After obtaining unexpected physical evidence, Xu Nian had Hu Jun copy the surveillance footage from the night of the incident and the days surrounding it. The team then returned to the Pingjiang District Bureau.
"This has been surprisingly smooth," Pang Le remarked cheerfully, her steps light as she walked beside Guan Xia. She lowered her voice and added, "Working with Sister Ji to reopen the case last time was interesting, but this is on another level. Honestly, even you’d have to admit—it’s thrilling. Piecing together clues, chasing down leads… it’s the kind of thing that makes you lose your appetite until you get answers."
Guan Xia glanced at her bright, smiling face and couldn’t help but chuckle. "With such a big breakthrough today, I’m guessing your appetite will be just fine tonight."
"Exactly," Pang Le grinned. "I’m staying at your place again, but I’ll swing by my place to grab my things first. Then I’m coming over for dinner—I’m craving wontons, the sour soup kind."
Guan Xia nodded. "Fine, fine. I’ll need to pack too. At this rate, we might even book our flights tonight."
While Guan Xia and Pang Le were making progress, Wang Yu and Jiang Yingyao had also uncovered new leads.
When they pushed open the office door, everyone had already regrouped, huddled around a desk in lively discussion.
Hearing the footsteps, the team turned and greeted Xu Nian. Wang Yu stepped forward first. "I’ve verified Yuan Yue’s identity and contacted colleagues in Fu’an City. They provided a lot of useful information."
Jiang Yingyao added, "I traced Yuan Yue’s movements during her two visits to Yongquan City and retrieved surveillance footage. So far, there’s no evidence linking her to Sha Junhao before June 7th, the day of the incident."
Qi Bai, balancing on one leg, chimed in, "I spent the day calling all of Sha Junhao’s reachable friends. Three of them had rented in that urban village—one still lives there, but the other two moved out before the incident and never returned. None of them kept in touch with the landlords afterward. However, one of Sha Junhao’s friends did give us a lead. He said that around June 5th, a week before the incident, Sha Junhao hired two people for 500 yuan each to tail Sha Guoliang for two days. He also gave one of them a set of clothes and instructed him to wear them on the night of June 6th, wait outside the bar where Cen Cuiman worked, and escort someone home."
"June 6th?" Pang Le exchanged a glance with Guan Xia. "That’s the day before we ran into Sha Junhao and Yuan Yue."
Jiang Yingyao continued, "We’ve been discussing Qi Bai’s lead and suspect Sha Junhao originally planned to kill Sha Guoliang on the night of June 6th. Hiring those two was to track Sha Guoliang’s movements and scout a location. The clothes and arranging for his friend to pick up Cen Cuiman were deliberate distractions—both to mislead the police and create an alibi."
Xu Nian sat at the conference table, deep in thought. "We’ve made discoveries too. Let’s consolidate all the leads we have so far."
The team gathered around the table. Wang Yu was the first to speak. "After cross-referencing multiple sources, here’s what I’ve found: Yuan Yue, female, 28 years old, originally from Linping County, Gangbai City, Guanglin Province. Her parents worked away from home, so she was raised by her grandparents until they passed when she was 10. She was then reunited with her parents, who had another child—a son who died in a car accident at age 6. After bringing Yuan Yue home, they became extremely strict, but their grief over their lost child led to frequent, violent arguments. This continued until Yuan Yue was 15, when her father died from choking on his own vomit while drunk. In 2012, at 16, her mother remarried. Her stepfather, who divorced his first wife due to infertility, was mild-tempered, and the three lived peacefully for a time. But when Yuan Yue was 19, her mother and stepfather died in a car crash on their way to pick her up. After graduating high school, she didn’t pursue further education and instead worked odd jobs before landing a sales position at a women’s clothing store called Duo Qiangwei. She eventually became store manager, earning around 150,000 yuan annually."
