“This… how would we know? Once they said to get on the bridge, everyone crowded over there. We couldn’t see a thing.”

Ji Chenjiao unfolded the schedule marked on the project list in his mind. There was an hour and a half break at noon. To damage the rope, one didn’t have to wait until everyone was on the rope bridge.

But no one could answer who had left during the lunch break. Because at that time, everyone was hanging out in small groups, and no one paid attention to who had disappeared.

While the Serious Crimes Unit was investigating this cruel man-made disaster, on another unknown mountain peak, an even crueler “game” was continuing.

Ever since defeating A-Meng last time, A-Bing seemed to have lost his fear. He could find even the tiniest flaw in any opponent, and then, in front of the masked man, debate them until they had no strength to fight back, lying on the ground like dogs begging the masked man for a way out.

A-Bing didn’t know how long such days would continue. He couldn’t take it anymore. Perhaps soon, no, maybe tomorrow, his head would be like that person he saw last time—cut off and put into a watermelon for the remaining winners to slice open.

He increasingly failed to understand the meaning of coming to this “game.” He had been living an ordinary life. He wasn’t some saint, but he hadn’t broken any laws or committed any crimes either. Why, why did he have to suffer such treatment?

At this moment, today’s execution ceremony began again. Several losers from yesterday were put into gunny sacks, their heads wrapped in watermelons.

But this time, no one went up to cut the watermelons. They were crushed alive by stone slabs used for building houses, the watermelons spraying out like blood.

A-Bing completely broke down. He looked at everything happening before his eyes, yet it was like he saw nothing. This was like a nightmare, but he didn’t know when he would wake up.

The computer screen in front of “Cry” went black. It wasn’t a major malfunction; the claws and teeth of the “Glimmer” dark web were spreading in all directions, and evil people were using it to commit evil deeds.

And these deeds had nothing to do with “Glimmer.”

Hearing footsteps behind him, “Cry” immediately stood up. “Mr. Bai.”

Bai Lingxue looked at the display screen that took up half the wall, countless data streams flowing across it like meteors.

“Did that bunch of idiots mess up?”

“Cry” gritted his teeth. “The police have their eyes on them.”

Bai Lingxue laughed. “Missing a screw in their brains, it was bound to happen sooner or later.”

“Then this time, do we still need to intervene?”

Bai Lingxue lit a cigarette. “Wiped their ass once, think there’s a second time? When did ‘Glimmer’ start managing after-sales service? Let them toss and turn on their own.”

The fact that the rope bridge breaking was man-made caused an uproar at Fanfei Electrical. The employees’ first reaction was almost universally that someone from the club was taking revenge on society, but after thinking it over, some gradually realized it was more likely there was some internal grudge within the Engineering Center.

Consequently, the atmosphere in the company became oppressive and strange. Perceptive people involuntarily observed their surroundings, pondering if they had offended anyone, or if any of their colleagues were particularly extreme and vengeful. For a time, even in departments outside the Engineering Center, everyone felt insecure.

When the Serious Crimes Unit went to Fanfei and the hospital for investigations, several employees in hospital beds mentioned the same name: Zhang Xutu.

One employee with spinal damage who would never stand up again even swore with red eyes that it must be Zhang Xutu.

Ji Chenjiao shook the A4 document in his hand. Zhang Xutu’s photo appeared dull and gloomy.

He remembered this person; he was one of the five who hadn’t gotten on the bridge. 1.86 meters tall, very sturdy, wearing black-rimmed glasses, eyes so small they were almost invisible. That day on the cliff, he spoke very little. Xi Wan asked a question, and he answered a sentence, staring blankly at the opposite mountain peak. Hearing people had died and many were seriously injured, he didn’t have much reaction.

When others described their terror witnessing the rope bridge break, he just lowered his head and gave a few perfunctory “Mhm”s.

