Yue brushed him off: 'You could always go see for yourself sometime.'

'Sure — let's go together next time.'

He Yuanxi agreed with easy warmth, his gaze drifting slowly across Ji Yue's face before he smiled and added: 'Though — wouldn't your boyfriend mind?'

'He Yuanxi, I've heard you and Si Jing have always been close.'

'I wouldn't say close.'

'Why not?'

Ji Yue quickly fished a small notebook from his pocket, bit down on the pen cap, and flipped to a blank page.

With perfect composure, he said: 'I've been conducting a sociology survey lately — using lower-city scholarship students as a case study to analyze the cultural friction between the upper and lower cities.'

Ji Yue began introducing the theme and framework of his research.

He had only just woken up on the plane; traces of drowsiness still lingered on his face, his cheeks faintly flushed, his loose black hair falling in disheveled strands to his elbows — ignored entirely by its owner, who was busy scribbling notes.

He Yuanxi sat beside him, chin resting in his hand, watching and listening with genuine attention.

'So — what do you make of the scholarship students who come up from the lower city?'

Ji Yue asked his first question.

'Nothing to do with me.'

That was He Yuanxi's answer.

Exactly what Ji Yue had expected.

He asked a few more after that, each one grazing the edges of Si Jing's name. He could almost feel it — He Yuanxi truly had little interest in the scholarship student, and little familiarity with him either, at least on the surface.

Ji Yue pressed the end of his pen against his cheek and thought for a long moment.

He Yuanxi's relationship with the other members of the F4 was the same — distant. And he alone had been under the misapprehension that the scholarship student was Ji Yue's 'boyfriend,' which meant he hadn't discussed any of this with the others.

'Done with your questions? We've arrived.'

He Yuanxi waited patiently for Ji Yue to finish putting away his notes before he spoke.

Ji Yue looked up from the notebook and realized the car had stopped at some point without him noticing. Through the window, he could see lawns, a fountain, and statues in the distance. The car was parked on the driveway of an estate, and directly ahead stood a magnificent manor house.

Once inside, servants passed by pushing a dining cart, setting out exquisite pastries and tea — and not one of them looked twice at the guests. Ji Yue's attention moved through the rooms, searching for anything that differed from what the novel had described.

After a full circuit of the house, his gaze finally settled on a door not far away. It stood half-open, and through the gap he could see row upon row of tall wooden bookshelves. A study.

He glanced toward He Yuanxi.

He Yuanxi had just appeared at the top of the staircase, changed into fresh clothes, fastening his cuffs — and then, without a sound, someone materialized in front of him, peering out from the edge of the doorway.

Dark hair stirred by a draft, skin very pale, expression utterly blank — standing there at the door in perfect silence, watching him, saying nothing.

He Yuanxi had noticed before: when Ji Yue wanted something, he sometimes couldn't be bothered to say so outright. He would simply look at you like this.

Really, very much like an animal.

He Yuanxi obliged accordingly: 'Dinner isn't ready yet — shall we rest a little first? We could go to the study and read for a while.'

Ji Yue gave a small nod and walked into the study.

The shelves held books that were nearly extinct in this world — volumes Ji Yue could never have bought, rare out-of-print editions of ancient Earth texts, vast archives of old manuscripts, knowledge that had survived the destruction of Earth. The only reason they sat in a wealthy family's study was that He Yuanxi happened to love them.

Ji Yue walked slowly down the aisle, his fingertips trailing over the spines.

The original novel had described the He family in a few passages, all of them in the form of remembered scenes; once He Yuanxi appeared on the page, the subject was never raised again. Now that same person was following behind him — like some kind of chasing game, trailing him through the shelves.

Ji Yue paid him no mind and kept walking.

He moved slowly, without a sound, pausing now and then when something caught his interest to pull a book down and leaf through a few pages.

He walked all the way to the last row of shelves, where a wall brought him to a stop.

The wooden door gave a soft click as it swung shut.

Ji Yue glanced back. A servant outside had quietly closed the study's main door.

He turned around and found He Yuanxi a few steps away.

He Yuanxi was closing the distance, one step at a time. Ji Yue had a feeling — he was going to take his revenge here.

Only his back was already against the bookshelf. There was nowhere left to retreat.

'I don't actually intend to do anything to you.'

He Yuanxi's tone was easy, as though he were mentioning something trivial.

'...What?'

'I mean — you can stop being so guarded.'

He Yuanxi flashed a bright, guileless smile, told the servant to open the door, and said: 'Because I only wanted to invite you to dinner.'

