As soon as they arrive in Xin Hulei's apartment, Heimao comes bounding up to them with a loud meow.
He rubs himself up and around Yao Shen's legs, his tail curling up on itself like a question mark.
Absentmindedly, Yao Shen scratches his head on his way to follow Xin Hulei into the bedroom.
He sits down next to Xin Hulei as he plugs the memory card into his laptop.
"You don't need to watch," Xin Hulei says, drawing the screen away from Yao Shen.
Yao Shen pulls the laptop towards him, "We'll only watch enough to find our their identities."
Even saying that, he still holds his breath in trepidation when the video starts playing.
With the way the camera was mounted, they have a view of the semi-circle of sofas where the men were sitting.
A simple hidden camera set up like the one Du Liyan installed in the hotel room wouldn't be able to record sound, so Yao Shen and Xin Hulei are left trying to lip-read.
The first few minutes of footage show nothing out of the ordinary, and yet Yao Shen can't help the disgust bubbling in his stomach -- he knows what's going to happen. He knows that these men pretending to be human are monsters in disguise.
It makes him want to ask the System why it's so concerned about Xin Hulei when flesh and blood humans get to walk around committing atrocities.
Who cares about demons destroying the mortal realm, when humans do it just fine themselves?
He feels a gentle hand covering his restless knee. "You're grinding your teeth," Xin Hulei says, steadying Yao Shen's legs, and uncurling the fingers of his right hand from the fist he's making.
"I'm sorry."
Xin Hulei lifts Yao Shen's hand to his lips and brushes a gentle kiss over his knuckles. "Don't apologize for caring, not enough people do."
Those quiet words and the intensity in Xin Hulei's eyes renders Yao Shen speechless, all he can do is lower his eyes, and try not to blush.
On the laptop, the video continues playing. Yao Shen forces himself to look, despite how much all of it turns his stomach.
The girls are acting tipsy, even though Yao Shen can tell most of them are watering down their drinks, or only pretending to drink -- except of course for the clueless Hua Mei.
Eventually, one of them stumbles into a tray of drinks and almost brings them crashing down. Only Du Liyan's quick intervention, prevents it from toppling into the briefcases resting against the end table.
All the businessmen jump in with vicious reprimands, one of them even slaps the girl who bumped into the drinks.
Another curses up a storm, judging by his red face and the vein throbbing on his temple. He sits down on the sofa and pulls one of the briefcases into his lap. He painstakingly examines all the files inside, to make sure none of them were damaged.
"Wait," Yao Shen says, and Xin Hulei immediately freezes the frame.
On the screen, he can see a bright pink logo in one of the folders the man pulls out. It resembles two halves of a heart like puzzle pieces about to fit together and become whole.
"I've seen that logo before," Yao Shen says, wracking his mind to try and remember exactly where.
Xin Hulei goes very still. "'Missing Piece of Love'"
Yao Shen gives him a confused look. "What?"
"It's the name of the dating show we watched the other day," Xin Hulei points at the logo, "that's their logo from two seasons ago, which aired two years ago. It's slightly different now, but overall the design is only slightly altered."
He goes very still after that. It might be Yao Shen's imagination, but he swears Xin Hulei's smooth earlobes go a little redder.
The idea of such a cool guy, who rides fast bikes, smokes cigarettes, and is a demon king to boot, being hopelessly addicted to dating shows to the point of memorizing the logos of season's past is too cute for Yao Shen to handle.
Xin Hulei might be almost 1,90m tall, but in that moment Yao Shen can't help finding him adorable.
"Why are you smiling?" Xin Hulei asks him, slightly alarmed.
Yao Shen rests his head on Xin Hulei's shoulder with a sigh. "Nothing, you're just very smart, super cool, little old me can't keep up."
Xin Hulei clears his throat and ruffles Yao Shen's hair. "You're the one who noticed it, don't belittle yourself," he says, completely oblivious to the real reason behind Yao Shen's amusement.
