Eyes that are the same as those of evil

Chapter 81 The New Neighbors
After returning to Jiujiang from Haicheng, what happened next was no longer Tan Jia's concern.

She returned to her normal recuperation life, and the first thing she did when she got home was to get a good night's sleep. The dozen or so hours of sleep she got made her almost lose track of day and night.

I was still a little dazed when I woke up and sat on the bed. It was only when I saw the impressively shaped dough figurines on the table opposite me that I snapped out of it. I yawned and went downstairs to eat, and then went to get a haircut.

Her wolf tail was getting a bit long, so she didn't plan to change her hairstyle. She just wanted it trimmed and recolored, and then she would ride her bicycle through the city to inspect her newly purchased, fully-furnished apartment.

Before she knew it, she had been living in Jiujiang for more than three months. After talking with her parents, she decided to officially settle down in the city until her "illness" improved.

Therefore, she will have to fly abroad to handle some procedures in half a month.

The apartment she bought has a river view, a large balcony that she really likes, and a small partitioned room that she uses to make dough figurines and display her creations.

The mother didn't mind her son's appearance. She felt that her dough sculpting skills had improved a lot recently, and the things she made were already halfway to being lifelike. She would put them in a transparent display case in order so that people could clearly see her growth path in this industry... If all else failed, she would just consider it as buying a cabinet full of art pieces as decoration.

After taking a stroll around her new home, she rode her bicycle back, and on the way past the police station, she reminded Tan Ming to come home for dinner early if he had nothing else to do.

She's moving out soon, and her aunt wants the family to have a few more reunion meals.

Tan Ming agreed and even gathered a bunch of snacks that Zheng's daughter had bought for her from the office.

Tan Jia gave her a strange look, swallowed her refusal, and returned to the residential area with a pile of snacks. As she passed the entrance, she habitually rushed in like a gust of wind, the wind whipping her hair so hard that it could make the children nearby exclaim in amazement.

But today she braked halfway through and came to a sudden stop at the door.

A gleaming car was parked outside the residential area, looking completely out of place in this old neighborhood. The back door opened, and a tall, slender young man stepped out, revealing the expected handsome face when he looked up.

Lin Zhiyue's gaze remained fixed on her, as if she were still completely at ease.

Some people are just so special that even in a crowded place, they are like an isolated island, making people unable to help but cast strange glances at them.

"What are you doing here?" Tan Jia turned around, rode her bicycle closer to him, and raised an eyebrow to ask.

He's been showing up far too often lately. Before, in Haicheng, which was his territory, it was understandable. But now he's come all the way to Jiujiang—what's he up to?
It can't be that the victims are revisiting the same place.

"You..." His first utterance sounded like a test, before he fluently uttered the complete sentence, "Has your case been solved?"

"Hmm. What, trying to test why a concerned citizen like me would get involved in an investigation?"

Lin Zhiyue looked at her, and there was a mischievous smile in her eyes. This time, there was no small hook at the corner of her eye, but the touched-up green wolf tail was as dazzling as the sunlight.

“I know,” he said slowly, taking a moment to organize his thoughts, “what special abilities do you have that make the police take you so seriously.”

"Oh, so you were still investigating me, investigating the fact that I saved that child. Now that you've found out, you've come all the way here to tell me. What kind of response do you want?"

She acted like the shop owner, casually ordering food, as if she could improvise whatever response he wanted.

She wasn't bothered at all by having her secret exposed, and even had time to greet the aunties passing by.

Lin Zhiyue's gaze followed her movements.

After greeting her neighbor, Tan Jia turned around and asked, "Haven't you thought about it yet? You want to know exactly what my abilities are?"

He nodded.

“It’s this,” Tan Jia pointed to his head, “a brilliant brain.”

This is a complete joke.

But then she smiled and said, "Just like your eyes."

Lin Zhiyue paused for a moment: "My eyes?"

