“Who was standing behind me just now?” Xue Chengge asked.
Tang Shen turned his head. “Ah?” he said. “Aren’t they all people?”
With the servants watching the excitement added in, there were a dozen or twenty people, all bustling noisily.
“There’s nothing worth staying here for. Let’s head over there.” Xue Chengge led the way out of the room and into the next one.
The others couldn’t spot anything either, so they followed along.
“Tang Shen, perfect timing. Look here.” Peng Xiaoxiao stood next to the wardrobe and called out. “It’s Madam Lu’s trench coat, and that pink towel.”
As soon as she spoke, everyone crowded around. Even those lingering in the next room got called over.
“That’s the one missing from the tea room!” the maid identified it.
“So, does that mean Director Xu is the one who stabbed Assistant Yan last night?”
“But why? There’s no reason at all.”
Xue Chengge said, “Director Xu doesn’t even know Assistant Yan. It’s probably just a random stabbing.”
“I’ll check.” Xu An picked up Xu Haokong’s phone, which was charging on the bedside table.
“Random stabbings are supposed to be the hardest cases to crack, but this one’s way too simple—one search and bam, we got it.” Zhong Jinghuan spread his hands. “Zero challenge.”
【Sky cleared, rain stopped, and now he thinks he’s hot stuff again.】
【Not “again”—he’s always thought he’s the man.】
【This guy’s confidence is weirdly cute.】
【Snap out of it. Your contribution to the case is zero, but you’re number one at causing trouble. Madam Lu’s still laid up in bed.】
Brother Ka tugged at his sleeve from behind—not for the first time—silently signaling him to shut up.
They couldn’t see the live stream chat, but he could already imagine the online backlash against Zhong Jinghuan.
Though under his watch, the guy had toned down his chatter a lot.
“What are you doing?”
Peng Xiaoxiao had just pulled the trench coat from the wardrobe, and in the process, some other clothes tumbled to the floor. A man spotted Xue Chengge subtly stepping on something underfoot and yanked him away.
“Nothing.” Xue Chengge saw that the one making a fuss was his own partner, Mu Qiu, and snapped irritably, “What are you yelling about?”
“Keeping evidence for yourself? Not cool, superstar Xue.” Zhong Jinghuan slyly pointed at him.
“Move your foot.” The Internet Famous Doctor nudged his foot aside and picked it up. It was a pair of underwear.
“What’s there to hide about this?” He looked puzzled. “It’s just men’s…”
His gaze grew even more confused.
Because the size of the item he held up didn’t match.
It was small.
The kind of small for a slim waist, and the pattern looked like something a teenage boy in his teens would wear.
“Whose wimpy undies are these? How’d they end up here?”
The Internet Famous Doctor held them up to himself—his own waist was clearly a size thicker.
“Does Director Xu like little boys’ clothes?” Ou Yu asked curiously.
“What the hell are you talking about!” Xue Chengge shouted.
Everyone turned to stare at him.
“Why so worked up?” Zhong Jinghuan eyed him. “It wouldn’t even fit you.”
“Hahaha! When he packed his bags to come here, he must’ve grabbed his son’s underwear by mistake.” He burst out laughing right after, snatched the underwear from the doctor’s hand, and tossed it back into the wardrobe.
“Looks like there’s a photo in the wardrobe.” The Internet Famous Doctor craned his neck to peek.
“Nope, you saw wrong.” Xue Chengge slammed the wardrobe door shut. “Just clothes.”
That quick glimpse of the photo had made his heart skip a beat.
His palms grew sweaty. He gripped the wardrobe handle like a guard on duty, his face casually relaxed like the other guests’.
But the muscles around his eyes were taut, his gaze slithering like a viper over everyone present.
Just like with Madam Lu, one person in this room knew about him and Xu Haokong!
And they were about to expose it!
“His son’s like thirty, right? Waist bigger by two sizes.” Lin Xiu sneered with a knowing look. “Grandkid wouldn’t fit either—just out of diapers.”
“Not his son or grandson. Probably someone else’s luggage got mixed in here by mistake.” Someone said.
