On the same day, after leaving the love hotel, the man with the slit mouth and Axue went to the store to buy a new set of clothes.

In front of the store counter, faced with a wide range of merchandise and enthusiastic shopping guides, the taciturn man with a cleft lip just covered his mouth with the mask, turned his head away and said nothing.

Naturally, all the negotiation work was done by Axue.

However, even though the man with the slit mouth acted silent and indifferent, the female clerk at the clothing counter still cast her eyes towards the man with the slit mouth next to her.

“…Don’t look at me.”

Feeling the gaze, he simply turned around, leaving only the back of his head visible to the shop assistant.

Ah Xue, who was always the good guy, smiled and explained to the clerk, "Sorry, my companion is a little shy."

Xue pointed to her kimono and said, "We went to a makeup party and our suitcase was stolen. We can only buy a few clothes temporarily. I can't bear to wear so many clothes in this season."

His expression was so realistic that the saleslady was puzzled that he didn't seem to be sweating at all, but she nodded and said, "Oh, you must be tired. Are you looking for summer clothes?"

His tone was full of trust: "We don't know much about fashion. Could you please help us pick out some suitable clothes? I want to wear something cooler."

"Leave it to me. It's my honor."

After selecting and trying on the clothes, they both paid the bill with satisfaction.

While the saleslady was issuing the bill, Ah Xue was not idle either.

He looked at his partner who had been taciturn from the beginning to the end, naturally put a hand on his shoulder, and whispered in his ear: "Don't be so shy, Xiaobai. Look, the clerk seems to like you very much..."

“…That’s not the case.”

The man with the slit pulled at his mask. He didn't dare to speak loudly outside because he was afraid of accidentally revealing the wound on his face and scaring others.

"Xiaobai is really stubborn. No one will notice it, and even if they see it, they will just think it's makeup."

The man with the slit mouth suddenly turned his head, looked at Axue who was chattering beside him, and then - patted his cheek.

"Eh?" Ah Xue's eyes widened as she was unexpectedly attacked.

"Axue."

"Um?"

“So noisy.”

After saying this, he picked up the paper bag and the change and left.

Axue followed with a smile, and the duo, one in black and one in white, strolled on the street.

Their tall stature and outstanding appearance attracted a lot of people's attention.

The man in a black cotton-linen windbreaker covered his face with a black mask, and his slightly curly hair was tied up with a rubber band. He was wearing a black shirt, black jeans, and black Martin boots. Except for his red eyes, everything else on him was black.

In contrast to him, the white-haired young man next to him was wearing a cool printed white shirt with an ice-blue feather knitted casually over it. The mixed style made people feel that he was either an enthusiast from an underground live house, or an energetic young man who couldn't stand the temperature at the beach.

"Click." The sound of a passerby's camera.

Someone is filming them.

At this moment, Axue also displayed great grace and manners, but it would have been better if he hadn't been too cooperative by making the scissors hand gesture and posing proudly for the photographers.

The man with the slit mouth suspected that he was not the snow girl, but a peacock spirit.

"Okay, okay, Xiaobai, we should also relax appropriately. By the way, what are your plans next? Regarding your 'thing', have you decided where to start?"

As Xue walked, she slowly said, "I don't know if it's a good thing to get your name from the Hong Kong and Black people. At least with the name, we can look in more directions. If we follow the same path, we can find out all the related people."

"Why do you say... 'I don't know if it's a good thing'?"

"It's very strange, isn't it?" Ah Xue said, "It's very strange, very strange, irrational, it's irrational! Think about it, since you know the people in Hong Kong. Black, wouldn't you usually be wary of the people behind you? Would there be a fool who would attack you?"

The man with the slit shook his head: "Maybe, they don't know."

"Haha - indeed, who would have thought that you were actually related to someone from Hong Kong and Heilongjiang... But seeing how surprised that gray-haired uncle was at your appearance last night, I guess you two weren't that close, or you haven't been in touch for a long time, otherwise how could he have only just learned that you were no longer alive."

These are all reasonable guesses.

After saying that, Axue smiled maliciously——

"What do you think that person would think when he found out that the boy he had taken care of could not rest in peace after his death and became a legend among the people?"

