Guan Xia and Pang Le enjoyed a delicious spicy fish meal at the resort villa with Wang Yu. Afterward, as promised, Guan Xia strolled arm-in-arm with Pang Le into the fruit-picking garden.
Before arriving in Lijia Village, Guan Xia had worried it might be difficult to gather information about Li Feng. But upon arriving, she realized it was surprisingly easy—Li Feng was simply too well-known. His extravagant villa, occupying the village’s most scenic spot, was a topic of curiosity not just among the villagers but also among tourists. Wherever Guan Xia and Pang Le went, they’d periodically overhear mentions of "Uncle Li." That afternoon was no exception.
After picking some seasonal fruits, Guan Xia and Pang Le were brushing off the twigs and leaves clinging to their clothes when they overheard two villagers chatting nearby. Unaware of the pair hidden by the trees, the two women spoke without restraint, their tone far less polite and reserved than the conversations Guan Xia had heard earlier in the village square.
A woman with a deeper voice said, "Mid-Autumn Festival is coming up again. Last year, my brother-in-law didn’t come home, and he skipped Spring Festival too. If you count it up, it’s been seven or eight years since he last visited. The money arrives every month, but he never shows up. My mother-in-law usually doesn’t say much, but come the holidays, she starts nagging. I hear it so often my ears are about to grow calluses."
The other woman, with a brighter voice, sighed in agreement. "Same with my brother-in-law. Before, he’d at least call occasionally for video chats. But since last year, even those stopped. Now, he just sends a message when the money comes through. My mother-in-law suggested sending someone to check on him, but my father-in-law refused. He said it’s the busiest time of year, and with the National Day holiday coming up, no one can spare the time. Besides, he said, my brother-in-law’s in his thirties—it’s not like he’d get kidnapped. Probably just enjoying city life too much to come back."
"My father-in-law says the same," the deeper-voiced woman replied. "But Li Youshu’s family at the village entrance doesn’t think so. My daughter’s friends with their girl, and the other night, she came home asking if her uncle was actually dead—that maybe they were just hiding it from her grandparents to spare them the grief. She’s only eight, and she’s never even met him. Where’d she get an idea like that? Must’ve heard it from their family."
The brighter-voiced woman hesitated before lowering her voice. "Honestly, we’ve talked about it too. It’s just too coincidental—your brother-in-law, mine, Xing Lian’s younger brother, Tian Ping’s brother-in-law… none of them ever came back after leaving."
The deeper-voiced woman sounded startled. "But the money keeps coming every month! And before, they’d video call every few days. If they’re really gone, how’s that possible? Who’d kill someone and then keep sending money like clockwork? What’s the point? Just burning cash for fun?"
"To avoid suspicion," the other woman countered. "And with technology these days, haven’t you heard about scammers using AI to fake video calls? The police talked about it during that anti-fraud campaign. Someone could easily mimic a person’s face to keep the money flowing."
"I know about that," the deeper-voiced woman said. "But who’d think to connect it to a brother-in-law who never visits? And why would anyone bother sending money instead of stealing it? I don’t buy it. My in-laws haven’t even considered it."
The brighter-voiced woman laughed in exasperation. "You’re lucky the village is prosperous now, or you’d be prime scammer bait. Think about it—what’s a few hundred thousand to a rich person? Pocket change. Spending that to cover their tracks? A bargain."
A long pause followed before the deeper-voiced woman replied, uneasy. "So you think they’re really dead? But why? They’re just ordinary guys. Sure, mine was a troublemaker, but he never did anything truly evil. What rich person would go to such lengths to kill him?"
The other woman scoffed. "Who says he didn’t do evil? Don’t play dumb with me—I know the truth. Your brother-in-law nearly tricked Li Miao, Uncle Li’s daughter, into sleeping with him when she was underage. He’d already gotten her clothes off before Uncle Li came home just in time. She wasn’t even seventeen! And you call that ‘not truly evil’? To me, he was rotten to the core."
The deeper-voiced woman seemed at a loss before muttering, "That was ages ago. Why bring it up? Li Miao was young, but so was my brother-in-law—barely twenty. At that age, passion makes people do stupid things. Besides, he genuinely loved her. If Uncle Li hadn’t interfered, they’d probably have a kid in elementary school by now."
The other woman snorted. "Love? Please. Everyone knew he was after Uncle Li’s money, just like my brother-in-law spent years fawning over Li Miao. Too bad Uncle Li’s standards were too high—he turned down every suitor in the village. Now Li Miao’s what, thirty? Still single, always alone."
