Sixteen feathers

Zhao Xingjian's home is on the second floor. Vines spread to the windows, swinging down curtains, making the corridor very dim even in the daytime. Probably no one cleans it. The floor is sticky with some old dirt, and the walls are green and black in patches, covered with mold.

"Can people really live here?" Yao Qingluan fanned the air around her nose, then covered her mouth and nose with her sleeves, and tiptoed to avoid the sticky, unidentified objects on the ground.

"For many ordinary people who have trouble even surviving, having a place to shelter from the wind and rain is already good enough."

If he hadn't met Yin Chen since childhood, his life might have been worse than living here.

Ye Linghan thought secretly.

He took out two pairs of shoe covers from his bag and handed them to Yao Qingluan and Su Mo respectively. "Here, put them on. You have to wear them when you go into the house anyway."

There was no property management in the dilapidated housing area, and the locks used by the residents were still the old-fashioned big-head locks that were hung outside. They did not see the key to Zhao Xingjian's house at the scene the night before, and the police did not collect it either. Therefore, if they wanted to enter the house to search for clues, they could only choose to get a spare key or pry the lock.

They looked around the doorstep of Zhao Xingjian's house. There was no doormat or flower pot. It was empty and there was no place to hide the spare key.

The sound insulation of this old and dilapidated house is poor, and asking a locksmith to come and open the lock may disturb other residents.

So they don't consider it.

And it is obvious that they are not serious people, so they naturally will not enter through formal channels.

"Which one can be used?" Su Mo muttered softly, looking at the shape of the lock cylinder while searching for the matching tool in the toolbox.

Because I have never tried it before, I am not familiar with the business.

“Click—”

"It's open?" Su Mo was just about to find a mold that was almost insertable to try it out, when he saw that the lock that was originally firmly locked on the bolt was actually lying flat in Ye Linghan's hand.

"How did you do that?" Su Mo's face was full of shock.

Yao Qingluan's hand holding the tool also froze in mid-air, looking at Ye Linghan in astonishment.

The latter held up a piece of wire in his hand and said, "I use this. I always used it when I was a kid and had nothing to do."

He put the wire into the compartment of his backpack and pulled open the heavy iron door.

"Squeak--" The door was a little cracked and the hinge was not flexible, so Ye Linghan used some strength to pull it open.

Su Mo stared at Ye Linghan in amazement, "Why didn't you tell me earlier that you could pick locks?"

Ye Linghan smiled and said, "You didn't ask me either."

"Ahem." Su Mo coughed pretentiously, "Then you can't use these methods to do bad things."

The tone seemed gentle, but it was full of warning.

"Don't worry." Ye Linghan responded.

When the three people entered the house, what caught their eyes was garbage scattered all over the floor. Yellowed paper towels were mixed with some liquid, which stuck to the ground and became dry and hard. Dust mixed with sand was muddy on the ground. It was obviously not a place suitable for living. Even masks could not block the pungent smell in the house.

"Ugh—" The moment Yao Qingluan entered the room, she couldn't hold it back and rushed out of the room, holding onto the door frame and started retching.

"I'll go see her." Seeing this, Su Mo hurried out to comfort her.

Ye Linghan was not much better than them, but for the sake of face, he had been enduring it.

He silently took out another mask and folded it into a double layer of protection.

It helps a little, but not much.

This man looked quite bright and handsome on the surface, but why was his family so shabby? Ye Linghan suppressed the urge to feel nauseous and walked a few steps inside.

The room was dark, and the windows were blocked by carpet, so not much light could enter, and only a small amount of light fell on the ground near the window.

The old, low-quality wooden floors creaked when you stepped on them, and some of them became uneven as if they had been soaked in water.

There aren't many pieces of furniture in the room, just the most basic sofa and TV cabinet, and some small miscellaneous items.

The house is not big. Apart from the living room, there is only one bedroom and bathroom. Even the dining area is simply built on the balcony connected to the living room.

Ye Linghan was just about to open the drawer to see if he could find some useful clues, but when he saw a thick layer of dust on the table, he frowned and withdrew his fingers in disgust, and took out a pair of gloves from his bag as a double insurance.

How come there's no sign of life? Ye Linghan opened four empty drawers, only to find there was nothing inside. Had someone opened them beforehand?

"Has anyone been here before?" Ye Linghan turned around and asked Su Mo, who had just returned from vomiting with Yao Qingluan.

Su Mo supported the pale-faced Yao Qingluan and glanced at the empty drawer that had been pulled out. He felt that it was too empty, more like the state of having moved house rather than the usual living environment.

"Maybe, but since we're here, let's look for any clues first."

"I'll go look for it in the bedroom. Let's split up." Yao Qingluan gradually adapted to the bad air conditions here. She broke away from Su Mo's support and walked straight to the bedroom. She wore two layers of masks and spoke in a muffled voice, even a little breathless.

"Can you?" Su Mo's face was full of worry.

Yao Qingluan felt uncomfortable and didn't want to talk. She just nodded, turned her back to Su Mo, raised her hand and made an OK gesture.

Ye Linghan walked to the window. The window was an old-fashioned iron-framed one that needed to be pushed outwards. The stems of the ground ivy were very tough, and the window frame was a little rusty, so it took several pushes before it was barely open. He looked down from the window and felt that the movement of the ground ivy was very subtle.

The lush ground weeds just ended at the second floor where Zhao Xingjian lived, and became thinner as it went up. The part of the table inside the window frame was not low to the floor, so even if Ye Linghan leaned out, he was restricted and could not see more details.

He made a rough estimate and found that the floor height of the old buildings was lower than that of the new ones, which was a safe height for him.

