Ling Lie had all sorts of strange ideas. He wanted to spend money, so he bought it. It’s pretty, so he bought it. He’s in a good mood, so he bought it… Ji Chenjiao had already come up with reasons for him.

But Ling Lie simply gave a gallant bow and placed the rose in Ji Chenjiao’s hand.

Ji Chenjiao: “!!!”

Ji Chenjiao: “???”

Having been forced to buy a rose by Ling Lie before, Ji Chenjiao’s brain was a bit overloaded at this moment. This time, it’s not… a forced sale, is it? Whose phone did Ling Lie just scan?

Ji Chenjiao subconsciously patted his pocket. His own phone was still there.

So, Ling Lie… bought a rose… for him?

“Xiao Ji, what’s wrong with you?” Ling Lie waved his hand innocently. “It’s so hot here, let’s get in the car.”

Ji Chenjiao came back to his senses. “This? For me?”

Ling Lie: “Is there any doubt?”

“Why?”

“Mmm… a return of courtesy.”

Ji Chenjiao: “A return of courtesy?”

Ling Lie got into the car and blasted the air conditioner. “You said you liked me. If I don’t give you a rose, it makes me seem not very generous.”

Ji Chenjiao: “…” Is this a question of who’s generous and who’s petty!

Seeing that Ji Chenjiao was about to bend the rose stem, Ling Lie said with a pained heart, “Don’t, don’t, hold it gently.”

Ji Chenjiao was about to retort when he heard him mutter, “This is the rose I’m giving you.”

The sarcastic words that were on the tip of Ji Chenjiao’s tongue died out. Looking at the rose, fine, this was from a certain wildcat who had saved up to buy it. It had extraordinary meaning. A small gift holds great affection. It must be cherished.

On the way back to the city bureau, Ling Lie drove. Ji Chenjiao sat primly in the passenger seat, holding the rose obediently the whole time.

The police’s search and investigation on Fengchao Island were nearing their end. The facts of the Lu Dongyue case were clear, and all suspects had confessed. As for the drug manufacturing case, sixty-three people had been found to be involved so far. Fifty were residents of East Street who appeared to be poor, and there were another thirteen organizers.

They organized production on the island. After the drugs were transported to Feng City, they were handed over to lower-level “distributors” and sold throughout the country. Cao Xinxin was a “retailer” under the “distributors” and knew nothing about the source of the drugs, but he knew the “distributor” who contacted him.

And his identity was rather special—although he himself didn’t know his parents were involved in counterfeit drug production, his superiors suspected he knew. At that time, he was under police scrutiny because of Lu Feixiang. A-Xiong and others were worried that he would spill the island’s secrets to gain favor with the police. After all, his father had once wanted to betray the organization. Because of this, Cao Xinxin was silenced.

With Qian Bao, A-Xiong, and other mid- to high-level members arrested, the “distributors” and “retailers” all fled. A list of channel contacts was saved on the computers in the lair. The recorded sellers and transporters numbered close to four hundred.

This was undoubtedly a huge criminal organization. The Feng City police had already contacted police in various places and were jointly pursuing them.

Qian Bao attempted suicide in the detention center but was stopped. After waking up, he showed cognitive impairment and claimed to know nothing.

The criminal investigation team, following Ling Lie’s method, gradually withdrew the overt surveillance on Xiao Yishun. His business seemed unaffected by the drug manufacturing case. He went to his company and met with clients as usual.

On August 15th, “all” of the police’s eyes were withdrawn. Xiao Yishun went to work normally for another two days. He had a business dinner in the evening, but only his bodyguard and secretary attended. He himself drove his secretary’s car back to his villa in the eastern part of the city.

The surveillance team initially didn’t realize they were following the wrong person. It was only when they didn’t see Xiao Yishun at the dinner that they realized they might have been tricked.

This villa was a sea-view house, built in Feng City’s tourist resort area. Many of the houses had been converted into European-style B&Bs, and there were many guests this season. Especially now that Fengchao Island had stopped receiving guests, the tourists coming to Feng City, with the mindset of “since we’re here anyway,” had almost all crowded into this resort area.

Xiao Yishun’s villa was hidden among these popular B&Bs, looking a bit ordinary. He put a new SIM card into a new phone. When the call connected, a young male voice came from the other end.

