That evening, Guan Xia and Pang Le spent their time in a whirlwind of anticipation, anxiety, and unease.
Even though the occasional bursts of laughter from outside clearly conveyed the relaxed and joyful mood of the tourists, it did nothing to ease the tension gripping Guan Xia and the others. After all, as the clock ticked closer to midnight, Xu Nian and his companions would soon set off.
Their discoveries tonight would determine the course of the case.
But life often takes unexpected turns. As the clock struck midnight, Guan Xia was pacing restlessly in her room, glancing repeatedly at the time, when Pang Le suddenly cried out, "Guan Xia, come quick—the villa area is on fire!"
The words caught Guan Xia completely off guard, freezing her in place for a split second before she sprang up and rushed to Pang Le’s side.
To get a better look, Pang Le had already yanked open the curtains and pushed the window wide. Through the crystal-clear glass, Guan Xia immediately saw what Pang Le was talking about—bright flames engulfed the villa area, a cluster of houses that stood apart from the rest of Lijia Village, almost as if they didn’t belong.
Guan Xia didn’t even need to count which villa was burning. The only one with all its lights blazing was unmistakably Li Feng and Li Miao’s home.
"This can’t be real," Guan Xia muttered in disbelief. "How did it catch fire? And the flames are already so huge—was it an accident, or was it deliberate?"
Pang Le stared for another two seconds before closing the curtains and hurriedly changing clothes, her expression unusually grim. "Something’s not right. Half an hour ago, I peeked outside to check for Li Miao’s drone, and there was no fire then. How did it spread so fast in just thirty minutes? I think someone did this on purpose."
Guan Xia’s first instinct wasn’t to assume it was an accident either. Unsure whether Xu Nian and the others had already left or if they’d noticed the fire, she changed clothes while calling Xu Nian on speakerphone.
Xu Nian picked up almost immediately. "Guan Xia, we saw the villa area burning and were just about to call you. We’re heading there now—get Wang Yu and meet us there."
His use of "we" made it clear he wasn’t alone. They must have spotted the fire while heading up the mountain.
Sure enough, as Guan Xia, Pang Le, and Wang Yu rushed downstairs toward the villa area, they soon spotted Xu Nian and the others in the crowd. Unlike the onlookers who were there out of curiosity, their group moved with urgent purpose, genuinely worried about what might have happened.
Guan Xia and the others matched their pace, breaking into a jog as the flames grew fiercer. Other tourists, realizing the severity of the situation, started running too.
Before they even reached the villa, Guan Xia spotted the usually locked iron gate—now wide open. At first, she assumed Li Feng or Li Miao had unlocked it to let people in to help put out the fire. But as they got closer, she saw the lock had been forcibly cut with pliers, the tool marks glaringly obvious where it lay discarded on the ground.
This wasn’t the time to dwell on details, though, so Guan Xia only glanced at it before speeding up toward Li Miao’s villa.
Before she got there, she heard a heart-wrenching scream and sobs—raw, desperate, and unmistakably male. The voice, hoarse and breaking, called out Li Miao’s name, pleading for her to come out.
Guan Xia’s stomach dropped. Only two people lived in that villa. Had Li Feng escaped while Li Miao was still trapped inside?
A terrible suspicion took root in her mind. Rounding the corner into the villa’s courtyard, she immediately saw Li Feng clutching a black memorial tablet, wailing on his knees before the front door, his entire body shaking as he screamed Li Miao’s name.
While others pitied Li Feng, and villagers and local officials debated how to break down the door, Guan Xia felt a chill crawl down her spine. She was one of the few who knew Li Feng wasn’t a good man. What if he’d realized something and decided to silence Li Miao for good?
That would also explain why the fire had spread so quickly—because it wasn’t an accident. It was arson.
If not for her desperate need to know Li Miao’s fate, Guan Xia would have lunged at Li Feng and arrested him on the spot.
After shooting him a long, hard look, she scanned the villa for any safe entry points. Meanwhile, villagers had already gathered at the door with tools, trying to force their way in.
But Li Feng’s heavy iron door held strong. Despite the relentless pounding, the door barely budged.
As time passed, the fire only grew worse. Even several meters away, Guan Xia could feel the scorching heat rolling off the flames. Li Feng continued his hysterical sobbing, while the village officials anxiously checked their phones, likely calling the fire department or anyone who could help.
Two minutes later, a group of disheveled young men rushed in, one shouting, "We’ve got water! Let’s put it out!"
The announcement spurred the crowd into action. Buckets, basins, and plastic hoses were grabbed, and everyone scrambled to help.
Guan Xia instinctively reached for a tool to join in—when a sudden commotion made her turn.
Through the gaps in the crowd, she saw the front door swing open from the inside. And there stood Li Miao.
Disheveled, covered in soot, but her eyes burned with an intensity that could only be described as triumphant. A radiant, almost eerie smile curved her lips as she stared down at Li Feng, still collapsed in tears on the ground.
Somehow, Guan Xia could read three words in that expression: I won.
Li Miao’s sudden appearance brought a collective sigh of relief—until she raised her right hand, revealing a massive hammer.
