S.C.I. (Volume II) - Case 6: Chapter 27

The Innocent Killer 27 - The Closing of the Case (Case Closed)

At 1:00 PM, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang received word from Bao Zheng that Uncle An, having suffered a succession of devastating blows, had been granted early retirement. To honor his meritorious service and his contributions to maintaining peace and order in City S, he would be awarded an honorary medal by the police department next month, along with a hefty cash bonus and generous welfare benefits.

At 5:00 PM, the entire SI team gathered in a private dining room at Bai Jingtang's gourmet restaurant to enjoy hot pot, while Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang laid out the capture operation scheduled for the following day.

At 10:00 PM, everyone dispersed to make their own preparations.

The next morning.

At 8:00 AM, Zhan Zhao's book signing event was held in an activity room at the Southern Street Publishing House. A dozen attendees showed up, mostly looking like young students, among whom were Yang Chen and Yan Jiajia.

However, as the clock ticked past 8:10 AM, Zhan Zhao was still nowhere to be seen, and his phone wasn't going through. Qian Mingyue's face betrayed a growing nervousness as she peered toward the entrance. Not only was Zhan Zhao absent, but the media outlets she had personally notified hadn't shown up either. Yang Chen and Yan Jiajia were already displaying visible signs of impatience.

By 9:00 AM, murmurs of discontent began to ripple through the waiting crowd.

Yan Jiajia glared coldly at Qian Mingyue. "Are you playing games with me?"

Yang Chen let out a cold laugh. "If anyone's playing games with us, it might just be you."

"What did you say?" Yan Jiajia snapped at Yang Chen, who turned his face away in silence.

"Maybe he got held up by something," Qian Mingyue hurriedly chimed in to smooth things over. "He's a police officer, after all. He's very busy."

Just as she spoke, a knock sounded at the door. Moments later, the door pushed open, and Zhan Zhao stood in the threshold with a gentle smile. "Apologies, everyone. I'm late."

The twenty-odd people in the room froze in unison before erupting into an excited commotion, staring at Zhan Zhao in disbelieving awe.

"Dr. Zhan!" Yan Jiajia sprang to her feet, beaming. Zhan Zhao nodded in her direction, prompting her smile to widen even further. Beside her, Yang Chen looked on with a hint of envy.

"Zhan..." Qian Mingyue seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. "I thought you weren't coming."

With an apologetic expression, Zhan Zhao explained, "Sorry about that. I was waiting for two people, which delayed me a bit." With that, he gestured toward the doorway. Three individuals stepped inside: Lu Liang, accompanied by a man and a woman in their thirties who looked like a married couple.

The moment the three of them entered, Yang Chen's face drained of color.

Lu Liang looked straight at Yang Chen with a stern expression. "Yang Chen... You have disappointed me beyond words."

"How could this..." Yang Chen stammered, looking bewilderedly at the couple.

"You still remember them, don't you?" Zhan Zhao asked Yang Chen. "They are Zhao Jing's parents. You once used them as subjects for your experiments. What, did you think they were still dead?"

Yang Chen was completely dumbfounded as Zhan Zhao continued in an unhurried tone, "We checked all the records and found no trace of Zhao Jing's parents' whereabouts. You'd expect a body whether dead or alive, right? But what method ensures that even in death, no body is ever found?" He reached out to pat Zhao Jing's father on the shoulder. "Why don't you take it from here?"

Zhao Qi nodded and began: "Back then, when Professor Lu diagnosed us with severe memory confusion, we were terrified, so we agreed to undergo his follow-up treatment. The person in charge of our sessions was Yang Chen... She provided us with medication and therapy, and Professor Lu would occasionally visit our home. But... instead of getting better, our condition only grew worse."

Lu Liang shook his head. "It's all my fault for trusting Yang Chen too blindly. She worked under me for so many years and was exceptionally capable. I never imagined..." He looked up at Zhan Zhao. "After your phone call yesterday, I secretly broke into Yang Chen's office... and discovered some hidden files. That's when I realized she was administering reverse therapy to Zhao Qi and his wife, experimenting with all sorts of unorthodox methods to spiral their conditions out of control while inducing severe depression."

"Later on, terrified that we might harm Jingjing without realizing it, we entrusted her to the care of my brother and his wife, keeping our worsening state a secret known only to them," Zhao Qi continued. "Believing we were beyond saving and sinking into complete despair, Yang Chen approached us and handed us two cruise ship tickets."

