Zheng Rui immediately looked at him. "Lian ziho?" Lian ziho didn't answer. His eyes remained fixed on the whistle. His breathing became noticeably uneven. Zheng Rui quietly asked, "Do you recognize it?" Lian ziho slowly nodded. "I think I do." His voice sounded hoarse. "Jun Wei..." He swallowed hard before continuing. "...used to carry a whistle like this." Zheng Rui looked back at the evidence bag. "You're certain?" Lian ziho shook his head. "Not completely." He closed his eyes for a brief second, trying to remember. "But..." A faint smile appeared on his face before quickly disappearing. "When we went to the amusement park..." He looked down at the whistle again. "...he kept blowing it the whole day."
Zheng Rui listened quietly. Lian ziho gave a small, helpless laugh. "Suo Ran kept telling him to stop because everyone was staring at us." His eyes gradually reddened. "Jun Wei just laughed and ran away." The memory ended as quickly as it had appeared. Lian ziho slowly raised his hand toward the evidence bag before stopping himself halfway. He lowered it again. "It looks exactly the same." Zheng Rui studied the whistle carefully. "Could it have belonged to another child?" Lian ziho answered immediately. "Maybe." He paused. "But... why would child's whistle be beside a body?"He slowly looked up at Zheng Rui. "It doesn't fit." Zheng Rui remained silent for a moment, studying the cracked plastic. "No..." he said quietly. "It doesn't." Lian ziho frowned. "If someone wanted to send us a message, why not leave Jun Wei's bracelet?" "Or his clothes?" "Why a whistle?" Zheng Rui folded his arms, his expression becoming thoughtful. "Because a whistle isn't something people remember immediately."
Lian ziho looked at him in confusion. "What do you mean?" Zheng Rui replied calmly, "A bracelet can be identified." "A phone can be traced." "But a whistle..." He looked toward the forensic tent. "...looks ordinary." Lian ziho slowly shook his head. "Unless someone recognizes it." Zheng Rui nodded once. "Exactly." Lian ziho looked back at the evidence bag again. His chest tightened as another memory surfaced. "Jun Wei used to blow it whenever he couldn't find us." He let out a quiet breath. "He said if he got lost... we'd hear him." His voice gradually became softer. "He was afraid of being alone." Zheng Rui's eyes flickered slightly, but he said nothing. Lian clenched his fists. "Now we're the ones looking for him..." He forced a bitter smile. "...and all we have is a broken whistle."
Zheng Rui looked at whistle."The whistle was left here for a reason." Lian ziho looked at him. "You really believe that?" Zheng Rui nodded. "Nothing we've found in this case has been accidental." He glanced toward the covered body. "Not the note, not the body And definitely not this." Lian ziho followed his gaze, his expression growing heavier. "So whoever did this..." He swallowed slowly. "...knows about Jun Wei." Zheng Rui answered in a low voice. "Or knows the people searching for him."
The officer quietly looked between them before speaking. "Should we send it to the lab?" Zheng Rui nodded without hesitation. "Immediately." His expression became firm again. "Check it for fingerprints." "DNA." "Fibers." "Anything." The officer nodded. "Yes, sir." Zheng Rui stopped him before he could leave. "And don't clean it." The officer looked back. "Understood." Zheng Rui lowered his gaze toward the whistle one last time. "Every bit of mud on it could matter." The officer gave a nod before carrying the evidence bag toward the forensic tent.
Zheng rui's eyes slowly swept across the police vehicles, the ambulance, the clusters of forensic officers, and finally the road running alongside the river. Something caught his attention. Across the street, a small convenience store stood quietly on the corner. Its faded sign looked old, and only a handful of customers walked in and out. More importantly, two security cameras were mounted beneath the roof, both angled toward the entrance road leading to the riverside. Zheng Rui's eyes narrowed slightly. If any vehicle entered this road last night... those cameras might have seen it... He immediately turned toward the officer beside him. "Has anyone collected CCTV from the nearby buildings?"
The officer looked momentarily surprised before shaking his head. "Not yet." Zheng Rui frowned. "Why?" The officer answered honestly. "We secured the crime scene first. We were going to canvass the surrounding businesses afterward." Zheng Rui glanced back at the convenience store. "We don't have that luxury." The officer looked in the same direction. "You think those cameras caught something?" Zheng Rui nodded once. "If the recording system overwrites every twenty-four hours..." He paused briefly. "...every minute matters." Lian Ziho immediately understood what he meant. "Then let's stop talking and go." Zheng Rui gave a short nod. "Before we lose another clue." The officer quickly spoke into his radio. "I'll notify the investigation team." Zheng Rui stopped him with a small gesture. "No need." The officer looked confused. "Sir?" Zheng Rui replied calmly. "We'll check first. If there's something useful, call everyone." The officer nodded. "Understood."