'...'

[This man is definitely plotting something!]

By the time they came out of the study, the sky had gone dark. The Restaurant was set in a room enclosed on all four sides by glass, high up in the building, where the stars beyond the transparent walls were fully visible. A servant came to light the tall taper candles — no smoke, just flames swaying in a soft, unhurried dance.

A candlelit dinner beneath a sky full of stars.

Shifting light and shadow rippled across the tablecloth. The servant brought the dishes, and his gaze lingered on the beautiful young man seated at the table — dark hair, skin like white porcelain, eyes downcast, watching the trembling candlelight, long lashes, blue eyes, perfectly still, like a doll.

He Yuanxi spoke from across the table about the provenance of the books in his collection, especially the ones Ji Yue had just been leafing through. There was a faint smile in his voice as he spoke, but with no one responding, it had the quality of a soliloquy.

Ji Yue listened without much interest — until He Yuanxi mentioned the school's sailing team, and he lifted his eyes with a flicker of curiosity: 'What year did you stop competing?'

'Two years ago. I was injured.'

That matched what the novel had said.

It was also because of that injury that He Yuanxi had come to know the scholarship student — only none of the events that followed had ever taken place.

'Do you and Si Jing stay in touch normally? Did you only meet after he enrolled?'

'You really are fond of him — three rounds and you can't go a single one without that name. We'd be better off talking about something else.'

[This homewrecker is truly awful — he won't even let you say the main character's name! So petty!]

[This guy isn't retaliating, isn't talking about anything real — I genuinely can't figure out what he wants!]

Ji Yue wanted to talk about the F4's secrets — like shouting 'admit it!' right now, and watching He Yuanxi drop to his knees like a cartoon villain and confess everything. But that was never going to happen.

He turned to look out at the night sky: 'Why did you build this tower so high?'

A high-rise structure on an estate this large was actually quite unusual. Wealthy families had no shortage of land to build on; every other building on the grounds was a normal height. Only this glass tower rose abruptly from the earth, solitary and entirely unlike everything around it.

The original novel had never mentioned He Yuanxi living in a building like this outside the island. That, too, was strange.

He Yuanxi lifted his wine glass, his eyes dark and deep in the candlelight.

'Because this way, I'm a little closer to the sky.'

'Why?'

'I suspect there's no heaven up there — otherwise, why would water fall down on rainy days? Perhaps this whole world is nothing more than a dream God is having.'

He Yuanxi was a nihilist?

[Sounds like he's had too much to drink.]

Ji Yue had never known this about him — a detail richer than anything in the novel.

He Yuanxi seemed to read the puzzlement on his face and broke into a teasing smile: 'It's not strange that you don't feel that way — you like mystery and detective stories, don't you? It seems like you're always searching for something. You still have curiosity about this world.'

[Ugh, ugh, ugh — is he hinting again that he knows you've been following people around and spying at school?!]

He wasn't the first person to have noticed.

Too many debts to lose sleep over. Ji Yue felt nothing in particular.

The candlelit dinner wasn't finished yet when the servants swept in like a tide, one of them carrying a dessert — a small pudding. Ji Yue had just poked at it a few times with his spoon when a call notification flashed across his comm screen. Si Jing.

Ji Yue pressed his earpiece to answer and said nothing first.

'Are you home? I sent you a lot of messages and you didn't reply to any of them.'

'I'm eating.'

A few seconds of silence on the other end.

The sound of sea wind came in waves, like quickened breathing.

Si Jing said: 'Are you still angry with me?'

'No.'

'I shouldn't have... done that. I'm sorry — I couldn't hold back in the moment.'

'...'

'I... don't know how to show you that I didn't mean any harm by it.'

'...'

'Ji Yue, are you listening?'

He was listening.

He was just being interrupted.

A spoonful of pudding with a caramel-crackle crust hovered at Ji Yue's lips.

He looked up at He Yuanxi. The man was holding a silver spoon, gesturing for him to hurry up and eat, and pressing a finger to his lips in a silencing motion.

Shh — no need to let the person on the other end of the line know.

[Of all the moments for one of the F4 to start feeding you pudding! It feels like something illicit is happening!]

[I have never seen anyone like this in my life! He's completely unlike the F4 in the original novel!]

[Fine, fine — just treat him like a servant!]

The cream on the pudding was already starting to melt.

Ji Yue frowned.

But he lowered his head and ate that small bite anyway.

