ACIFITFDB – Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Who Uses a Marrow Bone to Hit Someone?

The city at night was resplendent with neon lights, the sky itself dyed a hazy glow, a complete light pollution. But darkness never truly retreated; it lingered in every corner of the city. Take the alley where the dog was just found, for example; without any lights from the surrounding residences, not a sliver of illumination could be seen. Perhaps it was too dark that no one had come to rescue the dog.

Qin Xian stood by the window, looking down for a while. He put on his jacket, preparing to head out. He had too many questions in his mind, but agonizing over them at home wouldn’t yield any answers. It was better to go for a walk. It was the dead of night, the time when demons and monsters emerged.

“Awooo…”

The dog’s bark interrupted Qin Xian’s action of opening the door. It seemed to be trying to assert its presence, reminding its owner that there was another living creature in the house. An ordinary person might have immediately gone to comfort and pet it. But Qin Xian’s heart was not much softer than wood. After a glance at the balcony to confirm the dog was fine, he closed the door and left.

Music from the downstairs resident’s fitness area, with its pulsating rhythm, reached Qin Xian as soon as he went downstairs. He headed in the opposite direction of the sound. It wasn’t just Qin Xian who disliked noisy environments. These crowds of people, who had companions in their retirement and the energy and health to dance, were not favored by the grotesque either. The grotesque fed on human negative emotions; the more negative emotions there were, the easier it was to attract them. Places like hospitals, office buildings, and some schools were prime examples.

Qin Xian opened his map app, searched for the nearest hospital, and then slowly ambled in that direction. He actually didn’t want to deal with the grotesque anymore. His dream was to return to the normal world and live a peaceful life. But right now, his doubts and unease compelled him to act.

Unfortunately, this hospital wasn’t well-known and didn’t have many patients. Qin Xian slipped in while the security guard was yawning. After half a circle, he saw nothing unusual. Even the inpatient department had only a few people, and the doctor on duty was asleep at his desk. Everything seemed normal.

“Tsk.” Qin Xian walked out, feeling displeased. As he was about to leave, he suddenly noticed a vegetable market nearby. On a meat stall, two unsold, enormous beef marrow bones were displayed. Fresh beef for the next day was being butchered next to it, and as the sharp knives cut down, the living muscle still twitched like worms. Residual blood spread on the ground, adding more stains to the surface already covered in a layer of black grease. Every day, several animals were butchered and minced here… minced meat and blood flowed on the ground, washed away casually by water, but some residue still clung to the ground. Day after day, customers stepped on the ground, and their shoe soles would produce a disgusting sticky feeling.

“Hey handsome, are you buying meat?”

Qin Xian snapped back to attention, gripping his slightly numb hand, confirming that what was before him was just a perfectly normal market.

“If you’re not buying, please stand further away. We have work to do,” the meat stall owner grumbled unhappily. Qin Xian looked at the stall. There was still some meat left on the two marrow bones, but they didn’t look very fresh. Dogs would probably love this kind of thing… he could wash them and roast them on the gas stove, and it would keep that dog busy for a long time.

He said to the owner, “I want these two bones.”

“You want these?” the vendor asked suspiciously. “Not some fresh beef? Just killed, quite rare.” Qin Xian’s expression was blank. The cash he had brought out probably wasn’t enough to buy meat.

A few minutes later, Qin Xian bought the two large bones from the vendor at a low price. He had finally gained something from coming out. Next, he would walk around a bit and find a pet store to buy some affordable dog food.

But he hadn’t walked far when Qin Xian heard the distant wail of police sirens. A black Santana and two police cars with sirens blaring were reenacting a movie scene. The Santana was frantically trying to shake off its pursuers, even veering off the road onto the sidewalk, hitting a fire hydrant with a bang, sending a jet of water shooting out. Only Qin Xian was standing on the sidewalk. The Santana, completely disregarding Qin Xian’s presence, charged straight at him. An anxious shout came from the police car behind: “Get out of the way! Hurry, get out of the way!”

As the danger approached, Qin Xian neither fled nor dodged. Instead, he pulled out a beef marrow bone, used his right foot as a pivot, and spun it with all his might, throwing the bone fiercely. The beef marrow bone turned into a streak of white light and flew out with a “whoosh.” The Santana’s windshield suddenly exploded, and the entire car lost control, swerving into a flower bed and crashing into a utility pole with a “bang.”

The police cars behind slammed on their brakes and stopped. Several police officers, guns in hand, rushed out and approached the Santana. “Freeze! Police!” “Stop resisting immediately, get down! Or we’ll shoot!”

Qin Xian, watching from afar, frowned. Suddenly, a man in black burst out of the car and sprinted at an incredible speed to break through the police cordon. “Stop! Don’t move! Or we’ll shoot!!” The police chased after him, firing two shots at the man as they saw no civilians around. But the figure ahead didn’t slow down at all, clearly not hit.

Qin Xian, watching from the opposite side, saw everything clearly. It wasn’t that the police had poor marksmanship, but that this person had dodged two bullets with superhuman reaction speed. “Hahahaha! Trash!” The man in black laughed, turned his head, and provocatively raised his hand to give the police the middle finger. But as soon as he turned back, his heart stopped in fright. Someone had appeared in front of him at some point, wielding a huge marrow bone and swinging it fiercely. The speed, the distance!

“Thump!!!” A white flash appeared before the man’s eyes, and then he knew nothing more. The pursuing police officers slowed down, looking at the Good Samaritan with expressions of shock. This person had actually knocked out the suspect with a marrow bone? He looked down. The pathetic man in black lay on the ground with his eyes half-open, all his front teeth gone, blood gushing from his collapsed nose, his appearance utterly miserable.

