Case Files Chapter 75: Fright Aboard the Cruise Ship (9)

Translated by Vivian of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Addis

 

The next morning, when Guan Jin yawned and stood at the railing, he felt that the sea breeze seemed to be significantly warmer.

“It’s already been three days, we’re going to enter the subtropics soon.” Lu YunYang quietly appeared behind him and wrapped his arms around Guan Jin’s waist, placing his chin on his shoulder.

Guan Jin stiffened and squirmed a little. “Hey, it’s the morning, don’t be so coquettish.”

“I can’t help it,” Lu YunYang said shamelessly, and he didn’t seem to intend on leaving. “I thought we already reached a consensus about our relationship.”

Guan Jin uneasily turned away and opened his mouth to refute it, but he found himself unable to say anything.

“I want a good morning kiss,” pressed Lu YunYang.

“I haven’t brushed my teeth yet,” Guan Jin purposely said.

“I have.” After saying this, Lu YunYang efficiently kissed Guan Jin’s cheek.

The hairs on the back of Guan Jin’s, who had never been kissed like this before, neck stood up. “How old are you, a little kid?”

Lu YunYang swayed with the person in his arms, perfectly content. “I am a little kid, when I get what I want, I’m very happy.”

What the hell?! What was this flashing pink aura around them?! Guan Jin complained inwardly, yet his face reddened suspiciously.

“Ahh!!!”

…The two of them exchanged looks. Why was it like this every time, can they be a little more creative?!

Elena and Tao Yu, who lived near the back side of the same side, opened their doors and looked outside.

“Is this really a vacation and not an adventure?” Elena was wearing rose-colored sportswear, and her curves exquisitely decorated. “My health is deteriorating a little.”

“You’re positively glowing, how can you be deteriorating?” Tao Yu said indifferently.

Elena looked at Guan Jin and Lu YunYang and gave them a lovely smile. “I have internal injuries, only experts can tell.”

The four of them followed the source of the sound to the back corner of the deck and under the morning light, saw that on a metal shelf, there was a black human figure hanging there.

The people who had come from the dining hall were gathered under it, and they all looked shocked.

“What’s this?” Guan Jin was also taken aback.

“It’s a dummy wearing a black cloak.” Wen JingHan walked closer and inspected it carefully. “There’s a knife in its chest, and it seems to be the type that’s used in the kitchen. Under it,” he crouched down and looked at the dark red marks on the deck, “is some sort of sauce. It coagulated a little, but it’s not completely dry. This shelf is iron mesh, and the rope goes through many of the holes and is tied in a complicated knot.”

“It scared me to death.” Jiang LingXuan trembled as she leaned in Wang XuTong’s arms. “I was on my morning run, and when I looked up, someone was hanging there, and there even seemed to be blood on them. I nearly fainted.”

Guan Jin turned to look at Elena, who seemed to be thinking about something. “Miss Elena, were you also on your morning run?”

Elena nodded. “Yes, but I was only jogging in the exercise field on the fourth floor. At the time, Qin Xiao and QianHe were also there, right?”

Qin Xiao and Mu QianHe nodded.

“Strange, I also passed by here this morning, how come I didn’t notice it?” murmured Qin Se.

Lu YunChi was taken aback. “What? When did you come, don’t know how dangerous it is?”

Qin Se rolled her eyes. “Is taking a walk on the ship dangerous? I saw that the weather was very nice, and there seemed to be a seabird in the distance, so I leaned on the railing and looked at it. I left soon afterwards.”

“What time was this?”

“Hm, around eight.”

Guan Jin glanced at his watch; it was already nine thirty. “Someone came during this hour and put a dummy here?”

“It’s broad daylight, people frequent here often, so if they wanted to scare us, they wouldn’t have taken such a big risk,” said someone.

Guan Jin abruptly turned around and saw that Min Yan, who hadn’t appeared in a long time, was standing behind him, and his face was a little pale. Before, he hadn’t shown up on several occasions, including last night, so Guan Jin had nearly forgotten that he existed.

“Long time no see, President Min.” Lu YunYang waved. “I heard you were feeling under the weather?”

Min Yan shrugged. “I’m not too used to this.”

Oh… Guan Jin smirked. “So the outstanding Mr. Min also gets seasick.”

Min Yan wasn’t embarrassed, and he maintained his graceful bearing. “Nobody’s perfect, but it’s lucky that I adapt quickly, so I’m much better now.”

Guan Jin speculated, Is Fang Sen this important that Min Yan would come even knowing he got seasick easily? Or does Min Yan have a reason that he had to come for? 

At this time, a waiter scratched his head and said, “From eight thirty to nine o’clock, I was coming back and forth between the kitchen and the dining hall the entire time, and I used the back door, so I passed through here. I didn’t see this dummy on the shelf.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure. I went into the kitchen to change shifts at nine twenty.”

Wen JingHan shook his head. “From nine until nine thirty, which was around when Jiang LingXuan found it, someone would have had to carry the dummy here, use this complicated method to tie it up, spill the sauce, and disappear. In terms of timing, this is very unlikely. Moreover, the sauce is already showing signs of coagulating, so it’s impossible that it was recently spilled. This was probably done after crewmen cleaned the deck at six in the morning.”

“What is this shelf used for?” Guan Jin touched the cold, black iron. “It looks like a large cage.”

Fang Sen replied, “This was probably used to contain animals during activities such as releasing rescued seabirds.”

A crewperson nodded. “Yes, and when the shelf is empty, we use it to store miscellaneous items.”

Wen JingHan ordered the crewmen, “Take it down and lock it into that room with the hair used for the other prank.”

