The Detective of the Noble Boys' Academy 28

28

Campus BBS

Trending/HOT.....

Subject: Ran into the school beauty and Yuwen [ ] meeting the parents at the Restaurant.. (Panic)

0L: [Image] Is this allowed to be said? How are they progressing so fast? Is it real or what... (Frantic)

1L: No wonder there was a fight at the airport a few days ago. Yuwen [ ] was so righteous when he said 'this is my wife.' So they had already met the parents??? (Panic) (Vomit)

2L: No way, someone please debunk this.. (Frantic) (Vomit)

3L: [Image] This actually has a bit of an idol drama feel.. Like a beautiful girl stepping on the shoe of a 'Heavenly Dragon' student

4L: He probably let the school beauty step on it on purpose. Yuwen [ ] is so disgusting, using such low-class tactics to win the school beauty's attention!! (Vomit) (Fist)

5L: So it really was meeting the parents. Even the school beauty's younger brother is there.. I remember he studies over in the Upper City

6L: This little brother is rolling his eyes at Yuwen [ ] in a corner where no one notices (Covering mouth to laugh) (Covering mouth to laugh)

7L: I asked around a bit, um... it should not be what everyone thinks, but there are indeed signs of that (Tears)

8L: Ah? You mean it is a real arranged marriage? (Crying)

9L: Yes, but it is not necessarily a forced marriage, just.. it is hard to say. It is said that the Yuwen [ ] family and the Ji family have a slight connection

10L: School beauty, school beauty, what will you do if you marry into a wealthy family with your personality.. I believe you will use your 'cat-paw punches' to beat this blond guy into submission..

11L: Why Yuwen [ ]! Aren't there three other families among the Four Great Families? Why don't the other three go and have an arranged marriage?

12L: They.. are childhood sweethearts (Frantic)

13L: Damn, there is really no way out now..

14L: @F1@F3@F4, I command you to start causing trouble immediately!!

……

431L: Why hasn't the school beauty come to class... (Crying)

432L: It has been so long, what is the reason (Crying) (Crying)

433L: It wouldn't really be a wealthy marriage... and he has been hidden away in a golden house by Yuwen [ ]?! (Vomit) (Vomit)

434L: That is not right, isn't Yuwen [ ] at school? He attended the Equestrian Class yesterday, he could not possibly leave the school beauty behind! (Confused)

435L: Then it is really strange, I have not seen a fresh school beauty in a long time! (Crying) (Crying)

436L: He is here, he is here!! The school beauty has arrived!! School beauty, I missed you so much (Crying) (Hot) (Heart)

437L: Holy crap, what is going on, why was the school beauty taken away by them????

438L: I saw it too, over at the pier... (Panic)

——Deleted——

----------

【The timeline is not quite right!】

Ji Yue heard the System's alarm, the sound shrill and unusually sharp.

It was a novice System with sparse data, always slow and dull in its reactions to the world, and it had never issued an alarm like this before.

...What was even more terrifying were the other anomalies.

Before opening his eyes, he had the illusion of drowning.

His body was very cold, damp and chilly water clinging to his skin.

Raindrops kept hammering down, soaking every inch of his clothes.

In his ears was the violent noise of rain hitting a canopy, dense like annoying drumbeats.

And...

Some footsteps, noisy human voices, and the muffled sound of ship horns coming from afar.

Ji Yue opened his eyes.

This was a pier; several ships were docked in the curtain of rain, blurred and indistinct. The rain was too heavy, the visibility extremely dim, and he could only vaguely see many figures moving in the distance.

Why am I standing here in the rain?

Ji Yue was confused.

Beams of flashlight light pierced the darkness, breaking through from all directions and crisscrossing in the rain. Men were shouting something, their voices muddled by the rain, and he could only clearly hear the repeatedly uttered sentence, 'Not here!'

They were looking for someone.

Looking for whom?

Me?

As soon as Ji Yue thought of this, his body reacted first; he hid in the shadows of a ship next to him, where there happened to be no one.

'So you were here?'

