Chapter 128 Chapter 128 is a flesh and blood person!

"--Why?"

In the office of the Special Criminal Case Investigation Team of the Provincial Department's Criminal Investigation Bureau, Ji Yinhe held the telephone receiver with a puzzled look on his face.

"No reason." Lian Qiao said with a slightly irritated tone, "It's about what your dad and I told you last time. There's a small problem with the system... Your dad and I have to go fix it."

Ji Yinhe straightened his back and said, "Then I want to go too."

"No, the system might take action against you. It's safest for you to stay in the provincial department." Lian Qiao sighed, her voice softening. "My dear, we'll do our best to resolve this. We've known the system for so long, so there's still room for negotiation. If anything goes wrong, we might just return to our original world, or enter a story loop... But you're different. You're a native of this book's world. There's no chance of a second start. Do you understand?"

"..." Ji Yinhe thought for two seconds and turned away. "You mean, I'm just like those characters in the book, a so-called paper man?"

"Honestly, I don't know either." Lian Qiao sighed. "Anyway, don't come back. When you go out on a case, you have to go with your colleagues... Let Teacher Xiao Lu accompany you at all times!"

Ms. Lian hung up the phone after she finished speaking. Comrade Xiao Ji listened to the busy tone on the other end and felt as if he was immersed in a continuous autumn rain. He was completely confused and couldn't find his way.

"...What's wrong?" Lu Zheng came over with a cup of milk and placed a stack of freshly completed appraisal materials on her desk. "Did something happen at home?"

Ji Yinhe looked up at the clock. It was already twelve o'clock in the middle of the night.

She took a deep breath and asked, "Teacher Lu, are you busy tonight?"

"......?" Lu Zheng choked and lowered his eyelids, "No, it's okay..."

Ji Yinhe stared at him seriously, "In that case, let's have a candlelight chat!"

…

Six hours later.

A faint golden glimmer appeared on the horizon, and the first rays of autumn sunlight shone into the office through the blinds.

Ji Yinhe raised his head from his arms, yawned, and grabbed the leather jacket that was sliding down his shoulders.

The owner of the coat was standing in front of a large whiteboard, one hand in his trouser pocket and writing furiously with a marker in the other.

Ji Yinhe walked over with her arms folded and saw that this person had already mastered the terms she had mentioned last night, such as "traveling through a book", "system", "fusion", "host", "protagonist of the original book", and "abnormal supporting characters".

She nodded, "Yes, that's about it, you combed it right."

"But I still find it incredible. Our world... is just a world in a book, and it's a combination of two books?" Lu Zheng frowned slightly and pinched his beating pulse. "But we are clearly living people..."

Ji Yinhe patted his shoulder with an expression that said "I understand".

"Actually, I couldn't accept it at first either," she shrugged, "but actions speak louder than words."

"So, besides Uncle Ji and Aunt Lian, are we all characters in the book?" Lu Zheng pondered for a few seconds and asked anxiously, "Are you too? Is our future already determined?"

"Not every character in the world of books will be written into reality. The leaders and comrades we spend every day with may only be mentioned in a hasty mention, including you." Ji Yinhe lowered his eyes. "As for me... I don't know. I don't exist in any book, so that 'system' is likely to cause trouble for me. That's why my mother told me not to return to Jiangtan."

"I understand." Lu Zheng pondered for a few seconds, "Do you suspect that the system is also related to Zhang San?"

"Yes, that's the only way to explain his unusual behavior in the bombing on the night of his return, and why he's still alive." Ji Yinhe rubbed his face. "The recent cases with unknown motives are probably related to him."

Lu Zheng stared at her sleepy eyes, "What are your plans? Do you... still want to go back to Jiangtan?"

Ji Yinhe did not deny it. "Yes, the 'system' has its own rules. If the host fails to complete the task, he will be punished... I am worried that Old Ji and Ms. Lian will be in danger."

"I'll go back with you." Lu Zheng gently held her pinky finger that was resting on the edge of the whiteboard, his eyes flashing. "No matter what those 'systems' think, I don't think this world is just two books... We are obviously human beings, flesh and blood. As human beings, we shouldn't be kidnapped by some crappy system!"

Teacher Lu was always calm and composed, and it was rare for him to let his emotions out. Ji Yinhe's eyes welled up, and she held his hand instead. "When Director Tan goes to work later, I'll ask for leave, and then we can go back to Jiangtan together... But I'm still a little worried. Even if we drive fast, it'll still take three hours to get back. What if during that time—"

Lu Zheng looked at her and smiled.

"Perhaps... we can ask the comrades from the Jiangtan Municipal Bureau for help."

*

"...Xiao Ji, I knocked on your door for ten minutes, but no one answered."

There was a lot of noise on the receiver of the mobile phone. Tang Ci's tone was slightly worried. "It's only seven o'clock now. The kids next door just left for school. Uncle Ji and Aunt Lian have already left for work?"

