"You rascal, I didn't realize you had such tricks up your sleeve. Seeing a pretty girl makes your eyes glaze over. Looks like we'll need to give you a thorough political re-education when we get back." I scolded Xiao Cuo.

Xiao Cuo immediately cried out, "Unjust! Didn't you say we had to keep a tight watch on them, not letting them have a single chance to send word?"

So that was it. It seemed Xiao Cuo was still a good comrade. I chuckled, "Just kidding, don't take it seriously. That's no fun."

"Another joke? Just keep the car steady. Shanhe Second Road, turn left!"

I spun the steering wheel, and the car veered left. Xiao Cuo asked again, "At this hour, won't they call Gu Hengming to warn him?"

"It doesn't matter. It's better if they do."

"What do you mean?"

"You don't get it, huh? Let me enlighten you." I said smugly, "If they call and notify Gu Hengming, two things can happen: either Gu Hengming has nothing to hide, in which case he'll wait for us obediently at home; or he is guilty, and he'll flee immediately. Either way, it saves us the time of investigation; we can just arrest and interrogate him."

"Oh, I see. There's quite a bit to learn here," Xiao Cuo said with dawning understanding. Suddenly, he looked up, a question wrinkling his brow, "Then why did you tell me earlier to watch them so closely, not letting them call to report anything?"

It seemed being kind wasn't always the best policy. I had barely taught him something, and he was already turning on me, using my own logic against my shield. Fortunately, my mastery was profound enough that I could casually reply, "The timing wasn't right. Doing the same thing at a different moment yields opposite effects. Think it over yourself."

Next, Xiao Cuo sank into deep contemplation, while I drove the car onto Shanhe Second Road, where Gu Hengming lived.

Following the address, we searched amidst the towering high-rises and finally located Gu Hengming's home—a small cluster of low-rise buildings. Gu Hengming's house was a small, three-story structure; it looked like ancestral property. In this city where land was more precious than gold, its value probably far exceeded what he could earn in several lifetimes.

Due to its age, even though the exterior walls had been renovated, they couldn't conceal its antiquity. The moment Xiao Cuo saw the house, his eyes lit up. Knowing what he was thinking, I reminded him, "We're here to find a person, not a ghost."

As we spoke, we arrived beneath the small building. A broad anti-theft door barred the entrance. Xiao Cuo stepped forward and knocked three times—dong, dong, dong—but there was only silence from within. Faint echoes drifted out, suggesting the rooms were empty.

I sensed something was off. I looked up; the balcony on the second floor was less than three meters high. I said to Xiao Cuo, "Crouch down, I'll go up and check."

Xiao Cuo argued, "I'm smaller. You stay down here; I'll climb up."

While it was true that the smaller person should ideally go, there was no way I was letting him climb onto my shoulders. So, I commanded, "This is a job requirement!"

Xiao Cuo reluctantly squatted down. I reached up, my hands gripping the balcony railing firmly, then hooked my legs up and flipped over smoothly.

Landing inside the balcony, I called out, "Gu Hengming!"

No answer. The house was profoundly quiet; even the air seemed still. Only the potted plants on the balcony looked listlessly wilted, utterly ignoring my sudden intrusion.

I softened my footsteps, moving like a cat toward the end of the balcony, where a small door led into the interior. Pushing the door open, the intense darkness immediately swallowed my vision. The contrast between the outside light and the inside caused a momentary blindness.

I instinctively closed my eyes slightly. Just then, I felt a dark shadow streak across my retina, rocketing toward the third floor at incredible speed. A jolt like electricity shot through my body, and without hesitation, I gave chase immediately.

Hearing the noise inside, Xiao Cuo yelled from downstairs, "What happened? Hurry down and open the door!"

By then, I knew this shadow could vanish in an instant. I had no time to attend to Xiao Cuo. I rushed up to the third floor in one breath. My vision cleared, and I finally saw the shadow clearly: it was a black cat, calmly perched by the bed, leisurely licking its paw.

I glanced at the bed. It was an antique, Qing-style canopy bed, its wooden frame intricately carved with motifs of beasts. The bed surface was vast—enough space for four or five Gu Hengmings to lie down comfortably. This made me deeply question the true reason for its size.

Empty. The entire room was bare, visible in one sweep. There was nothing. It seemed the fellow wasn't home; another wasted trip.

I cursed the cat under my breath and was about to turn to go downstairs when my eyes caught something I shouldn't have seen, but as a criminal investigator, I had to see. I watched the black cat take two steps forward, leaving several crimson paw prints on the floorboards.

The cat was black, so I hadn't noticed the red on its paws before, but stepping onto the floor made it obvious. Based on years of professional experience, judging by the color and viscosity of the prints, I was certain it was human blood.

My heart stopped beating along with my steps. Acting purely on reflex, I lowered my body, my head almost touching the floor. Then I saw a person under the bed.