The sight sent the crowd scattering like startled birds. Someone screamed that Li Miao had lost her mind, that she was going to kill someone.
The bustling courtyard froze. Shock, fear, and confusion rippled through the onlookers as they stared at Li Miao. But she remained perfectly calm, her smile unwavering.
She didn’t even glance at Li Feng again. Instead, her gaze swept the crowd before landing on Guan Xia.
Then, slowly, she beckoned her forward.
Guan Xia sensed something and instinctively stepped forward, but Pang Le grabbed her arm and whispered in her ear, "I’ll go with you. Stay behind me, and if anything seems off, turn and run immediately."
Guan Xia nodded, but an intuition told her that Li Miao wouldn’t harm her—instead, he intended to reveal the truth.
Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Guan Xia and Pang Le approached. Xu Nian and the others had already arrived, standing at a cautious distance from Li Miao.
Perhaps noticing their hesitation, Li Miao suddenly smiled and said, "Don’t worry. The fire started on the third floor. It won’t reach the first floor anytime soon, so it’s safe here. Let me show you something."
Guan Xia quickly pieced together the meaning behind his words—this fire hadn’t been set by Li Feng, but by Li Miao himself, likely to draw people here.
Lost in thought, Guan Xia felt someone’s gaze on her and turned to exchange a glance with Xu Nian.
But Li Miao, sharp as ever, caught the silent exchange and grinned in satisfaction. "So you really are working together. In that case, come inside with me."
With that, he turned and walked away, the massive hammer in his hand swinging slightly. Watching his retreating figure, Guan Xia felt a puzzle piece click into place—Li Miao had been observing and suspecting them all along. But how? They had only arrived in Lijia Village the day before.
Leaving Qi Bai and Wang Yu outside to keep watch, Guan Xia, Xu Nian, and the others stepped through the gate under the curious and probing stares of the villagers, following Li Miao into the living room.
Only when they neared the staircase, where the ancestral altar once stood, did Guan Xia’s tension ease.
The altar and the prayer mat beside it were gone. The framed photo had been carefully placed on the coffee table, while everything else lay haphazardly discarded. The wall behind it, once intact, now bore a gaping hole—clearly smashed open by Li Miao’s hammer—and inside, barely assembled into a human shape, lay a skeleton with some bones grotesquely misaligned.
Guan Xia didn’t need Li Miao to explain. This was her mother, Lv Xiangmei—Li Feng’s wife. Her remains had been hidden for over twenty years, buried behind layers of concrete, until Li Miao shattered the barrier and brought her into the light.
Even braced for the sight, Guan Xia was stunned. She never imagined Li Feng would entomb his murdered wife’s bones behind the family altar. Every time he knelt on that prayer mat, he had been bowing to her. Guan Xia couldn’t fathom his twisted logic.
Did he feel guilt or remorse during those prayers? What words ran through his mind? Regret? Longing? Did her mother’s portrait haunt him? How could he live in this house, face his daughter—who bore her mother’s resemblance—and not wake screaming from nightmares?
For a moment, Guan Xia was lost in these futile questions, then laughed at her own naivety. Li Feng wasn’t normal. He was a murderer, a monster. How could she measure him by ordinary standards? A man with countless lives on his hands might have hidden Lv Xiangmei’s remains here for the simplest reason: because no one would expect it.
The others stood frozen, staring at the skeleton in shock. After a long silence, Xu Nian snapped into action. "Jiang Yingyao," he ordered, "arrest Li Feng on the spot." Then he pulled a pair of gloves from his pocket and began putting them on.
Li Miao watched with a knowing smile. "I knew you were police."
With the truth laid bare, Guan Xia finally asked, "How did you figure it out?"
Li Miao tilted his head, studying her. "I didn’t. I just noticed you. I can’t explain it—you seemed ordinary at first glance, but the more I looked, the more you stood out. I thought, ‘She’s here for my mother’s case.’"
Guan Xia frowned. What kind of eerie reasoning was that? Criminals often sensed her difference—their warped souls recognized hers. But Li Miao? The last time she’d checked with her system’s vision, his soul had been pure white, untainted by blood. Had he killed someone in the last two days?
Suspicious, she activated the system’s shared vision again. As expected, his soul remained white. Puzzled, she could only guess that his psychological state had shifted during his standoff with Li Feng. Maybe he’d already harbored thoughts of killing him, turning him into a latent criminal—one who could recognize and resonate with Guan Xia’s uniqueness.
Shaking off these thoughts, she pressed, "Did you set this fire tonight to lure us here?"
Li Miao glanced at her. "Your arrival was unexpected. I’d have started this fire regardless. But you being here saved me a lot of trouble."
She expected him to elaborate, but instead, he suddenly dropped the hammer and extended his hands. "Arrest me. I have a lot to say, but not here. I want to say it in an interrogation room."
His smile turned unsettling. "You have no idea how long I’ve dreamed of sitting in one. I always imagined it’d be after I killed Li Feng. Pity I wasn’t ruthless enough. But it doesn’t matter—he won’t live much longer anyway."
