“First, the place where he lived during his childhood with his father and his first wife, who is his birth mother;

Second, the former nest where the Punishers lived as a group.

Third, the place where he and Fan Shuhua came to know each other;

Fourth, the place where your mother and he met.

Axu, the logic of criminal psychology is completely different from the police rushing to search the southern market, and also different from your layer-by-layer approach. I won’t wait for your results—I’m going to look for these four places now. Wait for my news.”

—

You Mingxu walked out of the office and stood in the hallway, watching as Yin Feng joined Chen Feng, Guanjun, and Xiaoyan, who had hurriedly arrived.

Another car was parked nearby. Tuya stood beside it, looking at them, then glanced up in You Mingxu’s direction and waved.

Tuya had been left behind by Yin Feng to protect her personally.

Just as Yin Feng had said, criminal psychology and traditional criminal investigation each had their logic, never as distinctly separate as at this moment. She understood his approach and also had her approach and strong intuition, so she wouldn’t stop him from going.

With Yin Chen alone and Yin Feng accompanied by three people, You Mingxu wasn’t too worried.

Guanjun had brought an ordinary black sedan, clean and freshly washed by the look of it, reflecting light in the sunset.

Yin Feng’s hand gripped the door handle, and he looked back. From that distance, You Mingxu couldn’t see his expression, only knowing that he was looking at her. Like every brief parting they had before.

Just such an ordinary gaze.

Yet something surged in You Mingxu’s heart. She raised two fingers, pressed them against her lips, then lowered them.

She saw Yin Feng also raise one hand and press it against his lips.

You Mingxu smiled and lowered her head, no longer looking at him. When she raised her head a few seconds later, he had already gotten into the car. The vehicle drove out of the police station gate, a gleam of light flowing across its body in the sunset, somewhat dazzling.

You Mingxu looked away.

Suddenly, she froze.

She whipped her head around, only to see a car tail—black, shiny, clean—disappearing in an instant.

In You Mingxu’s mind, it was as if a flash of light had “swooshed” through, illuminating the dim surveillance footage she had been reviewing repeatedly, as well as the suspect vehicle Yin Chen had been driving.

She knew… what wasn’t right in the surveillance footage!

—

Xu Mengshan was heading toward the southern market when he was called back by You Mingxu halfway there.

He turned around without hesitation. After years as partners, they had an implicit understanding.

You Mingxu showed Xu Mengshan a short video clip.

It was the scene of Yin Chen driving the van into the residential area. You Mingxu paused the footage and asked, “Do you notice anything different?”

Xu Mengshan frowned as he examined it: “An old vehicle? Steady speed, familiar route, all four wheels seem normal?”

You Mingxu’s eyes flickered: “Don’t you think the vehicle is too clean?”

Xu Mengshan’s eyebrows rose: Indeed! In the sunlight, the vehicle’s surface reflected light, spotlessly clean. It was a freshly washed car. Something stirred in Xu Mengshan’s mind as he looked at You Mingxu, already understanding her implication. This wasn’t normal!

You Mingxu tilted her head with a smile and said, “They didn’t specifically wash their vehicles during their previous operations.”

Xu Mengshan recalled the two dirty black sedans during the ambush of Wei Lan, and the similarly half-worn van that Yin Chen liked to use in Guizhou. His gaze sharpened like lightning: “Yes! The cars were always dirty, deliberately inconspicuous. That’s what fits the habits of professional criminals—hiding in plain sight. But this time, why did Yin Chen specifically wash the car clean? This indicates he’s trying to hide something, doesn’t it?”

You Mingxu nodded approvingly: “What else could he be hiding? Unless there were traces on the car that would reveal his hideout.”

Xu Mengshan’s heart raced, his brow furrowed: “But how do we find it?”

You Mingxu said decisively: “Find that car wash! Wherever he washed away the evidence, that’s where we’ll look.”

Xu Mengshan’s brow immediately relaxed as he clapped his hands: “That’s easy.” He brought out a map and pointed: “The car started leaving traces from the southern building materials market. Surveillance cameras along the route to my parents’ house all captured him. We just need to check how many car washes are on the road and which ones his route covered.”

Xu Mengshan was right.

Half an hour later, colleagues from the surveillance team gave them the answer.

Twenty minutes after that, You Mingxu and Xu Mengshan had already arrived at the car wash.

The shop was on the roadside, an inconspicuous small establishment. This shop wasn’t actually on the direct route to Xu Mengshan’s parents’ home and was quite secluded, with no surveillance cameras. Yin Chen had made a detour to come here to wash his car, showing his caution.

However, he wasn’t completely thorough—surveillance from another branch of the road had captured Yin Chen’s car parked at the car wash entrance, albeit at an angle and from a distance. If the police hadn’t been so meticulous, they might have overlooked it.

So the blurry surveillance footage itself didn’t provide any valuable clues.

You Mingxu and Xu Mengshan went to find the car wash manager.

The manager looked troubled: “We wash so many cars every day, how could I possibly remember?”

Xu Mengshan showed photos of the car and the person, but the manager and two employees still shook their heads.

A thought suddenly flashed through You Mingxu’s mind: if only Yin Feng were here, he would know how to handle this situation.

After thinking for a moment, she said to them: “Think carefully. You must have had an impression of him at the time. He was wearing a baseball cap, keeping his head down. His demeanor is very distinctive; even without speaking, you would feel he was fierce, a formidable character. He might have appeared preoccupied. Oh, and he might have used your water hose to wash his shoes and hands, maybe even his face…”

One employee suddenly looked at the beautiful female police officer as if she were some kind of monster. Excited and trembling, he said: “I remember now! There was such a person! Boss, I remember—he was tall and didn’t talk much. While we were washing the car, he stood to the side the whole time, never sitting down. Later, I saw him using the hose to wash the soles of his shoes for quite a while. How—how did you know that?!”

You Mingxu, and Xu Mengshan were also delighted. You Mingxu thought to herself: how did I know? Because I’ve spent too much time with someone similar. She quickly asked: “Try to recall carefully—that car and that person, did they have any special characteristics? Anything unusual?”

This question stumped the employees again.

It wasn’t their fault—they washed hundreds of cars every day, a monotonous and mechanical repetition. Who would pay attention to any particular car?

Suddenly, one employee said, “I think I smelled something foul from that car.”

Xu Mengshan’s eyes nearly popped out: “What kind of foul smell?”

The employee thought hard for a while, scratching his head: “I don’t know exactly. I just caught a whiff of it.”

—

Years ago, Yin Feng had already investigated Yin Chen’s information before he faked his death. So he had a clear understanding of Yin Chen’s life trajectory during those years.

Yin Feng had told You Mingxu that Yin Chen had four possible “homes.” But he hadn’t mentioned that one of them gave him the strongest intuition and seemed the most likely.

That was the house where Yin Chen had temporarily lived during the year before Yu Ruixue’s death.

Before them now was probably the oldest, dirtiest, and most chaotic place in the city. A five-story building, at least several decades old. The wall plaster was peeling off, with large “DEMOLISH” characters spray-painted on the walls, along with various small advertisements. Many households in the building had already moved out, giving the entire structure a dilapidated atmosphere.

It was clear that even twenty years ago, this wouldn’t have been a prosperous or refined neighborhood.