Chapter Seventy: Brawl

  Nie Yuan was still searching around, Su Yin stared at the photo in her hand and pulled him: "Hey, hey, Nie Yuan, here! What is this place?" Nie Yuan walked over to take a look and casually said: "Here? Oh, this is that botanical garden you asked me to investigate. My friend from medical school said it was completed five years ago, before that it was just an empty green space. I found some old photos on the school website."

  Su Yin's eyes widened: "You say this is that botanical garden?" Nie Yuan found her reaction too 'agitated', and hesitantly nodded: "Yes, what's wrong?"

  She shook her head, expressionless: "No, nothing." After a moment, she asked Nie Yuan again: "How's the thing I asked you to investigate?" Nie Yuan nodded and pulled out three photos from the stack of papers. One was an original color print from the file, another was a close-up enlargement, and the last one was a graduation photo.

  The girl in the enlarged photo has a thick fringe that covers half of her dark eyes, and her small face is delicate with refined features. However, her expression towards the camera appears very unnatural, stiff and timid.

  "He pointed to the enlarged photo and said to her, 'It should be her. Luckily my brother happened to be in this school, otherwise it would have been really hard for me to get these things out for you. I asked, it was indeed this 'girl' who disappeared from the basement eight years ago."

  She glanced at him, this guy's brother didn't know what kind of god he was, but she felt that his methods were too much. However, she had no time to bother with him, and grabbed the color print original to look at it. Nie Yuan said beside her: "This 'girl' is called Zhou Yuan, a fine arts special recruit in XX year, who has won many fine arts awards before, and was a small celebrity back then. Hey, this is the graduation photo of that year's fine arts special class."

  Su Yun swept a glance, but didn't see Zhou Yuan, she had disappeared, and would never be able to enter this small frame again. A faint sadness welled up in her heart, when suddenly her eyes landed on a face, she quickly turned around, hastily using her fingers to search rapidly, finally freezing on it. It was two boys, standing in the last row, extremely eye-catching.

  It's not just because the two of them stand out more than others in terms of appearance, but also due to their different temperaments. At this moment, facing the camera, both of their faces are somewhat gloomy. For some reason, she suddenly looked over and felt a strong sense of familiarity. Su Yin hastily unfolded the rolled-up sketch and compared it with the photo, looking back and forth several times before saying, "So it's him?"

  Nie Yuan also came over to take a look and nodded, saying: "Wow, how can it be so similar? This person is good at painting, the charm of the painting has been brought out, even better-looking than the real person."

  Su Yun gave him a glance, then looked at the person next to him, who also looked very familiar. She thought carefully, but still couldn't remember, so she turned the photo over to look for their names. At a glance, she was shocked. It turned out that this person was Guo Jian! And the boy in the sketch was called Tan Yu. Good grief, it turned out that these people had known each other for a long time, and yet they still couldn't see through her disguise. She wasn't just one person, but a pig.

  However, what is the connection between Zhou Yuan and them, and why did they involve her in this matter? Moreover, it was during Guo Jian's suicide. Why did Zhou Yuan disappear, and why has she not been found after eight years? As for the saying "the living should be seen, the dead should have a corpse". Furthermore, what is the relationship between the two of them, and why did Guo Jian commit suicide? What role does Tan Yu play in this matter?

  She had a vague guess, but wasn't sure. She just found it strange that someone could disappear like this without anyone caring, and at most become a topic of conversation after dinner. What was the outcome of this matter? Did the 'girl' die or is she living on the other side of the world? It's just that she didn't want to vanish into thin air like this, without even leaving behind any proof that she had been in this world.

  Nie Yuan looked at her and saw that she was distracted, so he asked with some concern: "Hey, Su Yin, are you okay? What do you want to do?" Su Yin snapped back to reality, shook her head and said: "No, I'm fine. Nie Yuan, can you help me again? Go find out the information about this person named Tan Yu for me."

  Nie Yuan's face immediately fell as he complained, "What? Still investigating? This is so tiring!"

