Chapter 27: Another Murder

Xiao Fen originally thought they had been recognized by nearby residents. As more people watched the variety show live stream, more people knew them. As fugitives, surviving in a big city was extremely difficult.

But half an hour later, he dismissed that idea.

There were at least sixty of these people, and their target was clear—they were coming straight for him. They were organized and disciplined, with an outer encirclement and inner mobile patrols. Their division of labor was clear-cut. Even when shaken off, they didn’t panic and never broke formation.

It was Fang Si Ting’s Pursuit Team again.

And this time, their numbers were more than twice as many as yesterday’s search team.

They were investigating that murder case like mad over there, so why hadn’t they dropped their attention on him?

Today was only the third day. At this rate, he would be caught sooner or later.

Xiao Fen grew angry from being chased. This guy was truly relentless. Fortunately, he had timely found something to keep him busy; otherwise, he might not have been able to outmaneuver him.

“Brother Ou Yu, two people make too big a target. For the remaining days, I think we should split up.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Ou Yu grabbed his wrist. “No.”

His tone was firm, unlike anything he would normally say.

“I mean,” Ou Yu realized he had lost his composure and quickly added, “Yesterday you walked all day and looked like you’d had a rough time— all decadent and exhausted.”

That was because he had been busy all day without any rest.

“If there are two of us, at least we can share the burden.”

Xiao Fen wanted to refuse, but when he saw the worry and concern in Ou Yu’s eyes, a soft spot formed in his heart.

“Always being chased and forced to hide everywhere is so frustrating. Let me think of a way.”

Xiao Fen spotted several plainclothes officers approaching head-on and suddenly remembered something.

“The Pursuit Team was clearly staking out nearby yesterday and didn’t find us. Logically, they shouldn’t show up again today.” He looked at Ou Yu. “Unless they knew we would meet here today.”

“Ah?” Ou Yu was stunned for a moment before frowning. “I didn’t tell anyone about this. Could it really be me…”

He trusted Xiao Fen’s methods, but if the Pursuit Team found him…

“We should split up then.” A trace of guilt flashed in Ou Yu’s eyes.

“No, stick with me. That’s the only way to ensure your temporary safety.”

Xiao Fen’s lips curved into a smile as an idea gradually took shape in his mind.

++

When Fang Si Ting received the Action Team’s report that they had lost the target, he wasn’t too surprised.

The murder scene from last night screamed Xiao Fen’s style. Once he realized that, he immediately ordered Bai Zhu to take the Action Team members and apprehend all the program guests currently under surveillance, bringing them back to the United Building.

Yesterday, Ou Yu had been alone and entered the Pursuit Team’s field of detection in less than two hours, but Fang Si Ting hadn’t moved on him.

The Program Crew needed the Film Emperor’s traffic, and they planned to use Ou Yu as bait to draw out Xiao Fen.

Then, combining the Action Team members monitoring those guests with their current manpower, they threw everything into tracking Ou Yu and capturing Xiao Fen.

Everyone had weaknesses. That was his guiding principle.

Xiao Fen was flamboyant and loved to show off. Any small accomplishment always betrayed a hint of smugness in his eyes. He craved adventure and could never stay settled.

From their few encounters, what seemed like weaknesses were actually tempting bait. Once you bit, you discovered the meticulous schemes and step-by-step planning behind it all— a mind that was watertight.

If he wanted, he could position everyone just one step from the truth while always keeping them one step away.

Ou Yu’s presence had truly made things easier for him.

Under this lightning-fast assault that should have caught him off guard, Xiao Fen still managed to escape.

“Stick to Ou Yu. Continue tracking.” He sent those eight words to Bai Zhu. Timidly, the other side called out, “Inspector Fang, should I keep reporting?”

Fang Si Ting looked up and grunted in acknowledgment, his face betraying no emotion.

That morning, just before leaving the neighborhood, the Pursuit Team finally located the man who had been living with Lu Jin over the past few days— Jiang Xu.

He was a gentle young man with a touch of shyness, who had worked at the Lu Corporation Subsidiary for several years yet still looked like an ivory-tower university student— excessively clean-cut.

“I and Lu Jin are friends.” He had a fair, scholarly appearance, and his voice was just as pristine, like the top layer of white foam swept up in ocean waves— innocent with a pure naivety.

“A few days ago, he said someone was tracking him, so he stayed at my place.”

“Boss Lu hasn’t gone out these past few days.”

“Do you know who he’s been in contact with lately?” Fang Si Ting asked.

Lu Jin had been stripped down to just a pair of underwear the night before, so his phone wasn’t on him. It was only after locating Jiang Xu that they organized a search of his home in hopes of finding the phone and other clues.

“I don’t know.” He gave a bitter smile. “Whatever he did or whoever he was with, how could he tell me? Did he really… die?”

Tears welled up in Jiang Xu’s eyes as he looked up at him.

“He disappeared last night. Why didn’t you know?” Fang Si Ting remained unmoved and pressed on with his questions.

