Chapter 33 Midnight Subway (2) Zhu Yi carried 001...

Zhu Yi carried 001 to the subway station. The time was 12:05 a.m.

The platform lights glowed dimly, and the electronic screen prominently displayed the message "Next train is about to arrive" in red.

001 yawned lazily, its pink tongue gently licking its paws. Its fluffy head then rubbed against Zhu Yi's chin, the soft fur brushing against his skin with a slightly warm touch.

Zhu Yi's hand landed on its head, slowly combing along its fluffy fur.

His gaze drifted to the end of the track, into a deep darkness from which nothing could be seen.

He came to the subway for a reason: to confirm something.

Of course, if it succeeds.

At the distant tunnel entrance, two white lights are slowly approaching, and the surrounding scenery is magnified and illuminated by those lights.

The subway arrived, but without the whooshing sound of a regular subway, nor the sound of the train scraping against the tracks.

There was only a very slight sensation of air being displaced.

The train glided into the station, and the doors came to a smooth stop in front of Zhu Yi.

Zhu Yi stopped stroking 001, his wine-red eyes fixed on the car door.

The train door slowly opened in front of Takeichi. He looked inside and saw empty seats arranged in rows, making it look like an ordinary train.

Zhu Yi stood at the door holding 001, his wine-red eyes scanning every corner of the carriage. After a moment of thought, he finally stepped out of the carriage and chose a seat near the door in the middle carriage.

The car door closed again.

The train started moving, and the scenery outside the train window was changing rapidly. Zhu Yi's face was expressionless, but his hand kept stroking 001's furry back. It was clear that he was not as calm as he appeared.

The glass window opposite reflected Zhu Yi's figure, as well as rows of seats.

Zhu Yi waited quietly.

Waiting for the next tunnel entrance.

I don't know how much time passed—ten minutes? Fifteen minutes? Twenty minutes?

When the light from outside the window shone on Zhu Yi's face, he slowly opened his eyes from his sleep. Before he could sort out his chaotic thoughts, he suddenly caught a glimpse of the reflection in the car window out of the corner of his eye, and Zhu Yi's body froze on the spot.

He saw an additional figure in the train's reflection: a man in a kimono sitting in a seat next to him. The man was sitting very upright, with his hands folded together on his knees, his fingers tightly pressed together.

Zhu Yi's breathing stopped for a moment, and he subconsciously hugged 001, who was sleeping and snoring, even tighter.

He dared not turn his head to look at the person next to him, but instead tried to make out the other person's face by looking at the reflection in the window.

Strangely, Takeichi couldn't see the reflection in the window clearly.

The person's face was shrouded in a strange blur, not because of insufficient light in the train, nor because of the distance.

To be precise, it's as if a layer of snowflake noise has been applied, obscuring all the details of the face, making it only roughly possible to determine that it is a male outline.

Facial features, expressions, and all other identifying characteristics were obscured by that blurry layer.

Zhu Yi tried hard to see clearly, but a sharp pain shot through her brain, and the images from her dream kept flashing through her mind.

Now he could confirm that the figure was the one from his dream.

The pain around his temples was getting worse, and Zhu Yi frowned uncomfortably.

"Are you feeling very uncomfortable?"

The man spoke, his tone still as soft and lingering as in the dream, seemingly carrying a faint smile.

Zhu Yi always felt that he had heard this voice somewhere before, but every time he was about to remember it, the pain would intensify. One end was tied to the depths of his memory, while the other end pulled his nerves toward the point of pain, causing fine beads of cold sweat to appear on Zhu Yi's forehead due to the pain.

"Seeing you in pain makes me happy." The other person's tone was still gentle, but the words they spoke were full of malice.

"Do I know you?" Zhu Yi asked listlessly.

The man's presence suddenly drew closer, and before Zhu Yi could react, his hand was already near.

He cupped Zhu Yi's face with irresistible force, lifting his hands slightly to draw Zhu Yi's gaze away from the reflection in the car window, forcing her to look directly at him.

"We'll find out once we see."

Zhu Yi's wine-red eyes widened slightly, filled with bewilderment.

"Compared to the eccentric, aloof, and weirdo-like Zhu Yi, this lively and innocent Zhu Yi is much easier to tease."

The man pinched the other person's cheek hard, with so much force that it was almost like strangling.

Zhu Yi saw those eyes, like withered autumn leaves, again, and he subconsciously uttered the other's name in broken sentences: "Ye... Ye, um, Zang."

The man paused, stopping what he was doing.

Dazai Osamu plans to see Takeichi today.

But when he knocked on the door and called out from the outside, there was still no response from inside. So when Dazai Osamu was about to try to pick the lock, his neighbor next to the office stopped him and even tried to call the police.

Dazai Osamu explained that he was acquainted with Takeichi and was looking for him. He showed Takeichi their chat history, phone calls, and text messages. After a few words from Dazai Osamu, Takeichi gradually lowered his guard.