A man's hand suddenly gripped his arm from the darkness, dragging him out of the shadows and pulling him into a scorching embrace.

He had been caught after all.

He was held so tightly that he felt his ribs might break, unable to catch his breath.

'Why are you so bad? Eloping with another man...' He Yuanxi leaned close to his ear, whispering with a laugh, his tone like he was speaking sweet nothings.

Through the soaked fabric, Ji Yue felt the abnormal heat radiating from this person, almost as if he had a fever.

He said coldly, 'Let me go.'

There was no answer; He Yuanxi was still laughing.

But colder than the rain was the gun at the other man's waist.

It was hair-raising.

【What is this situation??? This is so scary and so twisted! Where did this madman come from?! He Yuanxi was the most normal one among the F4 in the original work?!】

【The original work never wrote that the detective would be caught in a scene like this either??】

'What time is it now?'

【One month later! This is the event in the original work where the detective is captured.】

Footsteps were getting closer, and the flashlight beams were sweeping everywhere. Someone was calling Ji Yue's name, drawing nearer.

He Yuanxi held up a finger, making a 'shush' gesture to Ji Yue.

'They are coming too. Let us not be discovered; let us go to the room.' He lowered his head, leaning in to whisper to Ji Yue.

In the rain, He Yuanxi's breath was scalding, almost burning against his earlobe. His right hand pressed against Ji Yue's back, the strange temperature making him involuntarily break out in goosebumps.

The cold rain could not lower the heat on He Yuanxi's body.

...Both guns were pressed against him.

What would happen if they went into the room?

【It would probably be... forced love.】

The System stammered.

No.

Ji Yue sat up abruptly from the bed, throwing off the quilt.

He looked around; it was a familiar room.

Was the scene just now a dream?

【No!】 The System said firmly, 【The timeline just jumped back again.】

...How strange.

In other words, in the future timeline, if the detective is caught by the F4, this is the outcome?

Ji Yue rubbed his face, expressionless.

【We are out of time! In the current timeline, it is only two days until you are caught.】

'I know.'

He changed his clothes and turned to go downstairs.

The air in the bedroom had become dry, and the weather had quietly turned cold.

Ji Yue walked down the stairs. His mother, who should have been abroad on a business trip, appeared in the house, holding a tennis racket; she had probably just finished exercising.

She wiped her face and asked, 'Are you not planning to go back to school?'

'Why wouldn't I go to school?'

'Then what are you doing here? You haven't been in a month, right? They even called me.'

'……?'

A month without going to school.

Ji Yue was having dinner with Yuwen Qing yesterday, and now a month had passed.

He glanced at the calendar.

There was not much time left.

【I don't know if this is a bug or the Main System's doing? Your mother didn't notice you had disappeared for a month; did the world automatically fill in the unreasonable parts?】

The System was also encountering this for the first time.

The plane landed.

Ji Yue walked down the boarding stairs, still feeling a trace of doubt in his heart.

After leaving the airport, there were many students walking around him, all strangers. He grabbed one at random and asked, 'What is the date today?'

the boy stuttered, looking very surprised, and said, 'Uh... the twelfth, why?'

'Nothing.'

Ji Yue let go, walked through the crowd, and sat in an autonomous car that was already waiting.

But before going to sleep last night, it was the second.

A whole month and ten days had passed?

It could only be that he had traveled through time, and everyone else was living a normal life.

The System was going crazy, having to rack its brains to check this: 【My program didn't show any time jumps; it's not our problem, and the higher-level system isn't responding either!】

【According to the original timeline, it won't be long before the detective is caught by the F4!】

'The same thing happened before, but the time wasn't that long. That day I went to Yan Min's Greenhouse, and when I came out, time had skipped a day.'

Ji Yue ordered the System to check the situation of that day.

At the time, the System said it was a 'one day later' jump in the novel.

A day or two was possible, but a month-long jump could only be a bug.

It happened in the Greenhouse at the time, so was this a problem caused by Yan Min?

Ji Yue decided to find Yan Min first.