"Yeah," the deeper-voiced woman agreed. "Xing Lian told me Uncle Li dotes on his only daughter. Wants a live-in son-in-law but rejects every candidate. No boyfriend, not even a close male friend. At this rate, she’ll stay single until Uncle Li passes."
Guan Xia listened intently, thrilled at the possibility of uncovering more clues. But just as the conversation grew juicier, a group of noisy tourists arrived for fruit-picking. Unlike Guan Xia and Pang Le, they chattered loudly, prompting the two women to switch topics and walk away, laughing.
Exchanging a glance, Guan Xia and Pang Le considered following but hesitated, not wanting to seem suspicious. They could only watch as the women disappeared into the distance.
Even though she only heard half of it, Guan Xia still gained a lot from the conversation. At the very least, one thing was confirmed: the young men Li Feng had deceitfully promised jobs to weren’t just connected to him—they harbored some degree of resentment toward him. For a ruthless criminal like Li Feng, who had more than one life on his hands, killing them to eliminate all conflicts and potential threats was not only reasonable but practically expected.
Buoyed by this unexpected breakthrough, Guan Xia and Pang Le spent the rest of the afternoon brimming with confidence. They roamed nearly half of the plantation, filling four baskets with freshly picked fruit. By the time the sun began to set and the number of tourists dwindled, they had gathered plenty of gossip—though nothing more about Li Feng or Li Miao.
As it grew late and the mountain became unsafe, Guan Xia reluctantly followed Pang Le down the stone-paved path, each carrying two baskets of fruit.
The fruit, however, provided the perfect excuse for their next move. Without needing to hide their intentions, they knocked on Wang Yu’s door and walked in casually, baskets in hand.
The moment the door closed, Guan Xia dropped her relaxed demeanor. Setting the basket on the table, she said excitedly, "We made progress this afternoon at the plantation. We can now basically deduce Li Feng’s motive for murder."
Wang Yu wasn’t alone in the room. Aside from Jiang Yingyao, everyone else was present. Qi Bai and Zhong Xiaoyu, who had been dozing off, immediately straightened up at the news. Xu Nian, who had been about to hand Guan Xia a glass of water, paused and set it down beside her instead.
Zhong Xiaoyu’s eyes gleamed with curiosity as she pressed, "What motive? Tell us quickly!"
Eager to share, Guan Xia rapidly recounted the conversation they’d overheard earlier.
Qi Bai scratched his head. "So it’s about Li Miao, and with that level of conflict… yeah, Li Feng definitely had a strong motive." He perked up. "Does that mean once we dig up the body in Lijia Village’s ancestral graves tonight, the case is practically solved?"
Guan Xia felt a surge of excitement but quickly tempered it. "Not yet. Even if we find the remains and trace the evidence, it’ll only prove Li Feng’s guilt. It doesn’t tie him to Wu Yang. I don’t believe he’d confess anything about Wu Yang without solid proof, especially after working under him for so many years."
Qi Bai’s enthusiasm dimmed. "Right. So even if we find the evidence, we’ll have to pretend nothing happened and keep investigating—at least until we locate Li Song and Lv Xiangmei’s remains."
Zhong Xiaoyu thought for a moment. "What if I sneak into the villa area late one night? Li Feng built that villa for Li Song, and no one lives there now. Maybe I can find something."
Xu Nian shook his head before she even finished. "No need. Based on our earlier deductions, Li Song’s remains are likely hidden inside a wall. Unless we tear the place down, we won’t find anything. Instead of wasting time on Li Song’s disappearance, we should focus more on Lv Xiangmei’s case—that’s where we’ll make real progress."
Guan Xia immediately caught his drift. "You mean we should still focus on Li Miao?"
Xu Nian nodded. "From the clues we’ve gathered and our brief interaction with her, Li Miao is almost certainly privy to Lv Xiangmei’s disappearance. I suspect she might even know where her mother’s remains are and that Li Feng was the one who killed her."
This brought Guan Xia back to the question that had been nagging at her. She had initially assumed Li Miao suspected foul play in her mother’s disappearance and had stayed close to Li Feng to uncover the truth.
But after arriving in Lijia Village, Li Miao’s behavior didn’t suggest someone still searching—it was more like she already knew something. The odd part was that she hadn’t reported anything. And from her demeanor and the villagers’ gossip, it didn’t seem like Li Feng was restricting her freedom or having her followed. On the contrary, he seemed to value her highly—enough to kill for her.
This left Guan Xia puzzled. She couldn’t figure out Li Miao’s true intentions or what she was really after.
