The Detective of Noble Boys' Academy 25

25

Ji Yue said a word of greeting to his younger brother.

Passing by the large vase in the living room, he idly reached out and fiddled with the leaf tucked inside it.

The green plant Yan Min had sent over earlier — the housekeeper had snipped off one enormous leaf and set it in the vase to keep, and somehow, against all odds, not only had it not died, it looked positively vigorous.

The leaf seemed to carry a touch of mimosa in its blood; under his teasing fingers it drooped shyly downward, as if embarrassed.

Why would a leaf still move after being separated from the plant itself?

He tilted his head and watched it for a moment.

Smack!

He suddenly slapped the leaf.

The leaf hung its head even lower, utterly dejected.

Ji Yue turned away with an expressionless face, hands clasped behind his back, and walked off.

[The leaf was being terrible — it deserved that!]

Seeing that he wasn't heading toward the sofa after disciplining the leaf, Xie Zhen got up and followed him over to chat.

Xie Zhen's classmate had been here a few times before; he strolled in from the courtyard with the ease of someone who knew the place well, glanced toward the kitchen, and said, 'Are we eating dinner soon? I'm starving.'

No one paid him any attention. Xie Zhen and Ji Yue were in the middle of discussing the transfer.

'When did you transfer?'

'Not long ago.'

'You didn't tell me,' Xie Zhen said, looking at him with a note of grievance in his voice. 'I only found out when Auntie mentioned it. Why did you transfer?'

'Felt like it.'

A thoroughly offhand answer.

'That sounds exactly like something you'd do. Is it fun over there?'

'It's fine.' Ji Yue glanced at his watch — he had no time to deal with children today. 'If there's nothing else, you can go.'

Heartlessly blunt.

Xie Zhen acted as though he hadn't heard a word and sat himself down.

His classmate settled onto the sofa beside him and asked, 'What's this about transferring — who transferred?'

'Ji Yue transferred to Imperial Boys' School.' Xie Zhen's tone was full of regret, as though this person's transfer were a great loss to the world.

'Oh, that school — I remember it being very strict, not many students. I have a cousin there too.' The classmate finished speaking and stole a sidelong glance at Ji Yue. The other boy was perched on the arm of the sofa, head bowed, typing on his screen — long hair, face utterly blank, beautiful as a porcelain doll, his fine lashes fluttering up and down in slow, delicate blinks.

The classmate had seen Ji Yue a handful of times over the years and had always thought the two brothers looked nothing alike. This one was a little too pretty, and had a terrible temper — indifferent to everyone, including his own younger brother. Was he really a brother, or more like a household deity to be appeased?

As for the younger brother, Xie Zhen, he was currently sneaking glances at Ji Yue's screen; when he caught sight of a message thread with a male profile picture, his expression shifted almost imperceptibly.

Ji Yue had been downstairs for less than five minutes. Without a word, he went back upstairs — as though he had come down for the sole purpose of saying one thing to his brother, and having completed that mission, was done.

Once his figure had completely disappeared, the classmate turned his head with a look of puzzlement and said, 'Are you two actually blood brothers?'

Xie Zhen stared at the ceiling, lost in some private thought.

After a moment, he said, 'Yes.'

'Ah, I knew it!' The classmate mulled it over. 'You two actually have a pretty good relationship.'

The words were barely out before Xie Zhen seemed determined to prove it in practice — he told his classmate to stay downstairs and went upstairs himself.

Ji Yue's room was on the second floor, at the corner. Xie Zhen raised his hand and knocked on the door.

'Can I come in?'

He asked.

A small lamp was lit inside the dim, amber-toned bedroom, casting a warm and drowsy glow.

Ji Yue was lying on his stomach on the bed, reading. He didn't look up. He heard the knock, but had no desire to open the door.

[Why does your little brother come looking for you when he has nothing better to do? Doesn't he know the great detective has a very busy day?!]

'He's just bored.'

Ji Yue ignored the System and went on texting Yan Min, filing a complaint that his leaf was behaving strangely.

Then he sent a message to the client.

He had sent several before; the other party had never replied.

The client's task was based on the belief that Imperial Boys' School harbored instances of coerced intimacy.

As things stood now, that plot simply did not exist.

Which meant the client was someone who had known the plot in advance.

But who, exactly?

[Could it be a transmigrator? That doesn't make scientific sense — my System shows nothing of the sort. The Primordial God hasn't said anything about it either.] The System scratched its head.

The only option left was to go to the client's territory and find them in person — if that was even possible.

With that thought, Ji Yue opened his itinerary. The last uncrossed item on the list was an island.