"No, the street office clock-in time is 8 o'clock, and my mom usually goes to Lianjie Snack Shop at 7:30."

Lu Zheng drove the Grand Cherokee out of the provincial government compound. Ji Yinhe, sitting in the passenger seat, pressed his brows and took a deep breath. "Please ask Aunt Chen and Uncle Wu downstairs. If my parents go out, they will definitely see them."

"Okay, don't worry, I'll go down and ask."

Tang Ci turned around and was about to go downstairs, but suddenly stopped.

Ji Yinhe asked sharply, "What's wrong?"

"The corridor in front of your house looks like it's been cleaned." Tang Ci squatted down, staring at the clean cement floor and said in a deep voice, "They must have used detergent. The color is different from the floor in the corridor." He stretched out his fingers and touched it twice. "It's not even... dry yet."

The voice echoed in the Toyota Cherokee, and Ji Yinhe and Lu Zheng looked at each other worriedly.

"Luminol solution." Lu Zheng shouted into the mobile phone, "Captain Tang, can you ask the comrades from the Municipal Bureau to bring some luminol solution to the floor?"

"Sure, sure. I'll call the technical detective right away... But why are you testing this?"

Lu Zheng said softly: "The iron ions in the blood catalyze the reaction with the luminol solution, which will emit blue light."

Tang Ci paused for a second and said in surprise, "You suspect... that there was blood at the door of Xiao Ji's house and someone wiped it off? What if someone just accidentally splashed it there... Is this a possibility?"

Ji Yinhe took the mobile phone back and said, "Captain Tang, there's no harm in doing a detection experiment."

"Okay, since you insist." Tang Ci hung up the phone.

Ji Yinhe held the mobile phone and looked out the window at the scenery rapidly receding without saying a word.

Twenty minutes later, the cell phone rang again.

Tang Ci on the other end of the phone said anxiously, "You two guessed right. A blue light really appeared after pouring the luminol solution!"

"..." Ji Yinhe felt the hairs on his back stand up and his heartbeat stopped for a few seconds.

Tang Ci comforted him on the other end of the phone, "Xiao Ji, don't worry, it might just be chicken blood or duck blood or something. I've already asked several young detectives to lead people to search separately—"

Ji Yinhe just said "hmm" and hung up the phone with a pale face.

Lu Zheng stretched out his warm right hand and held her sweaty palm.

But soon, the "beep beep" ringing sounded again in the carriage -

Guan Ye asked quickly, "Team Leader Ji, have you and Teacher Lu returned to Jiangtan?"

Ji Yinhe tried to concentrate, "Yes...what happened?"

"Oh, do you still remember that rape and murder case? The father of the deceased little boy heard that the murderer had been brought to justice and came all the way to thank you!"

"Okay, got it—"

She was about to put down her cell phone when Comrade Guan Yexiao yelled, "Wait a minute, Team Leader Ji! I haven't finished yet... He saw Zhang San's photo on the whiteboard and said he saw him last night!"

Ji Yinhe shuddered, "Tell me more!"

Guan Ye handed the phone directly to the boy's father, who spoke in a serious and reserved tone, "Team Leader Ji, I'm a taxi driver... This man named Zhang San stopped my car last night and asked me to take him to Jiangtan. He was sitting in the back seat and said, 'It's too troublesome not to pay with your phone,' so I was deeply impressed."

Ji Yinhe took a deep breath, "Jiangtan... where exactly? Is it Meiqingyuan?"

"Oh, no..." the little boy's father said, "When he passed the Qingyi River, he first asked me to stop for a while near Jishan on the riverbank... He said he had something to do down there. Half an hour later, he got in the car and then let me drive to Meiqingyuan."

Ji Yinhe dug his nails deep into his flesh. "How long has he been in Meiqingyuan? Did he bring... did he bring anyone down?"

"Well... I'm not quite sure. He didn't ask me to wait... and it was already past three in the morning. I thought I had to get back to Jingzhou, so I just left."

"...Okay, got it. Thank you." Ji Yinhe sighed, hung up the phone, and turned to look at Lu Zheng. "I suspect Zhang San took my parents to Jishan by the Qingyi River."

Lu Zheng nodded, "Okay." Taking advantage of the empty traffic light, he opened the map in the armrest box with one hand and looked for the fastest route out of the city to Jishan.

The bleak autumn rain fell again in the sky of Jingzhou. Ji Yinhe stared silently at the gray area in front of him, with a hint of burning bitterness at the root of his tongue.

The amulet hanging on the rearview mirror swayed with the car's movement. She suddenly remembered something and grabbed Lu Zheng's arm and said, "Wait, I think... we should go back to the dormitory first."

Lu Zheng looked worried: "What's wrong? Do you need to go back and get something?"

"Yes, my wind chime." Ji Yinhe turned around and said word by word, "That wind chime made of beautiful glass that has been hanging in my room since I was a child, maybe it's the legendary... Galaxy Glass!"