Good and Evil Chapter Four Listen, There Are Dogs Barking

When Xu Lang and his companions arrived at the police station, Xu Lang and Ning Yanran had just stepped out of the car when they ran into Captain Wu Yong from the first criminal investigation squad.

Xu Lang spotted Wu Yong, and Wu Yong saw him too. Their gazes clashed in the air, and even without a word, the tension and hostility between them was palpable—so much so that Ning Yanran, who had only recently arrived in S City, was left quite baffled by it.

Wu Yong was a strikingly handsome man—bronzed skin, hair as stiff as bristles, and powerful muscles hidden beneath his uniform. Most girls would steal a few glances at him. In contrast, Xu Lang appeared utterly disheveled: unruly hair, a yellowed T-shirt, shorts of indeterminate color, and a pair of flip-flops. No matter how one looked, it was hard to find him pleasing to the eye. Yet Ning Yanran much preferred dealing with this former policeman to facing Wu Yong—at least Xu Lang wouldn’t pester her.

As soon as Wu Yong saw Xu Lang, a brilliant smile blossomed on his face. He couldn’t help but raise his voice, “Well, if it isn’t our great Detective Xu! Didn’t you leave the force? What brings you to the station now?”

He glanced at the woman standing beside Xu Lang, then at the proprietress who had just gotten out of the car, and continued, “What’s wrong, great Detective Xu? What trouble have you gotten yourself into?”

Xu Lang looked back at Wu Yong, dug a finger in his ear, then turned to Ning Yanran and asked, “Captain Ning, do you hear a dog barking?”

Ning Yanran immediately understood the implication. She pretended confusion and replied, “Really? I didn’t hear anything.”

“Listen more carefully. There’s not just barking, but a faint smell of urine too.”

“Is there?”

Seeing Xu Lang’s serious expression, Ning Yanran nearly laughed but held it in, playing along by sniffing the air. To her surprise, she really did catch a whiff of something unpleasant, and her gaze drifted to the source—Wu Yong, standing right in front of them.

At first, Wu Yong was furious at being ignored, but when Xu Lang mentioned the smell, his face turned a deep, angry purple. Xu Lang wasn’t wrong; he did carry that odor, though it wasn’t his own doing. He’d just come from a crime scene—a body had been found in a public restroom, which explained the stench.

When Ning Yanran looked at him, covering her nose, Wu Yong hurried to explain, “Yanran, listen, it’s not mine.”

Before Ning Yanran could reply, Xu Lang interjected, “We never said it was yours, did we?”

“Xu Lang, you… shut up!” Wu Yong barked, turning to glare at him.

Xu Lang just dug at his ear again, turned to Ning Yanran, and said, “Listen.”

“What?” Ning Yanran asked, puzzled.

“The barking,” Xu Lang replied, deadpan.

A laugh finally escaped from Ning Yanran. Wu Yong’s face darkened further, taking on the color of raw liver. He pointed a trembling finger at Xu Lang and roared, “Xu Lang, I’ll deal with you later!”

With that, he lunged as if to strike, but Xu Lang quickly stepped back, hands clamped over his nose. “Please, just stay away. The smell is too much—I’m afraid I’ll pass out.”

Ning Yanran looked on, speechless at their antics. At that moment, a deep, authoritative voice rang out.

“What on earth are you all doing?”

Hearing this, Wu Yong stopped in his tracks and stiffly turned around. The anger disappeared from his face, replaced with a smile so sincere it bordered on sycophantic as he greeted, “Good morning, Chief.”

Ning Yanran was shocked by Wu Yong’s lightning-fast change of demeanor, more so than she’d ever been. She looked up at the middle-aged man and called, “Chief.”

The man was slightly overweight, with sparse hair, dark skin, and piercing, spirited eyes—the kind that made most criminals shudder. His name was Lu Ye, Chief of the S City Police Bureau. He merely nodded in response to Wu Yong’s obsequious greeting, then glanced at Ning Yanran, offering a slight smile and a nod.

Lu Ye’s eyes fell on the proprietress, who wore handcuffs. “What’s going on here?”

Ning Yanran quickly summarized the situation. When she mentioned that it was Xu Lang who had discovered the body and reported it, Lu Ye glanced at Xu Lang, who squatted on the ground, smoking, paying him no mind. Lu Ye frowned but said nothing further. Instead, he turned to Ning Yanran and instructed, “This is serious. Handle it carefully, especially with the public. For now, do not announce the case—let’s avoid unnecessary panic.”