Stepping in, Zhan Zhao added, "Everyone here probably knows about that cruise ship—it's the newly launched tourist liner running from City S straight across to City K."

"Then what happened?" Yang Chen demanded, staring at the couple. "Why didn't you two jump? You were supposed to jump!"

Zhan Zhao smiled. "The suggestions you implanted were indeed meant to compel them to jump, weren't they? But you forgot one thing: human calculation can never outmatch providence."

"What do you mean?" Yang Chen asked, bewildered.

"They did jump, but they were rescued," Zhan Zhao smiled.

"What?" Yang Chen's eyes widened in disbelief.

Zhan Zhao shook his head. "Your grasp of psychological suggestion is truly superficial. Trying to goad someone into suicide by throwing themselves into a river or the ocean has the lowest success rate of all. When people actually try to snuff out their lives, any method feels agonizing, and their innate survival instinct will always drive them to save themselves!"

Zhao Qi nodded in agreement. "The moment we hit the water, our minds went completely blank. But right before we drowned, a thought flashed through my mind: Why am I dying? After that, I couldn't remember a thing, and pure survival instinct kicked in—I started calling for help, and a rescue boat pulled us ashore."

"They did make it ashore, alright—just the shores of City K," Zhan Zhao said with a helpless shrug. "Suffering from memory confusion and severe depression, neither of them was in a normal state of mind, and neither had any identification on them. Eventually, they ended up admitted to a psychiatric hospital in City K for short-term treatment. It wasn't until yesterday, when the City K police department came across our missing persons notices, that they got in touch with us. We only found out yesterday, and we sent people to bring them back this morning. Miraculously, thanks to the psychiatric treatment and the discontinuation of those drugs, their memories have partially recovered."

Yan Jiajia forced a smile. "Well, that's quite a drama. Alright, take the murderer away!" Turning back to Zhan Zhao, she added, "This has nothing to do with us, so we'll be heading out..."

"Hold on," Zhan Zhao said with a smile. "Who told you this has nothing to do with you?"

Just as his words fell, Bai Yutang walked in accompanied by a young child—none other than Zhao Jing.

"Jingjing!" Zhao Qi and his wife rushed forward, scooping their long-lost daughter into a tight embrace. Zhao Jing recognized her parents immediately, but even as a smile bloomed on her face, the moment she glanced at the people gathered in the hall, she let out a frightened shriek and buried her face deep in her mother's chest.

"What's wrong?" Zhao Qi asked, baffled. "Jingjing?"

Bai Yutang crouched down and gently patted Zhao Jing. "Jingjing, don't be afraid. Tell us—is the person who harmed your uncle and his entire family in this room?"

Zhao Jing turned her head to look at Bai Yutang, then back at her family. Anxiously, Zhao Qi pressed, "Jingjing? Hurry and tell everyone, who is responsible for hurting your uncle's family?"

Zhao Jing turned her gaze toward Yang Chen and the group of individuals standing behind her, pointing a trembling finger. "Them!"

Bai Yutang instructed the police officers guarding the door, "Move in and make the arrests!"

The young suspects began struggling as the officers closed in. "Don't talk nonsense! We didn't do anything! You're basing this on the word of a kid—and a mentally unstable one at that..."

Bai Yutang gave them a cold smile. "She is perfectly normal. You lot are the ones who belong in an asylum!"

"When we were investigating earlier, we ran into quite a few roadblocks simply because that residential complex is right next to a school, meaning a high volume of people—especially basketball players—were constantly coming and going," Zhan Zhao explained as he watched the color drain from the suspects' faces. "Because there's a basketball court inside the compound, students from the school frequently wandered in to play, and quite a few students actually lived on the premises. As a result, the security guards paid almost no attention to students walking in and out with basketballs."

Bai Yutang nodded. "I questioned those student ballplayers, and they confirmed seeing several guys carrying basketballs head straight into the residential buildings."

"The security cameras didn't capture you because you didn't take the elevator; you took the stairs instead," Zhan Zhao smiled. "However, you should keep in mind that almost nobody ever uses the stairs up to the seventeenth floor!"

"The thick layers of dust preserved partial shoe prints belonging to you," Bai Yutang added nonchalantly. "Along with traces of sweat... The evidence is airtight. Still want to deny it?"