Sweet and soft, melting the moment it touched his tongue, with just a trace of cream — but not cloying.

Before he could swallow, the next spoonful was already being offered.

In his earpiece, the noise of the sea wind went on howling relentlessly.

'Listening,' he said.

'Was the signal bad just now?' Si Jing let out a breath of relief. 'I thought you didn't want to talk to me anymore. What are you eating?'

'Pudding.'

Ji Yue's voice was slightly muffled — there was still a spoonful of cream in his mouth that he hadn't had time to swallow.

Si Jing relaxed a little and went on explaining that he had been too rash.

'Rash?'

Ji Yue didn't catch it for a moment — a rather old-fashioned word.

Si Jing gave a low hum: 'Meaning I was sexually frustrated.'

'...'

'Oh, and Ji Yue —' Si Jing seemed to remember something, his tone turning more serious. 'After the holiday ends, keep your distance from those people at school.'

'Why?'

'Because next month, the semester will be almost over. I'll be able to tell you then — what's really been going on.' Si Jing sounded as though he had rehearsed this, delivering it all in one breath. 'Let's leave it there for now. Good night.'

[So they really do have a big secret?!]

'Mm.'

This was the closest the detective had ever come to the truth.

Ji Yue removed his earpiece and rose to stand before the floor-to-ceiling window. Before him stretched an entire expanse of black night sky, countless stars glittering without end, as though they were gazing back into his eyes.

All this time, he had been navigating between a tight-lipped F4 and the scholarship student — and at last he had extracted a deadline.

What on earth would happen when the semester ended?

Ji Yue was genuinely curious.

The Conan theme music swelled in his mind — !

The System wept moved tears: [Host! If we can find the BUG, maybe we won't get exiled by the Main God after all! You have to keep going!]

When he turned back, He Yuanxi was no longer in the room.

Ji Yue walked out of the Restaurant and caught the sound of He Yuanxi speaking in low tones with a servant.

Something's off.

He executed a swift sidestep and slipped behind a patterned curtain like a nimble assassin.

'Young Master, the guest just now didn't seem to enjoy tonight's menu very much. Perhaps next time we could try these instead.' The middle-aged servant was saying.

He Yuanxi gave a soft hum. 'House cats are very particular about their food.'

I'm a cat?

...Absolutely not.

Ji Yue listened with a perfectly blank expression.

'Is that guest the Young Master's boyfriend? This is the first time I've ever seen the Young Master bring someone home — and, Young Master, it's been a long time since you've smiled like that.'

'...'

[This is also the first time I've ever heard so many classic lines packed so close together!]

At the far end of the corridor, He Yuanxi seemed to give a quiet laugh.

'Not yet.'

'...'

[I knew it — according to the new program's calculations, He Yuanxi has a 99% probability of wanting to —]

He Yuanxi and the servant continued talking, walking and chatting as they went.

The sound of footsteps drifted closer from the far end of the corridor, growing clearer with every step.

Behind the curtain, Ji Yue shifted his position without a sound. He slipped out from behind the heavy drape and made his way back into the Restaurant.

In the corner of his eye, a servant cleared away a stack of empty plates.

He Yuanxi came up behind him and asked: 'Would you like to stay here for the holiday?'

'No — I should go.'

Ji Yue checked the time and turned to leave.

In such a hurry — what was he planning to do?

He Yuanxi watched his retreating figure, which seemed very rushed indeed.

In the moonlight, his long black hair swayed gently at his back — mysterious, weightless.

[If you don't leave soon, someone's backside might be in trouble!] the System declared. [There are going to be a lot of things to watch out for from now on!]

'That's not why I'm in a hurry to leave.'

One hour later.

'Ding-dong —'

A doorbell rang.

Li Xihe had been watching films alone all evening and was growing drowsy, so it came as a surprise when a servant told him there was a guest downstairs.

He opened the door. Cold air rushed in.

In the darkness of the night, a beautiful young man in a beret stood at the threshold.

He wore a long Black Coat in brown-and-white check wool, buttons fastened from collar to waist, a cream-colored shirt beneath, and ink-black hair scattered across his shoulders. The beret was pulled low, its brim shadowing his brows and eyes, leaving only a sliver of a pale, sharp chin.

He tilted his head up. A cool, composed face.

How adorable, Li Xihe thought — someone who didn't know better might think he was cosplaying Sherlock Holmes.

'Sorry to intrude.'

Ji Yue removed his hat.

Well then. An uninvited guest.

Tonight, the detective's investigation was not yet over.