It wasn’t until late at night, when the sky had turned completely dark, that Guan Xia and the others finished reviewing all the surveillance footage retrieved from the local police station.
The most promising camera along the narrow path had been tampered with, and after an entire afternoon of work, apart from spotting a few more suspicious female figures who appeared to be scouting the area, Guan Xia and her team had made no further progress.
Stretching her stiff neck, Guan Xia massaged her shoulders and asked Ji An and Jiang Yingyao, "Sister Ji, Brother Jiang, did you find anything?"
Both shook their heads wearily.
Lu Tingfeng and Wang Yu were still buried under mountains of case files, their heads down, fully absorbed in their work.
Guan Xia walked to the window and gazed into the distance, giving her tired eyes a break while she mulled things over. After a moment, she said, "Sister Ji, I’d like to visit the actual locations where the missing persons disappeared for an on-site investigation."
As soon as Guan Xia voiced her idea, Ji An readily agreed. "Good idea. Since it’s still not too late, let’s head out now."
Before leaving, Ji An made a special trip to the logistics department of Nanping Precinct to collect fully charged flashlights, then called Jiang Yingyao to join them.
Guan Xia made sure to inform Lu Tingfeng and Wang Yu, but the two were too busy to respond properly, merely waving a hand to acknowledge they’d heard.
It was still the tail end of rush hour, and the car couldn’t pick up much speed, forcing them to crawl along with the traffic. They rolled up the windows, turned on the AC, and used the time to discuss the case.
Guan Xia, unusually, was the first to speak. "I’m really feeling the strain this time. Even though we have quite a few people involved in the investigation, including Captain Zhou’s team, it still feels like we’re short-handed everywhere."
"That’s because the case is just too big, with too many leads," Jiang Yingyao said from the passenger seat, glancing at his phone. "Plus, Xu Nian and his team are tailing the suspects, which is manpower-intensive. To avoid drawing attention, they need multiple teams rotating shifts. And after yesterday’s discovery—identifying a possible accomplice through Geng Jingxin—they need even more people now."
"Hang in there for a couple more days," Jiang Yingyao added. "Xu Nian has already briefed Director Ren. Coordinating with Nanping Precinct takes time, and pulling people from our own precinct does too. Luckily, there haven’t been any major cases in our jurisdiction lately, so we should be able to spare some hands."
As soon as Jiang Yingyao finished speaking, Ji An couldn’t help but interject, "Brother Jiang, you—"
She barely got the words out before Jiang Yingyao realized his mistake. He lightly smacked his own lips and muttered, "Ugh, jinxing it. Shouldn’t have said that."
The previously tense atmosphere in the car lightened a little, and all three chuckled briefly before Ji An suddenly asked, "By the way, Guan Xia, what are your thoughts on this case now? Why did you suddenly decide to visit the scene? Did you have a hunch?"
At the mention of intuition, even Jiang Yingyao’s exhausted face brightened slightly, and he turned to look at Guan Xia.
After a brief hesitation, Guan Xia gave a small nod. Standing by the window earlier, she had indeed felt a strong urge to visit the scene.
"Well, looks like we might make some progress today," Jiang Yingyao said optimistically. "With any luck, we might even run into the suspects while we’re walking around the area."
"I’ve been thinking," Guan Xia added after a pause. "We shouldn’t assume those women don’t live nearby just because they were frequently scouting the area. In today’s society, even if someone has lived in a neighborhood for years, unless they have a specific reason, they wouldn’t pay close attention to the placement of surveillance cameras or blind spots. My guess is they might not live in that particular complex, but perhaps somewhere nearby. That would explain how they knew about that gap so well."
Ji An nodded. "I had the same thought. While we’re there, we should also check the surveillance cameras around the area leading away from that gap. That way, we can coordinate with Captain Zhou’s team later to review the footage and see if anything turns up."
Time passed quickly as they discussed the case. By the time the three arrived at the neighborhood where Yan Xingyu had gone missing, it was already close to 10 p.m.
This complex was slightly closer to the city center than the one where Ning Xin had lived, but still far enough from commercial areas that the streets were nearly deserted by this hour. After turning a corner and parking near a side gate, the surroundings felt eerily quiet.
