Chapter By the Creek, Under the Trees

FINAL WARNING, THIS SERIES IS ON HIATUS FROM THE AUTHOR AS OF WRITING THIS

Chapter 1

　　In the early morning, one neighborhood saw thefirst light of dawn and three police cars parked at the entrance of aresidential building.

　　Outside the police cordon, the aunts and grandmaswho got up early for morning walks looked on and exchanged their respectivegossips.

　　”I’ve heard a dog barking every night thesepast few days, it was so aggressive I didn’t dare bring my grandson out for awalk.”

　　”I’ve heard that they’ve been dead forthree days, the school couldn’t contact them and sent a classmate to come lookfor them… “

　　”Tch, so young, when the family finds out, won’t they cry to death?”

　　”That’s just the way it is…”

　　”Excuse me, excuse me, let me through ah.”A young policeman ran over, sweaty, both hands carrying eight bags of soy milk steamedbuns, trying to push through the crowd with great difficulty. He flew over thecordon, and slipped into the corridor.

　　This residential building was quite old, thelighting was dim. The young policeman had just stepped into the building when aman shouted at him to freeze. He was frightened, and after standing still for ashort while, the soy milk buns in his hands almost spilled.

　　”Oof!” Fortunately, Xiao Bei next tohim was quick handed, and caught the bags in time. “Be careful in here.”

　　Luo Wen Xu promptly caught a headache at thesight of the clumsy intern. Regardless of everyone’s presence, he immediatelyscolded: “Who asked you to bring breakfast in, don’t you see that everyone’sbusy? You should’ve stayed outside to maintain order, why come in to add to thechaos?!”

Xiao Shu, who was scolded, felt wronged:“I saw that everyone hadn’t had breakfast yet… “

　　Luo Wen Xu was going to continue scolding himwhen he was stopped by Xiao Bei: “Ge, let it go.”

　　“Captain!” Someone shouted for Luo Wen Xu,indicating that there were new clues.

　　Xiao Bei looked at Xiao Shu and said: “Youshould leave first, and carry those things out.”

　　Xiao Shu’s eyes flushed, and he didn’t movefor a long time. He looked at Luo Wen Xu’s departing back, his fingers grippingthe plastic bags in his hands, his posture full of unwillingness.

　　In order to facilitate the forensic and trackinginvestigations, several flashlights were turned on. In the parallel beam oflights, the steam in the plastic bags was obvious, of course, the food scentsthat were invading the air were even more obvious.

　　Scent was also one of the evidences at a crimescene. Ji Bei really admired the IQ of this household, they unexpectedlymanaged to make the old forensic investigator’s adrenaline soar so early in themorning.

He looked back and kindly advised: “This isthe second case this month, the captain is under a lot of pressure. You don’thave to worry about it, just go out, thanks for bringing breakfast for him.“

　　At this, Xiao Shu seemed to have finally foundthe flight of stairs and reluctantly left, his heart still unwilling.

　　Ji Bei stood there for a while and took a phonecall, when he saw Luo Wen Xu finishing a talk with his subordinates, he hung upand walked up to him.

　　”When will we finally catch this thing?”Luo Wen Xu looked very agitated. He hadn’t slept for two days. The dark circlesunder his eyes were very intense, and he was very irritable, like a blackleopard about to erupt.

　　”I told Yang Ju. He said that he’lltransfer some people to the back office next week.”

　　Luo Wen Xu finally felt relief and asked:“What did the provincial office say?”

　　This was regarding the case, Ji Bei sighed andsaid: “The provincial office said that the level is still not high enough,we have to handle it ourselves.”

　　Seeing Luo Wen Xu start to flip out again, JiBei hurriedly reached out and patted down his stray hairs: “Recently, allcalls to them have been put on hold, I think they just don’t have enoughmanpower. Yang Ju felt sorry for us and called a zoologist to come over andhelp, do you think you need it?”

　　“A zoologist?” Luo Wen Xu smiled sarcastically,but he didn’t explode, narrowing his eyes in satisfaction with Ji Bei’sstroking, he snorted. “They should have the zoologist examine their brainsfirst.”

　　Xiao Bei: “…”

　　The temperature in the basement was too low, JiBei felt uncomfortable after waiting for so long. He rubbed his nose and leftfirst. When he’d tracked drug dealers in his early years, he’d once gottentrapped in icy water for half an hour. He’d almost died. After that, he alwayshad slight bronchitis. The colder the air he breathed the more uncomfortable hefelt. He usually wore a mask, but he was in too much of a hurry today. He gotcalled out at 3:30 in the morning and was so dazed he’d forgotten the mask.