The person's head was facing me, revealing only a dark, round skull, so I couldn't discern their features. Their lying posture obscured a full view of their body, and the dim light under the bed, combined with the confined space, made it difficult to judge their build—I couldn't tell if it was Gu Hengming.

The individual lay contorted in a bizarre, curled position, clearly forced into that shape by the assailant. Their left hand stretched outward, near the edge of the bed, covered in fresh blood. The black cat must have stepped directly on that hand.

As I lay there, holding my breath while staring at the motionless corpse under the bed, a sound came from behind me. Every hair on my body stood on end. I whipped around in alarm to see Xiao Cuo appear behind me, covered in dust.

"What's wrong?" Xiao Cuo panted, catching up.

I didn't have the time or inclination to ponder how he managed to scale the three-meter balcony. I said to him gravely, "This is a crime scene. Don't contaminate it. Notify the precinct immediately and have the forensics team come over."

Although I desperately wanted to rush forward and grab that blood-soaked hand to confirm if its owner was Gu Hengming, I knew such an action would be wrong—at least for a professional detective like myself. So, I instructed Xiao Cuo to call headquarters.

Simultaneously, I pulled out my phone and dialed Zhang Jiewei: "We've found a body in Gu Hengming's apartment. We can't confirm the deceased's identity yet. You must ensure Huang Yang's safety; if anything happens to her, I will hold you accountable!"

My tone was severe, but it wasn't aimed at Zhang Jiewei; it was a necessity of the job this time—the real one.

We had only learned Gu Hengming was a suspect less than three hours ago, yet the killer struck ahead of us. What did that imply?

Though I hated to think it, many things in this world don't go as one wishes. I had to face reality, face the truth!

Soon, the precinct's crime scene investigation team arrived. The entire low-rise building was sealed off, a perimeter cordon established outside. This small building, having lost its master, was completely cut off from the outside world.

You Qiaolin was a backbone member of the medical examiner's office, so his presence at the scene was a given. He still had gauze wrapped around his head, but his demeanor was sharp. However, I always felt that was only because his gold-rimmed glasses concealed the fatigue in his eyes, creating an illusion of brisk competence.

Watching him work busily, I genuinely wanted to walk over and tell him that taking his glasses off when he wasn't busy would be better for his eyes and allow him to live a bit more easily.

The forensics team colleagues, expertly working the scene, photographed every item in the room from various angles. Then, a few strong men gently lifted the antique Ming-Qing style canopy bed, taking extreme care not to touch the body at all during the process.

The body was finally exposed to us. Standing near the doorway, I still couldn't see his face. Xiao Cuo brought over the specialized shoe covers and gestured for me to put them on to confirm the victim's identity. But I hesitated. I was afraid this person really was Gu Hengming.

Though I didn't much care for playboys like Gu Hengming, I treasured my colleagues whom I worked with day in and day out. I wished I possessed the mind of a Sherlock Holmes, capable of imagining the message spreading in all sorts of incredible ways, but I wasn't him. Given less than three hours, the only scenario I could imagine was one.

I put on the shoe covers anyway and approached the body. When I saw his face, a sharp pain pierced my chest, and tears nearly spilled.

Gu Hengming was dead—killed perhaps half an hour before I found him. Maybe if we hadn't gone to the modeling agency first, but driven straight to Shanhe Second Road, he wouldn't have died. But we didn't do that.

In the cramped office of the Special Investigations Unit, I sat in silence, completely cut off from the outside world, immersed in the passing of a life. Though I disliked the man, I respected every life that had ever lived.

Who directed us to the modeling agency?

That question popped into my mind. Perhaps this person knew that stalling me for half an hour would be enough to send Gu Hengming to his grave, which is why they orchestrated it.

My heart lurched violently: Zhang Jiewei, this must be Zhang Jiewei!

He had told me on the phone that Gu Hengming should be at the modeling agency, or at least that's where he usually was during working hours. I couldn't recall the exact words, but it was definitely from him that I received the judgment that Gu Hengming was at the company. That was certain.

No, it couldn't be him. If it were, he could have easily delayed filing the report by half an hour, or even half a day. Why would he push himself?

I eliminated Zhang Jiewei. Despite my slight dislike for the man, I trusted his loyalty to the profession and the facts. If not him, then who? As I continued to ponder, I realized the problem had taken a peculiar turn: there was no suspect regarding the instruction to go to the modeling agency.

Because Zhang Jiewei gave the direction, and I executed it. If Zhang Jiewei was innocent, that only left me. I couldn't possibly suspect myself, unless there was another 'me' in this world.

Another 'me'…

Things were far more complicated than I had imagined. The half-hour delay might have been an error caused by Providence, but Gu Hengming's death couldn't be for no reason, especially since he was killed immediately after Zhang Jiewei discovered his close ties with Huang Yang. There must be a connection.

