Following the path taken by the killer alongside the task force officers, Guan Xia and her team soon came across the other three bodies. Just as the lead investigator had mentioned earlier, based on the positions and postures of the corpses, it was clear that Wu Xingxian had been killed last, likely while trying to take refuge in the break room.
The bloodstains left on the break room's door handle revealed that Wu Xingxian had been just one step away from survival. But his speed had fallen short, and the killer had caught up with him before he could escape.
Jiang Yingyao, as he had done with the previous three victims, crouched beside Wu Xingxian's body for a careful examination before standing up and saying, "Same as before—death by a single stab wound to the heart with a sharp weapon. It seems this killer, like the silenced Lu Manqing, was a professional in this line of work. If he hadn’t died, we might have been able to follow the trail and uncover something. What a shame."
As he spoke, Jiang Yingyao removed his now-useless gloves and tucked them back into his pocket. His movements were practiced and precise, leaving no trace of blood, so there was no risk of staining his clothes.
Hearing this, Guan Xia thought of the mangled corpse of the killer downstairs and turned to Xu Nian. "The killer landed face-down. Do you think we can still reconstruct his appearance to identify him?"
Before Xu Nian could answer, the lead investigator sighed. "With that kind of impact, the skull—especially the facial bones—would be completely shattered. Reconstruction is possible, but experts in that field are rare. Plus, we’d need to reconstruct the facial bones first before attempting to restore the actual appearance. A process like that would take at least a year or two."
Guan Xia wasn’t well-versed in this area, and though she had braced herself for the answer, she couldn’t help feeling disappointed. "Then it looks like we’ll have to focus on Wu Xingxian. He spent over a decade building his criminal organization in Shangshuang City. A thorough investigation should turn up at least some leads."
Since not everyone present was part of their inner circle, Guan Xia phrased her words carefully, glancing at the lead investigator as she spoke.
The investigator clearly understood her implication and nodded. "I’ve already reported everything that happened here. With all the key players dead, our previous plans are moot. All we can do now is assign more personnel to conduct a full-scale investigation into Wu Xingxian and his company."
Five deaths in just one hour—as the surveillance team responsible for monitoring Wu Xingxian, they had a mountain of work ahead. After briefly summarizing the situation and showing Guan Xia and the others the scene, the investigators hurried off.
Now that only their own people remained, the atmosphere became more relaxed.
Fortunately, Wu Xingxian’s company was large enough that even with the task force officers bustling about, Guan Xia and her team found a quiet corner to talk.
Huddled together, Guan Xia spoke first. "Wu Xingxian is dead, the killer is dead—it’s unexpected, and at first glance, it seems like the trail has gone cold. But if you think about it, this reveals something. At the very least, it confirms our earlier suspicions: Wu Xingxian was indeed connected to that criminal organization, and he was important enough for them to silence him, just like they did with Lu Manqing—even with the police surrounding them. No, actually, judging by the killer’s suicide, Wu Xingxian must have been even more crucial than Lu Manqing. Last time, the organization got away clean, even stealing a police firearm. This time, they lost one of their own. There’s one thing I still don’t understand—what kind of hold does this organization have over people? How do they inspire such fanatical loyalty, to the point where members willingly die for them? Is it really just because of that 'Judgment Angel'?"
Guan Xia still remembered the first time she had seen the Judgment Angel doll. Back then, it hadn’t struck her as particularly ominous. But now, looking back, it sent chills down her spine. This wasn’t just a criminal organization—it was practically a cult. If they were willing to sacrifice one of their own to silence a target, who was to say they wouldn’t throw more lives away to eliminate anyone they perceived as a threat?
This was why, upon seeing the killer’s corpse, Guan Xia’s first thought had been whether she had been exposed. She had finally achieved a life of freedom and happiness, and she wasn’t about to let anything ruin it.
Without waiting for the others to respond, she continued, "I’ve been going over everything since we arrived in Shangshuang City. Pang Le and I only saw Wu Xingxian once, and even then, it was just a distant glimpse of his silhouette through a window from our car. I’m certain that even if the killer had been surveilling Wu Xingxian, he wouldn’t have noticed us. But the rest of you—especially Sister Ji, Zhong Xiaoyu, and Lu Tingfeng—think carefully. During your surveillance of Wu Xingxian, is there any chance you might have exposed yourselves to the killer?"
