While Ji Chenjiao and Ling Lie were dealing with the Fu family, the Serious Crimes Unit’s carpet search centered on the Slinka Hotel also made progress.

The forty-seventh floor where Luo Manchai stayed offered a wide, unobstructed view overlooking a vast expanse of buildings. However, diagonally below her window was the “Hanging Garden” of another hotel.

The so-called “Hanging Garden” was actually a large rooftop terrace. Half of it was planted with grass and trees, looking like a floating green island from afar, while the other half was a semi-open banquet hall. At night, it was surrounded by lights and filled with elegant guests.

Surrounding the banquet hall and the green island was a ring of large spotlights. Under professional operation, these lights could project various patterns onto walls and into the air.

Before Luo Manchai’s murder, the “Hanging Garden” suddenly stopped hosting rooftop parties. Under repeated questioning by the police, a manager at the Huijia Hotel revealed the truth—starting from September 1st, the usage rights for the “Hanging Garden’s” spotlights had been rented out.

As for who rented them, the manager claimed it was an instruction from higher-ups and that he, as a mere employee, had no authority to ask.

Xi Wan immediately found the hotel’s financial director. Wary of the police, she claimed she had rented out the “Hanging Garden” on behalf of a friend.

Xi Wan: “Which friend?”

“This…” The financial director was reluctant to say. “It’s a friend from our business activities; we have frequent commercial dealings. Renting the ‘Hanging Garden’ isn’t a violation of regulations, is it?”

Xi Wan: “If that friend of yours rented the ‘Hanging Garden’ to commit a crime, do you intend to shield him?”

The financial director stood up in fright. “We… we operate legally…”

Xi Wan: “You only need to provide leads. If your hotel has no issues, I won’t wrongly accuse you.”

The financial director was extremely anxious. After a long while, she finally said, “It was Young Mr. Fu from the Zhuiting Group. He said… he said he wanted to borrow our rooftop. You know, we’re just an ordinary hotel, Zhuiting is different. I didn’t dare offend him, nor did I dare ask too much. Our boss was thrilled to death just to collaborate with Zhuiting.”

Xi Wan pressed, “Which Young Mr. Fu?”

The financial director hurriedly dug out the person’s business card. Xi Wan took it: Fu Chixun, General Manager of Shanhai Map, Zhuiting Group.

There were many people named Fu in the Zhuiting Group. Xi Wan asked Shen Qi to investigate this person in detail and learned that he was Fu Huizhi’s nephew, thirty years old. He had been promoted by Fu Huizhi all the way up and had long been considered Fu Huizhi’s trusted confidant.

Shanhai Map was a powerhouse enterprise that had emerged within Zhuiting’s internet sector in recent years, focusing on large-scale games. Its art and modeling were already top-tier in the industry.

“Fu Chixun’s intention in renting the ‘Hanging Garden’ is obvious. That position is perfect for shining lights onto Luo Manchai’s window. They could also utilize the wall of the banquet hall to display images on both the wall and the window simultaneously.” Liang Wenxian stood in the “Hanging Garden.” “Very few people look outside in the middle of the night, and this angle is obscure enough. They might have waited many days just for Luo Manchai to open her curtains.”

Shen Qi: “Weren’t they afraid of being seen by others?”

Liang Wenxian pondered. “They weren’t afraid of being seen.”

Shen Qi was surprised. “That bold?”

“Perhaps it wasn’t boldness.” Liang Wenxian deduced a possibility. “It’s that they knew it was just a very ordinary pattern, or letters? Even if unrelated people saw it, they wouldn’t associate it with anything. Their plan to provoke Luo Manchai was gradual. As long as Luo Manchai didn’t commit suicide at the Slinka Hotel, the police wouldn’t even conduct a search of the surroundings, let alone find witnesses.”

But Luo Manchai did die at the Slinka Hotel, and the Fu family line gradually surfaced. So, despite the difficulty, Xi Wan managed to find a witness named Xiao Lan.

“Our company organized a study trip here, and this was the hotel booked for us. I was originally excited hearing there would be a light show at night, but after checking in, I found out there hasn’t been one recently. I don’t know the reason…”

“One night, I got up to reply to a work email. After finishing, I rested by the window for a bit and saw lights swaying around up there. At first, I didn’t pay attention, but the more I looked, the weirder it felt. It was very singular, just that kind of cold-toned red, like blood. It looked very uncomfortable.”

