Demons Beside You

“The scent is very faint…” White-Ma said.

“Is there a direction?” Chen Zhao asked.

“The scent is very faint…”

“Can you sense the amount?”

“The scent is very—”

Chen Zhao kicked him to the ground. “If you tell me the scent is faint again, we’ll eat dog meat for dinner.”

White-Ma felt wronged. He was telling the truth. Many people would accidentally lose change on the beach too, and the coins also had faint scents. It affected his senses.

Chen Zhao didn’t have any desire for change. They were only a couple of cents each. He probably couldn’t get $100 even if he found all the coins on the beach.

If it was paper money, it would be more obvious and people would get it before Chen Zhao. It wouldn’t be as hidden as coins.

Chen Zhao’s phone rang. Ethan’s excited voice streamed in from the other end. “Chen, you did it, right? You did it!”

“What are you talking about?”

“That old bastard’s in the hospital. The media caught Phillip Quinn being taken into the hospital. His entire leg looks like it’s rotting. He kept screaming on the stretcher. You did that, right?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m busy, gotta go.”

“Wait, don’t hang up!” Ethan exclaimed. “Chen, I had someone ask around. The police seemed to have found some evidence to prove that Phillip had been attacked at home. They’re investigating already. Be careful.”

“Oh,” Chen Zhao replied calmly. At the same time, he wondered what evidence it could be.

Was it Phillip’s hysterical testimony? No one would believe an old madman, right?

Oh, right… It was the hole in the wall that Chen Zhao had climbed in from. The hole was too obvious. He couldn’t have covered it either.

Chen Zhao didn’t worry about it though. He believed that his plan yesterday was practically the perfect crime. Lloyd had helped him analyze the entire process.

First was the climbing. Unless someone else had infrared binoculars too, no one else would be able to see Chen Zhao climbing CL Building at night. Second, Chen Zhao had on the Spider-man mask. His entire body was sealed, so he couldn’t have left behind skin cells or hair in Phillip’s room. Then there was the parachuting. He’d painted it black, so it was difficult to be discovered.

There was a small possibility that he left evidence while climbing and parachuting, but it was impossible to say it was him. He also had nothing to do with Phillip, so no one would suspect him.

The most critical point was that the police wouldn’t think that someone had climbed up. They would only think that someone had climbed down.

After all, climbing straight up for hundreds of meters was impossible in a short period. This wasn’t like rock climbing either, which would be easier.

There were places for resting while rock climbing. It wasn’t impossible to rest in every path. There were chances to replenish one’s energy.

But in a crime, it was impossible to climb hundreds of meters in a short time. Instead of worrying if the police would find him, Chen Zhao would rather find some coins on the beach.

The Silly Twins searched happily too. The more they found, the better they would eat that night.

Many tourists on the beach came over to take pictures of them. Chen Zhao had hung a sign and can on their necks: please tip for selfies.

He didn’t write down a price, but they’d collected a can of coins in an afternoon. After they found out that they could make money from pictures, they would stop those that didn’t pay.

They practically became the bullies of the beach. This was also why they became the most popular tourist attraction there. In the end, many tourists purposely didn’t pay them so they could play around.

No one cared about people who made money through pictures like this. After all, America didn’t have city guards. There were a lot of buskers on the beach too.

After finding this new and easy way to get rich, the Silly Twins didn’t want to leave the beach. Unfortunately, the crowd thinned around the evening.

“Time to go.” Fali collected her things and saw the two cans of money on the Silly Twins’ necks.

To be honest, she’d witnessed Chen Zhao summon these two. In the beginning, they’d given off a strong oppressive feeling, so she’d thought that they were cold and arrogant. Their performance at the beach today completely upended her impression of them.

As long as the tourists gave money, they were willing to be petted, hugged, or ridden. Their statuses had completely been destroyed. They probably didn’t even know that they’d once had an impressive image.

“Are we going straight home?”

“Let’s go to the supermarket and buy some dog food. In one night, they ate a month’s supply of Beelzebub, Carrie, and Walter’s food.”

“They aren’t normal wolves or dogs, right? Is it okay to give them dog food?”

“Do you two like dog food?”

The Silly Twins nodded furiously without holding back.

The sea wind on the coast highway was a bit chilly as it blew into the car. Even with a city like L.A, winter nights still made one feel cold.

Chen Zhao didn’t like having cold air blow in his face, but the Silly Twins didn’t care about the others. They enjoyed the wind, hoping they could continue tomorrow.

It was their first time truly making money. They’d earned the money for buying the dog food today too.

When they reached the supermarket in town, Chen Zhao left the pets at customer service, but the worker actually told him that dogs could be taken inside. This was strange because the supermarket always had a clear sign saying that pets weren’t allowed.

After asking, they learned that the town suddenly had a dog craze. In two days, there were 100 new dogs in town. Most of them were huskies as well. The Silly Twins were too big, but the worker still saw them as huskies.

When Chen Zhao brought them into the supermarket, he realized that there really were other customers with their dogs.