After leaving the hotel, instead of finding another hotel Liu Yong entered a taxi and told the driver to roam around the city for 30 minutes. During the drive Liu Yong kept a look out for anyone tailing him but there was no one, when the 30 minutes were up Liu Yong gave the address for another hotel. If things keep going like this there won’t be any nice hotels left to stay in.

 

In the new room, seals were put around the door and windows then Liu Yong checked the time, according to what Wu Yun had said during the week, within five days a meeting would be happening in the hotel restaurant, involving all the cultivators that are interested in Wu Yun’s plan. Even though this information was like the ultimate jackpot there was no specific date or time, meaning Liu Yong would need to find a way to stake out the hotel restaurant 24/7.

 

When everything was set up and unpacked, Liu Yong summoned the glass case holding an unconscious Zhou RenShu, the warming seal was removed and a few seconds later the snake woke up. Zhou RenShu only needed a small glance at Liu Yong to make him blow up again and the quiet room was filled with loud hissing and thudding.

 

Fu~ Liu Yong felt this small animal was really testing his patience, he had work to do and couldn’t be bothered babysitting a tantrumous snake. Zhou RenShu’s glass case was placed on the large bed while Liu Yong gathered his work bag and left the room, leaving Zhou RenShu alone.

 

Inside the hotel restaurant Liu Yong was wearing the face of an overworked office worker, sitting at an isolated area he continued to release invisible sealed micro cameras, they were dropped onto the ground to roll to the corners of the room where they would sit on the ceiling. Multiple cameras were also set up in the lobby. Even though his work was finished for now and all he could do was wait, Liu Yong didn’t return to his room, instead he walked over to the bar.

 

The night was falling into when couples and groups would be attending dinner or social drinks, Liu Yong stood at the bar drinking a glass of whisky. The face of an office worker blended into crowds without drawing attention. This caused a red flag to signal in Liu Yong’s mind when a beautiful youth slid in close to his side ordering a glass of wine before she turned to smile sweetly at him.

 

“Hi.” The woman spoke sweetly while smiling subtly, Liu Yong only gave a humble nod before finishing his drink, even with a disguise it was never a good idea to stay and talk to people that didn’t need to be talked to, however just as he was turning the sweet woman wrapped her slender fingers around Liu Yong’s arm, though this woman looked delicate and petite her grip stated otherwise. “Don’t you want to stay and drink with me?”

 

“No, thank you.” Liu Yong removed the hand gripping his arm before making his way back to the elevator. In the room Zhou RenShu had stopped thrashing about and instead was sulking. If he could cry fat tears would be falling down his small face. Liu Yong came into the room wearing his disguise during this and at first Zhou RenShu only wanted to take a peek to see what Liu Yong would do but instead he saw the face of a stranger, thinking back to the woman knocking at the door Zhou RenShu shrunk back in on his small body and hissed loudly. 

 

The last thing Liu Yong wanted to hear was a hissing snake and he gave a cold glare to the loud noodle, forgetting he was wearing another face. When he stepped forward Zhou RenShu stopped hissing and hid his head. Picking up the case from the bed, Liu Yong looked inside to see the scared snake avoiding his eyes. In the glass he saw his reflection and chuckled before tapping the glass until Zou RenShu looked up. The seal was removed before the snake's eyes, Liu Yong chuckled as Zhou RenShu jolted and hissed seeing the transformation happen before his eyes. This snake is quite cute when it’s not annoying.

 

Liu Yong thought over something and opened the case before placing it back on the bed, Zhou RenShu watched curiously in case Liu Yong was going to play a trick on him but the man only took off his suit and changed into a pair of shorts wearing nothing on top. Zhuo RenShu slowly slithered out of the case and sat on the bed like a statue, Liu Yong picked up the menu next to the phone and ordered food before glancing over at the still snake. “Change if you want.’

 

Zhou RenShu sat still for a little longer before changing into his human form, although he had cultivated this morning the double transformation took a lot of his energy leaving Zhou RenShu feeling tired. Liu Yong handed over a robe then continued to work on his laptop while sitting at the table.

 

Even during their meal, Liu Yong stay glued to his laptop, if he could infiltrate the meeting and find where Wu Yun was hiding the stones and demons he had already taken then that would be enough for a bigger team to take over but for now Liu Yong was working on his own against his boss’ wishes. “What are you watching?”

 

Liu Yong was too focused on his screen and Zhou RenShu’s voice was too soft to pull someone out of a focused state, Zhou RenShu’s appetite although big wasn’t as big as Liu Yong’s so he finished eating before the man sitting opposite him. Zhou RenShu was too curious and walked around to see what was so interesting. However before he could stand behind Liu Yong, the tall man shot out of his chair and left the room, grabbing a shirt and shoes on his way out.