“Mr. Na!” Beads of sweat dripped from Xiao Yishun’s head. “You said that if I took your order and something went wrong, you would arrange an escape route for me!”

The male voice chuckled. “The escape route has been arranged. Tonight at eleven, come to Hai Xiang Cheng. My people will meet you there.”

Xiao Yishun was overjoyed. “Thank you, Mr. Na!”

“The Voice” added, “By the way, those cops are very cunning. They haven’t completely withdrawn their forces.”

Xiao Yishun: “I know, I know. I just pulled a ‘golden cicada sheds its shell.’ This house isn’t under my name, they can’t find it.”

“The Voice” said, “Then I’ll see you at eleven.”

The call ended. Xiao Yishun breathed heavily. Hai Xiang Cheng was a bar on the edge of the resort area, and it was also the place where he met with “The Voice” and the organization every time. He didn’t feel the slightest bit of regret about abandoning his businesses in Feng City. The business empire he had built over the decades was just a small fry compared to the massive “Fu Guang.”

Fengchao Island was his pledge of allegiance to “Fu Guang.” The fact that “Hui Kongque” was willing to send “The Voice” to meet him meant that he had received the organization’s approval. He was about to become a member of “Fu Guang”!

Xiao Yishun was ecstatic. After the sky turned completely dark, the resort area became even more lively. Scantily clad girls danced hotly on the beach, and rousing music came from the bars.

Xiao Yishun moved through the crowd like the most inconspicuous tourist. At ten-thirty, he arrived at Hai Xiang Cheng. Young people were dancing wildly inside the bar. On the platform outside, a gentle sea breeze was blowing. Xiao Yishun came to the platform and was startled when he saw the figure he had only seen once.

He had thought only “The Voice” or some other subordinate of “Hui Kongque” would come. He never expected “Hui Kongque” to come in person.

He immediately went up to greet him, too excited to speak.

Bai Lingxue smiled, then raised his right arm, the muzzle of the gun aimed at Xiao Yishun’s head, and chuckled lightly. “You’re here? Then let’s go.”

The city bureau’s team didn’t immediately report the lost target to Huang Yi. They found the secretary and bodyguard and asked where Xiao Yishun had gone. The secretary and bodyguard knew nothing. The team members then began to trace Xiao Yishun’s communications and split up to search his several residences and frequently visited hotels.

It was only after searching all possible places Xiao Yishun might be and still not finding him, with his phone also untraceable, that they asked Huang Yi for help.

Huang Yi was anxious. Ling Lie’s plan was to let Xiao Yishun be “free.” Only when he was “free” would he go to approach his more mysterious superior and expose his tracks to the police. But this was not true “freedom”; the police could not let Xiao Yishun out of their sight.

Huang Yi ran to the temporary office. Le Ran was slurping noodles and said that Ling Lie and Ji Chenjiao had just gone to the forensic center.

Huang Yi was startled. Forensic center? Had new test results come out?

Ling Lie’s brow was tightly furrowed, his expression serious. A sample from the forensic center showed that hallucinogen number 109 was extremely similar to “Xue Tong.” His and Ji Chenjiao’s speculation was confirmed. The recent production in the underground lair was indeed “Xue Tong.”

Ling Lie held the thin test report, his gaze growing heavier. When he learned that Fengchao Island had received an overseas order to produce hallucinogens, his first reaction was “Xue Tong.” But now, with the real data in front of him, his heart still clenched fiercely.

Wei Liang had died because of “Xue Tong.” The footprint left by the killer at the scene was consistent with the footprint left when he was framed in Xiarong City. The suspect the major crimes team was tracking, Dan Jin, had also died from “Xue Tong.”

Ji Chenjiao was on the phone with the special operations team. Discovering a secret manufacturing point for “Xue Tong” within the country was no small matter. It was not the same as the previous discoveries of “Xue Tong” spreading in several big cities. This was no longer just a matter for the Feng City police; more manpower was needed from higher-ups.

At this moment, Huang Yi rushed in with the news of Xiao Yishun’s disappearance. Ling Lie was not in a good mood at the moment, and upon hearing this, he immediately became angry. “Didn’t I tell you to keep an eye on him at all times? How could you lose him?”

