The Forensic Big Shot's Psychic Darling - Chapter 9
Chapter 9
Lin Yaoyao hadn’t been cradling her copper coin in delight for even three seconds before Qin Zhan tossed a bottle of disinfectant into her arms.
“Wash it clean before putting it back on.”
“Copper coins shouldn’t come into contact with too many chemical agents.”
“Then scrub it with clean water.”
Qin Zhan looked down at his clothes, his brows pinched so tightly they could hold a sheet of paper. “And return this place to its original state.”
Lin Yaoyao looked at the floor covered in trash, her smile instantly collapsing.
“This much?”
“It was your stuff you were looking for.”
“But you carried most of it out.”
Qin Zhan expressionlessly took off his dirty gloves. “So you’re responsible for packing it back in. Any problem with that?”
Lin Yaoyao didn’t dare have a problem.
She stuffed the copper coin into her pocket and resignedly began cleaning up. Though Qin Zhan said he would leave her to do it alone, he ultimately didn’t walk away, remaining at her side to help seal the trash bags.
By the time the backyard was restored to cleanliness, it was nearly midnight.
Both of them were covered in a stench from head to toe—even the duty officer walking past silently gave them a wide berth.
Lin Yaoyao sniffed her sleeve, her face scrunching up in disgust. “I feel like I’ve been thoroughly marinated in stink.”
Qin Zhan stood two meters away from her. “Don’t come near me.”
“You smell the same.”
“At least I didn’t sit on rotten cabbage leaves.”
Lin Yaoyao looked down at her pants, only to realize a small piece of cabbage leaf was stuck to her backside. Her cheeks flushed hot as she quickly reached back to slap it off.
Qin Zhan had already turned to head toward the locker room.
“You’re not allowed in my office again tonight.”
“I never said I wanted to go.”
“And you’re strictly forbidden from touching my lab coat.”
“Who’d want to?”
Lin Yaoyao retorted verbally, but her feet involuntarily followed him. Although she had retrieved the soul-soothing copper coin and ordinary wandering spirits wouldn’t dare approach her, Qin Zhan’s vicinity remained where she felt safest.
Qin Zhan cast a backward glance at her, and she froze in her tracks instantly.
“I’m going to the restroom. It’s on the way.”
“The women’s restroom is in the other direction.”
Lin Yaoyao fell silent for two seconds, turned around, and walked off.
Qin Zhan watched her departing back, the corners of his lips twitching slightly. By the time Lin Yaoyao glanced back again, he had already restored his usual distant demeanor.
Early the next morning, as soon as Zhao Gang walked into the office building, he caught a whiff of a pungent disinfectant smell.
Following the scent, he bumped right into Qin Zhan coming out of the locker room.
Qin Zhan had changed into a clean shirt, his hair still slightly damp. His wrists and the gaps between his fingers had been scrubbed red, and the smell of disinfectant clinging to him was strong enough to repel anyone within a ten-meter radius.
Zhao Gang sized him up from head to toe. “Did you fall into a tub of disinfectant last night?”
Qin Zhan walked past him. “Stay away from me.”
“I heard there was quite a commotion in the backyard last night.”
Zhao Gang caught up, trying hard to suppress the corners of his mouth. “The duty room said our bureau’s high-and-mighty flower personally climbed into the trash bin just to help a young girl retrieve a token of affection.”
Qin Zhan paused mid-step, sweeping a cold glare across.
“Who said it was a token of affection?”
“The copper coin is hung on a red string and never leaves her body. If it’s not a token of affection, what else could it be?”
“It’s a soul-soothing object given by her master.”
Zhao Gang raised his eyebrows. “She even told you that?”
Realizing he had explained too quickly, Qin Zhan’s face darkened further.
“Surveillance showed the coin was swept into the trash bin. I merely assisted in retrieving an important personal item.”
“Assisted?”
Zhao Gang pulled out his phone and pulled up a photo sent by the duty officer.
In the picture, Qin Zhan stood in the middle of the trash bin wearing a waterproof apron, holding a trash bag in his left hand and long-handled tongs in his right. Lin Yaoyao stood below holding a flashlight, her upturned gaze fixed on him with utter intensity.
Zhao Gang tsked. “That’s some pretty deep assistance.”
“Delete it.”
“Can’t do that. It’s already circulated all over the criminal investigation team group chat.”
Qin Zhan took the phone and opened the group chat on the spot. Dozens of messages had already flooded in, and the latest one had even turned the photo of him holding the long-handled tongs into a meme.
The caption consisted of just five words.
“The Scientific Needle-in-a-Haystack Method.”
Qin Zhan’s expression turned utterly dark.
