The Mysterious Case of the Young Detective

  "You're still a detective!" Zheng Hanfei slowly pulled out a deck of poker cards from his pocket, preparing for battle. "You really disappointed me, I misjudged you!"

  "Shut up!" Ouyang Xiu stared at Zheng Hanfei, "This sentence should be said by me instead, you are not the Zheng Hanfei I know."

  "Hmph!" Zheng Hanfei smiled faintly, but his eyes were still devoid of warmth, as cold as ever. "I am who I am, only that weak and fragile shell is not the real me."

  "Wrong! That's the real you!" As he spoke, Ouyang Xiue sped over and swung his wooden staff at Zheng Hanfei's head, or rather, the hat on Zheng Hanfei's head.

  Zheng Hanfei's head moved slightly backwards, dodging the attack. At the same time, his middle and index fingers of both hands were holding a poker card each. Just as Ouyang Xiu was about to launch another attack, he swung his arms with force, and the two poker cards hit Ouyang Xiu's left hand at an odd angle, causing a slight red swelling to slowly appear on Ouyang Xiu's hand.

  So fast! Ouyang Xiuyou was slightly startled, his eyes narrowing as he said: "I didn't think you were actually trained, but your previous performance made it hard for me to connect the dots. You hid it well."

  "If that's all you've got, then I advise you to give up now." Zheng Hanfei flicked the poker cards in his hand, "A criminal will never escape punishment."

  "I said, I won't let you get away with it. Besides, they didn't steal anything, just played a simple prank." Ouyang Xiou explained while covering his mouth with his hand, causing Zheng Hanfei to become suspicious.

  Bang! Suddenly, the gunshot echoed throughout the venue, causing Dilo and Katie to pause in shock. Zheng Hanfei even turned around, trying to find out who fired the shot.

  "Ah!" Ou Yang Xiu suddenly rushed over, his hands grasping the wooden stick, sweeping across Zheng Hanfei's head, directly hitting the hat on his head. Instantly, the hat left Zheng Hanfei's head, floating in mid-air for a moment before falling to the ground powerlessly.

  Whoa! The poker cards tightly held in Zheng Hanfei's hand suddenly all fell to the ground, while Zheng Hanfei himself stared blankly at Ouyang Xiu, and it wasn't until after a while that he came back to his senses.

  "Thanks!" Zheng Hanfei covered his head, weakly expressing gratitude. From his painful expression and the cold sweat on his forehead, it could be seen that his headache had relapsed again.

  "You're welcome!" Ouyang Xiuzi put away the wooden stick and said indifferently, "A young man inclined to darkness and curses needs warmth and care even more, doesn't he?"

  "It's not." Zheng Hanfei smiled helplessly, his hands grasping his head tightly. "Once you're in the dark and exposed to sunlight, there's only one way out - death."

  "Enough!" Ouyang Xiu stretched his waist and yawned, "The current situation has made me understand some things... Ah! Are you still going to send them to the police station?"

  "Are you kidding me?" Glancing at Dilo, who was grinning from ear to ear, and a terrified Katie, Zheng Hanfei smiled at them and said, "Although I don't like what they said, but this time it's just a prank, it doesn't constitute a crime, I definitely can't send them to the police station."

  "Thanks!" Ou Yang Xiu lightly nudged Zheng Han Fei with his elbow, expressing gratitude.

  "Oh, right!" Zheng Hanfei seemed to remember something, clapped his hands and shouted: "Uncle Sterling, come out quickly, you don't have to hide anymore."

  "Ah, you're thinking of me now?" Sterling slowly crawled out from under the table in the dining area, with a complaining expression. "I've been squatting for so long, I'm exhausted."

  "Dad!" Dilo and Katie shouted.

  "Are you... because you hate me?" Sterling stared at his child, his eyes filled with disappointment.

  "Dad, actually..." Dilo glanced at Katie and then said, "It's your sister who wants you to come back for his birthday."

  "Deer!"

  "Sister! Don't hide it anymore! Actually, you've already forgiven Dad a long time ago, haven't you?!"

  “……”

  The venue fell into silence.

  "Uncle Sterling." Zheng Hanfei finally broke the silence, "I guess, Katie wanted to tell you: they wouldn't be happy or joyful without you, so they used threatening letters as a means, unfortunately, you didn't understand and instead had me come over, which led to this case... no, it should be called a malicious prank. Just like the meaning of the signature on the threatening letter - the spirit in Acheron."