"Su..." Ye Linghan wanted to go to the window sill outside to take a look, intending to ask Su Mo to pull him up, but when he turned around, he confirmed that sentence - the helpless feeling of having no one behind him.

It seems that Su Mo should be accompanying Yao Qingluan in the search.

In that case...

Ye Linghan leaned forward to check the height.

It’s okay, I shouldn’t die from the fall.

He supported himself on the balcony with both hands and pressed down hard. It felt quite sturdy. Then he used one hand, exerted force on his waist and abdomen, and stood on the windowsill with just one step.

Then Ye Linghan grabbed the window frame and shook it vigorously out of caution. He only climbed out after making sure that there was no problem.

But this time he miscalculated.

The seemingly sturdy external windowsill had become dilapidated after years of wear and tear. The interior of the relatively strong external walls had already decayed. In addition, it was an old building with shoddy materials, and it could not withstand Ye Linghan's weight at all.

When his other leg touched the edge of the outer platform, the connection between the bricks suddenly loosened, causing one of his feet to lose its fulcrum, his body to fall suddenly, and his adrenaline surged.

“Oh my god!” Ye Linghan lost his voice instantly, his exclamation stuck in his throat.

The sound of the wind rushed past his ears, and he felt his heart beating extremely violently. His arms suddenly lost strength due to the impact, and a feeling of weightlessness came over him, and his body suddenly fell down.

You can't report a work injury on your first day at work, right?

Fortunately, I checked the height in advance and didn’t fall to death.

Ye Linghan endured the pain from the collision between his body and the wall, and instinctively grabbed the veins of the ground ivy with his backhand, hoping to rely on inertia to reduce the pain when he fell to the ground.

Just when he was ready to fall, the expected pain did not come, but he fell into an embrace.

Ye Linghan closed his eyes, feeling a sense of fear after surviving a disaster. He opened his tightly closed eyes and saw a familiar face appear in front of him.

"Master, why are you here?"

Yin Chen folded his wings, put Ye Linghan on the ground and supported him. "If I hadn't come, would you have let you fall? I told you long ago that you shouldn't have come here."

"I've measured it, and it shouldn't kill him from the fall." Ye Linghan muttered softly.

Yin Chen raised his eyebrows and looked at him meaningfully, "What did you say?"

Ye Linghan quickly apologized with a smile, "No, nothing. Fortunately, you arrived just in time, Master. Otherwise, I would have been stuck in the hospital for a month."

The sky is big and the earth is big, but the grace of saving life is the greatest.

"Ling Han!" Su Mo's call came from above his head. The noise of Ye Linghan falling was so loud that he heard it in the inner room and hurried to the window. When he saw Ye Linghan falling, he wanted to grab him, but he was still a step too late.

However, when he saw Ye Linghan standing in good health next to Yin Chen, whom he had met once before, he felt relieved, but also a little scared.

"I'm fine, I'll be up soon." Ye Linghan covered his arm and stood beside Yin Chen, enduring the pain.

Even though Yin Chen cushioned the blow for him in the later stages, the scratches from the early stages still existed.

Yin Chen hugged his shoulders and looked down at Ye Linghan, "Are you hurt?"

"It's a minor injury, not serious, it will be fine in two days..."

Before he could finish his words, he felt a cool sensation on his arm, which blended with the burning pain and relieved a lot of the pain.

I saw Yin Chen's palm lightly placed on his hand to heal himself.

"Are you feeling better?"

Ye Linghan nodded honestly, "Yeah, much better."

"Do you need my help?" Yin Chen's hands did not stop moving, and the cool feeling continued to ripple across Ye Linghan's wound.

For a moment, two voices in his mind were fighting frantically. On the one hand, he really needed the other party, but on the other hand, he insisted that the case could not be revealed to outsiders, and since the person was the leader of the vampires, it would be inappropriate.

But if there is a need for a cheat, it is not impossible to use it. Ye Linghan thought, "I have a small favor to ask, I wonder if the young master can help me?"

"Tell me about it." Yin Chen didn't agree immediately.

Ye Linghan pondered for a moment and asked sincerely, "Does asking you for help require a price?"

The price he mentioned was not something as bloody as losing arms and legs. It was just a few more nights of companionship and a contribution of himself.

Just think of it as donating blood.

After all, considering Yin Chen's worth, one night is not cheap.

"I'll owe it to you first." Yin Chen seemed to be in a good mood. He wanted to tease Ye Linghan, like boiling a frog in warm water. He didn't state his request immediately, but deliberately kept the other party's appetite.

But the case was about to be solved, so Ye Linghan didn't care about so much. After all, Yin Chen raised him since he was a child and would definitely not let him down. Besides, he still had to rely on his own blood to get through those unbearable days, so Ye Linghan was not worried about this.

"Can you carry me to see the ivy on the windowsill?"

Ye Linghan raised his head to look at Yin Chen. He was a full 1.95 meters tall, a head and a half taller than himself. It was difficult to see him every time he stood.

"It's quite leisurely and elegant. If you like, you can grow it at home."

"Of course not for viewing." Ye Linghan said in a deep voice: "I just think that there is something wrong with the growth of this ground vine."

But he also firmly believed that if he really said he liked her, Yin Chen would definitely be satisfied.

After receiving the physical therapy from Yin Chen, I didn’t feel as uncomfortable as at the beginning, but because of the psychological effect, I still felt uncomfortable.

After hearing this, Yin Chen didn't say anything, but put his arm around Ye Linghan's waist and held him in his arms. Suddenly, a pair of black wings grew behind him.

Ye Linghan felt his feet go empty and he was instantly lifted into the air by Yin Chen.

After getting closer, Ye Linghan observed the ground ivy. After seeing the direction of the roots, he felt a strange feeling.

There is indeed a problem...