Xi Wan asked, “What pattern did the light project?”

Xiao Lan shook her head, saying she couldn’t see clearly, only that the blood-red light was shining toward the Slinka Hotel opposite. Speaking, Xiao Lan handed the photos she took at the time to Xi Wan. “It happened for several nights in a row. It was quite baffling.”

The photos weren’t clear, but one could vaguely make out two letters, and these beams of light fell exactly on Luo Manchai’s window.

Xi Wan immediately imported the photos into a computer for image analysis and confirmed the letters: DJ.

“What is this? DJ?” Xi Wan said. ” ‘If I were a DJ, would you love me?’ That DJ?”

Liang Wenxian: “…”

Xi Wan added, “Or is it an abbreviation for something? A name? Whose?”

“No rush,” Liang Wenxian said. “Continue analyzing. I’ll send the progress to Captain Ji first.”

Ruilan City.

Fu Huizhi was very dissatisfied with his wife revealing the reason for Fu Chunxing’s suicide to the police. He called over his confidant, Fu Chixun. “Xiao Xun, take the Madam back to rest.”

Fu Chixun could be described as a young talent, successful at an early age. He had been learning from Fu Huizhi even before graduating years ago. Everyone above mid-level management in the group knew that Fu Huizhi was extremely disappointed in his biological son, Fu Chunxing, who had no intention of taking over the family business, and had placed all his bets on this distant nephew, Fu Chixun. Fortunately, Fu Chixun lived up to expectations. As long as he made no mistakes in these few years, he would securely take over for Fu Huizhi in the future.

Just as Fu Chixun was about to take Wang Xiping away, Ji Chenjiao put away his phone and raised a hand to stop him. “Hold on.”

Fu Chixun frowned. “Hmm?”

“My colleague has learned that you rented the ‘Hanging Garden’ at the Huijia Hotel.” Before he could open his mouth to argue, Ji Chenjiao continued, “Members of the public have provided us with photos of you using Huijia’s spotlights to disturb Luo Manchai. It was two letters: DJ.”

Fu Chixun’s expression changed, and he reflexively looked at Fu Huizhi. “Uncle…”

Fu Huizhi hadn’t expected the police to have already investigated this far. When he dismissed the others earlier, he had only intended to reveal some half-truths to the police. But now, he was riding a tiger and couldn’t get off.

Ling Lie pulled out a chair and sat down unceremoniously. “President Fu, shall we continue the topic from earlier? Your son committed suicide due to severe depression. Because of his so-called status as an attendant, you had to find a woman he loved to ‘marry’ him [in the afterlife]. I don’t know how you found Luo Manchai, but you and this… Young Mr. Fu induced Luo Manchai to commit suicide. You don’t deny this, do you?”

Ji Chenjiao stared at Ling Lie and realized he was very skilled at chatting. He asked one thing, but confirmed another. And the person being asked often didn’t notice.

Sure enough, Fu Huizhi said, “But we didn’t kill Luo Manchai! We haven’t gone to that extent!”

This was equivalent to admitting that they indeed engaged in the act of finding a “bride” for Fu Chunxing.

Ling Lie nodded. “Then who do you think cut in line?”

Fu Huizhi fell silent.

Ling Lie tilted his head, looking nothing like a police officer. “Don’t you want to know who is harming you?”

Fu Huizhi sighed heavily. “Too many people want to harm me, inside and outside the family. They all hope for me, Fu Huizhi, to die!”

Fu Chixun hurriedly supported Fu Huizhi. “Uncle, please calm down.”

“Since you’ve admitted it, leave the rest to us police.” Ji Chenjiao stepped forward. “But before that, I need your testimony.”

Fu Huizhi’s eyes grew aged. “Ask.”

Ji Chenjiao: “You attempted to force Luo Manchai to commit suicide, but failed. Luo Manchai’s murder wasn’t orchestrated by you?”

“How could it be me?” Fu Huizhi shook his head. “A murdered ‘daughter-in-law’ is of no use to me!”

