Ling Lie held his pose. “Is that sincere?”

Ji Chenjiao: “Scary.”

“Hey, Captain Ji, you just lack an eye for beauty.” Ling Lie released his hands and stood upright. “Your Major Crime Unit’s territory has been taken over by Shen Qi. So where am I supposed to stay?”

“Back to 4-2.”

“That’s not what we agreed on!”

Ji Chenjiao stopped walking. “Then where do you want to stay?”

That earlier comment was just a joke. Given the current situation, even if Ling Lie asked to stay on Xiayang Road, he wouldn’t agree—it was a major police lockdown zone.

Ling Lie: “I’ve never stayed in a five-star hotel before, how about…”

Ji Chenjiao: “No way.”

Ling Lie looked horrified. “I made a heart sign for you, and you won’t even help me with accommodation?”

Ten minutes later, Ji Chenjiao brought Ling Lie to the bureau dormitory. The dorm was much like a guesthouse with two beds. Though Ling Lie didn’t get his five-star hotel, he was quite satisfied and hummed a tune as he went to shower.

Ji Chenjiao couldn’t help but think this guy’s standards for life were ridiculously low—any place other than a toilet under a bridge would do for sleep.

No wonder—after all, someone willing to volunteer just to get a pork bun can’t have very high demands.

Ling Lie finished his shower and was surprised to see Ji Chenjiao still there. “Oh!”

Ji Chenjiao was reviewing investigation materials to organize clues. Annoyed at the sudden call, he said, “What?”

“You’re still here?”

“Your turf?”

The case wasn’t solved yet, so Ji Chenjiao didn’t want to go home. He intended to stay in the dorm. He’d stayed there before during busy times.

Shen Qi had worked hard all night. Before dawn, he preliminarily confirmed that Kuang Feng had gone abroad with a construction team four years ago and hadn’t returned. Cao Kexiong was actually working as a bodyguard at a security company. With his strong physique and decent looks among peers, he had caught the favor of a female wealthy entrepreneur and was now living in a southern city.

Ji Chenjiao contacted the construction team and, after several turns, finally reached Kuang Feng by phone.

When he heard it was the police, Kuang Feng got very nervous. “My paperwork for going abroad was all legal, I haven’t committed any crimes here. I did overstay my permit, but I applied for an extension with the company…”

This kind of situation was quite common. Confirming he was outside the country and alive meant he couldn’t be the killer. That meant he was unrelated to the deaths of Liu Yixiang and Tang Xiaofei.

But Ji Chenjiao asked, “Is it tough over there? Trading your life for money?”

Kuang Feng relaxed a little. “It’s okay, I make money. Why are you looking for me?”

Ji Chenjiao: “There is something. You, Huang Xuntong, Tang Xiaofei, and Gan Pengfei worked together on a construction crew, right?”

Kuang Feng’s tone tightened immediately. “We—we lost contact a long time ago.”

“Hmm, but I want to know what you remember. Huang Xuntong and Tang Xiaofei were recently killed, Gan Pengfei is missing. We suspect these relate to the fire in Luchang County 15 years ago. Your employer back then was Wang Shun, right? The family that died in the fire.”

Kuang Feng didn’t reply for a long time, then hung up.

Ji Chenjiao didn’t call back. Since Kuang Feng wasn’t in the country, bringing him back would require complex procedures, not something urgent now. Revealing part of the case to him was to test his reaction; these weren’t evidence but important clues.

Kuang Feng’s official reason for going abroad was to earn money, but underneath it may be to run away. Many migrant workers return every year or two, but his repeated extension requests showed deep-seated fear.

With Kuang Feng ruled out, only Cao Kexiong remained. According to the motive of silencing witnesses, was he the killer of Liu Yixiang?

Li Binyin returned to Xiarong City, looking listless and wary toward the detectives. He was taken to the interrogation room where Liang Wenxian was waiting. Ji Chenjiao watched the monitor showing Li Binyin nervously shifting.

“My job’s gone.” Li Binyin complained miserably. “My boss said if I didn’t finish this trip, he’d have to pay extra to find someone else, so I’m done for.”

Liang Wenxian: “You might be the killer’s next target. What’s more important—your life or money?”

Li Binyin said nothing.

“Yesterday, you seemed like you wanted to say something. Why did Tang Xiaofei die?”

“How would I know?”

Liang Wenxian: “Then here’s something else. We found Gan Pengfei’s footprints near Tang Xiaofei’s body. Tang’s fingernails contained Gan’s DNA.”

Li Binyin’s eyes went blank for a moment before barely squeezing out, “Gan Pengfei?”

“Yes, all of you were brothers building houses together.” Liang Wenxian turned the tablet to Li Binyin. “Huang Xuntong and Tang Xiaofei are dead, Gan Pengfei is a suspect and now missing. Oh, and we found some clues—Huang Xuntong now might not be the same Huang Xuntong you knew. You’ve lived on Xiayang Road with them all these years and never noticed?”

Li Binyin got agitated: “I don’t know! What does that have to do with me? Huang… Huang Xuntong is bad-tempered, he didn’t want to hang out with us!”

Liang Wenxian was used to dealing with people like this. The more anxious they got, the calmer he became.
“Hmm, you’re not close with Huang Xuntong, right? But you must be familiar with Tang Xiaofei and Gan Pengfei. A witness gave a lead saying you often teamed up to bully Huang Xuntong back then.”

Li Binbin shook his head vigorously, “Who, who said that?”