All of them lowered their heads in silence, unable to utter a single word.

"As for your experiments, Zhao Jing's uncle and his family were the only ones who knew the truth, which is why you silenced them all permanently," Zhan Zhao said, shaking his head at Yang Chen.

"Jingjing," Zhao Qi asked his daughter, "they murdered your uncle and aunt—why didn't you tell us?"

Zhao Jing looked up at her father with an aggrieved expression, tears welling up and spilling down her cheeks.

"Don't blame her," Zhan Zhao said softly. "Her memories were scrambled, and Yang Chen must have terrified her."

Seeing the couple's confusion, Zhan Zhao elaborated, "When you left before, the parting message you gave Zhao Jing was I LVE YU, which was simply an expression of your love for her. But Yang Chen and her accomplices deliberately arranged the bodies to spell out I LVE YU and claimed it was your dying instruction. They threatened that if she ever spoke a word, she would never see her mom and dad again. She was just a child suffering from traumatic memory confusion, so naturally, she kept her mouth shut. Yet, that phrase ended up becoming her psychological prison."

The couple stared at Zhao Jing in shock, and seeing her nod in confirmation, waves of heartbreaking remorse washed over them. The surrounding officers burned with righteous anger, disgusted by how these individuals had abused their education and intellect to commit such heinous atrocities.

Once Yang Chen and her accomplices were cuffed and led away, Yan Jiajia stood her ground and began clapping lightly. "My, my... Truly impressive. That Yang Chen is utterly devoid of human conscience."

"Don't look so smug," Zhan Zhao said coldly, turning his gaze toward her. "Cult Leader of Phantom Night."

Yan Jiajia's expression flickered slightly before she forced a smile. "What on earth are you talking about?"

"Even though your server is hosted overseas, our specialists tracked it down and proved that the registered owner of the website is none other than you!" Bai Yutang ordered his officers, "Take them all away!"

Yan Jiajia protested shrilly, "What right do you have to arrest me? I'm still a minor! What's wrong with registering a website?"

Bai Yutang tossed out a final word: "The evidence is conclusive, so you might as well go quietly!" Turning to the rest of her group, he commanded, "Take the rest of them too!"

A row of police vehicles was lined up outside the publishing house, their sirens silent as a dozen suspects were loaded into the vans.

Once everyone had cleared out, Zhan Zhao handed Zhao Qi and his wife a business card. "This person is a world-renowned specialist in memory-related neurological disorders. I've already spoken with him on the phone and cleared your paperwork. Your conditions aren't severe anymore, but Jingjing will likely need professional psychological counseling. You should take her along."

Gratefully accepting the card, the couple departed with Zhao Jing.

As Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang turned to leave, a slightly trembling voice called out from behind them, "Zhan..."

Zhan Zhao looked back to see Qian Mingyue standing there with a pale face. Exchanging a brief glance with Bai Yutang, Zhan Zhao turned back while Bai Yutang stepped outside first.

"I..." Qian Mingyue stammered awkwardly, unable to force the words out for a long stretch.

Zhan Zhao studied her for a moment. "We found out that your mother fell gravely ill, and her medical treatments cost a fortune... An amount far beyond your personal financial means."

With a bitter, self-deprecating smile, Qian Mingyue nodded. "I embezzled it from the publishing house's accounts, along with some other funds. Yan Jiajia found out, and she promised to lend me money to plug the financial hole as long as I agreed to help her—otherwise, she threatened to report me... I couldn't afford to lose my position at the publishing house; if I couldn't repay the funds, the whole place would go under."

Listening quietly, Zhan Zhao nodded. "I understand."

"You... aren't you going to arrest me?" Qian Mingyue looked up at Zhan Zhao in bewilderment.

Zhan Zhao glanced toward the exit. "The police have all left... How am I supposed to arrest you? I'm just a psychologist."

Before Qian Mingyue could process the absurdity of that statement, Zhan Zhao added, "My new book is finished and will be published in a couple of days. Use the royalties from it to fill the financial hole." With that, he turned and walked away.

"...How could I possibly do that?" Qian Mingyue gasped, well aware that the royalties would represent a massive sum of money. She hurried after him, only to find Bai Yutang waiting by the doorway. He glanced at her and remarked, "Extenuating circumstances this time, but let this be the last time!"

...

