Liwu too a while to reply and during her moments of pondering, Weijun wondered if she was thinking that he was a bad person. Not just bad, despicable!

He cursed himself for even bringing up the subject. She was a detective who arrested killers, and here he was, wishing his uncle and aunt would just end each other and save the rest of the family the misery of living in fear.

She leaned back into him completely and replied softly, "You are not a bad person, just angry. It is not fair that Shen Biao treated Han Ce badly and he turned around and blamed all the Shen’s for it. He plotted accidents and assassinations. He stole half of your family fortune! He destroyed the foundation of your family. How can you not blame him and your aunt? You have lived in fear all your life, never knowing when you might die. If I were in your shoes, I would have hunted the man down, imprisoned him in a hidden place nobody but me knows about, and I would slice him to pieces little by little for years."

His hand tightened on her waist. He exhaled a breath of relief. Her plan was ruthless, but it made her even more perfect in his eyes. If he had shared something like this with a woman like Manman, she would have said something hypocritical like forgive and forget.

But, he would never forgive or forget. This grudge would be kept until the day he put his uncle in the ground, permanently. He would not take it slow and drag it out for years because systems were unpredictable, and his uncle was a system host.

She stretched her legs, tangling them with his. "You know, this trunk is not so bad. It is a smart car that registers the presence of humans inside, so the windows were lowered as soon as the door was closed as soon as we were locked inside. We have a blanket and I brought my bag. So, we can have dinner and sleep here. It’s quiet. No rabbits, No children. Just us. Oh, well us and your favorite strudels."

Weijun smiled in the dark. "You understand me best."

"Which is why you are going to buy grand aunt Yuening another bunny as an apology gift tomorrow." She told him. "Go to World wide luxury pet store and tell them I sent you. While you are getting Officer Bun’s partner, buy some pet food and collars too. Maybe it will stop your grandaunt from taking her anger out of us. Otherwise, next time, we will be locked in a bathroom or some other place."

He nodded. His wife knew best, so he would follow her advise. "Now that you are done laughing at me, can you have mercy on me and kiss my pain and humiliation away?"

She giggled, turned over and put her hands around his neck. "Of course Sweet Rose."

***

The morning sun filtered through the windows of the car. casting a crimson glow across the dashboard. Liwu opened her eyes first. brushing the tip of her nose against the novel which she had abandoned when Weijun joined her in the trunk last night.

Weijun also rose, rubbing his bruised eye immediately. "I can’t believe I slept in the trunk of a car. Our life is too dramatic," he muttered. "I bet that dumb rabbit had a great night’s sleep in a soft, comfortable bed."

Liwu waved her hand and the trunk popped open. "It is too early for you to be grumpy and hating on Officer Bun."

Before he could retort, Liwu’s watch buzzed. [New Case: A fisherman reported an unusual catch. Immediate response required. Coordinates provided.]

"New case?" Weijun asked.

She nodded. "Someone went fishing and caught something unusual in the sea."

More details scrolled across the screen of her watch. The fisherman was a system host she was familiar with. He had caught a drum with dead boy inside.

Liwu groaned. "Of course. It’s him."

Weijun perked. "Who?"

"Zhou Wuji," She said, her tone dripping with irritation. "That cursed fisherman. Every time he casts his rod or net, he drags up bodies, weapons, or trouble. He catches anything but fish and today, it’s a boy in a drum."

Weijun blinked. "A boy...in a drum?"

Liwu jumped out of the trunk, eyes on her watch. "If Zhou Wuji found it, then it’s a system related case. He is like a magnet for chaos chaos...or death. Whenever he steps in a body of water, corpses float up, old grenades roll out of the water. Even the really rusted ones that should not be working somehow regain their activation. Him and sleazy Han, they are magnets for disaster. I think they were twins in another life."

They arrived at the docks within the hour. The scene was already crowded with gawkers and press. Zhou Wuji stood proudly beside his boast, gesturing to the enormous drum he had hauled from the water.

The sand was crawling with police men, SOB detectives, crime scene analysts. The drum was already open. Inside, curled up and blinking in confusion was a boy no older than twelve. His clothes were soaked, his hair plastered to his forehead.

Liwu’s eyes narrowed. "Can someone explain this to me?"

Zhou Wuji puffed his chest. "It worked, detective Liwu, my system worked! I have finally caught something that is not dead."

Liwu pinched the bridge of her nose. "You caught a child, Zhou Wuji. Bot a rare fish. Not a treasure. A child." She looked around, eyes narrowed on the other detectives from her team. "Can someone tell me why this child has not been removed from the drum already?"

"The drum has some kind of industrial glue at the bottom." Linlin filled in. "He can’t be lifted out without being hurt. We could not cut his feet so we waited for techs to show up and loosen the glue. That was done thirty minutes ago, we are waiting to see if it works."

"ID?" She asked her partner.

Linlin shook her head. "He wouldn’t say. We scanned his face and we are running it through the database." She raised her voice. "This would be easier if you just told us your name."

The boy didn’t respond.

"He could be mute." Weijun suggested.

"I am not mute." The boy quickly denied weakly, before sneezing. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

Linlin punched Weijun on the arm. "Reverse psychology, nice one."

Weijun just smiled. It had not been his intention, but he would never admit this.

Liwu turned to the boy. "Thank you for clarifying. Now what’s your name, where are you from and how did you end up lost at sea in a drum?"