Xu Nian's paperwork went smoothly, but they wouldn't be able to depart until the day after tomorrow. Just as they were about to book their flights, Guan Xia received a call from Ji An.
The moment the phone rang, Guan Xia froze for a couple of seconds upon seeing the caller's name before snapping back to reality and answering swiftly.
Before she could even speak, a somewhat lazy voice came through the line. "Good evening, Guan Xia."
It was a man's voice—one that sounded vaguely familiar. It took Guan Xia a moment to place it. "Lu Tingfeng? Why are you calling? Where's Ji An?"
Before Lu Tingfeng could respond, Ji An's exasperated voice came through from the other end. "I'm here."
This was much clearer than Lu Tingfeng's earlier words. Guan Xia quickly pieced together that Lu Tingfeng must be with Ji An and had decided to greet her as well while Ji An was making the call.
Guan Xia couldn’t help but chuckle, but her amusement was quickly replaced by a flood of questions. After exchanging a few pleasantries, she cut straight to the point.
"How’s the case you’ve been working on? Is it over? Were either of you hurt? And what about those two missing friends of yours…?"
She trailed off on the last question, not daring to voice the worst-case scenario. She had tried to phrase it as gently as possible, but after she finished speaking, silence stretched between them for a long moment before Ji An finally replied in a heavy tone.
"The case is closed, but… a lot happened in between. It’s too complicated to explain over the phone. We’ll talk in detail when we meet. As for those two friends…"
Ji An paused again before continuing, her voice hoarse. "One just got out of surgery and isn’t out of danger yet. The other… well…"
She didn’t finish, but the weight in her tone told Guan Xia everything she needed to know. Her heart sank. She wanted to say something comforting, but words failed her as she opened and closed her mouth in silence.
The atmosphere grew suffocatingly tense until Ji An finally shook off the gloom and forced a more cheerful tone. "How about you? How have you been? I’m really sorry for canceling on you last minute."
Guan Xia cut off her apology. "Don’t worry about it, Ji An. You had something important to handle. Besides, you sent Xu Nian in your place, didn’t you? We just wrapped up two cases ourselves."
"Two cases?" Ji An sounded surprised.
Guan Xia hummed in confirmation and briefly summarized the two cases. Ji An listened before sighing in admiration. "You’re improving fast. Given how often you take on cases, I assume you’re already planning your next one after a few days of rest?"
The two of them had always worked well together, so Guan Xia saw no reason to hide it—though she kept her explanation vague since it was just a hunch without concrete evidence yet. "I’ve got a lead on another case. Was just about to book flights to look into it."
"Which city?" Ji An asked.
"Linshan City."
"Linshan?" Ji An sounded startled. "What a coincidence. Lu Tingfeng and I are in Linshan right now. When are you coming? We could meet up."
Guan Xia was equally surprised but quickly agreed. "Sounds great. I’ll call you once we land."
Guan Xia and Xu Nian arrived in Linshan City a little past 11 a.m. After hastily checking into their hotel, they didn’t meet up with Ji An until after 3 p.m.
Following the hospital room number Ji An had given them, Guan Xia had assumed they were meeting at the hospital because Ji An was visiting someone. But when they stepped inside, she was shocked to see both Ji An and Lu Tingfeng lying in hospital beds.
One had her head wrapped in bandages; the other had his arm in a sling. Their hospital gowns hid any other injuries, but their pale faces alone suggested they had been hurt badly.
While Guan Xia stood frozen in surprise, Xu Nian remained expressionless—though he did sigh faintly as he set down the things he was carrying and turned to Lu Tingfeng. "What happened this time? Where else are you hurt?"
Lu Tingfeng, who had been playing a game on his phone, set it aside casually. "It’s nothing serious. Just a minor injury."
Xu Nian walked over to his bed and stared at him silently before raising a hand.
Guan Xia was puzzled—until Lu Tingflinched and scooted further into the bed, lifting a corner of his gown in surrender. "Fine, fine. Here, take a look. It’s really not a big deal."
Xu Nian blocked Guan Xia’s view, so she couldn’t see the injury. Not wanting to intrude if it was in a sensitive area, she instead approached Ji An’s bed and examined the bandages around her head.
Seeing no blood seeping through, Guan Xia relaxed slightly but still couldn’t hold back her concern. "How did this happen? Is it serious? What did the doctors say? How long do you have to stay?"