As everyone sat or stood in contemplation, Pang Le suddenly spoke up. "By the way, when you were walking around the village today, did you see Li Miao’s drone?"
Qi Bai was the first to answer. "Yeah, multiple times. No idea what she’s observing, but it kept flying overhead—even hovered above us twice. Zhong Xiaoyu and I started wondering if she’s figured out we’re faking this couple act."
Guan Xia glanced at Qi Bai and Zhong Xiaoyu. After two days of playing lovers, they had grown more comfortable with each other. Now sitting side by side on the sofa, Qi Bai instinctively twisted open a water bottle before handing it to Zhong Xiaoyu, who accepted it without hesitation and took a sip.
Xu Nian observed them and said, "If she’s figured it out, so be it. I suspect she already had doubts about Guan Xia and Pang Le yesterday. Since Li Feng hasn’t shown any unusual reactions, it means she’s at least opposing him—which works in our favor. We’ll just have to see if her next moves benefit us."
Hearing this, Guan Xia felt a flicker of hope. Unlike previous cases, this one had her constantly on edge, as if a pack of dogs were snapping at her heels. She genuinely wished for a breakthrough—one that would lead them straight from Li Feng to Wu Yang. If Wu Yang were arrested, the entire criminal organization wouldn’t be far from collapse.
After more discussion, they divided the fruit and returned to their respective rooms.
Just as expected, Guan Xia had barely stepped into her room, still chewing on a freshly washed fruit and not even having changed her slippers, when she spotted the small drone hovering outside the window, aimed directly at them.
She almost felt flattered. Li Miao was certainly keeping a close eye on them. She wondered if Qi Bai and Zhong Xiaoyu would receive the same treatment later.
Like the night before, Guan Xia locked eyes with the drone until Li Miao finally flew it away. Only then did she close the window, draw the curtains, and plop onto the sofa. "Given how much attention Li Miao’s giving us," she said to Pang Le, "I’d say our next encounter with her isn’t far off."
Pang Le turned on the AC and changed into pajamas. "Let’s just hope she’s more direct next time. Ideally, she’ll just tell us everything she knows. At this point, I can’t wait to see Wu Yang behind bars."
Pang Le fell silent as if struck by a thought. After changing into pajamas, she sat down beside Guan Xia and said, "Actually, I've been thinking about something these past few days. Why did Wu Yang specifically target orphans from your orphanage to recruit into his organization? Take Meng Lan, for example—her stubbornness does make her more susceptible to being led astray. But after pulling her into the organization, what did they want her to do? Become an assassin? Or maybe someone like Wang Huiqin, tasked with scouting and observing new recruits? I still don’t understand how their organization operates. It feels like we’re missing a crucial piece of the puzzle."
Guan Xia was also drawn into silence by Pang Le’s questions. After a moment of contemplation, she replied, "The truth is, we know far too little about that organization. From the time we first discovered its existence until now, it’s only been a few months. Most of what we’ve uncovered has been by chance. Even though we’ve dug as deep as we could, it’s impossible to grasp everything in such a short time. But at this stage, all we can do is race against the clock. Maybe once Li Feng is captured, some of our questions will finally be answered."
She paused for a few seconds before murmuring, "I wonder how Sister Ji is doing… and Ping An—has she recovered well? I never realized it before, but without Sister Ji around, things just don’t feel the same."
Then, as if remembering something else, Guan Xia added, "And Lu Tingfeng… Before we left, Xu Nian mentioned his condition still wasn’t great. He even made a special request to Director Ren to keep an eye on him. I hope he can pull himself together before Li Feng is caught. Honestly, I can’t even imagine how chaotic things will get once Li Feng is arrested. If Wu Yang is captured as we expect, that criminal organization is bound to go into a frenzy. Sometimes, I feel like it’s only a matter of time before they come after us."
At this, Pang Le actually seemed more at ease. She chuckled and said, "Come after us? That’d just be handing us free leads. On the surface, it’s just a few of us, but Xu Nian said the entire task force has their eyes on our situation. If we can hold out for even a little while, backup will arrive. Anyone they send would just be delivering more clues straight to us."
Despite Pang Le’s confidence, Guan Xia couldn’t help but feel a twinge of fear at the thought of being hunted. After all, she had only activated her system less than half a year ago—compared to the others, she was still just an ordinary person. But then she remembered the system, and her fear eased slightly. She might not be able to guarantee much, but when it came to hiding and protecting herself, she had some confidence.
As long as she stayed safe, she wouldn’t be a burden to the team.