Ideally, they would have waited to confirm the killer’s recent movements before making any conclusions. But with the body in such a state, identifying him would take ages. For safety’s sake, they had to start analyzing the risks now.
No one in the group was foolish, so Guan Xia didn’t need to elaborate. Everyone immediately grasped her meaning. Aside from Pang Le and Guan Xia, the others all fell into deep thought, while Pang Le anxiously glanced between them, worried that someone might have drawn the organization’s attention.
After a long silence, Lu Tingfeng was the first to speak. "I don’t think I was exposed. Looking back, ever since arriving in Shangshuang City, I’ve mostly been working alongside Guan Xia. Later, I assisted Xu Nian with investigating Kangjian Medical Center and Wu Yingze. Most of my surveillance was focused on Liu Xiang and Wu Yingze. I’m ninety percent sure I wasn’t spotted."
With Lu Tingfeng in the clear, Guan Xia and Pang Le turned their attention to the others.
A few minutes later, Ji An shook her head calmly. "I just went over our timeline since arriving here. After discovering the irregularities at Kangjian Medical Center—its suspected involvement in organ trafficking and ties to the criminal organization—Xu Nian immediately reported it and requested backup. From there, we followed the trail, uncovering Liu Xiang and Geng Jing. By the time we found Wu Yingze, the task force was already involved. I remember the day we located him—we even had dinner together afterward. Xu Nian and the others had just returned from a task force meeting. That means the surveillance on Wu Xingxian was handled almost entirely by the task force, while our focus was mainly on Wu Yingze."
Following Ji An's words, Guan Xia also began to recall the events. Since not much time had passed, she easily remembered the details—the pouring rain that day, Wu Yingze's strikingly noticeable hair, and how she had been so distracted by associating him with Wu Yang that she accidentally scalded herself with hot water.
Confirming Ji An's analysis was correct, Guan Xia immediately sighed in relief. Pang Le, too, relaxed and said with a lightened expression, "Now that I think about it, you're right. So that means all of us are safe? That's good, really good. Even though our goal is to uproot that criminal organization, we still don’t have enough leads to confront them directly. Until we have solid evidence, the lower our profile, the better. I don’t want to live in constant fear."
Just the thought of how ruthless that organization was made even someone as tough as Pang Le shudder.
Xu Nian also let out a relieved breath. "Since our safety isn’t at risk, let’s discuss our next steps. Wu Xingxian is dead, the murderer is dead, and the imposter Wu Yingze—even if caught—will likely be handed over to national security due to his overseas connections. That means even if we stay with the task force, we’d just be waiting for updates."
As he spoke, Xu Nian glanced at Guan Xia, seeking her opinion.
Guan Xia instinctively mulled over the situation. Accustomed to leading investigations her own way, she found it frustrating to follow the task force’s pace, especially when progress seemed slow. It felt like a waste of time.
After some thought, she turned to Ji An. "Sister Ji, I’ve been thinking—our presence here isn’t adding much value. At best, we’re just filling numbers and doing tedious tasks. You all at least have professional expertise, but Pang Le and I are complete amateurs. I think we should follow the lead on that buyer and track down Ning Ping’an instead."
Ji An seemed surprised by Guan Xia’s suggestion and hesitated before replying, "With a clear lead, we don’t need this many people. Why don’t we split up like before? You and Pang Le stay to investigate Wu Xingxian, while Zhong Xiaoyu, Lu Tingfeng, and I pursue Ning Ping’an."
Guan Xia weighed the idea for a few seconds but shook her head. "The entire Shangshuang police force and the task force already have more than enough manpower. Our absence won’t make a difference. Besides, Wu Xingxian’s death has put the organization on high alert. If we linger too close, we might draw their attention. For safety’s sake, it’s better to keep our distance. As Xu Nian said, we’ve already made ourselves known to the task force. They’ll share any crucial information with us, so there’s no need to force our way in."
Before voicing this, Guan Xia had wondered if she was being overly cautious. But she concluded that sticking with the task force wouldn’t yield significant results—certainly not as efficiently as working independently. More importantly, while the organization remained unaware of her, she could leverage her system’s unique advantages for covert investigations. Once they noticed her, those advantages would diminish.
She also considered another angle: since Wu Yang was already under suspicion, she could use this relatively safe period to investigate the orphanage where both Wu Yang and Wu Xingxian had grown up—the very root of everything. Having grown up there herself, she had a perfectly valid reason to visit and use her system to check for anomalies.