Zhao Gang finally couldn’t hold back his laughter any longer. “To think you’d have a day like this! In the past, if you so much as touched a trash bag, you’d have to wash your hands three times afterward. Now you actually dig through trash for two whole hours?”
“It was necessary for the investigation.”
“How is losing a copper coin related to an investigation?”
“Losing that coin causes her to experience severe hallucinations, which impacts her work efficiency.” Qin Zhan tossed the phone back to him. “I was simply resolving a staff member’s psychological condition.”
Zhao Gang nodded along.
“You’re absolutely right—and while you were at it, you even looked after her enough to let her sleep in your office for the night.”
Qin Zhan stopped in his tracks.
“How do you know that?”
Zhao Gang’s smile widened.
“You told me yourself when you called me last night.”
Qin Zhan didn’t bother explaining any further and pushed open the door to the forensic lab.
A yellow talisman paper fluttered down from the doorframe, landing right on his shoulder.
Zhao Gang’s laughter came to an abrupt halt.
Qin Zhan pinched the yellow paper between his fingers and slowly raised his eyes.
The forensic lab—originally so clean it bordered on sterile—had completely transformed.
Two yellow talismans were stuck to the doorframe, four were pasted on the windows, and several copper coins were hung on a red string stretched between the file cabinet and the morgue cold storage unit. Even under Assistant Chen’s workstation, a paper talisman folded into a triangle was tucked into the corner.
Zhao Gang poked his head in and looked around.
“Is this a forensic lab or a Taoist temple?”
Assistant Chen stood by the wall with a rather embarrassed expression.
“Assistant Lin said that the entity from last night possessed heavy malice, and her ordinary copper coin could only protect herself. Fearing it might track her scent here, she took some precautions in advance.”
“Where is she?”
Chen raised a hand and pointed toward the autopsy table.
Lin Yaoyao was standing on a swivel chair, balancing on tiptoe to stick a yellow talisman onto the ceiling. The chair had wheels on the bottom, so every time she moved, it wobbled beneath her.
Zhao Gang drew in a sharp breath.
“My dear young lady, step down first! Above the autopsy table is the shadowless surgical lamp—can pasting a talisman fix a short circuit?”
Lin Yaoyao didn’t even turn her head.
“The yin energy in the forensic lab is too heavy. All four corners must be suppressed. This spot faces the body holding cabinets directly—it’s the place where cold energy gathers most easily.”
Zhao Gang walked in, eyeing the talisman papers with great interest.
“Are you planning to set up an altar and perform a ritual?”
“I don’t have an altar.”
“Can’t we just make do with the autopsy table?”
“No, that would be disrespectful to the deceased.”
Lin Yaoyao earnestly adjusted the position of the yellow talisman.
“Besides, this is just an evil-repelling talisman; it doesn’t require a full ritual.”
Qin Zhan stood at the doorway, still holding the talisman that had fallen from the doorframe, the atmospheric pressure around him dropping rapidly.
Assistant Chen quietly took a step to the side.
Noticing Qin Zhan’s face, Zhao Gang intentionally raised his voice. “Little Lin, did you get permission from the head of the forensic lab before pasting all these things around?”
Lin Yaoyao’s movements froze.
Only then did she feel a chill run down her spine, and she slowly turned her head.
Qin Zhan stood just a few steps away, his face looking even worse than when he was digging through the trash bin last night.
“Who allowed you to stick random things all over the forensic lab?”
Panicking, Lin Yaoyao felt the swivel chair slide backward beneath her feet.
Her body swayed, and she frantically grabbed onto the frame of the shadowless lamp, though the yellow talisman in her hand was still nowhere near attached.
“I didn’t stick them randomly! That malevolent spirit from last night remembered my aura. Although I found my copper coin back, it was soaked in dirty water, so its spiritual energy needs a few days to recover.”
“Get down.”
“Wait until I finish sticking this last one.”
Qin Zhan walked up to the swivel chair and reached out to hold the backrest firmly. “Unrelated items are not allowed in the forensic lab, and you are strictly forbidden from standing on a wheeled chair to reach high places.”
Lin Yaoyao felt intimidated under his gaze. “Just this last one left…”
“I said, get down.”
Wanting to stick the yellow talisman up before stepping down, she tiptoed half an inch higher.
The swivel chair lost its balance, and its wheels skidded to the side.
Lin Yaoyao gasped in alarm, her hand grabbing tightly onto Qin Zhan’s shoulder. Qin Zhan caught her waist just in time, lifting her off the chair and holding her securely.
In the chaos, the hand holding the yellow talisman slapped forward with considerable force.
Paff!
The evil-repelling talisman, drawn in bright red cinnabar, landed square and firm right in the middle of Qin Zhan’s pristine forehead.
