Before long, after the meal, the “nephew” indeed prepared to go up the mountain, followed by a vast entourage.

Ling Lie walked in the middle-to-rear of the group. Once up the mountain, they were settled in a garden with a swimming pool, while the nephew went to a more exclusive area where only his personal guards could follow.

As long as he was on the mountain, things would be easier to handle. Ling Lie pretended to ask for food and inquired of a waiter about the fun things available on the mountain.

The waiter had received too many entourage members like them and knew their nature. He smiled and said, “Sir, what kind of service would you like? I can arrange it for you right now?”

Ling Lie said, “I heard there’s some kind of snow field up here?”

The waiter turned pale. “I can’t arrange that.”

“Hmm? Why?”

“That’s a place only for VIPs.”

“I know, I know. But it wasn’t easy getting up here. Even if my eyes can’t see it, hearing about it with my ears would make this trip worthwhile.”

Ling Lie took off his mask. His appearance, when not being sarcastic, was quite approachable. Seeing that he didn’t look as fierce or slick as the usual entourage members, the waiter was willing to say more.

“The snow field is actually artificial. The Salingauke region doesn’t have snow or hot springs anywhere, but Mr. Wonder likes them, so he imported expensive pine trees and snow-making equipment. It’s relatively colder on the mountain, so the pine trees are still alive, and the equipment can run. It is very beautiful, but there’s still a difference compared to a real snow field.”

Ling Lie asked, “Have you been there?”

The waiter smiled. “I work here, of course I’ve seen it.”

“Do you have photos to show me?”

“This…” The waiter hesitated.

“Don’t worry, I absolutely won’t tell anyone.”

“Alright then.”

The waiter took out his phone. “I took this at the beginning of the year. It was winter then. Look, white snow everywhere. I haven’t even seen real snow yet.”

The photo wasn’t taken very well, but one could still see the unnatural snow covering lush green plants. In the distance, the artificial hot spring was shrouded in white mist, giving off a surreal and absurd feeling.

Ling Lie suddenly thought of what the nephew said—the mountain was like a wonderland.

A wonderland. This truly was a wonderland.

Why did Wonder want to create such a wonderland?

This place was called the Alice Crown Carnival, undoubtedly the pinnacle of various Alice “brands,” and it supposedly housed the most magnificent Goddess statue here.

Was Wonder expressing the meaning of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland?

Ling Lie returned the phone to the waiter and said enviously, “When will I be able to see it with my own eyes?”

The waiter said, “Just give up. The snow field is only open to the most important guests.”

Ling Lie asked, “Is it usually empty then? That’s such a waste.”

“Mr. Wonder comes usually. The snow field is actually Mr. Wonder’s private villa.”

“If only I could be Mr. Wonder’s personal guard. When is Mr. Wonder recruiting guards?”

“Don’t even think about it. Mr. Wonder hasn’t been here for a long time.”

“Hmm? Where did Mr. Wonder go?”

The waiter covered his mouth. “I’ve told you too much. I really don’t know that!”

Before leaving, Ling Lie glanced at the map on the wall and quickly memorized it. It marked the location suspected to be the snow field. He put his headgear back on, ready to sneak over for a look.

The people who could be the nephew’s entourage were all former “Royal Court” mercenaries from the time of the gang wars, sharing the same nature as those from “Jasmine Tea.” Now that there was no war, they certainly didn’t hold back when it was time to enjoy themselves. When Ling Lie returned near the pool, he saw a bunch of entourage members completely drunk and seeking pleasure.

He turned into the woods beside him, got his bearings, and ran southwest according to the location on the map.

The roar of machines came from ahead, very unusual in this quiet mountain. Perhaps it was the equipment creating the snow field. Ling Lie slowed down and didn’t approach rashly. He saw a patrol team; although taking them out would be simple, there was no need to do so.

He leaped lightly onto a tree, concealing himself with the dense branches and leaves.

The tree was very tall, and the snow field was located below this cliff. He saw a small open area in the forest where a pure white statue stood. The statue was indeed very large; even from this distance, its impressiveness could be felt.

Opposite the statue was a villa, and further in lay a sea of trees. Within the sea of trees, rooftops of buildings could be seen, with white smoke rising. Perhaps amidst the forest, artificial snowflakes were dancing.

Was this Wonder’s paradise? Was he commemorating Yu Qin here? Why specifically a snow field?