He exuded grief all over, but looking at him, Ling Lie only wanted to sneer. These tycoons acted recklessly, thinking they could blot out the sky with one hand. Having made mistakes to this extent, they still had not a shred of guilt. What did he mean a murdered “daughter-in-law” was of no use to him? Did that mean a “daughter-in-law” who committed suicide was useful?

That was a human life, yet in Fu Huizhi’s heart, the distinction was merely objectified as useful or useless.

Ji Chenjiao asked again, “What did you make Luo Manchai see with the spotlights?”

“Let me answer this; I was the one who investigated,” Fu Chixun said. “After Chunxing passed away, I began looking for a ‘bride’ for him. Chunxing spent his life with art. The only person he ever revealed admiration for was Luo Manchai.”

“Chunxing committed suicide, so his ‘spouse’ must also be a suicide. Luo Manchai’s popularity was booming, and based on my understanding, her character was very resilient. She wasn’t the kind of female entertainer who would seek to end her life upon being provoked.”

“But as long as one is human, there must be unknown secrets. I investigated from the time she entered the entertainment industry all the way back to when she was studying at Ningnan University. Finally, I discovered something—in her junior year, Sui Xi, the ‘department beauty’ of the School of Mathematics at Ningnan University, was killed by another female student from the same school.”

Ji Chenjiao asked, “Did Luo Manchai do it?”

“No, it was Dai Jing from Clinical Medicine.” Fu Chixun pulled up photos of two girls on his phone and tapped them with his finger. “Both were beauties. Dai Jing was even prettier than Sui Xi.”

The photos were reproductions and had turned yellow with age, but one could still see that Dai Jing was a very beautiful girl.

“This incident spread like wildfire on campus at the time, but there were almost no media reports because Ningnan University values its reputation and brand, so they suppressed the matter very quickly,” Fu Chixun said. “Sui Xi’s family received a huge amount of compensation. Dai Jing was found to be suffering from mental illness and was sent to a psychiatric hospital for treatment. However, half a year later, Dai Jing committed suicide.”

Ji Chenjiao recalled Luo Manchai’s history at Ningnan University—a medical student studying Pharmacy, a member of the drama club, a prominent campus figure from early on, with many fans online. It was precisely because of the popularity accumulated during her student days that Luo Manchai didn’t pursue a medical career after graduation, but transformed into a star instead.

Luo Manchai, Dai Jing, Sui Xi—what was the connection between them?

“If I didn’t have to find Luo Manchai’s weakness, I wouldn’t have uncovered the events of that year at all.” Fu Chixun gave a bitter smile. “The most innocent one was Sui Xi. Dai Jing and Luo Manchai were fellow members of the drama club. Dai Jing becoming a lunatic was all forced by Luo Manchai.”

“Luo Manchai killed two girls as beautiful as herself.”

“Actually, I knew early on that it would be difficult for me to force Luo Manchai to commit suicide. People who commit suicide usually have traits of weakness and kindness. But in her, I only saw ruthlessness and a refusal to give up until her goals were achieved. For someone like her, even if I published the ugly things she’d done to the people of the whole country, she would just start over after a brief period of depression.”

“But I had no choice. I had to find a ‘bride’ for Chunxing; this was my mission. Frankly speaking, when I learned she was killed, I actually felt relieved.”

---

Although Ningnan University is a nationally renowned comprehensive institution, its other disciplines aren’t top-tier; what makes it a household name is its medical school. Students who can get into Ningnan University’s medical program can usually get into the top two universities in the country.

The School of Pharmacy ranks lower within Ningnan Medical, yet countless students still fight tooth and nail every year to get its admission letter.

Luo Manchai got in through hard testing, without enjoying any bonus point policies, which shows how outstanding she was in high school.

Like other universities, club activities at Ningnan University are very rich. But for medical students with heavy academic loads, the excitement belongs to others; they don’t have much time to waste on hobbies. This created a peculiar phenomenon—various clubs tacitly defaulted to not considering medical students during recruitment. Occasionally, a few who didn’t believe in this curse would appear, but they would accept reality before the first semester of freshman year ended, retreating dejectedly from the colorful club activities back to the library and labs.

