Ch82 - Secret Code

According to the head of the department, Xie An’s situation this time was going to be rather complicated.

“The Investigation Team discovered that the name list didn’t match up, and asked Xie An to cooperate with the investigation. It’s already gotten to this point, if he cooperates then they can at least come to an agreement. But something is wrong with Xie An this time, he’s such an honest person but he isn’t willing to talk at all. We don’t know why he wants to protect that stowaway either, but if this continues, he might be terminated by the Grim Reaper Bureau…”

Xie An had been with them for so many years, he was always sincere and hardworking, and was a pretty good subordinate.

The Department Head of course wanted things to be okay with Xie An, but whether it was him or the investigation team who went over, it wouldn’t matter, the investigation was at an impasse.

The Department Head called for Lu Xu so that he could go see Xie An, on one hand hoping that this problem would quickly resolve itself, on the other wanting to protect Xie An.

“I’ve already greeted the Investigation team, you can go and talk to Xie An if you’re not busy now. He’s been with you for so many years, maybe he will listen to you.”

“Okay.” Lu Xu was actually quite surprised by Xie An’s actions this time, and felt like he must be hiding something.

After he hung up the phone, Lu Xu planned to go to the Bureau and take a look, maybe the situation could still take a turn.

He waited for his roommates to fall asleep, and then went to the address of the Investigation Team given to him by the Department Head.

There was a time difference between the underworld and the real world, and the early morning was when the civil servants went to work.

The Investigation Team’s office wasn’t far from the road to the underworld. The front desk heard sounds from the entrance, and without even raising their heads said, “Who is it, what are you doing here so early?”

Lu Xu wasn’t in a hurry, his attitude was extremely calm and determined. “Hello, I’m here to look into something, the Department Head should have informed you already.”

“Ah?” When the front desk heard this, they did think it was quite familiar-sounding, and when they raised their head they immediately recognised that it was Lu Xu, and were so excited they nearly jumped out of their chair. “Aaaaaaaaah, Master Lu Xu! I’m your fan!”

“Oh? Thank you for your support.” Lu Xu had never thought that he would have a fan of his on the Investigation Team, and his smile became very warm. “So, can I check in with my colleague?”

“Please wait!” The front desk employee immediately looked at their notebook, and nodded when they found the letter sent in by the Department Head. “They did indeed let us know, so sorry, I didn’t think you’d come here…”

The front desk explained it simply to Lu Xu, and called up the Detention Team. “Mn mn, someone is here, can they go in? Okay, thank you for your hard work.”

After hanging up the call, the front desk employee smiled brightly at Lu Xu. “I’ve let them know, you can go right on in.”

“My thanks.” Lu Xu nodded politely to the employee, and then marched right in.

As he looked inside, he saw the heavily guarded facilities and couldn’t help but feel worried for Xie An.

“Xu ge!”

When someone came out of the detention room, Lu Xu almost didn’t recognise him.

Xie An had had a thin face before, and his suit had already looked baggy and empty on his body.

He had been under investigation the past few days, yet his complexion was shiny and he seemed to have gained a little weight.

Seeing Xie An like this, Lu Xu couldn’t even say the sentence “Brother, you’ve had a rough time”.

He looked at Xie An for a while then said, “Looks like the food here is pretty good?”

“Eh?” Xie An hadn’t thought that the first thing Lu Xu would say to him would be about the food here, rather than asking how he was. He didn’t really take it to heart, and he said earnestly, “Yes, the portions of incense here are excellent, even better than the ones in my shop.”

In order to create a civilised and harmonious investigating atmosphere, the detention centre’s treatment was considered extremely humane.

Not only was there no such thing as lynching or the like, even the food standards were obviously very good.

Even so, the fact that Xie An still had the mood to eat such things while he was locked up, Lu Xu didn’t know whether his attitude was a bit too good.

“I heard the Department Head say that you weren’t cooperating with the investigation?”

Seeing Xie An hesitate, Lu Xu couldn’t help but laugh mockingly. “I see, Xie An. I always thought you were very reliable, I never thought you would learn to protect stowaways!”

“They’re not a stowaway!” When Xie An heard Lu Xu say those things, he quickly explained.

“Oh? If they’re not a stowaway, then what are they?”

“…”

There was no telling what Xie An was thinking, he looked extremely hesitant.

“Xie An, I’m asking you. If he isn’t a stowaway, then what is he, and why have you been protecting him for so long?”

Lu Xu was usually smiling, looking like a sunshine boy everyone was familiar with. But only Xie An knew that he was treading the edge of danger.

Lu Xu was different, he was the kind that would ask once, and if you didn’t tell him, he would find out for himself and never ask you again.

Xie An wasn’t a fool, he knew that Lu Xu cared about him.

There were many things he could hide from others, but he had never wanted to hide anything from Lu Xu.

This was a serious incident, he would probably receive punishment, but no matter what that person said, he still wanted to help.

There were many eyes watching the room right now, if he were to say it outright, then everyone would know.

Xie An’s expression didn’t give much away, he just suddenly asked Lu Xu. “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen Ba Mei, is Ba Mei’s little warehouse doing well?”

Lu Xu raised his brow when he heard that, and slightly nodded. “Very well, you’d better worry about yourself first. You’d best cooperate with the investigation and figure things out, otherwise, it will be quite troublesome.”

The two of them barely spoke before the time with Xie An was over.