During this investigation, employees said Zhang Xutu wasn’t a campus recruit but was hired through social recruitment. This batch of new “code farmers” at Fanfei were almost all graduates from prestigious universities, with several even having backgrounds in overseas research labs. Zhang Xutu, however, graduated from a vocational college and had been tumbling around in society for a few years, previously working as a minor supervisor at a very average internet company.

When he first came to Fanfei as an intern, Zhang Xutu felt he was a senior with experience and often spoke to the fresh graduates interning with him in a commanding tone, which was very annoying. Soon, he got slapped in the face—although the fresh graduates lacked experience, their professional skills were strong enough. The halo of the institutions behind them made him look dim and dull. As for experience, he was miles behind those old employees in the Engineering Center. Give him a random bug to fix, and he couldn’t do it.

During the internship assessment period, he was repeatedly reprimanded by old employees and repeatedly lost face in front of the fresh graduates. When the interns went out for dinner or karaoke at night, they never invited him. He became the most unpopular outlier among this batch of interns.

When the assessment ended, he was hanging at the tail end. He wasn’t going to be kept, but the two interns ranked ahead of him—one got a better offer, the other was going abroad for further studies—so he lucked out and picked up the scraps.

It was said that the head of the Engineering Center didn’t want him at all, but they were really short-handed, so they reluctantly signed a contract with him.

After officially joining, he became taciturn. When everyone talked about him behind his back, they felt he actually hated Fanfei very much, but since he couldn’t find another job immediately and couldn’t go back to being a minor supervisor, he had no choice but to stay.

“That kind of person, anyway, I wouldn’t dare offend him. What if he explodes one day?”

“Hating the company, hating colleagues, there’s a lot of news like this. Don’t look at him being silent all day; who knows what he’s calculating in his heart. Biting dogs don’t bark!”

“Didn’t he argue with Li Nan during the internship? Li Nan’s data was different from his, and he insisted he was right and Li Nan was a wet-behind-the-ears student. Later it was proven Li Nan was right, and he made a huge fool of himself. Please, Li Nan was a top student!”

“Sigh, what a pity, gone just like that!”

Li Nan was one of the six deceased. When Ling Lie led the team down for rescue, he was already gone. He fell from a high altitude the moment the rope bridge broke. That group of people either died or were seriously injured.

Ji Chenjiao looked at Zhang Xutu sitting opposite him. The light made his large, flat face shine. He lowered his head slightly, staring down at the table, so Ji Chenjiao couldn’t see his eyes.

“At the outdoor expansion at noon, after eating lunch together, where did you go?”

Zhang Xutu slowly raised his head, his eyes full of sorrow. “Officer, do you think I’m the one who harmed people?”

The pain in his pupils was like a claw, scratching fiercely across Ji Chenjiao’s chest. Ji Chenjiao frowned, and after a moment, said, “This is just routine questioning. We will ask your colleagues the same questions. Just answer truthfully.”

Zhang Xutu gave two miserable laughs. “They all say I’m the werewolf, right? Because I don’t fit in, I’m older than them, my education isn’t as good as theirs… But I entered Fanfei fair and square too!”

Ji Chenjiao said, “Zhang Xutu, I understand you have emotions, but please cooperate with our work first.”

Zhang Xutu’s stretched neck gradually shrank back, and he shook his head resignedly. “I didn’t harm anyone. I didn’t like Li Nan; he was too arrogant, looking down on me just because of his academic background. I didn’t like Xiao Huan either; I don’t understand what such a delicate woman is doing in the Engineering Center. But I never thought of harming them. After eating, they were all playing cards, no one wanted to invite me. I felt uncomfortable staying there, so I went for a walk in the mountains alone.”

Ji Chenjiao asked, “Do you still remember where you walked?”

Zhang Xutu thought for a while. “Just walked blindly. I don’t know where I went, but it should have overlapped with the path to the rope bridge for a bit. Because I saw the time was about right, I walked back, met the main group on the road, and joined them.”

Zhang Xutu couldn’t clearly explain where he went when acting alone, which increased suspicion on him.