Guan Xia observed from a distance and remarked, unsurprised, "Another old neighborhood. At least a third, if not half, of the streetlights are out. But it’s still pretty densely populated."
The dim, irregularly lit streetlamps contrasted with the warm glow from most of the residential windows.
"This is the side gate," Ji An explained. "It’s the farthest of the two open entrances from where the victim was last seen, but the main gate is packed with food stalls. According to the local officers, they usually stay open until two or three in the morning. If we finish quickly, we might even grab some late-night snacks on the way back."
At the mention of food, Guan Xia suddenly remembered something. "Oh, right. Sister Ji had a bet with Pang Le this morning. There’s been no update in the group chat, so it looks like that fancy meal isn’t happening."
Ji An chuckled. "No wonder I felt like I’d forgotten something. Guess we’ll have to reschedule."
After surveying the side gate for a while, the three casually made their way into the complex, chatting idly as they walked.
Moving slowly and observing carefully, they soon located the blind spot where the child had vanished—a corner between two buildings. Due to their layout, the buildings weren’t perfectly aligned but slightly staggered, forming an L-shaped path with another building’s front walkway.
Guan Xia studied the spot for a moment before stepping into it. The space was surprisingly large, easily accommodating three adults standing close together.
"It’s likely that at least one or two members of the criminal group were standing here when Yan Xingyu disappeared," Guan Xia mused as she paced the area. "They might’ve been holding toys or snacks to lure the child over."
Jiang Yingyao looked up, scanning for surveillance cameras. "The boy had just turned six and spent most of his time with his grandparents. Since he often played in the neighborhood, he was probably too familiar with the environment to be wary of strangers. That’s why he was so easily led away."
While speaking, Jiang Yingyao located the nearest camera and studied its angle before moving on to check the next one.
Guan Xia was still studying the area above the unit doors, trying to figure something out, when Ji An suddenly said, "No need to look. Most of these property-managed surveillance cameras are broken. The local police station already checked—this neighborhood shares the same property management company with several others nearby. Since the fees are low, they’re slow to act and only bother maintaining the equipment when they feel like it."
Hearing this, Guan Xia finally withdrew her gaze. She remembered what Wang Yu had mentioned earlier—according to the police investigation, the blind spot in the surveillance coverage connected to another blind spot, which was why both the child and the suspect had vanished without a trace.
Guan Xia had been puzzled earlier. This path led right to the unit doors, and even if there were blind spots, the adjacent paths should have been covered by the cameras above the doors. How could there be no trace at all? Now she understood.
Since the cameras were broken, Guan Xia lost interest and quickly caught up to Jiang Yingyao, arriving at a place that looked vaguely familiar.
Guan Xia first followed Jiang Yingyao’s gaze upward, then glanced around, quickly realizing this was the spot where the suspect had tampered with the surveillance camera.
Thinking this, she walked further along the fence, and within minutes, she spotted a series of four gaps in the railing.
The fence had clearly been there for a long time, rusted and worn. One gap was harder to pass through due to a bent railing, but the other three were all roughly the same size.
Guan Xia even tested them—she could easily slip through any of the three.
Standing at one of the gaps, she looked ahead and saw a much larger residential area about two or three hundred meters away. It seemed even older, with a stretch of dirt road still visible in the distance.
"So? Should we go check it out now?" While Guan Xia was lost in thought, Jiang Yingyao and Ji An had walked over without her noticing.
Guan Xia snapped back to attention and turned to Jiang Yingyao. "So, Jiang-ge, any findings?"
Jiang Yingyao didn’t answer immediately, instead taking a moment to survey the area before saying, "From what I can see, that neighborhood over there is even worse than this one. No proper walls or fences—people can come and go as they please. I’d bet even if they have surveillance cameras, most of them probably don’t work."
Guan Xia had expected as much but still sighed. "If they dared to act in such a densely populated area, their escape route must be secure. But once they take someone, they’ll have to make contact for the exchange. They’ll inevitably show up on camera at some point—we just don’t know their full escape route yet."
Ji An caught her meaning. "Since we’re already here, let’s follow this path and check out that neighborhood. We’ll loop around, see where the cameras are, and then contact the property management or the local police station to pull the footage."
So the three of them wasted no time squeezing through the gap in the fence and stepping onto the dirt road leading to the other neighborhood.
