At 3:30 in the afternoon, inside the old premises of the Behavioral Analysis Unit in the Bureau, Su Hui and Yao Fei sat facing each other.

Next to them were two timed bombs set for five o’clock.

The afternoon sunlight slanted through the window, illuminating the floating specks of dust in the air and the smoke exhaled by Yao Fei.

From Yao Fei’s vantage point, he could see the distinct roots of Su Hui’s eyelashes, as if they were gilded by the sunlight. Su Hui’s eyes were clear, but Yao Fei was unwilling to easily trust him.

Yao Fei continued to ask, “What else have you guessed?”

Su Hui pondered for a moment, then opened his eyes and deduced, “You discovered Bi Shanyu through the Fine Sand case. Recently, you’ve been using his phone and identity to approach those serial killers. Not only do you suspect someone caused Yu Yan’s death, but you also suspect that someone in the police department is targeting you.”

Yao Fei suddenly sneered and asked, “Weren’t you the one responsible for all of these things?”

Su Hui shook his head, his face pale.

Yao Fei looked at him, narrowing his eyes slightly. “Wasn’t it because of you that I was expelled from the Bureau?” It was the first time in two years that the two of them faced each other to discuss this matter.

Su Hui said, “I simply wrote an evaluation report according to the leadership’s requirements. It was not biased in any way.”

“Do you have no connection with those people?” Yao Fei exhaled a puff of smoke and said, “You must be lying to me. You are in league with them, and you were involved in the things inside.”

Su Hui continued to shake his head and deny, “I am aware of the people you mentioned, but I have no relationship with them. Before the Fine Sand explosion case, I was already investigating this matter…”

Yao Fei frowned but remained silent.

“Did you suspect me because of this?” Su Hui smiled bitterly.

Yao Fei said, “The ideas in an article you wrote are very consistent with those people.”

It was about that article again.

Su Hui explained, “I wrote that article to prevent such a possibility, not because I wanted to do those things myself. In fact, my memories are a bit confused now, and I haven’t remembered why I wrote that article at that time.”

When recalling that article, Su Hui still hadn’t found a complete logical chain in his mind.

It seemed that those inspirations just naturally appeared in his mind.

Su Hui pondered how to make himself clear to Yao Fei. “A few days ago, I went to your residence to look for you…”

Yao Fei fell silent for a moment. “I still suspect that you were planted in the police department by those people…”

Su Hui shook his head. “I was severely injured in the Fine Sand case and nearly died. I think those people probably wanted to get rid of me too.”

Yao Fei blew a smoke ring. At that time, he had already been expelled from the police force, and the news of Su Hui’s injury had been kept under wraps, with few people knowing about it. “This is something I didn’t know. Among those people, there are individuals from the police force, so it’s better to be cautious. It’s never wrong.”

Su Hui coughed twice, lowered his hand, and suppressed the intense pain within him. “Also, the leader of the Major Crimes Unit I’m currently cooperating with is Yu Yan’s nephew. If there really was something suspicious about Teacher Yu’s death, we also hope to uncover the truth.”

Mentioning Yu Yan, Yao Fei’s expression finally eased a bit. He recalled for a moment and said, “It was that Officer Lu…”

Su Hui asked, “You always felt that Yu Yan’s case was not so simple. What were your reasons for suspicion?”

Yao Fei spoke up, “Back then, the killer who murdered Yu Yan received a phone call. Although we couldn’t trace who made the call, the location was within the police station, exactly when Yu Yan was leaving. After the police subdued the killer, they claimed that the killer resisted arrest and shot him randomly, but such behavior seemed like an attempt to silence him. Furthermore, after Teacher Yu’s death, when I organized his files, many documents were inconsistent, and some disappeared. The case was hastily closed before we could even determine the source of the murder weapon…”

Although there was no concrete evidence, these clues combined were enough to prove that there was something suspicious about Yu Yan’s death.

Su Hui sat close to him, unable to see Yao Fei’s gaze clearly, but he could tell that Yao Fei’s eyes were slightly red, and his voice trembled.

Yao Fei seemed indifferent to many things, but only this matter, only this person, was his weak spot.

Su Hui asked him, “So you repeatedly filed reports and requested a review at that time?”

Yao Fei nodded and said, “Every time I filed a report, it would be returned to me untouched. Later on, those people became nervous. That case from back then, they also manipulated it behind the scenes. They even considered killing me to silence me. I voluntarily submitted my resignation and pretended to give up the investigation, only then did they let me go.”

But in reality, he did not stop investigating afterward.

Su Hui furrowed his brows and asked, “So what do you think is the reason for Yu Yan’s murder?”

Yao Fei fell silent for a few seconds before speaking, “Have you received what I left for you? It was the information that Teacher Yu left me. I think he might have anticipated that he could encounter unforeseen circumstances. I tried to unravel the puzzles within it, so I bought the same book and left it for you.”

Su Hui suddenly remembered, “Page 372, the poem about fire.”

“In Huadu, there used to be a 372 Psychological Research Institute,” Yao Fei observed Su Hui’s expression. “You really don’t know about the 372 Research Institute? I think even if you’re not part of the other side, you should have quickly found out about it.”