At 1:00 PM, the grand finale of the Universe Entertainment City Magic Week commenced with Yan Li stepping up to cut the ribbon.

With the ribbon-cutting ceremony concluded, Yan Li announced the final performance: world-renowned illusionist Zhao Zhen was once again going to challenge the limits of human endurance.

The closing show kicked off at 1:10 PM with about half an hour of warm-up acts performed by various guest magicians.

Stepping off the stage, Yan Li was intercepted by Dynasty and Zhang Long, who promptly escorted her away to the very hotel suite where the murders of Pang Xiaoqin and An Lingli had taken place.

In the top-floor grand hall of the hotel stood the entire SI team, alongside Yan Jiajia, Yan Li, Pang Ji, Pang Qing, and An Youdao. They exchanged wary glances, none of them speaking a word.

Bai Yutang swept his gaze across the room before speaking. "Next, let's break down the sequence of events regarding how you all murdered An Lingli and Pang Xiaoqin."

Zhan Zhao took over the narration: "First of all, An Lingli only came to the hotel because Uncle An requested it, and the clothes she wore were also prepared by him. For a girl of her age with a sound reputation, the only person capable of luring her to a hotel room to change into a high-end evening gown would be—her parents!" Zhan Zhao said.

An Youdao opened his mouth to argue, but Bai Yutang shot him a freezing glare. "Don't rush, we'll get to you soon enough. No interruptions during this segment!"

"Roughly half a minute of footage was edited out of this surveillance video, spanning three distinct cuts. The first cut captured An Youdao entering the room first to wait," Zhan Zhao continued seamlessly. "By the time An Lingli checked into the room, you were already waiting inside. You had her change into that outfit before murdering her."

An Youdao's face turned ashen, but he remained silent.

"You could control what clothes she wore, but there were some things beyond your control," Bai Yutang noted. "For instance... the color of her nail polish."

"You were the one who noticed the color of your daughter's nail polish and told Pang Xiaoqin to change hers, which is why Pang Xiaoqin panicked and rushed to apply a fresh coat, accidentally smearing wet nail polish onto the zipper of her dress," Zhan Zhao explained. "You made An Lingli drink the sedative before killing her. Then, Yan Jiajia disguised herself to match the killer persona you fabricated, wearing a Doraemon mask as she entered the room. Together, the two of you dismembered the body. After that, you left behind the note reading A Generous Gift for An Youdao and slipped away first to establish your alibi. Naturally, this entire sequence was spliced out—that was the second cut," Zhan Zhao stated.

"Following that, Yan Jiajia called room service, placed the waiter under a hypnotic suggestion, and had him carry out An Lingli's dismembered remains packed inside a garbage bag. Yan Li's people intercepted it and loaded it into a specially prepared multi-tier cake. During the hours leading up to the banquet..."

"When the banquet started, Pang Xiaoqin inexplicably manufactured a conflict with Bai Jingtang and Yan Li before storming off to the room—which was likely prearranged with her father. At that point, the person waiting inside the room was Yan Jiajia."

"Yan Jiajia similarly slipped drugs into Pang Xiaoqin's beverage, murdered her, and swiftly made off with her head. She hypnotized the cake deliveryman and arranged for someone to stage the head-swapping stunt." Zhan Zhao gestured toward Yan Li as he spoke. "As for Yan Li, her role was to administer the anesthetic to Zhao Zhen. Knowing that Zhao Zhen was fasting due to his rigorous training regimen, she simply needed to have someone hand the laced drink to Bai Chi, knowing full well Bai Chi would pass it on to Zhao Zhen. The person responsible for swapping the heads was likely one of the magicians—most likely one of the three who had gotten into a dispute with Zhao Zhen and left the scene early."

"As for editing the video and generating the black screens, on the surface it looked like something only President Bai Jingtang could pull off. But coincidentally, Bai Jingtang had been abroad during that entire period, while the hotel's entire operational staff belonged to you and Pang Ji, giving you both the opportunity to tamper with the footage," Bai Yutang continued in an unhurried cadence. "Finally, Yang Chen resumed the role of the masked killer, wearing the mask to leave the 'Executing Justice on Behalf of Heaven' note on our car. Throughout every single security recording, that masked killer appeared—an elusive perpetrator we could never track down, simply because he was roleplayed by you lot."

"That concludes the deduction. That's the gist of it. Any objections or final words?" Zhan Zhao asked the assembled group.

