Just as Yin Feng stood up to tap Xiao Yan’s shoulder, You Mingxu’s phone rang with a video call from Xu Mengshan. She never delayed calls from her partner and immediately answered, walking toward the meeting room exit.

The phone’s ring also woke Xiao Yan, who stood up upon seeing Yin Feng. However, Yin Feng’s gaze remained fixed on You Mingxu. As she walked out of the meeting room, he blocked the door with his foot, clearly hearing Xu Mengshan’s voice.

“Sister You, I’m at Xiang Rong’s old house in Taoling Village,” Xu Mengshan’s face appeared on screen, with a dark, aged room behind him. “Xiang Rong has been here recently—there are signs of living. The door was locked, and there weren’t many neighbors around. Also, I found this…”

The video showed a two-bedroom house, built squarely with simple decorations—typical rural house style. Xu Mengshan walked from the living room into one of the bedrooms, where his discovery lay in a black handbag under the bed.

Besides some change of clothes, cash, and a mobile phone, the bag contained chains, a boning knife, an electric drill, some hemostatic gauze, blood-stopping medicine, and several thick black plastic bags.

“What do you think?” Xu Mengshan asked from the other end.

You Mingxu replied, “What would you expect me to think about an internet cafe owner secretly returning home with these items?”

Xu Mengshan gave a slight laugh, carefully returning the items to their original places while saying, “He’s planning to commit a crime. Get here quickly.”

You Mingxu said, “I’ll leave within ten minutes.”

They’d gotten lucky—just when they needed the fox to show its tail, Xu Mengshan’s trip had yielded these discoveries. However, their investigation was unofficial, and they lacked concrete evidence. They couldn’t arrest anyone or mobilize local police based solely on the contents of a black bag. Still, in Ding Xiongwei’s eyes, the two of them were worth half a squad—catching Xiang Rong while lying in wait would be manageable.

You Mingxu had just hung up and turned to pack when she bumped into Yin Feng’s chest. He’d been eavesdropping, his expression calm and unruffled as he looked down at her.

You Mingxu ignored him, brushing past to return to her seat and gather her things. After she finished packing and called Ding Xiongwei to report in, she picked up her simple travel bag and stood—by then, Yin Feng and his companion had vanished.

The drive from Xiangcheng to Taoling Village in Chenxi County would take over five hours. Seeing darkness approaching, You Mingxu hurried downstairs. There, she saw an ordinary black sedan parked nearby. She recognized the driver. Because it wasn’t a flashy luxury car, she could see through the window that Yin Feng sat in the back seat, watching her from afar.

You Mingxu got into her police car.

Just as she drove out of the police compound, she saw the black sedan following closely in her rearview mirror. You Mingxu gave a cold laugh, stepped on the gas, and drove like lightning, weaving rapidly through traffic. However, she wasn’t exactly an expert driver—usually Xu Mengshan, with his superior driving skills, handled their high-speed pursuits. Yin Feng’s driver was much more skilled than her, following with ease, and maintaining a close distance.

Once they reached the highway, You Mingxu’s mood settled. Let him follow if he wants, she thought. Damn it—before losing his memory he chased after women, and after losing it he’s still following women. At least that hasn’t changed.

She maintained a steady speed, and the car behind kept a safe following distance.

During their earlier contest of driving skills, Yin Feng had been dozing with his eyes closed. He knew Tu Ya’s driving capabilities well—that woman drove decently, but they weren’t in the same league. This thought made him pause briefly before closing his eyes again, mentally organizing the case details.

Li Biran and Liu Ruyu met at Xiang Rong’s internet cafe.

They always considered him just a regular internet cafe owner and spent considerable time there.

Xiang Rong had repeatedly informed the police that Li Biran had a traveling companion.

Xiang Rong knew about the exchange murders.

Li Biran preferred the computers in the corner, with a sofa nearby for resting. So Liu Ruyu would often occupy nearby seats.

The internet cafe had surveillance cameras and listening devices.

There must have been listening devices.

Gu Tiancheng said this case was more than just exchange murders.

Had Xiang Rong criminally influenced the two youths? If he was truly a deviant of Gu Tiancheng’s caliber, there were many ways to imperceptibly push two teenagers toward crime.

Such as hypnosis, psychological suggestion, or drugs to heighten their mental state and emotional volatility. From an adult’s perspective, expressing sympathy for their circumstances, instilling ideas of revenge and retribution; even promoting and demonstrating violent methods…

The question was, why these two?

Li Biran and Liu Ruyu were both internet-addicted teenagers, both controlled by adults, both under long-term psychological pressure, and both lacked moral education from an early age. But there were many such youths in the world.

Why them?

They were both from Taohua Ridge and had lived in the same area years ago.

So had Xiang Rong.

Xiang Rong was now single, and divorced years ago. His only child had drowned to death several years back.

…

Yin Feng opened his eyes and called Chen Feng: “How’s the research on Xiang Rong’s son’s drowning case?”

Chen Feng replied, “I’ve only found some basic records. It seems the police were reluctant to publicize many details about this case. I’ll keep trying.”

After hanging up, Yin Feng looked up, immediately spotting the dusty police car driving steadily ahead.

On a whim, Yin Feng asked, “How’s her driving?”

Tu Ya answered, “Not bad. Pretty fierce for a woman.”

Yin Feng gave a cold snort and said, “She’s fierce at everything, never willing to yield.”

Tu Ya fell silent.

Yin Feng paused momentarily, his expression detached, as if he’d never said anything.

Just then, the car ahead signaled right and slowly pulled onto the emergency lane, coming to a stop.

Tu Ya stopped as well, and they waited a minute or two, but You Mingxu didn’t exit her car, and there was no movement.

Tu Ya asked uncertainly, “Teacher Yin, should I go check?”

Yin Feng, still watching the motionless police car, said, “She won’t acknowledge you. I’ll go.”

You Mingxu hadn’t been sleeping well for the past few nights, waking up several times—something that had never happened before. Added to that, she’d been busy reviewing case files and investigating Xiang Rong since early morning. After driving for a while, waves of drowsiness hit her, making the highway appear to float before her eyes.

She pulled over into the emergency area, reclined her seat, pulled out an eye mask, and naturally didn’t bother explaining anything to the car behind. She set an alarm and immediately fell into a deep sleep.

So when Yin Feng approached the police car with his coat collar turned up and a stern expression, this was the scene he found—the woman lying in her seat, hood pulled over her head, face hidden, one leg crossed over the other, sleeping without a care in the world.