The man with the slit mouth was not angry at the thorn in his words. He just slowly raised his eyes to look at Axue and said frankly: "...I don't know."

"oh?"

"Besides, that kind of thing isn't important."

"Eh, really? Don't humans hate being forgotten?"

That’s not entirely true, thought the man with the slit mouth.

He said: "The thoughts of the living are insignificant to me. Whether it is surprise or regret, it has nothing to do with me. The turmoil in their hearts will not drip a single drop from my world. Between us, there is no existence that is compatible with each other, just like water and oil."

He stated the fact calmly: "...After all, I am already dead."

(And now that I am no longer human, there seems to be no reason for me to have anything to do with them.)

However, considering that the snowman next to him was a natural monster and probably couldn't understand such feelings, he didn't say this.

This time he did not remain silent, but spoke first: "Axue, I want to... find that plastic surgeon first."

"I agree, but do you know where he is?"

"I don't know." He said, "Let's share."

He doesn't mind that his chances of success in taking over the radishes are only 50-50.

In fact, Jiuyuan has also tried to use divination to find the enemy of the man with the gap, but the ability to divination is not strong enough to do so at present. He can only perform relevant divination based on known information, so that the success rate will be higher.

Hanako was very cooperative this time and quickly gave a reply.

"The person you are looking for is related to Raibo Street."

…

…

Meanwhile, Armed Detective Agency

“…Late again?!” Kunikida Doppo’s signature line signifies that today’s work is about to begin.

Tanizaki answered him with a bitter smile: "Ah... Mr. Dazai said he had something to deal with."

Most of the employees of the Armed Detective Agency are relatively punctual, but Dazai is one of the exceptions.

The atmosphere in the club is free, and the president does not impose too many restrictions on members. After all, for people like them, the real self-restraint does not come from so-called social rules and regulations, but from personal will, common ideals and other things that seem too noble to ordinary people.

But this is not the reason why Kunikida tolerates Dazai's lateness.

He paced back and forth in the office until Dazai lazily pushed the door open, raised the paper bag in his hand and rubbed it against Kunikida's face. Only then did Kunikida's mechanical behavior stop.

Roaring like a raging wind.

"Dazai - where have you been again -"

Dazai covered his ears and said to the familiar voice: "Don't be angry, Kunikida-kun, there will be no work today anyway, I brought you a gift. Come on, open it and take a look--"

Kunikida took the paper bag but did not open it. Instead, he asked, "I said there is no work today, Dazai... Did you already know that?"

"I know." Dazai said leisurely, "The commission to search for the urban ghost story monster has been cancelled, right?"

"Yes." Tanizaki next to him looked at him in surprise, "Why did Mr. Dazai know?"

"Anyway, this way... that way... well... then you'll know."

Dazai's nonchalant reply was like pouring fuel on the fire.

Kunikida rubbed his forehead and said, "Doesn't this mean that nothing has been explained?"

"Eh? Shall we start from the beginning?" Dazai waved his hand and said in a relaxed tone, "I heard that the man with the slit had a big fight with the port mafia yesterday. Considering this, our commission was naturally cancelled."

Tanizaki: “…I still don’t quite understand why.”

Kunikida was more sensitive than Tanizaki in this regard. He said in a deep voice, "Because they are confronting the Port Mafia. If they are enemies, the Port Mafia will not choose not to fight back after being humiliated. Let them fight on. The military and police don't need to take care of this matter."

After saying that, he changed the subject: "But how did you know this news..."

"Yeah, that's right." Dazai said, "This also expresses the attitude of the military and police - 'After catching that person, you port Mafia will deal with him, we won't ask.' People in the government really like to pass all the troubles on to others. As for the information channel, keep it confidential."

Unable to refute, Kunikida could only say indifferently: "...be careful with your wording."

"That's the truth."

After listening to this, Tanizaki, as one of the people who had faced the man with the slit mouth, still remained curious about it.

"So what on earth is he..."

"Well, who knows?"

Dazai walked briskly to his seat, leaned back and put on his headphones.

While humming a song, the recording just now was playing in the earphones.

I had wanted to listen to the live broadcast on the way here, but unexpectedly I ran into an "acquaintance", so I had to come back and listen to the recording now.

However, now that Hong Kong Hei has already invited professionals, it seems that there is not much room for the detective agency to intervene.