Luo Manchai became a special case at Ningnan University for many years. It seemed that from the moment she entered school, her mind wasn’t on her studies. She craved attention and admiration. She had different ideas about her future; the prestigious school was just her halo, and she didn’t need to accumulate too many nutrients to become a doctor.

While her classmates struggled to transition from miserable high school seniors to miserable medical students, she became a member of the drama club. The drama club had always been a paradise for students from the School of Chinese Literature and the School of Arts. At first, she was very inconspicuous. Seeing she was from the School of Pharmacy, the recruitment officer earnestly advised her, “Classmate, your studies are very busy. I’m afraid this will waste your time.”

But Luo Manchai was beautiful and very articulate. Not only did she pass the recruitment officer’s check, but she also quickly jumped from a small member of the External Liaison Department to a bit-part actor in the Performance Department.

Strangely enough, the drama club hadn’t had medical students join for many years, but this year two came at once, and both persisted until winter break without quitting.

The other one was Dai Jing from Clinical Medicine.

From the photos provided by Fu Chixun, Dai Jing in her freshman year was even more beautiful than Luo Manchai. In the group photos after performances, Dai Jing also stood closer to the center, alongside the main actors.

But starting from May or June of the second semester of freshman year, Luo Manchai moved closer to the center. By the second semester of sophomore year, Dai Jing no longer appeared in the group photos.

Through private detectives, the Fu family illegally investigated what happened between the two back then.

Although Luo Manchai came from a single-parent family, she was wealthier than Dai Jing. Dai Jing had tested into Ningnan University from a township. Like a flower just transplanted from the wild into a greenhouse, she desperately absorbed nutrients from the new environment.

Unlike many poor students who focused solely on academic research, since she had arrived in the big city, she wanted to enjoy every day spent there. Because she was naturally intelligent and had her own study methods, although Dai Jing spent a lot of time in the drama club writing scripts and imitating seniors in performances, her grades still ranked among the best in her class.

She even encouraged her roommates and close classmates to sign up for some clubs just for fun.

Luo Manchai’s brilliance was completely overshadowed by her.

The drama club was a large club with hundreds of new members. Although there was some competition among newcomers, they were generally friends. The most outstanding were the professionally trained students from the School of Arts; introduced by seniors, they immediately took on important roles.

However, Luo Manchai set her sights on Dai Jing. Both were medical students, but Dai Jing’s major was harder to get into than hers. In terms of academic level, Dai Jing was superior to her.

She thought that after joining the drama club, she would become the star among the medical school freshmen, but the star turned out to be Dai Jing. She began to approach Dai Jing, staying with her constantly under the pretext of asking for advice on professional issues and acting.

Dai Jing had no guile and was very willing to be friends with a “fellow enthusiast” who didn’t just study rigidly.

Throughout freshman year, they went to the club together, stayed in the library together, and if time allowed, went to the cafeteria and shopping together. Many people in the medical school knew that a pair of “sisters” had emerged in the department.

Luo Manchai gradually snatched roles from Dai Jing’s hands, and at the time, Dai Jing didn’t know Luo Manchai resented her.

After sophomore year, Dai Jing’s reputation in the medical school and the drama club deteriorated day by day. Rumors flew everywhere—saying she had bad intentions, inciting her friend to spend study time on club activities, causing her friend’s grades to plummet; saying her joining the drama club was to fish for fame and hook up with those rich second-generation kids from the Art School; and saying she looked down on her poor parents who supported her, comparing her food and clothing expenses with the wealthy.

These rumors seemed baseless but actually had some grounds. Dai Jing indeed advised friends to join clubs and had good relationships with the rich senior students in the club. As for looking down on her parents, she had merely mentioned during a dinner chat about families with club members that her family wasn’t wealthy and she envied children whose parents were doctors or bosses.

She didn’t know how her actions, clearly without malice, could be interpreted that way. She only cried to Luo Manchai, the only “confidante” who understood her, unaware that all of this was orchestrated step-by-step by Luo Manchai.

Luo Manchai initially gave her brand-name lipstick, then progressed to earrings and bags. As soon as she used them, gossip immediately spread that she was imitating the spending habits of the rich, while she took it as kindness from a friend.