Yan Li let out a dry, mirthless laugh. "Heh... A thoroughly entertaining story. Unfortunately, words are wind; all of this is nothing more than pure speculation!"

Zhan Zhao calmly replied, "Boss Yan, you ordered your people to edit the footage strictly according to timestamps, didn't you? Once the editing was done, you probably never bothered to review the final cut."

Yan Li faltered.

"I wonder if Boss Yan noticed... that an extra snippet of footage managed to slip in?" As Zhan Zhao spoke, Jiang Ping tapped the keyboard of the laptop resting on the table. A video began to play on the screen—showing the figure wearing the Doraemon mask... making their final exit from the room.

The moment the video played, the remaining suspects turned deathly pale, collectively sucking in sharp breaths of horror.

"Uncle An should be intimately familiar with this killer, shouldn't he?" Zhan Zhao asked.

An Youdao's eyes bulged wide. Staring in absolute shock at the screen, his jaw hung slack, leaving him utterly speechless.

"Every murder requires a motive," Bai Yutang chimed in abruptly. "An Lingli was your adopted daughter and was always dutiful to you. What possible reason could make you cruel enough to murder her?"

An Youdao remained mute, his body trembling faintly.

"Was it because of him?" Zhan Zhao reached out, gently pointing toward the figure in the mask on the screen. "You people needed to manufacture footage of a killer moving about so we wouldn't suspect the tape had been tampered with. However... if the video segment was too short, we would eventually spot the editing flaws. Therefore, you cleverly chose to have him appear right in front of us... which drastically lowered our suspicion. But tell us... who exactly was this killer emerging from that room?"

"Let's run through a hypothesis," Bai Yutang proposed. "He walked out, which means he had to have gone in. Since his entry wasn't captured on camera, it means he slipped inside during one of the time blocks you edited out. During the first time block, the room was occupied by An Youdao and An Lingli, making it unlikely he could enter undetected. During the second time block, Yan Jiajia was present. Therefore, he must have slipped in during the brief window when Yan Jiajia stepped out, and then exited immediately after."

"The duration was under five minutes," Zhan Zhao smiled. "Care to guess what he went in there to do?"

Yan Li and the others grew visibly tense. Zhan Zhao directed everyone's attention toward two other video frames on the display. "Look right here—one from the banquet, and another from the parking lot. Both feature that unidentified suspect... Notice anything missing from his attire? His suit jacket!"

"Where on earth did he dump his suit jacket?" Bai Yutang reached down to retrieve a suit jacket held by an officer. "We recovered an ownerless suit jacket from a locker in the employee changing room. Inside the breast pocket, we found an SD card and a miniature recording device."

Jiang Ping took the card and plugged it into the laptop. A video file and several audio clips began to play. The video documented the entire sequence of events: An Youdao murdering An Lingli, Yan Jiajia and An Youdao dismembering the body, and Yan Jiajia murdering Pang Xiaoqin. The audio files consisted of phone recordings involving all six individuals. Because An Youdao's voice appeared in every single conversation, it confirmed beyond a doubt that a listening device had been planted directly inside An Youdao's mobile phone.

Confronted with such damning, ironclad evidence, everyone collapsed to the floor—this time, caught red-handed with both the stolen goods and the perpetrators.

"Why?" Bai Yutang demanded of Pang Ji. "Pang Xiaoqin was your biological daughter. Why on earth would you kill her?"

"Biological daughter?" Pang Ji sneered. "She deserved to die! Knowing full well that her brother Pang Yu had been killed by the Bai and Zhan families, and knowing that the Pang family fortune had been completely looted by Bai Jingtang, she still acted like a cheap floozy, clinging desperately to Bai Jingtang and insisting on marrying him?! Pah! I deeply regret ever spawning such a daughter. It's just that Heaven is blind—if Qing'er and I had succeeded, both Zhan Zhao and Gongsun Ce would be dead, and I would have made you Bai family members taste the agony of losing everything you hold dear... Heaven is truly blind!"

Frowning in disgust, Bai Yutang waved an arm at his men. "Take them away!"

"An Youdao." Zhan Zhao looked up at Uncle An. "I hear your wife has been admitted to a psychiatric hospital."

An Youdao slumped dejectedly into a chair, speaking in a hollow voice. "That's right, Heaven is blind... I, An Youdao, spent my entire life upholding justice and fighting evil, never once committing a wrongful deed. In my old age, I finally managed to father a son, only to discover he turned out to be a freak!"

