When the alarm clock rang, You Mingxu awoke in absolute agony. Turning her head, she saw the man beside her sleeping exceptionally deeply.

After all, he had been exhausted last night! Much more than the night before.

You Mingxu got up to wash, only to see her reflection in the mirror sporting two huge dark circles under her eyes, which irritated her even more. When she returned to the bedroom to gather her things before heading out, Yin Feng was still asleep.

He remained in the same position, lying on his side with one arm outstretched—where You Mingxu had been using it as a pillow. The blanket barely covered his chest, revealing well-proportioned shoulders. His handsome features were sharp and defined. Sleeping so peacefully like this, there wasn’t a trace of last night’s domineering ruthlessness.

The phrase “a feast for the eyes” flashed through You Mingxu’s mind.

She walked over again, gently pulled up the blanket to cover his shoulders, and then tiptoed out.

—

At the police station, everyone had gathered, including Ding Xiongwei, for the first team meeting about the case.

In the spacious conference room sat more than ten core criminal investigators working on the case. The atmosphere was extremely serious, as everyone understood just how heinous and challenging this serial case was.

After exchanging their respective situations and opinions, You Mingxu said, “We’ve clarified the circumstances of both victims and ruled out crimes of passion, revenge, or robbery. Currently, we can’t see any obvious connection between the two victims. So I suggest we proceed with the investigation from three angles:

First, the bathhouses. Although the two victims worked at different bathhouses, they were less than a kilometer apart. The people they interacted with might have overlapped. We should focus on investigating the clients and colleagues they contacted before their deaths to identify potential suspects.”

Everyone nodded.

You Mingxu continued, “Second, surveillance footage. We’ve determined that the killer followed the victims into their homes and likely completed the entire criminal activity before dawn. Besides the time of the crimes—2:30 to 5:30 AM for the Luo Ting case and 2:00 to 4:30 AM for the Zhou Dan case—we need to check the surveillance cameras around the crime scenes during these periods. The killer knew both victims’ routines and living environments, so they must have stalked them beforehand. We should also check surveillance footage along their daily routes in the days before their deaths.

Third, eyewitnesses. Although the killer struck at night, the victims’ residences weren’t particularly remote. If we search carefully and question nearby residents and passersby, we might find witnesses.”

No one raised any objections.

Ding Xiongwei nodded approvingly and concluded, “Let’s proceed with this approach! You Mingxu, come to my office.”

You Mingxu thought Ding Xiongwei had some confidential matter to discuss, but once inside, he said, “Your investigative approach is correct, but this case is quite strange. The killer might be choosing victims randomly and using meticulous methods, making it difficult to find clues through conventional means—Why isn’t Yin Feng here today? What’s his opinion?”

You Mingxu raised her eyebrows slightly: “He just got out of the hospital and is resting at home.” Feeling like she might be suggesting Ding Xiongwei was pushing Yin Feng too hard, she added, “He was still asleep when I left.”

Ding Xiongwei fell silent for a moment.

Even with his years of experience, hearing such a casual comment from his female subordinate made him somewhat uncomfortable.

He also had a strong sense of ‘young women growing up too fast.’ What time was it already, and she was letting that criminal psychologist sleep in?

Ding Xiongwei cleared his throat and said, “Given the special nature of the case, we can consider opinions from the criminal psychology perspective. However, we shouldn’t follow them blindly.”

You Mingxu replied, “I understand.”

—

Unlike the flights of fancy of criminal psychology, traditional criminal investigation often revealed truth in the details. Police work didn’t have many dramatic twists, but rather involved catching one or two crucial, inconspicuous clues from vast amounts of monotonous work.

By noon of the second day after Luo Ting’s case, Xu Mengshan, with bloodshot eyes, brought a precious piece of surveillance footage to everyone’s attention—the case had made a significant breakthrough.

Originally, there were only a few surveillance cameras near the crime scene. Two had captured the victim but showed no trace of the suspect. However, Xu Mengshan persisted with this lead, collecting footage from vehicle dashcams and privately installed security cameras in the area. His persistence paid off.

A privately installed security camera outside a downstairs residence, though somewhat distant, directly faced a path Luo Ting had to take to get home. No matter how meticulous the killer was, they couldn’t have anticipated everything. This resulted in this brief but precious video footage.

The night of the incident, at 2:34 AM.

In the quiet courtyard, lit only by two dim streetlights, tree branches swayed gently against the silent buildings.

A young woman walked into the frame from the front right. Perhaps because she was near home, her pace was unhurried and steady. From her back view and clothing, it was Luo Ting.

About ten seconds after she went upstairs, a male figure quickly flashed into view, taking just a few steps before heading up the stairs.

Everything happened so fast that the watching investigators were stunned. Xu Mengshan pressed pause, rewind, and slow motion, bringing the man back into the frame and freezing the image as he reached the building’s entrance.

The investigators fell silent.

To experienced detectives, a person’s physical characteristics were easily distinguishable. They quickly reached a consensus—

The male subject was between 20-30 years old, around 180cm tall, weighing approximately 70kg. Shoe size 42-43.

He wore all-black outdoor wear, a baseball cap, and a face mask. From the camera angle, his features were completely obscured.

Without a doubt, this person was almost certainly their target killer. Although they couldn’t see his face, they had narrowed down the suspect’s age and build range and even knew his attire that night. This would facilitate their continued search through surveillance footage and eyewitness accounts.

Everyone was somewhat excited, discussing animatedly. You Mingxu stared at the man in the footage, her expression growing grave. Although the suspect’s build was lean, completely different from Gu Tiancheng’s, and Gu Tiancheng had already died before her eyes, seeing that black outdoor wear still made her think of him and the Punisher organization.

However, she had discussed this point with Yin Feng last night, so her thoughts remained focused—she would deal with whatever came her way.

Additionally, You Mingxu had a strange feeling that she had seen the man’s silhouette somewhere before, though she wasn’t entirely sure.

After the meeting, You Mingxu thought for a moment, sent the video to Yin Feng, and called him.

After just two rings, Yin Feng answered, his voice carrying what seemed to be a light-hearted smile: “Hello?”

You Mingxu said, “Did you see the video I just sent you?”

“Yes, I did.”