Since there was a connection, and Gu Hengming was dead, we could confirm that in this world, there was someone who didn't want Gu Hengming's relationship with Huang Yang exposed to others, and thus arranged Gu Hengming's death.

And between the discovery of the relationship and Gu Hengming's death was only a short three hours. How did this person manage it?

At this moment, my brain felt like a freshly washed bedsheet, twisted by two brutes pulling violently in opposite directions, wringing out every drop of moisture until nothing remained, leaving not a single gap.

Under this relentless twisting, all the moisture drained from my body, leaving me feeling faint, almost collapsing. Gao Jianning, standing nearby, steadied me, "Brother Lei, you should rest like this."

I gritted my teeth and shook my head. "It's nothing, don't bother me."

As I spoke, I glanced at him sharply, a flicker of suspicion crossing my eyes. During this mission, only Gao Jianning remained in the office as backup support. What had he been doing during this time? Recalling past doubts, the haze of suspicion swirling inside me instantly expanded and churned.

Now that Xiao Cuo was in the archives, only he and I remained in the office. The atmosphere suddenly turned strangely tense.

Xiao Cuo had been with me the entire time; he certainly hadn't had a chance to contact the outside world. Given Xiao Cuo's background, he might know ghosts or monsters I didn't, but he definitely wouldn't know people I didn't. Thus, he couldn't be the leak. As for Xiao Xuan, that was out of the question—not only because of my relationship with her, but more importantly, her passion for police work convinced me she wouldn't do such a thing.

Out of the five people in the entire Special Investigations Unit, excluding Lord Jiang, the other four were cleared. What did that imply? Even a pig would figure it out, yet I was only realizing it now.

Gao Jianning. If it weren't for his slightly specialized knowledge of computers, he would be a complete digital pest. I remembered in high school, he was addicted to computers and got severely beaten several times by his father, my uncle. Even that didn't stop him; he only became a more advanced pest. Now that the internet is the main channel for modern interpersonal communication, even if he stays home all day, the people he contacts might be far more numerous than we imagine. Among these complex circles, could one of them be 'him'?

Gao Jianning noticed my strange expression and gave me an utterly bewildered look, then said, "I'll make you a cup of hot tea to freshen up."

I watched him walk to the water dispenser, take some communal tea leaves, brew it in a disposable cup, and bring it over.

"Don't look at me like that; it's too sappy," Gao Jianning said, noticing I was staring intently.

I remained silent, the quiet becoming somewhat terrifying.

"If you're not busy, I'm heading back. If you pass out, remember to call me." After throwing out a playful line, Gao Jianning returned to his computer.

Normally, I would have exchanged barbs with him again, but today wasn't normal; I wasn't in the mood.

"Gao Jianning, come here!"

"I'm busy. Stop calling me just because you're sitting around thinking nonsense alone."

Just as I was about to launch into a stern lecture, I suddenly caught myself. I relaxed my expression, trying to treat him as usual, and asked, "Did you see Lord Jiang today?"

Though Lord Jiang's appearances at the unit were so rare they could be counted on one hand, his authority was inversely proportional to his visibility. Upon hearing this question, Gao Jianning immediately looked up from his screen. "No, is something wrong?"

"Oh, nothing much. Never mind, get back to work." Even though I didn't know what kind of person Gao Jianning had become, I knew one of his inherent weaknesses: the less you tell him, the more he insists on finding out.

Sure enough, as soon as my sentence ended, Gao Jianning was standing before me, eyes wide. "Brother Lei, that's unfair! We're practically family; don't keep things from me alone."

I put on a nonchalant expression and waved my hand. "It's really nothing. If I don't want to tell people something, I shouldn't let them know. You're overthinking it."

Gao Jianning, who had been suspicious, was now certain something was up. He plopped down in front of me. "Just cooperate with your uncle, or I'm not leaving this spot."

Sometimes I truly doubted my judgment. I would rather believe this absurd fellow was capable of seducing respectable women than believe he was connected to a murderer.

But experience tells me that a person's exterior is often the complete opposite of their interior. Like a wealthy man: he wears gold and silver, has mistresses, and lives a life of extravagance, yet his soul is barren. He possesses the money and material life that many lack, but misses the intense drive and desire that many possess. Behind a seemingly rich and colorful life lies an empty soul.

Even if many people break their necks trying to achieve such a soul, it doesn't make it full.

Gao Jianning was similar. His exterior was casual and unrestrained, but his interior was like the most precise computer, capable of calculating any complex equation in the shortest time within that brain, barely filling 0.1 cubic meters.

"You really want to know?"

"Yeah." Gao Jianning nodded his head like a woodpecker.

"Alright. Come with me first. I have something I need you to do, and I promise you won't be short-changed."