Zhan Zhao frowned slightly, exchanging a glance with Bai Yutang—just as suspected.

An Youdao glanced at Bai Yutang before continuing: "My son's name is An Lin. I watched you and Zhan Zhao grow up since you were kids... You both turned out successful—Zhan is the literary star, and you are the martial star. All the good fortune in the world was monopolized by your two families. After my son was born, I swore I would raise him to be someone extraordinary, proficient in both literature and martial arts. Since his old man couldn't measure up to others, he had to bring honor to our name... I never expected that not only would the child amount to nothing, but he actually liked dressing up like a woman! He drove his mother out of her mind when he was young, leaving her completely unhinged. I had to swallow my suffering in silence, unable to tell a soul that my son was a freak, and could only endure it. I tried counseling An Lin, and he gradually seemed to listen. But right around that time, he happened to stumble upon some wretched article—the very one you wrote, Zhan—and after reading it, he tracked you down to ask who-knows-what. When he came back, he told me he wanted to live as his true self and would only live as a woman from then on... In a fit of rage, I chose to act as though he didn't exist. Later on, I adopted Lingli and told everyone I had a daughter."

"So you orchestrated all of this simply to exact revenge on me?" Zhan Zhao asked An Youdao.

"That's right!" An Youdao glared venomously at Zhan Zhao. "I hate you! Do you have any idea what kind of life I've endured over the past decade? I wanted to wipe your damn psychology off the face of this earth!"

"You discovered the letters An Lin wrote to me, and that inspired this entire scheme?" Zhan Zhao asked.

"That's right," An Youdao chuckled bleakly. "That's right. I wanted to make the world believe that your promotion of psychology is what breeds these mass murderers... Furthermore, because you failed to take these issues seriously enough, countless innocent people lost their lives, while I played the grieving victim adorned with an honorary medal, leaving you thoroughly discredited and ruined! I wanted to utterly destroy you... But Heaven is blind, my own son ended up recording evidence against his own old man..."

Bai Yutang looked with a mixture of helplessness and pity at the unhinged An Youdao, gesturing for the officers to drag him away.

"You can't arrest me!" Yan Jiajia shrieked first. "I'm still a minor! Everything I did was orchestrated by them!"

"Heh..." Zhan Zhao shook his head with a faint smile. "Yan Jiajia, we've already asked the City K police department to reopen and reinvestigate the Ripper murders from back then. If I'm not mistaken, you were the one conducting experiments with your cult followers and framing Fang Wu for them. After studying the personal journals left behind by your father, you went to great lengths to track down Zou Mo, manipulated Wang Liyong into trusting you to acquire the rest of the materials, and then planted a bomb at the police station to murder Wang Liyong. If An Lin hadn't called to tip us off, the SI headquarters might very well have been blown sky-high... You were playing with fire and pushed things way too far!"

Yan Jiajia stared intently at Zhan Zhao. "Everything I did... was for you! I wanted to help you ascend and become a god!" As she spoke, she locked her eyes onto Zhan Zhao's gaze.

Zhan Zhao gave a cold laugh. "Spare me those parlor tricks. Your hypnotic suggestions might fool amateurs, but don't try pulling that crap on me!"

Bai Yutang instructed the guards, "Take her away!"

"Mom... Mom, save me!" Yan Jiajia wailed continuously as she was hauled away, though it was impossible to tell whether her terror was genuine or merely an act.

"Yan Li," Bai Yutang said, turning his attention to her. "And what was your motive?"

Yan Li shook her head and smiled. "I don't hate you. Even now, I still don't hate you. The death of my husband, and what happened to my daughter... There is only one person I truly hate... Zhao Jue!"

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang's expressions shifted slightly as they watched Yan Li check her wristwatch and smile. "It's two o'clock—Zhao Zhen's magic performance has begun. Right now, it's fifteen past two..."

Zhan Zhao felt a jolt of panic as a terrifying realization struck him. He demanded, "What on earth did you put in that scone you gave Zhao Zhen?"

"Haha..." Yan Li laughed softly. "It was a pharmaceutical agent that compromises pulmonary function... He has already accumulated a lethal dosage by now... Haha."

Bai Yutang instantly whipped out his phone. "Bai Chi, has Zhao Zhen's performance started yet?"