"You mean Zhu Yi? He went out a couple of days ago and hasn't come back. He probably went out on something."

Going out?

As Dazai Osamu pondered, he chatted with the other person to gather more information.

"I'm not entirely sure what it entails."

"I saw the other person leave with the cat in their arms. Did they take anything with them? Hmm, it seems like they didn't. When did they leave? Let me think—around 7 p.m., that's when I was about to go for a walk and I saw them leave."

After thanking him, Dazai Osamu turned and walked a short distance away before dialing Sakaguchi Ango's number.

Ango Sakaguchi, who was drinking coffee to stay awake, saw the incoming call on his phone. His heart skipped a beat, and after a moment's hesitation, he answered the call.

"Dazai."

"Oh, Ango. You sound so weak. Did you stay up all night again last night?" Dazai Osamu's cheerful voice came through the phone.

Ango Sakaguchi took off his glasses and casually placed them on the desk piled with documents beside him. He reached out and gently rubbed the corner of his eye with his thumb and forefinger, his tone tinged with weariness: "What's wrong now?"

"Are you able to contact Zhu Yi on your end?"

Upon hearing Takeichi's name, Sakaguchi Ango's expression turned serious: "Has something happened to Takeichi?"

"Perhaps? The other person has been gone for two days and hasn't returned yet, and they've taken that cat with them."

Which one?

"Black."

Sakaguchi Ango frowned. If Takeichi had brought a cat, it was very likely that he had encountered a strange tale that he found somewhat troublesome, and since he hadn't returned for two days, something had probably happened to him.

He raised his hand and pressed his throbbing temples. The face of that man flashed through his mind instantly—if something really happened to Zhu Yi, they would have no way to explain it, since they were now practically monitoring Zhu Yi.

The worst part is the potential danger. If something happens to Zhu Yi, and those ghost stories resurface... that would be terrible. Right now, no one can truly solve the ghost stories, especially the powerful ones.

Previously, Takeichi had cooperated with the Special Abilities Division several times, and it was always Takeichi who found the weaknesses of the ghost stories by relying on the cat's senses. Now that Takeichi is not here, if the ghost stories appear, they probably won't even be able to catch a glimpse of them.

"I understand." Ango Sakaguchi's voice was somewhat heavy. He looked up at his subordinate standing to the side: "Call Takeichi immediately."

The subordinate dared not delay and quickly took out his phone to dial the number, but all he heard was a monotonous busy tone. He shook his head, holding up the phone, his tone somewhat grave: "Mr. Sakaguchi, the phone is not working; it must be switched off."

“We can’t reach them by phone either. Do you know the exact time they left? We can check the surveillance footage to find their location,” Ango Sakaguchi said to Osamu Dazai on the phone.

After a series of exchanges, Ango Sakaguchi immediately issued instructions to his department.

Based on the approximate time Dazai Osamu left home and the route Takeichi usually took, which he had obtained from the neighbors, it was not difficult to access the surrounding surveillance footage.

The images on the screen switched rapidly, eventually focusing on a young man wearing a simple coat and holding a black cat.

In the picture, Zhu Yi is wearing a simple dark gray coat with the hood undone, revealing soft wisps of hair on his forehead. 001 in his arms is curled up in a ball, with only its fluffy black head showing. At first, he doesn't seem to have any clear purpose, walking slowly and occasionally stopping to stare at the green belt by the roadside, as if he is just strolling around.

The other party appeared in various different locations almost all night, and it was impossible to figure out his purpose. The surveillance showed that he did not go home but went to a hotel, and then started wandering around at night.

But in the end, he stopped at the entrance of a subway station.

Zhu Yi stood at the bottom of the steps, looked up at the faded sign of the subway station, then looked down and stroked the cat in his arms. As if confirming something, he stepped onto the steps.

The surveillance continued to track him, and just as he was about to turn into the platform direction, the screen suddenly made a "sizzle" sound, and the picture instantly turned completely black, with only static flashing on the screen.

The subordinate hurriedly turned up the volume and switched to the adjacent surveillance footage, but no matter what he did, the surveillance footage of that section of the road seemed to be interfered with by something, and remained a black screen.

Ango Sakaguchi frowned as he stared at the screen, which didn't light up again until about ten seconds later.

However, when the lights came on again, the other person had already disappeared.

"The subway station?" After learning from Ango Sakaguchi's phone call about the last place Takeichi was last seen, and the fact that the surveillance footage was inexplicably interfered with by an unknown force, Osamu Dazai lowered his eyes and began to think.

"Ango, do you know any strange stories about the subway incident lately?" Dazai Osamu suddenly asked, his voice devoid of emotion.

There was a few seconds of silence on the other end of the phone, then Ango Sakaguchi's voice carried a hint of hesitation: "...You mean..."

"It's pretty obvious, isn't it? It's another strange tale."