The number 120 (emergency services) arrived quickly.

Thanks to the timely CPR, soon after Zhou Zhicheng was moved into the ambulance, the monitor showed ventricular rhythm – a promising sign of successful resuscitation. The emergency physician continued administering intravenous medication while immediately preparing for defibrillation.

At the hospital, Jiang Chengyi and Old Qin waited outside the emergency department for over an hour before being informed that the patient would be transferred to the central ICU. However, due to the cardiac arrest, they couldn’t accurately predict the outcome.

“Captain Jiang,” Xiao Zhou, who had been urgently called back from home to rejoin the team, reported, “The phone call Zhou Zhicheng received before his suicide attempt came from a public phone booth located near Haiyuan Road. By the time we got there, the person was long gone. We checked several surrounding surveillance cameras and found that the caller was a woman wearing a hat and sunglasses. She showed strong counter-surveillance awareness. After making the call, she took a taxi directly. We contacted the driver, who recalled that the woman’s destination was Lancheng Residential Complex, but halfway through the journey, she suddenly asked to stop. Since the driver was rushing to his next fare, he didn’t notice which direction she went after getting off. Oh, and she paid in cash.”

Jiang Chengyi’s expression darkened. After listening to Xiao Zhou’s report, he pondered for a moment before nodding, “You and Liao Qi stay at the hospital. If there’s any news about Zhou, call me immediately.”

Since there couldn’t be any new developments regarding Zhou Zhicheng for now, he decided to return to the police station. At this point, he suspected their investigation might have gone off track, and he determined to start fresh with the case files.

“The perpetrator is too cunning. You and Xiao Liao must stay vigilant,” Old Qin, leaving with Jiang Chengyi, couldn’t help but repeatedly warn Xiao Zhou.

On the way back, Jiang Chengyi and Yu Zheng remained unusually silent.

Upon reaching the police station, Jiang Chengyi immediately pulled out the records of over seventy people who had given statements on the night of the Ding family’s memorial service. He compared them one by one while carefully reviewing the crime scene investigation records of several murder cases.

The other team members had also fallen into anxious moods, overwhelmed by an inexplicable sense of frustration.

Yu Zheng, having visited the office several times before, was familiar with the environment. After declining Old Qin’s offer of hot tea, he took out a packet of instant coffee from his shoulder bag and unhurriedly prepared it for himself.

He was a coffee enthusiast; for him, caffeine not only helped him focus but also had a calming effect on his emotions.

Officer Liu, known for his hot temper, was going through the files when he couldn’t contain his anger anymore, thinking about recent events: “Eight years, four cases, and if we add Zhou Zhicheng, Lin Chunmei, and Deng Man, that makes seven. No wonder Dr. Yu said this bastard is clever. I bet for the sake of their so-called perfect crime, they must have done extensive preparation before each incident. Look – the artificial lake at Peach Blossom Park where Li Liwei was dumped experienced a power outage beforehand. South Rock Park, where Wang Qianqian was dumped, had been closed for over a year, and its surveillance cameras were already broken. As for Yanping Lake where Ding Jing was dumped – damn, not only did they cut the power, but they also chose a night with heavy rain. At each scene, either the evidence was destroyed, or we couldn’t collect it in time. The most twisted part is how this person later impersonates the victims. If we solve this case, I want to ask them – don’t they feel creepy when they look in the mirror?”

Yu Zheng held his coffee cup and paced slowly back and forth to help him think. Though he hadn’t spoken for a while, everyone could almost hear his brain working at high speed.

Hearing this, he shook his head and said, “This type of criminal generally lacks any sense of guilt or remorse for their crimes. Even if they show repentance in court, it’s only to escape punishment. As long as they remain uncaught, they’ll spend their entire lives savoring the thrill of their crimes and continue offending under criminal impulses. In short, the formation of antisocial personality is extremely complex, and once formed, it’s very difficult to reverse or intervene.”

“I think our previous approach was wrong,” he continued after a pause. “Because we suspected the perpetrator knew Zhou Zhicheng, we’ve been focusing our search on people who ‘attended No. 7 Middle School during their studies’ or ‘were acquainted with Zhou Zhicheng or his parents or had family connections.’ But besides these two groups, there’s another type of person who could be familiar with Zhou Zhicheng’s living environment without meeting any of these criteria.”

“Neighbors,” Jiang Chengyi frowned, his gaze never leaving the list.

“Exactly,” Yu Zheng was pleased someone followed his logic. “So we missed a lead. If we add this factor, we can quickly narrow down the scope.”

Old Qin stood up abruptly: “I’ll take some people to Yulong Residential Complex where Zhou Zhicheng lives right now. It’s not a big complex – we should have the list of property owners and tenants by tomorrow morning at the latest. After excluding the guests who left more than half an hour before Liu Yujie was attacked that night, there were still over a hundred people at the scene. Among them, some left five minutes before Liu Yujie was found – but we have elevator surveillance footage from that time, and everyone can be accounted for. The rest were detained at the scene by Captain Jiang and all gave statements. Once we get the Yulong Complex list and compare it with that night’s list, we’re bound to find some overlap.”

Yu Zheng carefully stopped Old Qin: “No, even if we’re looking into Zhou Zhicheng’s neighbors, we need to go back eight or nine years.”

Seeing Old Qin and others’ confusion, Jiang Chengyi explained: “Although we can’t confirm whether the perpetrator photographed Zhou Zhicheng’s affair with Deng Man, based on the fact that they knew about the Winter Solstice website among No. 7 Middle School students and imitated both Deng Man and presumably Lin Chunmei, they must be very familiar with not only the school environment but also Zhou Zhicheng’s family. If we exclude the possibility of a relative being the perpetrator, this person must have been Zhou Zhicheng’s neighbor before 2009. Records show that Zhou Zhicheng only moved to Yulong Complex five years ago due to relocation. Before that, he lived in Shuilong Tan, where his wife Lin Chunmei also lived when she had her accident and passed away.”