The closer they got, the more obvious the age of the neighborhood became. The outer walls were peeling, the building numbers on the sides were so weathered they were barely legible, and while the road itself was somewhat clean, piles of garbage lined the sides. None of the streetlights were working, and by the dim glow of flashlights and the occasional light from residents’ windows, they could just make out the tattered remains of community banners.
Guan Xia had initially held onto hope that at least half the cameras might still be functional, but the sight before her dashed those hopes completely. No wonder the suspects had chosen this route—it was even safer than they’d imagined.
After walking for another seven or eight minutes—covering at least five or six hundred meters—they finally reached what seemed like the neighborhood’s main road. Though only a few streetlights were on, it was at least less desolate.
Guan Xia glanced around and noticed there were still people out, along with a few open shops.
Ji An pulled out her phone and studied the map for a moment. "This neighborhood is huge—must be over a hundred buildings. Where we’re standing is close to the main entrance. If we keep going straight for another kilometer or so, we’ll hit a major road. If they wanted the fastest way out, this would be it."
Jiang Yingyao leaned in to look. "A six-lane main road? And two bus stops nearby? There should be plenty of cameras around. But given how careful these people are, I doubt they’d take this route."
As they discussed, Guan Xia scanned the area for cameras. Before she could spot any, a bright female voice caught her attention. "Sister Fan, I’m back! How’s business today? Busy?"
Guan Xia turned toward the voice and saw a woman hop out of a van’s driver seat, then open the back to haul out two crates of beer, carrying them toward a small convenience store that was still open.
The streetlights were too dim for Guan Xia to make out her face clearly, even though she wasn’t far away, but her figure was unmistakable.
Guan Xia narrowed her eyes, studying her. There was something familiar about her.
The woman wasn’t tall or particularly strong-looking, but she handled the two crates with ease, walking steadily toward the store.
Just as she was a couple of meters away, another woman stepped out of the store—shorter and slightly heavier—smiling as she lifted the curtain. "Not bad. Probably because of the heat—beer, drinks, and ice cream are selling well. Little Gao just left to deliver a hundred-yuan order of ice cream to Building 72."
The woman with the beer stepped inside, and Sister Fan followed, the curtain falling behind them. Guan Xia could faintly hear their voices but couldn’t make out the words.
A thought struck her, and she was about to turn to Ji An and Jiang Yingyao when Jiang Yingyao asked, "Guan Xia, what’s got you so distracted? Spot someone suspicious?"
The phrasing was instantly familiar, and Guan Xia braced herself.
Sure enough, the moment Jiang Yingyao finished speaking, the system interface abruptly popped up.
You were being questioned by the police when suddenly, you remembered something. On the night of August 11th at 10:39 PM, during your field investigation, you had inadvertently caught sight of two young women. There was something vaguely familiar about them, and then it hit you—you had seen those same figures earlier that afternoon in the surveillance footage. Even though they were fully disguised in the footage, your sharp instincts had picked up on it. You decided to inform the police.
Guan Xia’s heart surged with excitement. She had known this trip would yield results, but she hadn’t expected such a major breakthrough.
Struggling to keep her expression neutral, Guan Xia subtly tugged at Ji An’s sleeve and leaned in, lowering her voice. "I think I’ve spotted the people who were scouting the neighborhood where Yan Xingyu went missing."
Ji An, being a seasoned officer, barely showed any reaction. He didn’t speak, but he gave Guan Xia a firm nod.
Jiang Yingyao caught on just as quickly. Playing along, he said, "Little sis, we’ve been walking forever, and I’m beat. This damn heat is unbearable. Let’s grab a couple of cold drinks, take a break, and then finish tonight’s three-kilometer walk. I swear I won’t slack off."
Guan Xia smoothly took the cue. "Fine, you go find a spot to rest, bro. Sis and I will get the drinks. Don’t wander off—we’ll come right back for you."
Jiang Yingyao agreed and pointed diagonally across the street. "Alright, I’ll wait over there. Looks like there’s a place to sit."
The three of them synchronized their stories flawlessly. Once Jiang Yingyao had crossed to the other side, Guan Xia linked arms with Ji An, and the two headed toward the still-open supermarket, its lights glowing in the night.
