Ji An was an efficient person. After packing up the sketch drawings and saying a quick goodbye to Guan Xia and Pang Le, she swiftly left the café.
Watching her push the door open and walk out, Pang Le finally turned her head back, relaxed into her chair, and said with a smile, "Ji An is way more likable than Lu Tingfeng. So, does this mean she’s officially part of our little gang now?"
The word "gang" made Guan Xia choke on air—fortunately, she wasn’t drinking coffee at that moment. She shot Pang Le a glare. "Watch your words. What gang? Be serious."
Pang Le grinned. "Team, team. My bad."
Guan Xia exhaled, lowering her gaze to fiddle with her cup as she tried to figure out how to explain things to Pang Le. Of course, she couldn’t mention the system—she needed a plausible excuse to smooth things over.
Before she could come up with one, Pang Le suddenly said, "What’s with that look? Are you seriously trying to figure out how to explain things to me?"
Guan Xia instinctively looked up. Pang Le leaned back lazily. "We might not have been together 24/7 lately, but we’ve been in constant contact. Not long ago, you even laid out your thoughts in detail. I might not know what kind of mental gymnastics you went through to make this decision so quickly, but if you’ve already settled on it, that means you’ve thought it through. And honestly? I’m bored with playing by the rules lately. Finally, something exciting to do."
Pang Le scooted closer, lowering her voice with barely contained excitement. "So, what’s the deal with those two sketches you gave Ji An? Did you find another killer? Or two?"
Guan Xia shook her head. "I don’t know yet. I just went through some old case photos online based on my life experiences and remembered something strange. The weird part is, the person I suspect wasn’t even at the crime scene—just a bystander."
"A bystander?" Pang Le frowned.
Guan Xia glanced around cautiously. The café was emptier now, with only one table far from them. She lowered her voice and summarized the footage she had seen.
Pang Le sucked in a breath. "That’s… pretty wild. Maybe that person wasn’t just a bystander? What if they were friends? Or—what if it was a murder swap?"
Her imagination ran wild. "I remember reading a crime novel where killers exchanged victims to create alibis and throw off investigations. If neither had a criminal record, even if they left fingerprints or DNA, it’d be nearly impossible to trace."
Guan Xia nodded. "That’s what I thought too. So I asked Ji An to look into these two. We need something concrete before going to the police."
Pang Le agreed. "Makes sense. It’s a cold case, and from the West District too. Even if Xu Nian believes you, he wouldn’t have much influence there."
They chatted a while longer before parting ways, with Pang Le insisting Guan Xia call her the moment Ji An had updates.
Guan Xia went straight home. As soon as she stepped inside, Xu Nian finally called.
"I’ve read the confession," he said. "Got time now? I’ll explain the killer’s motive."
Guan Xia kicked off her shoes. "Yes, yes, go ahead."
Xu Nian said, "The motive boils down to one word: perfection."
Guan Xia was baffled. "Perfection? What do you mean?"
Xu Nian explained, "It’s tied to his upbringing. Remember when I told you Xia Wenguang’s mother had esophageal cancer from ’94 until her death in 2000?"
Guan Xia recalled the details Xu Nian had shared earlier and nodded. "Right."
"According to Xia Wenguang, his mother was, in his childhood memories, a beautiful, gentle, brilliant, and strong woman. He took immense pride in having such a perfect mother—someone he believed surpassed everyone else, even his father. But after she fell ill when he was nine, she changed. Beyond her appearance deteriorating, what shattered him most was her personality. She became hysterical, lashing out at everyone, including him. Those six years of decline overwrote his memories of her perfection, leaving him tormented and furious."
Guan Xia’s mind went blank. "So… that’s why he killed? What did those girls have to do with him or his mother’s death?"
A chilling thought struck her. "His mother—"
Xu Nian immediately understood. "We checked. She did die of illness. Not homicide."
Even so, Guan Xia shuddered at Xia Wenguang’s warped reasoning.
Xu Nian continued, "His first kill was during his junior year of college. The method was sloppy—he left a partial bloody fingerprint at the scene. But since he wasn’t in the victim’s social circle, he was never a suspect."
Guan Xia caught on. "So, like the others, the victim was a complete stranger to Xia Wenguang?"
"Exactly. The first victim was a senior at his university. No connection whatsoever. In his confession, he described her as the most perfect woman on campus—gorgeous, brilliant, charismatic. But when she got a boyfriend, she ‘ruined’ that perfection. She became irrational, even crying over a man."
Guan Xia couldn’t fathom his logic. Her mind flooded with questions.
After a pause, she blurted, "If he blamed the boyfriend for ‘ruining’ her, why not kill him instead?"
Xu Nian hesitated. "Because he believed there’d always be another man. And eventually, she’d age, get sick—just like his mother. The thought of her losing that perfection tortured him. He wanted her preserved at her peak."
Guan Xia was speechless.
Was this what came with living in a world blending crime fiction? A killer whose motives defied all normal comprehension?
"Will he get the death penalty?" That was all she cared about now.
Xu Nian replied, "Given the severity, there’s no chance for commutation. The provincial bureau’s overseeing it. Execution’s likely within the year."
Guan Xia felt relieved—such a disgusting person really made her feel like he was wasting the Earth's oxygen just by being alive.
Finally understanding the full context of the case, Guan Xia was not only enlightened but also became even more invested in the remaining mysteries, eager to figure out exactly what was going on.
Fortunately, Ji An worked quickly. Though he had said it would take two days, he called Guan Xia by the evening of the second day.
"I've got the identities of both men," Ji An said. "Should we meet today, or wait until tomorrow?"