　　It was reasonable to say that with Ji Bei’s physicalcondition, he shouldn’t be allowed on the front lines, but there was no choice.Luo Wen Xu, that unreasonable black leopard, didn’t obey or listen to anyone, onlyJi Bei could hold his leash. If Ji Bei wasn’t there, he went wild, if Ji Bei wasthere, he was domesticated. In the office, no one wanted to be unjustly bitten,so they respectfully invited Ji Bei the Beastmaster to come help out.

　　Luo Wen Xu’s investigative skills wereoutstanding, his results were obvious to all. Although the superiors didn’t sayit out loud, they knew who to thank for their idle days. Therefore, those who werebullied everyday just had to grin and bear it.

　　In other words, Luo Wen Xu was Xi City’s ace.

　　Unfortunately, this ace’s character was reallytoo difficult to get along with. He only knew how to investigate; he didn’tknow how to flatter superiors. After working on the front lines for more thanten years, there still wasn’t any sign of a promotion. Ji Bei sighed internally;this captain really made others feel worried.

　　”Vice-Captain.” A young police womancame over and asked, “Should we still call the expert?”

　　Ji Bei calculated internally, if he called andthey couldn’t break the case, he still had other leads, but if he didn’t call, he’dbe directly disrespecting his superior, there really was no benefit.

　　”Call them.” He said, massaging aheadache.

　　*

     The weather wasterrible, black clouds formed a dense mass, prophesying a heavy snowfall.

　　Meanwhile, in the noisy downtown area, anothertype of atmosphere was brewing in an underground bar.

　　”Jie–!” Lin Ke bawled, aglass on the bar counter shattering, “Please, I’m begging you, help me!”

　　It was the early morning, the guests hadalready scattered, only the bartenders were left cleaning up before getting offwork.

　　He Ling was dressed in black Lolita wear, she ignoredthe noise at her feet, sitting on a bar stool, expressionlessly watching thenews. She looked to be about thirteen years old, quite pretty, a pair of blackeyes staring at the tablet in her hand.

　　”Two weeks ago, a foreign worker waskilled in his home. According to the police, the deceased was 20 years old, male,and worked as a technician at a nearby massage center. He’d lived in the cityfor two years. After careful investigation by the police, the initial judgementis that the deceased was killed by a large animal. The specific cause of death isstill under investigation. The police have suggested that the general publicshould stay in at night as much as possible, and pay attention to personalsafety…”

　　”The one who reported the death statedthat since last year, the basement was being rented by a nearby universitystudent, and was being used for band practice. Three days ago, the tenantssmelled an unpleasant odor, and the property staff that went to investigate it latercalled the police. At present, the case is still under investigation.”

　　A bartender wiped the table and sighed withfeeling: “Two deaths in half a month, just what kind of animal breaks intopeople’s homes and tears them apart. The police haven’t said anything, soeveryone’s feeling anxious. Business has been slow the past two days.”

　　”Jie…” Lin Ke was on the ground,hugging He Ling’s slender calf, casually blowing his runny nose.

　　He Ling’s mouth twitched: “…”

　　”Ding”, with an annoying screechingsound, the bar’s glass door was pushed open.

　　Accompanied by the cold wind, a young man in adark coffee colored coat walked in, holding a big bag in one hand, the otherhand in his coat pocket. He was slender, his head slightly lowered as he walked,he looked a little careless. His face was mostly covered up by bangs and athick scarf. Only a straight nose and a pair of fine-rimmed glasses werevisible. What should be an elegant outfit, on this person, somehow gave off thefeeling of dressing up an animal,too odd.

　　The bartender still hadn’t looked away fromthe news before habitually asking: “Whisky Sour?”

　　The young man tossed the bag onto the floor,and pulled down his thick scarf with an index finger, revealing a smile: “Noalcohol, just some warm milk would be good, I’m a little cold.”

　　The bartender turned his head and stared athim, immediately getting a blank look on his face. He was probably using all hiswill power to suppress the impulse to snap a pic on his smartphone and send itto his friends.