"Her life sounds rough, but still within the realm of normal," Qi Bai scratched his head. "Nothing here suggests she’d be driven to murder out of rage. Maybe something happened during her factory years?"
"Any criminal record?" Xu Nian asked. "Or police reports?"
Wang Yu shook his head. "None. I checked with Fu’an City colleagues—they thoroughly vetted her background during the 912 case investigation. While working at the factory, she was pursued relentlessly by coworkers, but her female roommates and supervisors protected her, never letting her be alone with them. She never faced wage theft or serious harassment."
"That’s odd," Pang Le frowned. "How did she even meet the victim in the 912 case—that friend of hers?"
Wang Yu explained, "The victim was Zhuo Xuanya. Her mother, Xiang Zhenli, was a VIP client at Yuan Yue’s store. They often shopped there on weekends or holidays. When Xiang Zhenli was too busy, she’d order online and have Yuan Yue deliver the items or let Zhuo Xuanya pick them up. That’s how they met. They became friends after Yuan Yue once helped Zhuo Xuanya deal with an aggressive suitor when her parents weren’t home."
"This all sounds… unremarkable," Guan Xia mused, brows furrowed. "Based on this, there’s no clear motive for Yuan Yue to kill Zhuo Xuanya."
"Crime of passion? Both were single, so unlikely. For money? Yuan Yue made decent money—unless she developed an illegal habit, like gambling or drugs, it doesn’t fit. Revenge? Their paths never crossed before. Could it be some generational feud?" Pang Le’s eyes darted as she brainstormed.
Wang Yu smiled and replied, "I’ve asked my colleagues in Fu’an City about these questions too. After their investigations, they ruled out those possibilities. Yuan Yue had no bad habits—in fact, she was quite frugal. By the time she met Zhuo Xuanya, she had already saved up 260,000 yuan. However, after getting to know Zhuo Xuanya, she started spending lavishly, frequently buying gifts for Zhuo Xuanya and even expensive alcohol and skincare products for her parents. Because of this, Yuan Yue got along extremely well with Zhuo Xuanya’s family. In the two years before Zhuo Xuanya’s death, Yuan Yue even spent holidays at their home. Zhuo Xuanya jokingly referred to her as the family’s 'second daughter' or her 'older sister.'"
Pang Le’s eyes suddenly lit up as if struck by a thought. "What if Zhuo Xuanya saw Yuan Yue as a sister, but Yuan Yue harbored romantic feelings for her? She gave so much but never got anything in return, leading to love turning into hatred?"
Wang Yu dismissed the idea. "The Fu’an team looked into that angle too. During the times Zhuo Xuanya went on blind dates after they met, Yuan Yue didn’t show any unusual reactions. In fact, she even helped Zhuo Xuanya’s parents persuade her, which caused some tension between them. But every time, Yuan Yue would apologize and back down, and they’d reconcile within days."
After going in circles without a solid lead, Pang Le scratched his head in frustration and leaned back in his chair, staring at the ceiling in deep thought.
Guan Xia couldn’t make sense of it either, so she quietly continued listening.
After Wang Yu finished summarizing Yuan Yue’s background, Jiang Yingyao spoke up. "I traced Yuan Yue’s movements during her two trips to Yongquan City. The first time was when Zhuo Xuanya attended a classmate’s wedding. Her parents were worried, so Yuan Yue took time off to accompany her. They arrived in Yongquan City on the afternoon of June 5 and left on the afternoon of June 8. From the afternoon of the 5th to the daytime of the 6th, Yuan Yue stayed by Zhuo Xuanya’s side during the wedding. On the evening of the 6th and the 7th, Zhuo Xuanya had classmate gatherings, so Yuan Yue was free. On the 8th, they checked out of the hotel together and flew back. The second trip was for work—Yuan Yue only stayed briefly, arriving on the morning of the 10th and leaving on the afternoon of the 11th. There were no hotel records during that time. I also verified with her company—she did visit another store affiliated with their brand on the afternoon of the 10th, picked up three pieces of clothing, and delivered them to a customer in Fu’an on the evening of the 11th."
