Everyone gathered around the conference table and sat down. Zhong Xiaoyu casually placed some snacks on the table and curiously pulled over a few photos, examining them with interest. "Are you doing a suspect identification? At first glance, they look similar, but the more you look, the harder it gets. Can you really tell them apart?"
At this, Qi Bai looked utterly defeated. He grabbed a pack of beef jerky from the snack bag and took a bite. "That’s exactly why I’m asking Guan Xia for help. She’s got an eagle eye for this—never makes a mistake. A few minutes from her can save us days of legwork."
As he spoke, Qi Bai eagerly pushed a cup of water toward Guan Xia and even dragged the snack bag closer to her. Though he didn’t say a word, his eyes were full of expectation.
Zhong Xiaoyu watched the scene with amusement. "Wow, using Pang Le’s snacks as an offering to Guan Xia? Smooth move, freeloader."
Qi Bai grinned sheepishly. "We just got back from hiking, and I finished my stash. Haven’t had time to hit the supermarket yet. Consider this a temporary loan—I’ll pay Pang Le back with interest after work. You’re all invited too; order whatever you want, my treat."
Zhong Xiaoyu flashed a mischievous smile. "You said it. Don’t blame me if I go all out."
Qi Bai thumped his chest dramatically. "We’re friends—no need to hold back. Pick whatever you like."
The two bantered near Guan Xia, who was long accustomed to their antics and didn’t find it distracting. She rearranged the photos Qi Bai had handed her, studying each one carefully for a few seconds. As she set the last one down, Qi Bai’s hopeful voice piped up, "Well? Is the middle-aged woman in this batch?"
Guan Xia waited a moment, but when her system remained silent, she knew the answer. She shook her head lightly.
Qi Bai practically leaped for joy, swiftly gathering the photos before eagerly snatching another stack from Xu Nian’s desk. He arranged them the same way Guan Xia had and asked, "What about these? Any luck?"
Guan Xia only needed a glance this time before her system triggered.
Perhaps due to an upgrade, the text appeared faster than before:
You’re being questioned by the police when you suddenly recall that at 12:09 PM on July 6th, while working on a friend’s case, you spotted a figure in a surveillance video that closely resembles one of the people in the photos before you. You instinctively recognize them as the same person and decide to inform the police.
The text vanished, replaced by an extremely short video—the briefest Guan Xia had ever seen from her system, lasting only a second. The footage showed the row of photos in front of her, with the third from the end in the second row highlighted by a bright red frame.
The video disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared.
Guan Xia picked up the marked photo, scrutinizing it as she said, "This one. I’m certain—it’s the middle-aged woman I saw in the surveillance footage near Meng Lan’s residential area. It’s a perfect match."
She handed the photo to Xu Nian.
After examining it, Xu Nian asked, "Has there been any response to the inquiry we sent to Linshan City this morning?"
Wang Yu replied, "We got a reply, but retrieving the relevant surveillance footage will take some time. The earliest our colleagues from Linshan City can drive here is about a day. I had them send a photo first—let me check."
Wang Yu rummaged for her phone at the corner of her desk and glanced at it. "It’s here. Printing now."
A few minutes later, Wang Yu distributed printed copies of the photo to everyone.
Guan Xia took hers and realized that while Wang Yu had called it a "photo," the pixelation and angle made it clear it was a screenshot from surveillance footage.
Xu Nian’s colleagues must have enhanced it—the face was not only enlarged but also sharpened, making the features unmistakable.
Xu Nian compared Guan Xia’s identified photo with the one from Linshan City’s police before passing both to the next person.
After making the rounds, the consensus was clear: "Unless this woman has an identical twin, these two photos are definitely of the same person."
"Then I’ll go pull her records now," Wang Yu said before briskly leaving the office.
Guan Xia’s gaze followed her for a moment before turning back to Xu Nian. "That young woman I mentioned on the phone earlier—has she done anything else since?"
As she spoke, Guan Xia retrieved a newly drawn sketch of the young woman from her bag and handed it over.
It had been a while, and Guan Xia had to think hard to recall. The woman’s surname was Yao, though her full name escaped memory. She appeared younger than her actual age and owned a bar.
Initially, they’d suspected the young woman had flown somewhere to commit murder, but Xu Nian’s investigation later revealed she’d gone to catch a cheating partner.