“My wife’s family lives near there,” someone interjected. “That complex is in Lu’an District, quite far. It was demolished several years ago. If we want to inquire about Zhou Zhicheng’s neighbors from that time, we’ll need to track down the resident list from back then – quite troublesome.”

Jiang Chengyi checked his watch: “I’m not sure where the Shuilong Tan Street Office has moved to. Can someone confirm? It’s not yet five o’clock, they should still be open. We can’t waste time – I’ll head over there now.”

After reading that WeChat message, Lu Yan called the Medical Affairs Office to confirm the competition venue and rules, then called her senior colleague to ask about his experience from last year’s competition.

After these two calls, she had a general understanding and continued working on her courseware.

During dinner time, Jiang Chengyi hadn’t returned. She called him, wanting to remind him to eat on time, but he was too busy to answer.

That night, Liu Sao and the driver were settled in the guest room, while Lu Yan returned to her room to continue her work.

By ten o’clock, she had finished her shower and placed a cup of warm tea on the bedside table, then sat on the bed checking materials while waiting for Jiang Chengyi.

At midnight, with no sign of Jiang Chengyi’s return and feeling drowsy, she decided to stop waiting.

Putting her laptop on the bedside table, she pulled up the covers to sleep.

The room temperature was set quite high, but her feet were still cold with no hint of warmth even after lying there for a while. She somewhat regretted not putting on thick socks before getting into bed. Remembering how Jiang Chengyi had warmed her feet last night, the stark contrast made it difficult for her to fall asleep as she tossed and turned.

Eventually, she did fall asleep, but before she could enter deep sleep, she was awakened by slight movements beside her.

She instinctively opened her eyes to see Jiang Chengyi just lifting the covers to get into bed. He must have showered, as a familiar fresh scent wafted over when he got close. Seeing her awake, he was visibly startled.

“Why aren’t you asleep yet?” He had tried to be quiet, but she was too alert.

She rubbed her eyes, unsure of the time but knowing it was well past midnight: “How’s the case going? Any progress?”

Jiang Chengyi made an affirmative sound but didn’t mention Teacher Zhou’s situation, not wanting to affect her sleep. He only said, “After confirming two more things tomorrow morning, we should be able to identify our target.”

As he spoke, he reached down and gave her an odd look: “What kind of constitution do you have? How are your feet still so cold after sleeping for so long?”

Having been healthy all his life, regardless of season, he had never experienced cold hands or feet. To him, Lu Yan’s condition seemed quite peculiar.

“You’re making a fuss over nothing,” she deliberately wiggled her toes against his palm. “What else would you expect during that time of the month? If I don’t wear socks to keep warm, I won’t warm up all night. Oh, right, I need to go to Hanlin Mountain Villa Hotel the day after tomorrow evening for the preliminary round.”

“The day after tomorrow?”

“Yes, at seven in the evening. The competition will take three hours, and the organizers have arranged accommodation.”

“Let me see. If we can successfully catch the perpetrator tomorrow, I’ll take you there. If I really can’t get away, I’ll apply for witness protection and have someone from our team accompany you.”

“Alright.” She looked up and noticed his face showed more fatigue than in previous days, so she asked softly, “Is this case giving you a lot of pressure?”

“Enormous pressure,” he replied with a straight face.

Love me more then.

Understanding the look in his eyes, she took the initiative to massage his shoulders: “There’s something I’ve been wondering about. Even though I accidentally saw the perpetrator impersonating Deng Man, I never made a wish on the website. So why did the perpetrator send me butterfly stickers too?”

This was something Jiang Chengyi had also been puzzling over.

To ease her fear and anxiety, he teased her seriously: “This perpetrator is so familiar with No. 7 Middle School, maybe they’ve seen us before. Oh, could it be that they overheard you wishing everywhere ‘I want to get back together with Jiang Chengyi’?”

“What are you talking about?” She found him too full of himself and glared at him. “Jiang Chengyi, your ego could stand to be even bigger.”

“So stubborn,” he gently pinched her chin. “Would it kill you to just admit that you love me desperately?”

Their skin touched, and her body was soft and inviting. His heart fluttered as he lowered his head to kiss her lips, his hand skillfully sliding upward beneath the hem of her clothes.

At his touch, her body trembled involuntarily, and she soon melted softly into his embrace.

He laughed silently, “Lu Yan, tell me how much you wanted to get back together with me.”

She was flushed with embarrassment and anger: “You said you’re under so much pressure, shouldn’t you rest early? Why keep teasing me?”

“Oh? You were defiant this morning, but now you’ve forgotten?”

Worried she might be cold, he covered them both with the blanket, propped himself up on his arms on either side of her head, pushed up her clothes, and said in a husky voice, “Besides, this is the most effective way to relieve stress.”

Soon, she experienced ten thousand ways of his stress relief expressed through his body, and unable to resist him, she could only respond with soft moans and try her best to match his rhythm.

He explored various ways to pleasure her until she was breathless and panting, before finally finding his release against her body. Then he leaned down to her ear and whispered, “Once this case is solved—”

Seeing her drowsy and exhausted from their lovemaking, he watched her for a moment, tucked her hair behind her ear, and decided to let it go. After all, this matter needed proper planning, and saying it now would diminish its significance. Better to wait until his mind was clearer to make plans. He pulled her into his arms and drifted off to sleep.