She fired off questions one after another, but Ji An listened patiently before answering calmly. "Got knocked around during a fight with a suspect. Just a superficial wound and a mild concussion, so they’re keeping me for observation. It’s not serious—I’ll probably be discharged in a few days."
Guan Xia had never seen Ji An in action, but as a police officer, she must have been skilled. If both Ji An and Lu Tingfeng had been injured, the suspect must have been vicious.
Noticing Ji An’s empty water cup on the bedside table, Guan Xia refilled it from the thermos before sitting down on a nearby chair. "What about the suspect? Did you catch them?"
Before Ji An could answer, Lu Tingfeng cut in. "With the two of us on the case? No way they’d get away. We got every last one of them."
Guan Xia caught the implication in his words and turned to Ji An. "There were multiple suspects? An entire group?"
Ji An nodded. "The structure of this criminal organization was complicated. They were a branch of a drug trafficking ring—not many core members, but plenty of smaller satellite groups working under them. To avoid being exposed, they were unusually united in obstructing us. The case our friends had been investigating… they had accidentally witnessed a drug deal years ago. To silence them and cover their tracks, the group wiped out their entire family."
Guan Xia had expected the case to be complex, but not to this extent. She sucked in a sharp breath.
Drug trafficking was involved—no wonder Ji An had been gone for so long without a word, and no wonder they had all been injured. Now, Guan Xia felt lucky that they had managed to close the case with only minor injuries.
But then she remembered the friend they had lost in the process, and any trace of relief vanished.
They stayed at the hospital until evening. Guan Xia noticed Ji An and Lu Tingfeng looking exhausted, occasionally covering their mouths to stifle yawns, so she bid them goodbye and left.
As soon as they stepped out of the hospital, Pang Le let out a long sigh and whispered, "I really can't get used to this kind of atmosphere. I didn't dare say a word, afraid I might upset them. Ji An seemed calm, but her eyes were a little red—she must have been crying earlier."
Guan Xia had noticed it too but didn’t dare bring it up or ask for details about the person in question. All she knew was that the missing man and woman were a couple. The man had already lost his vital signs when he was found, while the woman had been used as bait in a fishing scheme. Though she survived, Ji An hadn’t elaborated, but Guan Xia could easily guess—falling into the hands of those people, how could she not have suffered? The fact that she was still alive after so many days missing was nothing short of a miracle.
Xu Nian, however, knew more than they did. Once they got into the car, she said quietly, "That couple were classmates with one of the victims from years ago. All three had the same graduate advisor, and the girl even shared a dorm with the victim. They grew up together."
Guan Xia suddenly understood. No wonder they had kept investigating the case years after the victim’s family was murdered. With such a deep bond, no normal person could just let it go.
"It’s just a shame about the boy," Wang Yu sighed. "He was so close to uncovering the truth, but that’s exactly why he was silenced. The girl was incredibly lucky."
Even though the truth behind the case had been uncovered, the sacrifices made left everyone feeling heavy-hearted rather than relieved. Even Guan Xia and the others, who had only heard about it secondhand, were in low spirits, too somber to chat.
Early the next morning, Xu Nian took a few members of the second team out on assignment. Qi Bai was absent again—his absence had become so frequent that Guan Xia was growing accustomed to his dramatic complaints in the group chat.
Meanwhile, Guan Xia and Pang Le returned to the hospital to visit Ji An and Lu Tingfeng. It wasn’t until Xu Nian called to say they had obtained surveillance footage from the day of Meng Lan’s accident—capturing both the neighborhood and surrounding areas—that they finally said their goodbyes and returned to the hotel.
By the time they got back, it was already dark. The three of them gathered in Wang Yu’s room, eating takeout while huddled around a laptop, reviewing the surveillance footage.
Xu Nian opened the door for them and asked as they entered, "Did you two eat dinner? I ordered extra just in case, but if you’ve already eaten, we can save it for a late-night snack."
Guan Xia set her bag on the dresser. "We ate with Ji An and Lu Tingfeng. How did things go today? Any progress?"
Jiang Yingyao swallowed a mouthful of food and said, "Everything went smoothly. The paperwork took a while, but no hiccups."
Pang Le walked over to the small table where the takeout was laid out, glanced at it, and, finding nothing she wanted, sat down on a chair instead. "Is there a lot of footage? If so, maybe we should take shifts so we’re not all stuck here."