She received no real comfort from Luo Manchai; instead, she was pushed further into the abyss. Sophomore medical students were even busier. She left the drama club but didn’t escape Luo Manchai. In junior year, the “Campus Goddess” event was in full swing. She participated and, together with Luo Manchai, overcame obstacles to reach the finals.

This event was sponsored by a live streaming platform and wasn’t an ordinary campus competition. If one could stand out and gain a lot of netizen attention, entering the entertainment industry in the future was a possibility.

But no one knew the reason why Dai Jing withdrew before the finals, and the one who won Ningnan University’s “Campus Goddess” title was Luo Manchai. For the next year, Luo Manchai became the darling of the platform, transforming from a nobody into a star relying on her accumulated popularity.

And during this year of Luo Manchai’s boundless glory, Dai Jing killed Sui Xi, the beauty of the Mathematics School, due to a dispute. When the police came to collect evidence, they found she was already suffering from severe mental illness.

A diagnosis of mental illness saved Dai Jing from prison, but she had to undergo long-term treatment in a psychiatric hospital. The reason Fu Chixun was convinced that Luo Manchai drove Dai Jing to madness was precisely because during her treatment, Dai Jing mentioned multiple times that a devil was whispering in her ear.

Combined with Dai Jing’s social situation after entering school, the only person who could have caused her immense mental pressure was Luo Manchai. And when the Fu family tried using Dai Jing’s name to provoke Luo Manchai, her abnormal behavior the next day—disguising herself to buy alcohol—also indicated that Luo Manchai was quite traumatized by the events of that year.

“This is all I could investigate. It doesn’t count as evidence for conviction, but I’m not the police, and I don’t need evidence,” Fu Chixun said. “Now both are dead. Dead men tell no tales. Only they themselves know what Luo Manchai actually did to Dai Jing. From my perspective, I believe Luo Manchai psychologically manipulated (PUA’d) Dai Jing step by step, exploiting her innocence and ignorance to make her trust her unconditionally, then slowly pushed Dai Jing into the fire.”

“Actually, Luo Manchai might have initially just wanted Dai Jing to quit the drama club. When Dai Jing left dejectedly, she could have stopped. But Dai Jing actually competed with her for ‘Campus Goddess,’ so she resolved to crush Dai Jing.”

“By the way, the Ningnan University library still keeps Luo Manchai’s borrowing records. It’s rare these days that paper library cards are easier to check than digital footprints. I found that starting from her freshman year, she borrowed a large number of psychology books. This knowledge was likely used on Dai Jing.”

The Fu family admitted to the attempt to use Luo Manchai for the “afterlife marriage” and even provided an important clue previously overlooked by the police, but the real murderer remained a mystery.

Currently, Luo Manchai’s interpersonal network within the entertainment industry had been cleared. There were quite a few people who held grudges against her, but no solid evidence was found that any of them hired a hitman. Looking at Luo Manchai’s student days, Dai Jing and Sui Xi immediately became the most conspicuous leads.

Perhaps someone, after observing in the dark for many years, finally discovered that their misfortunes were single-handedly caused by a seemingly unrelated person. And this person hadn’t been punished at all; instead, she became a beloved star, enjoying the cheers of countless people and living a life of extreme luxury.

On what grounds?

The investigation had to start at Ningnan University, but this person likely appeared to have no relationship with Sui Xi or Dai Jing on the surface. Otherwise, with the Fu family’s capabilities, they would have likely dug him out long ago.

The afternoon at Ningnan University was full of vitality. Green leaves and branches stretched in the wind, just like the students here, who yearned for a higher and broader world amidst their hard studies.

University campuses are always like this. No matter how the city they are attached to changes with each passing day, they stand there the same for decades, like an old-fashioned and honest gentleman.

But a gentleman’s arm sometimes shelters demons.

“Here we are.” Ling Lie stood in front of a four-story old building, looking up at the mottled characters above the main gate. “School of Pharmacy.”

The School of Pharmacy’s Wall of Honor still displayed Luo Manchai’s photo. Surrounding her photo were all people who had made outstanding contributions to the profession; only she was a celebrity.

Ling Lie stopped walking. “The person who found out the truth about what happened back then must have been furious seeing her being revered by the college.”

