The flight would take just over an hour, but driving required nearly a full day. Guan Xia and her team set off in the morning and didn’t arrive in Qu Ming City until evening. After a quick dinner, they got back in the car, and by the time they reached the police station in Daqu County, night had fully fallen.
Perhaps due to prior arrangements, even though it was long past working hours, as soon as their car stopped, Guan Xia saw a tall, burly middle-aged man approaching with two others, greeting Xu Nian with a smile.
After brief handshakes and small talk, the middle-aged man said, "I know everyone’s eager to work on the case—so are we. Let’s skip the formalities for now. We’ll celebrate properly once the case is solved, drinks on me."
Following him into a second-floor office, the group settled casually around a conference table. Soon after, a young officer, fresh out of the academy, walked in carrying a stack of files.
Handing one to each person, the middle-aged man said, "Take a look first. After everyone’s read through, we’ll discuss the next steps in the investigation."
Guan Xia had been waiting for this moment. She immediately lowered her head and began studying the documents intently.
Compared to the materials Wang Yu had previously provided, these were far more detailed.
The victim’s body was discovered around 10 a.m. on August 14, 2013. When the Daqu County Criminal Police Unit arrived at the scene, they found it had been somewhat disturbed. The villager who stumbled upon the body had no experience with such situations. Moreover, the victim’s head was covered by a piece of clothing, with no visible bloodstains, so the villager hadn’t realized it was a corpse. He lifted the garment directly, recoiled in shock at the sight, collapsed to the ground, and scrambled backward before finally calling the police.
Based on the scene investigation, the Criminal Police Unit determined this was the primary crime scene. The victim’s face was severely disfigured, and the back of his head bore signs of blunt force trauma. His travel bag had been ransacked—aside from clothes and toiletries, there were no valuables, nor any identification like a driver’s license or ID card. A phone charger left at the scene suggested the victim had owned a mobile device, but it was missing. The police theorized the killer had taken it to obscure the victim’s identity before discarding it. The fact that the victim’s face had been covered also pointed to the likelihood of the perpetrator being someone the victim knew—possibly out of guilt.
An autopsy confirmed the victim was male, aged between 53 and 55, with an estimated time of death around 7 a.m. on August 14. The cause of death was repeated blunt force trauma to the head. Investigators found a sharp, bloodstained rock at the scene, likely the murder weapon. Additionally, traces of blood were extracted from the zipper of the victim’s bag. DNA analysis confirmed it didn’t belong to the victim, leading to the preliminary conclusion that the killer had accidentally cut themselves while rummaging through the bag.
Beyond the DNA evidence, the police also discovered two relatively clear footprints near the body, believed to belong to the suspect. Forensic experts estimated the perpetrator was male, approximately 1.7 meters tall, and between 15 to 20 years old. Later, during evidence processing, the Daqu County forensic team also lifted a nearly intact bloody fingerprint from the bag’s inner pocket.
Reading this, Guan Xia couldn’t help but marvel at the sheer luck of the suspect, Zhou Yiyang. His methods were sloppy—though he’d shown some awareness by trying to conceal the victim’s identity, he’d left behind irrefutable evidence like DNA and fingerprints. It was almost laughable. If not for the fact that all his relatives were out searching for him (he’d run away from home at the time) and his return went unnoticed, he would’ve been caught immediately.
As Guan Xia reflected, she felt a nudge. Turning, she saw Pang Le, who, in the hushed and focused atmosphere, didn’t dare speak aloud. But her exaggerated facial expressions and frantic finger-pointing at certain lines made it clear she shared Guan Xia’s disbelief—how had this suspect evaded justice for so long?
After a silent exchange with Pang Le, Guan Xia continued reading.
The next part aligned with what Wang Yu had briefed them on the previous day. The Daqu County Criminal Police Unit first ran the DNA and fingerprint evidence through their databases but found no matches. They then conducted extensive door-to-door inquiries across the county, which also yielded nothing. With no leads from surveillance footage either, they proceeded to collect biological samples from certain individuals in villages near the crime scene. As Wang Yu had mentioned, the age range for sampling was 14 to 60—technically covering the suspect. But because he was still missing at the time, his grandfather and younger brother, who remained at home, fell outside the screening scope. By sheer coincidence, he slipped through the cracks.
By the time Guan Xia and Pang Le finished reading, the others had too, and quiet discussions had begun.
Now feeling safe to speak, Pang Le leaned in and whispered, "This case is unreal. Most cold cases lack evidence, but this one’s the opposite—overflowing with clues, even DNA and fingerprints. Yet they still couldn’t find the guy. If you hadn’t recognized something in the victim’s photo, would Zhou Yiyang have stayed free forever?"
Guan Xia thought for a moment before replying softly, "Not necessarily. He’s not alone in the world. If any of his relatives ever got into trouble—even something minor like theft or a bar fight—it could’ve exposed him."