Guan Xia glanced at the sky—the sun had just begun to dip westward, and it wasn’t too late yet. "Let’s do it today," she replied.
Ji An agreed. "Alright, where should we meet? That same café as last time?"
Guan Xia checked the time. Rush hour was approaching, and by the time she took a cab there, it would be dinnertime—any public place would be crowded. After a brief pause, she suggested, "Remember the mall near that café? Let’s meet at the mall’s Gate 1."
Ji An said, "Got it."
After hanging up, Guan Xia immediately called Pang Le.
"Are you at the gym right now?" she asked.
Pang Le replied, "Yeah, why? Are you coming over?"
Guan Xia said, "Ji An has results from his investigation."
Pang Le instantly perked up. "You’re meeting up? Then just come here! I cleaned up my office after we last parted—perfect timing."
Guan Xia couldn’t help but laugh. She’d guessed as much, which was why she’d suggested meeting at the mall entrance.
"Alright," she said. "I’m heading out now. See you soon."
Though she hit some traffic nearing the destination, the delay was minor—just five minutes later than expected—before she spotted Ji An.
He stood in an inconspicuous corner, noticed Guan Xia first, and stepped forward to meet her. After a quick greeting, they walked side by side into the mall.
True to form, Ji An asked no questions, quietly following Guan Xia all the way to Pang Le’s gym.
Pang Le was waiting at the entrance, her eyes lighting up at the sight of them. "Come on, come on! I’ll show you."
She led the way through the gym, turned down a hallway, and opened a wooden door at the very end.
"Ta-da! What do you think? Not bad, right?" Pang Le asked eagerly as soon as the door swung open.
The two stepped inside and looked around. The room wasn’t large, but it had been carefully arranged. The office was divided into two sections: one for meetings, the other for work. A modestly sized conference table stood in one half, while three proper desks with computers occupied the other. A water dispenser, projector, screen, whiteboard—everything was there, so meticulously set up that Guan Xia almost felt like she was about to start working there.
Ji An also paused, then nodded after a moment. "Very good."
Pang Le immediately turned expectantly to Guan Xia.
Guan Xia’s expression twisted slightly before she managed to say, "Isn’t this… a little too formal? It feels like I’m here to clock in for a job."
Pang Le glanced back at the room. "Hmm, maybe. But I thought about it—this setup is necessary. All those crime dramas and novels show teams holding case meetings and reviewing footage. We need the right equipment."
Guan Xia considered Pang Le’s logic and had to admit it made sense. Still, it reminded her of her exhausting, cutthroat work life before she’d crossed over—so much so that her excitement about Ji An’s findings dimmed just a little.
After closing the door securely, Pang Le checked the computer linked to the gym’s surveillance cameras—including the one at the entrance—before turning to them. "No one’s around. We’re safe to start."
Even Ji An couldn’t suppress a slight twitch of his lips at that.
Pang Le pulled out a chair beside Guan Xia and sat down. Ji An retrieved the two sketches and pinned them to the whiteboard, pointing at the man who had jumped into the river.
"This man is Zhang Weiyan, 35, from Anqi County in Yongquan City. Unemployed, makes a living through odd jobs." He then tapped the sketch of the bystander. "This one is Feng Xingping, 27, from Taoyang City. He runs an online shop for custom figurines and manages a tutorial channel for making them—only shows his hands, never his face. He sticks to his usual area most of the year, only occasionally traveling to nearby cities."
Guan Xia listened thoughtfully. "So these two had zero connection? Just complete strangers?"
Ji An didn’t answer directly. "Based on my findings, they didn’t know each other."
Pang Le couldn’t hold back. "That’s weird. If they weren’t friends, how could a stranger be involved in something this serious?"
Ji An gave Pang Le a puzzled look but, as usual, asked nothing.
Guan Xia recalled the date she’d seen the jumper at the crime scene among the crowd and asked Ji An, "Where was Feng Xingping on January 29, 2021?"
Ji An answered confidently, "In Taoyang City. Feng Xingping visited Yongquan City in December 2020 but returned to Taoyang after New Year’s. There’s no record of him leaving again after that."
"He wasn’t even in Yongquan City?" Pang Le’s frown deepened as she instinctively looked at Guan Xia.
Guan Xia was also frowning. They’d ruled out a personal connection, and now it was confirmed Feng Xingping couldn’t have been at the scene when it happened. So what was going on with this case?
In the past, Guan Xia might have doubted the system, but after helping the police solve several cases, she knew it couldn’t be wrong. So how could she find a breakthrough here?
After some thought, Guan Xia concluded she simply didn’t know enough about the case. Unable to wait for Xu Nian’s updates, she asked Ji An directly, "Can you look into a case for me and share what you find?"
For the first time, Ji An’s expression turned serious. He studied her and asked, "An unsolved case?"
Guan Xia nodded. "Yes."
Ji An shook his head. "Files and evidence for cold cases are kept with the respective police departments. Until solved, all details are confidential. Even if I could dig something up, it’d only be surface-level information."
Guan Xia pressed, "That’s fine. Also—can you get surveillance footage from near the crime scene on that day?"
The question seemed to give Ji An pause. He thought it over, took a deep breath, and finally said, "I’ll see what I can do."
Seeing Ji An's somewhat reluctant expression, Guan Xia felt a little embarrassed and began to doubt whether what she was doing was inappropriate. After all, as an ordinary person, conducting private investigations seemed borderline unethical. She really wanted to report it to the police like before, but the moment she considered that the two sketches she could provide weren’t enough to prove the suspect’s connection to the case, she dismissed the idea and instead carefully pondered all possible leads.
I just realized today is actually Christmas! Though it’s a bit late, I still want to wish all you little angels a Merry Christmas~
