Several police cars sped toward the Fenjinbao Company.

Without evidence earlier, the police had been powerless against Fenjinbao Company. Now, with concrete proof, they turned the place practically upside down. The discovery of the secret passage was both unexpected and logical in hindsight.

As soon as You Mingxu and Yin Feng arrived, they were led to the most secluded storage room on the first floor. Han Feng was waiting there.

You Mingxu’s first question was, “Any leads on the person?” The person, naturally, referred to Fan Jia.

Han Feng replied, “See for yourself when you go down.”

You Mingxu’s heart sank. The room was about ten square meters, already emptied. Near the window on the floor was a dark, foot-and-a-half square opening, with faintly visible broken steps.

Upon closer inspection, the steps were made of stone slabs, appearing quite old. The surrounding walls were also stone, and the steps were clean, showing obvious signs of recent maintenance. Following these narrow steps down about two meters, they found a similar narrow path stretching forward. The tunnel was low, requiring them to stoop to pass through.

Han Feng said, “I called you as soon as we discovered this secret passage. The forensics team will arrive shortly. Above was a storage room, with the entrance hidden under a cabinet and thick wooden board – completely unnoticeable unless carefully examined. This is clearly an old tunnel, reminds me of the air raid shelters I played in as a kid. This building was renovated from an old factory built around the founding of the People’s Republic. The tunnel might be a remnant from that time.”

You Mingxu nodded. This made sense. Just as she was about to speak, Yin Feng suddenly turned around with a serious expression, grabbed her hand, and said, “Xu, there’s a secret passage ahead. Don’t leave my side for even a step. I’ll protect you.”

You Mingxu: “…”

Another episode!

Han Feng remained silent.

Criminal police were already ahead; Han Feng’s team had explored the entire passage.

You Mingxu glanced at Han Feng, who looked away. She then whispered to Yin Feng, “Go play by yourself! I’m busy.”

In the dim flashlight glow, a playful smile flickered across his eyes before disappearing. He obediently went off to explore on his own.

Han Feng sighed, “You’ve got it tough.”

You Mingxu stared at Yin Feng’s retreating figure, feeling conflicted. Her heart yearned for him, yet he was also the fool. She knew perfectly well she stood at a crossroads – choosing him meant accepting everything about his current state. Moreover, she had to prepare for the day he might suddenly recover his memories and true nature, leaving with a cold laugh, surrounded by young models and mistresses, making her the laughingstock of the entire provincial police force.

You Mingxu grew frustrated thinking about it and decided to stop. Didn’t he want to stay on the sidelines? Let him stay there. Things would work themselves out.

With this thought, her mind cleared. No matter his transformations, she still maintained control of the situation.

The tunnel was surprisingly long, taking about ten minutes to reach its end. Iron rings were fixed to the tunnel walls, one level after another, for climbing. The rings were thickly rusted, with several missing.

The exit had already been opened by the police, letting sunlight stream in. You Mingxu and the others climbed out to find themselves on a small hillside covered in wild grass and trees. Fenjinbao Company sat not far below the hill.

This area was on the edge of the slums, built against the mountain. No wonder it still concealed an air raid tunnel from the early days of the People’s Republic.

Several criminal investigators were examining the area around the exit. A rusty square iron grate lay on the ground nearby, tangled with weeds and even wildflowers. It must have been difficult to notice when covering the entrance. There was also a small lock – You Mingxu crouched down to look and saw it was new.

You Mingxu remained silent for a moment, running a hand through her long hair, gritting her teeth as her heart constricted painfully. Yin Feng crouched beside her and asked softly, “What’s wrong?”

You Mingxu exhaled slowly and said, “From when Fan Jia ran out of Zhou Rongfeng’s room until we broke in, it couldn’t have been more than 20 minutes. This tunnel takes over 10 minutes one way – the perpetrator wouldn’t have had time to get her out. Fan Jia was right beneath our feet. The killer probably only had the chance to move her after we released those people.”

Yin Feng patted her head and said, “Xu is overthinking this. It’s not your responsibility.”

You Mingxu remained quiet, crouching silently for a while before standing up. Her expression had returned to its usual icy calm as she gazed at the road below the hillside and said, “If they drove a car here, they could easily take Fan Jia anywhere. That’s why we couldn’t find her nearby. The question now is, who knew about this secret passage?”

—

However, Zhou Rongfeng, Zhang Wei, and the others all appeared genuinely bewildered about the existence of the secret passage. Not panic, not concealment, but consistent, genuine confusion.