Acting alone like him was Zhao Jie. Before the investigation began, Zhao Jie was the person the Serious Crimes Unit suspected most.

However, the internal voice at Fanfei unanimously believed that the suspect could be Xiao Huan but absolutely not Zhao Jie.

“Group Leader Zhao is a very good person. He’s an old backbone here. He never complains about overtime and is willing to mentor newcomers. He just has a soft heart.”

“Brother Zhao was the first to get on the bridge that day and walked a round trip. If he knew there was a problem with the bridge, he definitely wouldn’t have walked it, right?”

Zhao Jie had been discharged and returned to Fanfei, but his mental state looked very bad. With such an event happening before his eyes and being the person in charge, who knew how long it would take for this psychological shadow to fade.

Ji Chenjiao asked the same question as he did Zhang Xutu, “Where did you go after lunch?”

Zhao Jie said hoarsely, “I wanted to take advantage of the break to check out the project sites further back. The projects changed this year; I need to see them with my own eyes to feel assured.”

Ji Chenjiao asked, “So you arrived at the rope bridge ahead of time?”

Zhao Jie nodded, smiling bitterly. “But as a layman, going there was useless. You can’t see problems with the bridge with the naked eye.”

Ji Chenjiao said, “And then? What other projects did you see?”

Zhao Jie fell silent. “…Didn’t see any more. Couldn’t get across, and there wasn’t enough time, so I went back along the road.”

“Couldn’t get across?”

“I just wandered around near the rope bridge, didn’t get close. Only when I got there did I realize that to see other projects, I had to cross the bridge first. I don’t have much adventurous spirit. With no club staff watching nearby, I didn’t dare walk that bridge just like that. Couldn’t get across, so couldn’t see the projects behind it.”

Zhao Jie’s explanation was very logical. More importantly, during the investigation, the Serious Crimes Unit couldn’t find any motive for him to commit the crime. His position in the Engineering Center was quite stable, he had led teams before without incident, had good interpersonal relationships in the company, was appreciated by superiors and loved by subordinates, and had an ideal income. Why would such a person commit a crime?

And Xiao Huan, among the five, had never left the main group. Like the other two, she hadn’t approached the bridge before the group arrived at the rope bridge.

Obviously, like the others at Fanfei, she had also realized the suspect was among them, and the most suspicious were those who couldn’t explain their whereabouts after lunch. Before Ji Chenjiao could speak, she anxiously explained, “It’s definitely not Brother Zhao! Brother Zhao is a very good person; he really just went up the mountain to check the project conditions for us!”

Ji Chenjiao felt her agitation was somewhat suspicious and asked, “What is your relationship with Zhao Jie?”

“I… We…” Xiao Huan stammered, “I’m not in Brother Zhao’s group, but Brother Zhao has taught me a lot of things. During the expansion, Brother Zhao was also taking care of me. He really is a very kind and warm-hearted person!”

The preliminary investigation was complete. The Serious Crimes Unit had a rough impression of the club staff, Fanfei Electrical, and Carter Club, which was considered a competitor by the club.

The relatively more suspicious one was still Zhang Xutu. Xi Wan found out that the rope was sabotaged by an outdoor dagger, very sharp, available both online and in specialty outdoor stores. No discarded dagger had been found in the mountains for now; the suspect likely disposed of the dagger after leaving the mountain. Finding the dagger was difficult, but finding purchase records might be slightly easier.

“What are you looking at?” As soon as Ji Chenjiao returned to the office, he saw Ling Lie staring intently at the computer.

Ling Lie leaned back into the chair. “Zhang Xutu’s social media account is quite interesting.”

Ji Chenjiao bent down, placing a hand on Ling Lie’s shoulder. “He has a social media account?”

“Posts quite a lot, but has no fans. He’s just entertaining himself.”