“As I said, I can’t control where he goes or what he does. He hates it when people ask about his whereabouts. So I just assumed he left on a whim. He’d done that before— vanishing without a word.”

“Please describe yesterday’s itinerary.”

“Nothing special, same as usual. Left home at 7 a.m. for work, had lunch in the company cafeteria, worked overtime in the evening. By the time I got home, it was past midnight, and the house was dark. Boss Lu doesn’t sleep that early. It was strange, but I didn’t call to ask where he was. I washed up, ate a midnight snack, and went to bed.”

As he spoke, Fang Si Ting received a message from a Vice Squad Officer. They’d searched the villa inside and out but found no useful clues or Lu Jin’s phone.

Fang Si Ting had learned enough. He walked out of the villa and suddenly stopped in his tracks.

“You drive to work?” He glanced at the three or four cars in the yard, with one spot empty in the middle.

“Yeah.” Jiang Xu was taken aback. “But yesterday after work, I found the car was out of gas, so I left it at the company and took a cab back. Is there a problem?”

“What time do you usually get home?”

“Around midnight. Last night was a bit later.” Jiang Xu explained, “I got delayed buying the midnight snack.”

“Do you usually eat midnight snacks?”

“No, but yesterday A-Jin called and said he wanted some, so I went and bought it.”

“What time was the call?”

“Around 12.” Jiang Xu pulled up his phone records. “23:44. He must have been killed after that.”

Fang Si Ting gave no extraneous information.

It was just another useless red herring.

Unbidden, an image of Xiao Fen’s arrogant smugness surfaced in his mind.

Really… annoying.

++

Tang Shen and the Forensics Team had worked in shifts for several hours and finally produced preliminary results on some of the evidence collected the night before, just ahead of noon.

After getting the report, he rushed straight to Fang Si Ting’s office, only to find it empty.

Xu An slid over in his boss chair. “The boss went to the crime scene.”

“Another murder?” Tang Shen was puzzled.

“Who knows? It’s the third day. The remaining fugitives who haven’t been caught probably feel safe now and are starting to pull Xiao Fen-style antics.” Xu An waggled his tablet. Thanks to the Action Team’s overtime last night, there were only about ten fugitives still on the run. “Sister Xiaoxiao’s and my report hasn’t been submitted yet either. Might as well hand them over together.”

Without waiting for a reply, he shoved it into Tang Shen’s hands, kicked off, and slurped his popsicle as he slid back to his office.

Tang Shen flipped through it. Xu An had captured footage via surveillance: last night, the neighborhood experienced two large-scale short blackouts. Shortly after, a man wearing a black “Y”-patterned baseball cap and a black mask drove a van into the neighborhood.

According to Peng Xiaoxiao’s interviews with nearby residents and gate security, the van was loaded with ordinary circuit equipment, and the repairman had been called by the security guards.

The reason Xu An had highlighted him was twofold: it was an unfamiliar vehicle, and his dwell times were suspicious. The first visit was from 19:53 to 20:08— fifteen minutes. The second was from 23:41 to 00:15— thirty-four minutes.

Judging by his clothing, it was the same person both times.

Tang Shen grabbed the report and dialed Fang Si Ting’s phone.

“Boss, there are hardly any internal cameras in Sovereign Cloud Realm Neighborhood, and they’re usually off. The only footage from the two gate cameras shows that during the time of the crime— around 8 p.m. last night— there was a blackout inside the neighborhood, and a van entered and exited. Xiao Fen likely disguised himself as a repairman to enter and commit the murder.”

“Evidence.”

“The clothes on the van driver match ones we’ve seen on Xiao Fen before.”

There was a moment of silence on the other end.

“From 7 to 9 p.m. last night, he was at the casino, right under my nose.”

The Ji Family Casino was in the east of the city, while Sovereign Cloud Realm Neighborhood was in the northwest— over a hundred li apart. Two completely unrelated locations at the same time.

Xiao Fen couldn’t have done it.

Tang Shen said wryly, “So you’re his alibi.”

“The casino surveillance can testify to that.” Fang Si Ting didn’t like the sound of it.

“Remember Xiaoxiao’s criminal profile from last night?” Tang Shen quickly snapped out of his disappointment and grew excited again. “Yesterday, I found a fresh glob of spit in one corner of the scene. The saliva had DNA, and there’s a match in the database: a guy named Li Cunhou, with priors for drunken brawls and thefts. Sending you a photo. You’ll recognize him— you saw him just yesterday near Canal Sun Neighborhood while chasing Xiao Fen.”

“…I’ve already found the person.”

“Amazing foresight! You already knew he’d been to the murder scene? He’s likely the one who killed Lu Jin.”

Fang Si Ting paused before saying, “At the exact same time, he was also witnessed killing his own sister.”

Tang Shen froze.

Canal Sun Neighborhood was near the east side of the city.

A round trip by car would take two hours.

Another alibi?

What was going on?

Two suspects who, at the time of the crime, were in different parts of the city— and both had witnesses?!

“Come over when you have time.” With that, Fang Si Ting hung up.