At the time, they’d believed it. But now, with this new discovery, Guan Xia couldn’t shake the feeling that the "cheating" scenario might have been a cover.
After all, the young woman was skilled at disguise. Who knew if she’d secretly slipped out of the hotel in disguise while pretending to stay put?
Just as Guan Xia pondered this, Xu Nian said, "According to colleagues surveilling her in Yuntian City, the young woman—Yao Qingyan—arrived on the afternoon of June 18th and returned to Yongquan City by plane on the morning of June 21st. Aside from the cheating incident, she went shopping four times and did nothing else."
Pang Le chimed in, "Sounds like classic retail therapy after an emotional blow. An old friend of mine used to go on spending sprees for days whenever her boyfriend cheated."
Before Guan Xia could press further, Zhong Xiaoyu suddenly interjected, "Wow, your friend must have had some cursed luck if every boyfriend she had ended up cheating."
Pang Le shrugged. "She was all about spiritual connections, not physical relationships. Every romance was strictly platonic, so..."
Zhong Xiaoyu couldn’t resist asking, "Did she ever find her soulmate, then?"
Pang Le sighed. "Last I heard, no—that was about three years ago. No updates since, but I doubt it."
Satisfied with the gossip, Zhong Xiaoyu finally settled back into her seat.
Guan Xia then asked, "After that woman named Yao Qingyan returned to Yongquan City, has there been any case similar to Zhang Weiyan's from June 21st until now in Yuntian City?"
Xu Nian shook his head. "After that, I reported the newly discovered clues, including Yao Qingyan, who has since been placed under surveillance by the special task force. But I assume there haven’t been any incidents. A few days ago, I drove past the bar Yao Qingyan owns—it was operating normally, with nothing unusual."
Guan Xia frowned, unable to shake her suspicions.
Perhaps it was her preconceived notions about that organization, or maybe just a strong intuition, but she felt Yao Qingyan’s trip couldn’t have been so simple. There must have been a target for her mission in Yuntian City. Maybe she had been cautious enough to notice something and abandoned the operation.
With that in mind, Guan Xia asked Xu Nian, "Now that Yao Qingyan has been fully taken over by the task force, are the surveillance videos from the hotel she stayed at in Yuntian City also classified?"
Xu Nian immediately understood her meaning. "You want to check the footage from the days she stayed at the hotel? To see if there’s anything noteworthy?"
Guan Xia hesitated briefly before nodding. "That woman left a deep impression on me, especially her eyes. Before, I might not have been so confident, but after today’s deductions, I’m certain I’d recognize her if she disguised herself."
What she didn’t say was that besides intuition, she also had the system’s hints. She had met Yao Qingyan in person and, after today’s analysis of those distinctive eyes, was now completely confident she could spot her.
She flipped her sketchbook to the page with the drawing of Yao Qingyan disguised as an ordinary young woman and slid it toward Xu Nian. "Take a look. This is how I identified Yao Qingyan in disguise from the surveillance footage."
Xu Nian had braced himself, but after glancing at the sketch, his expression still turned to surprise.
Qi Bai was even more astonished. "She practically changed her entire face! How did you recognize her? Your eyesight is incredible."
Jiang Yingyao leaned in to look as well. Guan Xia remained calm, but Pang Le couldn’t hide his pride. "Right? I’ve seen Yao Qingyan too, but I never made the connection. Guan Xia just felt something was off, and we all racked our brains trying to figure out where we’d seen her before. Then she had a sudden insight—those unique eyes gave her away, leading us to Yao Qingyan."
Guan Xia stood up and walked between Xu Nian and Qi Bai’s seats to demonstrate.
Just like earlier that afternoon, she covered the lower halves of both sketches with her hands and said triumphantly, "See? If you just look at the eyes, can’t you spot the resemblance now?"
Qi Bai marveled, "Honestly, even I feel confident now."
With quick initiative, Qi Bai turned to Xu Nian. "Captain Xu, even though Yao Qingyan is fully under the task force’s surveillance, checking the hotel footage from her stay in Yuntian City shouldn’t violate confidentiality protocols, right?"
Xu Nian thought for a moment. "To be safe, we should get Director Ren’s approval. He hasn’t left for any meetings this afternoon. Keep discussing—I’ll go to his office."
With that, Xu Nian left the room.
