Case Files Chapter 10: Debut (8)

Translated by Vivian of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Addis

 

When Guan Jin returned, the office was a mess, and everyone was just about to go ‘rescue’ him.

“Little Guan Jin!” Lin Bai ran to him. “We thought you were kidnapped by the criminals and taken to their lair, and then…”

“Then what?”

Lin Bai was silenced by Guan Jin’s cold gaze.

“We thought you returned by yourself, but we didn’t see you here, and you didn’t pick up our calls, so we thought something happened to you.” Chen QiaoYu sighed.

Guan Jin sneered, “I seem to be a police officer.”

“…Uh, you’ve never done any field work before.” Chen QiaoYu noticed that Guan Jin wasn’t in a very good mood.

Guan Jin slapped a piece of paper onto the desk in front of Wen JingHan.

“And this is?”

“Invoice for reimbursement.”

“…” 

Guan Jin slapped another few pieces of paper onto the desk.

“Little Jin, how much did you spend?! If you exceed a certain amount, you won’t get reimbursed!” exclaimed Zheng Fei.

Wen JingHan picked up the papers, looked at them, and asked in surprise, “What’s this?”

“The Zilan Clubhouse’s invoice records for the past two months, they’ll probably be a little useful.” Guan Jin sat down at his seat.

“How’d you get a hold of these?” Wen JingHan raised an eyebrow slightly.

“I snuck into the clubhouse and stole them.” When Guan Jin saw everyone’s shocked expressions, he added, “Don’t worry, I covered my face, so no one will be able to find me.”

“That’s not the point! How did you sneak in, even QiaoYu and I couldn’t find a way in!” Zheng Fei said in agitation.

Guan Jin ignored him.

Wen JingHan put down the records and looked at Guan Jin. “Well done. Although this might put them on guard, it’s at least given us some new leads.”

Put them on guard? Are you trying to say I messed things up? Guan Jin looked at him in annoyance.

Wen JingHan turned a blind eye to his aggrieved expression and handed the records to Lin Bai. “Go check these signatures and find out who they belong to. DingDing, after he gets their pictures, bring them to Tan Qu and see if he’s seen them before.”

Le Fan strolled over and saw Lin Bai typing away furiously.

“This is the list of names?” Le Fan looked at it and suddenly spotted a name that made him feel uneasy: Jin MaiLong.

“Don’t worry, that place isn’t too sketchy, and at least from what I’ve seen, your pursuer isn’t a psychopath,” Guan Jin said coolly.

Le Fan’s face reddened and then darkened. “That has nothing to do with me! It’s better if there’s something wrong with him, we’ll be able to catch him earlier and he can receive re-education!” He walked away, fuming.

“Did something happen that we don’t know about?” Lin Bai rubbed his chin as he mulled over it.

“Focus on your work,” retorted Guan Jin.

Lin Bai quickly completed an identification of all of the signatures, and when Wen JingHan saw the list of names, he sighed. “These people are quite troublesome. Everyone, investigate them carefully, and pay attention to——”

Before he could finish, DingDing ran inside excitedly. “Boss, the sketches from Tan Qu are finished!” She handed a stack of papers to him and pointed at the one on top, saying, “This is that Brother Kang.”

Wen JingHan motioned for Guan Jin to come. “Guan Jin, take a look, have you seen any of these people at Zilan?”

Guan Jin looked through them and shook his head.

Wen JingHan said, “Little Bai, use these to perform a facial recognition in the household registration system and then compare that with the information in the criminal records database. QiaoYu, Zheng Fei, you two go to the film set and see if anyone has seen them before, especially Dong ChangLong and his employees. The remaining people, focus your investigations on the people in this list.”

Everyone, used to Wen JingHan’s quick and curt orders, immersed themselves in their work without demur. Guan Jin still wasn’t used to this team that tacitly understood and trusted each other, but he had a strange feeling in his heart that he wanted to ignore yet was also filled with the need to explore it.

“Guan Jin, come here, I’ll teach you how to do preliminary investigations.” Gu Xiang attentively saw him standing there blankly, so he took the initiative to be his mentor.

Guan Jin hesitated for a moment, but he awkwardly walked over. He would’ve been idling around anyway, but the more he understood how the police handled a case, the stronger he could defend himself against them. I’m not doing this because I’m curious about it, hmph.

Naturally, Lu YunYang’s name was also on the list, though Guan Jin hadn’t expected that he was from the Lu family. Guan Jin knew of the prestigious Lu family, but he had only heard of their founder, Lu Shang, and their current patriarch, Lu YunShen.

Lu YunYang, psychologist at XXX Psychology Research Center; visiting psychology professor at YYY University, consulting expert at ZZZ Mental Health Center… When Guan Jin saw this series of titles, his eyes widened.

*****

The so-called beast and refined scoundrel referred to people like Lu YunYang, right? He was a psychologist, so no wonder he was so hard to deal with. Guan Jin’s heart sank. 

Before, in Country M, he had provoked a behavioral expert, and that guy had analyzed his case, nearly predicting the route and destination of his next mission. Fortunately, Guan Jin’s Organization had heard rumors about it, so they had changed the action plan, or else the outcome would’ve been unthinkable. After that, Guan Jin became very wary of behavioral and psychology experts. 