Huang Yi was also annoyed, but he subconsciously defended his team members and described how Xiao Yishun had pulled off his “golden cicada sheds its shell” trick. Ji Chenjiao rubbed Ling Lie’s back soothingly and asked Huang Yi, “Have all the places he might have gone been searched?”

Huang Yi was sweating bullets. “Searched! Can’t find him. His secretary and bodyguard don’t know anything.”

Ling Lie had already calmed down. “The funds haven’t been transferred. He probably isn’t running away; he’s going to meet his superior. Our chance has come. Let’s go!”

More than a dozen police cars drove out from the city bureau. The one Ji Chenjiao was driving headed towards the eastern part of the city. Ling Lie was looking at a map of the seaside resort area and the road conditions from the city bureau. The traffic was heavy at this time, and several alternate routes were all marked in red.

It was Ling Lie who suggested searching the resort area. Ji Chenjiao said, “How did you think Xiao Yishun might be there?”

“Xiao Yishun has many properties, but investigations show he’s not at any of them. Remember Huang Yi said he found out Shen Wei has a property in the resort area? That villa is registered under Shen Wei’s name, but when I asked Shen Wei, he said it was a mistake, that he doesn’t have that house. But his reaction showed that he knew; he was avoiding the answer. The house was forced upon him by someone else. Who could force a house on him? It can only be Xiao Yishun!”

“Xiao Yishun might have been looking after Shen Wei as a brother out of his past friendship with Tan Fabin, or for some other reason, like mitigating risk. Shen Wei neither refused nor accepted, but he has never been to that house. In fact, that house is likely still controlled by Xiao Yishun.”

“He probably anticipated this day long ago. The police can’t trace that house. It’s the ‘safe house’ he prepared for himself. Moreover, the resort area has a very large flow of people right now. It would be risky for the police to operate there, and he and the person he’s meeting can easily hide in the crowd, like a drop of water in the ocean.”

There was a fork in the road ahead. Ji Chenjiao turned into it, avoiding the traffic, and sped towards the resort area along the small roads on the edge of the city.

This road was not on the map. Ling Lie was a little surprised. “How do you know this road?”

Ji Chenjiao smiled. “In Liu Yixiang’s case, when I was investigating you, you were being cheeky with me, saying something about how you wander the streets at night and have memorized all the roads and alleys of the city. Although I’m not a night owl, since coming to Feng City this time, I’ve also subconsciously trained my ability to remember roads.”

Ling Lie had not been in a good mood since seeing the test report. Hearing Ji Chenjiao’s words, he finally relaxed a little. “You’re copying me.”

“Can’t I?”

“Then you have to treat me to a meal.”

“Sure, McDonald’s it is.”

But Ling Lie’s palate had been spoiled by Ji Chenjiao. He actually looked down on McDonald’s. “Something more expensive.”

Ji Chenjiao: “Oh.”

Ling Lie: “King crab or something.”

Ji Chenjiao smiled. “That’s fine too.”

When the car arrived at the resort area, the two went straight to the villa registered under Shen Wei’s name. They got the surveillance footage from the property management and indeed found Xiao Yishun’s figure. But Xiao Yishun had already left the villa at nine-thirty, his whereabouts unknown.

Ling Lie: “He should still be in the resort area. The more people there are, the easier it is for them to meet.”

However, just as they reached the beach, a group of terrified tourists came running and screaming. Ji Chenjiao stopped one and asked what had happened. The tourist said someone had been beaten to death at the Hai Xiang Cheng bar!

Ling Lie and Ji Chenjiao exchanged a look and immediately rushed against the flow of people. They saw that the usually lively outdoor area of the bar was in a mess, full of trampled marks. The terrified owner and staff were outside the bar, calling the police.

Ji Chenjiao showed his badge. The owner clasped his hands together. “Thank you, thank you! You came so fast! There’s a body inside, it scared me to death!”

Ling Lie’s brow furrowed tightly. A body already? Did they rush here as fast as they could, but were still too late?

Besides the indoor area, Hai Xiang Cheng also had two outdoor areas, one facing the sea and one facing away from it. Ling Lie’s heart pounded violently. He passed through the indoor area with overturned chairs, pushed open the wooden door to the outdoor area facing the sea. A strong smell of blood hit him, carried by the sea breeze. On the sand-covered wooden floor, a person lay motionless, a large pool of blood spreading from under his head.