"Guess he owes his family a big thank-you, then," Pang Le said. "Their clean records let him finish high school and college in peace. But his luck’s run out now. Wang Yu mentioned he even had a girlfriend—thank goodness they didn’t marry or have kids. His arrest would’ve ruined that child’s future."
Recalling Wang Yu’s profile of the suspect, Guan Xia felt a pang of mixed emotions. At 26, Zhou Yiyang should’ve been in the prime of his life. Instead, he’d soon spend the rest of it behind bars. She wondered what expression he’d wear when the police came for him—whether he’d feel regret for the crime he’d committed in his youth. Sooner or later, the past always demanded its due.
Guan Xia thought that once the suspect was apprehended, she would definitely attend the interrogation. Just then, the middle-aged man said, "Now that everyone has reviewed the case, let me outline the investigative directions our police team has taken so far. First, after receiving your call from Yongquan City yesterday, we found a pretext to visit the suspect's home and collected biological samples. The forensics team is currently analyzing them, and the results will be available later. We also contacted the officers from the local police station responsible for the suspect's runaway case in 2013. According to them, through witness interviews and surveillance footage, they confirmed that after running away, the suspect first traveled from Daqu County to Quming City, then immediately bought a bus ticket to Linshan City at the Quming bus station. The suspect stayed in Linshan City for nearly a month before being found on August 24th. Based on this, we suspect the victim was likely from Linshan City. Our precinct's chief, Captain Yu, has already led a team to Linshan to investigate the victim's identity, but no updates have come in yet."
"As for the suspect," the middle-aged man continued, "Captain Yu has also dispatched a third team to conduct covert surveillance. Once the test results come in, we’ll move to detain the suspect immediately. Additional evidence can be gathered later."
It was clear that the entire Daqu County police force was eager to arrest the suspect. Even though the case lacked a complete chain of evidence, they didn’t want the suspect to remain free for even a day longer.
After the middle-aged man finished speaking, Xu Nian added, "Captain Tan, on our way here, we discussed the case and came up with a theory. Based on the timeline provided by eyewitness Guan Xia, an expert from Pingjiang District, who saw the suspect and the victim at Quming City’s North Bus Station, as well as the victim’s time of death, we suspect the suspect and victim may have walked from the bus station to Songxiang Village without using any transportation."
"Walked?" Captain Tan frowned. "We initially couldn’t find the victim in surveillance footage, and witness interviews didn’t yield any leads. Footprint experts also noted wear patterns on the victim’s shoes that suggested walking. But back then, Daqu County had very limited surveillance coverage—many narrow paths accessible only to pedestrians had no cameras. Plus, those paths were rarely used, so we couldn’t confirm our suspicions."
Hearing this, Guan Xia couldn’t help but think to herself, What a perfect alignment of circumstances.
In the following discussion, Guan Xia and Pang Le stayed silent, listening intently.
Given the limited investigative resources in Daqu County 11 years ago, and the fact that the entire county and surrounding villages had already been thoroughly searched, reopening the cold case didn’t offer much new ground to cover. Everyone agreed to focus on Quming City’s North Bus Station—the location where Guan Xia had spotted the victim and suspect—as the breakthrough point. They hoped to find evidence proving the suspect had returned to Quming before the crime and traveled with the victim.
Xu Nian and the others had doubts, though. Since the case was 11 years old, and according to surveillance retention policies, footage from high-traffic public areas like bus stations and main roads was only kept for a maximum of 10 years—just past the cutoff for this case.
Captain Tan explained, "In 2013, many people in Quming still used cash, leading to frequent petty theft and even robberies in remote areas. So even though the official retention period has passed, many local police stations and precincts still kept some surveillance footage for theft and robbery cases. Yesterday, Captain Yu filed a request to borrow those recordings from relevant departments, but it’ll take a couple of days to locate and coordinate access."
Hearing this, Guan Xia, Xu Nian, and the others sighed in relief. They didn’t mind waiting—as long as there was still a trail to follow.
After arranging to be updated on any new developments, Guan Xia and her team left the Daqu County police station.
Once in the car, Pang Le couldn’t contain his excitement. "Before we came, I thought identifying the victim would be impossible and the case would be a dead end. But it’s actually going pretty smoothly!"
He paused, then added, "And Captain Tan was so cooperative—not at all like the cold-shoulder treatment you read about in detective novels. I expected to be sidelined, but they were really welcoming."
Wang Yu chuckled. "We’re here to help them solve the case, of course they’d be welcoming. Especially since we brought such crucial leads. Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if we’re greeted with smiles everywhere we go from now on."
She glanced at Guan Xia before continuing, "We owe that to Guan Xia. Her discoveries have made this case so much easier to crack."
Listening to the praise, Guan Xia silently thanked her system—its low-profile aura had not only protected her but also helped bring justice to so many victims.
At first, she hadn’t thought much of it, but after working on these cases, she’d come to realize just how vital the system was. She just wondered if it could be upgraded—if it could shift from passive to active, that would be even better.