Ling Lie didn’t go any further. Exposing himself now wouldn’t be a wise move. Before the effect of the knockout drug wore off, he returned to the foot of the mountain and swapped clothes back with the still-unconscious bodyguard.

“Why are you reading fairy tales?” Back at the hotel, Zhao Fan returned with a late-night snack and found Ling Lie reading Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. “Tsk, almost thirty years old, why are you still reading fairy tales? Come come come, let your master recommend a book to you. We adults should read urban soldier king novels. The latest masterpiece by the great author ‘Yan Xiao’…”

Ling Lie pushed Zhao Fan away. “You’re right.”

Zhao Fan: “Then let’s read it together!”

Ling Lie: “Grown man like you, why are you still obsessed with fairy tales?”

Zhao Fan froze for a moment, stopping his promotion of “Yan Xiao.” “Actually, to tell you the truth, I bought fairy tales too.”

“Hmm?”

Zhao Fan was a bit embarrassed. “When I was little, I only heard others tell them, didn’t have money to buy them. Later, Yan Xiao bought them for me.”

Ling Lie: “…You can’t go a day without mentioning Yan Xiao, can you?”

Zhao Fan: “Be understanding, us men with families are all like this.”

Ling Lie thought of something. Fairy tales are often projections of dissatisfaction with reality or unresolved feelings. Country L had no snow, so Wonder spent a fortune to build a snow field. Was that a wish Yu Qin hadn’t realized back then?

---

In the small office of the Serious Crimes Unit in Xiarong City, the atmosphere was somewhat stagnant. Xi Wan’s brow was tightly furrowed as she placed a report in front of Ji Chenjiao.

The DNA extracted from Jin Liuyun’s cigarette butt and Ji Chenjiao’s DNA matched as a parent-child relationship.

“Boss, this…” Xi Wan didn’t know what to say for a moment.

Ji Chenjiao’s fingertips trembled slightly. Before this report came out, everything was just deduction. Now, deduction had become reality. Jin Liuyun’s deliberate approach, hiding his photo, and strange attention toward him were all because they were father and son. Jin Liuyun had known this all along.

“I’ll go report to Captain Xie.” Ji Chenjiao’s voice was very low as he squeezed out a smile. “It’s fine, everything will be resolved.”

Xi Wan followed him to the door. “Is there anything I can do?”

Ji Chenjiao thought for a moment. “Sorry, my brain really can’t process this right now.”

Xi Wan said, “Then if you need anything, find me anytime.” After saying that, she added, “Whether as a captain or as a friend.”

Ji Chenjiao nodded.

In the smoking room, Ji Chenjiao smoked two cigarettes alone. He wanted to calm himself down before finding Xie Qing. But overcoming that sense of being toyed with by fate wasn’t easy. He rationally told himself that many times in life, things aren’t up to oneself, especially blood relations and family. Such a bizarre fate had fallen on his head. Looking back and asking “why” was useless; he could only look forward and find a way to break the deadlock.

But as the smoke seeped into his lungs, he still felt suffocated. Why did all these bizarre things have to happen to him alone? His adoptive parents were murderers; their enemy, for revenge, designed for him to catch his adoptive parents; his adoptive father killed his adoptive mother to silence her. His biological mother was the daughter of the Yu family, gave birth to him but didn’t raise him, throwing him to a substitute, causing him to lose most of his childhood memories. The substitute died, his biological mother’s fate was unknown, and now his biological father had appeared—as a suspect he suspected of murder, as the head of an overseas gang…

Agitation flowed out of his body like rubber, sticking him firmly in place, unable to break free.

Suddenly, Shen Qi’s voice sounded in the corridor. “Where’s my bro? I have something urgent for him!”

Ji Chenjiao took a deep breath, extinguished the cigarette, opened the door, and walked into the corridor. “Shen Qi, here.”

Shen Qi looked over upon hearing the voice and trotted over. “Bro, there really is a problem with Jin Liuyun’s entry records. They might have been tampered with; there are traces of the system being hacked!”

Compared to the DNA match result, the entry issue was no longer important. Jin Liuyun definitely had problems. Ji Chenjiao said, “Got it. Thanks for your hard work.”

Shen Qi stared wide-eyed. “Bro, are you feeling unwell somewhere?”

Ji Chenjiao perked up. “I’m fine.”