  Sterling fell silent for a moment, then chuckled self-deprecatingly. "Maybe I was wrong after all. Their mother died young, so I've been trying to make as much money as possible to give them a happy life. Unfortunately, I didn't realize it, or rather, I did realize it but didn't take it to heart, which is why this happened."

  "But this incident completely woke me up." As he said that, Sterling's eyes welled up with tears, looking deeply at his children, "Children, can you forgive your father?"

  "En!" Di Luo nodded his head.

  "Let's see how you perform..." Kati muttered, biting her lip and squeezing out these words from between her teeth.

  "From now on, I'll be with you." Sterling stretched out his hand to hold the two children, and the two tear marks on his face had already shown his repentance.

  "En!" The two nodded, and the corners of their eyes also began to well up with crystal-like tears.

  "Let's go!" Zheng Hanfei gently pulled Ou Yangxiu and walked out of the venue, leaving the venue to this happy family.

  It's indeed "Tears of Hope"! Zheng Hanfei thought to himself, and couldn't help but give Katie and Dilo hope for a happy future, as well as Sterling getting forgiveness from his child. And even more so, bring happiness to the whole family that they had never experienced before. Perhaps, being here with Sterling is exactly what you were meant to do.

  ……

  "What a perfect ending." Ou Yang Xiu smiled and said softly as he gently closed the door.

  "Yes!" Zheng Hanfei nodded, seeing the Stirling family made him feel a inexplicable discomfort, and his heart longed for his unseen parents even more.

  "Is something on your mind?"

  Nothing.

  "Hehe, I won't gossip anymore." Ouyang Xiu patted Zheng Hanfei's shoulder, "But this is the real you, looking weak but having normal emotions."

  "Thanks for the compliment." Zheng Hanfei responded with a sentence, then turned around to look at Ouyang Xiu, and asked seriously: "Who are you!"

  "I'm Ouyang Xiu! What are you thinking about?"

  "No, I'm talking about your other identity!" Zheng Hanfei's eyes gleamed with a hint of sharpness, "Don't think you can hide it from me! The gunshot sound at the meeting, was that something you mimicked?"

  "Did you hear it?"

  "Of course, but I don't understand why you imitated it so well that for a moment I couldn't tell the difference. I remember the decibel level of the handgun was around 160, which is impossible for a human to imitate!"

  "Heh heh, finally found out." Ouyang Xiu smiled and then said a voice that was all too familiar to Zheng Hanfei, "From the moment you turned cold, I knew that you, like me, were cursed!"

  "You..." Zheng Hanfei's pupils contracted slightly, this voice he would never forget, because it was his own voice.

  "Surprised?" Ouyang Xiuyou said in Katie's voice, "This isn't anything special, it's just the result of an experiment. As long as I hear a sound, I can clearly hear its frequency in Hertz and decibels, then repeat it exactly the same."

  "What?!"

  "I've long since stopped being a normal human." Ouyang Xiu smiled slightly, using Dieluo's voice, "I've even forgotten when I was ever a normal human."

  “……”

  "Alright!" Ou Yang Xiu returned to his normal voice and said, "Although we both failed to prevent the case from happening, you managed to solve it. By rights, I should have lost this bet. According to the rules, I'll give you an opportunity. I'd like you to join the Sherlock Detective Agency at Quinlan Academy."

  "What! That famous Sherlock Detective Agency? But... can you make decisions?"

  "Of course, I am the president of Sherlock Detective Agency, and Di Luo and Katie are all members of the agency." Ouyang Xiu continued to drop a shocking message that made Zheng Hanfei stunned.

  "What!" Zheng Hanfei was stunned, he didn't expect that Ouyang Xiu had this identity too. No wonder Ouyang Xiu said he would give himself an opportunity that all young people would envy, being able to join the Sherlock Detective Agency was indeed enviable.

  "Have you thought it through?"

  "Can you tell me... why did you come here? I always feel like you're lying."

  "Alright!" Ou Yang shrugged, "It was a letter that guided me here. He said this exhibition would make me wait for someone valuable and an important clue, so I came. Looks like he was right."

  "Important clue?!"

  "That's right! It's a clue to finding an organization, that damned, cursed organization."

  "What was that letter like... and who signed it..."

  "The envelope was very ordinary, but when I opened it and took a look, I was startled. The black card with bright red letters looked like an invitation from the god of death. As for the signature... his name is Ying!"

  Shadow...