He opened the car door for her and sat beside her. She looked at his profile. What his parents had endured during his thirty years of life remained unknown for now.

Perhaps later, after the past ended and the future became peaceful. Would there be a day, a moment, when he would be willing to tell her about it at home?

You Mingxu held his hand, not even realizing she was gripping it rather tightly.

Yin Feng glanced at her, suddenly smiled, and said, “You Mingxu, I don’t want your pity.”

You Mingxu noticed the coldness in his words and felt uncomfortable. The atmosphere in the car seemed to grow tense.

After a moment of silence, she withdrew her hand and tapped him on the head twice: “Who are you being so passive-aggressive for? Do you still want to…” Her words trailed off.

But he understood what she meant, looked at her, and uttered a single word: “Yes.”

You Mingxu smiled.

Just like that, the atmosphere became comfortable again.

After a while, Yin Feng pulled her into his arms, running his hand firmly along her waist, making her feel numb and slightly, but not excessively, painful. You Mingxu mentally cursed him as “neurotic,” but couldn’t help grabbing his other hand, stroking each of his fingers one by one. After a while, she sensed that his entire body had truly relaxed.

The police car sped toward the third crime scene. It was noon, and the sun glared painfully bright. You Mingxu thought:

What is the original sin of the family?

In the end, Yin Chen, who had nothing left, had left behind a cruel ritual resembling a child’s mischief.

Perhaps we all believe that as we grow older, we move further away from home.

In reality, any person, guilty or innocent, whether living in hardship and pain or like a fish in water.

No matter where in the world they are.

When they look up, who doesn’t see the silent, standing shadow of that child under the soft light of home from that day, that year?

Throughout one’s life, this remains unchanged.

—

This was the fifth day after the Punishers organization had been completely uprooted.

Three incidents occurred within a short span of 6 hours.

It was like a black wall covered with poisonous vines being knocked down by a solid tank. Among the scattered bricks and vines on the ground, you discover that the sharpest wooden stake remains; before you know it, your hands are covered in blood, throbbing with pain.

That afternoon, after examining Yin Feng’s parents’ residence, all key criminal investigators rushed back to the station for a meeting to determine the next course of action.

The deputy director who had been in charge of the television station’s operation chaired the meeting.

A colleague responsible for the surveillance team reported Yin Chen’s crime timeline so far—

Yesterday.

3:20 PM: Yin Chen entered the residential area where Xu Mengshan’s parents lived.

4:12 PM: Yin Chen took Xu’s parents hostage and drove away.

5:05 PM: Yin Chen arrived at You Mingxu’s residential area.

5:20 PM: Yin Chen left after leaving behind Xing Jifu’s severed finger.

6:55 PM: Xu Mengshan returned home and reported the incident.

8:20 PM: Yin Chen entered the residential area where his parents lived.

9:20 PM: Yin Chen drove away.

9:33 PM: Security guards discovered the fire and reported it.

Another colleague from the traffic team drew four arrows on the wall map, causing everyone to stare wide-eyed.

The first arrow pointed from a building materials market in the south of the city to Xu Mengshan’s parents’ home.

The second arrow pointed from Xu Mengshan’s parents’ home to You Mingxu’s home.

The third arrow pointed from You Mingxu’s home to Yin Feng’s parents’ home.

The fourth arrow pointed from Yin Feng’s parents’ home back to the building materials market in the south of the city.

This colleague said: “Surveillance along the routes shows Yin Chen’s movement pattern described above, and the timing also matches. However, we lost track of him near the southern building materials market. Should we focus our search on that area next?”

Xu Mengshan spoke up: “Not just this area; there are two possibilities. One is that he’s hiding there; the other is that he changed vehicles at the market or swapped license plates and went elsewhere.”

The deputy director nodded: “Regardless, the trail ends here, so focus the search here.”

Everyone discussed further, deliberating on search directions and strategies.

Just then, a voice spoke up: “He will contact us soon.”

Everyone fell silent and looked at Yin Feng.

Yin Feng maintained his usual appearance—gray shirt, black pants, simply handsome, with coldness brewing in his eyes: “Whatever he plans to do to our parents, he will definitely let us see it. Without an audience, it would be too boring.”

Despite Yin Feng’s “prediction,” the police couldn’t just sit and wait for it to come true. Large numbers of officers were dispatched to the southern market to conduct a thorough and meticulous search.

You Mingxu didn’t follow Xu Mengshan, choosing instead to remain at the police station. She sat in front of a computer, carefully examining videos of Yin Chen’s appearances frame by frame.

Yin Feng didn’t go either, staying by her side.

After working intently for a while, You Mingxu looked up and said, “If there’s something you want to investigate, you can go. Don’t worry about me.”

Yin Feng pointed to his head with one finger and said: “I am investigating—I’m thinking.”

You Mingxu smiled and said, “Actually, I feel their search in the south might not yield results. If Yin Chen doesn’t want to leave clues, he won’t.”

Yin Feng nodded: “For him, this is merely a trivial skill. If he allows us to capture his car on camera, he’s confident we won’t find him.”

You Mingxu continued staring at the screen.

Yin Feng asked: “What are you looking for?”

You Mingxu answered: “I don’t know yet. But this time, Yin Chen’s methods are very different from before. Even apprentice killer Ming Tao was cautious enough to never let surveillance cameras capture his face. This is probably a basic professional quality of high-IQ criminals.

But Yin Chen doesn’t care anymore—his face, car, fingerprints are everywhere. He might think that even if we know these things, it won’t affect the big picture; he has ways to escape. However, he’s not a police officer. No matter how strong a criminal’s counter-investigation abilities are, they can never think like a police officer.”

Yin Feng’s eyes brightened, and he said: “That’s an interesting perspective. Continue.”

You Mingxu smiled faintly: “A police officer, looking at these surveillance videos, sees that the more traces he leaves behind, the more details there are. Everything exists for a reason—the more details, the more logical relationships behind them. Finding these relationships might lead us to the answers we want. A criminal, however, could never think this way.”

Yin Feng understood her words and even felt inspired by them.

This demonstrated a criminal investigator’s meticulous thinking and keen insight.

You Mingxu, facing such an urgent situation, remained calm, confident, and stubborn. Even with a bare face, her phoenix eyes still flashed with a cold light. For a moment, he glimpsed the woman who had dared to dance with wolves in Tibet and captured Gu Tiancheng single-handedly.

Despite experiencing so many joys and sorrows along the way, her determination remained unwavering.