[You've already booked the flight!]

'This island is very far from the mainland.'

Ji Yue showed the System the location of the client's IP address. Could anyone actually live in a place like that?

He lay on his stomach and pored over the map for a long while. The more he looked, the more it resembled a primeval island.

Ji Yue had once dug up everything there was to find on the client — and found nothing but fabrications. Not a single real trace, as though this person simply did not exist in the world. Truly mysterious.

Now it seemed this address alone might be genuine. He had no choice but to go.

The housekeeper knocked at the door to say dinner was ready. Ji Yue got up and headed out. The moment he opened the door, he found not only the smiling housekeeper but also his younger brother Xie Zhen standing there with his eyes downcast and his manner meek — apparently he hadn't left at all and had been standing at the door the whole time, as if serving a quiet penance.

'You ignore me all the time — has Auntie brought home a new little brother to replace me?'

On the way downstairs, Xie Zhen suddenly stopped in his tracks.

'I don't know whether there's a new little brother or not.'

Ji Yue thought about it and genuinely wasn't sure — he only knew the house always seemed to have a rotating cast of younger siblings.

[He's already this old and he still follows his gege around all the time!] The System continued its assault on this newcomer. [Is this kid actually a blood brother?]

'Half-brother. Same father, different mothers.'

[You two didn't grow up together, did you?]

'No.'

[...Then he should be keeping his distance!]

Xie Zhen's classmate was still downstairs, watching a football match on the screen. When he saw the two of them come down, he asked again whether dinner was ready.

No one turned him away. So the classmate stayed and ate with the family as though he belonged there, and only left afterward.

Ji Yue remained oblivious to both of them, his mind entirely absorbed in planning the island trip.

Perhaps once he put on his AI camera glasses and walked through the plot's glitches out loud, he would find the client on the island right there in front of him, breaking down on the spot in a dramatic confession, pouring out the truth of the plot at the top of their lungs.

And in the end, the detective would brush off his sleeves and walk away in style, departing to a sweeping soundtrack.

Tonight, the detective was about to set out for the island to observe things firsthand.

After silencing and ignoring several messages and calls, Ji Yue traveled through the starlit night and arrived at the airport in the small hours. He had originally planned to catch a brief nap, but a few notifications had popped up on his communicator — none of which he looked at — before a call came through.

A call from a contact saved as [Mickey].

'Where are you right now?'

He Yuanxi's voice was languid, as though he had just woken up. In the background came the faint clink of glass against glass, as if he had been drinking.

Ji Yue had absolutely no desire to take his call, but he also didn't want to miss any information that might crack the case.

'What do you want.'

'You're at the airport? Where are you off to this time — someone else's house? You've been to all of them by now, haven't you? Don't tell me there's a sixth person I don't know about.'

'None of your business.'

'Don't hang up yet. I ran into my little brother today and only just found out you two have some history — he even went to your place for dinner? You should have said something sooner. I'd have come too.'

'Who's your brother.'

'Same surname as me. You didn't notice?'

'No idea. I don't care what his name is.'

An utterly indifferent reply, half-swallowed by the airport announcements in the background — the voice of a cold, heartless man on the verge of a brutal breakup, done with someone the moment the novelty wore off.

Entirely expected.

He Yuanxi tossed the silver coin in his hand and thought to himself that Ji Yue probably couldn't even remember whether his little brother was round or flat. The thought made him laugh again.

When you laugh like that, you don't look like Mickey at all.

Ji Yue frowned and was about to hang up when the other end spoke again: 'Where are you trying to go? Let me come with you. Somewhere too remote could be dangerous.'

How did he know Ji Yue was planning to go to a remote island?

[He Yuanxi is exactly the type to be a stalker fan! Spending a fortune to track the superstar Ji Yue's every move, using his power and influence to chase his idol — next thing you know he'll turn up in first class saying, 'What a coincidence, let's island-hop together!']

Ji Yue said nothing and hung up.

'Let's organize the clues we have so far.'

He sketched profile icons and names on his notepad and began drawing connecting lines. He Yuanxi's icon was a Mickey Mouse.

Known facts: 1. There is a secret between the F4 and the scholarship student, with a deadline at the end of this semester.

2. The plot of the original novel has not unfolded as written.

3. Their relationships with one another are superficial at best.

4. The scholarship student's situation:

Sexually repressed.

Childhood not as bleak as the original novel described.

Fell for the detective at first sight before the plot even began.

5. The F4's situation:

Yuwen Qing is a relative of the detective's — they were nearly betrothed before birth.