 

Zhou RenShu looked at the door that was slammed shut then sat in Liu Yong’s chair. Before his eyes was a live video surveillance of the bar inside the hotel, Zhou RenShu tried to see Liu Yong but he couldn’t see the cold face among the small group of people. Even though he didn’t know why Liu Yong was in such a rush to leave, Zhou RenShu didn’t look away from the screen. Almost losing hope he finally realized Liu Yong was inside the bar but he was wearing the disguise from earlier.

 

Zhou RenShu watched as Liu Yong stepped behind a young man and whispered in his ear, the man turned around and went to attack but Liu Yong reacted first and pinched behind the man's neck, locking all the muscles in the man's body. When the young man fell to the ground Zhou RenShu saw a small girl that had been pressed against the wall. Liu Yong made a quick phone call and left the hotel with the scared girl.

 

This was the first time Zhou RenShu had seen something like this, in the bar the man that had fallen to the ground was carried out by the bar workers and the scene before his eyes returned to a normal bar night. 

 

Outside Liu Yong led the young rabbit demon girl to the end of the street where a colleague was waiting to take her to protective living. During the walk Liu Yong searched through the girl's energy, she had a high clean Yin energy with a soft scent. Of course this would grab the attention of any cultivator but Liu Yong was sure that the man from the bar was a follower of Wu Yun. Why did you become like this, Wu Yun?

 

“Is she the only one?” Liu Yong’s colleague asked while opening the car door for the girl. Liu Yong hummed a low no before turning to make his way back to the hotel. On the way back as he was nearing the hotel entryway Liu Yong felt a familiar energy close by. With quick steps he bypassed the hotel and followed behind the energy in hopes of finding the host. Finding the familiar face.

 

After following behind for 30 minutes Liu Yong felt the energy disappear completely, not even a second later his work phone rang loudly in his pocket. Liu Yong answered without looking at the number since he knew who was on the other end. “Officer Liu, why are you following me?”

 

“You already know why Wu Yun.” Liu Yong couldn’t hide the ice in his voice resulting in a light laugh from the man on the other side. Once the small laugh faded the line went quiet. Liu Yong couldn’t help but feel hatred for the man on the phone and the device in his hand almost cracked from the firm grip. “Fu~ Liu Yong, why didn’t you turn up that night?”

 

Liu Yong didn’t answer as he ended the phone call, his brow was covered in sweat but his body felt cold. Liu Yong walked around the city a while longer before slowly making his way back to the hotel and entering the quiet room. Without realising, Liu Yong had been away for three hours, the dishes were no longer on the table meaning Zhou RenShu must’ve left them out for housekeeping to take away. 

 

The only light in the room was coming from the open laptop still showing the hotel bar, Liu Yong sat down heavily at the table and sighed while rubbing his burning eyes. He changed screens and leaned back in his chair staring at the picture on his screen then turning his gaze to the lump under the blankets on the bed. Unconsciously Liu Yong’s hand moved to delete the photo but stopped at the last second. 

A deep sadness washed over Liu Yong as he went back to staring at the picture. In the picture Liu Yong was leaning against a punching bag drenched in sweat while another man leaned tiredly on his back, showing a toothy smile. Everytime Liu Yong went to delete this picture, that smile would stop him in his tracks, even though he knew that smile would never return.

 

In the end Liu Yong couldn’t bring himself to delete the picture but he also couldn’t look at it anymore, he switched the laptop off plunging the room into a cold darkness. The room reflecting how he felt inside. Why did you change Wu Yun? Why did you become greedy?

 

Liu Yong quickly showered to heat his cold body and to get rid of the anxious sweat that covered his body. After slipping on underwear, Liu Yong slid into the bed. The day's events had taken a toll on his mind more than his body but now that he had time to finally relax, sleep wouldn’t come. Liu Yong let out a long sigh as he closed his eyes but quickly opened them when the photo flashed behind his eyelids.

 

Thinking that sleep wouldn’t be coming anytime soon Liu yong wanted to get out of bed but Zhou RenShu had slinked his way into Liu Yong’s side, not interested in cuddling Liu Yong used one hand to push the light body to the otherside of the bed but Zhou RenShu slithered back obviously seeking warmth.

 

The small boy was pushed away again but it resulted in the same thing, a cold body sticking to his side. Feeling frustrated and fully exhausted now, Liu Yong pushed Zhou RenShu again but kept his hand outstretched to keep the sleeping boy away. The single hand seemed to be enough warmth for Zhou RenShu since he curled in onto the large palm contentedly. With the feeling of the warmth in his hand draining Liu Yong surprisingly fell asleep with ease.

 

_ _ _ _ _ _

 

In the morning Liu Yong awoke to Zhou RenShu gently shaking him awake, a hint of anxiety in his face. “Liu Yong, someone is knocking on th-” KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK! Zhou RenShu jumped at the loud thuds while Liu Yong stood up and walked over to the door, placing another seal to allow Liu Yong to see the other side of the door and he cursed his luck before turning back to Zhou RenShu. “Get in the bathroom, don’t say anything or come out.”

