Two cars sped along the highway.

You Mingxu, Yin Feng, and the others came down from the mountain overnight and drove back to Hunan. When they entered Xiangcheng, the eastern sky was just beginning to show a pre-dawn glow.

You Mingxu nodded off and suddenly woke with a start, aware that someone was still holding her hand.

Yin Feng was sleeping lightly and also opened his eyes. “Where are we?”

You Mingxu: “We’ve reached Xiangcheng.”

He squeezed her hand again. “Don’t worry. We’ll find out what happened when we get there.”

“I understand.”

But how could she not be anxious? You Mingxu had freeloaded several meals at Xu Mengshan’s parents’ home. They were just a very honest, shy elderly couple who were extremely polite to all of Xu Mengshan’s colleagues, hoping only to hold a grandchild soon…

Seeing her face cold as frost, Yin Feng suddenly felt irritated too. He reached out and pulled her into his arms, pressing her head against his chest. You Mingxu tried to struggle, but he wouldn’t let go. After a while, she calmed down, closed her eyes, and rested against him without moving.

“You always make my heart ache,” he said softly.

They arrived.

Several police cars were parked downstairs, and police tape had been put up. Yin Feng told Tuya and the others to go back first, while he followed You Mingxu upstairs.

The two of them put on the shoe covers and other protective gear handed to them by a colleague and entered the crime scene.

The first thing they noticed was still the blood.

Most of the bloodstains were concentrated on the walls. Some were in large patches, as if splashed on, then flowing down vertically, leaving long trails of blood and forming small pools in the corners. Some were in strings of blood droplets, immediately making You Mingxu think of the pattern made by blood spraying from a severed artery. But there was too much of it, everywhere.

The bloodstains had already completely dried.

There were no obvious signs of a struggle in the room.

Xu Mengshan’s parents were nowhere to be found, their phones left in the house.

There were several dishes on the table, long cold. Only one set of bowl and chopsticks was on the table, with a few remaining grains of rice, and some oil stains on the chopsticks.

You Mingxu and Yin Feng exchanged a glance.

In the blood pools on the floor, clear shoe prints from a third person were visible. Size 43.

You Mingxu asked a colleague, “Where’s Mengshan?”

The colleague replied, “He’s in the community surveillance room.”

When You Mingxu and Yin Feng walked to the security office of the residential complex, they saw a familiar figure squatting at the door, smoking.

You Mingxu walked over. In just one night, Xu Mengshan looked completely terrible. He raised his reddened, bloodshot eyes to look at them.

You Mingxu asked, “Why are you out here?”

Xu Mengshan’s voice was hoarse: “I was checking the surveillance footage earlier, but my eyes got blurry, so I’m taking a break.”

You Mingxu felt a pain in her heart.

Yin Feng spoke up: “That’s not your parents’ blood.”

Xu Mengshan’s eyes looked like two deep wells: “I know, I knew it at first glance. The distribution pattern of the blood is very distinctive. Human blood splatter doesn’t form those shapes, nor would it reach that high. That blood was poured on in streams, and some was sprayed on with tools, which is why it formed those strings.”

You Mingxu crouched down and patted his shoulder. “Uncle and Auntie will certainly be alright.”

Xu Mengshan smiled grimly, nodded, and said, “The blood test results are already out. The blood contained additives to prevent coagulation, so it was taken from the body some time ago.” His gaze fell on their faces as he said, word by word: “According to the DNA match, it’s Xing Jifu’s blood.”

Both You Mingxu and Yin Feng were stunned.

On the way here, they had mentally prepared for the possibility that this had something to do with Yin Chen.

“What is he trying to do?” Xu Mengshan shouted with suppressed rage.

Just then, a door beside them was yanked open with a “whoosh,” and a police officer rushed out: “We’ve found the suspect!”

Xu Mengshan had last spoken with his parents around 2 PM yesterday. At that time, his parents had already bought groceries and were at home. They had arranged for Xu Mengshan to come over for dinner.

Xu Mengshan arrived home at 6:55 PM.

There were four surveillance video clips from two cameras.

The first camera was at the entrance to the community’s underground garage. The suspect vehicle entered at 3:20 PM. It was a very ordinary van, with the license plate number visible. The van was clean, with no marks on the body and clear tire treads. The sun was bright, making the car windows gleam. This video didn’t capture the driver.

The second video was from 3:28 PM, from a camera inside one of the elevators in the complex. The image quality wasn’t very clear. In the basement garage, a mother and daughter entered first—the mother around 30 years old, the daughter about 3 or 4 years old. Then a man entered. The mother and daughter quickly moved back because the man was bringing in an extremely large cardboard box, about one cubic meter in volume.

The man then stood next to the box and pressed the floor button, which was exactly the floor where the Xu family lived.

The man wore all black clothing, was tall and sturdy, and wore a baseball cap, keeping his head lowered. So the surveillance only captured a glimpse of his facial profile.

But this glimpse of a profile looked somewhat familiar to You Mingxu and the others.

The man carried the box out.

The next video clip was from about 20 minutes later, at 3:50 PM.

The elevator stopped at that floor, and a cardboard box was slowly pushed in, followed by the man.

There was no one else in the elevator. He pressed the B1 button.

He stood quietly.

He tilted his head slightly, inserted a finger into his ear and rubbed it, as if it was itchy, then continued standing still.

When the elevator doors opened, he bent down and slowly and steadily pushed the box out.

Then, without looking back, he suddenly raised his hand toward the surveillance camera on the elevator ceiling and gave the middle finger.

Seeing this, Xu Mengshan’s eyes burned like fire. He tightly clenched his fists, trembling slightly, with his nails almost digging into his flesh.

The fourth video clip, at 4:12 PM, returned to the exit of the community garage.

The van drove out.

This time, most of the face beneath the cap brim was captured—it was unmistakably Yin Chen. He was paying at the booth, and then his face twitched as if stung by something. He tilted his head again, raised his hand to rub his ear, then turned forward and drove away.

The police officer at the computer paused the image, zoomed in, then zoomed in further. The mouse didn’t stop on Yin Chen but on the area behind him, in the back of the van, where the top of a cardboard box was faintly visible.

The situation was now very clear.

At this moment, the small surveillance room was filled with police officers, all of whom were You Mingxu and Xu Mengshan’s most familiar comrades. After watching these videos, everyone fell silent simultaneously. That silence was like a snow-covered volcano, weighing on the shoulders of every criminal investigator.

Some of them firmly gripped Xu Mengshan’s shoulders, wanting to comfort him but not knowing how to begin; others firmly gripped the table, as if trying to break off a corner with their bare hands. Because today, Yin Chen had taken Xu Mengshan’s parents, and tomorrow, he might take their loved ones. What police officer could tolerate such arrogant, vicious, despicable, and shameless criminal provocation?

“What does Yin Chen want?” someone finally asked angrily. “Is he taking revenge on us?”

Xu Mengshan lowered his head, the veins on his neck beginning to bulge.

You Mingxu remained coldly silent.

“It’s revenge,” Yin Feng spoke up, answering for them. Everyone turned to look at him, seeing him standing there, impeccably dressed, with a pale face and cold eyes. He said, “Because now, he has nothing left.”