　　The face in front of him was ethereal, not asplash of color, eyelids lazily half-closed, the chin pointed and pale. On theentire face, only the inside of the lips had some color, a dark red, like a bitof blood stained the lips after accidently biting the tip of the tongue. He wasextremely eye-catching – not ugly, he made people feel like they were lookingat a thrilling beauty.

　　”There’s none?” The young man askedagain with a smile, his amber eyes were deep and radiant.

　　”Yes, of course we have.” Unexpectedly,Lin Ke, who spoke up from the floor, quickly climbed up and laid a stack of redbanknotes on the counter, saying to the bartender, “Excuse me, could youplease go next door and buy a cup of warm milk, the most expensive one.”

　　The bartender took the money and cheerfully left.

　　He Ling turned a blind eye to their conversationand looked at the bag on the floor, asking briefly: “This is?”

　　”A human.” Bai Huo removed hisgloves and sat down. “I grabbed him on my way here, apparently he’s somezoologist. Keep him here for two days, you can let him go after I’m all done.”

　　Lin Ke climbed over and opened the bag, hisface pale, after a long while he finally summoned up the courage to check forbreathing.

　　Fortunately, still alive.

　　The person in the bag looked to be about fortyyears old, he was already unconscious and emaciated. His cheeks were sunken,and his chin had a sparse beard. There was a business card in the pocket of hissuit jacket, Lin Ke took it out and read “Professor of XX Animal ResearchInstitute”.

　　Lin Ke hesitated, then turned towards Bai Huoand weakly asked: “Director Bai, is it really us killing those people?”

        Bai Huo smiled faintly: “The teeth marksresembled a dragon’s.”

　　Lin Ke looked at him, his eyes red, who knewwhat he was thinking, then he suddenly cried out, getting up to hug Bai Huo’sthigh: “Director Bai, help me…”

　　Bai Huo was puzzled, he shifted his leg, but LinKe gripped it tightly, refusing to let go.

　　”What are you doing?” Bai Huo asked helplessly.

　　”Help me, I’m desperate here.”

　　He Ling sensed incoming hysterics and jumpedoff the stool, walking into the lounge with her tablet. In passing, she grabbedthe “zoologist” bag and dragged it in with her. The girl dressed up ina black Lolita dress standing next to the body-sized bag looked both cute andhorrifying. For a moment, it was impossible to tell if she was a Lolita dressedin black or a black widow.

　　The bar was very quiet after closing time,except for their table, everyone else had gotten off work.

　　Lin Ke opened the most expensive foreign winebottle and handed it to Bai Huo, but Bai Huo only held his cup of warm milk.

　　”It’s like this. I have a girlfriend. We’vebeen together for two years. I love her so much. I really want to be with her,but her parents don’t agree…”

　　Bai Huo added a stupid amount of sugar to hiswarm milk, absent-mindedly listening.

　　”You know how it is, humans are differentfrom us dragons. The way they think is particularly special. My girlfriend’smother, my future mother-in-law, suddenly knocked on my door and gave me tenmillion dollars.”

　　”She asked you to take the money andleave her daughter?” An old routine, Bai Huo didn’t even look up.

　　But Lin Ke shook his head: “No, she orderedme to spend the 10 million in one day. If I couldn’t, I wouldn’t be allowed to seeher daughter again.”

　　Bai Huo: “?”

　　Lin Ke looked very ashamed: “She said, ‘Ifyou can’t even spend this money, what qualifications do you have to join our family?'”

　　“This line of thought is awfullyspecial.”

　　Lin Ke looked even more ashamed: “On thefirst day, I was barely able to complete the task. I went to the west suburbsand bought a villa. But the next day, there was another 10 million in myaccount.”

　　“Did your mother-in-law strike again?”

　　Lin Ke nodded, looking depressed: “She saidshe was going to test me until she was satisfied. She even added conditions,I’m not allowed to spend money on the same thing twice, and I’m not allowed to breakthe law. I did what she said. On the first day, I bought a house. Then I boughta car the next day, and bought stock on the third day. On the fourth day, I madea donation to charity, and on the fifth 　　day,I bought luxury goods for my girlfriend. But on the sixth day, trouble startedpopping up…”

　　“Yeah?”

        “Onthe sixth day, the property value of the house I bought sky rocketed, the carmanufacturer announced that my car would be going out of print, and the stockwent way up. Not only did I not spend any money, I also made millions.”