Thinking of this, he turned on the recorder.

The first sound he heard in the earphone was the sound of porcelain colliding. It was probably the sound of a teacup and a teapot colliding, followed by the sound of water. The young man squinted his eyes slightly, imagining the boy brewing tea in the morning sun on the other side of the eavesdropping device.

Then the wrapping paper was opened, and there was a rustling sound as if the plastic sheets were being moved.

chewing sound.

Swallowing water.

The sound of flipping pages quickly was a little impatient, as if someone was reading back and forth.

It can be heard that he is not calm at this moment. As the initiator who threw the stone into the still water, Dazai twirled his fingers with interest, waiting for the next step.

The sound of footsteps on the stairs was heard, much lighter than that of an adult.

A childish voice came from the other end of the headset.

"What are you thinking about? From a distance you look...absent-minded." He started out with a tough tone, but the toughness came in a descending manner, and by the last word, it was no different from the way an ordinary boy spoke, light and soft.

"Nothing." Jiuyuan sounded a little reluctant, "I was just thinking about what to eat for lunch... Does Hana-kun have any good suggestions?"

As he spoke, Dazai heard the sound of the paper bag again, and the boy began to eat, answering as he ate, "It's a lie. Kuen isn't very good at lying, you were worried about something else, weren't you?"

"...I didn't." He wanted to explain, but was interrupted by the boy.

"Why did you hide this from me? Didn't you agree not to lie to me?" Silent fire was burning, and he seemed to be holding back his temper.

"Ah...are you angry about this?" Jiuyuan said helplessly, "I'm really fine."

"——I said that I would not let Kuen bear everything alone. Do you want me to break my promise?"

The boy's childish voice was full of determination, like a signpost standing on a rocky mountain that would not budge despite wind and rain.

Dazai listened with great interest. People are always curious about secrets. Curiosity is a tormenting instinct, and only more "knowing" can satisfy this torture.

(It seems that their relationship is more interesting than I thought. Brothers? There is no way it can be such a mediocre and boring answer. Even they can't fool themselves with such a statement. But what can make a child say that he wants to "carry it together"?)

(Murder? Fugitive? Accomplice?)

Strange words and conjectures swirled in his mind. He was not surprised by any of the answers and was equally interested in all of them.

"I can't hide it from you..." After a brief silence, Jiuyuan seemed to take a sip of tea, trying to calm himself down.

"I'm just a little worried. Will those guys find you?" Jiuyuan was still worried, and his voice unconsciously became a little sad. "...I heard that they are hanging around here. I'm worried that they may come to your house at any time."

"So that's what you're worried about - don't worry, everything will be fine."

The boy seemed to be stepping on a stool and tapping the forehead of the person in front of him. Dazai heard Kuen let out a low cry of "Ah, it hurts" and the accusation of "Who did you learn this skill of tapping the forehead from..."

Then the boy said, "Even if I'm found, I'll be the only one taken back. I don't want to accept this, but there's nothing I can do."

It was so desolate that it seemed as if this ending had been anticipated a long time ago.

He even thought it was too late.

"I'm sorry. I clearly promised you that I would never let you go back to that person..." Jiu Yuan said stubbornly, "I said so many sad words before I was found. I'm really useless. But I will do my best to hide you."

Jiuyuan's voice gradually calmed down, and he said slowly: "After all, you are mine...hiss!"

Just when I heard the key point, I heard the sound of water from the other end. And the boy shouted, "Ah, idiot! Are you burned?" and "Idiot, go and rinse yourself with cold water!" Then I heard the boy's voice while making a hissing sound of inhaling and trying to comfort the boy, saying, "It's okay, there's burn medicine upstairs."

After a period of chaos, things calmed down.

I guess the two of them went upstairs to treat their burns.

Dazai put down his headphones and was walking down the street, swinging a paper bag in his hand.

"What a pity that Kuen-kun only said half of what he was going to say..."

What exactly does he want to say?

"…It feels like watching a TV show and then a commercial suddenly comes on at a crucial moment."

It's a bit frustrating.

The author has something to say:

Jiuyuan: You didn’t buy VIP, so you can only see this.

By the way, let’s collect a group name for the handsome duo.

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