The more she thought about it, the more convinced she became that this was the best course of action. So when facing Ji An, she uncharacteristically stood her ground.
Ji An sensed her resolve but didn’t take it negatively. Instead, she nodded. "You make a good point. In that case, let’s not waste time. After observing the task force’s interviews with the survivors, we’ll head straight back to Nanping Branch to investigate the buyer who took Ning Ping’an."
Since they were already here, it made sense to gather all available information before leaving. Guan Xia had no objections and nodded in agreement.
She had more to say, but just before speaking, her system interface abruptly popped up again, flickering wildly like it had during its last upgrade.
Having experienced this before, Guan Xia wasn’t startled—instead, she felt a thrill of excitement. If the system was recharging, it meant the imposter Wu Yingze had been captured.
Sure enough, once the interface stabilized, she immediately spotted the now single-digit number representing her halo’s strength. She quickly opened the details to scan the log.
Amid a long list of unfamiliar names mixed with a few familiar ones, she finally found one that might belong to the imposter. She couldn’t be certain, though, since she’d never heard the name before. Its position as the last captured suspect made her strongly suspect it was him.
But to her surprise, the name didn’t sound foreign—it was unmistakably Chinese. This realization fueled her anger. No matter the reason, this person had no right to help foreigners harm their own people.
The frustration burned, but her system was her biggest secret—one she couldn’t share. So no matter how furious she was, she had to suppress it, silently seething until the others learned the truth and could vent alongside her.
While the others continued their discussion, Guan Xia took a moment to digest the news and steady her emotions before rejoining the group to observe the task force’s interviews with the survivors.
They didn’t have to search long before finding the six survivors—separated in an open office area for questioning.
Guan Xia quickly scanned them. Aside from the four who had died, six others had been present. Most were adult men, but two were young women in professional attire. Their pale faces and trembling, crossed arms made it clear—even in safety, they were still terrified.
Guan Xia heard one of the female survivors stammering as she spoke: "I—I don’t know why anyone would want to kill Chairman Wu, or Secretary Pei and General Manager Lin... oh, and Assistant Dong too. I really don’t know. Even though I’m part of the secretarial team, compared to Secretary Pei, Tian and I are more like administrative staff, just doing odd jobs under Secretary Pei’s direction. Today was the same—we’d finally finished the tender documents and were doing a final check with Tian and the project team when we suddenly heard screams. We were terrified. Tian even tried to go out and look, but before she could take more than a couple of steps, someone barged in holding a bloody knife. We were so scared we didn’t know what to do—our minds just went blank. Tian reacted quickly and pulled us back to run. We thought the person would chase us, but instead, they went straight for Chairman Wu’s office."
Recalling the details of the incident seemed to be torture for her. As the young woman gave her statement, tears welled up in her eyes, and despite her efforts to hold them back, she eventually broke down sobbing.
Choking up, she continued, "I really don’t know why something like this happened while we were working overtime. The person was wearing a helmet the whole time, didn’t say a word, and didn’t even turn their head toward us. I couldn’t see their face clearly at all."
Seeing that the young woman genuinely didn’t seem to know anything useful, Guan Xia shifted her attention to the other survivors.
Compared to her, the woman surnamed Tian was much calmer. Though she also hugged her arms with a look of lingering fear, her eyes weren’t red, and there were no tears—just a thoughtful expression as she said, "Even though I’m also a secretary, I don’t interact much with Chairman Wu. Most of my work is assigned by Secretary Pei, and occasionally, Assistant Dong relays messages from Chairman Wu, but it’s all just routine work matters."
When the detective taking the statement asked if there was anything unusual about the working relationships between Secretary Pei, Assistant Dong, and General Manager Lin, the young woman surnamed Tian frowned slightly, hesitated for a moment, and then said, "I’m not sure about Secretary Pei, but Assistant Dong has been with Chairman Wu for a long time—I heard he was already by his side before they came to Shangshuang City. I joined the company later, but according to others, about six or seven years ago, Secretary Pei and Assistant Dong were at odds. Back then, they were practically like fire and water, but somehow, they eventually smoothed things over."
Guan Xia listened carefully, but after hearing nothing particularly valuable, she gave up on observing further. Using the system’s shared vision to confirm that all six individuals were ordinary people, she informed the lead detective of the task force and returned to Nanping District Bureau.