The group continued discussing Yao Qingyan for another ten minutes before Wang Yu returned. He glanced around the office and asked about Xu Nian. After Qi Bai filled him in, Wang Yu promptly pinned the middle-aged woman’s photo to the whiteboard.
"Time was tight, so I only pulled surface-level data from the system. I haven’t had a chance to contact her local precinct yet, but I’ve already called them. They’re checking with the community office in her residential area and will get back to me soon."
After a brief explanation, Wang Yu summarized, "This woman is named Wang Huiqin, 41 years old, from Shangshuang City, Ningyun Province. Her education level isn’t high—she graduated from middle school but didn’t attend high school. She moved to Linshan City in 2015 and has never held a steady job, surviving on odd jobs. Records show she was once married but divorced in 2014. She has a son, but he wasn’t with her—likely stayed with his father after the divorce."
When Guan Xia heard "Shangshuang City, Ningyun Province," her eyelids twitched. She couldn’t help but wonder—was this too much of a coincidence?
She wasn’t the only one who thought so. As soon as Wang Yu finished, Zhong Xiaoyu voiced her doubts. "What a coincidence—this woman is also from Shangshuang City?"
Zhong Xiaoyu seemed to recall something and turned hesitantly to Ji An. "Ji An, I have a feeling… could this woman be connected to the case you’ve been investigating?"
Guan Xia’s heart skipped a beat before she could fully process the thought. But Ji An shook her head. "Unlikely. According to Wang Yu’s findings, she moved to Linshan City in 2015. The two people in my case went missing in 2019. Unless Wang Huiqin returned to Shangshuang City around that time—specifically near the disappearances—it’s probably just a coincidence."
Guan Xia’s expression darkened. "Whether it is or not, we’ll find out."
She turned to Wang Yu, who anticipated her request. "Don’t worry, I’ll dig deeper into Wang Huiqin’s background. As soon as I have more details, I’ll let you all know."
Guan Xia exhaled in relief. "Thanks."
Moving past that, Jiang Yingyao pointed out, "Like Zhang Weiyan, she has no stable job and survives on odd jobs. That’s one similarity. If we find more, especially if she’s linked to any similar family annihilation cases, we can report it alongside Yao Qingyan’s situation."
Qi Bai, unusually serious, straightened up. "When you think about it, we’ve uncovered a lot, but it’s all surface-level."
He gestured at the two photos. "These two were spotted in Meng Lan’s neighborhood, which suggests they might have been surveilling her. But they haven’t actually done anything concrete. We reviewed the surveillance footage from Meng Lan’s gas leak incident—it completely ruled her out, and everyone else too."
He tapped the photos for emphasis.
Guan Xia spoke thoughtfully, "Not necessarily. Don’t forget about Luo Deye’s son’s kidnapping incident. Luo Deye never reported it to the police from start to finish. The conclusions we’ve drawn are just based on speculation from a few clues. I strongly suspect Yao Qingyan was behind it."
Pang Le perked up at this. "We were completely in the dark before, but now things are clear. Confirming it should be simple—just check Yao Qingyan’s whereabouts around the time Luo Deye’s son was targeted."
Hearing Pang Le mention this, Guan Xia was reminded of Xu Nian’s earlier application. She swiftly pulled out her phone and asked Xu Nian to add more details to the request, saving them another trip to Director Ren’s office later.
After sending the message, Guan Xia felt more confident but also overwhelmed. In just a few days, they’d uncovered too many leads. For the first time, she wished she had three heads and six arms to handle everything without missing a single clue.
As Guan Xia was lost in thought, Zhong Xiaoyu chimed in, "Speaking of which, it’s been almost a day. Any updates on the burial site we discovered last night? Has there been any news?"
Guan Xia felt her head throb even harder at the question.
She saw Qi Bai shake his head and say, "Captain Xu asked Director Ren about it first thing this morning. No specifics, but the case is definitely complicated. Director Ren sounded cryptic and told us to focus on our own investigation and not pry into theirs."
Guan Xia remained silent, but Zhong Xiaoyu sighed. "I know confidentiality is important, but Director Ren’s tone just makes me even more curious. I hope they solve it soon so we can find out what really happened—whether there really was a human trafficking hub near that remote mountain."
No one else spoke, but judging by their expressions, their curiosity was just as strong as Zhong Xiaoyu’s.