The Investigation Team thought that Lu Xu had come over to chase a lead or something, but in the end no clues of import were discovered.

“Xu ge, I…” Before he was taken away, Xie An couldn’t resist turning his head around to look at Lu Xu, as though he had a million other things to say.

“That’s all right, eat well when you’re in there, cooperate with the investigation.” Lu Xu looked as though nothing had happened, and with an expressionless face said, “Ba Mei is doing well with me, its little warehouse is always full.”

Xie An seemed to be relieved for now when he heard Lu Xu say that.

He nodded, and then went back into his detention room.

When Lu Xu came out, the door to the Investigation Team’s office just so happened to open as well, and sounds came out—

“Rest assured, we will never tolerate things like sheltering stowaways, we’ll definitely give everyone their dues.”

“That’s great, people like that are really the scum of the grim reapers. This incident is so serious, the Grim Reapers in every district are all watching this case, wanting to see how the Bureau will handle this…” Lu Xu recognised the person speaking, it was Peng Hanfei from the Southwest Bureau.

He remembered the report that the Department Head had spoken about, and Lu Xu found himself standing in the middle of the corridor with his arms over his chest, waiting to welcome them.

Peng Hanfei came here to “help” with the investigation, thinking that dealing with Xie An as quickly as possible would help in maintaining the discipline of the bureau. Just as he was speaking, he lifted his head and saw Lu Xu standing in the corridor, looking his way, his smile not reaching his eyes, which were full of scrutiny.

Being looked at like this, Peng Hanfei couldn’t help but take a step back. When he regained his composure he was frustrated at himself. It wasn’t a big deal, why did he take a step back as though he had a guilty conscience?

So what if he was the one who made the report, the fault was with the Eastern Bureau; he was the one who had noticed the leak, that was all.

As he thought that, Peng Hanfei found himself straightening up, widening his eyes and looking straight at Lu Xu, as though they were at odds.

However, Lu Xu didn’t think too much about it, and just glanced at him before saying hello to the investigative team.

“Oho, isn’t this our star Grim Reaper Lu Xu?” It wasn’t a secret that Lu Xu had joined the idol competition, because his fans were so zealous, no matter whether he was in the underworld or in the mortal world, they would all see the programs related to him. “The Department Head already told me about it, if you can help then help, if not then there’s nothing else to it. Either way, we are doing things according to the law, we have to give everyone justice…”

For the Southwest Bureau to chase it all the way to a place like this in order to supervise, it seemed as if they wouldn’t accept it if Xie An didn’t receive a harsh punishment.

“Xie An’s situation hasn’t been clearly investigated yet; the current evidence can’t lead to any conclusions.” Lu Xu’s expression was still amiably smiling, but his tone wasn’t soft in any way. No matter how stupid Xie An’s actions might be, he could admonish him, but others couldn’t. If they were allowed to indiscriminately label him, there was no telling what things they would say about Xie An.

Peng Hanfei didn’t think Lu Xu’s attitude would be this stubborn. Even though it was obvious his colleague had made a mistake, the feeling he gave off was very protective.

“They’ve already found out about a stowaway, what else is there to say about it?”

“Tsk tsk, I thought you were talking about somebody important. Isn’t this the Southwest Bureau’s shift? At this time, shouldn’t you be at work? Running over here at this time, no wonder there are so many clients waiting for me in the southwest district.”

Lu Xu’s retort was witty enough that Peng Hanfei had no idea what to say in response.

Logic truly had the most weight, and was the most capable at figuring out problems.

Disregarding everything else, Lu Xu had come to the Southwest Grim Reaper Division’s territory to enter in an idol contestant show, so his clientele performance didn’t even have to do with money.

Although the words weren’t very pretty to hear, there were no issues in what Lu Xu had just said.

Not looking after his own division very well and letting another professional take on the job; it was clear that he didn’t have a proper work ethic. It was pretty shameless of him to carelessly run around like this.

Lu Xu obviously hadn’t said anything scathing, but this attitude made Peng Hanfei’s face hurt all the more.

Lu Xu wasn’t interested in any of his moods or reactions and merely nodded his head at the head of the Investigation Team in order to affirm his own attitude, before leaving the scene.

On the way back, Lu Xu first took on two orders, then, because he wasn’t in a great hurry to return to the dorm, went back to his work district to the Life’s End Service Terminal.

Although Xie An didn’t explain things clearly, Lu Xu had understood his intentions.

Talking about Ba Mei’s little warehouse, pointed to Ba Mei’s secret hole.

As a little kitty who could eat a lot, Ba Mei was very aware of its own eating capabilities. In order to protect its food supply, Ba Mei would sometimes hide things. If it was something it liked, it was probably in there.

Canned food, snacks, chicken jerky, and even its favorite little toys were in the little warehouse.

He and Xie An had once accidentally come across this little space. At that time, Xie An had even joked, “The place Ba Mei has found is pretty secretive. If we have any important documents and materials in the future, shouldn’t we borrow Ba Mei’s space for a bit?”

Lu Xu still remembered the words Xie An had spoken before. Now that he had mentioned it again, it was obvious there was something wrong.

When Lu Xu returned to the Life’s End Service Terminal and moved aside Ba Mei’s food bowl at the end of the room, he saw that other than Ba Mei’s snacks in the hole in the wall behind, there really was a yellow bag of files.

Lu Xu grabbed the files to take a look, and saw a date written with a fountain pen on top—

February 28, 1970.