The Runaway Prince of the Asylum

Originally titled *Perfect Extremes [Mystery]*

A twisted, violent childhood and controlling, extreme parents created Chu Mian, who seems perfect in every way.

Chu Mian is a highly qualified psychological counselor with an exceptionally high IQ and EQ. He also has a face so beautiful it makes people judge by appearances. Gentle and patient, he’s like a strawberry candy catching the sunlight. It seems no compliment could possibly do him justice.

But behind closed doors, he’s a renowned bounty hunter. Though delicate, soft, and seemingly frail, he gets one fugitive after another to willingly put on handcuffs.

And the fiercest attack dog of all has been on his leash the whole time.

Red light flashed across a computer screen, and the webpage refreshed in an instant.

[2022 Global Bounty Hunter Rankings]

An unfamiliar East Asian face became the focus of everyone’s attention.

In the photo, the young man had exquisitely handsome features and an innocent smile. Two circles of light were reflected in his caramel-colored eyes.

No. 9: Chu Mian

Nationality: China

Age: 23

Specialties: Criminal psychology, hypnosis

Fugitives captured: 16

Bounty money earned: 36 million

A blood-red exclamation mark suddenly appeared on the webpage. This format was only used to alert the entire internet when a bounty exceeded fifty million.

The task was just three short lines:

Target: Chu Mian

Bounty: 50 million

Requirement: Kill

The following months were a global celebration for bounty hunters. They watched the bounty rise from fifty million to sixty million, then seventy million, and eventually a hundred million.

The task status kept refreshing:

Accepted, in progress, abandoned…

Pending, accepted, in progress, abandoned…

Reader’s guide:

★ A modern, semi-fictional setting. The male lead is doted on by everyone.

★ Male lead: He seems beautiful and kind, but is actually a demon king wrapped in harmless sweetness. He loves sweets, has an unpredictable personality and a self-destructive streak, and everything he does, good or bad, is for a reason.

★ Plot: Episodic cases and the main storyline unfold side by side.

★ Supporting lead: Gu Yan, the male lead’s partner and childhood friend. He’s at the top of the scale when it comes to fighting prowess, a lunatic hiding behind a short-tempered exterior.

★ Content notes: Not a conventional mystery, not a conventional male lead, not technically rigorous or brain-burning.

★ Thanks to my bestie, who also made the character art for Mianmian, and whose identity as his godmother must remain a secret.

Please add my next book to your reading list, quack~

"That Miaojiang Boy Is Seriously Bewitching!"

Ge Shao has been both incredibly unlucky and incredibly lucky lately. He’s unlucky enough that his luxury car, worth several million, breaks down eight times in a single day, each time in the middle of the wilderness. But he’s lucky enough to find a phone dropped by an undercover agent from a rival company, just by sitting down to use the toilet.

That mix of good and bad luck leads to him receiving a human-shaped package from deep in the mountains on his thirtieth birthday. A young man stands in front of the smoking engine, his bright eyes and the silver bell at his neck equally dazzling.

“Big brother! I found you!”

Ge Shao, aka “Big Brother”: Who are you?

After that day, Ge Shao seems to get even more unlucky, now that the boy has latched onto him.

He sets his alarm so he can catch an early-morning flight, but when he opens his eyes, the sun is already high in the sky. He turns his head and sees a phone on the cabinet, crushed to pieces by brute force.

The boy crouches beside the bed, his pretty almond eyes shining as if he’s waiting for praise.

Ge Shao looks at the deep finger dents in a phone supposedly tough enough to withstand a tank: “…”

He doesn’t want to praise him, but he doesn’t dare not to.

“…Great job.”

Chu Yao’s eyes curve into a smile. He’s impossibly beautiful.

Where Ge Shao can’t see, the Miaojiang boy named Chu Yao stands like a mountain, blocking every hand that tries to steal Ge Shao’s fate.

The silver bell around the boy’s neck makes a soft rustling sound, like butterfly wings. It’s his natal Gu worm.

Dream Butterfly, like Zhuang Zhou’s dream of becoming a butterfly.

Later, Ge Shao thinks he must have been placed under a love spell. Otherwise, how could he find Chu Yao adorable even when he’s fiddling with snakes and bugs? So adorable that Ge Shao thinks he wouldn’t mind being bewitched.

Twelve years older than the boy, he goes to the legal department in the middle of the night and prepares a dating contract that follows the highest standards of gentlemanly conduct in every line.

The next day, he holds the contract and leans down to gently kiss the beautiful corner of Chu Yao’s eye.

He says, “You like me. I accept.”

Chu Yao’s eyes turn red, and under the man’s gaze, brimming with affection, he nearly bursts into tears.

“Big brother! It’s against the rules!”

Ge Shao: What?

Later, he chases after the slippery boy with a paternity test report held high over his head, proving they’re not related by blood.

Reader’s guide:

1. A super-powerful Gu master adored by every creature, paired with a not-so-domineering but very flirtatious older CEO.

2. A clingy, sticky little rice cake of a younger brother in front of the male lead, but a fearsome demon king behind his back.

3. They aren’t related by blood. Before losing his memory, the male lead grew up with the love interest, who thinks of him as his big brother.

4. Older man/younger man, equally matched, sweet and satisfying, mutually devoted.

5. Romance and plot progress side by side.

Thesis: Good parenting is the first line of defense against crime.