“How are you fine? With my Hunter Bro away, you don’t know how to take good care of yourself. Hunter Bro will definitely be angry when he comes back!”

Ji Chenjiao suddenly stood still, Ling Lie’s image appearing before his eyes.

Shen Qi was still chattering away, but Ji Chenjiao didn’t hear a word clearly.

He was like a person entangled in bad luck, yet this bad luck had brought him a unique destiny. He shared a name with Ling Lie: Yu Ge.

Jin Liuyun said this name embodied the parents’ most beautiful blessings.

But the person “Yu Ge” was fake.

Yet it wasn’t completely fake either. His and Ling Lie’s lives made up this person who was blessed but also abandoned.

If there were shining gems within bad luck, then that gem was Ling Lie. He had found this gem in his misfortune. The name Yu Ge connected them like two souls of one person.

“Bro? Bro?” Shen Qi shouted anxiously. He felt his captain bro was too abnormal today.

Ji Chenjiao returned to his usual steadiness, carrying the two important clues, and walked towards Xie Qing’s office.

---

Xie Qing paced back and forth by his desk, then turned to Ji Chenjiao. “So what is your plan?”

“If I continue to be responsible for this case openly, it will inevitably attract controversy in the future, just like the previous two times.” Ji Chenjiao said, “So I want to step down temporarily and hand over command.”

Xie Qing pondered for a moment. “I will lead the investigation for now. When Ling Lie comes back, let Ling Lie be in charge.”

Ji Chenjiao pursed his lips. “Yes.”

Xie Qing gave a bitter laugh. “Back when Ling Lie first came to us, following you every day, we could only give him a certificate as a police contact, which is basically an informant. Now your positions with him are going to be swapped.”

Ji Chenjiao said, “I am willing to work in the shadows.”

Xie Qing said, “It’s just that you’ll have to suffer some grievance.”

Ji Chenjiao shook his head. “Being able to solve the case isn’t a grievance.”

With Jin Liuyun’s fake identity and suspicious entry, the Serious Crimes Unit had grounds to investigate him directly. But just then, he and the four people he brought suddenly disappeared from the Yurong Yongge Hotel.

Jin Liuyun’s sudden disappearance further deepened the suspicion and mystery surrounding him. And the place where he last appeared, Yurong Yongge, was not only a property of the Yu Group but also a place where Bai Lingxue had entrenched herself for a long time.

Jin Liuyun, the Yu family, “Floating Light” (Fu Guang)—this luxury hotel, which had no operational issues, seemed to have become a stronghold of conspiracy.

The Serious Crimes Unit quickly retrieved all surveillance footage from the hotel. On the afternoon of December 20th at 2:00 PM, Jin Liuyun left the hotel wearing a smoky gray cashmere coat, a winter hat, and holding a long-handled black umbrella. When the doorman opened the door for him, he even nodded and smiled at the man in a friendly manner.

At 4:00 PM and 6:00 PM on the same afternoon, his two attendants left. As for Lai Kehai, who had left the car rental information, he hadn’t appeared for a day prior to this.

The hotel front desk and manager all said they didn’t know where Jin Liuyun went, and they had no right to interfere with a guest’s itinerary. The Serious Crimes Unit checked the surrounding surveillance, and Shen Qi tracked Jin Liuyun’s communications, but so far, they had found nothing.

The Serious Crimes Unit held an emergency meeting chaired by Xie Qing, with Ji Chenjiao sitting at the very edge. Experienced officers like Liang Wenxian had already guessed the change in Ji Chenjiao’s work status and turned to look at Xi Wan, who frowned and nodded. Youngsters like Shen Qi and An Xun didn’t understand what was going on, whispering about why Captain Xie was assigning tasks personally.

A person had disappeared; how to find them was key. Where Jin Liuyun might have gone, why he suddenly disappeared at this time, and who he might contact—all these needed to be roughly analyzed before taking action.

Xie Qing said, “Captain Ji, do you have any thoughts?”

Ji Chenjiao stood up. “The fact that Jin Liuyun stayed at Yurong Yongge is strange in itself. He couldn’t possibly not know that the Yu family is currently a thorn in the police’s side, yet he insisted on staying there. Either he has some dealings with the Yu family that we haven’t discovered yet, or…”

Saying this, he lowered his head and paused for a moment. “He simply did it because of the name Yurong Yongge.”