  Su Yun smiled and coaxed, pestering Nie Yuan to help her one more time, for the last time. Nie Yuan was reluctant but couldn't bear to refuse her, so he nodded in agreement, saying "Fine, I'll agree, but you have to thank me properly, not just with words!" Su Yun quickly nodded, smiling obsequiously: "Okay, you say what you want, as long as it's something I can do, I'll definitely make it happen!"

  Nie Yuanle laughed and said with a smile: "You can do it, absolutely easy, just move your mouth. Come on, here." He pointed to his cheek, this guy smiled very cheaply, Su Yin's black line, a slap hit him in the face, making him shout out loud.

  Finally, Nie Yuan naturally agreed. She looked at the time and gathered her things to leave first, asking Nie Yuan to hand over the materials as soon as possible, then took the bus and left. She still had to go give Yu Qian a supplementary lesson, even if it was just in name, she couldn't be too lazy.

  Sitting in the car, she couldn't help but take out the photos again and look at them. She stared at the green field, lost in thought. In one corner of the photo was a patch of white - it was the eaves of the pavilion flying up. That's right, this is where Guo Jian drew that painting before he died.

  After a while, the bus suddenly lurched forward, and Su Yun's body was thrown forward. She looked out and saw unfamiliar scenery. She quickly got off the bus, realizing she had passed her stop. Looking at the bus station sign, it wasn't far away, just two stops, so she decided to walk there instead of taking the bus.

  She walked two steps and passed by a magnificent school gate. Su Yin sighed, this middle school is also very impressive, as if the land here was worthless. Today is Saturday, the school gate is very quiet. She took a casual look and left, this is where Yu Qian that kid goes to school, good conditions indeed.

  After walking for a while, there were many more entertainment venues on this side, internet cafes, bars and game cities were all in this area, and there were also more people. She walked along the wall, avoiding passing vehicles and crowds, but when she passed by a certain alley, she caught a glimpse of a figure being kicked flying. She was startled, and involuntarily looked again, and what she saw was even more astonishing.

  Wasn't the one who was kicked flying her student Yu Qian?

  She rushed up and shouted, "Stop! What are you doing?" The two men who were surrounding Yu Qian originally stopped in their tracks and looked at her. At this time, she also saw the situation clearly. Those two young men who had just stopped, about 17 or 18 years old, one with yellow hair and one with green hair, looked disgusting. On the right wall, there were two more, one was hiding in the corner, which she hadn't seen before, and the other was pinning someone against the wall with his arms. The look on his face made Su Yun exclaim. His hair had at least three colors, it was colorful and long, but he was wearing a big nose ring, looking like the Bull Demon King.

  The Bull Demon King seemed to be getting impatient, his body slightly averted, but without putting down his arms. In this brief moment of distraction, she saw a flustered face, round and cute with a tender complexion. Oh, Su Yin instantly understood the situation - what else could it be? Yu Qian was in the midst of a heroic rescue, but whether he succeeded or not was unknown; however, the dog-like creature was quick to react.

  "Hey! Who are you, ugly woman!" Niu Mo Wang scowled and asked with a very unpleasant tone.

  Su Yun's face stiffened, and she quickly suppressed her anger, forcing a smile as she said: "Can you let him go? I'm his teacher!" She was trying to think of a way to resolve the situation in a low-key and efficient manner, but the man wasn't buying it. The yellow-haired man snickered and stood up, stepping on Yu Qian's chest, and asked with a tilted body: "You say you're his teacher? Such a young teacher, Miss, are you even of age?"

  Saying that, Green 'hair' burst out laughing, with a mischievous face: "I guess not, huh! Ugly eight freaks, don't pretend to be mature for nothing, what kind of teacher are you to this kid? Won't be that kind of teacher, haha!" Yellow 'hair' also laughed out loud after hearing it.