Su Hui furrowed his brows, pondered for a moment, and suddenly understood. He took out his phone and said, “I once saw a photo and thought it was the 312 Research Institute…”

As he spoke, he found the information that Lu Junchi had sent him.

Chen Xueqian smiled in the photo.

Yao Fei glanced at it and nodded, “That’s the place.”

It was possible that due to the oldness of the photo and some obstruction, they mistook the 7 for a 1. So that’s why they didn’t find the correct information.

“Two years ago, during the investigation, I found a woman named Chen Xueqian who was associated with this research institute. She was also relevant to the investigation you were conducting at the time, which is why people like us were targeted by those individuals…” Su Hui connected the clues in his mind.

Yao Fei’s expression became somewhat gloomy and uncertain for a moment. After a moment of silence, he nodded and said, “Teacher Yu discovered that some of the serial killers in Huadu were related to this organization.”

Su Hui connected the information he now knew and exclaimed, “So… it’s highly likely that Yu Yan discovered the secret of this place and was killed to silence him?”

All the dots finally connected at this moment, and the clues in his mind formed a closed loop.

“I followed the clues left by Teacher Yu and then discovered those serial killers,” Yao Fei said, turning his head. “Recently, you’ve also come to know some of them, right?”

Su Hui recited names one by one, “Fu Yunchu, An Yuci, Chen Xuexian, Song Lan’en…”

He had long been suspicious. The recent surge in the number of Huadu serial killers was not in line with normal patterns.

Su Hui furrowed his brow and recalled each of those individuals.

Perhaps without external interference, some of them might not have reached this point.

“Does this research institution still exist?”

“I searched and investigated, but there is very little information available. It feels like the online information has been thoroughly cleaned multiple times. What I can confirm is that this research institute existed for many years but was destroyed in a major fire ten years ago. All the archives and documents were completely wiped out. However, those people should be connected to the cases the police are investigating, including the Fine Sand Case.”

“So, you found Bi Shanyu.”

Yao Fei nodded. “Over ten days ago, I found Bi Shanyu before the police did. I kept him locked in an underground room and obtained some clues from him. I also obtained his phone and computer. Using his identity, I contacted the others. Afterwards, Song Lan’en suddenly contacted me, wanting to carry out one final operation. I played along and came here.”

Su Hui asked another crucial question, “Did you find the mastermind behind all this?”

Shaking his head, Yao Fei replied, “I searched for a long time but couldn’t find out their exact identity.”

Song Lan’en was the mastermind behind the Fine Sand Case, but it was evident that he was not the mastermind.

At this point in the conversation, Yao Fei leaned back in his chair. “A few days ago, my phone was confiscated, so I couldn’t notify anyone. Well… to be precise, right now I don’t trust anyone.”

Su Hui said, “Even if you don’t trust me, you can trust Captain Lu.”

He wanted to transfer Yao Fei’s trust in Yu Yan to Lu Junchi.

Yao Fei’s breath paused, diverting the topic. “Speaking of which, the security measures of the bureau are as lax as ever. How’s your progress going?”

Su Hui replied honestly, “We have already captured Dai Yuansheng and Xu Shuang. Apart from them, we have obtained six tokens. With these two, we have a total of eight.”

Yao Fei nodded. “To my knowledge, there are a total of thirteen tokens. Among us four, we have acquired the larger ones, while the others have smaller ones.”

Su Hui made a thoughtful sound, calculating the current situation. If Yao Fei was willing to give him the token he had, their chances of success would increase.

After a moment of silence, Yao Fei took a drag of his cigarette. “I was confused for a while, wondering how I should avenge Yu Yan. Should I find the people in the police station and kill them? I even thought about whether I should ignite this bomb when I was among those people. Should I blow up the murderers, blow myself up, blow up the accomplices in the bureau, or blow up those damn people behind the scenes…”

Su Hui understood clearly that Yao Fei wasn’t a conventional righteous person. He had been walking a fine line between good and evil for a long time.

He also knew that what Yao Fei was doing was extremely dangerous, and he couldn’t contact the outside world.

There might be informants among the police, so reporting the situation wasn’t a good option.

Moreover, after going through those events, Yao Fei might have lost basic trust in many people.

During this time, he had been carefully avoiding arousing suspicion while playing along with them…

Perhaps he should be grateful that even in such circumstances, he hadn’t completely lost his conscience.

Inside the empty office, Yao Fei’s voice continued.

“…But I’m not willing to give up because I haven’t found the person behind it all. I’m well aware that my abilities are limited. If it’s just me, I might not be able to uncover the truth.”

Yao Fei extinguished the cigarette in his hand as he reached this point.

Su Hui speculated on what he might say next. Building trust wasn’t always a pleasant process, but fortunately, the outcome seemed promising.

Yao Fei looked up and said, “Although I had my suspicions about you, and perhaps we had some misunderstandings between us, I believe that if you have no connection to that place, you’re likely the person most capable of finding the answers and uncovering the truth.”

Su Hui replied, “So, together we can find the remaining individuals in the city.”

Yao Fei nodded. “Let’s work together. It’s a pleasure.”