The three of them crossed the road together. Cars passed slowly between them as the traffic gradually increased. Lian ziho glanced back toward the police tape for a moment before looking at Zheng Rui. "You really think it'll still be there?" Zheng Rui kept walking. "Most small stores don't erase footage every day." Lian ziho asked, "And if they do?" Zheng Rui answered without hesitation. "Then we'll find out who asked for it before us." That answer made Lian ziho's expression become more serious. Please... let us be the first...
A small bell rang softly as they pushed open the convenience store door. The smell of freshly brewed coffee mixed with instant noodles filled the air. Shelves packed with snacks, drinks, newspapers and household items lined the narrow aisles. Behind the counter stood an elderly man in his late sixties with neatly combed gray hair and reading glasses hanging low on his nose. He looked up from arranging cigarette packs and immediately noticed the police officer accompanying them. His smile faded slightly. "Officers..." he said politely. "Is something wrong?" The officer stepped forward first. "Good morning, Uncle Chen." The old man nodded nervously. "You came back." His eyes moved toward Zheng Rui and Lian Ziho before returning to the officer. "I already answered the questions this morning." Zheng Rui offered a polite nod. "We're not here to trouble you." Uncle Chen smiled weakly. "That's what everyone says before asking more questions." Lian couldn't help giving a small smile. "Fair point." The old man sighed and folded his arms. "So... what do you need?"
Zheng Rui looked toward the monitor behind the counter displaying several security camera feeds. "We'd like to see your recordings from last night." Uncle Chen blinked. "The cameras?" "Yes." Zheng Rui continued. "Specifically, anything covering the road leading toward the river." Uncle Chen scratched his head. "The police earlier only asked whether I heard anything." He pointed toward the monitor. "Nobody mentioned the recordings." Zheng Rui exchanged a quick glance with Lian ziho before looking back at the owner. "Would you mind showing them to us?" Uncle Chen hesitated only briefly before nodding. "Of course." He reached beneath the counter and picked up a ring of keys. "Come with me." As he unlocked a small door leading to the back office, Lian quietly looked at Zheng Rui. "Let's hope we're not too late." Zheng Rui's eyes remained fixed on the security monitor ahead. "We only need one frame..." he said quietly. "...one mistake."
Uncle Chen pushed open office door and switched on the light. The room was small and cluttered with old cardboard boxes, account books and a dusty desk that held a computer connected to the store's security system. A small monitor displayed several camera angles from outside the shop. Uncle Chen pulled out the chair and sat down in front of the keyboard. "These cameras record twenty-four hours a day," he explained while opening the playback menu. "They automatically overwrite the oldest footage after seven days." Zheng Rui stepped closer, his eyes fixed on the screen. "Then we're in time." Uncle Chen nodded. "Barely." He selected the previous night's recordings and looked back at them. "What time should I start?" Zheng Rui answered without hesitation. "Around midnight." Uncle Chen clicked the timeline. "Here." He pressed play. The three of them stood silently behind him while the footage began moving across the screen.
The footage moved quickly. Rain continued falling throughout the night while only a few cars occasionally passed the store. The road remained mostly empty. A taxi drove by. A delivery truck passed without stopping. A stray dog crossed the road before disappearing into the darkness. Uncle Chen increased the playback speed again. Minutes turned into hours within seconds. Lian ziho rubbed his eyes before quietly saying, "Nothing." Zheng Rui didn't answer. His attention never left the screen. Keep watching... whoever planned this had to arrive somehow.
Then Zheng Rui suddenly leaned forward. "Stop." Uncle Chen immediately paused the recording. A black van had just entered the camera's view. It slowed near the entrance leading toward the river before stopping completely. Lian straightened in his chair. "Can you zoom in?" Uncle Chen clicked the screen several times. The image became larger but noticeably blurrier. Rain covered part of the lens, making the details difficult to distinguish. Lian frowned. "I can't read the license plate." Uncle Chen sighed. "The rain ruined most of the image." Zheng Rui kept studying the van. "Keep playing."
The footage continued. Less than a minute later, another vehicle appeared. A dark sedan slowly pulled in behind the van before stopping several meters away. Neither vehicle moved. Lian ziho narrowed his eyes. "Two vehicles?" Zheng Rui gave a small nod. "They didn't come together." Lian ziho looked at him. "How can you tell?" Zheng Rui pointed at the timestamps. "The sedan arrived almost a minute later." He paused briefly. "That wasn't an accident." Lian ziho nodded. "They wanted distance between them."
