Chapter 2204: Love Caught in the Fate Loop 03

"Do you guys have murder cases all the time?" Shao Huai couldn't help asking, "That old guy is way too calm."

Xie Guan: "I moved here four months ago, I've never heard of that."

"Xiao Guan, come to my place for a chat," Jin Chen suggested.

"It has nothing to do with me."

Jin Chen hooked his foot into the stairwell's openwork, blocking Xie Guan who was about to leave: "Going back to the convenience store? Aren't you afraid of being alone and running into the killer?"

Xie Guan gave him a bland glance: "Just say you're cursing me to have no business."

"Today there really might be no business," Shao Huai couldn't help saying.

Xie Guan: "..."

Third floor, Room 306.

The room isn't big, but it's kept fairly tidy.

Shao Huai moved the sanda gloves and boxing wraps on the sofa aside, gesturing for Xie Guan to sit down.

They all belatedly felt a bit… awkward, not the kind of awkwardness from not wanting to meet, just… uncomfortable.

Jin Chen had already made himself tea, the tea leaves being jasmine tea bags bought from the convenience store, the packaging bag still tossed on the coffee table.

"No need." Xie Guan lowered his eyes, his finger unconsciously rubbing something.

Shao Huai suddenly laughed out loud, and that awkward feeling disappeared.

Jin Chen raised an eyebrow: "What are you laughing at?"

"Nothing, just feel like someone is even more awkward than me." Shao Huai leaned against the sofa back, his gaze sweeping back and forth between the two.

Jin Chen didn't ask Xie Guan about the past, went straight to the point, and talked about this strange murder case.

Xie Guan breathed a sigh of relief.

Ten minutes later.

Xie Guan felt he had relaxed too early.

Jin Chen, this idiot.

He listened with a blank face as Jin Chen spouted nonsense.

"This week we all picked up a coin with a strange pattern; it might be related." Jin Chen said it very reasonably and with evidence.

Xie Guan slowly took a deep breath, trying to keep his tone calm: "The toy store next to the convenience store was demolished, dropping a lot of coins."

"Did you get into college by wild imagination?"

Jin Chen clicked his tongue, raised a hand to ruffle his hair: "Xiao Guan, your temper's gotten worse, and your mocking skills have improved too."

Xie Guan sprang to his feet, a bit bristling: "Are you sick?"

Jin Chen sat still, grinning, and pulled a coin out of his pocket.

"What about this one? Also dropped by the toy store?"

The coin gleamed with an eerie metallic sheen under the light, its pattern exactly the same as the ones Jin Chen and Shao Huai had picked up.

Xie Guan stared at the coin, his face gradually turning pale.

"I didn't pick it up." Xie Guan said, eyes downcast, not knowing what he was thinking. "It wasn't me who picked it up."

Shao Huai sighed: "I didn't pick it up either; I found it in my palm this morning."

"Looks like we've all been dragged into this."

Jin Chen tossed the coin into the air, caught it steadily, and extended an invitation to Xie Guan: "So, want to investigate this building's secret together?"

Xie Guan turned and walked away: "You're police academy students, I'm not, so I don't have that strong sense of justice."

"What if the killer's next target is you?" Jin Chen went on, not stopping him, just letting his gaze fall on Xie Guan's slender, upright back.

"We all saw the killing process, but we don't know who sent us back to our rooms; the killer doesn't know we've forgotten what he looks like."

Jin Chen let out a light sigh: "With your little frame, you're not even enough for the killer to kill once."

Xie Guan: "..."

Xie Guan's back paused.

He stood there, thinking for a few moments, then said softly: "I just live in Room 301."

Having said that, he still left.

"Eh, what's with all this?" Shao Huai flopped onto the sofa, staring blankly at the dilapidated ceiling.

One moment his thoughts lingered on the corpse and murder case, the next he recalled the past.

"Chenzi, you say..."

Shao Huai suddenly sat up: "The killer can't be Xie Guan, right?"

"No way." Jin Chen was certain, lounging, and popped a mint candy into his mouth.

"Don't bring up the past in front of him; he doesn't like to hear it, and what we know might not even be true."

"Eh, I get it."

Shao Huai put the wrench and tools he'd grabbed from his coat onto the coffee table: "Anyway, let's handle this matter first; it's spooky, huh."

Something even spookier is still to come.

Jin Chen replied in his mind, then turned his head to look at the violent rain outside the balcony window.

This downpour was too heavy and sudden, as if it urgently wanted to wash away something.

More importantly, even he couldn't see through the fog to make out the buildings and streets outside this building.

【Ghost~~~Hitting~~Wall~】 Ling Gun Gun's eerie background music.

Jin Chen: "..."

【Keep it to scare yourself.】

Another scream came from outside the house.

Holy shit, here we go again.

Shaohuai jumped up in fright and locked eyes with Jin Chen.

The two didn't think twice, burst out the door and chased after the sound.

Jin Chen ran to the fourth-floor corridor and saw a delicate-looking boy being beaten by a burly man; he paused, then Shaohuai took the lead.

Go save him.

Whoever's wife, they save.

Xu Yi was being pressed against the fuse box by a shirtless burly man.

The cat carrier he was protecting in his arms flew to the ground, the kitten's shriek mingling with the man's reeking drunk curses: 'You motherfucker, you're scamming money!'

Let go!

Shaohuai grabbed the burly man's throat from behind, drove his knee into the man's spine, and slammed him down.

Xu Yi stumbled to safety, and a silver coin fell from his pocket.

Jin Chen walked over and picked it up.

Xu Yi had already slumped to the ground, panting in fear.

"Is this yours?" Jin Chen asked.

Xu Yi shook his head. 'I… I found it last week at the pet store cash register,'

'Every time I try to throw it away, it mysteriously ends up back in my pocket.'

Jin Chen leaned against the fire hydrant, a mint candy swirling on his tongue, 'What a coincidence—each of us three also picked up one.'

He pulled out his own coin and tossed it into the air, the coin tracing an arc.

Xu Yi blinked blankly. 'You… three?'

"Oh, there's another one I'll introduce later, who's sulking at me." Jin Chen shook his head and sighed.

"... Thanks." Xu Yi gave a slight nod, puzzled.

"Give me back my cat!" the burly man, beaten and begging for mercy, prepared to flee but then came back aggressively demanding the cat carrier.

Xu Yi hesitated, then handed it over, unable to resist adding: 'These days are dangerous; if you don't want treatment, don't let the cat run around…'

"None of your business!" the burly man turned and ran.

Jin Chen raised an eyebrow. 'These days are dangerous—what do you know about it?'

Shaohuai walked over, also looking at Xu Yi with suspicion and wariness.