Liang Wenxian continued, “Why would Gan Pengfei want to kill Tang Xiaofei?”

“I don’t know!”

“Are you afraid then?”

“What?”

Liang Wenxian said, “If you hadn’t taken this trip and weren’t at the city bureau now, would you be worried about your safety?”

Li Binbin was speechless, his eyes full of fear and terror.

Liang Wenxian went on, “What exactly happened fifteen years ago?”

Li Binbin: “I really don’t know!”

Liang Wenxian wanted to ask more, but then a voice came through the earpiece—Ji Chenjiao’s voice: “Brother Liang, let’s stop here for now, no rush.”

“Then think it over carefully.” Liang Wenxian stood up. “You’ll log your statement later, then you can go back on your own.”

Li Binbin’s eyes suddenly widened. “You’re letting me go back?”

“You’re not a suspect. I don’t have the authority to hold you for 48 hours.”

“But…”

“Hm? But what?”

“You said I’m in danger?” Li Binbin was sweating nervously. “If I just go back like this and get killed, what then?”

Liang Wenxian: “Do you know the killer’s motive?”

Li Binbin hurriedly said, “I already said I don’t know!”

Liang Wenxian spoke gently, “Then why would he kill you?”

Li Binbin finally realized he was being tricked, and lowered his head without saying another word.

“Don’t worry.” Liang Wenxian said, “I’ll assign people to watch over you. If you see police around you after you go back, don’t think I’m restricting your freedom.”

Li Binbin breathed a sigh of relief. “That won’t happen, thank you.”

Liang Wenxian arrived at the monitoring room. “He’s got a tight lip.”

Ji Chenjiao was about to go find Xie Qingkai to get a search warrant.
“Normal. He’s not sure yet. If he admits to what happened fifteen years ago, that means admitting he killed Huang Xuntong. He’s betting we don’t have evidence.”

Liang Wenxian nodded, “Letting him go is fine. Let’s see what moves he makes next.”

At the Criminal Investigation Division captain’s office, Xie Qing, as if expecting Ji Chenjiao’s arrival, tossed a file folder on the desk before Ji Chenjiao spoke.

Ji Chenjiao picked it up and opened it—it was the search warrant.

Xie Qing was in his thirties, relatively young for a CID captain, and was Ji Chenjiao’s former team leader when Ji Chenjiao was assigned to a special mixed task force. Xie Qing’s predecessor was Ning Xiechen, Ji Chenjiao’s mentor.

Before returning to the CID, Ji Chenjiao had heard that Xie Qing had been searching for Ning Xiechen and Yan Xi. But after returning, when Ji Chenjiao asked about it, Xie Qing said, “That’s in the past. Look forward.”

“Captain Xie,” Ji Chenjiao said.

Xie Qing had a meeting to attend. “Hm?”

Ji Chenjiao thought about it. Now was not the time to talk about his mentor, so he shook his head, “Nothing.”

Xie Qing stepped closer and patted Ji Chenjiao on the shoulder, “The pressure on a CID captain’s shoulders is heavy. Don’t let it crush you. I’m here.”

“Mm.”

“Go ahead, solve the case quickly.”

The search for Gan Pengfei was launched citywide, with more police deployed in the Beicheng District. Various livestreamers and independent media reporters moved quickly—where there was police, there they were—afraid of missing first-hand news.

Many of these reporters had been seen by Ji Chenjiao multiple times, especially the handsome mixed-race guy Jaco, who shadowed Ji Chenjiao more closely than some of his previous trainees.

“Officer Ji! Good morning! Where are you heading today?”

Ji Chenjiao ignored him, about to leave. Jaco quickly framed himself with Ji Chenjiao in the camera.

Before Jaco could finish speaking, the screen went black.

Jaco turned in surprise, meeting the bright smile of Ling Lie. Though Ling Lie was smiling beautifully, for some reason, Jaco suddenly felt like he’d been bitten by a snake and immediately hugged his phone and stepped back.

“This officer doesn’t want to be filmed,” Ling Lie said, glancing at the city bureau behind them, “The police inside don’t want to be filmed either. Remember that, okay?”

Jaco’s mind was still stunned and nodded hurriedly.

Ling Lie then caught up with Ji Chenjiao.

“Why did you block for me?” Ji asked.

Actually, the media as a group—new or old—often caused trouble for the police. Someone always tried hard to sneak into their lives and secretly take photos, despite bans. Ji Chenjiao used to order deletions immediately but had grown numb now.

When Jaco filmed him just now, Ji Chenjiao had already turned away, knowing Jaco wouldn’t aim the camera directly at his face—at most, a blurry partial side view—so he didn’t bother blocking it.

Ling Lie’s action surprised him.

“The police protect the public, and the public should protect the police,” Ling Lie said seriously, “He shouldn’t film you.”

Ji Chenjiao felt an indescribable feeling rising in his heart.

Many years ago, when he first put on his police uniform, Ning Xiechen gave him a small case. Along the way, Yan Xi helped by providing clues. After solving the case, someone raised a camera at Ji Chenjiao, and Yan Xi immediately blocked it, saying something similar to Ling Lie’s words.

Yan Xi’s background was mysterious, with many radical and evil ideas, but the person himself was very gentle. Hearing that from Yan Xi, who back then was still young, was undoubtedly a form of care.

This not-so-typical Ling Lie actually had a gentle side as well.

Before Ji Chenjiao could think more, an urgent report arrived from one inspection team— a male corpse suspected to be Gan Pengfei was found in the Beicheng District’s Guangjian Road sewer!