Since there was no concrete evidence this time, and the case had been ruled an accident and closed—not an unsolved cold case—Xu Nian’s request had been approved quickly, but the equipment they could bring was limited. They only had one laptop.
Wang Yu, absorbed in the footage, kept her eyes glued to the screen as she replied absentmindedly, "I’ll take the first shift then. I slept okay last night, so I can stay up for a while. Let’s say until 2 AM—who’s taking over after that?"
Guan Xia and Pang Le exchanged glances, about to respond, when Xu Nian cut in, "I’ll take the second shift, from 2 AM to 6 AM. Then Jiang Yingyao can take over."
Xu Nian glanced at Jiang Yingyao. "6 AM—does that work for you?"
Jiang Yingyao nodded with a smile. "Thanks for accommodating this old man. I’m a bit worn out from running around all day, so I’ll head back to my room to wash up and sleep. I’ll set an alarm for 5:50, freshen up, and be right on time."
Seeing that they had already taken the toughest shifts, Guan Xia could only sigh in resignation. "Then Pang Le and I will come by at 9 AM with breakfast for everyone."
Though the shifts were settled, the group stayed in Wang Yu’s room for a while longer, keeping her company until close to midnight before finally saying goodnight and heading back to their own rooms to wash up and sleep.
The next morning at 9 AM sharp, Guan Xia and Pang Le knocked on Wang Yu’s door, takeout breakfast in hand. Wang Yu answered, rubbing her bleary eyes. "You’re here."
Guan Xia greeted her and set the breakfast on the small table, scanning the room. "Why are you the one answering? Where are Xu Nian and Jiang Yingyao?"
Wang Yu yawned widely and stretched. "Xu Nian took the laptop back to their room last night. Since Jiang Yingyao was next in line, it saved them the trouble of moving around. At this hour, Xu Nian’s probably still asleep, but Jiang Yingyao should be here soon."
Sure enough, about ten minutes later, as Wang Yu was finishing her breakfast after washing up, another knock came at the door. Jiang Yingyao stood there, laptop in one hand and a USB drive containing the surveillance footage in the other.
After entering, he set everything down on the empty bed, washed his hands, and joined them for breakfast. Between bites, he briefed them on what they had found in the footage the night before.
"Xu Nian and I both spotted suspicious individuals and vehicles," Jiang Yingyao said. "But we’ll need to investigate further to confirm anything."
He turned to Wang Yu. "What about you? Any leads?"
Wang Yu, wolfing down her food, nodded. "I found something too. I wrote down the license plate numbers—we can cross-check them later."
Since Guan Xia and Pang Le had already eaten, they wordlessly moved to the empty bed to pick up the laptop when Jiang Yingyao added, "We’ve marked the reviewed footage on the USB drive. If you two don’t have plans today, you can stay at the hotel and keep watching. Call us if you find anything."
Guan Xia caught the implication in his words. "You’re heading out today? To follow up on leads?"
Jiang Yingyao took a big bite of his jianbing and replied, somewhat muffled, "Yeah. Now that we have potential leads, we’ll do some preliminary checks during the day."
He checked the time. "Knowing Xu Nian, she’ll probably be up in another hour or so. With only one laptop, sitting around here would be a waste of time. Might as well hit the streets."
Guan Xia was impressed. Maybe it was a habit from years in the force, but their ability to pull all-nighters like this left her in awe.
Wang Yu and Xu Nian were fine—after all, they were young and had robust constitutions. But Jiang Yingyao was already in his forties. If she remembered correctly, he had left Wang Yu’s room well past midnight and had barely slept six hours. On top of that, he’d spent hours reviewing surveillance footage, yet here he was, still energetic enough to run around outside.
Perhaps Guan Xia’s disbelief was too obvious, because Jiang Yingyao chuckled and added, “Compared to past cases, this is actually pretty relaxed. Take our investigation in Daqu County, for example—this is nothing. Besides, when you’re used to being busy, it’s hard to sit idle.”
Guan Xia couldn’t relate at all. Instinctively, she turned to Pang Le, hoping for solidarity, only to find him nodding in agreement. “Honestly, even with all the running around lately, the workload’s been light. I kind of miss the days of hiking and climbing. Once this is over, I’m definitely going bungee jumping—twice. Need to get that adrenaline rush back.”
Guan Xia immediately averted her gaze. Well, it seemed she was the only slacker in this group.