At that moment, Bai Chi was waiting anxiously backstage. Zhao Zhen's magic act today was indeed an escape routine, but unlike any of his previous performances, he had bound himself tightly, locked himself inside a massive wooden coffin, had the lid nailed shut, and ordered it submerged to a depth of fifty feet underwater—all performed completely in the open without any visual screens or barriers. His objective was to make his appearance on shore before the eyes of the bewildered audience without anyone knowing how he managed it.

"It's started," Bai Chi answered, only to hear Bai Yutang shouting through the earpiece: "Don't let him go into the water! Stop him right now!"

Stunned, Bai Chi heard a heavy plop echoing through the phone line as the coffin containing Zhao Zhen was hoisted up and dropped straight into the water, slowly sinking into the depths.

"No!" Bai Chi cried out in horror, lunging forward to rush toward the stage, only for Zhao Zhen's manager to intercept him in a tight bear hug. "What are you doing?!"

"Let go of me!" Bai Chi roared with a ferocity uncharacteristic of him. "Stop it right now, pull him back up!"

"Are you out of your mind?!" The manager and assistants pinned Bai Chi back tightly. "This is a global live broadcast! Do you want to ruin Zhao Zhen's entire career?!"

"I don't care!" Bai Chi struggled frantically. "Get out of my way, he's in mortal danger!"

...

Listening to the chaos unfolding over the phone line, Bai Yutang grabbed Zhan Zhao by the arm. "Cat, let's move!"

Before they could even turn to leave, Yan Li piped up, "Zhao Zhen's cardiopulmonary function won't even last two minutes underwater... And what's more..." She reached into her pocket, pulled out a pair of genuine steel handcuffs, and let out a cold laugh. "I swapped out one of his trick props. I wonder if our master illusionist can manage to escape from real handcuffs!"

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao froze in horror. Surely not...

Seconds ticked away like hours. Blocked by a wall of staff members, Bai Chi found himself unable to break through to the stage no matter how desperately he argued. At that moment, one of the assistants muttered nervously, "It's already been two minutes... Why hasn't he surfaced yet?"

Shoving the bewildered manager aside, Bai Chi bolted onto the stage. By then, the audience in the packed arena had risen to their feet in a restless murmur.

Panicking on stage and having no idea what to do with the coffin resting at the bottom of the pool, Bai Chi considered diving in himself. Just as he prepared to leap, he felt a light tap on his shoulder. Simultaneously, enthusiastic cheers and thunderous applause erupted from the crowd.

Bai Chi spun around. There stood Zhao Zhen, pale as a ghost, dripping wet, flashing a faint smile as he waved to the cheering audience. The applause grew even more deafening.

Only then did Bai Chi realize he was standing there like an absolute fool, while the heavy curtains slowly descended behind them.

In Zhao Zhen's hand dangled a pair of unlocked steel handcuffs, while the cross pendant hanging against his chest was bent completely out of shape.

Glancing down at the ruined cross, Zhao Zhen chuckled weakly, "Good thing I had it..."

"You scared the living daylights out of me!" Bai Chi glared at Zhao Zhen, only for Zhao Zhen to reach out, wrap an arm around his shoulders, and whisper, "Chichi, get me to a hospital... but keep it quiet..."

Bai Chi froze. As Zhao Zhen spoke, a dark stream of blood welled up and spilled from the corner of his mouth... His eyes slowly fluttered shut, and his body slumped heavily against Bai Chi.

...

When Zhao Zhen was rushed into the emergency room, the attending physician happened to be a doctor intimately familiar with Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang. Taking one look at Zhao Zhen's condition, he dropped four grim words before rushing him straight through the doors into surgery—Critical condition!

K

Moments later, specialists from the cardiothoracic surgery and neurosurgery departments came storming into the operating theater. Blood-soaked gauze pads were tossed out, fresh bags of plasma were rushed inside... Nurses hurried back and forth in a frantic blur. Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang stood anxiously outside the doors, at a complete loss, while Bai Chi sat slumped on a bench, tears streaming uncontrollably down his face.

After an agonizing hour of resuscitation, the operating room lights finally clicked off, and the doctor emerged.

"How is he?" The three of them rushed forward in unison.

The doctor offered a weary nod, letting out an admiring sigh. "He refused to let death claim him."

Everyone let out a collective, long-awaited sigh of relief.