Zhang Xutu’s social media account didn’t have any flashy decorations. He occasionally reposted some livelihood news, belonging to the type of people who were always fooled by marketing accounts. There was a lot of original content: stray cats seen on the way to work, spicy noodles cooked by himself in the middle of the night, a skewer of candied hawthorn bought in winter, mushrooms growing in the corner of an old building…

Very fragmentary daily life, but looking at it made one feel this person…

Ji Chenjiao said, “Is living life earnestly.”

Ling Lie nodded. “If he didn’t write these things deliberately for us to see, then he really doesn’t look like a suspect.”

Ji Chenjiao said, “Check the time.”

Ling Lie clicked to the end. “Starting from five years ago, he’s been posting these.”

Ji Chenjiao sat down, pressing his brow. “If it’s not Zhang Xutu, and not Zhao Jie, could the suspect be among the injured?”

Ling Lie spun the chair around, his hands propped on Ji Chenjiao’s knees. “In mass injury cases, it’s not without precedent. The suspect blends in with the injured to be ruled out early. If he only suffers minor injuries while the people he wants to kill die, suffering a bit of physical pain can be considered a success.”

Ji Chenjiao gazed at Ling Lie. After a good while, the pressure on his knees suddenly lessened. Ling Lie’s eyes widened round as he exclaimed, “Aiyoyoyo—”

Ling Lie’s chair had wheels underneath. Instead of supporting himself on his own knees, he insisted on propping himself on Ji Chenjiao’s knees. With this posture, his center of gravity couldn’t be stable. His butt stuck out further and further, the pushing force sliding the chair backward, taking Ling Lie with it.

Ji Chenjiao: “…”

Just before Ling Lie slid away completely, Ji Chenjiao grabbed him. He fell off the chair and squatted in front of Ji Chenjiao, still shaken. “Close call, close call!”

Ji Chenjiao couldn’t help laughing, lowering his head to bump foreheads with him. “Xia Xiaodou, I think you should become a comedian. The police uniform really restricts your talent.”

After filtering through once, the investigation gradually gained focus, narrowing down to individuals. At this time, the search team still busy at Xiarong University found Zhang Chunquan’s phone. The phone had been soaked in the lake for too long. Shen Qi dismantled it and shook his head; it was completely broken, and data could no longer be extracted from it.

Ling Lie placed a box of barbecue in front of his desk. “Can’t even eat some meat?”

Shen Qi picked it up and ate. “Brother, you’re so naive.”

Ling Lie rubbed his dog head. “Ate my barbecue…”

Shen Qi: “Then I’m your man?”

Ling Lie: “Dream on.”

Shen Qi pouted his lips way out.

Ling Lie said, “Don’t act cute. I’m coming to see the data in the morning.”

Shen Qi wailed for a bit, then started working steadily. In the middle of the night, he actually found something.

But the breakthrough wasn’t the phone fished up; it was the computer Liang Wenxian brought back from the esports club last time. The cracking and analysis finally yielded results—Zhang Chunquan had used the “Glimmer” dark web!

“It’s ‘Glimmer’ again!” Liang Wenxian slammed the table. “Sure enough, they haven’t stopped!”

Ji Chenjiao looked at the character relationship chart with furrowed brows. Previously, the common point between Zhang Chunquan, Yong Huihao, and Tang Qi was that they had all disappeared for a period of time without reason.

Yong Huihao and Tang Qi were killed as Yu Qianming’s “Feng Shui fish.” Yong Huihao was killed by a hitman “Glimmer” used via Shaman, and Tang Qi appeared to have committed suicide, but they were both related to “Glimmer.”

Now, “Glimmer” had linked up with Zhang Chunquan again.

But the Yu Group’s conspiracy had already been exposed. No one needed “Feng Shui fish” anymore. Zhang Chunquan’s suicide itself wasn’t too suspicious. He was similar to Yong Huihao and Tang Qi, yet not similar.

This clue was like a hemp rope tied to a stone, thrown into a muddy pond, stirring the water to become murkier and murkier.