“Uh…” The police officer put away his gun, temporarily speechless.

“You’re welcome,” Qin Xian replied first, his voice as calm as if he had just passed by and picked up something for someone. He put the marrow bone into a plastic bag and rubbed his fingers. The grease on his hands felt sticky and disgusting. He should have wrapped the bone in plastic before carrying it.

“What did he do?” Qin Xian asked, trying to ignore the nauseating feeling, nodding towards the man in black. His medium-length hair was casually tied back with a hair tie and draped over one shoulder. Due to the large movements just now, it was now half-disheveled. His face, illuminated by the flashing red and blue lights of the police car, looked exceptionally beautiful and delicate, making it impossible to tell he was a ruthless person capable of breaking someone’s face with a marrow bone on the street.

Facing such a person, the police officer felt a little intimidated. He stammered, “Uh, he, this person just robbed a mall.”

“Just a normal robbery case?” Qin Xian emphasized the question.

“Ah? Normal? Robbing a mall is still uncommon these days, isn’t it? And he dared to speed down the street after the robbery.” The police officer seemed confused. “In any case, comrade. Thank you for your bravery!”

“You’re welcome. May I go find my other bone over there?” Qin Xian calmly pointed to the pathetic Santana, whose hood had popped up not far away.

“Ah… ah? What bone?” The police officer followed Qin Xian to the car. He stepped on the car and rummaged through the battered vehicle, pulling out another beef marrow bone.

The police officer: ??? So the car crashing into the utility pole was also this person’s doing?!

Qin Xian looked at the bone. “Ah, it’s inedible now.” It was embedded with many shattered glass fragments. Feeding it to the dog would be like killing it. Holding the bone, he turned and held it up to the police officer. “Do you need this? As evidence?”

“Ah… ah? No, uh, but you can put it back where it was…” Qin Xian unhesitatingly threw the bone back into the car and turned to the police officer. “Can I ask you a question?”

The police officer nodded subconsciously, “You ask.” Qin Xian asked, “Recently, have there been any strange occurrences? For example, anything supernatural?” This question clearly touched upon some information that was forbidden to be disclosed. The police officer immediately replied, “Comrade, don’t believe online rumors.”

Qin Xian pressed further, “For example, did a General Manager die at Cuiyang Building this afternoon?” The police officer’s expression became serious. “Where did you hear that?” “Oh, I work there, so of course I know. The whole building was in an uproar.” This answer slightly relaxed the police officer, but he still put on a stern face and lectured in a serious tone, “If you are very concerned about this matter, please wait for the police’s official announcement. For now, do not believe or spread rumors. Don’t be too curious. By the way, please provide your ID number and phone number.”

“Oh,” Qin Xian said coldly, then searched his memory for a long time before stating his ID number. It seemed that directly questioning the police would yield no information. However, the breakthrough was indeed with the police; they had already encountered some supernatural events. This could be inferred from the police officer’s subtle expression just now. So, next, should he apprehend a police officer and question him? No, assaulting a police officer was illegal.

Qin Xian looked in the direction of the man in black. The police had already taken him away, likely rushing him to the hospital for treatment of his injuries. This person would probably be detained at the hospital for the time being, which was the best opportunity to approach him for the truth. Once he was sent to the detention center, it would be troublesome to find him again. So, it would be best to follow him to the hospital. However… he looked down at the bone in his hand, remembering the dog he had just picked up.

Alas, he shouldn’t have gotten a pet if he knew it would be this troublesome. He couldn’t even go out in peace. But that dog didn’t seem to be in urgent need of feeding, and its wounds had been treated. He probably didn’t need to rush back. After weighing for a few seconds, he carried the bone and took a taxi to the hospital.

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About ten minutes later, at the entrance of the Municipal People’s Hospital, Qin Xian, carrying a marrow bone, looked at the towering hospital building. As expected of one of the city’s top-tier hospitals, its scale was more than three times larger than the small hospital he had visited during his walk. Even in the dead of night, people were still coming and going. The red lettering of the emergency room emitted an ominous red glow in the darkness. The ambulance doors at the entrance were open; someone had just been brought in.

He closed his eyes and sensed. Unfortunately, there was nothing unusual nearby. Qin Xian asked for a disposable mask at the hospital’s security booth, put it on, and headed directly to the emergency building. Coincidentally, as soon as he entered, he saw the man whose face he had bashed bloody with a bone being placed on a stretcher, with a doctor applying medicine for wound cleaning and disinfection.

The doctor cleaning the wound was talking to a police officer: “Wow, that was a brutal hit. The cartilage in his nose is bruised, and he lost a few front teeth. What did you hit him with?” “…Uh, a cow’s leg bone.” “What??? Was this a street fight at the market?”

Qin Xian listened to the conversation with a poker face. He sat down on the nearest chair and waited until the other person had finished their examination, then continued to follow them into the inpatient building. The police officer handcuffed the man to the iron railing of the hospital bed and stood guard at the door of the room, waiting for the person inside to wake up. Qin Xian saw that the officer had no intention of leaving, so he turned and walked away.

He wasn’t in a hurry to find someone to question. After entering the building, he sensed a grotesque aura. Unfortunately, after going up and down several floors, Qin Xian hadn’t truly triggered any grotesque events. It wasn’t until he was wandering back…

Author’s Note:

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I’m thinking about what nickname to give the protagonist, Qin Xian… If you have any ideas, feel free to comment. Those adopted will receive a red envelope.

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