As soon as he appeared in the classroom, the noisy, market-like atmosphere immediately went silent, and everyone turned into ancient Greek statues of contemplation, gazing at him blankly from afar.

Ji Yue had long been accustomed to being the focus of attention and did not care.

Until Zhou Zhou sat down beside him, looking like he had something to say.

'How come you couldn't be reached for a month? I thought what they were saying was true...' Zhou Zhou's expression was very surprised, and his tone was too, 'Fortunately it's not like that; it's really scary.'

'What.'

'They said you were hidden away in a golden house and married Yuwen Qing, and have since retired from the scene.'

'……'

How could that be.

Zhou Zhou thought about it; with Ji Yue's personality, even if he were married, he would still come to school, right? He had always liked the school's courses.

'So was it because something happened that you didn't come for a month?' Zhou Zhou asked.

'Yes.'

'Sigh, no one could reach you.'

To the point that everyone was going crazy.

Ji Yue: 'It wasn't intentional, those things were indeed a bit tricky.'

It was too complicated to explain, so he could only vaguely say he had encountered some things.

The detective had disappeared into thin air for a month; what had happened between the F4 and the special students during that month?

'Zhou Zhou, any news about the F4 and the special students recently?' As he spoke, Ji Yue took out his detective's notebook, 'I want to learn about it.'

Zhou Zhou laughed, thinking he was still paying attention to these things, but...

Before he could speak, someone had already interrupted him.

'If you want to know about me, why don't you come and ask me?'

A young man with a scholarly air sat down beside Ji Yue, holding several outlines for a philosophy class, looking like he had just finished a lecture.

Yan Min.

Some vague guesses surfaced in Ji Yue's mind: the space-time disorder might be related to him, or to all the F4 and special students.

Zhou Zhou said to him with a smile, 'Then I won't talk about it; after all, the person involved is right here.'

Just as he finished speaking, the class bell rang.

This class was Latin as a second foreign language. The classroom was not that quiet; some people were reciting words, and others were copying notes. During the discussion time, Ji Yue moved his chair to the side, closer to Yan Min.

He sat next to Yan Min, assuming a listening posture.

Yan Min sat upright, flipping through his Latin notes. Sensing Ji Yue's proximity, he turned his head and wrote a sentence on Ji Yue's open notebook: 'Nothing happened.'

Ji Yue was not satisfied.

'What did you hope would happen?'

'Nothing.'

'Fights and brawls are all minor matters; nothing major happened.'

Yan Min's tone was very calm.

The Latin teacher walked to the back row at some point, and the surroundings suddenly went quiet.

Ji Yue picked up a quill and wrote a line in Yan Min's book: 'Did you not notice that I had been missing for a month?'

Yan Min looked at his question, and his response was to write two lines of Latin characters in Ji Yue's notebook.

The Latin teacher walked over, took Ji Yue's notebook, and read the line aloud: 'This student's sentence translated into Chinese is—'I know. I miss you very much.' Not bad, that is a very romantic confession!'

The whole classroom was in an uproar.

Ji Yue said nothing, only taking back his notebook in front of everyone.

【This kid, confessing in public? I told you he is very good at being ambiguous!!】

【You asked him that, but F1 looks very calm; it seems it must be related to him!】

Yan Min twirled his pen, glanced at the notebook, and wrote another sentence in Chinese.

—Let's have lunch together.

Today the temperature had dropped by more than ten degrees, but the sunlight was fierce and blinding, leaving everything with nowhere to hide.

Yan Min led him inside, confirmed the reservation with the waiter, and the two walked toward an empty table in the corner.

Ji Yue was expressionless, fiddling with the green plants on the table, glancing from between the leaves at the man ordering food beside him.

This person had reserved the restaurant before today; he had already anticipated that he would return to school today.

After sitting down, it was Ji Yue who spoke first.

'Why did my world skip a month?'

Yan Min did not answer immediately, but stood up, walked to Ji Yue's side, took his steak, and lowered his head to cut it carefully: 'When you hope that time passes very slowly, time will pass very quickly. The opposite is also true, just like when you are in a physical education class you hate; the duration of the class becomes very long, because time is your consciousness, determined by yourself.'