He walked over and saw the person’s face. It was Xiao Yishun!

Xiao Yishun’s eyes were still open, filled with terror, panic, and disbelief. All his emotions were frozen on the bullet hole in his forehead.

He was indeed dead, with no room for doubt.

Ling Lie sighed, notified Huang Yi, and called the owner over to retrieve the surveillance footage.

At ten-thirty, Xiao Yishun had hurriedly entered the bar. After circling the indoor area, he pushed open the door facing the beach and went onto the platform. Fifteen minutes later, a gunshot rang out. Some customers were startled and quickly left. Some of the bolder ones went to the platform to see what had happened. There was only a body bleeding out on the platform, no one else. And the surveillance footage did not capture anyone going onto the platform through the wooden door before Xiao Yishun arrived at the bar.

Ling Lie: “No one went up to this platform?”

The owner said, “We had an event last week, and the wooden floor of the platform was damaged. We were waiting for repairs, so we didn’t let guests go over there. And our outdoor event today was on the other side. The guests were basically all concentrated on the left.”

“Then how did the killer and the victim get there?”

The owner became agitated. “You can walk around to the platform directly from the outside. The bar was too crowded. If someone insisted on going to the platform, we couldn’t keep an eye on them!”

Huang Yi arrived with the forensic examiner and the crime scene investigation team. Seeing Xiao Yishun’s state of death, they all gasped. It wasn’t that he had died a gruesome death, but that he had died from a gunshot. For a small seaside tourist city like Feng City, a shooting was too serious. Who could shoot someone dead in plain sight? The thought was chilling. The last time Wei Liang was murdered, the killer had also lured him to a secluded, abandoned building, but this time, the crime had escalated completely.

The Feng City police immediately launched an investigation in the resort area, and the ballistic analysis was also underway. But Ling Lie made a rare pessimistic judgment that the police would not be able to find the killer this time.

Xiao Yishun had gone to meet that person empty-handed, which meant he trusted the other person very much, and it was someone of a higher status than him. What was Xiao Yishun’s purpose? To admit his mistake to the other person? Because the underground lair was exposed? To ask the other person for help, to get rid of the police? Or to leave the country?

And this person had killed Xiao Yishun cleanly and efficiently, using a firearm banned in the country, and choosing the most crowded place in Feng City at the time. This was a provocation to the police, and also a declaration of discarding Xiao Yishun, a useless pawn. Since he dared to appear, dared to shoot, it meant he was confident he could get away clean.

As expected, the investigation was not satisfactory. No one had witnessed the process of Xiao Yishun being killed. None of the surveillance cameras in the resort area had captured any suspicious persons. The technical investigation team traced Xiao Yishun’s communications but couldn’t find any record of his contact with the other party. The cash flow of the companies under his name was also normal.

Ji Chenjiao told Qian Bao the news of Xiao Yishun’s death. Qian Bao, after his initial surprise, cried inconsolably. Ji Chenjiao had originally wanted to use Xiao Yishun’s death to provoke Qian Bao and get clues about the killer. However, all of Qian Bao’s actions were arranged by Xiao Yishun; he had never had any contact with Xiao Yishun’s superior.

Xiao Yishun’s blood seemed to draw a clear line: people related to “Xue Tong” had already infiltrated the country, contacted local wealthy individuals, brainwashed them, and absorbed them for their own use. The wealthy individual had a very deep worship for the other party, and very likely had the intention of joining their ranks. The wealthy individual then organized the production of psychoactive drugs downwards, but besides the wealthy individual himself, no one could contact the superior organization.

This created a situation of absolute safety for the superior—if anything happened, as long as they dealt with the wealthy individual himself, it was equivalent to severing all ties with the crime.

Ji Chenjiao thought of one other person who might know something. This person was Shen Wei.

Shen Wei was still in the detention center. He had lost some more weight. He was not very surprised to learn that Xiao Yishun was dead.

Ji Chenjiao: “You knew all along that Xiao Yishun would have this day. You also knew what Xiao Yishun was doing.”

Shen Wei gave a bitter smile. “I’m just an ordinary person struggling to get by. How could I possibly know about the world of a rich and powerful man like Xiao Yishun?”