Shen Qi: “Yurong Yongge? Yu Ge?”

Ji Chenjiao nodded. “Yes. This is a name very important to him, and to me and Ling Lie. The Yu family side needs to be investigated thoroughly. Captain Xie, I…”

“You go investigate the Yu family.” Xie Qing said decisively. “Given that your identity is somewhat sensitive now, Old Liang will go with you. Any problems?”

Liang Wenxian immediately said, “No problem.”

Ji Chenjiao looked at the two and relaxed slightly. “I have no problem either.”

“While investigating the Yu family, we must also consider another possibility: that Jin Liuyun actually has no private contact with the Yu family. Don’t forget one point, it was ‘Floating Light’ that targeted Xing Yongdan. Jin Liuyun is very likely cooperating directly with ‘Floating Light’.” Ji Chenjiao said, “Bai Lingxue has a devious mind. It’s entirely possible she arranged or suggested Jin Liuyun stay at Yurong Yongge so that problems wouldn’t be traced back to the Yu Group. Jin Liuyun’s disappearance might also be due to receiving some information from ‘Floating Light’.”

Xie Qing said, “Like ‘Floating Light’ discovering that it would be dangerous for Jin Liuyun to stay in Xiarong City? That the police have locked onto him?”

“But this leads to another question.” Ji Chenjiao said, “Why did Jin Liuyun stay and not leave? Our deduction based on clues is that Jin Liuyun entered the country to take revenge on Xing Yongdan. Once the revenge was completed that day, he could have left and wouldn’t have been targeted at all. But he didn’t leave; he still has other things to do.”

Xie Qing said, “So you think his disappearance now is to go do this thing?”

Ji Chenjiao said, “Maybe my probing forced him to change his plan, or rather, advance his plan. Or perhaps ‘Floating Light’ gave him a hint.”

Next, Ji Chenjiao mentioned his walk with Jin Liuyun that night, omitting the part mentioning Yu Ge.

Xie Qing asked, “Then in your opinion, what could be the remaining thing he wants to do?”

Ji Chenjiao was silent. He really couldn’t figure it out. He vaguely felt it was related to Yu Qin, but he had no clue what exactly it was.

And now there was no news of Jin Liuyun. To find him, they had to know his next plan clearly.

The conference room was quiet for a moment before Shen Qi raised his hand. “Captain Xie, Bro, your analysis just now rested on one premise: that Jin Liuyun is still in the country. What if he has already left, or is at the border? Think about it, we haven’t even figured out how he entered. In league with ‘Floating Light,’ he definitely has ways. So if he received a danger signal, to avoid being caught, the most normal reaction would definitely be to run overnight carrying the train (run as fast as possible). Is there anything he has to do right now? He can come back to do it later when the heat dies down, can’t he?”

Liang Wenxian said, “Little Shen’s idea makes sense too. Captain Ji, what do you say?”

Ji Chenjiao crossed his arms in thought. What Shen Qi said was indeed the most likely scenario, but he was the person who had the deepest contact with Jin Liuyun. Jin Liuyun was his biological father. Jin Liuyun’s gaze towards him was always frank and calm. Fleeing overseas overnight? No matter how he thought about it, it didn’t fit the temperament this person displayed.

There was a more important point that Ji Chenjiao couldn’t say in this setting. That was—Yu Qin disappeared shortly after giving birth to him, and Sha Man brought him back to the country. For nearly thirty years, Yu Qin and Jin Liuyun never appeared in his life. They might have had their reasons, but now Jin Liuyun had returned and approached him with restraint, paying attention to him. He felt that Jin Liuyun, having finally reached this step, wouldn’t leave so hastily.

This was a very personal feeling. He couldn’t say it out loud, and even if he did, not everyone would be able to empathize.

He looked up and found everyone looking at him, seeming to wait for him to give a conclusion.

He suddenly felt indescribably moved.

His position was awkward now. Logically, he should be marginalized, but those gazes were still full of trust. In the eyes of Xi Wan, Xie Qing, and Liang Wenxian, who were slightly older than him, there was obvious concern.

He opened his mouth. “I think…”

Xie Qing nodded.

“I think Jin Liuyun hasn’t left the country. He definitely has one more important thing to do.” Ji Chenjiao said, “Give me a little more time. Maybe the Yu Group has nothing to do with Jin Liuyun, but the breakthrough point should be the Yu family.”