'……'

'Everyone's perception of psychological time is different, so the students around us were not affected; they were at ease, without worries.'

'What does that mean?'

Ji Yue was impatient. If he kept listening, this person would bring out Henri Bergson, like those scholars in the Philosophy Salon, and start explaining the concepts of time and space to him.

'It means there is no clear explanation at the moment. I know you will think my explanation is strange, but even if you ask others, they will give you very different and absurd answers.'

'I just want to know if you have experienced this too?'

'Yes.'

Was it because Yan Min had experienced these things that he started studying philosophy and thought?

【Look at what F1 is doing every day; he reads too many books. If you discuss this with him, you will have to go to the Library soon too!】

'Regarding him, there is something else I want to know.'

Had Yan Min already discovered his identity but chose not to say it to his face?

Ji Yue had the answer in his heart; two of the F4 had already obtained evidence of his detective identity, so there was no reason for the other two to be unaware.

Yan Min did not say it to his face, probably because he had other considerations, such as making the detective uneasy, and waiting for the right moment to catch him all at once...

Regardless, this time during the investigation, the higher-level System's alarm did not go off.

'Thank you for your cooperation today.'

After dinner, Ji Yue stood up, his tone serious.

'I have always been cooperative with you.'

Yan Min raised his eyes to look at him.

'……'

When exactly was he exposed?

Forget it.

A gust of wind passed through the corridor, lifting his black hair, which drifted behind him like spread wings. Ji Yue looked back, said 'Goodbye' to Yan Min, and turned to walk outside without any lingering attachment.

Yan Min stood where he was, watching that back disappear into the light at the door.

It was visible to the naked eye that he was exceptionally happy in the process of pursuing the truth.

------

the second F4 member the detective intercepted for an investigation was He Yuanxi.

Ji Yue learned that this person was exercising in the swimming pool, so he flashed over to get there.

The weather was really good today. The sunlight coming through the glass windows poured in, and the entire pool was sparkling. People in the water were shuttling between the lanes like a school of big fish, their figures appearing and disappearing underwater, occasionally popping their heads up and kicking up white waves.

'Mickey, Mickey, where are you?'

Ji Yue recited this sentence to himself, standing by the pool, constantly poking his head to look into the water.

He couldn't tell which one was He Yuanxi at all...

He looked left and right; everywhere were similar-looking male bodies—tall, strong, broad-shouldered, long-legged, and soaked to the bone. Some wore swimming caps and goggles, their faces mostly covered, and they would freeze in place the moment they saw him, as if they had been acupointed.

Ji Yue carefully observed several people resting on the shore, but none of them were He Yuanxi.

The men swimming in the water had standard postures, almost identical, and one could not tell who was who at a glance.

He had never seen He Yuanxi swimming, so it was really hard to find him.

Suddenly, He Yuanxi's smiling face in the rain popped up from his memory.

Ji Yue stopped.

Why did he become like that?

【Is there a possibility that this is He Yuanxi's true nature?】

He did not know.

Ji Yue looked around, walked along the edge of the pool, and called out to someone who had just surfaced.

This person took off his goggles, revealing a strange face, and looked up at him blankly.

It was not He Yuanxi.

Ji Yue said 'Sorry' with an expressionless face and continued to walk forward, poking his head to look suspiciously into the water; this boy looked a bit like him at first glance.

He stopped and waited for a few seconds, but the person also surfaced; it was not He Yuanxi.

It was like being caught in a ghost-hitting-the-wall.

He wandered around several pools for a long time, his face growing colder.

So annoying.

Can't you guys just put on some clothes?

In the entire swimming pool, he was the only one wearing clothes.

That said, he still had to keep looking.

'Excuse me, has anyone seen where He Yuanxi is?'

'Hello, have you seen He Yuanxi?'

'Yeah, I'm looking for him, have you seen him?'