  Su Yun was soon scolded by the two ugly men, one on her left and one on her right, which made her furious. However, seeing that they were outnumbered, she decided to endure it and forced a smile: "Gentlemen, don't be so rude, these are just two kids, can't you talk things over nicely? Do you want money? I have 200 yuan here, take it and go drink tea, and let them go." But in her heart, she was thinking viciously, "A gentleman takes revenge, even if it's ten years later."

  She must have laughed too much, losing some face, and lay on the ground, rolling her eyes. The Bull Demon King was probably impatient, put down one arm, turned sideways to face her, and spat a mouthful of thick sputum with a murderous look on his face. "Hey! Ugly girl! You think you're better than us? For just 200 yuan, who do you think you are? Besides, today I met someone good, no need for money, just want... you know, get out of here, you're hurting my eyes!"

  Huang 'Mao' saw the situation and also walked over, wanting to push her away. He cursed with a dirty mouth: "Ugly freak, get out of here! Mind your own business!" Before his hand even touched her, she grabbed her bag and shouted loudly: "Let them go, or I'll call the police!" As she spoke, she took out her phone and glared fiercely at them.

  "Hey, Liu Ge, the ugly one says she's going to call the police!" Huang 'Mao' said with a feigned innocent expression. Niu Mo Wang sneered and replied, "Call the police? Go ahead then!" Huang 'Mao' turned back to her and shrugged his shoulders, saying, "Liu Ge said you can do as you please." Lu 'Mao' had lost patience and yelled, "Damn it, you stupid woman! When I tell you to scram, just scram quickly! Otherwise, I'll beat you up along with the others!"

  Su Yun was so angry that she couldn't bear it, and immediately flipped open her phone. Her finger had just pressed down when a strong gust of wind swept across her face. Before she could react, her face felt a burning pain. The phone also flew out of her hand, hit the wall, bounced back, and smashed to the ground.

  She was beaten to the ground, Huang's hand waved aimlessly, and her mouth let out a "tsk" sound. "Damn it, I told you to get lost, but you just won't leave, this ugly girl is really shameless..."

  In the midst of the jeers, she hung her head low, her shoulders shaking with increasing intensity, her fingers clenched into fists. When she heard the word "ugly girl" again, she held her breath and kicked out with lightning speed and accuracy, her strength like a thousand pounds. Huang Mao almost immediately let out a loud yelp, curled up into a ball on the ground, his hands and feet tucked in, his mouth shouting "ahhhhhh" at the top of his lungs.

  The rest of the people were stunned by this sudden change, and Su Yin seized the opportunity, shouting "Get me!" and grabbed the package, hitting it first. Huang 'Mao' didn't recover, lying on the ground, could only let her kick and hit, swinging the package with all his might. The momentum was like a wolf and tiger.

  Just as he came to, Green 'Mao' remembered to get up and was held down by Yu Qian, who flipped him over, pinched his neck and hit him. The two were evenly matched, rolling back and forth in the narrow alley.

  The Bull Demon King was momentarily stunned by her aura, and after reacting, he cursed and was about to come over. Unexpectedly, the small bird that had been shrinking in his arms suddenly burst out with a shocking shriek, closed its eyes, and kicked him with one foot. This kick wasn't too heavy, but it hit just the right spot, causing him to clench his teeth in pain, supporting himself against the wall as he squatted down.

  Su Yun looked and shouted: "Good job, hit me harder!" Huang 'Mao' had just come to his senses, saw that their leader was being beaten, and hurriedly tried to get up, but was beaten by her chaotic and dense punching movements, unable to get up. He could only kick one leg over and kick Su Yun against the wall. This kick was very forceful, kicking her so hard that her elbow hurt and her clothes were torn open a small gap.

  Huang 'Mao' struggled to get up, rushed over and knocked Yu Qian down, pinning him to the ground, and punched him hard. Just as he was about to punch again, Su Yin rushed over and grabbed his arm. Huang 'Mao' got anxious, turned around and pushed Su Yin away with great force, kicking her in the foot. Su Yin was shocked, instinctively rolled away to dodge. Huang 'Mao' wanted to chase after her, but Yu Qian jumped up from behind and held him back by the neck.