Xue Chengge’s expression stiffened. He saw it was his partner Mu Qiu speaking again and shot him a warning glare full of threat.
“Now we’ll see who claims it.” Mu Qiu caught the displeasure in his eyes, looking a bit scared but playing it cool.
No one stepped forward.
“Then we’ll check one by one. It’s definitely a key clue.” Fang Si Ting said.
“What’s to check? It’s personal property, right?” Xue Chengge said. “We’ve got witnesses and evidence now—Director Xu’s the stabber. What more is there to investigate?”
“Because this underwear was wrapped inside the trench coat.” Peng Xiaoxiao said. “Sure, Director Xu randomly stabbed Yan Feng, and all the evidence turned up in his room. But since this isn’t his, it could be a frame job. The real killer might’ve accidentally tucked it in when planting the trench coat.”
“…What killer carries underwear around?” Zhong Jinghuan found it absurd.
“Frame job?” Xue Chengge paused, then grinned mischievously. “You know, I’ve been wanting to say this—Director Xu has a cross-dressing fetish.”
The live stream chat erupted in laughter.
【Brother Xuecheng, back to making stuff up.】
【Director Xu “dead” with eyes wide open, slandered like this.】
【Brother Xuecheng’s still hilarious.】
【Brother Fen probably has no idea—his casual move created peak entertainment.】
The more outrageous, the less anyone believed it.
“Sigh, Director Xu was big back in the day, but as you all know, it’s been over a decade with no hits.” Xue Chengge’s words flowed smoother. “That kind of pressure—sometimes he’d think, man, if I were a woman, a whole different life, how great would that be.”
“It’s basically split personality.” Li Fei said.
“Exactly, spot on!” Xue Chengge said. “So he had this cross-dressing habit. Yesterday afternoon, he spotted this coat in the tea room by chance, got the urge, and took it. Last night, he meant to return it, but he ran into Matthew. In a panic, he covered his face and bolted back to his room. Didn’t realize he snagged someone else’s underwear along the way—probably from around the mansion. No way he stabbed Madam Lu. He doesn’t know that underwear, or Assistant Yan, at all.”
“He wasn’t covering his face last night.” Matthew said slowly, wanting to describe it but short on words.
“How do you know it like you were there?” Mu Qiu said. “Even when his cross-dressing urge kicked in?”
“Better to check it out.” Peng Xiaoxiao said, noting his odd expression.
“Yeah, let’s check.” Tang Shen chimed in. “Won’t take long.”
The mischief on Xue Chengge’s face could no longer hide the panic in his eyes.
Just then, someone stepped forward.
“That underwear is mine.”
It was a young boy—the one who arrived with Xu Haokong yesterday, Director Xu’s hot new talent this year, named Kong Qin. He was only fifteen.
“I saw you all talking about it earlier and got too embarrassed to claim it.” Kong Qin said shyly. “Can I have it back?”
“How’d your underwear end up in the trench coat?” Tang Shen asked, puzzled.
“Before the show, Director Xu and I went to J Country for a movie promo on the red carpet. Not enough hotel rooms, so we shared.” He explained. “Came straight here after, rushed for time, so he packed it by mistake.”
“Just a misunderstanding.” Xue Chengge clapped his hands hard and laughed. “What a farce, haha! So, does that make you Director Xu’s killer?”
Kong Qin panicked instantly. “No, I didn’t.”
“Then how’s your underwear in the trench coat Director Xu took?” Tang Shen said. “Explain that.”
The boy was inexperienced; his unease showed clearly. Finally, he stammered, “It… it was me.”
“Guess you gotta watch your own partner. Supposed to be allies fighting side by side, but ends up backstabbing you hardest.” Xue Chengge smiled at his partner Mu Qiu.
Mu Qiu half-closed his eyes, hiding the disappointment within.