This was somewhat expected by You Mingxu, because if they had known about the passage earlier, when Fan Jia disappeared after escaping, they would have intercepted her in the tunnel to retrieve the evidence, rather than making a futile show of searching the building. They wouldn’t be in jail now.

But judging from the tunnel’s condition, someone had deliberately concealed it and even maintained it.

You Mingxu thought for a moment, went to check the records, and found that Fenjinbao Company had moved to this office location two years ago.

“Who was in charge of the renovation?” You Mingxu asked.

Zhang Wei answered, “I was.”

You Mingxu pondered briefly: “Who else helped you?”

Zhang Wei paused, then answered, “Chen Zhaoci.”

Just then, Xu Mengshan brought other information.

You Mingxu had rarely seen him these past few days. When he arrived, she discovered that this usually refined young man was now unshaven with dark circles under his bloodshot eyes. His personality was similar to You Mingxu’s – not very compliant. Once he set his mind on something, he wouldn’t let go. It seemed he hadn’t liked Chen Zhaoci since Fan Jia began her “undercover” work. Now with Fan Jia missing and Chen Zhaoci escaped, he was even more fixated on the man, nearly digging up eight generations of Chen Zhaoci’s ancestors.

“Know what I found out?” Xu Mengshan said with a cold smile, “Chen Zhaoci has quite a few stories to his name.”

—

Fan Jia woke up in complete darkness. The first sensations were cold, dampness, and a stagnant, musty smell. It felt like being buried underground.

There was no light around. When she tried to get up, she felt something long and solid pull at her arms and legs. She belatedly realized her wrists and ankles were numb and painful – they were bound. She felt along the long objects and realized they were thick ropes.

Still unable to see anything, she could only hear her heavy breathing. Suddenly, violent movements broke the darkness as Fan Jia frantically tried to tear at the ropes. But they were tied too tightly, with one around her neck – any large movement nearly choked her.

After futilely struggling for about ten minutes, Fan Jia collapsed, lying on the cold ground. The scent of earth grew stronger, and tears fell from her eyes, with only quiet sobbing breaking the darkness.

After crying for a while, she suddenly opened her eyes and began shouting into the darkness: “Let me out! Who the fuck are you?! Let me out! Let me out! Or I won’t let you get away with this—”

When she had no strength left to scream, she stopped crying too, lying motionless except for uncontrollable slight trembling. Yes, she was a criminal investigator, but with only two years on the job. She had been to crime scenes with them, seen several corpses, and witnessed the cold faces of vicious criminals. Full of passion and unbridled heroism, she had volunteered to be the “bait” this time. But everything she was experiencing now was beyond her prediction or imagination. She kept telling herself to be brave, brave like Sister Yu. Sister Yu had encountered an even more deranged serial killer in Tibet last time, not only escaping safely but also capturing the perpetrator. She could do it too. She definitely could.

She gradually calmed down, regaining her composure and courage as she’d hoped. After lying in darkness for about another half hour, she heard faint rustling sounds from above. Her eyes widened, her heart nearly jumping out of her chest. Then came a heavy dragging sound, like stone moving. Light suddenly fell in – not particularly bright, but Fan Jia had to shield her eyes, slowly adjusting.

Above her head, about two meters up, was a row of rusty iron bars. The opening was only a foot and a half square. The light was orangish, illuminating a small patch of ground below the opening. Fan Jia could now see the floor was cement, though uneven, seemingly quite old. The surroundings were dimly visible, apparently painted white, square, no more than 10 square meters.

Fan Jia stood up until the ropes pulled taut, almost choking her, still over a meter from the opening. She stepped back, gasping for air, looking up at the iron bars.

Someone sat there, half their body visible. She could see their black jacket and jeans but not their face. Beyond the iron bars, she glimpsed a ceiling fragment, a light bulb, and a corner of a window with daylight outside. They were all old and worn. This meant she was being held underground in a house. From experience, she could judge how secluded this place must be. Her heart sank further.

Steadying herself, she called out, “What do you want?”

The person lowered one hand, resting it on the iron bars. It was a slender, pale hand emerging from the black sleeve. Fan Jia stared at it intently.

“I want to keep you locked up,” the person said. “This way, you won’t get lost.”

The voice was so familiar it sent an electric shock through Fan Jia, her heart alternating between cold and hot. But his tone was completely different from before. It carried a hint of intimacy, yet was slow and ruthless.