Bang!
The door closed, and Ying'er entered the room with a suspicious look, her big red eyes scanning the room.
"What shady thing are you up to this time?"
"What do you mean shady? I was just putting on my pants and didn't expect you to be at the door, so I blocked it in a hurry," Galon said, rubbing his numb scalp with both hands.
"No! What's that under your bed?" Ying'er's sharp eyes immediately spotted something suspicious. She walked a few steps forward to stand in front of Galon. "Move aside, I want to see what disgusting thing you're up to!"
"What are you doing? Stop making trouble so late!" Galon frowned on purpose.
"Move!" Ying'er, who tends to act impulsively when angered, became even more suspicious seeing Galon not moving.
"Stop it!"
"I said move!" Ying'er's voice deepened, and her expression turned icy cold. "It seems the lesson I gave you last time wasn't enough..."
Galon's expression changed slightly. The last time was because he had collected some adult magazines intending to hide them but was caught and beaten up by Ying'er. Such an embarrassing incident, even if not his own experience, was enough.
But no matter what, the clothes under the bed absolutely could not be discovered!
Seeing him silent, Ying'er's expression turned uglier.
"It seems I really need to teach you a lesson this time!" She clenched her little fists, making a crisp sound.
"It's not that kind of thing, believe me!" Galon looked into Ying'er's eyes, having just accidentally killed someone with his newfound strength, he didn't want to fight with his sister, fearing he might accidentally exert too much force again...
Ying'er stared into his eyes and surprisingly found no trace of embarrassment or rage, only a faint sincerity.
After a long stare, Ying'er finally exhaled slowly.
"Are you sure?"
"I'm sure!" Galon quickly replied. "Aside from this matter, I'll agree to any request you have!"
"Fine, I'll ask you a few questions. If you answer truthfully, I won't delve into this matter," Ying'er paused.
"No problem!"
"Do you like dad?" "Of course, that's easy."
"Do you like mom?" "Definitely."
"Do you like uncle?" "Yes."
"Do you like Effie?" "Like... Who's Effie?"
Galon took a deep breath, "Good thing I reacted quickly..."
His heart, which had just calmed down, fluttered again, feeling a strange sense of relief from surviving a major crisis. He hadn't expected his sister to even know Effie, the prettiest girl among his female classmates.
"Alright... I'll let you off this time. But if you bring in that kind of disgusting stuff again, don't blame me..." Ying'er smiled with satisfaction. "I'm going out now, you should go to sleep early."
"Got it, got it, you go to sleep too..." Galon exhaled in relief. "See you tomorrow."
Mm, see you tomorrow... You wish!!!" Ying'er screamed, lunging towards the bed and diving under it with incredible speed.
Galon hurriedly knelt down to follow, reaching for the bundle of clothes.
The bundle of bloody clothes was squeezed further under the bed by Ying'er's vigorous movement, almost out of reach.
"What's in the clothes!? Tell me!" Ying'er pushed forward, trying to grab the bundle.
"Nothing!!"
"If I catch you, you're dead!!" Ying'er's legs were held by Galon as she continued to crawl forward, trying to break free from the restraint behind her.
Galon held her from behind, but dared not apply too much force, only lightly embracing her. Unfortunately, his strength was too weak, and Ying'er broke free with a push.
Bang!
"Ouch..."
Ying'er's forehead hit the wooden board under the bed, and her body immediately recoiled.
Galon, feeling a thud in his head, found himself directly under his sister's skirt. The round buttocks wrapped in black tights were close at hand, with a faint glimpse of white beneath the black. His nose was almost touching her buttock skin.
A faint scent of a young girl mixed with a light sweat smell entered his nose, and he unconsciously took a deep breath.
Both were frozen for a moment.
Ying'er didn't dare to move, her cheeks, neck, and entire body quickly turning pink.
She could clearly feel her buttocks facing Galon's face, probably everything under her skirt was exposed.
And Galon was momentarily confused, the most tempting part of a girl right in front of him, unsure how to react.
Knock, knock, knock.
A knocking sound came.
"Have you two made enough noise in there? Hurry up and wash up for bed! There's school tomorrow!" Their father, Aisen, stood at the door and shouted.
Both jumped nervously.
This position, if seen by their father...
"Got it, we'll be right there!" Galon quickly responded, hurrying to get out from under the bed.
