Chapter 22

“Based on the surveillance footage, Zhao Weiqing went to Jiang Qi’s residence after leaving the mall,” Lin Jiafan explained, completely ignoring Pang Guangbuyi’s questioning outburst and not even lifting his head.

“Judging by the timeline, Zhao Weiqing likely took public transportation to Jiang Qi’s place, and the two of them then left the neighborhood together in Jiang Qi’s car.”

He furrowed his brows uncertainly, handed the phone back to Pang Guangbuyi, and took the lead in walking back into the office building.

With the topic abruptly changed, Pang Guangbuyi quickly forgot the earlier scene, eagerly trotting after him. Before leaving, he even waved cheerfully at the person who had just gotten out of the car.

Naturally, Luo Jingyao did not decline the invitation and joined the two men as they walked into the Special Case Investigation Unit’s office.

Before anyone had even fully caught their breath, Lin Jiafan instructed Pang Guangbuyi to pull up the surveillance footage from Jiang Qi’s residential compound and repeatedly played the two most crucial segments.

Just as the young man rewound the footage to the moment before the pair drove out of the compound, Lin Jiafan’s dark eyes locked tightly onto the white sedan slowly approaching on the screen.
“There! Right here!” he declared.

As the image froze, everyone could clearly see half of the face of the person sitting in the front passenger seat. After a thorough technical analysis, it was almost certain that the person was Zhao Weiqing.

Meanwhile, Jiang Qi—sitting in the driver’s seat with her hands on the steering wheel—happened to glance slightly toward the surveillance camera at that exact moment. Her stunning face appeared tense and stiff.

“She’s asking for help,” Lin Jiafan suddenly stated with conviction after silently observing for a while.

Luo Jingyao and Pang Guangbuyi hadn’t yet processed what he meant when they saw him reach out and gently tap the screen with his index finger.
“Zoom in and enhance the image quality here.”

As the clatter of keyboard keys filled the room, that specific frame was isolated, enlarged, and gradually became clearer.

“Is that a knife tip?!” Pang Guangbuyi exclaimed uncertainly. “So Zhao Weiqing hid a knife under the fabric bag he was carrying and used it to threaten Jiang Qi?”

“I’ll start tracking the license plate to see where they went!”

“I’ll contact the tech team,” Lin Jiafan added urgently. “Jiang Qi’s phone is already turned off—I’m not sure if we can still pinpoint the last signal coordinates.”
He quickly turned and rushed out of the office.

Less than two minutes later, Guo Zhen and Pan Chang showed up one after another. They explained that Lin Jiafan had called them back to assist Pang Guangbuyi with vehicle tracking.

The three of them immediately immersed themselves in their work. The office was filled with a fervent energy, making Luo Jingyao feel somewhat out of place.

After a moment of thought, she decided to leave.
After all, there were boundaries that should be respected.

But she didn’t go home. Instead, she exited the police station, crossed the street at the crosswalk, and returned to the flower shop.

As luck would have it, she arrived right during a busy period. Luo Jingyao helped the staff manage the workload for a while.

When things finally quieted down and she had a moment to relax, she looked up and realized that night had completely fallen. She took out her phone and ordered food delivery for both herself and the staff. After tidying up the leftover floral materials and wrapping paper, she sat by the floor-to-ceiling window and drifted into thought.

Creak—

She heard the soft sound of a door opening. Through the reflective glass in front of her, Luo Jingyao saw that the staff member had opened the small storage room at the back of the shop.

For some reason, a flash of memory from that night—when she found herself inside an unknown refrigerator—suddenly played before her eyes.

She could almost smell the nauseating stench of blood again.

Feeling slightly uncomfortable, she closed her eyes. But instead of fading, the scene grew even clearer.

Taking a deep breath, Luo Jingyao decided to face it head-on.
If she couldn’t escape it, she might as well observe it more closely.

After all, she had previously been able to identify Zhao Weiqing as a prime suspect based on the killer’s clothing. Who knows—maybe she’d discover another critical clue?

With that in mind, she refocused her attention on the refrigerator’s interior. But all she saw were countless plastic bags.

She tried identifying the fridge’s brand by examining its design, but had no luck there either.

Just then, the memory shifted to the moment when the killer opened the fridge door.
Luo Jingyao had already replayed this figure’s key features a hundred times in her mind, so this time, she concentrated all her focus on looking behind the man.

There was a wall. The paint on it was chipped and peeling, and a slanted bulletin board hung on it, filled densely with writing.

The characters were far too small to read. No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn’t make them out.

Ding-a-ling~

The crisp jingle of the doorbell pulled her out of her trance. Luo Jingyao stood up instinctively and, still dazed, greeted the customer:

“Welcome. Is there anything I can help y—”

Her warm tone cut off abruptly the moment she recognized the person’s face.
Instead, she asked in surprise, “Officer Lin? What are you doing here?”

“We just went out to grab a bite nearby and happened to pass by the shop. I saw you sitting inside and thought I’d stop in and say hello,” Lin Jiafan said with a smile. “Coach Luo, would you like to join us?”

To be fair, the man had helped them quite a bit over the past couple of days. A meal wouldn’t be unreasonable.