　　Bai Huo: “…”

　　Lin Ke sighed deeply, almost crying: “Whatshould I do, Director Bai! I really don’t know what to do! Every day, from themoment I open my eyes, all I can think about is how I’m going to spend all thismoney. It’s really distressing ah, I’m so anxious my hair is falling out.”

　　Bai Huo: I also want to have such worries.

　　”Right, Director Bai, do you smoke cigars?”Lin Ke picked up a case of cigars from beside the sofa.

　　Bai Huo glanced at the blinding words“COHIBA Behike” and his hands suddenly felt a bit itchy: “Idon’t smoke cigars, but I feel like smoking you right now.”

　　Lin Ke grabbed the cigars, which had fallen tothe ground, and returned them: “Don’t be mad, I know my request isunreasonable, but I really have no choice. I can’t hold on anymore, but Ireally love my girlfriend, I don’t want to be separated from her…”

　　Bai Huo was just about to speak when the compassin his pocket suddenly vibrated.

　　Lin Ke also felt the movement and stopped hisendless babbling, the bar was strangely quiet.

　　Bai Huo took out the compass and placed it onthe table. The compass was made of bat bone, it was only half a palm big and hada black needle on it. The compass’ vibration represented the occurrence of ananomaly. The direction the black needle pointed to was the location it wastaking place in.

　　At this moment, the black needle was spinning likea mainspring, incessantly twisting left and right, as if two forces wereconstantly pulling at it.

　　Bai Huo stared at the compass with a solemn expression.After a quarter of an hour, the black needle stopped spinning and pointed tothe southwest, and he quietly put away the compass.

　　Lin Ke didn’t dare speak during the event.When he snapped out of it, he noticed a few shocking scars on Bai Huo’sextended wrist. It looked like an iron chain had tightly bound him. His heartjumped: “Bai Huo… Director Bai?”

　　“Hmm?” Bai Huo didn’t look up, unaware.

　　”Your wrist…” Lin Ke asked cautiously.

　　Bai Huo followed his gaze and paused slightly,then he tilted his head and gave a meaningful “Oh”, smiling shamelessly:“It’s nothing, I accidentally overdid it last night.”

　　After a few beats, Lin Ke figured out Bai Huo’smeaning and blushed furiously.

　　Bai Huo changed the topic: “Solve themoney problem yourself. If you really can’t spend it, you can just donate it tothe Dragon Association. I think they’re going mad from the insufficient budget.”

　　”Cough… This is fine, but only if it’sanonymous.  I’m too scared to reveal myidentity.”

　　Bai Huo glanced at him and smiled: “Thenlet He Ling launder the money for you, she owns many businesses.”

　　After that sentence, Bai Huo finished up hissweet milk, and said to Lin Ke while fixing his scarf: “Go play and fallin love, but don’t expose your identity. Many things are happening right now,hide your tail.”

　　Only when conducting proper business could abit of Bai Huo’s senior posture be seen. Lin Ke wanted to walk him out anddiscuss, but Bai Huo was finished with him. He was just a little slower, but whenhe opened the door, Bai Huo’s shadow had already disappeared, so he had nochoice but to give up.

　　”Hide the tail” was a code wordbetween dragons, meaning that his fake human identity should not be exposed.

　　Time had passed and things had changed, now,humans ruled the earth, and the dragon race was gradually declining. After theancient gods waged wars, the mysterious and ancient divine race, the dragons, wasdevastated, thoroughly heading to a dead end. More than 5,000 years ago, the waterdragon clan’s priest led many clan members into the depths of an extremely coldglacier. Among the few remaining races, some elders chose to hide in valleys,while other proactive groups chose to disguise as human beings and integrateinto civilized society, becoming a part of promoting history.

　　Human beings naturally reject any perceived strangeness,so although the civil war between the dragon races continues on, they’vemaintained a high degree of unity when dealing with this matter. That matterbeing, hiding their identities.

　　Therefore, this was the Dragons’ FirstConvention: Those who expose their identity to the human world, will have theirdragon veins ripped out, and their divine bone destroyed, becoming a mortal,forever.

　　——————————————————————————————————-

T/N:

when the family…: 家里人知道了还不得哭死 – EDIT, whatever I’ll go with my instincts

Ge: OlderBrother, not necessarily blood related

Jie: OlderSister, not necessarily blood related

This story was a lot harder to translate than QWFD. The author has a unique writing style, and some sentences seem to just appear and end randomly. I got the hang of it by the later chapters, but the first few had some really confusing parts. I hope I was able to make it coherent.