"He's been transferred to the intensive care unit," the doctor instructed. "However, his lungs sustained severe trauma and will require prolonged, absolute rest. Furthermore, due to a brief period of cerebral hypoxia, we cannot predict precisely when he will regain consciousness." With those final medical notes, the physician walked away.

Bai Chi turned to look at Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao. Zhan Zhao reached out to give his shoulder a reassuring squeeze, prompting Bai Chi to throw himself forward and sob his heart out.

...

Three days later.

Zhao Zhen's condition had stabilized, though he had yet to wake up.

Bai Yutang had granted Bai Chi extended leave to stay by Zhao Zhen's side. For the past three days, Bai Chi had attended to Zhao Zhen around the clock—sponging him down here, wiping him off there, though the patient stubbornly remained asleep.

That afternoon, as Bai Chi went through his customary routine of wiping down Zhao Zhen's body—knowing how impeccably clean the young master always liked to keep himself, Bai Chi performed the task religiously every single day, carefully maneuvering around the long surgical scar across his chest (which Bai Chi had caught a glimpse of during a bandage change)—he muttered under his breath, "Are you ever going to wake up?"

Armed with a clean washcloth, Bai Chi wiped and grumbled, "You know what? Lisbon refuses to eat... He's lost a whole ring of weight after we finally managed to fatten him up. He just yowls around the house all day long, the neighbors have already filed complaints!"

Giving him one last wipe down, Bai Chi buttoned up Zhao Zhen's shirt. "You'd better wake up soon... Or else, wake up right now and I'll make you pork rib soup... Well, that sounds a bit insincere. What is it that you actually want?"

"Do I get to ask for whatever I want?"

K

"Yeah... Wait, what?!" Bai Chi gasped in sheer astonishment. Zhao Zhen's eyes were wide open, looking at him with a mischievous, smiling glint. Though he appeared extremely weak, his cognitive faculties were clearly razor-sharp as he added, "A promise is a promise! Starting right now, we're officially dating!"

"How can you do this?" Bai Chi's face flushed bright red.

"You wiped my entire body and practically saw everything there is to see," Zhao Zhen cast a playful sideways glance at Bai Chi. "Planning to shirk responsibility?"

Bai Chi pouted his lips. "Fine... alright then."

Standing just outside the doorway, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang peeked in to observe.

Bai Yutang looked at Zhan Zhao—Should we go in?

Zhan Zhao shook his head—Better not... They're busy dating!

Bai Yutang nodded—True that! Disturbing people who are dating is a good way to get kicked by a horse.

One week later, the case was officially closed, and all culprits had received their respective sentences.

Over the weekend, Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao carried a large bag of fresh nectarines to visit Old Man Chang. After chatting for half an hour and eating half a pound of fruit, the two bade the old man farewell and left.

Walking back along the earthen footpath, Zhan Zhao suddenly came to a halt. Seated by the edge of the path was a young woman in her early twenties—slender, neat, dressed in a pristine white summer dress, wearing a wide-brimmed sun hat, and engrossed in a book.

As Zhan Zhao passed by her, he noticed the book in her hands was his own newly published work, prompting him to stop right behind her.

The young woman raised her head, looked up at him, and asked, "Are you signing copies?"

Zhan Zhao nodded, taking the book and the pen she offered. With a few swift strokes, he signed his name across the page and handed the book back to her.

Bai Yutang was waiting a short distance ahead. Seeing Zhan Zhao jogging over, he asked knowingly, "What's making you so happy, Cat?"

Reaching out, Zhan Zhao slapped Bai Yutang on the shoulder. "Bai! Let's go home and stew some bone broth!"

Bai Yutang was left utterly speechless.

Watching the two figures recede into the distance, the young girl flipped open the book she was holding. Scrawled across the title page was an autograph: The Innocent Murderer, An Innocent Life.

Closing the book, she stood up, brushed off her skirt, and walked away with a smile.

Returning home, Zhan Qi was greeted by Lu Ban rubbing affectionately against his legs. Resting on the tabletop was a note bearing just two words: "Left."

With a resigned sigh, Zhan Qi tossed the extra meal box he had bought toward Lu Ban. "Here, eat!"

...

In the sun-drenched garden of a secluded villa, Fang Wu handed over a thick stack of documents. "It's all here."

Accepting the files, a figure smiled softly. "You've done well."