A Valiant Life

The service staff at the front desk, Xiao He, realized that the business had been pretty good the past couple of days. In the past, there weren’t so many people at night but at that moment, four or five people just went in.

In the bathhouse.

A middle-aged man with spectacles spent some time in the bath before a back-scrubber approached him. “Boss, do you need a back scrub?”

A wave of customers had just come, causing them to be overwhelmingly busy. Now that they saw that there were still a few people in the bath, they went up to ask them. If no one else wanted a scrub, then the workers could go and rest.

“Mmm, I do want a back scrub. Is the person with the best technique here that young man?” asked the middle-aged man.

The worker replied, “Of course. His technique is incredible. The rest of us can’t even compare to him.”

“Then I’ll wait for him to finish and have him scrub my body,” said the middle-aged man.

The worker nodded, “Alright. You don’t look familiar. This must be your first time here. But don’t worry. After experiencing it once, you will remember it for life.”

The middle-aged man replied with a smile, “I hope so.”

Soon after, Lin Fan finished his work and relaxed.

“Little Boss, there’s someone waiting for you to scrub his back,” said the worker.

Lin Fan looked over. He hadn’t expected to have another customer right after he finished scrubbing one. But it didn’t matter. Today, there were even more customers and most of them requested for Lin Fan personally. This left him helpless but it also meant that his back-scrubbing abilities had gradually become well-known.

“Boss, please come over here,” said Lin Fan with a smile.

Liu Biao had been noticing Lin Fan for a long time. He realized that this person’s back-scrubbing technique was different from what he usually saw. He was a little curious as to how it would feel.

Since people had praised him so much, Liu Biao wondered if he was really that great.

“Hey…” Lin Fan’s gaze fell on Liu Biao’s face and he was a little stunned. Something serious seemed to have happened.

Liu Biao was a little startled as well. “What’s wrong?”

Lin Fan smiled, “Nothing much. It’s just that you look like a literati.”

Liu Biao chuckled and didn’t say much else. He clearly didn’t want to speak about this topic. Then, he lay down there and closed his eyes.

Lin Fan’s heart was beating quickly. This guy was quite impressive. Then, Lin Fan took his tools out and started scrubbing.

From when he had started until now, Lin Fan had never come across anyone who could stay calm and composed while he scrubbed that person’s front.

Liu Biao couldn’t take it anymore, “Scrub my back, scrub my back.”

Embarrassing!

Liu Biao felt a response at ‘that part’ and had to cover it. Otherwise, he would get laughed at.

Lin Fan scrubbed his back. Meanwhile, Liu Biao suddenly felt a strange feeling deep inside his heart.

It was as if an energy was brewing inside his body.

Deep in his heart, a change gradually occurred. This change was very mysterious and he didn’t know how to describe it.

Then, Liu Biao’s mouth moved, “Just now, you saw my appearance and said that I looked like a literati, right? Your guess was really spot on. I do indeed work in this field.”

Lin Fan laughed, “Hehe, looks like I guessed right. I can tell that you have many thoughts in your heart. It must be uncomfortable to keep them bottled up.”

Liu Biao sighed, “I’m tired. I’m really too tired. You don’t know this but I haven’t had a good sleep in several decades. I have nightmares every night. A man really isn’t allowed to commit any wrongdoings in his life. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to erase them for life.”

“Indeed.” Lin Fan nodded.

*sob sob* Suddenly, Liu Biao started crying.

The surrounding back-scrubbers were all stunned. Little Boss had scrubbed someone to tears once again. Just what kind of demonic powers did Little Boss possess, to be able to scrub someone to tears?

“In the past, I didn’t work in this field but I had no choice but to conceal my identity. Now that you’ve scrubbed me, I’m recalling all the past incidents. I feel so regretful, I really do!” said Liu Biao with a sorrowful expression.

“When a man commits wrongdoings, he should bravely face his mistakes. It is only when he admits his mistakes that he can walk away from them,” said Lin Fan.

Liu Biao nodded, “Right. What you said is very right.”

The Encyclopedia’s mystical boost gradually seeped into Liu Biao’s body. The more Lin Fan scrubbed, the more powerful it became. The darkness deep in Liu Biao’s heart gradually dissipated and was replaced with light. Suddenly, it was as if Liu Biao understood many things.

Liu Biao suddenly said, “I must go and give myself up.”

Lin Fan stopped for a moment, then continued scrubbing. When he had first seen Liu Biao, he had felt that this person looked strange. When he looked closer, he really saw some problems.

The other back-scrubbers were stunned. They couldn’t help but ask curiously, “Boss, what exactly did you commit? Why must you give yourself up?”

This recent period, to them, has been too strange. They really didn’t know how to describe it.

Everyone who got scrubbed my Little Boss would have their brains temporarily short-circuited and have problems arise.

“Murder,” Liu Biao turned around and said in a deep voice, “I murdered a number of people.”

The back scrubbers were dumbfounded. Then, they shook their heads, “Boss, you really know how to joke. How could you have murdered people?”

Liu Biao didn’t speak but made a remorseful expression.

Lin Fan’s heart was thumping furiously. This Encyclopedia’s powers were too perverse. Did this back-scrubbing skill really scrub out people’s conscience?

Incredible. Simply incredible.

The other workers didn’t know if this was real. But the customer’s tone was really terrifying.

Lin Fan said, “Don’t be anxious. Let me give you a good scrub. You won’t know if you’ll ever be able to come here again but perhaps there is still hope.”

Liu Biao nodded, “Mmm. I finally figured it out. I’d rather face my problems than run away from them. This matter has entrapped me for several decades. I’d rather give myself up than be caught. At least I might be able to maintain my remaining dignity.”

This topic was a grave one. It was slightly terrifying.

The surrounding back-scrubbers didn’t say a word. They felt that this customer was very strange.

However, what was up with Little Boss? He didn’t seem surprised at all. He even seemed to believe it.

This wasn’t right. If Little Boss believed it, why wasn’t he scared at all?

…

Outside the bathhouse.

Liu Biao took out his phone and dialed a number that he rarely called.

The call went through.

“What do you want? Didn’t I tell you not to call me too often?” An uneasy voice came from the other side of the call.

“Huang Jun, it’s already been twenty years. Just now, I was having a back scrub in a bathhouse and I suddenly realized that we shouldn’t be like this,” said Liu Biao.

Huang Jun said, “Liu Biao, have you been scrubbed stupid? You don’t even know my name anymore? Huang Jun is already dead. What are you trying to do?”

Liu Biao said in a very calm voice, “Don’t call me Liu Biao anymore. Call me Liu Bing. That’s my real name. We don’t have to hide anymore. I’m prepared to give myself up. Alright, I’m hanging up. I just wanted to tell you that as a person, you can’t run from your problems. You can only face them.”

“Hey, hey…”

*beeeeep*

Then, Liu Biao made a call. It was a number given by the Little Bro who had scrubbed his back.

“Is this Inspector Liu?” asked Liu Biao.

Liu Xiao Tian was just doing official business, checking on documents. Then, he stopped and replied, “Yes, I am. You are?”

“Hello, Inspector Liu. I am Liu Biao but my real name is Liu Bing. Twenty years ago, I robbed and killed a family of four at a hotel. I want to surrender myself now.”

Liu Xiao Tian: “…”