Besides the thumb, the human finger has three phalanges from proximal to distal, with two joints in between. From these, one can roughly judge the skeletal structure, as well as some subtle living habits.

For example, the finger joints in the video are more prominent than Dou Sheng’s, especially the proximal joint of the left index finger. The owner of these hands most likely plays ball sports and has repeatedly sprained the same spot.

Xie Lan had observed Dou Sheng’s hands many times, intentionally or unintentionally. Because they were good-looking, they left a deep impression. The phalanges and joints of every finger on Dou Sheng’s hand flowed smoothly; one look and you could tell he was a young master who hadn’t done hard labor.

He held the screen, confirming repeatedly, feeling he couldn’t be wrong.

There was a sudden knock on the door.

Knock, knock, two sounds, very light and restrained.

Dou Sheng asked in a low voice from outside, “Asleep?”

Xie Lan locked his phone screen. “No.”

Dou Sheng opened the door and came in. His pajamas made a soft rustling sound as he walked. He brought in a sliver of light and stood still in the dimness by Xie Lan’s bed, holding a chubby mug.

“Cocoa milk. Wakes you up. Want some?”

Xie Lan didn’t understand what “wakes you up” meant for a moment and let out an “Ah?”

“Ah, what ah.” Dou Sheng stuffed the mug into his hand but didn’t leave immediately. He lowered his eyes and looked at him.

Like he was waiting for him to take a sip.

Xie Lan paused for a moment before complying.

A gentle sweetness, cool and silky, slid down his throat into his esophagus.

Dou Sheng suddenly whispered, “I didn’t realize it just now, but your dream probably wasn’t just a scary dream. Patting the fur (head) doesn’t work; someone needs to stay with you for a while.”

Xie Lan looked up in astonishment.

A moment later, he understood and subconsciously reached out to touch his cheek.

“No marks,” Dou Sheng added. “Just that your eyes were a bit red earlier, but it’s faded now.”

“Oh.”

Xie Lan lowered his head, clutching the mug, and took another small sip.

His brain was working a bit slowly after waking from the nightmare. One moment, he was thinking about the dream just now; the next, he remembered the hand in the video.

Hand.

Xie Lan suddenly said, “Can you lend me your hand?”

“Hm?” Dou Sheng was slightly startled, the fingers hanging by his side curling unconsciously. “Lend you my hand?”

Xie Lan gave a confirmation. “Just to look.”

Dou Sheng hesitated for a moment before extending his hand. Xie Lan sat on the bed, grabbed his fingertips, pulled them towards himself, then bent the fingertips downwards, making the knuckles at the base protrude slightly and the palm arch naturally.

Truly beautiful, he couldn’t help but sigh again.

But unfortunately, it really wasn’t the one in the video.

Dou Sheng said with slight hesitation, “If you feel uncomfortable being alone right now…”

Before he could finish, his hand was abruptly thrown away by Xie Lan.

Thrown completely off guard, just like tossing a phone aside, he casually tossed his hand away.

Dou Sheng was confused. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” Xie Lan collapsed back onto the bed with a heavy thud, his face falling.

Dou Sheng looked baffled and reached out to touch his forehead. “The AC is so cold, do you have a cold?”

Xie Lan’s voice was colder than the air conditioning. “Take your hand away.”

Dou Sheng scoffed, “Quite the temper.” He withdrew his hand. “What did you look at my hand for anyway?”

Xie Lan was silent. After a long time, he said, “I’m used to playing the violin. When I look at people, I look at their hands. Just looking casually.”

“Oh.” Dou Sheng mumbled, “Almost forgot, what instrument do you play?”

“Violin.”

As the words fell, Dou Sheng seemed slightly stunned. He turned to look at the corner of the wall where Xie Lan’s violin case stood.

Whether it was an illusion or not, his mood seemed to suddenly lift a bit. “How well do you play?”

Xie Lan was plain and perfunctory. “Pretty good.”

“Really?” Dou Sheng raised an eyebrow. “Never heard you play.”