Li Xihe had already met the detective before the plot began.

Yan Min has collected a large number of the detective's photographs, homework assignments, and a painted portrait — motive unknown.

He Yuanxi's younger brother is a classmate of the detective's younger brother.

Common thread:

All of them share some kind of connection with the detective that predates the plot.

Wait.

When exactly had Yan Min obtained that portrait?

Ji Yue fell into thought.

If it was before the plot began, that would mean this small world had already collapsed before it even opened — a defective product. He would recommend the Primordial God send it back for a refund.

In that case...

He decided to ask Yan Min directly.

[If you go and ask him now, you'll be giving away that you were in that room, you know?]

'Yes.'

[The fearless detective!]

The call connected the instant he dialed.

'What is it?'

'I want to ask you something,' Ji Yue said. 'That portrait of me — when did you get it?'

'I came across it by chance last winter and bought it.' Yan Min's tone was gentle. 'Ji Yue, you're at the airport — where are you going for fun?'

[Uh, uh, uh — was it really by chance?!]

'...'

Last winter. Also before the plot began.

Before Yan Min could ask how he had discovered the collection room, Ji Yue had already hung up and drawn a large X through Yan Min's name on the whiteboard.

In other words, before the story even started, the detective had already been loosely, almost imperceptibly entangled with the F4 and the scholarship student.

I'm the glitch?

The glitch is me?

Ji Yue couldn't make sense of it. In all his previous missions, he had never encountered a chain of glitches like this.

...Infuriating.

He crumpled his notes into a ball with a cold expression and threw them in the bin.

[Maybe this world is just broken — it's not you, it's the world!]

'System, have you ever encountered plot-external glitches like this before?'

[Never. In principle, the characters of an original world should follow their established personalities and walk the plot as written — unless one of them suddenly suffers a fundamental code disruption, undergoes a drastic personality shift, and forcibly alters the plot line.]

'If that keeps happening, where does this world end up?'

[It'll definitely turn into a boys-love world where everyone's backside is sore every single day — the blue-blooded F4 of Noble Boys' Academy and the mysterious, beautiful young detective they've captured and imprisoned... coercion, heartbreak, betrayal, a little sandwich situation... relentlessly interrogating the great detective about his true motives every single day...!]

'?'

[Ahhh, why does my new program keep spitting out answers like this?!!]

[What I mean is — judging by the current state of all these individuals, their base code is simply: they like you, with every fiber of their being, and they cannot resist it!]

'Stop.'

That was entirely beside the point.

[Then what is the point?]

'The truth.'

At present, the detective still had two problems to solve: first, the secret between the F4 and the scholarship student; second, who the client actually was and what their purpose might be.

The first had a deadline and required waiting. For now, he would focus entirely on the second.

When the boarding time arrived, a message popped up on his communicator.

Contact: [sj].

Si Jing had sent a photo — a tabby cat crouched on a doorstep, head buried in a bowl of fish and shrimp, while a white mongrel dog ambled past in the distance, blissfully unaware of the world.

The background of the photo was familiar: a half-worn wooden door, freshly repainted.

This was Si Jing's seaside cottage.

Sunlight, waves, the sound of wind — surging through the screen in endless waves.

Ji Yue had seen that cat before, and the dog too — both were regulars near Si Jing's home. The last time he had gone to Yan City, the cat had crouched in the courtyard for an entire afternoon, and he had fed it once on a whim.

Si Jing had also included a line: [The little dog is thinking of you (heart)]

And then: [If you want to know anything about me, you can ask me directly.]

[Uh, uh, uh! So the earlier calculation was right after all — if you were to date the scholarship student or any one of them, they would all be incredibly cooperative with your detective work, practically stripping themselves bare for your inspection! Holding nothing back!]

[The scholarship student saying something like that... he's probably sensed that your motives aren't pure?]

'...'

What had Si Jing noticed?

Ji Yue stared at that line for two seconds.

In the end, he typed his reply into the message box: [Noted.]

The plane touched down on the Helipad. Stepping off the aircraft, a thick wave of humid heat pressed in from all sides; the bodyguard behind him raised a black umbrella over his head.

Ji Yue had deployed his financial firepower before arriving, and with the guidance of a local contact, made his way toward the island in question — a place accessible only by boat to the area's sole port.

Ji Yue pinned his long hair up, baring the nape of his neck. The sun burnished his complexion to an even brighter pallor — so white it nearly reflected the light — utterly unlike anyone around him. The locals here had warm brown skin; they went shirtless, dressed in simple shorts. Nearly everyone at the port stopped to look at him.