"So, do you think he works for the show or something?" he asks, changing subjects.
Xin Hulei inspects the screen more closely, his eyes narrowed. "It's possible. It would explain why they were in Hengdian, and staying at the hotel. If I remember correctly, two years ago 'Missing Piece of Love' shot a few Ming dynasty themed special episodes, all the sets were from the World Studios."
"Can we find who he is then?" Yao Shen asks, feeling hopeful.
With a single key-press, Xin Hulei takes a screenshot. "I can ask around, I'm sure I'll get a name."
What can they do with a name though? It's certainly useful that they have footage depicting the crime, but rich people have a way of making inconvenient things disappear -- especially a group of them with so much to lose.
"I want to get revenge for Hua Mei, for Du Liyan too, but for her especially, what happened to her is too awful."
A slow, calculating smile spreads across Xin Hulei's lips, wiping away any residual cuteness Yao Shen was still projecting onto him.
The cruel smile and the cold glint in his eyes make him look the part of a powerful demon king, dangerous and alluring.
Yao Shen thinks he can't be blamed for being pulled into his orbit, like a satellite drawn by a planet's magnetic field.
"I have an idea," Xin Hulei says, his smile growing fangs, and sending a shiver down Yao Shen's spine.
"What is it?" Yao Shen asks, envisioning a righteous bloodbath the likes of which only happen in the most gory of video games.
"I need to call Liansi first."
Yao Shen's expectant face crumples at once.
Wait, what?
---
A few minutes later Tan Liansi arrives, and after shooting Yao Shen a withering glare, concedes to hear out Xin Hulei, who tells her everything about Du Liyan, Hua Mei and their killers.
He shares his plan, and Tan Liansi immediately agrees to join in.
Yao Shen has to admit it's a good plan, albeit far less gory than he envisioned.
It's going to cause quite a stir, that's for sure.
"What about the other men in the video with him?" Yao Shen asks. "I don't want them to be able to get away just because we catch one."
Xin Hulei nods. "We'll get all of them, but I don't think we should try to get them all under the same room again, it will make them too suspicious."
That's probably a fair assessment. As much as they must think they got away with it there might still be a little kernel of paranoia on their minds, making them jump at shadows from time to time.
Yao Shen hopes it has been making their lives miserable, but he has his doubts.
It's well past 2 am when they finish hashing out the details.
"Well, I think that's all of it," she says with a huge yawn. "I'm going back to my room, do you want a lift?" she asks Yao Shen, although not out of the kindness of her heart.
Yao Shen shakes his head. "No, I don't want to go back to that place, not until we deal with this." He leans into Xin Hulei's shoulder, making himself comfortable. "I'm staying here."
Technically, he didn't ask for Xin Hulei's permission, but he's making an executive decision and inviting himself over.
Tan Liansi's glare only sharpens when Xin Hulei doesn't refute him. "What if we can't solve this that soon?"
Yao Shen shrugs. "I'll just stay here for as long as it takes, then."
She gives the two of them one last look of displease before disappearing. "I'll make some calls," she says again, only this time it sounds like a threat.
---
Neither Yao Shen nor Xin Hulei are in the mood to do anything more than shower and cuddle together in bed -- not after the events they witnessed.
All the same, Yao Shen is glad he's not alone, and credits Xin Hulei's steady heartbeat and warm body for the the surprisingly restful night.
Perhaps the Sleep Upgrade III deserves some credit too, but Yao Shen isn't inclined to admit it.
Annoyingly, they're woken up the next morning by the incessant vibration of Xin Hulei's mobile on the nightstand.
He disconnects after a brief conversation of sleepy grumbles and mutters, and crawls back under the covers, fitting his chest along Yao Shen's back and pulling him into the cradle of his arms.
"Liansi pulled some strings," he says, biting the top of Yao Shen's ear playfully. "The three of us are going to be special guests on tonight's live episode of 'Missing Piece of Love'."