“Haven’t played in a long time.” Xie Lan was listless. “A year or two.”

“…” Dou Sheng’s smile slowly disappeared. “I think you’re messing with me. I’m leaving.”

“Mmh.”

Xie Lan’s mind was full of the video matter.

Dou Sheng wasn’t MR.X. There were two possibilities: either he and MR.X didn’t know each other, and he just happened to know there was such a person in the food section. Or, they were very close, and MR.X acted out this scene for him.

The probability of the latter was greater.

Xie Lan tapped open his phone and clicked into MR.X’s following list.

This big UP (uploader) with 1.5 million fans actually followed over six hundred people.

Just Nima ridiculous.

The colorful avatars gave him a headache. He frowned and scrolled down. Suddenly, he heard a WeChat notification sound from the crack of the door.

Immediately after, the screen in his hand vibrated, and a notification popped up from the top.

—Yu Fei sent a voice message in their small group, “Eat Sleep Beat Dou Dou”.

“Those not asleep, pop up! Yangchang Alley, emergency!!” Dou Sheng played Yu Fei’s voice message outside the door. It sounded a bit panicked and breathless, with the background noise of wind blowing.

Mentioning Yangchang Alley meant nothing good. Xie Lan sat up immediately.

Outside the door, Dou Sheng dialed back directly.

“Caught it?”

“Caught it!” Yu Fei panted as he ran. “Staked out for three days, finally showed up!”

Xie Lan had already guessed who they were trying to catch. Three days ago was exactly the day they were blocked in the alley.

Yu Fei’s voice was a bit hoarse. “Hurry over. I chased him into Yangchang Alley. Can’t let him get away this time!”

“Wait for us.” Dou Sheng hung up decisively.

Xie Lan opened the door and was about to speak when Dou Sheng said, “Since we can’t sleep anyway, I’ll accompany you out for a walk?”

Xie Lan paused. “Where is your face?” (Meaning: Have you no shame?)

Clearly wanting to drag him along for a fight, how could he say such a thing so righteously?

Just Nima ridiculous.

Dou Sheng tutted and laughed. “Isn’t it because I’m afraid you’ll dream again? Besides, I promised my mom to help you integrate into campus life.”

He turned back to his room. “Be quick changing clothes.”

Xie Lan: “……”

Looks like you want to integrate me into the life of a juvenile detention center.

But Xie Lan still put on clothes and followed him out. After all, Yu Fei and the others could be considered his friends at the new school.

Dou Sheng didn’t count. He was just a “Big Cat” who loved to prank people.

The kind that would sooner or later be scratched to death by the second cat.

They tiptoed past Zhao Wenying’s bedroom on the first floor, changed shoes quietly, slipped out the door, and then gently, gently pushed the door shut into the lock.

Both of them let out a breath in unison.

Xie Lan looked down and saw a GoPro strapped to Dou Sheng’s forearm. He frowned, “Why bring that?”

“Recording a documentary,” Dou Sheng said. “It’ll be useful eventually.”

Xie Lan was a bit confused. “Useful for what?” Showing the police uncle the whole fighting process?

“Just stand a bit further away and watch later.” Dou Sheng pressed the elevator button. “The enemy is fierce and arrogant, comes from Zaun. Don’t want you getting caught in the crossfire.”

Xie Lan asked, “Where is Zaun?”

“A place with simple and honest folk customs.” (Note: Zaun is a reference to League of Legends, often associated with toxic players in Chinese internet slang, ironically called ‘simple and honest’).

On the way, Dou Sheng and Yu Fei confirmed the specific location back and forth in the group chat, while Xie Lan looked out the window pondering the Bilibili matter.

He couldn’t force a confrontation on the spot right now. Not only would he be rejected, but Dou Sheng might also delete the “evidence”. The best way was to find a way to find out his ID and see what the hell he was up to first.

If there really was something fishy, cut the crap and just fight.

Xie Lan glanced at Dou Sheng, then clicked open MR.X’s following list again.