Suddenly, the side door of the black van slid open and two hooded figures climbed out. Both wore dark raincoats that completely hid their faces. Together they reached inside the van and carefully lifted something wrapped in a heavy tarp. The object sagged under its own weight. Lian instinctively leaned closer to the monitor. "That's a person." The two figures carried the wrapped body toward the riverbank before disappearing outside the camera's view. Uncle Chen unconsciously swallowed. "I never imagined..." Several long seconds passed before the two figures returned. This time their hands were empty. Lian ziho clenched his fists. "They left the body there." Zheng Rui nodded without taking his eyes off the screen.
One of the figures opened the door as if preparing to leave. Then he stopped. He slowly turned back toward the riverbank. Instead of getting into the vehicle, he walked away alone. Lian ziho frowned. "What's he doing?" Nobody answered. The figure disappeared from the camera for several seconds.Every second seemed longer than the last. Finally, the hooded figure reappeared. He casually brushed mud from one of his gloves before walking back toward the van. Seconds later, the van drove away.
Lian continued staring at the image on the monitor. "That's when he left the note." Zheng Rui slowly nodded. "And probably the whistle." Lian looked at him, disbelief written across his face. "He went back on purpose." Zheng Rui folded his arms. "Yes.He wanted someone to find them." Lian ziho frowned. "No..." He looked back at the screen. "...he wanted us to find them." Zheng Rui remained silent for a moment before saying, "Exactly."
Back to warehouse Qin Yue slowly lowered her flashlight. "They're treating this investigation like a game." Han Yi quietly shook his head. "No." Qin Yue looked at him. "Then what are they doing?" Han Yi's eyes remained fixed on the empty chair. "Games have winners." He paused briefly before continuing. "This..." He slowly swept his flashlight across the warehouse. "...is an experiment." One of the tactical officers frowned. "An experiment?" Han Yi nodded once. "Every anonymous message." He pointed toward the chair. "Every clue." His flashlight shifted to the small toy car lying on the floor. "Every place they've brought us." He lowered his arm. "They're measuring our response." Qin Yue folded her arms thoughtfully. "Measuring what?" Han Yi answered quietly. "How long it takes us to notice what they're actually hiding."
Before anyone could speak again, one of the officers suddenly called out from the far side of the warehouse. "Captain!" Everyone immediately turned."Captain... could you come here for a second?" Han Yi and Qin Yue immediately walked over. The officer pointed at the dusty concrete beneath the crates. "These weren't here before." Qin Yue leaned down. Several long scrape marks ran across the floor, cutting through years of undisturbed dust. The concrete beneath them looked noticeably cleaner than the surrounding area.
Han Yi crouched beside the marks and brushed away a thin layer of dust with his gloved hand. "These crates have been moved recently." Qin Yue looked up at the enormous wooden boxes. "They're too heavy for one person." One of the officers nodded. "Which means someone came here prepared." Han Yi stood and looked at the team. "Move them." "Carefully." Four officers immediately stepped forward. They positioned themselves around the largest crate and slowly pushed together. The old wood groaned loudly as the crate slid across the concrete. Another crate followed then a third. As the final crate was dragged aside, everyone suddenly stopped.
There was Hidden beneath the stack was a square metal hatch built directly into the warehouse floor. Its edges were almost perfectly concealed beneath years of dirt. Qin Yue stared at it. "No wonder we missed it." One officer slowly knelt beside the hatch. "There's no rust around the hinges." Han Yi looked down. He was right. Although the surrounding floor looked abandoned, the metal handle had been cleaned recently. Someone had opened it not long ago.
Han Yi reached down and wrapped one hand around the handle. He looked toward the team. "Weapons ready." Everyone silently nodded. With a slow pull, Han Yi lifted the hatch. *CREEEEAK... *The old hinges groaned as narrow concrete staircase disappeared into darkness. Qin Yue pointed her flashlight downward. The beam seemed to vanish before reaching the bottom. "This place wasn't on the factory plans." Han Yi quietly replied, "Because it was never meant to be." One officer swallowed nervously. "Captain... should we call for backup?" Han Yi thought for a brief moment before shaking his head. "No." He looked toward the staircase. "If someone built this place in secret..." His eyes became noticeably sharper. "...they won't leave it unguarded for long."