It was too cute; the school beauty was running around in circles poking his head to look for someone. Everyone actually didn't want to tell him where He Yuanxi was—what right did that guy have to receive the school beauty's favor?

Finally—

He Yuanxi walked out of the water, soaking wet. After finishing his three-thousand-meter freestyle, he was panting. He took off his goggles, and as soon as he turned his head, he saw the expressionless, long-haired, beautiful youth.

'I really looked for you for a long time. Why can't you just stand by the pool?'

An indifferent tone.

'Sorry, did you come over so early?' He Yuanxi wiped the water from his face and said with a smile, 'Aren't you having dinner with Yan Min? I thought you wouldn't finish so early. It seems... it's just like that.'

【Why does this sound so strange?】

At least he had found the person.

He chased after He Yuanxi: 'I want to interview you.'

The entire swimming pool was watching them. The two walked one after the other into the changing room.

Ji Yue followed him all the way to the shower area.

He Yuanxi reminded him solemnly: 'I understand your desire to see me, but I have to take a shower now. Are you still going to follow me?'

【Tsk tsk tsk, is this guy looking forward to you watching him take off his clothes? Actually, he's only wearing swimming trunks, and he's talking to you with his back turned because he's afraid of that, right?】

And what was 'that'?

'I'll come find you later.'

Ji Yue nodded reluctantly.

After counting to five minutes, he went in right on time. He Yuanxi was putting on his clothes in front of the locker.

Seen from behind, it was a naked male body, even stronger than when clothed, with firm muscles. Several of the F4 and special students liked to exercise.

He Yuanxi laughed while putting on his clothes: 'I thought of some cheesy novels. At this moment, I should say something like 'Have you seen enough?' or 'Are you satisfied with what you see?''

'I don't know what you are talking about. I'm here to interview you.'

'Ji Yue, baby, you really don't know how to appreciate the mood.' He Yuanxi casually put on a black sweater, looked at the person behind him in the mirror, and said with a smile, 'Let's go, let's talk outside, so people don't think we are doing something inappropriate.'

'You are in a very good mood today.'

'Because you are here, my mood is naturally very good.'

【Full of sweet talk, I suggest drowning in it!!】

There was a small Café outside the swimming pool, and there were not many people at this time. Ji Yue sat down, listening to the splashing of water, and his first sentence was still the same one.

'Why did I lose a month of time?'

He Yuanxi leaned back, hands folded behind his head, looking very relaxed. There were some bruises on his face; he had probably been fighting with someone again.

He looked at the ceiling and pondered: 'This question is actually very simple to explain, because our world is fake. Last time you asked me, why build a high-rise building at home? That is the reason. Actually, there is nothing in the sky, right? If heaven existed, what would fall on a rainy day wouldn't be water, but the tears of angels.'

'Speak human language.'

'I haven't finished yet. Nihilism should actually be realism; perhaps this world is a dream. You will understand what I mean.'

He Yuanxi changed his sitting posture and moved forward a bit.

Ji Yue felt a dead silence in his heart.

Just as Yan Min said, he could only get various explanations about time from the F4.

He Yuanxi indulged in alcohol, and his speech sounded like drunken dream talk.

He believed the world was fake; perhaps this was not a metaphor, but a thought he had after the space-time disorder.

In fact, it was true; there was no heaven here, no hell, only the Main System and the plot.

Characters struggling with the plot would inevitably doubt the existence of this world because of it.

Was it precisely because of this that the original plot line had completely collapsed?

Ji Yue's consciousness seemed to be struck by flint, instantly brightening.

【The special student told you before that he would tell you when the semester ends; perhaps you can wait... just don't get taken away by the F4 as the detective in the meantime.】

No.

The mission was now hanging by a thread; if he were caught by the F4 before then, it would be troublesome.

The detective must not wait for the truth to be delivered to him.

'Goodbye.'

Ji Yue put down his coffee and turned to leave.

He Yuanxi's laughter came from behind, accompanied by a complaint: 'Should I say you are really heartless?'

Ji Yue did not look back.

He soon found a gloomy Chinese-style building with large red lanterns hanging high.

