In the end, they didn't really fight.

Qu Xianqing had a habit of using weapons, and without them, she couldn't match Yu Xing's strength.

So after Yu Xing easily subdued her, Qu Xianqing felt the difference between them and changed her tone expressionlessly, "I was wrong. Even now, you can still beat me."

Yu Xing smiled and let her go. They had sparred like this many times before. He had watched Qu Xianqing grow from a girl with no fighting skills into the formidable woman she was now.

About ten years ago, Qu Xianqing had trained with Yu Xing along with Zhu Yan. But then she moved to another province and lost the chance to meet Yu Xing.

When she returned, she was already in her twenties and had become a deductionist. She settled in Mijing City, independent and confident, with a completely different level of combat ability. But she still held respect for Yu Xing.

Well... if occasional teasing and banter counted as respect.

"I don't want to hurt you. Otherwise, I could kill you ten times over with a sword." Qu Xianqing rubbed her slightly sore wrist and showed a hint of teenage defiance.

Yu Xing nodded nonchalantly, "You're right. I'm just relying on the fact that you can't bear to hurt me."

He knew Qu Xianqing wasn't exaggerating. With the sacrificial short sword in her hand, she was someone even he had to keep his distance from.

Otherwise, if he really provoked her, with his current weakened state, he wouldn't resurrect as quickly as she could kill.

Qu Xianqing: "..."

She was a little angry, but she couldn't refute him.

Just as she was about to say goodbye, Yu Xing's expression changed. He turned his head to look in a certain direction, but there was only a wall and a landscape painting wallpaper.

"What's wrong?" Qu Xianqing asked.

"My bait finally caught a big fish." Yu Xing smirked. "I left a trace of ghost energy in Ling Heng's body, making it convenient for me to monitor him. Just now, he moved quickly."

"How fast?" Qu Xianqing crossed her arms, becoming interested.

"Fast enough... for me to know that he just boarded a plane." Yu Xing took out his phone, checked the flight ticket, and then smiled. "Based on the departure time and the direction he's heading, he's going here—"

He tapped the screen twice and flipped the phone to show Qu Xianqing.

Qu Xianqing glanced at it.

The phone displayed an enlarged map, with a moderately-sized city in the center.

Wannan, the Floating Flower Market.

"Is he going to find the other members of the Prism?" Qu Xianqing asked. "But why now?"

After Qu Xianqing finished speaking, she lowered her eyelashes and calmly analyzed, "You've been monitoring his movements with ghost energy these days, but you haven't interfered. Obviously, you were waiting for today. It shows that you knew he would definitely seek help from his companions. And from what you've described about Ling Heng, he is a biologist, which means... is he conducting some kind of experiment recently?"

Yu Xing looked at her thoughtfully.

Qu Xianqing didn't notice his gaze and continued with her logic, "If he's so eager, it must be related to recent changes. His biggest recent change is the death of his girlfriend. So, is he trying to resurrect his girlfriend? If that's the case, his sacrificial item must have the ability to capture souls, which is quite rare... Why are you looking at me like that?"

"It's nothing, nothing~" Yu Xing looked at her with interest. "I was just thinking that your deductive ability has improved since entering the deduction game."

What's important is this keenness, being able to see through distractions and go straight to the core of the problem.

"That's inevitable. I don't have teammates, so I have to rely on myself for everything." Qu Xianqing accepted the praise calmly and explained, "At first, I had no sacrificial item, no experience, nothing. If I wanted to survive in the face of specters and humans, I had to improve myself and make sure I had no weaknesses."

"The same goes for deduction. If I were weak, I would have died long ago."

The girl was only twenty-three years old, the same age as the one on Yu Xing's ID card.

But she didn't seem like a twenty-three-year-old at all. She was terrifyingly resilient. The more casually she spoke, the more it revealed the hardships she had experienced.

Yu Xing's bony hand landed on Qu Xianqing's head and ruffled her soft hair.

Qu Xianqing was taken aback for a moment, then instinctively pushed away Yu Xing's hand and tidied her hair, disdainfully saying, "Don't get me wrong. I'm not sentimental. Even if you're getting older, don't show any pity towards me."

"Wait a little longer." Yu Xing wasn't annoyed either. He retracted his hand and smiled, "Once I reach the differentiation stage, you'll have teammates."

"..." Qu Xianqing didn't look at him and went to the kitchen to get a glass of cold water.

After taking a sip, she muttered softly, "Just ten more years. Ten years ago, you looked like my big brother, and ten years later, you'll look like my son. Just you wait, son!"

After all, this old monster never changes its appearance!

"What about the ten years in between?" Yu Xing followed her silently, leaning against the kitchen doorway, smiling."Those ten years in between." Qu Xianqing glanced at him while holding her water cup, showing no embarrassment of being caught gossiping behind his back. She walked past him back to the living room, "As long as you don't do anything that makes me misunderstand that you like me, you won't seem like my boyfriend."

She paused for a moment, then came up with an answer: "Those ten years were like colleagues."

Yu Xing clapped his hands: "Impressive, impressive. Alright then, Miss Colleague, I'm about to buy a ticket to the Flower Market, you—"

"I'm going too." Qu Xianqing said, "I don't want to let any of the prism people slip away."

It can be hard to make great work when its stolen from "p𝑎wread.com".

……

Zhu Yan, who was whiling away her time in the hospital, wore a gloomy expression as she listened to the young policewoman, who Han Jiang had left to take care of her, explain the many benefits of being a consultant over being an informant.

After she was injured, Han Jiang would come to see her after work, and he even brought along the only female officer from the criminal investigation team—an intern.

The young policewoman was thrilled to learn that she was the only one, besides Han Jiang, who knew about Zhu Yan's informant identity. Following Han Jiang's instructions to "keep her company", she insisted on chatting with Zhu Yan.

For instance, everyone in the team was discussing who the arrested suspect had stabbed, and even placed bets on it. In the end, Han Jiang revealed that the victim was one of his important informants, causing the deputy team leader to lose the bet and treat the entire team to breakfast.

Another instance was when the deputy team leader, unwilling to admit defeat, found an opportunity to treat Han Jiang to a lavish meal.

After she finished telling all the interesting stories within the team, the young policewoman seemed to have received new instructions from Han Jiang and changed the topic.

"Actually, being a consultant is much safer than being an informant. Once your identity is public, everyone in the team can protect you. They always complain about not having any female members in the team, so they will definitely cherish you! There won't be any more terrifying incidents like the one the day before yesterday..."

Zhu Yan was annoyed by her chatter.

She regretted not pretending to faint by hitting her head on the ground when she had the chance.

Her phone, which was placed on the bedside table, vibrated. Zhu Yan perked up and picked it up to look at it.

As expected, it was a WeChat message from Yu Xing.

San: I have something important to do and will be in southern Anhui for at least a week, so I won't be able to visit you. If you need anything, call me or send me a WeChat message. Take good care of your "injury"~

Zhu Yan was touched by the first few sentences, thinking that Yu Xing was still concerned about her even though he was leaving.

But when she saw the last sentence, the obvious schadenfreude, she gritted her teeth in secret.

Damn it, next time he asks for my help with an investigation, I'll show him what a rebellious subordinate looks like!