Qin Yue quietly checked her pistol before stepping beside him. "Then let's not waste the invitation." Han Yi gave a faint nod. "Stay close." Without another word, the team slowly descended into the darkness below. The concrete staircase seemed to continue forever. Every footstep echoed through the narrow passage. They finally reached a reinforced steel door at the bottom. Han Yi carefully pushed it open. The underground corridor beyond was dimly lit by emergency lights still glowing along the ceiling.
Qin Yue frowned. "Someone still has power down here." Han Yi slowly stepped inside. "Which means someone expected this place to be used." The corridor branched into several small rooms. One officer carefully opened the first door. "Clear." Qin Yue entered behind him. A long table stood in the center of the room. Scattered across its surface were dozens of children's drawings. Crayons lay broken across the floor. Small paper animals had been folded from colored paper and left beside tiny handprints painted in blue and yellow.
Qin Yue slowly picked up one drawing. It showed a little boy holding hands with two smiling figures beneath a bright sun. Her expression softened. "A child stayed here." Han Yi quietly looked around the room. "More than once." Another officer called from the next room. "Captain!" Everyone immediately moved toward the second door. Inside stood several computer monitors connected to surveillance equipment. Rows of hard drives were stacked neatly beside the desks. Although most of the screens were black, one monitor still displayed the frozen image of a city intersection.
Qin Yue stared at it. "This wasn't just a hideout." Han Yi slowly walked around the equipment. "It was an observation post." One officer quietly whispered, "They've been watching people." Before anyone could say another word, a third officer shouted from the room at the end of the corridor. "Captain... you need to see this." Han Yi immediately walked inside. The moment he entered... he stopped. Every wall of the room was completely covered with photographs. Hundreds of them. They were large, small, old and new too. Some had handwritten notes attached beside them.
Others were connected with red string. Qin Yue slowly stepped beside Han Yi. Her breathing caught. "Those aren't all Jun Wei." Han Yi's eyes carefully moved across the wall. There was Jun Wei photograph.Then another photograph was of suo ran standing outside a convenience store. Another one was Cai Lang leaving a hospital late at night. Another one was lian Ziho carrying grocery bags while Jun Wei laughed beside him.
Qin Yue slowly turned toward the opposite wall... then froze completely. Her own photograph stared back at her. Taken from across a street. Another showed Han Yi entering the police station early one morning. Another captured both of them leaving the repair shop only days ago. One officer whispered, "They've been following us." Qin Yue slowly stepped closer to the wall, her flashlight moving from one photograph to another. She noticed that Every picture had been taken from a distance. Some were blurry, some perfectly clear, but every single one had one thing in common. None of the people in them knew they were being watched.
She stopped in front of a photograph of Suo Ran walking with Jun wei through a crowded street. "This wasn't taken by chance." She looked at Han Yi. "Whoever did this spent weeks... maybe months... following them." Han Yi's expression remained unreadable. His eyes examined the corners of each photograph and small handwritten dates.He stared at tiny numbers,time stamps. He knew nothing had been pinned randomly. Everything had been catalogued with frightening precision.
One officer slowly swallowed. "Captain... this isn't surveillance." Han Yi quietly replied, "No." He reached toward one photograph without touching it. "This is observation." The officer looked confused. "There's a difference?" Han Yi nodded once. "Surveillance watches what you've done." His gaze shifted across the wall. "Observation predicts what you'll do next." Qin Yue pointed toward another photograph. "Captain... look." Han Yi turned. It was a picture of Qin Yue standing outside a café several weeks earlier. She had been alone, holding a coffee in one hand while reading documents. Han Yi frowned slightly. "That was before Jun Wei disappeared." Qin Yue nodded slowly. "Exactly."
Another officer looked around the room uneasily. "Then they weren't following us because of this case..." Han Yi finished the sentence for him. "They already knew we'd become part of it." One of the younger officers tried forcing a laugh to ease the tension. "Maybe we're reading too much into it." Nobody answered him.Even he didn't believe his own words. Han Yi continued examining the walls until something in the center of the room caught his attention. "Over there."
Everyone turned they saw large table stood beneath a hanging light. Spread across its surface was an enormous city map protected beneath a transparent sheet of glass. Dozens of colored strings stretched from one location to another, connecting different parts of the city like a giant web. Qin Yue slowly walked over. "These locations..." She leaned closer. "I've seen them before." Han Yi nodded quietly. "Warehouse Seventeen." He pointed toward one marker. "The repair shop." His finger moved again. "The abandoned factory."
Another officer looked closer. "The Lian Group headquarters." Qin Yue's eyes widened slightly. "Every place we've investigated..." Han Yi calmly finished her sentence. "...is already marked." The room suddenly felt much colder. One officer frowned. "Captain... does that mean they knew exactly where we'd go?" Han Yi didn't answer immediately. Instead, he studied the pattern created by the colored strings. Most of the locations were connected by black thread but there were few that connected by blue. Only one point on the entire map was circled in bright red ink.