  At this time, Green 'Mao' and Niu Mo Wang also recovered. Seeing that things were going to get worse, Su Yin took the initiative to attack first, rushing over and kicking Green 'Mao' down with a loud thud, then jumping up and down, stomping heavily!

  The Bull Demon King saw his brother being trampled and let out a miserable cry, came over and grabbed her hair, pulling it back, causing her to cry out in pain. Just as she was struggling, the little bird had been hiding in the corner of the wall, seeing that she couldn't cope, hastily looked around, saw a thick wooden stick next to him, didn't think twice, picked it up, and shouted loudly, hitting the Bull Demon King with one stick, striking his back, causing the Bull Demon King to stumble.

  Su Yun struggled free, shouting and pulling out a stick, using all her might to pull the soft "hair" on the ground, specifically targeting the weak points. The person pulling was twisting and turning, finally jumping high to grab the stick from her, but she dodged and hit him on the wrist. However, after a few hits, the little bird was caught by Niu Mo Wang, who pulled with great force, but the little bird still refused to let go, screaming as the two engaged in an uneven tug-of-war contest.

  They fought fiercely, attracting a crowd of onlookers with their intense movements, but no one intervened. Before long, police cars arrived with sirens blaring.

  Su Yun stared at the steel bars in front of her, which could be called a fence, sitting on a narrow and long chair. This was a room behind the police station, not very big, with seven or eight people already seated across from her, including several prostitutes, whose clothes were disheveled, wearing extremely short skirts from street vendors, their entire chest seemingly about to expose itself.

  A ferocious-looking man with bulging muscles and tattoos all over his arm pulled out a cigarette, puffing out smoke rings. When he saw her looking over, he glared at her fiercely. Then, with an evil grin, he stared at the little bird beside her.

  The little bird was probably scared out of its wits, leaning against Yu Qian's side from the moment it came in, holding onto Yu Qian's sleeve with a small hand, and looking flustered and frightened, like a trembling little rabbit.

  Little bird called Tang Guo, her name is as sweet and lovely as she is. Yu Qian has a good eye for this little girl. To comfort Little Bird, Su Yin smiled and led the conversation, Little Bird was shy and timid, listening to what she said, she and Yu Qian were in the same class, and she was the class study committee member. Today being Saturday, she and Yu Qian were responsible for publishing the school bulletin board, unexpectedly they ran into three thugs on the way, which led to the following scene.

  Half an hour later, the three thugs were locked in the adjacent cell. At this time, a middle-aged man in a suit and tie walked in and took the Bull Demon King out. As the Bull Demon King walked away with an awkward posture, he deliberately glanced at them with malice, laughed loudly, and said with a swollen face and a nose: "You just wait for me to eat prison food!"

  Yu Qian's face was cold and stern as he glared at the other person, Tang Guo's face turned pale and she was on the verge of tears. Su Yin, on the other hand, remained calm and collected, watching as Niu Mo Wang swaggered out with a middle-aged man following behind him. Yu Qian saw that Tang Guo's eyes were welling up with tears and couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy for her, so he softly comforted her before going to make a phone call to notify her parents to come pick her up. However, she stopped him, and Yu Qian glared at her, while Su Yin just smiled and repeatedly assured them that she had already called someone reliable to come pick her up, so there was no need to notify her parents.

  It's a joke, if Yu Shi couple knew that their son was fighting on the street and got into the police station, and his family education was also an accomplice, would they still want to work? Yu Qian didn't want to make things bigger either, nor did he want his parents to know. After looking at her suspiciously for a while, he gave up and went back obediently.

  Actually, Su's surface was calm, but she had no bottom in her heart and could only wait. Fortunately, Niu Mo Wang had just left for a short time, and the person she was waiting for had arrived, followed by a strong and powerful man with a fierce gaze.