Lu YunYang stuck his hands into his pockets and looked at everyone around him. “This time, the joke’s gone too far. I hope everyone will be careful, and let this be a reminder to the person responsible to stop. This is Mr. and Mrs. Fang’s wedding anniversary trip, so stop being so disrespectful to the host.”

Everyone was silent, yet they secretly looked at one another, wondering who it was.

Fang Sen adjusted his expression and clapped. “Okay, okay, I guess this ship is too boring. It’s my fault! Tonight, a three-star Michelin chef will cook deep-sea seafood from the Arctic Ocean for everyone. I also brought champagne and rum that have been stored for several years. Let’s have a good feast!”

Since this was nothing more than a false alarm, everyone dispersed, lost in thought.

Guan Jin wanted to return to his room, but Lu YunYang dragged him into his room.

“What are you doing?”

“Holding a war meeting.”

In the room, the four people in the Lu family were already sitting there, but their expressions were strange, and when they saw Guan Jin, they really wanted to get out.

“Brother Guan, please sit.” Qin Se eagerly moved from the couch to clear a spot for him.

Guan Jin felt very uneasy, since he wasn’t used to having so many people discuss his business together. He glowered at Lu YunYang. The latter pretended not to notice and sat on the couch with him.

“Little Jin, did you notice the expressions of the people around you just now?” asked Lu YunYang.

“I did. A lot of people don’t seem to think that this is merely a prank.” Guan Jin quickly replayed the scene in his mind. 

“So you’re saying that some people actually know that these things are an omen of something?” asked Qin Xiao.

“If these things are targeted towards everyone, then there must be a mentally unstable pervert on this ship. However, I believe that Professor Lu’s keen eyes can tell which people here have secrets or are deranged.” Guan Jin left the ball in Lu YunYang’s court.

Lu YunYang happily accepted it. “Deranged isn’t accurate. However, I agree that these pranks were meant for someone who can understand them. It’s a type of warning or notice.”

“Notice?” Lu YunChi raised his eyebrows. “What notice? A notice that they’re going to kill someone?”

“From the hair to the cloaked person to this dead dummy, the perpetrator’s actions and psychology are both upgrading. It’s just like a play, and the plot is getting more intense and getting closer to the climax. As for what that climax point is, it’s very hard to say.”

“As long as they don’t blow up the ship, it shouldn’t be too big of a problem.” Mu QianHe blinked.

“…Don’t you always jinx things?” Guan Jin frowned. He didn’t want to die before he took revenge.”

Mu QianHe shook her head. “No! My guesses have never come true.”

“Do you think this has something to do with those people?” Lu YunYang asked pointedly.

Guan Jin looked at the others and was silent for a while. “No, people in the underworld all seek a result, and they’re very efficient and ruthless when doing things. Not to mention, Spider and the Messengers of the Gods are the most professional in the underworld, and they wouldn’t waste effort on orchestrating these things to reach a climax.”

“Professional in the underworld…” Qin Se’s mind wandered again.

“It appears that there’s a turbulent undercurrent on this ship, intricate and complex. That Fang Mo who is never taken seriously and feels resentful, that Dong Chong who always ogles at the ladies, that Min Yan who came despite getting easily seasick, and those two singers whose stories are contradictory… Ah, as well as that Duke who seems to be above these things. Practically everyone is hiding something, including ourselves,” summarized Lu YunYang.

“Actually, I saw that person in the black cloak yesterday,” Guan Jin said hesitantly.

Lu YunYang immediately turned and stared at him. “When? Where?”

“After we searched the ship, I went back to my room, but I couldn’t fall asleep, so I saw from my window that someone was moving about on the deck, and they seemed to be wearing large, black clothes. I quietly went down to take a look, but unfortunately, that person had already left. I walked around the deck, but I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary,” Guan Jin said indifferently.

Unfortunately, Lu YunYang’s expression wasn’t indifferent. He seemed to be a little unhappy, no, very unhappy.

“Little Jin, didn’t we agree to not act without permission? What if it was a trap, wouldn’t you have walked right into it?”

Guan Jin didn’t think that this was a big deal at all. “My judgement is that it had nothing to do with my business, didn’t you guys also agree with that? Thus, it wasn’t very dangerous.”

“In that case, what’s the point of us being here?” Lu YunYang frowned and pulled Guan Jin closer to him.

Guan Jin was just about to tell him to stop nagging, but when he saw the worry in Lu YunYang’s deep eyes, he found himself unable to say anything.

“Say you won’t act without permission in the future.”

“Who do you think you are?! It’s not like whatever you say goes.”

“Say you won’t act without permission,” Lu YunYang repeated stubbornly.

Guan Jin was taken aback by his intense gaze, and he was speechless for a while.

“Little Jin, please, say you won’t act without permission.” Lu YunYang’s expression suddenly changed, and his tone and gaze both became extremely gentle.

Guan Jin looked into his eyes for a while, and he felt a little dazed. “I…”

“Ahem——” A clearly faked cough brought Guan Jin back to reality.

“Brother, I was wrong, I didn’t purposely interrupt you two’s affectionate gazes. I was just scared you were too immersed in it and would completely forget about the existence of the four of us,” Lu YunChi hastily said.

In hindsight, Guan Jin realized that he and Lu YunYang had practically been acting out a melodrama just then, which was rather embarrassing. However, he still had to save face, so he pretended like nothing had happened. “Ha, scholars are so troublesome. Okay, in the future, I’ll use you as a shield for everything, don’t you feel very honored?”

Lu YunYang smiled. “That’s a good boy.”

Guan Jin exploded. “Fuck off ¹!”

“Feathers? Let me smooth yours~” Lu YunYang reached out and fondled his hair.

 

The other four people shuddered. Flirting, hair-fondling, and whatnot are too much!