“The house in the resort area under your name was bought for you by Xiao Yishun. You didn’t tell the truth last time.”

After a moment of silence, Shen Wei said, “Yes. But it doesn’t belong to me. I’ve never lived there.”

Ji Chenjiao: “Was that Xiao Yishun’s payment for you to work with him?”

“I don’t know. Only he knew what he was thinking.” Shen Wei shrugged. “But it’s a pity he’s already dead. Officer Ji, I’ve said it before. For the past seventeen years, I’ve only lived for one thing, and that is to find the killer of my brother. Nothing else matters.”

Ji Chenjiao: “When I saw Qian Bao, I was a bit confused. If Xiao Yishun wanted to find someone to help him run his funeral business, weren’t you the best candidate? You discovered his secret early on. To protect yourself, you chose to stay away from him.”

Shen Wei lowered his head and said nothing.

“Your revenge plan was actually perfect. You didn’t have to bear any legal responsibility at all. If you hadn’t suddenly had a ‘crisis of conscience’ and come to confess the whole story of your plan, you wouldn’t be in the detention center now, but at home, or somewhere else, free as a bird.”

“At first, I thought you were repenting for Lu Feixiang, but now I know that for you, freedom means death. You had to confess so that you could enter the detention center and be protected by the police.”

Shen Wei looked up abruptly, his eyes full of astonishment.

“I didn’t analyze it wrong, did I?” Ji Chenjiao said, “You didn’t participate in Xiao Yishun’s criminal activities, but he valued you very much and wanted to get rich with you, to make up for the regret of not being able to get rich with Tan Fabin. No matter how you refused, in the eyes of his superior, once Xiao Yishun became a disposable pawn, you should also be eliminated. Shen Wei, who exactly is Xiao Yishun’s superior? Who incited him to make drugs?”

Shen Wei let out a long sigh. “As expected of an elite police officer from the big city. You even figured that out. That’s right, my motive for confessing was not simple. If I hadn’t anticipated the possible danger, why would I be willing to come and squat in a cell?”

“But if you want to find out about Xiao Yishun’s superior from me, I’m afraid I’ll have to disappoint you. I don’t know, and he never told me. Didn’t you and that consultant named Ling find it strange that I had no reaction to my brother’s effigy? I’ll tell you now, it’s because I didn’t dare to have a reaction.”

“After Xiao Yishun came back from the south, he wanted to rope me into doing business with him. I knew he wanted to help me, but my heart was set on only one thing: finding the killer. Later, I got a clue that there was an effigy of my brother on Fengchao Island, and he was revered as a patriarch. I immediately went to the island to investigate and learned that it was Xiao Yishun’s doing. This person, you could say he both loved and hated my brother, but making that ugly effigy still made me very unhappy. So while I was investigating the island, I also investigated him.”

“I found that something was not right on the island, as if some illegal activity was going on, but I wasn’t sure what it was. What I was sure of was that the man named Qian Bao was his loyal subordinate. Whatever Qian Bao did on the island must have been on his orders.”

“I felt I had to stay even further away from him. The house he gave me also made me uneasy. He insisted on giving it to me in my brother’s name, saying it was a memento for our Tan family. If I refused, the matter would drag on. Later, I thought about the meaning of that house. He might have wanted to use me, to use that house as his unknown hiding place.”

“I succeeded in getting revenge for my brother, but I became more and more afraid. The person behind Xiao Yishun was not someone he could handle, let alone me. Especially when I knew your special operations team was still in Feng City investigating other cases. If they investigated Xiao Yishun, he would very likely be silenced, and my death would not be far behind. Thinking it over, it’s really ridiculous. I have to hide in a detention center, and in the future, a prison, to avoid being silenced.”

Shen Wei said a lot, which basically matched Ji Chenjiao’s reasoning, but the police’s hope of digging up the superior from him was dashed, because he only knew that there was some dark shadow behind Xiao Yishun, but he didn’t know what this dark shadow was.

Ji Chenjiao noticed that Ling Lie had become somewhat despondent, often sitting alone in a daze. Since he had known Ling Lie, this person had always been full of inexplicable vitality, even being a suspect with passion and excitement. But now, he was listless because of the series of cases in Feng City.

Ji Chenjiao pushed his shoulder. “Let’s go, I’ll treat you to king crab.”