  Across the railing, she locked eyes with the newcomer. For an instant, she felt suffocated, her back chilled to the bone. Through her glasses, nothing seemed out of the ordinary, yet this person had a way of making the atmosphere tense and cold just by subtly changing their expression. The oppressive feeling was overwhelming. Fortunately, it only lasted for a very short time. The man soon regained his carefree demeanor, even appearing somewhat languid, with a sly smile spreading across his face.

  "How could you just throw me in here without even seeing me for a day?" He asked jokingly, Su Yin didn't get angry and said excitedly: "Lin Ming, thank you so much for coming."

  Lin Ming said nothing more, and the people behind him nodded in understanding. The management personnel opened the "gate" and led the three of them out. As they exited, they saw that Niu Mo Wang had not left yet, and was still loudly saying to someone that he wanted his brother to be released together with him, or else he would not leave!

  The Ox King looked up and saw them, his face changed, and he pointed at them, saying that he wanted to report them and not let them out. Su Yin rolled her eyes and thought to herself: Who does he think he is? So arrogant!

  They were supposed to leave, but Lin Ming suddenly stopped in front of them. Su Yin looked at him in confusion, and he also turned his head to stare at her, his hand reaching out to grasp her chin, turning her face to the left for a closer look. The group stood there, frozen, as she was forced to tilt her head back, feeling uncomfortable, just about to shake off his grip when she heard him ask in a low, gentle voice that sent her heart sinking.

  "Is this from them hitting you?" Her left cheek was slightly swollen, but it would subside by tomorrow, not a big deal. She nodded: "Yes, what about it?" Lin Ming let go of her hand and said: "How can you be so careless? Be more careful next time." She nodded.

  The Bull Demon King roared for half a day, seeing no one paying attention to him made him angry, just as he saw Lin Ming staring at him, his heart trembled, but still evil emerged from the edge of his gallbladder, ferociously saying: "I'm going to...! You dead blind fool, what are you looking at? Your mother's... that ugly freak, you wait for me, I must... Ah!"

  It was just an instant, Su Yin felt that she didn't see clearly how Lin Ming moved, anyway, she saw a black shadow flashing in front of her eyes, and the Cow Demon King flew into the wall and then crashed to the ground, curling up his legs and covering his stomach, weakly coughing, seemingly having lost his breath. That one kick, not breaking several of his ribs was already quite good.

  It's strange that with so many people in the hall, after what just happened, not a single person made a sound. It's one thing for others to remain silent, but even the middle-aged man who bailed out Niu Mo Wang didn't make a peep, sitting there stiffly without even going over to help him up.

  Lin Ming patted his clothes aimlessly, turned to face the stunned onlookers, raised an eyebrow and asked, "What?" Su Yin stuttered, unsure of what to say, but managed to squeeze out a sentence: "Lin Ming, this is abuse of power."

  Lin Ming's hand paused, his eyebrow raised, he looked around and asked with a hooked lip: "Did you see that?" Almost immediately, the place which was just quiet and peaceful became as lively as a vegetable market. The security personnel worked hard, finding things to do even when there was nothing to do, the prisoners actively made confessions, undistracted. Everything returned to normal, so vibrant, so dedicated, so harmonious.

  This time, the three of them almost fell to the ground. Lin Ming couldn't help but laugh and beckoned for the three to follow him out. It wasn't until they left the police station that Lin Ming bid farewell to the burly man behind him, and they exchanged a friendly punch. The burly man's smile made his ferocity disappear instantly. Lin Ming chuckled and said, "You little rascal, you're quite good at 'mixing'! Oh, right, take good care of those two young men inside for me." The burly man immediately responded, "Captain, I would have done that even if you didn't tell me, no problem, consider it taken care of!" After exchanging a few more words, Lin Ming turned around and led the three away.

  It's been a long time, now it's already half past two in the afternoon, and none of the three have had lunch, they are all starving. So when Lin Ming said he would take them to eat, she didn't object, directly taking charge and agreeing, just right as she also had something to say to him.

