Star City Detective I Royal Cat and Mice

"Some people have tattoos on their bodies, while others have tattoos on their hearts."

"So, please tell me your answer now. Yes? Or--no?" A deep and thick voice whispered and urged in Bai Yan's ear, and Bai Yan could almost clearly feel that the man spoke from his mouth The hot air blowing from his nose to his ears.This made him feel itchy from the base of his ears to the bottom of his heart, and his whole body, as if he had just been rubbed by a cat in the period of shedding.

This voice was familiar to Bai Yan, and he tried hard to recall where, under what circumstances, and from whom did he hear this voice?Scenes passed by his eyes one by one, and he denied them one by one.

Bai Yan felt like a patient with severe paranoia at the moment, as if nothing could interrupt Bai Yan and prevent him from falling into a dream——"Yes" and "No" seemed to be floating in front of Bai Yan's eyes at an extremely fast frequency, appearing alternately Two options.The clicking sound from the wall clock on the wall was like whipping him with the overseer's whip, which made him unable to search his memories properly, and even nearly choked his breath.That's it - the flashing of the double options, the clicking of the clock, the urging in his ears, the bright and dazzling sunlight, and the continuous sniffing of Bai Yan's cheeks, all of these add up to make him feel resentful stand up.He even almost forgot what he was doing?

Oh, by the way, it's afternoon tea, he just wants to have an afternoon tea!

Bai Yan's eyes opened, and he took a moment to move his numb arms to prop up his body, so that his face could avoid the light of the spotlight embedded in the relief groove of the ceiling.Moreover, he impatiently pushed aside the curtains that had been sweeping over his face. The thin blue and gray wild silk curtains were being blown slowly by the night wind blowing in from the open floor-to-ceiling windows.Bai Yan moved his wrist, turned his sore neck, and then felt a trace of depression in his heart. There was no afternoon tea, no afternoon tea at all.

All that was just a dream.

Although it is not a nightmare, it certainly cannot be described as wonderful.

At this moment, Bai Yan, who had fully woken up from the dream, was lying on the sofa in his apartment - the nineteenth floor of a high-end apartment in the most prosperous area of ​​Nova City.Bai Yan got up and was about to pour himself something to drink. He walked to the wine cabinet by the porch, held the empty wine glass in his hand, and glanced from the top row of cognac to the bottom row of Baileys.

In the end, he shook his head, and went to the water dispenser in the restaurant to get himself a glass of warm water—what made him have to give up his plan to have a drink?Holding the cup, Bai Yan walked to the floor-to-ceiling windows. Through the thin curtains, he could have a panoramic view of the looming city—Nova City—with tens of thousands of lights.He raised the glass in his hand to his mouth and nose, and subconsciously made a shaking gesture, as if trying to release the taste of a glass of fine wine, then closed his eyes slightly, and swallowed the glass of warm water.Behind the veil is a city that looks unreal like a dream—a city that never sleeps—a beautiful city that fascinates all who approach her.

In Star City, everyone can get everything he wants, Bai Yan thinks so.

Just like this apartment - it is Bai Yan's birthday gift, his coming-of-age ceremony, according to his father, from this day on he will have his own life.You know, such a large independent apartment is the unattainable dream of many boys of his age. Bai Yan put his palm on the glass window, caressing the city in front of him from the air.But to Bai Yan, this is nothing - luxurious apartment, expensive car, beach hotel booked for the party, rock star invited to liven up the atmosphere, all this is nothing to Bai Yan.

The coming-of-age ceremony he wants more is something far more important than these, but at the same time it is also something he can't say no matter what.If you can pray to the gods——Bai Yanduo wants his father to be with him all day, bake a cake for him, and write the words happy birthday crookedly with cream on the baked cake that is burnt on one side and raw on the other. —as all fathers do, as a farewell to his teenage years.

But Bai Yan didn't pray to the gods, because he knew it was useless, and his father couldn't spare even an hour from his business to waste on these meaningless—in other words, no money—things. come up.

That day, Bai Yan only got one call. "Have you received the apartment key? Do you like it? I knew you would like it! Happy birthday, my Baiyan! Well, you know, I have something to do, so I have to hang up. Go, go talk to you Have fun with your friends!" Bai Yan hung up the phone with a smile, even though the person on the other end of the phone couldn't see him, he still tried his best to smile, biting his lips and smiling.

That day, as his father said, Bai Yan had a "happy time" thoroughly.He gave himself a coming-of-age gift, the kind with unforgettable pain.Recalling all the details of that night and the face of a certain man close at hand, even though it has been several months since that incident happened, Bai Yan still shuddered.

