Yin Feng stood with several people downstairs, remaining silent for a moment before saying, “Chen Feng, go upstairs and check if anyone is still living in that apartment. Champion, find a way to examine the nearby surveillance cameras. Xiao Yan, take a walk around and see if there are any other places nearby where someone could be hiding.”

That apartment.

That slum dwelling that Yin Chen had rented twenty years ago. At that time, Yin Chen was at the lowest point in his life, hiding there to escape debt collectors after committing fraud, living a dark, miserable existence like an ant.

Although Yin Feng didn’t know You Ruixue’s detailed information from back then, he could find out which cases she had worked on that year. One of those cases had involved activity in this very neighborhood.

The two of them had likely met here, beginning their connection.

In Yin Feng’s mind appeared the image of Yin Chen standing in You Mingxu’s home, looking at the camera—or perhaps not at the camera at all, but at You Ruixue’s memorial photo.

The most cherished home…

This area had countless abandoned buildings, making it an excellent choice for hiding someone.

A strong intuition echoed in Yin Feng’s heart, as if he had already sensed something.

—

Xu Mengshan and You Mingxu returned to the police station.

On the way, You Mingxu repeatedly watched the surveillance video on her phone.

Car washing, shoe soles, strange odor… she felt she was getting closer to the answer. The characteristics of that place were so distinctive that Yin Chen had to deliberately conceal them.

Her finger paused the video at a particular moment.

Yin Chen tilted his head slightly, rubbing his ear.

This small gesture appeared at least three times in all the surveillance footage.

Another unusual detail.

As she was expanding her thoughts, her phone rang. It was a colleague from the police station: “Teacher Yin’s prediction was right! Yin Chen sent a video! Mengshan’s parents, Xing Jifu, and Teacher Yin’s parents are all in the video!”

—

A group of police officers gathered around a computer.

Half an hour earlier, the police department’s official email had received an anonymous message with a one-minute video attachment.

Xu Mengshan and You Mingxu rushed back, and Ding Xiongwei had also arrived.

The video began playing.

A gray space appeared on screen. Gray walls, gray floor, gray ceiling. All rough cement. The space seemed quite large, with no boundaries visible in the frame.

Five people were arranged in a row, tied to the wall like bundles of firewood about to come loose. Their clothes were stained with blood, their heads hanging down, all with deathly pale faces. But the police could still recognize them as Xu Mengshan’s parents, Xing Jifu, and Yin Feng’s parents.

Above the five people’s heads, two exhaust fans were “whooshing” as they turned, with bright light coming from outside, casting shifting shadows on the floor.

Xu Mengshan slammed his fist hard on the table, his face flushing red as he shouted, “Dad! Mom!”

You Mingxu firmly grabbed his shoulder.

A police officer shouted, “Water! There’s water!”

Everyone then noticed that in one corner of the screen, water was steadily flowing in, slowly spreading across the floor with no sign of draining or seeping away. The flow wasn’t fast, but it was unstoppable.

The video ended at that point.

Ding Xiongwei spoke almost immediately: “Have you traced the IP address? Has anyone gone there yet?”

The officer at the computer stood up at once and answered, “Yes, we have! Local patrol officers arrived 15 minutes ago. It was sent from an internet café, but the person has fled. They’re checking the surveillance footage now.”

Everyone remained silent.

Thoughts raced through You Mingxu’s mind. The video had been received half an hour ago. If the water was still running, how high had it reached by now? Had it reached the ankles of those five people? Or was it already up to their waists?

So this was the fate Yin Chen had prepared for those parents: to drown slowly, minute by minute? And to let the police know about it, yet be powerless to help? As both children and police officers, could there be a more cruel punishment?

What should they do now?

Find the location shown in the footage.

There was no time to search the city inch by inch; they had to locate this place immediately.

But how would they find it?

While You Mingxu was still calculating in her mind, the experienced Ding Xiongwei had already issued a series of decisive commands: “Xiao Zhou, call the elite support from the Information Technology Department immediately. Have them separate every frame, every corner, every sound from this video. I refuse to believe there isn’t a single clue! You Mingxu and Xu Mengshan!” His eyes seemed to shoot flames: “You two! Focus on this video and use your deductive reasoning! Yin Chen has appeared in so many videos and left so many traces—there must be some connection! How could he have left nothing behind? There is no such thing as a perfect crime. Search carefully with all your might!”

This aligned perfectly with You Mingxu’s thinking, and they both responded, “Yes!”

Ding Xiongwei left to coordinate and arrange police forces to intensify the search around the internet café. You Mingxu, Xu Mengshan, and several detectives remained in the room, each with a computer, eyes wide open, staring at the video footage as if trying to bore holes through the screen.

“What kind of place would have such a space, with exhaust fans like those?” Xu Mengshan asked.

You Mingxu turned to look at him. His eyes were still red, and his entire body was like a tightly drawn bow, but his gaze had regained its sharpness and calmness. This somewhat relieved You Mingxu.

A nearby police officer answered, “A warehouse?”

Everyone nodded. The cement gray floor, exhaust fans, and dusty light and shadows did indeed resemble a warehouse. But even if it was a warehouse, they still had no direction.

At this point, You Mingxu added, “We’ve checked that before committing the crime yesterday, Yin Chen specifically went to wash his car. I think there must have been some distinctive traces on the car or wheels that he deliberately wanted to wash off. Those traces, if seen, would allow someone to deduce where he was hiding.”

Everyone fell silent, frowning in thought.

You Mingxu said, “His shoe soles had the same traces.”

Xu Mengshan added, “And the smell. The store clerk said he had a peculiar odor.”

Distinctive traces?

A peculiar smell?

What kind of place would that be?

One officer spoke up loudly: “A garbage dump? Could it be a garbage dump?”

Someone’s eyes lit up: That’s right! City garbage dumps are all in the suburbs. If someone were hiding people there, it would be nearly impossible to find them.

You Mingxu thought for a moment but shook her head: “It’s not a garbage dump. Garbage is everywhere, so even if some trash got stuck in his wheel treads, that would be normal and wouldn’t point to a specific location—he wouldn’t specifically go wash it off. Besides, Xiangcheng’s major garbage dumps are all public facilities with many people, many vehicles, and standardized management. It would be difficult for him to bring five hostages in and control such a warehouse without alerting others. And smaller abandoned dumps wouldn’t have such spacious, bright, and clean warehouses.”

Her logic was clear, with point-by-point refutation.

Everyone nodded in agreement.

The possibility of a garbage dump was eliminated.

Xu Mengshan pondered, “Could it be inside a basement or underground tunnel?” He glanced at You Mingxu, who understood what he meant. He was thinking of Chen Zhaoci’s case, where no one had imagined people could be hidden in the abandoned air-raid shelters built before and after the founding of the People’s Republic in Huaicheng.