DA chapter 76

“You’re not an accountant, are you?”

Lin Jia easily picked up the questioning meaning behind it. He wasn’t an accountant to begin with, so he didn’t intend to explain or clarify.

The entire apartment was quiet—one was picking at its fur, one was drinking, and one was watching.

What broke the silence was a—thud.

Following the last time one can was enough to knock him down, Yan Xu collapsed after just half a can this time.

The beer slipped from Yan Xu’s hand, rolled around the edge of the table, and fell to the ground with a “pa-da.”

Beer splashed.

This didn’t look like drunkenness.

Lin Jia stood up, and the cat stopped grooming itself. Both the man and the cat stared closely at Yan Xu.

Lin Jia walked toward to Yan Xu.

He reached out his hand, but paused for a moment just as he was about to touch Yan Xu. Back in the Fish Belly, Yan Xu had warned him not to touch him casually because he would instinctively subdue anyone who approached.

Lin Jia had been hurt before—Yan Xu had almost broken his arm. He endured the pain through sheer self-control and even used it to flirt with Yan Xu a bit.

The last time Yan Xu got drunk, Lin Jia threw a blanket over him and let Yan Xu “practice martial arts” on the blanket for a while. Only after wrapping the blanket around Yan Xu’s hands did Lin Jia coax the physically strong man into the bedroom to sleep.

His fingers curled slightly as he placed his hand on Yan Xu’s shoulder.

Unexpectedly, Yan Xu didn’t react defensively this time. He obediently lay on the table.

“Yan Xu.” Lin Jia immediately realized something was wrong. He called Yan Xu several times but got no response.

The cat avoided the spilled beer on the ground and jumped over it. Lin Jia turned his palm upward—there were a few streaks of blood.

The cat exclaimed, “You’re injured!”

Lin Jia frowned, his gaze darkening as he looked at Yan Xu.

Yan Xu was wearing a black jacket. From the outside, it was impossible to tell where he was injured. Lin Jia nudged the cat. “Go to his bedroom and find the clothes he changed out of.”

The cat didn’t react immediately. “What? How do you know he changed clothes?”

But Lin Jia didn’t explain further. He gently shook Yan Xu. “Captain Yan.”

Thud—

A stack of documents slipped lightly out of Yan Xu’s arms. The cat came out of the bedroom carrying bloodstained clothes in its mouth.

Lin Jia picked up the documents. Seeing the words “J0001,” he understood everything.

This person had gone to look for information about J0001. Judging by the blood on the clothes, the injury was on the right shoulder. The reason there was no response after knocking for so long was that he had hurriedly changed out of the bloody clothes. Worried that Lin Jia would smell the blood in the room, he opened the windows to air it out.

Like a spinning top, he rushed around the apartment, taking care of everything. However, he hadn’t heard the movement outside the door. Worried that Lin Jia had left, he hurriedly took out his phone to call while opening the door. Only after seeing Lin Jia did he relax, leaning weakly against the doorframe and pretending that nothing had happened.

Lin Jia stood in place, his expression unreadable.

The documents in his hand showed that, many years ago in the Underwater World, J0001 had descended. Road surveillance had captured Yan Xu approaching the storm brought by J0001.

This confirmed that Yan Xu was the cat.

“Lin Jia.” The cat asked cautiously, “He won’t die, right?”

Lin Jia looked at the cat. “Do you feel like you’re about to die?”

The cat sensed itself carefully and said, “No.”

Then most likely Yan Xu was fine.

“Don’t merge yet,” Lin Jia said. “Take care of him first.”

Fearing that Lin Jia would leave it behind, the cat nervously asked, “Then what about you?”

Lin Jia pulled open Yan Xu’s shirt and saw the bullet wound on his shoulder.

It was a bullet graze wound. The skin and flesh were mangled, and fresh blood flowed out in streams. The blood exposed to the air had begun to dry and stick to his clothes.

There were cotton-like fibers in the wound; he must have done some basic treatment to stop the bleeding.

It was unclear where Yan Xu had gotten the information, but since he had chosen to return to the apartment, it meant that his identity hadn’t been exposed during the process.

However, Lin Jia didn’t go to the pharmacy downstairs to buy medicine. Instead, he went to a pharmacy in another block.

“These are the trauma medicine and antibiotics you need,” the clerk said. “Register here.”

Lin Jia had never purchased trauma medicine before and didn’t know if registration was required. He sensed that providing his name might cause trouble.

