Chapter 27

"We're here." Chen Dulan announced standing outside a shabby looking house. It was single storey, and was built with no space left as front or backyard. Distasteful, was what Yao Fang thought.

"Don't make any sounds, okay?" Chen Dulan said and Yao Fang thought those words were oddly familiar.

He let Chen Dulan do the job, and watched as he efficiently used some needle to open the lock. He realized he wasn't really needed today, and could end up being dead weight, so, why did Chen Dulan call him? He didn't really know, but he had chosen to follow Chen Dulan and he really didn't have anything better to do. Maybe he could've studied some more but that's also repetition compared to this thrilling experience.

They crept inside and Yao Fang thought the house was built as unimpressive from the inside as he had thought from the outside.

He looked around. The ceiling was covered in cobwebs and the floors were dusty. There was a rotting smell all around, as if the owner had left raw fish to ferment out in the open. And with the hallway being so dark and narrow, he was afraid to step on a bug or on Chen Dulan's feel at any given moment. He scrunched up his nose in disgust. Chen Dulan took one glance at him and without smiling, he looked like he was enjoying it. His amused expression made Yao Fang irritated.

"Young Master, look." Chen Dulan pointed towards a hole in the door, to peak inside and Yao Fang did so. What he saw instantly made his stomach churn upside down.

A dead man lay inside. There was what he assumed, dried blood all around him and on his clothes. The stench was coming from the room and Yao Fang realized the fishy smell was coming from a rotting human corpse. Yao Fang immediately brought a hand to his mouth, nearly throwing up at the sight. He had never seen something so horrid before. "Young Master, if you feel sick then you can step out." Chen Dulan said before loudly opening the sliding door with a bang.

Yao Fang looked horrified when he noticed him taking out gloves from his pockets. "Hey, what do you think you're doing?!" He half-shouted trying not to throw up.

"He hasn't been dead for too long. There aren't any flies or bugs going around, and even if the blood is dry, it's still mostly fresh. He was killed within last two days." Chen Dulan walked inside and picked up the corpse by his hair. "Seems like he had tried to resist before his throat was slit, his eyes are facing away in terror. I don't smell any chemical around, so Azure doesn't have a strong smell most likely."

"Chen Dulan, are you actually crazy?! Stop touching the corpse, it's disgusting!"

"You probably won't like what I will do next. If you're not going to step out then at least don't look here, alright? It won't be a pretty sight." He warned before taking out a knife and started to unbutton the man's shirt. Yao Fang looked confused and scared at how Chen Dulan was about to cut open a corpse's stomach. "If the drug is a fast dissolving one, then the best I can have would be a blood sample." Yao Fang looked away.

Yao Fang noticed other things in the room. There was a chair placed as if it was thrown around, and a lamp that had been pulled away from it's plug. The man had probably struggled to save himself from this murder, had even tried his best. Right, a murder has happened in S Town, and excluding the murderer, him and Chen Dulan are the only witnesses. "Young Master." The voice came followed by the sound of rubber slapping.

"The drug was dissolved, it must be in tablet form then. I have taken a vial of his blood. Let's leave here before anyone else gets suspicious." He said while wrapping the used drugs in a plastic container. He put the corpse back in his original position.

He walked close to Yao Fang and asked. "Do I smell bad?"

"I can't really make out with the stench. I'll know after getting out." He honestly replied.

They slowly made their way outside and apparently, Chen Dulan had found keys inside the man's pockets, and so he locked the door from outside. The neighborhood was quite empty, because the only homes nearby looked vacant, and next to that were a few of empty patches of land. Chen Dulan thought that he hadn't seen such a waste of space in C City ever. Yao Fang on the other hand, had worse things to worry about.

'What the fuck was that.' Was the repeated thought going on in his brain.

"You didn't really need me there today." He stated it as a fact. It was true, so had Chen Dulan only brought him to repulse him? To make him feel sick? Give him possible nightmares? He had no idea, because of the sincere look Chen Dulan gave.

"Let's talk about tonight after I submit the blood sample to Madam Yao. It'll just take a moment."