“Thanks, but no. I just ordered food—it should arrive any minute now,” Luo Jingyao politely declined, then couldn’t resist asking, “Did you find the two of them?”

Lin Jiafan shook his head, though he didn’t sound particularly disappointed.

“Pang Guangbuyi and the team tracked the car for three blocks using traffic and surveillance cameras, only to watch it disappear into a blind spot right in front of them.”

He was no stranger to setbacks like this.

“We’re now using the traffic control system to search the city for that car’s license plate. If it showed up on any road with surveillance after that point, we should be able to reconnect the trail.”

It all sounded like exhausting work. Luo Jingyao looked at him with newfound sympathy.
“What about Jiang Qi’s phone?”

“The last signal pinged from Binhai Road in the Binhai New District. We’ve already sent a team to search the area, but hopes are slim. It’s very possible Zhao Weiqing tossed her phone into the sea.”

“So far, the police have nearly exhausted all available leads,” Lin Jiafan said, his expression gradually growing helpless.

“In that case, let’s just continue this another time…” Time was quite tight for him at the moment, so after exchanging a few more words, he was about to take his leave.

Unexpectedly, Luo Jingyao suddenly seemed to think of something. Her expression turned sharp and serious. Ignoring what he said, she quickly pulled out her phone and opened a navigation app.

Her slightly trembling finger hovered above the screen for a couple of seconds before she solemnly typed into the search bar: ‘Chengyuan Vegetable and Fruit Supermarket.’

A second later, the search results popped up.

“No. 78 Wutong Road, Binhai New District?!” Even though she tried to keep her voice steady, Luo Jingyao’s words still came out sharp and high-pitched. “I remember now! That garbage bag taken from Zhao Weiqing’s room this morning had those exact words printed on it — ‘Chengyuan Vegetable and Fruit Supermarket’!”

Not only that, she had also seen a few plastic bags with the same logo in the refrigerator.

Just like how she had noticed something odd about Zhao Weiqing earlier — all because of the strange inner shirt he was wearing — if it hadn’t been for the overlap of these small clues, she might never have pieced together the key connection.

The mall where Zhao Weiqing lived and worked was in Huaidong District. So why did plastic bags from a supermarket in Binhai New District appear both in his room and at the suspected crime scene? Add to that the fact that Jiang Qi’s last known phone signal was also in Binhai New District…

Lin Jiafan’s eyes lit up behind his glasses. Taking two steps forward, he stood beside her and began studying the map of the Chengyuan Supermarket area on her phone.

“Look here — this supermarket is very close to the Korean-style massage parlor where Huang Guifen worked. It’s just one street away.” It didn’t take much effort for the man to notice another critical detail.

Luo Jingyao leaned closer for a better look — he was right.

Her mouth slowly opened in shock. Could it be… could it be she had just stumbled upon something huge?

“It’s highly possible Zhao Weiqing has a hideout nearby,” Lin Jiafan said, visibly energized. “There’s a chance he took Jiang Qi there. Remember, the police still haven’t located the original crime scene of either murder!”

Clearly unable to stay put, Lin Jiafan immediately pulled out his phone and dialed a number.

“Pang Guangbuyi, check right now whether there are any properties, rental records, or business premises in Binhai New District connected to Zhao Weiqing or Jiang Qi — include their relatives and close social ties as well.”

“Seriously? You’re dropping this on me during lunch? My food’s ruined.”

Luo Jingyao heard the young man on the other end grumbling, but the sound of frantic keyboard typing immediately following his complaints nearly made her burst into laughter.

Like… who brings a laptop to lunch unless they’re a special kind of workaholic?

Then again, she thought, none of them in this special task force were what you’d call “normal.”

Amid the noisy chewing and clacking of keys, it hadn’t even been a full minute before Pang Guangbuyi spoke again.

“Whoa, damn — found something! Jiang Qi used to run a beauty salon in Binhai New District. It shut down three years ago, but the property is still under her name.”

“The address is Unit 101, Building 4, Shenghuo Community, Binhai New District.”

A beauty salon? That fit perfectly.

Luo Jingyao nodded instinctively. Back at the suspected crime scene, she remembered seeing a poster on the wall. Though the text had been too blurry to read, the bottom-left corner clearly had a picture of a woman wearing a facial mask.

“How far is that from No. 78 Wutong Road?” Lin Jiafan asked quickly.

Pang Guangbuyi paused, double-checked the information, and replied, “Very close. Shenghuo Community is actually on Wutong Road.”

“Tell the bureau to prep the car! We’re leaving now!” Lin Jiafan didn’t even pause to say thanks. He turned around, pushed open the flower shop’s door, and vanished almost instantly.

Luo Jingyao stood frozen in place for a while, only snapping out of it when the food delivery arrived.

Taking the meal, she laid out the utensils on the workbench and called the store assistant’s name toward the back room.

Just as she opened the meal box and was about to take her first bite, several police cars suddenly roared out of the public security bureau across the street!

The red and blue lights intertwined with the piercing sound of sirens, fading into the distance. Luo Jingyao unconsciously raised her hand to her chest, feeling the intense pounding of her heart.

Being a cop… might actually be kind of thrilling.