Chapter 10 (1/2)
FRS: Chapter 10 – Unknown Truth (1)
Translator: Momoe Pom
TLC: Puissansa
Editor: Isabelle
Quality Check: Kai
First Published on Ainus.h.i.+.
The sun gradually s.h.i.+fted from the middle of the sky to the west.
Fan JiJing felt the suns.h.i.+ne from the setting sun crawling up his back, though instead of a sense of warmth, it somehow created a burning sensation.
Hua HuaiXiu started to lose patience after watching him do nothing but staring blankly at the ground in silence for a while. ”Say something at least.”
”Cousin.”
Hua HuaiXiu's heart lurched a bit. His bright eyes locked onto him with sparks.
As Fan JiJing was talking, only his lips moved while the rest of his face was as solid as rock. ”Are you hungry?”
Without a word, Hua HuaiXiu kicked Fan JiJing's calf.
Fan JiJing took the hit without moving.
Hua HuaiXiu frowned. ”Why didn't you dodge?”
Fan JiJing slowly turned his head, and a moment later, replied in a wronged voice: ”My legs fell asleep.”
”…”
The vigorous confession had now come to a temporary stop as Fan JiJing lamely walked out the hall.
At first, Hua HuaiXiu wanted to strike while the iron was still hot and question him closely, but Fan JiJing gave the excuse that he was too hungry and locked the door from inside right as he limped into the kitchen. He would not come out no matter how hard Hua HuaiXiu knocked.
Realizing that it was almost evening as the sun sunk further to the west, Hua HuaiXiu finally lost his temper. He lifted his feet and kicked it violently onto the door plank, shouting: ”I want to eat too!”
A moment later, instead of the door, the window opened with a creak.
A hand was jerking up and down, holding a bowl of noodles.
Hua HuaiXiu walked over bitterly and grabbed his hand.
Fan JiJing looked at him in panic.
”I won’t force you.” Although it was accompanied by the astonis.h.i.+ng scenery of a sunset with a skyful of rosy clouds, his fine face was still extremely bright to the point of stunning grace: especially his smile, which was even more charming than the clouds at sunset. ”Let’s discuss the case for now.”
Fan JiJing frowned. A moment later, he raised his head and looked at Hua HuaiXiu. ”Cousin.”
”En?” Hua HuaiXiu tried his best to look amiable.
”There’s no need to try anymore.” Fan JiJing sighed, ”I won’t go out.”
Right as the last word left his lips, he saw Hua HuaiXiu pus.h.i.+ng the windows to the edges then bending over to jump in.
Fan JiJing: ”…”
Hua HuaiXiu, grinning all over, said, ”A discussion inside would be fine too.”
Fan JiJing asked, ”You just said something about investigating the case?”
Hua HuaiXiu looked at him silently with narrowed eyes.
The sun s.h.i.+ned on half of his face, meticulously portraying every inch of his skin. The pitch-black pupils, glimmering with bits of golden s.h.i.+mmers, was filled with fervent antic.i.p.ation.
Fan JiJing lowered his head and looked at his toes. ”Cousin, this is not right.”
Fan JiJing was not disappointed. He had never expected that a piece of wood could suddenly bloom a flower. ”In this world, what is right? What is wrong? The standard of right and wrong was originally defined by people, then why can’t it be overturned by another person?”
Fan JiJing lifted his head dumbfoundedly. The way he looked at Hua HuaiXiu was so fresh, as if this was the first time he had met him.
”What’s wrong?” Hua HuaiXiu frowned.
Fan JiJing said, ”I didn’t know that besides solving cases, Cousin is also good at talking sense into others.”
”What you’ve seen is only the tip of an iceberg.” Hua HuaiXiu thought over Fan JiJing's words carefully once again and suddenly found them slightly awkward. ”Wait a minute, what do you mean by 'I didn’t know?'”
Fan JiJing said, ”It means that what I’ve seen was only the tip of an iceberg.”
Hua HuaiXiu felt choked.
”Is it true that Cousin has found clues for the investigation?” Fan JiJing pivoted the conversation abruptly.
But when was Hua HuaiXiu someone who would so easily be fooled by his playing dumb to gloss it over like this?
He stared at Fan JiJing with a look so profound, as if he was going to peel off that stiff and awkward expression from his face to see what the real emotion hidden beneath it was.
”Cousin?” asked Fan JiJing, feeling uneasy.
Hua HuaiXiu gradually took back his probing stare and said plainly, ”We can discuss this later. Let's finish the last duties to your master first.” For him, Fan JiJing's reaction was more than enough to overflow him with joy. Originally, he thought that someone as stiff and pedantic as Fan JiJing, after realizing his feelings, would turn him down completely while shooting archaic sayings about manners and morals at him. However, it was true that Fan JiJing rejected him, but in such a way that was rather ambiguous and hesitant. As long as he wasn't killed in one shot, he was confident that he could still push away the dark clouds and eventually reach the clear sky!
Fan JiJing secretly let out a sigh of relief, then asked, ”Does Cousin really know who is the murderer?”
”I don’t know who is the murderer, but a certain someone might know.”
”Who?”
”Your third s.h.i.+shu,” replied Hua HuaiXiu. ”He refused to show himself even for something as big as zhangmen's death. There must be a reason behind it.”
Fan JiJing's eyebrows furrowed as he said, ”Third s.h.i.+shu has been in seclusion for many years. He probably doesn’t want to deal with worldly matters anymore.”