Ning Yanran nodded solemnly and led the proprietress inside.

With her gone and Lu Ye still present, Wu Yong tried to ingratiate himself further. But after taking just two steps, Lu Ye’s frown deepened as his sharp gaze roamed over Wu Yong, as if searching for something amiss.

At first, Wu Yong was confused, until Lu Ye asked, “Wu Yong, how long has it been since you last showered?”

“I shower every day!” Wu Yong replied, then realized what Lu Ye meant. Embarrassed, he scratched his head and explained, “I just got back from a scene—a body in a public restroom.”

Lu Ye nodded. “Go clean up and change your clothes.”

Only then did Lu Ye turn to Xu Lang, who was still squatting and smoking. With a sigh, he said, “Xu Lang, come with me.”

Called by name, Xu Lang looked up, blowing a smoke ring. “What for?”

Before Lu Ye could answer, Wu Yong butted in, “If the Chief tells you to go, then go. What’s with all the questions?”

Xu Lang stubbed out his cigarette and stood, looking at Wu Yong. “Listen, the dog’s barking again.”

“You… you…” Wu Yong was so enraged he trembled, unable to speak. He spun around and stormed off, not daring to stay any longer for fear he might actually lose control and hit Xu Lang.

Once Wu Yong was gone, Lu Ye said, “Why do you still go out of your way to antagonize him?”

“It’s not me antagonizing him—it’s the other way around,” Xu Lang replied, with an air of innocence.

Lu Ye shook his head, unable to say more. In truth, he bore some responsibility for the animosity between Wu Yong and Xu Lang.

Wu Yong and Xu Lang had both graduated from the same police academy, though not the same year. Wu Yong was handsome, capable, and had risen through the ranks from the base level, spending seven or eight years in the force before becoming captain of the first squad. But Xu Lang had been specially recruited straight into the force—and into the captaincy of the second squad, alongside Ning Yanran. This had always rankled Wu Yong.

After Xu Lang joined, the second squad solved several major cases under his leadership, making him the new star of the force—a title that had previously belonged to Wu Yong. Their squads were natural rivals, and their personal conflict soon became open, to the point where they could barely stand the sight of each other.

Later, during the investigation of a serial murder case, Xu Lang struck the perpetrator after its resolution, injuring him and causing an uproar among police leadership. Xu Lang was suspended. There had always been two camps regarding his special recruitment—one admired his abilities, calling him a born detective; the other scorned him as the son of a criminal, unfit for police work. After the incident, the leadership demanded a psychological evaluation. Xu Lang attended, but was utterly uncooperative, producing the expected result. Those opposed to his recruitment seized the chance, claiming that as the son of a criminal, he was inherently unfit to serve. After all, his father had been a great policeman too, but had ultimately killed his own wife. In a fit of anger, Xu Lang resigned.

Lu Ye beckoned Xu Lang to follow him, and together they entered his office.

Inside, Xu Lang slumped onto the sofa, kicked off his flip-flops, and propped his feet on the coffee table. Lu Ye’s face darkened. “Feet down.”

Xu Lang grudgingly lowered his legs.

Sitting across from him, Lu Ye looked at the young man he had once recruited with such high hopes, now reduced to this state. He felt a pang of guilt, recalling his debt to Xu Lang’s father.

Lu Ye and Xu Lang’s father had not only been colleagues but the closest partners. He had never believed what was said about Xu Lang’s father killing his wife, and the massacre at Xu Lang’s home eight years ago still weighed heavily on his conscience. Looking at Xu Lang now, he asked, “What have you been doing since you resigned?”

Xu Lang crossed his legs, glanced around indifferently, and replied, “Eating, sleeping, and whacking beans.”

“Whacking beans?” Lu Ye echoed in confusion, unfamiliar with the phrase.

Xu Lang offered no explanation. Instead, he asked, “Why did you call me here?”

Lu Ye sighed. “Xu Lang, come back to the force. With your talent and ability, you were born to be a policeman.”

Xu Lang’s face twisted with irony. “Can the son of a criminal be a policeman?”

“Who says he can’t? And your father wasn’t a criminal—he was a policeman, too.”

Hearing this, Xu Lang looked up, met Lu Ye’s eyes, and uttered just two words.

“Heh.”