He didn't speak the island's local language, so a translator had been arranged to gesture and explain between them.

'They say there's no point going,' the translator turned to him, expression troubled. 'The location you described — there's no one there at all.'

Ji Yue refused to give up. He paid to arrange a car to take him further in. The vehicle followed a bumpy dirt road deeper into the interior; the surroundings grew increasingly desolate, until the car finally stopped at the edge of what was nearly a primeval forest. There was no road beyond this point — dense trees pressed together in a solid mass, vines coiling through them, impenetrable even if you tried to cut your way through.

There was truly nothing here.

He sat in the car, face blank, lost in thought.

The translator didn't understand his disappointment, but offered what comfort he could: 'This island has no more than one or two hundred indigenous people. No one else has ever come here. It's impossible for anyone to be living out there.'

A person who could not be found or contacted was, in the modern world, essentially the same as being dead. If that was the case, he would simply treat the client as nonexistent.

[Actually, according to the original novel, the client only appears once the mission is complete.]

'I will catch them regardless.'

Ji Yue was not pleased.

He returned to the port and climbed back onto the small, battered boat. Ji Yue sat beneath a wide straw hat, rocking through the waves on the journey back. Seawater sloshed and splashed up, soaking his cuffs.

By the time he reached the airport, it was already evening.

Flights here were scarce; the next available one wasn't until the early hours of the morning. The sun was sinking in the west. He sat down in one of the waiting chairs and had just lifted a cup of water to his lips when a fierce gust of wind swept past the window — the straw hat was snatched from his head, somersaulted twice in the air, and was gone before he could track it.

Ji Yue looked around in every direction, but saw only the empty departure hall and a few staff members. Not a trace of the hat — it had probably been blown into some corner.

A hand appeared from nowhere and pressed a straw hat down onto his head.

The brim sat a little low, covering his eyes. Everything went dim. Ji Yue felt two hands give the top of his head a gentle pat, as if patting a mushroom growing in the forest.

He lifted the hat with both hands and finally saw the light again.

A man crouched down in front of him, smiling as he said hello: 'Ji Yue, sweetheart? What a coincidence, running into you here.'

It was He Yuanxi.

[Perhaps this is simply the detective's inevitable fate,] the System said quietly. [You follow others — and then get followed yourself. You take secret photos of people — and get secretly photographed in return. And now you've picked up an F4 stalker fan!]

'How did your sleeve get wet?' He Yuanxi pinched his wrist lightly, the pad of his thumb grazing the soft skin on the inside, 'Come change into something at my place?'

Behind him, a private jet had landed not long ago; the crew were still busy at work.

Ji Yue met his gaze, and a sudden thought struck him — did Mickey know something?

He didn't refuse. He followed He Yuanxi onto the plane.

The cabin was quiet, broken only by a faint, low hum. On the screen ahead, a reel of grim headlines scrolled past — a complex international situation, the extinction of humanity on some distant planet, a serial murder case, the kidnapping of a wealthy young heir.

Ji Yue took the window seat.

For lack of expression, he looked cold most of the time — occasionally a little irritated. Today he leaned closer to the latter; he tilted his face up toward He Yuanxi, his eyes wide and sharp, the blue-white of them vivid and clear, as though he were glaring.

He had just changed out of the shirt with the wet sleeve.

In its place: a loose, long black-and-red T-shirt printed with a skull, the sleeves long enough to cover the backs of his hands, the neckline cut wide and low, baring the white sweep of his collarbones and a small pale expanse of chest. He was wearing long cross earrings and a matching necklace today; his hands were stacked with rings and bracelets. Looking further down at his trousers and shoes, the whole ensemble was a riot of color.

He Yuanxi hadn't sat down. He stood over Ji Yue, studying him as he straightened his cuffs.

The light fell across He Yuanxi's face — that same mild, unhurried expression as always, unchanged, like a stillness that could never be broken.

He said nothing. He simply looked.

For reasons Ji Yue couldn't name, that sustained gaze gave him a strange premonition.

[Is your sixth sense reliable? My program is telling me something bad is about to happen!]

[The F4 are not the same as the scholarship student — they're not easy to manage! You need to keep him under control!]

[You understand what I mean — according to the new program's calculations, the previously analyzed scenario of 'Noble Boys' Academy F4 and the Mysterious Beautiful Young Detective #coercion #sandwich #heartbreak #dark room' may be about to begin right here —]

'...'

At last, He Yuanxi spoke.

He smiled faintly: 'This afternoon I received a package addressed to you. It contained quite a lot of interesting things. I'd very much like to go through it with you.'