They went over Lu Shiyan’s situation one more time in the end.
“Resolved.” Shen Wu leaned against the arm of the sofa. “Apparently, by the time the investigation reached its conclusion, the look on that troublemaking Commander Gao’s face was…”
“How should I put it?”
“Spectacular.”
“Quit keeping us in suspense,” Qinian said, immediately interested. “What do you mean by spectacular? Give us the details.”
“The corpse he brought out as his trump card…” A faint smile touched the corners of Shen Wu’s lips. “It wasn’t the real young master who’d supposedly been silenced. It was a con man who’d tried and failed to impersonate him a year ago.”
Jiang Nuan blinked. “...What?”
Hadn’t Lu Shiyan gotten rid of the wealthy businessman’s son? If that corpse had been discovered, shouldn’t it have been the real young master’s body?
“The captain gave the corpse several layers of false identities. When the investigation dug down to the deepest level, it found exactly what he wanted people to see. Commander Gao thought he’d exposed the captain’s trump card, but all he’d really done was turn to the page of a script the captain had written in advance.”
“The man had once tried to impersonate the wealthy businessman’s son and claim the inheritance. After being exposed, he became a disgraced nobody and eventually drank himself to death amid an utterly unremarkable street robbery.” Shen Wu lifted his chin. “As for our Captain Governor-General’s identity, every layer—from the first one investigated to the very last—stood up to scrutiny. It was clean enough to make you think he’d been that person since the day he was born.”
“Wait.” Qinian sat up straight. “Then Commander Gao would have—”
For once, a faintly peculiar smile appeared on Shen Wu’s face. He nodded. “The airtight evidence Commander Gao spent an enormous amount of manpower and resources digging up ultimately became a flawless identity certification for Lu Shiyan—personally completed by Commander Gao himself.”
The room fell silent for two seconds.
“Hahahaha!” Jiang Ce was the first to burst out laughing. “What is this? He picked up a rock and dropped it on his own foot?”
“Serves him right,” Ye Que said coldly.
Jiang Nuan couldn’t hold back a laugh.
Lu Shiyan really was reliable.
The kind of reliable that was… terrifying.
The kind where every step was welded shut.
He had started from nothing in this world and climbed all the way to the position of Governor-General, while making his background so impeccable that even after someone went over it with a magnifying glass, they couldn’t shake out a single speck of dust.
If he ever went on one of those entrepreneurship reality shows, the judges would slap the championship trophy into his hands on the spot.
“After two more days of procedural formalities, he’ll be able to resume his post.” Shen Wu closed his terminal. “After that, he can use some work-related excuse to come openly to District A and meet up with us.”
“The timing works out perfectly,” Ye Que said with a nod. “We’ll head over first and get a feel for the situation in District A. By the time he arrives, he can slot right in without a hitch.”
Jiang Nuan silently calculated.
Two days for the procedures, plus the journey—it would probably be about three days before they saw him.
Once Lu Shiyan arrived, the team would be missing only…
Qi Sui.
They were going to District A to find the Core. It was, in essence, a move aimed at cutting out the roots.
Destroying the Core meant destroying the Cleaners’ foundation in this world. Once this world was gone, the Cleaners would naturally be gone with it.
...But the Cleaners had gone to such lengths to abduct Qi Sui, set up an ambush, and even collude with Commander Gao to target Lu Shiyan.
With an obsession that deep, if they changed direction, would the Cleaners immediately alter their plans and set up another blockade?
No one knew.
The meeting more or less ended there.
*
As the meeting broke up, Ye Que stood and reached out with his long arm, taking hold of Jiang Nuan’s wrist. He was already leading her toward the bedroom.
Jiang Nuan hadn’t even had time to react when Qinian exploded beside them.
“Hey, hey, hey?! Ye Que, what are you doing?” Qinian hurriedly stepped between them, his expression full of suspicion.
Ye Que stared at the body blocking his way without a trace of emotion. “Move.”
“Move, my ass.” Qinian forced himself between the two of them. “Dragging someone into a bedroom in broad daylight—what are you thinking? Have you no shame?”
“What does it have to do with you?” Ye Que said.
Qinian nearly jumped on the spot. “How does it not have anything to do with me?!”
Taking advantage of the two men’s standoff, Jiang Nuan pulled free of Ye Que’s grip and backed away several steps. She cleared her throat. “There are plenty of rooms in this apartment. I can choose one myself.”
Ye Que’s gaze passed over Qinian’s shoulder and landed on her face.
“The innermost room,” he said. “The window faces north. It’s quiet.”
Then he turned and left.
Behind him, Qinian called out in a sarcastic tone, “Oh, so you scoped it out in advance, did you? Ye Que, is this all you think about every day?”
Ye Que ignored him.
Everyone went off to find a room and rest.
Jiang Nuan stopped Shen Wu and Jiang Ce as they were preparing to leave. “Wait a moment.”
The two of them looked back.
“I have something else to discuss. It won’t take long,” Jiang Nuan added.
She didn’t actually want to delay their rest, especially not Shen Wu’s.
His face was pale, and fatigue darkened the area beneath his eyes.
But the matter concerning Su Yang had been weighing on her heart so heavily that she could barely breathe.
Emotionally, it was almost like watching a living friend die right before her eyes. She couldn’t pretend nothing had happened.
Rationally, she had a bone-deep sense of unease. Su Yang’s death had to be connected to her somehow.
This wasn’t merely guilt talking. Several things had happened that simply couldn’t be explained by common sense. Put together, they felt wrong no matter how she looked at them.
She had kept Jiang Ce and Shen Wu behind because Jiang Ce had been with her the first time they met Su Yang.