"A visual thinker, aren't you? I don't think you have autism or just simple autism. But, more like a spectator in 173 games than a visual thinker."

Another incomprehensible code name; a hint of confusion appeared in Lin Zhiyue's clear eyes.

Tan Jia rested her elbows on the mountain bike handlebars, looking at him with a smile. "Anyone entering SCP-173's territory needs to keep a constant eye on this monster to feel safe, lest they close their eyes and have their neck snapped. Your whole world revolves around SCP-173, look—"

She moved slightly, and his gaze instinctively followed her as she turned her head.

Realizing she was teasing him, Lin Zhiyue frowned.

Tan Jia laughed like a triumphant jellyfish.

"Alright, what do you want to say? Now that you've said it, let's go. Driver, drive faster, you can still make it back to Haicheng for dinner." She finished laughing, raised her chin, and instantly became serious.

Lin Zhiyue lowered her eyes, deliberately avoiding looking at her, her eyelashes trembling.

“You, you’ve always been in the US, and you’ve never shown this ability before.”

"uh-huh."

"You were in a car accident when you returned to China, which is why you stayed to recuperate. Is it mainly a psychological issue?"

“Looks like they’ve investigated quite a bit,” Tan Jia glanced at the time, raising his eyebrows and looking rather intimidating. “But I’m going home for dinner. You have one last sentence. Think carefully before you speak.”

“I…” He obediently carried out the order, swallowed what he was about to say, and looked up at her again. “My therapist recommended your therapy to me.”

Psychological problems are really hard to explain.

Advanced equipment can't detect it, powerful drugs can't cure it, and psychologists are just feeling their way in the dark.

Most treatments involve removing the patient from their original environment and shifting their focus.

But Tan Jia didn't expect that Lin Zhiyue's way of diverting attention was to make her the new center of attention.

A few days after she moved into her river-view apartment, she saw that the house next door had a new owner, and the Lin family's bodyguards were carrying a new set of furniture through that door.

She was genuinely a little surprised, and stood at the door with her arms crossed, staring at Lin Zhiyue until he didn't know where to look before she stopped.

He also reported the situation to Zheng Yan.

Team Leader Zheng had a serious talk with Lin's family, but in the end, Lin Zhiyue's parents personally came to her home to deliver a complete set of fully automatic household appliances, including sweeping, mopping, washing dishes, and air filtration, aiming to save her time from worrying about housework so that she could use it to make friends with Lin Zhiyue.

Lin Zhiyue stood at the door, ignoring what others were saying, and just stared at Tan Jia.

It really looks just like a pitiful little thing, holding up its anchor and staring longingly at passing ships.

Tan Jia gave Zheng Yan, who was completely useless, a disdainful look, and reluctantly accepted this neighbor.

The next day, when the transparent display case was delivered to her home, she invited her neighbor, who was peeking in from the doorway, to come in and have a look.

"Didn't you want to heal your mind with me? This is a healing method: clay sculpting."

As she spoke, she put her works into the cabinet, starting with the rotten-faced corpse, Harbin red sausage (pink piglet), and an abnormally red apple, then mushrooms, zombies, various murder weapons, miniature furniture, then upright naked human figures, Q-version Fuwa dolls, murder and bloodshed scenes, and now the relatively perfect afro Huang Zhixuan.

Before I knew it, I had more than twenty works.

Lin Zhiyue examined it intently, as if appraising a work of art. When he saw the strange head propped up on a piece of blood-red dough in "Murder Scene," he hesitated and said, "This..."

Tan Jia slammed the display case door shut and braced his hand on it: "I'm still in the learning stage, so it's normal for my work to have flaws. It's not like you have such a talent for color mixing and painting."

He pursed his lips, and after a moment said, "I can help."

Tan Jia looked at him meaningfully, circled around him, getting closer and closer, the ends of her green hair swaying, almost scratching Lin Zhiyue's arm, causing him to take a step back.

"That's so kind of you, thank you in advance!"

(End of this chapter)