Ji Chenjiao also stopped.

Ling Lie suddenly spoke of something unrelated. “Is it possible that the Fu kid is lying?”

Ji Chenjiao: “About the cause of Fu Chunxing’s death?”

Ling Lie: “If we consider who benefits the most, he is the big winner.”

The Fu family unanimously believed Fu Chunxing committed suicide due to severe depression. This seemed reasonable, but just as Dai Jing’s mental instability might have been guided by Luo Manchai, Fu Chunxing’s depression might also have been artificially induced.

With him dead, Fu Huizhi lost his only son, and the position of heir would fall completely to Fu Chixun, this distant relative.

Ling Lie rubbed his temples. “Tsk, this case is snowballing.”

Ji Chenjiao said, “If Fu Chixun himself isn’t clean, the ‘truth’ he found might not be the truth.”

The Serious Crimes Unit’s investigation at Ningnan University wasn’t going very smoothly. The Fu family had already used underhanded means to explore people who might seek revenge on Luo Manchai for Dai Jing or Sui Xi. They checked everyone they could but found nothing.

The police had to follow procedural justice to collect evidence, making it even harder to gain ground on this line of inquiry.

On the way to the psychiatric hospital where Dai Jing died, Ling Lie held a McFlurry. Ji Chenjiao turned his head to look at him, his gaze involuntarily resting on Ling Lie’s lips, which were turned bright red by the cold ice cream.

“You want shum too?” Ling Lie realized Ji Chenjiao had been staring at him for a long time without answering, so he lowered his head and scraped the bottom of the paper cup twice more. “Shoulda said so earlier, only this lil’ bit left, all melted.”

Ji Chenjiao chuckled and bit onto the spoon.

Ling Lie: “What are you laffing at?”

Ji Chenjiao: “Haven’t you noticed that every time you eat too much ice cream, you stutter?”

Ling Lie, who was about to put the last bite into his mouth: “…”

As soon as Ling Lie was flustered, amusement appeared in Ji Chenjiao’s eyes. This guy was full of bad ideas and spoke aggravatingly, but when he ate too much ice cream and his tongue went numb from the cold, speaking with a lisp, he lost his usual sharp tongue and looked like a goofy treasure.

Ling Lie flattened the empty paper cup. “I’ll warm it up in a sec…”

Before he finished speaking, Ji Chenjiao had already leaned over. Wasn’t the tongue numb from the cold? No problem, warming it up will fix it.

Ji Chenjiao licked the ice cream off the corner of his lips, looking at Ling Lie with interest.

Ling Lie’s tongue was nimble now. After bantering with Ji Chenjiao for a while, he returned to the case.

“Is there really a person who never appeared in Dai Jing and Sui Xi’s social circles, lurking for years just to find the person who ruined their lives? And then he finally found her, so he spent a fortune to hire a hitman?”

Ji Chenjiao was also thinking about the same question. Such a person didn’t necessarily not exist, but placing them within the objective conditions of this case seemed somewhat contradictory.

Looking solely at the modus operandi of Luo Manchai’s murderer, one could tell it was a top-tier hitman in the industry. Hiring such a killer wasn’t something an average person could afford. Plus, Luo Manchai was a public figure whose every move was watched, so the price would inevitably multiply several times over.

So this person shouldn’t lack money. Not as wealthy as the Fu family, but certainly not from a small, humble household either.

That was where the problem lay. There was no such figure in Dai Jing and Sui Xi’s relationship network. Those few rich second-generation kids who were on good terms with Dai Jing back then definitely wouldn’t seek revenge for her.

Furthermore, if such a person really existed, with his financial resources, it wouldn’t have taken him so many years to trace it back to Luo Manchai. He should have been like the Fu family—spending a few months at most to find out Luo Manchai was the woman Fu Chunxing loved.

The bus drove to the outskirts of the city. The people who hadn’t gotten off yet were all going to the psychiatric hospital. Some had faces full of worry, some carried thermoses and fruit. They didn’t look like they had much joy in seeing relatives, only a long, painful suffering born of hardship and torment.

“Let’s go.” Arriving at the stop, Ling Lie put his hands in his pockets. “Make it quick. Once we’re out, we’ll switch our line of thinking.”