After their father's footsteps faded away, Galon immediately crawled out from under the bed.
Following him, Ying'er also crawled out, her hands tightly covering her buttocks, her face flushed, avoiding Galon's gaze.
"I'm going to sleep now." She murmured and quickly left the room.
Galon took a deep breath, sat on his bed, and strangely felt calm after the ambiguous scuffle with his sister, oddly soothing the panic and agitation from the murder.
The room still faintly smelled of Ying'er. Galon sat on his bed until Ying'er's bedroom light went out, then went out to fetch a clothesline, hooked the bloodied clothes from under the bed, and quietly took them to the bathroom to wash by hand.
A week later.
"Old man, any new developments? Any good stuff that's come in? Show me what you've got," Galon idly fiddled with a golden button at the table, purportedly from the famous Agate Queen's dress three hundred years ago.
"New stuff? What new stuff could there be? Last time, thieves cleaned me out!" the old man rummaged through the bookshelf, "Oh! I have a book you might appreciate, consider it a token for coming to comfort this dying old man in his time of need."
"What book?"
"You'll see."
The old man rummaged left and right, then used a chair to reach up, pulling out a large, black hardcover book from the top shelf of the bookcase.
"Here, take this." The old man, struggling down from the chair, handed the book to Galon.
Taking the hefty tome, Galon wiped off a thick layer of dust from the cover, revealing some unrecognizable black characters beneath.
Flipping open the first page, Galon's pupils dilated slightly.
A massive cool breeze suddenly surged into his palm, traveling up his arm and into his head.
"Potential! It's potential!! So much of it...!"
He was completely taken aback, as the book had been silent upon first touch, but began to absorb potential when he opened it.
His heart beat unnaturally fast a few times, and Galon glanced over the rapidly increasing potential numbers in his vision, directly focusing on the content of the pages.
The pages, filled with dense, unreadable text and interspersed with black and white sketches, mostly depicted strange, irregular geometric lines, resembling mechanical designs or complex terrain maps. The drawings were densely marked with small symbols and text.
Galon couldn't understand the content, but that didn't stop him from absorbing potential from the book. Flipping through page after page, time slowly passed.
Half an hour later...
Galon slowly closed the book, exhaling deeply.
"Finished?" The old man narrowed his eyes, looking closely at the book's cover, a hint of disappointment flashing in his eyes.
"Finished. This thing is definitely an ancient antique!" Galon spoke with certainty.
"Only now you realize?" The old man seemed much relieved, as if letting go of a burden,
"Alright, I'm closing early today, you better leave, I have things to do."
Galon looked outside; the sun had completely set, leaving only a trace of red in the clouds.
"Alright, I'll head back then. See you tomorrow."
"Yeah, get out of here, kid!" The old man jokingly scolded.
"By the way, how's it going with the Mercury Detective?" Galon asked before leaving.
"An explosion occurred at Quiola Town on the outskirts yesterday, and the Mercury Detective was injured, now in the hospital," the old man sighed, "Even the famous Mercury Detective has hit a snag, seems like my things won't be recovered."
"That's not necessarily true. I've looked into the Mercury Detective's cases, and that guy is no ordinary person. The mystery of the stolen million-dollar painting in New Zealand, the Siridha Nine Rings murder case, the deciphering of the Torch Legend, and so on. He constantly faces new opponents, traveling to different places to solve mysteries, practically living for the cases. In my view, this Golden Circle case won't be an exception," Galon offered some consolation.
"Then thank you for your good words. Now get out, I need to close up," the old man waved his hands, urging him to leave.
"Got it." Galon, carrying his backpack, left the shop.
Glancing at the potential points in his vision.
Potential: 179%. It was only around 58 the night he encountered that car and killed someone.
"That book..." While feeling good, a hint of doubt flashed in his eyes, "Something seems off."
After Galon left, the old man locked the shop door, sat back in front of the bookshelf, and opened the black hardcover book again, caressing the pages with a complex expression.
After a long while, he finished the book completely.
"I should have known the outcome earlier, but I couldn't help wanting to leave something behind..."
Shaking his head, the old man slowly closed the book.
Turning it over, he closed the cover, and the black text on the cover quietly turned into dark red, as if blood had flowed through the pen strokes, leaving behind the dark red of coagulated blood.