"That’s a meticulously planned alibi," Qi Bai remarked in surprise. "A perfect absence of suspicion. If not for the clue Guan Xia provided, we’d never have considered her a suspect, no matter how many times we reinvestigated."
Guan Xia nodded in agreement. The only suspicious timeframe was backed by a legitimate reason. Without the system’s intervention, who would have guessed that such an unassuming woman could be linked to two murders?
After Jiang Yingyao shared his findings, Xu Nian updated the team on their progress.
Compared to the somewhat vague leads, the physical evidence they obtained was far more concrete. Those who hadn’t joined the field investigation looked thrilled. "You actually got the suspect’s biological sample? Once we find proof of contact between Sha Junhao and Yuan Yue, we can reopen the case and be close to solving it!"
Xu Nian smiled and placed the surveillance footage from Hu Jun’s precinct on the table. "We’ve got the recordings from the urban village. Jiang Yingyao also secured relevant footage. Let’s get to work. If all goes well, we might crack this in a few days."
Not only was the entire team energized, but even Guan Xia, whose legs had been aching, felt reinvigorated. Pang Le and Ji An were equally fired up, their eyes sharp with focus as they pulled up the footage.
With a clear target in mind, Guan Xia’s system wasn’t needed this time. The seasoned detectives quickly spotted the two figures in the recordings.
Wang Yu was the first to notice. With a sharp tap of her keyboard, she called out excitedly, "Captain Xu, we’ve got something!"
The group crowded around. Guan Xia moved slower, but the team made space for her. On the screen was footage from a sparsely populated alley.
Judging by the angle, the camera was mounted high, likely on a streetlight. The paused frame showed a tall man dressed entirely in black—black T-shirt, pants, sneakers, cap, and mask.
"I recognize that cap," Wang Yu said. "After the 6/11 case, we revisited the crime scene three times for evidence. I saw this exact cap hanging on the coat rack by the door. That silver 'H' logo—I couldn’t forget it."
"I remember too," Jiang Yingyao added. "Besides the black one, there was a white cap with the same 'H' logo."
"So this must be Sha Junhao?" Qi Bai asked.
"Not just him—there’s someone else," Wang Yu said, pressing a key to resume playback. Minutes after the black-clad man disappeared into the alley, a young woman in a white dress with long, flowing hair appeared.
She paused at the alley’s entrance, glancing around before checking her phone. As she turned her head, her face was fully captured by the camera—it was unmistakably Yuan Yue.
Wang Yu swiftly paused the footage the moment the woman’s face became visible.
"22:07, June 6," Xu Nian noted, checking the timestamp. "This must be around the time Sha Junhao originally planned to kill Sha Guoliang."
"Seems like Yuan Yue and Sha Junhao’s meeting was pure coincidence," Qi Bai mused, scratching his cheek. "Going by normal logic, Yuan Yue probably witnessed Sha Junhao’s attempt—or at least his preparation—to kill Sha Guoliang. But for some reason, Sha Junhao changed his plan and struck a deal with Yuan Yue. Are there any other cameras in that alley?"
Jiang Yingyao said, "I've been to the scene. This alley is very short, only about 70 meters long. Both sides are bordered by the outer walls of residential complexes. There are only two surveillance cameras—one at the entrance and another at the exit—with no coverage elsewhere. However, just a hundred meters beyond the alley, there's a small gate leading to a residential area known for its famous food street. Judging by Yuan Yue's action of looking down at her phone at the alley's entrance, it's highly likely she was directed here by her navigation app."
The lack of cameras didn’t disappoint anyone except Guan Xia and Pang Le. Xu Nian remarked, "It seems this location was also carefully chosen by Sha Junhao. Alright, let’s get back to work. Next, we need to pull up the surveillance footage from June 7th showing any interaction between the two."
