Missing? The expressions of everyone who had just relaxed a little immediately turned grave again.
Jiang Yingyao's face visibly grew anxious.
Xu Nian's expression also darkened. Without speaking, he picked up the filtered personnel lists again and quickly flipped through them. Moments later, he pulled out one sheet and said, "This person—Luo Shun, male, 45 years old, from Pingshun Village—not only has a fixed stall at the market near Liang Xinhua's Shuimu Spring City residential area but also randomly sets up vegetable stands near several other nearby neighborhoods. There's a ninety percent chance the killer is this man."
As soon as Xu Nian finished speaking, Jiang Yingyao nearly roared, "What are you all standing around for? Move! Destination: Pingshun Village. Target suspect: Luo Shun. Everyone, hurry!"
The group, who had been quietly watching Xu Nian, was jolted into action, scrambling out in a frenzy.
Xu Nian called out to Jiang Yingyao, who was about to run off, "Wait a second, Jiang. I think we should send someone to Shuimu Spring City."
Jiang Yingyao acknowledged with a shout, "Qi Bai, you—"
Before he could finish the last word, Wang Yu, who had only taken a few steps, immediately stopped and said loudly, "Xu, Jiang, I'll go. I'm the only female field officer in our unit. Since Liang Xinhua is missing, only his wife Ye Lan and daughter Liang Panpan remain at Shuimu Spring City. I'm the most suitable."
Xu Nian waved his hand in agreement. Qi Bai, who was running at the front, didn’t stop but shouted back, "Be careful, Xiao Wang!"
Wang Yu responded loudly, "Got it!"
The team quickly gathered downstairs and boarded the vehicles. Qi Bai turned on the police siren and drove at breakneck speed, occasionally glancing at Xu Nian in the rearview mirror before asking, "Xu, Liang Xinhua went out fishing at 6 a.m. and has been missing for seven hours now. Do you think he’s still alive?"
Xu Nian, who had been resting with his eyes closed, opened them and thought for a moment before answering, "Based on the autopsy results of the previous four victims, he should still be alive. But we can’t rule out the possibility that the killer suddenly changed his mind."
Qi Bai recalled as well and said, "The remains of the previous four victims were all discovered at least two days after they went missing, but their time of death was within 24 hours. Judging from the other marks on the bodies, they were all subjected to some degree of torture before death. So, since Liang Xinhua has only been missing for seven hours, there’s a good chance he’s still alive."
After this deduction, Qi Bai felt slightly relieved, though he still drove as if the car were about to take off.
Xu Nian closed his eyes again, but barely two minutes later, his phone rang.
He answered, and Jiang Yingyao’s voice came through, "Xu, I had someone pull Luo Shun’s records. Luo Shun did suffer domestic abuse for over a decade as a child, which only ended in 1991 when his father, Luo Zhengyang, was killed by his wife, Hao Lili."
Jiang Yingyao paused before continuing, "After Luo Zhengyang’s death and Hao Lili’s imprisonment, Luo Shun dropped out of school at 16 and worked odd jobs in several cities—Lian City, Tadong City, Linshan City—before finally returning to Yongquan City in April 2009 to grow vegetables in greenhouses with other villagers."
"In that case, Luo Shun definitely didn’t just kill these four people," Xu Nian said firmly. "His house must contain the remains of at least a fifth victim, aside from the missing body parts of the four we already know about."
Jiang Yingyao also remembered the fifth bloodstain’s DNA found in the trunk of the silver-gray sedan—one that didn’t match any body or database record.
After a moment’s thought, Jiang Yingyao asked, "Should we send out inquiries to the cities where he worked before? The way he handled the evidence for these four killings was so meticulous—who knows how many people he might have killed before to become this efficient and careful?"
"Do it," Xu Nian said, rubbing his temples again. "Have the office staff send them out now."
"Got it." Jiang Yingyao hung up.
Qi Bai whistled in astonishment. "Who would’ve thought Luo Shun was such a ruthless guy? The fact that we managed to track him down so smoothly and stop him before he could kill his next victim—Guan Xia’s tip was crucial. Once this case is wrapped up, I’m treating her to a big meal this weekend."
"Weekend?" Xu Nian chuckled. "Don’t count on it. Once this case is over, there’s another troublesome job waiting for us."
Qi Bai was stunned. "I haven’t heard about any major cases in our district. The Third Unit just wrapped up a case and is free. Even if there is a new case, it shouldn’t fall to us, right?"
Xu Nian said, "Remember the last place Pang Zhiye and Pang Wenze were seen before they disappeared?"
Qi Bai’s eyes widened. "No way. After all that rain last night, we still found some critical clue?"
Xu Nian snorted. "Suspect A—the perpetrator of the 217 massacre case. Big enough for you?"
Qi Bai’s eyes nearly popped out. "But wasn’t that case in Danlin City? How did the suspect end up in Yongquan City? That’s across a whole province!"
Xu Nian felt a headache coming on just thinking about it. "The cigarette butt was found wedged between rocks by the river, stuffed inside an empty water bottle. No idea where he tossed it before it got stuck there. We don’t even know if he’s still in Yongquan City—the Cuiping Mountain Range stretches across three provinces and multiple cities. But since the cigarette butt turned up here, we’ll have to turn the whole city upside down to find him. Our Second Unit is tied up with this urgent case for now, but once it’s over..."
Xu Nian didn’t finish, but Qi Bai understood—two words: overtime.
The thought of the grueling days ahead immediately weighed down Qi Bai’s previously lightened mood.
The drive took less than half an hour with no traffic delays. By the time Xu Nian got out of the car, Jiang Yingyao had already assigned roles to the officers on-site.