Qin Yue followed his gaze. "That place..." She looked at Han Yi. "...we've never been there." Han Yi stepped closer until he was standing directly above the map. His eyes remained fixed on the single red circle. Several long seconds passed before he finally spoke. "This isn't where they've been..." Qin Yue looked at him. "Then what is it?" Han Yi lifted his eyes from the map and met hers. "...It's where they're going."
One officer quietly asked, "Captain... do we move now?" Han Yi remained silent for another moment, his eyes still fixed on the red circle. Something about it felt wrong. Too obvious. Almost as if someone wanted them to find it. He looked toward Qin Yue and said quietly, "Before we take another step..." He tapped the map gently with one gloved finger. "...I want to know whether this is our next destination..." His gaze slowly swept across the room filled with photographs. "...or the next trap waiting for us."
Qin Yue quietly folded her arms and looked from the map to the photographs covering the walls. "It's too obvious." Han Yi slowly nodded. "Exactly." She frowned. "Then you think it's fake?" Han Yi didn't answer. He traced the network of colored strings with his eyes before speaking. "Whoever built this room planned every detail." He pointed toward the wall of photographs. "They watched people without being seen." His finger shifted toward the surveillance equipment. "They recorded movements without leaving evidence." Finally, he looked back at the map. "People like that don't accidentally leave their destination sitting in the middle of the room."
Qin Yue slowly exhaled. "So the red circle is another clue." Han Yi quietly corrected her. "Or another distraction." One of the tactical officers stepped closer. "Captain... should we ignore it?" Han Yi looked at him. "No." The officer seemed surprised. Han Yi calmly continued, "Whether it's real or fake..." He tapped the edge of the table with one gloved finger. "...someone wanted us to see it." Qin Yue nodded. "Then we investigate it." Han Yi looked toward the exit. "Eventually." She raised an eyebrow. "Eventually?" Han Yi slowly glanced around the underground room. "We're standing inside the place where they've been watching us." His voice became quieter. "People who spend this much effort collecting information rarely leave without taking everything important with them." Qin Yue understood. "You're expecting another surprise."
Han Yi gave a faint nod. "I'm expecting they planned for us to reach this room." If you've been leading us here from the beginning... then this isn't the end of your plan...Before anyone could speak again, hurried footsteps echoed down the staircase outside. Every officer instinctively turned toward the sound. A young officer appeared in the doorway, breathing heavily after running down the stairs. "Captain!" Han Yi immediately looked at him. "Report." The officer tried to steady his breathing. "The forensic team..." He swallowed hard before continuing. "...they found something inside one of the computers."
Qin Yue immediately stepped forward. "What did they find?" The officer looked toward the row of surveillance monitors. "One of the hard drives wasn't damaged." Han Yi's expression sharpened. "Go on." "It contains a scheduled video file." Qin Yue frowned. "Scheduled?" The officer nodded quickly. "It was programmed to activate automatically." Han Yi asked, "When?" The officer instinctively looked down at the digital watch on his wrist."Thirty seconds."
Every eyes slowly turned toward the largest monitor on the surveillance desk.The black screen remained completely dark then suddenly twenty-nine seconds. Qin Yue unconsciously tightened her grip on her pistol. "Do we disconnect it?" One officer immediately reached toward the computer. "Captain, I can pull the power." Han Yi raised one hand, stopping him. "No." The officer froze. "But what if it's dangerous?" Han Yi kept watching the blank monitor. "If they wanted to destroy the computer..." His voice remained calm. "...they wouldn't schedule a video." Qin Yue slowly nodded. "They want us to watch it." Han Yi quietly replied, "Yes." First Jun Wei disappeared... Then Every message... Every photograph and now location. None of them had been random. This is another move... but why now?...
The room became so quiet that everyone could hear the ticking of the officer's wristwatch.*Twenty seconds. Nineteen. Eighteen.* One officer shifted uneasily. "Captain..." Han Yi never looked away from the screen. "Stay ready." The officer gave a firm nod. "Yes, Captain." Fifteen seconds. Fourteen. Thirteen. Qin Yue took one slow step closer until she stood beside Han Yi. Without taking her eyes off the monitor, she quietly asked, "What do you think we're about to see?" Han Yi answered without hesitation. "Exactly what they want us to see." Ten seconds...Nine...Eight... Nobody blinked.Five...Four...Three... Two... One.And black monitor suddenly flickered.