  At the dinner table, Yu Qian took great care of Tang Guo, almost to the point where Su Yin was jealous. Fortunately, this little guy was a good fellow, and she had to admit that she was a bit envious. As Yu Qian picked up another piece of fish meat and put it in Tang Guo's bowl, Tang Guo lowered his head, blushed, and slowly ate it.

  Suddenly, a piece of fish meat was placed in the bowl in front of her by a hand stretched out from beside her. Su Yin was taken aback and stared at Lin Ming in surprise, but Lin Ming just smiled mischievously, not feeling embarrassed about his actions at all. Su Yin couldn't take it anymore and said: "Can't you see how others are doing it? They're picking the best fish belly and carefully selecting the bones, but look at you, you just carelessly pick a piece and try to choke me to death?"

  Lin Ming made a sudden realization, then picked up his chopsticks and put the fish meat back, carefully picking out the bones one by one, and finally returned it to her bowl. Throughout the process, the three of them stared blankly, Lin Ming gestured for her to eat, she bit her chopstick, speechlessly staring at him. Please! The point is not here!

  After dinner, Su Yin and Lin Ming sent Yu Qian and Tang Guo to take a taxi. As they were about to get in the car, Yu Qian turned around and looked at her, awkwardly saying "thank you" quickly before getting into the car and leaving. Hearing this "thank you", she couldn't help but giggle, believing that from now on, they would get along well.

  After sending her off, Lin Ming beckoned to her and took her to a coffee shop with a nice atmosphere. As soon as they sat down, Lin Ming smiled and asked: "Alright, what's up? Just say it!"

  Su Yun nodded, taking out everything that Nie Yuan had given her from her bag, and then told Lin Ming the specific situation. Lin Ming listened quietly all along, not asking any questions, but when she mentioned being haunted by a 'female' ghost, which was likely related to this case, he reacted strongly.

  "You said that female ghost has been haunting you, and this matter hasn't been resolved yet?" For some reason, Lin Ming's face was very unsightly, with a hint of suppressed anger. Su Yin didn't dare to hide the truth, hesitated and nodded, Lin Ming sneered: "Hmph, it seems that the three major families of this generation are also quite incompetent! Can't even catch such a small fry, really has no one to inherit!"

  Su Yun didn't quite understand, but it involved the three big families, so she didn't ask much. She continued to talk to Lin Ming, saying that back then with Guo Jian, there should be another person, whose name was Tan Yu, and maybe he would have suspicions. She also mentioned the "female" ghost, which was Zhou Yuan, who had mysteriously disappeared years ago, and how nobody had thoroughly investigated, just letting Zhou Yuan disappear for eight years without resolving the doubt.

  She still remembered Lin Ming's reaction at the time, his stern and upright face with a sly smile, saying to her: "It's not that no one is investigating, but someone doesn't let them investigate. In this world, there are many ways for a person to disappear!"

  Su Yun was stunned for a long time, not knowing how to react. Lin Ming smiled at her and continued: "So, this case has come to the present, and I can take it over!" He leaned back in his chair, saying with a sigh-like tone that seemed like a joke: "Many times, handling these cases is just a matter of course for anyone, but is it really just about solving the case?"

  Lin Ming stopped talking, and after a long silence, Lin Ming got up and said he would send her back. She declined politely, but Lin Ming insisted. She took a step back and let Lin Ming take her to the previous stop to get off. Lin Ming didn't ask her why either, just smiled and beckoned her to follow him. In fact, she wasn't quite clear about what she wanted to avoid either, it was just an unconscious action.

  After parting with Lin Ming, she walked into a nearby supermarket and sent a message to ask Qi Xiu what he wanted for dinner. Lately, she had been avoiding facing Qi Xiu, even phone calls made her feel uneasy, wanting to avoid or minimize them as much as possible. She felt that there should be some problem between her and Qi Xiu, but she didn't know when it started, it just kept getting bigger like a snowball. Maybe this was just her own one-sided problem, but for now, she couldn't figure it out, so she could only wait and see what happened next.