【Why does Brother Xuecheng seem off? Weirdly hyped?】
【Kong Qin’s acting weird too. That’s Brother Fen’s planted underwear—why’s he owning up?】
【First time seeing someone volunteer to take the fall.】
【Xue Chengge doesn’t know Brother Fen stuffed it in, so he’s desperately covering.】
【Little Kong, if Brother Fen’s blackmailing you, blink twice. Don’t be a pawn.】
【Kid’s too naive.】
Mu Qiu shoved through the crowd, anger on his face, about to say something. But as the words reached his lips, he caught Xue Chengge’s gaze, twitched his mouth, and swallowed them back.
“Smells like rotten eggs.” Lin Xiu pinched her nose, scowling, and left the room first.
Xue Chengge’s face changed at her words.
“Dinner time’s coming up. Let’s head downstairs.” Li Fei chuckled. “We’ve seen enough evidence today. We’ll recap properly later.”
A lucky, smug smile leaked from Xue Chengge’s lips. He opened his mouth to speak, but noticed Peng Xiaoxiao staring coldly at him.
Looking at the Pursuit Team: Bai Zhu’s gaze hostile, Tang Shen meaningful, Fang Si Ting’s brows furrowed in grim intensity.
Worst was Xu An, sitting before his laptop screen, smirking with contempt and disdain. The transparent lenses reflected the laptop’s colorful glow.
As an actor, he easily read the emotions and thoughts in that expression.
The problem was, he had no idea what the laptop—and the feed—said about Xu Haokong.
Or how much it involved him.
“This… the underwear’s clean.” he blurted.
“Yeah, clean.” Tang Shen said meaningfully. “I never said it was worn. What’re you scared of?”
“Scared? Me? Of what.” Xue Chengge forced a casual laugh.
As everyone filed out, he dropped the act. He waved off the close-up camera, blocked the one at chest level, flung open the wardrobe, and pulled out the photos.
Before the close-up cam swung back, he flipped them face-down. But it was like the person knew—he’d find a message on the blank backs.
“20XX, March 17th. Remember?”
Xue Chengge’s scalp crawled. Without thinking, he tore the photos to shreds and rushed into the bathroom.
As if—he couldn’t possibly recall such an ordinary day.
His breathing grew labored from nerves. He undid his collar, took deep breaths, and finally eased the churning in his stomach.
He turned—and yelped in fright.
Fang Si Ting had doubled back at some point, standing in the doorway. His dark eyes fixed on him, devoid of emotion.
“I-Inspector Fang, i-is there… something else?”
“After the show, we talk.”
【What does that mean?】
【No clue. Like with Madam Lu earlier, Brother Xuecheng’s gone pale. Something’s wrong.】
【Just underwear. None of his business. Weird—did he cheat too?】
【Looking that defeated, who’d he cheat with? Director Xu?】
【Not funny. Director Xu’s a stand-up guy artistically and morally. Don’t ruin his legacy with your rumors.】
【Big mistake using celebs as guests. All too polite. So boring.】
【Classic post-viral slump.】
The live stream viewers didn’t get it, but those on camera did.
Xu An’s laptop had dug up something. The screen showed something. Xue Chengge didn’t know what. But he knew his acting career—hell, the rest of his life—was over.
The murders on the show were fake. But outside, they had to live, work, face endless gossip and netizen hate.
And prison.
The Vice Squad Officers had him in their sights.
If he’d stayed calmer, spoken less, would it have been different?
For a moment, he wished Xu Haokong really was dead.
At least then, he couldn’t talk.
Dazed, he followed the crowd downstairs.
Xu An packed his laptop and hurried to catch up with Fang Si Ting.
Fang Si Ting asked, “Professor Peng saw the photos earlier, right?”
They’d turned the trench coat inside out—no way she missed the photos.
“Yeah, it was just an ordinary photo. Originally, Sister Xiaoxiao thought it was Director Xu’s privacy and had nothing to do with the show, so she casually stuffed it back without putting it away properly,” Xu An said nonchalantly. “Guilty people don’t dare look, getting all nervous and unlike themselves.”
“What did you find?” Xue Chengge and Kong Qin’s lies were full of holes; if they hadn’t seen through them, they wouldn’t even qualify as vice squad officers.
“It’s also a photo.”
