Chapter 2206: Love Trapped in the Fate Cycle 05

Xie Guan casually stuffed the pen and paper into the cabinet, then Jin Chen grabbed his arm.

"What are you doing?" Xie Guan said, his lips curling coldly.

"What happened to your hand?"

Without waiting for him to shake off, Jin Chen directly rolled up his sleeve.

On his forearm was a red mark, as if burned, the angle even a bit awkward.

Xie Guan frowned, tried to pull his hand away but failed, only able to watch as Jin Chen touched the reddened skin with his fingertip.

At the moment of contact, there was still a slight sting; Xie Guan instinctively twitched, couldn't help clenching his teeth, and his voice grew colder.

"... Jin Chen."

He seemed truly angry, even more prickly than when he snapped back.

The prickly Xie Guan was pulled by Jin Chen, extending his arm under the sputtering faucet.

Noticing Xie Guan about to struggle, Jin Chen calmly gripped his shoulder from behind, "Don't move, or I'll strip you naked and lock you in the bathroom to rinse off."

Xie Guan: "..."

Shao Huai sitting on the sofa: "..."

He wiped his face, pretending he hadn't heard.

"How did you get hurt?" Jin Chen asked, his tone softening a bit as he lowered his head to Xie Guan.

He still had his arm around Xie Guan, the posture really too close; Xie Guan instinctively turned his head, focusing his gaze on the raindrops on the window.

"Burned while cooking." Xie Guan said offhand.

Jin Chen raised an eyebrow, glanced around the kitchen, thinking it was nonsense.

It looks like the stove hasn't been lit for about half a month.

He didn't expose it, though.

Jin Chen grabbed a towel, wetted it, placed it on Xie Guan's forearm, and tightened the faucet.

The three of them sat back in the living room, a bit silent.

"I still can't accept time going backward." Shao Huai gulped down a mouthful of tea.

Jin Chen gave them time to adjust, occasionally throwing in a few jokes.

About half an hour passed.

Xie Guan suddenly thought of something, became a bit serious, "What time is it now?"

Jin Chen turned to look at Shao Huai, who said, "Nine fifteen, what's up?"

"The victim... that is, Song Gong, he came to fix the corridor lights on the third floor Tuesday morning."

As Xie Guan finished speaking, footsteps sounded outside the not-so-soundproof room, along with the dragging of tools on the floor.

The three exchanged glances.

"Let's go check it out." Jin Chen also took out a piece of mint candy from his pocket, placed it in Xie Guan's palm, and meanwhile peeled one for himself to put in his mouth.

Xie Guan looked down at it, then still slipped it into his pocket.

In the hallway.

Song Gong stood on the step ladder, the knees of his faded work pants worn white, his tool belt hanging heavy at his waist, the clatter of wrench and screwdriver especially crisp in the hallway.

When the ladder swayed slightly, he instinctively braced against the wall; the cigarette butt at his fingertip scorched a small hole in the wall, which he hastily stubbed out.

Seeing the person who should have been a corpse standing alive before his eyes, Shao Huai still felt unreal, couldn't help letting out a hiss, which happened to draw Song Gong's attention.

"Hey, Xiao Xie. Didn't you go to the convenience store today?"

Song Gong smiled at Xie Guan, the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes bearing the marks of years of wind and sun.

Xie Guan leaned against the door frame, his fingers unconsciously rubbing the coins in his pocket, voice cold: "I'm not on duty today."

Jin Chen glanced sideways at Xie Guan.

Shao Huai stepped forward quickly, steadying the wobbling ladder: "Uncle, let me help you hold it."

As he lifted his head, his gaze swept over Song Gong's nape—no ligature mark there, skin tanned dark, a stark contrast to the corpse found yesterday on the sixth floor.

Jin Chen leaned against the wall, the mint candy turning on his tongue, his eyes falling on a length of wire protruding from the edge of Song Gong's tool belt.

"Yeah, we're just college students from nearby, just started our sophomore year." Shao Huai and Song Gong chatted on and off.

"Uncle, your skills are amazing—can you fix anything?"

Song Gong lowered his head to twist the bulb, the wrench turning a few times on the screw: "Yeah, water and electrical pipes, door and window locks, even old clocks can be fixed."

His tone held a hint of pride, yet also a bit of embarrassment: "It's just that this building is old, some places are a pain to repair."

Jin Chen suddenly interjected: "Uncle, what's this wire used for?"

Song Gong glanced down, then smiled: "Oh, this? It's used to secure joints when fixing pipes, sometimes also to clear drains."

Shao Huai's grip on the ladder tightened slightly; the ligature mark found on his corpse yesterday was made by this very wire.

What does the killer mean by this—using materials at hand, or deliberately using the victim's own things to kill him?

Shao Huai couldn't figure it out, then looked at Jin Chen again.

Jin Chen chewed the mint candy, his voice muffled: "Uncle Song, your work must be tough, huh?"

Song Gong tightened the last screw, stepped down from the ladder, and brushed off the dust on his pants.

"I'm used to it—who in this line of work isn't hard-pressed?"

He packed up his tool kit, nodded to the three, "I'm heading to the fifth floor first—there's still a tenant's pipe to fix."

Watching Song Gong's back disappear around the stairwell corner, Shao Huai whispered: "Should we warn him, or just follow him?"

Jin Chen shook his head: "Don't rush, there's still plenty of time."

Shao Huai sighed: "I think this uncle is just a good-natured guy, his repair fees are cheap. He's always cheerful—how could he have been killed?"

Xie Guan's expression grew darker, the edge of the coins in his pocket digging into his fingertips, a faint ache: "It's not necessarily as good as you say."

Jin Chen had just noticed that Xie Guan seemed to be in a bad mood, so he tilted his head, moved closer to look at him, and joked, "What, did you bully me?"

Xie Guan barely furrowed his brows, and didn't respond.

He was recalling the previous time he had bumped into something.

Jin Chen saw this and turned serious, "Xie Guan, did he really bully you?"

"No." Xie Guan came back to his senses, finally loosened his grip on the coin, took his hand out of his pocket, and let it hang naturally.

He had no expression, but the cold, gloomy feeling on his fair face would not dissipate.

"Then that's good," Jin Chen said, reaching up to ruffle his hair, giving a carefree laugh that left it unclear whether he was joking or being sincere, "If anyone bullies you, just tell me."

Upon hearing that, Xie Guan paused, his breathing audibly grew heavier for a moment, then he changed the subject.

"Then you might as well give yourself a beating."

"Tsk, such a temper."

Jin Chen reached out, hooking his fingertips with Xie Guan's, essentially holding hands, "I'm being serious, Xie Guan."

That tone instead left Xie Guan feeling a bit at a loss.

At least in the past two years, he had never heard anything like that.

Yet another emotion welled up from his chest, taking a while to suppress.

Xie Guan unusually did not refute Jin Chen's words, feeling the warmth of his fingertip, and pulled back as if scalded.

He met Jin Chen's smiling peach-blossom eyes, tilted his head, took a deep breath, and his gaze fell on the mottled wall.

"Shao Huai has gone upstairs to check the situation, aren't you going?"

"Such a talkative idiot."

【Detected villain triggering Heartbeat Value, Heartbeat Value +3, total 3!】

"Come on, let's go."

Jin Chen then gripped his hand more firmly, leading him upstairs.

Xie Guan: "……"

When did he say he would follow along?