And Shen Wu was the team’s most authoritative intelligence officer and analyst.
She needed to make sure this wasn’t all in her head before telling the others.
The three of them moved to an empty lounge next door.
Jiang Nuan told Jiang Ce what had happened to Su Yang.
The room was silent for several seconds.
“That kid…” Jiang Ce’s voice dropped.
His large hands slowly clenched into fists. After a long moment, he said hoarsely, “The saying ‘good people don’t live long’ really is the worst.”
A dull ache passed through Jiang Nuan’s chest.
She remembered Su Yang’s smile as he tossed over the car keys. She remembered the carefree way he’d said, “Hey, it’s no big deal.”
That boy had never once been wary of these complete strangers from beginning to end.
Suppressing her emotions, she looked at Shen Wu. “There was something very wrong with the driver after the accident.”
She described what she had seen.
“...He looked as if he’d suddenly woken from a dream. He had no memory of what he’d done and couldn’t explain why he’d stepped on the accelerator.”
Shen Wu didn’t interrupt her. Only after she had finished did he speak.
“If we rule out mental illness,” he said, “the most likely possibility is interference from a high-level psychic ability. His perception and behavior were directly controlled, and the person being controlled wouldn’t retain any memories.”
Jiang Nuan’s heart sank.
She had already vaguely considered that possibility, but hearing it confirmed by Shen Wu made the hazy suspicion feel real.
“As for why Su Yang was chosen as the target,” Shen Wu continued, thinking aloud, “there are many possibilities. Revenge, a crime of passion, silencing him, or…”
His voice trailed off.
“Or what?” Jiang Nuan pressed.
Shen Wu didn’t answer. Instead, he asked, “Was there anything unusual about Su Yang today?”
Jiang Nuan’s heart gave a jolt.
She had spoken up precisely because she felt something was wrong.
“There were several things,” she said, her voice growing quieter with every word.
She recounted, one by one, the details surrounding Su Yang’s death: the sudden vacancy in his eyes; how he had abruptly gone from insisting on barbecue to agreeing to go wherever she wanted for hot pot; his excessive, inexplicable concern; and the strange, nonsensical words he had uttered just before they crossed the street…
Taken individually, none of these things seemed like a major issue. But put together, and combined with that bizarre car accident, they inevitably made people wonder.
“He said something very strange before we crossed the street.” Jiang Nuan repeated the exchange.
“I joked that the reason I’d saved him at the barbecue restaurant was because he was handsome—that approaching him had been worth the effort.”
As Jiang Nuan recalled the deep yet suggestive tone Su Yang had used at the time, her scalp prickled.
“He said, ‘Approaching me… Right. Who wouldn’t want to… take a few more looks?’”
A brief silence fell over the room.
Shen Wu looked away.
“Handsome. Approaching…” he murmured, lowering his eyes and repeating the words softly.
After a moment, Shen Wu raised his gaze again. Emotions no one could decipher churned in those usually indifferent eyes.
“Taking into account the abnormalities you mentioned earlier,” Shen Wu said slowly, “it’s highly likely that he had already been controlled by a high-level psychic ability user the first time his eyes went vacant.”
Jiang Nuan held her breath.
“Here’s a bold hypothesis,” Shen Wu continued. “The reason Su Yang was chosen as a target was you.”
“Because of the way you interacted with Su Yang while he was under control, the person behind all this developed murderous intent toward him.”
“After that, they controlled the driver as well, making him crash into the Su Yang they already had under their control.”
Jiang Nuan felt a chill shoot straight to the top of her head.
She couldn’t help protesting, “But everything Su Yang and I talked about was completely normal! We were just interacting and chatting like friends!”
“How could anyone—” Her voice began to tremble before she could finish.
“A normal person would certainly think that way.”
Shen Wu cut her off calmly.
“But what if the other person isn’t normal?”
He stared at her for several seconds.
“That kind of abnormality isn’t difficult to understand,” Shen Wu said quietly.
Something flashed through his eyes during those few seconds.
Jiang Nuan couldn’t put her finger on what it was. She only felt a chill creep down her back.
Jiang Ce spoke first.
“Even if Shen Wu’s theory is correct,” he said as he rose, his tall body blocking part of the light, “this still isn’t your fault.”
He looked at Jiang Nuan’s pale face.
“The one at fault is the madman behind all this, the one who slaughtered innocent people. You only went out for a meal. You did nothing wrong.”
Jiang Nuan tipped her head back and looked into Jiang Ce’s worried eyes. She forced a smile. “I know.”
Jiang Ce reached out his broad hand and gently patted her shoulder. “Don’t dwell on it. Get some rest. We’re still going to District A tomorrow.”
Jiang Nuan nodded.
Jiang Ce withdrew his hand, turned, and walked toward the door.
The door opened, then closed. Only Jiang Nuan and Shen Wu remained in the room.
The light stretched their shadows long across the floor. Jiang Nuan sat with her head bowed on the sofa, her fingers absently rubbing the silver bracelet Ye Que had given her.
Shen Wu showed no intention of getting up.
He leaned back in the single-seater opposite her, relaxed, his long legs crossed.
Silence lingered for a while.
“You still have something you want to ask.” Shen Wu’s voice was quiet and detached.
Jiang Nuan looked up at him.
Did she?
It seemed she did.
When Shen Wu had said just now that it “wasn’t difficult to understand,” had he been talking about the person behind it all—or about himself?
She didn’t voice the question.
In front of Shen Wu, she didn’t need to.
Shen Wu lowered his eyes. From this angle, his expression was impossible to make out.
The corners of his lips curved slightly. “What do you think?”