After listening briefly and finding no issues, Xu Nian supplemented the arriving personnel according to the initial plan.
The target was a house located a few hundred meters away from the village. The road ahead led to vegetable greenhouses, while the back opened to a stretch of wasteland bordering an unnamed wild mountain. Though not tall, the mountain covered a vast area, thick with trees—an ideal place to hide bodies.
Standing behind Xu Nian, Qi Bai followed his gaze and immediately understood. He groaned, "You’ve got to be kidding me. Luo Shun buried the rest of the body parts in that wild mountain? That’s going to be a nightmare to search."
Xu Nian didn’t respond, merely watching as everyone scattered to their positions. Once all personnel were deployed, he raised his hand and led the charge into the courtyard.
The gate was locked, but an agile officer scaled the wall and opened it easily from the inside.
The moment they rushed into the yard, without Xu Nian’s orders, the team instinctively spread out to search every visible room.
Soon, reports came in one after another.
"Xu, nothing in the living room."
"Kitchen’s clear."
"Left bedroom—no one here."
"Captain Xu, we've found something in the storage room." Upon hearing this, Xu Nian immediately rushed over with his team.
As soon as they entered, the first thing they saw was a pool of blood on the floor. Liang Xinhua, who had gone missing less than eight hours ago, lay motionless in the crimson puddle. A police officer carefully checked the carotid artery with his fingers before shaking his head at Xu Nian.
The situation had taken everyone by surprise, including Xu Nian, whose face turned ashen.
"Call Forensic He," Xu Nian said, glancing at Qi Bai.
Qi Bai hurried out to summon help. Just as he left the storage room, another shout echoed, "Captain Xu, we’ve found something in the bedroom to the right of the living room—it’s Luo Shun’s daughter, Luo Xiaoyun."
The team quickly moved to the bedroom, where an officer was carefully lifting Luo Xiaoyun out of the closet.
"She’s breathing, no visible injuries, but she’s unresponsive—likely drugged," the officer reported.
Before Xu Nian could respond, Jiang Yingyao rushed in. "Captain Xu, we’ve searched everywhere. Luo Shun is missing, and his wife, Jiang Chuntao, isn’t here either."
...
Guan Xia had spent the entire morning studying with intense focus, but the highly specialized material left her dizzy and overwhelmed. When she tried to recall what she’d read, not a single word came to mind.
Frustrated, she slumped onto the table for a while before sluggishly preparing lunch. Though she intended to nap afterward, she tossed and turned in bed, unable to shake the feeling that her morning efforts had yielded no results.
Reflecting on whether she’d bitten off more than she could chew, Guan Xia eventually decided to switch gears—back to binge-watching crime dramas. Even if they were just TV shows, the dense yet accurate professional knowledge they portrayed made them worthwhile.
Pleased with her decision, she returned to the study and, with a sense of relief, shelved the book she’d barely made it through a dozen pages of. After a moment’s thought, she rearranged the entire bookshelf, moving the dense academic texts to the bottom and placing novels and true-crime books within easy reach. Seeing the familiar, approachable titles finally put her at ease.
As she picked up her phone from the desk, ready to relocate to the living room for her show, she happened to glance out the window and spotted a familiar figure heading toward Building 7.
The wide-brimmed hat, black windbreaker, fishing rod slung over one shoulder, and a red bucket in hand—wasn’t that the man known as "Old Liang," the domestic abuser she’d seen the evening before?
He’d gone fishing early in the morning and was already back? Judging by the lack of a triumphant fish display like yesterday, it seemed he’d had no luck.
Guan Xia gave him a passing glance before looking away, uninterested. Yet as she walked to the living room, an inexplicable unease settled over her.
Logically, everything seemed normal, but an irrational sense of dread gnawed at her. She wondered if it was the system’s influence.
The thought of the system doused her rising agitation like a bucket of cold water, but in its place, a chilling realization began to creep in.
She sat up straight, replaying the figure she’d just seen—the wide hat, the black windbreaker. It matched Old Liang’s outfit from last night, but today, the clothes didn’t seem as filled out.
Old Liang wasn’t particularly overweight, but his beer belly stretched the loose windbreaker taut around his midsection. The person she’d just seen…
Guan Xia’s eyes widened in shock as she suddenly stood up.
That wasn’t Old Liang. The real Old Liang had left to fish this morning. If the person returning wasn’t him, then who was it?
Her mind flashed to the figure she’d glimpsed during her camping trip, and gradually, the two images merged into one.
A horrified gasp escaped her. It was the killer—the serial murderer. Why was he disguised as Old Liang? Why was he heading to Building 7? With Old Liang gone, what was his target? The abused woman? Or the little girl, barely seven or eight years old?
Guan Xia froze, her thoughts in chaos. After a few seconds, she snapped back to reality and fumbled for her phone to call the police.
She practically lunged at the coffee table, hands trembling as she dialed Xu Nian’s number. The call connected after a single ring.
"Guan Xia? What have you found?" Xu Nian’s voice was calm but alert.
As he spoke, the system interface appeared before her:
You are being questioned by the police. You suddenly remember: At 14:04 on May 10th, while organizing your bookshelf, you spotted a suspicious fisherman through the window. His attire matched that of the fisherman you saw the previous evening, but his build did not. Your sharp instincts suggest it may be the killer in disguise. You decide to inform the police.
The system’s confirmation solidified her suspicion. "The killer—the one I saw during the camping trip—he’s at Building 7 in the Shuimu Spring Community," Guan Xia blurted, her words rushed.
Xu Nian’s tone remained steady. "Lock your doors. Don’t go outside. We’re on our way."
After hanging up, Guan Xia sprinted back to the study, but the figure was gone. She knew he’d already entered the building.