As he thought about this, Guan Jin regretted coming to see Lu YunYang. If Lu YunYang sensed something fishy about Guan Jin, then wasn’t this seeking his own death?

Guan Jin, who had just discovered that his police ID card had fallen into Lu YunYang’s hands, hadn’t wanted to go to Wen JingHan like an idiot and tell him that he had lost his police ID card, so he could only bite the bullet and go get it back himself.

As he stood in the foyer, Guan Jin had a new evaluation of Lu YunYang: pretentious and overly extravagant. This was a two-story duplex, and everything in the living room had a retro-stylish charm to it. All of the decorations seemed unassuming, but they were actually priceless. Guan Jin was sure he had seen the same pendulum clock that was on top of the fireplace at a medieval decoration museum in Paris. A scholar could have this much money?

“Mr. Guan, please have some tea.” A cute girl brought a cup of black tea to him. “He’ll be coming down soon, please wait for a moment,” the girl said as she smiled.

Professor? Hmph, living in a mansion and hiring a young, cute maid sure didn’t seem scholarly. Guan Jin drank his tea as he inwardly criticized Lu YunYang. 

“I’m surprised that you came to find me.” Lu YunYang walked downstairs. He was wearing light-colored, casual clothes, wearing rimless glasses, and wearing slippers; he really did seem a little like an ungroomed scholar.

Guan Jin didn’t speak nor stand up. He merely stretched his hand out in front of Lu YunYang.

Lu YunYang raised an eyebrow to show that he didn’t understand.

“You’re a professor, so there’s no need to pretend to have a low IQ in front of me. Where’s my police ID card?” Guan Jin was too lazy to beat around the bush.

Lu YunYang seemed to suddenly realize something. “I totally forgot. That day, you dropped your police ID card in the room. I didn’t have any way of contacting you, so I was planning on going to the police station sometime to return it. Unfortunately, I haven’t had the time to do so yet.”

Guan Jin thought, Drop? You clearly stole it!

“QianHe, help me get the police ID card that’s on my desk and return it to this police officer.”

“Okay.” The girl named QianHe looked Guan Jin up and down before turning around and going upstairs.

“Officer, how do you know I live here? Oh, you’re the police, you can find anyone’s address.”

“Officer, were you doing official business at the Zilan Clubhouse last time? Oh, the police’s work needs to be kept secret, I shouldn’t have asked.”

“Officer, you look quite young, are you a local? Your Mandarin is very good, and I can’t make out an accent.”

“Officer, you seem to be very solemn and quiet. Shouldn’t the police be on good terms with citizens? You’re being very distant.”

“Aren’t you doing just fine asking questions and answering them yourself? It’s okay, ignore me, you can continue.” Guan Jin shot him a sympathetic glance. Being a psychologist was quite risky, seeing as this person had turned themselves into a schizophrenic that liked to ask and answer his own questions.

Lu YunYang was stunned. Shouldn’t Guan Jin, who lost his temper so easily, be feeling very angry and irritated right now? This time, he seemed to be very calm.

Guan Jin took the police ID card that QianHe had handed to him and stood up. “I’ll get going now.”

“This way.” Lu YunYang led him to the door and opened the door gentlemanly, politely sending him out.

“What do you think of him?” Lu YunYang asked QianHe after he closed the door.

“He looks very weak, but he has cold eyes, though I can’t detect any danger,” recalled QianHe as she frowned.

Not dangerous… Lu YunYang suddenly remembered how Guan Jin had fallen face-down into the courtyard, and he smiled subconsciously.

Guan Jin, who was very surprised at how smoothly things had gone, suddenly sneezed, and he rubbed his nose. Who’s scolding me behind my back?!

*****

Guan Jin’s mind wandered as he walked back, and he noticed a royal blue Porsche was following him slowly. Guan Jin abruptly stopped and looked straight at the car’s window.

The car window rolled down, and Min Yan poked a head out. He smiled and exclaimed, “Officer, what a coincidence, did you just get off work?”

Guan Jin disliked these turns of events that he couldn’t control; the world’s top assassin wasn’t someone that anyone could waste the time of, so if they were going to provoke him, then they would have to pay the price.

Guan Jin walked over calmly, opened the door, and rudely slid in. Then, he said to Min Yan, who was a little stunned, “Since it’s such a coincidence, why don’t you give me a ride? Otherwise, you’ll let down this chance encounter.”

Min Yan had already gotten over his initial shock, and he resumed his noble, perfect manner. “My pleasure. Officer, what’s your name?”

“Guan Jin.”

“Officer Guan, do you want to have dinner together?”

“I don’t have time.”

“What a pity. I hope that you’ll be free next time. Officer Guan, if you have time, you can come to the Zilan Clubhouse and be my distinguished guest.” Min Yan turned his head and looked at Guan Jin with bright eyes.

Guan Jin looked at him doubtfully, “You sound as if you own the Zilan Clubhouse.”

“Very funny, officer. I was the one who opened it.”