The general direction shouldn’t be wrong. Pick those with a yellow ‘V’ under their avatar. Skip girls, skip the food section. It was unlikely Dou Sheng would find a substitute among uploaders in his own section; the risk was too high. For the rest, look directly at the follower count. Glance at those over a million, and focus specifically on those around a million.

Scrolled all the way to the bottom. None.

……

Could it be that it really was just a casual remark back then, and that person just happened to release a meat sauce preview in advance?

Xie Lan frowned and looked to the side.

“What are you looking at me for?” Dou Sheng put away his phone.

Xie Lan said, “Worried about your Uploader career.”

“…Huh?”

Dou Sheng turned his head hesitantly. “What more do you want?”

Xie Lan thought for a moment. “Meat sauce doesn’t seem to count as dark cuisine. The effect is just so-so.”

Dou Sheng: “……”

Xie Lan suddenly thought of one. “How about eating Haggis next weekend?”

“Haggis?”

Dou Sheng frowned. “Wait, let me search it first.”

A few seconds later, he sucked in a sharp breath.

The driver glanced at them curiously in the rearview mirror.

Dou Sheng read out clearly word by word: “Minced sheep’s heart, liver, and lungs, mixed with sheep suet, onions, and various spices, stuffed into a sheep’s stomach and tied tight, boiled in boiling water, sliced and served.”

“Urgh!”

The driver covered his mouth with one hand, then immediately waved his hand. “Cold making me nauseous, you guys eat yours… ah no, chat yours.”

Dou Sheng’s already ugly expression looked even worse.

Xie Lan said calmly, “Actually, I tasted it when I was little.”

“Oh?”

Xie Lan smiled. “Humans can’t eat this.”

“……”

Until they got out of the car, Dou Sheng didn’t say another word.

Entering Yangchang Alley, he took out a small flashlight from his pocket, turned it on, and walked in front.

Xie Lan followed behind, looking at his thin but broad shoulders. “Haggis next week, eating?”

“I need to consider it.” Dou Sheng held the small flashlight, his voice sounding full of lonely courage.

The small group had real-time location sharing on. Yu Fei whispered in the walkie-talkie channel: “You two come in quietly, don’t startle the snake.”

It was pitch black. The sound of stepping on a crushed dry leaf was extremely crisp.

Xie Lan suddenly felt a bit nervous and whispered, “Do we need to beat the police?” (Da Jingcha – Beat Police)

“Beat who?” Yu Fei was startled.

Dou Sheng’s steps paused. He slowly turned his head and said indifferently, “Call the police (Bao Jing). The word is call the police.”

“Oh.” Xie Lan’s ears felt a bit hot. “Then should I call the police?”

“No need.” Dou Sheng said. “Police don’t care about this kind of petty shit.”

Getting closer and closer to Yu Fei’s small green dot, Dou Sheng adjusted the flashlight brightness to the lowest setting, suppressing even his breathing.

The alley was pitch black. The small flashlight swept over a figure ahead—it was Yu Fei.

In front of Yu Fei were two abandoned bungalow courtyards. Between two walls was a narrow crack less than three fists wide. Inside the crack was pitch black, bottomless, emitting a smell of decay.

Xie Lan was originally nervous, but seeing this crack, he was suddenly a bit confused.

The enemy hid inside this crack?

Just how big of a shadow did Yu Fei leave on the guy last time?

While he was confused, Dou Sheng gently raised the flashlight behind him, circling that faint light into the narrow crack.

The light cut through the dust in the air. In the darkness, a pair of green bulbs vaguely flashed quickly.

Dou Sheng’s flashlight paused, moved down slowly, bypassing the pair of glowing “bulbs”, and finally illuminated the figure inside.

“Meow~~~”

A small black cat opened its blood-red mouth and yowled at the people outside.

“Meow~~~”

Xie Lan was stunned.

The enemy is fierce and arrogant, comes from Zaun.

The surroundings were still for a good while before he said dully, “This is the enemy?”

“Yeah.”

Dou Sheng righteously walked around him to the front, squatted at the mouth of the crack, and called gently into it: “Mimi~”