As he calmly glanced at the surveillance camera installed in the corner of the wall, his thumb rubbed the side of his fingertip. For two seconds, he met the camera’s gaze. Then, he raised his hand to cover his right shoulder, took the pen with his left hand, and signed his name on the registration form.

His handwriting was uneven and shaky, indicating that it was not his usual handwriting.

After taking the medicine and leaving, the clerk followed him out and watched the direction Lin Jia went in.

The clerk then returned to the pharmacy and reported: “Five minutes ago, someone bought these medicines. Yes, his right shoulder is injured. I saw him cover the wound, and when he registered, he used his left hand.”

“His name is…” The clerk took the registration form. “Lin Jia.”

Clang.

He threw the medicine he had just bought into the trash can. Lin Jia held an umbrella, tilting it to hide the movement of him making a call.

“First District, He’an Street, third trash can.” His tone was unhurried. “Go there and retrieve the medicine.”

The cat on the other end of the phone was nervous, its paws clutching the smartwatch around its neck. “What happened?”

Lin Jia: “Disinfect first. The disinfectant is in a white bottle. If he can’t stand the pain, put something in his mouth so he doesn’t bite his tongue.”

The cat swallowed a few times. “You…where are you?”

Lin Jia: “After disinfecting, wrap it with a bandage. Not too tight, not too loose. After that, don’t rush to give him anti-inflammatory medicine. He drank alcohol, he can’t take cephalosporin. Wait until he’s sober, then give him two anti-inflammatory pills, the red box.”

Fearing he might forget, the cat quickly found paper and pen to write down Lin Jia’s instructions.

“Written down?” Lin Jia walked into an alley. “Don’t call me again after this.”

Even the cat sensed that something was wrong. “Then what about you?”

Lin Jia said, “When he no longer needs care, you merge.”

The cat asked again. “Then what about you? …Lin Jia.”

The “Lin Jia” from the phone wasn’t the cat’s voice—it was Yan Xu’s.

The cat turned its head to glance at Yan Xu, who was still unconscious, and said, “He’s been calling your name. You… do you have anything to say to him?”

The hand gripping the umbrella tightened slightly. Yan Xu’s voice through the receiver sounded distant. Lin Jia thought for a moment. “I…”

“…Lin Jia.”

“…bastard.”

Lin Jia: “…”

Lin Jia said, “No. I’m hanging up.”

The cat hurriedly asked, “Lin Jia, will you be in danger?”

Lin Jia: “I’ll come back and make you keep your promise. Don’t ask about anything else.”

Beep beep beep—

Beep beep beep—

Lin Jia casually threw the phone away. It fell into a puddle, but he didn’t stop. He continued walking deeper into the dark alley. Soon, he disappeared into the endless long alley.

Pat pat.

Chaotic footsteps splashed through the water.

“Wait, there’s a phone here.”

“It’s broken.”

“Keep chasing.”

Pat pat, pat pat.

Amid the noisy rain, the footsteps grew closer. Lin Jia adjusted his wristwatch.

Two people approached.

“Damn, it’s a fork in the road. Three paths.”

“You go that way; I’ll go this way. Have someone block the end of the other path.”

“There’s no need to make it so troublesome.”

Lin Jia stepped out from the darkness. Raindrops fell from the sky, striking the umbrella’s surface and splashing everywhere.

The roles of hunter and hunted had reversed—Lin Jia appeared behind the two people.

When they turned around, they saw Lin Jia closing the umbrella, letting the heavy rain pour onto his shoulders.

Eighteen minutes—Lin Jia had waited here for eighteen minutes, finally getting his target. He held the handle of the umbrella like a pitch-black rapier.

Before the two could react, the blade pierced the rain and accurately stabbed one person in the right shoulder.

The speed was fast—the next person also couldn’t escape the long-awaited attack.

Again, the target was the right shoulder—the second person’s right shoulder was pierced by the tip of the black umbrella.

Lin Jia opened the umbrella again. At the three-way fork, he took none of the paths, but returned the way he came.

The heavy rain poured down, washing the bloody scent off the tip of the umbrella clean.

He had acted on impulse. During those eighteen minutes, he could have found a safe place to rest. Now, hounds were after him. There was nowhere to go in the Underwater World; only the Fish Belly remained.

Lin Jia sighed. He had always been someone who would take revenge for the slightest grievance.

Oh, right! Yan Xu had just called him a bastard!

Lin Jia thought that next time they met, he would curse him back.

…What should he say?

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