 

Zhou RenShu listened obediently and closed the door silently. Liu Yong didn’t bother getting dressed as he let his Supervisor inside the room. The older man that resembled an angry uncle barged in with a loud huff before pointing his chubby finger in Liu Yong’s face. “You told me you were going on leave! LEAVE! But instead you sneak off and start your own assignment!”

 

The short balding man wiped the spittle from his chin with a tissue Liu Yong handed him, then used it to wipe his sweaty brow. “Xiao Yong, I know you were close to Wu Yun, but that's why I didn’t want you getting involved with this case. And did you really think you could get away with giving the vital information to a different precinct in the hopes that I wouldn’t find out!?” 

“I only called the south precinct since Wu Yun was meeting in their area.” Liu Yong spoke with a lazy tone as he picked the phone up to order breakfast, once the order was made and the phone was placed down Supervisor stood in front of Liu Yong, acting as if he held all the power between the two even though his body hadn’t run in decades and his height was closer to Zhou RenShu than Liu Yong. 

 

“Xiao Yong you leave me no choice. I’m going to have to take your official seal off, I strictly forbid you from covering this case but you directly went behind my back, so until this case is solved you can only return to work if you agree to desk work, if you can’t agree to that then your field work can continue once Wu Yun is persecuted.”

 

Without blinking Liu Yong stretched his hand out and allowed the supervisor to remove the seal from his palm, this removal wouldn’t change anything in terms of Liu Yong’s body or energy but if he was caught going after people in ways that didn’t abide by the laws then he would be trialed like a normal citizen. Supervisor was about to leave when he stopped and his small eyes searched around the room.

 

“You’re rooming with someone else?” The supervisor could sense the energy of a demon but his cultivation wasn’t like what it used to be so demon energies merged into one, meaning he found it hard to differentiate between the different demons unless they were in their demon form. Liu Yong walked towards the kitchen and poured himself a glass of water before speaking.

 

“I cultivated last night and they left early this morning.” Supervisor nodded then gave the room one more glance before bidding farewell to Liu Yong. Inside the bathroom Zhou RenShu could hear everything, even though he heard the Supervisor leave he didn’t want to risk leaving the room and waited for Liu Yong to come get him.

 

Outside the room Liu Yong finished the water slowly while rubbing his thumb over his palm, he still remembered the day all those years ago that the seal was inscribed on his hand. Liu Yong also remembered the day Wu Yun’s seal was removed for causing harm to another officer. Liu Yong stopped thinking about Wu Yun then called out lightly. “You can come out now.”

 

The bathroom door slowly opened as Zhuo RenShu peeked inside before fully entering the main room. Zhuo RenShu felt a little awkward seeing Liu Yong now. Even though Liu Yong looked no different and his cold face was still the same temperature, Zhou RenShu still felt that he shouldn’t have overheard Supervisor's words. “Liu Yong, what will happen now?”

 

“Nothing, I’ll find Wu Yun. Stop his organisation then return to work.” Room service sounded at the door and Liu Yong went forward to bring everything in the room while Zhou RenShu followed behind like a tail. “Will I stay with you?”

 

Liu Yong paused his hands from picking up the two trays before acting indifferent, bringing the food to the table. Zhou RenShu sat down and waited for his porridge to be placed in front of him while also waiting for an answer, only when both dishes were set up with meat and vegetables along with the various condiments did Liu Yong sit down and answer. “I believe you have nothing to do with Wu Yun. Leave if you want. You can go to my work and a social worker will set you up with protective housing.”

 

Zhou RenShu quietly licked at the savoury porridge in his spoon though it was more like he was pushing the porridge away with his mouth rather than trying to eat. Liu Yong also took a while to start his meal too. It was true that Zhou RenShu needed better housing as his current home was more like a damp room in an old widows basement. Moving into a proper apartment would be nice but wouldn’t Liu Yong be lonely without me? Although he is old I feel like he is quite kind to me.

 

Most people saw Liu Yong as a cold man with an even colder personality, although his colleagues respected him they weren’t close to him and while other officers enjoyed throwing office dinners or going out for drinks with colleagues, everyone was too afraid to ask Liu Yong if he wanted to attend. However Zhuo RenShu didn’t know any of this since he had known Liu Yong less than two weeks and most of that time was spent as a caged snake, it was as if he was more of a pet than a friend. Zhou RenShu pushed his meat sitting on top of the porridge until it was completely buried, his voice was so quiet it was as if he was whispering under his breath.

 

“Can you take me to your work after you catch Wu Yun?” Liu Yong’s hands paused. When he looked at the small boy opposite him Zhou RenShu was busy pushing the meat in his bowl but the nervousness was evident on his small face. Zhou RenShu was panicking inside after hearing no reply from Liu Yong, thinking maybe his voice was too quiet or that Liu Yong was trying to get rid of him without being too mean, his anxiety was quickly washed away with one word.

 

“En.”