Bai Yan subconsciously leaned towards the sofa, sat there and groped around, trying to find something on the sofa that could distract him, but he couldn't find anything except a few pillows.Bai Yan needed to interrupt himself, so he turned around, closed his eyes tightly and recalled the dream just now.

Is that really a dream?A grotesque yet real dream.

Bai Yan slightly recalled that at the very beginning of the dream just now, on a warm autumn afternoon, he was sitting in a wicker chair under a big parasol waiting for his afternoon tea, because someone just told him Here are two desserts that are well done.Then, a waiter quickly brought him two covered silver plates, and told him respectfully before leaving that one of the desserts was called a wonderful sorrow, and the other was called a miserable joy.

Bai Yan stared at the two plates for a long time, and then he had to call the waiter again - pointing at the two plates on the table.Ask which one he ordered?

"How do I know this?" The waiter with a towel on his forearm bowed and said, "I'm just a waiter." Bai Yan was a little unhappy, and he decided to complain to the restaurant manager about the service after the meal .

"Then who knows?" Bai Yan asked.His face was full of displeasure, even though he was hiding in the shade under the umbrella, it still made him feel extremely hot.He needs his dessert and a tall glass of ice water.

"Chef? Perhaps," replied the waiter.

"What's the cook's name? Tell him to come here!"

"Did you ask him? It's hard to say—" the waiter narrowed his eyes like a cat, bent down and whispered in Bai Yan's ear, "you know, he often changes his name. I've seen it with my own eyes. Call him Alando, some people call him Tartarus, by the way, some people call him Ares, too much. However, people like me who are more familiar with him call him—”

"What do you call him?" Bai Yan urged impatiently.Bai Yan felt that the waiter was teasing him, because the names just mentioned all appeared in mythology, gods who ruled luck, misery, war, and other things.

"Fate. Yes, I call him Destiny."

"Listen. I don't care what his name is, whether it's Alando, Tartarus, or some shit like fate, I just call him—I just want to know which dessert I want!"

"Okay, as you wish, I'll invite the chef over here. But according to the rules here, you have to answer my question first."

"What's the question?" Bai Yan raised his head and looked at the waiter, asking with doubts on his face.

"If an angel is thrown into the swamp with its wings stripped of its dignity, does he have the right to choose to love a devil who can help him escape and live a decent life? Yes? Or--no?"

Yes, that's how that dream ended.

Bai Yan was asked such a weird and irrelevant question.In the end, he didn't get to eat his share of dessert after all.

When Bai Yan was thinking about why he had such a messy dream, his eyes slipped to the floor next to the sofa, where there was a book spread out, the one he read before falling asleep, Mier Don's long poem "Paradise Lost", he picked up the half-read book from the ground, and on the title page of the book was written such a line——

"This is a desolate place outside the heavens. The devil Satan and his followers gathered here. His original noble status as an angel was lost due to a rebellion. Now, he has become the embodiment of sin and evil. Where he lives Earth, is the temple of demons that blaze into the sky—Pandimaninan."

Bai Yan closed the book again and put it on the armrest of the sofa. He wanted to continue reading a few more chapters, but he ordered himself to go to sleep.Because tomorrow is a big day—Bai Yan's first day of admission to the Star City Police Academy.This is also the reason why he restrained himself from going for a drink just now.

He will become a police cadet, and then he will become a police officer. Just thinking about it is enough to make Bai Yan so excited that he can't close his eyes.

He imagined over and over again, what kind of expression his father would have when he heard the news—annoyed?anger?Or beat him up?Oh, speaking of it, Bai Yan has never been beaten by his father since he was a child, no matter how much he stabbed him.

Although they never talked about business matters between father and son, and his father never had time to talk about anything with him, Bai Yan knew that his father's business was not glorious enough.But this time, his father had to talk to him—a drug lord father and a policeman’s son—and the bigger the mouth, the longer the conversation between him and his father.

Bai Yan thought this way, and this kind of thought made him feel a little excited.In such tension and excitement, Bai Yan couldn't remember how he lay back on the sofa, returned to that dream and continued it.

He had his afternoon tea and dessert as he wished, after he mustered up the courage to casually lift the silver lid off one of the plates.But the waiter who was standing next to him just now took off his vest and hung it on the back of the chair, and then sat across from Bai Yan's table.

When Bai Yan raised his head from his delicious dessert and met that face again, he recalled—this man, the deep and gentle voice calling Bai Yan’s name, about his own birthday—everything .

The man smiled and opened another plate in front of Bai Yan, which made Bai Yan slightly poked his head curiously. He suddenly wanted to know the man on the opposite side—the man named Zhan Qingyun—in his plate, What kind of dessert is it serving?