Red paper lanterns swayed slightly in the wind, the gloomy light and shadow like a hint from a horror movie, a place of no return.

He stepped forward and knocked on the door.

The door opened.

Li Xihe stood inside, still wearing a high-collared shirt, the collar covering his neck, his eyes behind gold-rimmed glasses smiling at him without a trace of surprise.

'Did you all anticipate that I would come today?'

'Because it is indeed so, given your personality.' Li Xihe stepped aside, making a welcoming gesture, 'Little sister, come in.'

It was Ji Yue's first time at the Li residence on the island. As soon as he entered, he began to wander around, looking at the upstairs and downstairs, like a cat checking the safety of its territory.

After a while, he found a sofa to sit down on and took out a small notebook.

'I want to interview you today.'

'Go ahead and ask.'

Different from before, Ji Yue changed his angle for interrogation this time.

He looked directly into Li Xihe's eyes and asked:

'The scars of self-harm on your body—is it because you also discovered that there is a problem with this world?'

The smile on Li Xihe's face faded instantly.

【Too straightforward, uh, you touched his sore spot!】

'You really are the detect...'

Before he could finish, a fist came crashing over with a gust of wind.

'You are not allowed to say that word!'

The fist brushed past his cheek, a sharp wind attacking.

Ji Yue grabbed his collar.

A beautiful face leaned down, looking at him from above, his eyes as cold as ice: 'Now, answer my question.'

Li Xihe was stunned for a moment, then laughed: 'You are so cute... The deduction is correct, but as for the problem of the world, it is actually not that simple; we can talk about it.'

'For example?'

'This world has some established rules that no one can violate.'

【Wow, this is already very close to the truth of the world's origin!】

The System applauded.

'I guess you have already discovered it, so you came to find me. Perhaps we will soon know the truth.'

Li Xihe took off his glasses and wiped the lenses in a leisurely manner.

Changing the subject, he suddenly said: 'In the month you were gone, I actually thought a lot.'

'What?'

'No one can know what will happen tomorrow.' Li Xihe said, his narrow, long eyes, now unobstructed by lenses, staring fixedly at him, 'Little sister, perhaps when you wake up from a sleep, you will have disappeared again.'

After the lenses were removed, the emotions in his eyes were fully exposed.

He was silent for a second and lowered his voice.

'I really don't want to leave you.'

'……'

【Oh no!!! In this world, taking off the glasses is likely the release of a seal!】

【Host, you forgot, the tone of this small world is forced love and harem—during this time, you were confused by the F4's attitude toward you! They no longer have normal personalities! Clearly, this person has blackened!!】

Li Xihe was always smiling and speaking softly to everyone.

Would he actually do something like this?

Ji Yue took half a step back cautiously.

Behind him was the railing of the second floor, cold, hard, and with nowhere to go.

He looked past Li Xihe's shoulder toward the front door downstairs. The door that had been open just a moment ago was now tightly shut.

A pair of gloomy red lanterns swayed gently...

Li Xihe put away his glasses and gently placed his right hand on Ji Yue's cheek.

His stroking motion was very gentle, as if he were holding something very precious in his palm.

The cheek touched by the palm began to burn.

The heat spread from his fair cheeks, burning all the way to his earlobes, and his thick eyelashes trembled, his sea-blue eyes looking as if they were soaked in cold tears.

...A little dizzy.

The voice of Li Xihe came against his earlobe, soft and gentle, like coaxing a vigilant little animal.

'You are so cute,' Li Xihe said softly, 'I thought so the first time we met. You were sitting on a bench, wearing headphones, and didn't hear me greeting you, and you walked away as soon as you turned your head. It's a pity you walked too fast; you got in the car in the blink of an eye.'

His thumb gently brushed across Ji Yue's cheek, the heat spreading down to the collar, burning into a patch of pink.

【Could it be that the next plot is that the great detective, for the sake of the truth, got messed with by the person he was investigating?!】

The System wailed: 【This isn't right, is it?! Shouldn't our world be renamed 'The Detective's Butt Defense War'?!】