Captured By The Cold Detective (BL)-Chapter 610: The Recording

The sight of that familiar face was akin to lightning striking Mu Yuze right on the head, leaving him dizzy and disoriented. Along the way here, he had not stopped guessing who He Juan might be talking about. He had even compiled a mental list, but not once... not even once had Zhong Yun’s face come into mind!

He and Zhong Yun had gradually lost contact when the latter had to move to another city following his parents’ divorce, while he was too focused on patching himself up after He Juan’s departure.

Alas, who could have foreseen that one day he would find his old friend here, in such a horrid condition?!

Mu Yuze couldn’t help but run his gaze over Zhong Yun, taking in the bloody marks around his bound wrists, his bloodshot and manic eyes, his mindless struggles, and his overall unkempt state. He almost couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Was this really Zhong Yun, his easygoing and cheerful highschool buddy? How did he end up in such a miserable state?!

"Xiao Ze." A gentle touch on his waist snapped him out of his reverie, and he turned to find He Juan gazing at him in concern. "Are you okay?"

Mu Yuze’s fingertips trembled. "I..." he trailed off, at a loss of words. This was all too much for him to take, and he needed more time to process the current situation.

He Juan’s eyes briefly flicked to Zhong Yun before he flashed a reassuring smile at Mu Yuze. "It seems like we still need to wait a little longer for him to come back to his senses. In the meantime, why don’t we sit down somewhere?"

Mu Yuze dazedly allowed himself to be led out of the room, He Juan’s hand behind his back acting as a solid anchor that grounded him to reality. They entered another room in the underground floor that was furnished with the barest furniture, yet appeared completely uninhabited.

Chen Youzhi left them there, saying, "I will get some drinks."

As soon as the door closed behind the scarred man, He Juan guided Mu Yuze to the bed and pressed on his shoulders to settle him there. Concern etched on his features as he asked, "Are you okay, Xiao Ze? Should I have told you earlier so that you could prepare yourself?" He reached out to touch Mu Yuze’s cheek with the back of his palm, and Mu Yuze subconsciously leaned closer to his touch, a drawn-out sigh escaping his lips.

"I’m fine. Just a little surprised, I guess. Who could have thought that..." the memory of Zhong Yun trembling and grunting like some mindless beast flashed in his mind – a far cry from the positive image the man had imprinted in his memory. Mu Yuze buried his face into his hands, frustration and anger lacing his tone. "How did he become like that? I knew for sure that Zhong Yun wouldn’t have gotten his hands on drugs. Was it the Manipulator’s doing too?"

He Juan could do nothing but hug him and pat his back, consoling him with a deep and gentle voice. "I know this will be hard for you to accept. It’s okay, Xiao Ze. We will tackle this together, okay?" When he received Mu Yuze’s subtle nod, he smiled and added, "About his current state, I guess we will have to see if Chen Youzhi has obtained something."

Chen Youzhi returned shortly after with a tray in hands and a laptop clamped between his armpits. Placing the tray on the table, he gestured for the two of them to help himself as he dragged a chair and settled on it. "I prioritized asking about how he managed to escape from the Manipulator, because I thought you’d want to know that first and foremost, Boss. We reached the halfway mark before his addiction suddenly acted up," he elaborated, opening the laptop. "Please listen to it first."

Chen Youzhi hit the spacebar, and the recording played.

"I hope you understand, Mr. Zhong," Chen Youzhi’s low voice came out from the speaker. "I need to record this conversation so that I can hand it over to XIU. Should we proceed?"

"W–Wait a minute," Zhong Yun’s raspy voice stammered out, and He Juan silently squeezed Mu Yuze’s hand when he felt the omega tensing up beside him. "May I ask if... you’re connected to wifi or any network services?"

"...No, please rest assured that our conversation will be strictly confidential. I have taken appropriate measures to set up multiple firewalls so that I will be alarmed once someone attempts to hack into my laptop."

Zhong Yun sounded extremely relieved when he heard that. "Good, that’s good..."

"Okay, if there’s nothing else, let us proceed. Can you tell me how you went under the radar for these past few months and how you came to know about the Manipulator? The more you elaborate, the better."

"Um well... I–I have told you and XIU about how I pretended to be the delivery guy. As soon as I realized that person was not the real Qin Zhen, I... I rushed back to my apartment—" 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

"And he didn’t chase after you?"

"He..." Zhong Yun began, only to falter in the end. His tone was hesitant as he said, "I’m actually not sure about that. I mean, I knew in an instant that something must have happened to Qin-ge, and I suspected the guy back there had something to do with it. So as soon as I got to my apartment... I... I packed all my important belongings and fled."

"You fled," Chen Youzhi echoed flatly.

"En..."

"And then, how did you find out about his nickname? And how did you end up in such a state?" When he was met with nothing but silence as a response, he added sternly, "Please cooperate with me and tell the truth, Mr. Zhong. Otherwise, I will have to deem you suspicious."

Zhong Yun’s breathing abruptly accelerated. It was apparent that he was getting agitated, having to recount all those bad memories all over again. Or it could also be because of his drug addiction rearing its head. "I... After fleeing, the only thought I had in mind was to go to the last place Qin Zhen visited. I wanted to see if any accidents had happened there, so I went to the Heping Nursing Home and—"

"You went to the Heping Nursing Home? Did you meet Qin Zhen’s father there?" Chen Youzhi’s tone turned sharp.

"I–I didn’t. I didn’t dare to! I intended to snoop around first, so I approached the nurses—"

BANG!

The loud sound of a fist slamming on the table resonated, silencing Zhong Yun midway. "I warned you not to tell any lies, Mr. Zhong." Chen Youzhi hissed sharply. "If you indeed visited the Heping Nursing Home, how come I have never encountered you before? Just so you know, I had been Old Mr. Qin’s personal nurse for several years. Did you ever see me there? Did you recognize me when you saw me today?!"

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A/N: Shout out to ArcaneMag, Sasaki666, Noor_El_Kahlout, and others for giving 160+ GTs for CBCD in November <3<3<3 thank youu so much for all your support!