Wu Ming's anxiety didn't seem faked. She went to Oasis Community alone to ask around and confirmed that Wu Gang headed toward the commercial district after work.
Following the trail and asking questions, she eventually confirmed he disappeared from the surveillance footage near the commercial district's customer service center.
Nan Yue used her press card to learn that a guest had lost a bag containing bank cards. The bag hadn't been found yet, but no unauthorized charges had been made.
The timing coincided perfectly with the day Wu Gang went missing.
It seemed that because security at Oasis Community had tightened, his original plans were foiled, so he wanted to go elsewhere to make a quick buck.
And he did indeed make some money.
But where was he?
Although the cards had been stolen, Wu Gang was an experienced hand. He knew very well that he had to swipe them before the owner reported them lost to make a profit.
Yet, the cards hadn't been used.
This meant something happened to him shortly after the theft.
Wu Ming must have tracked him here as well, but he couldn't get much information out of people and could only search aimlessly.
Nan Yue, however, had more clues.
If she were Wu Gang, what would be the next step after stealing something?
Find a secluded, deserted place to check the haul.
Surveillance was everywhere nearby, making it inconvenient.
Nan Yue observed the surveillance blind spots as she walked, eventually reaching the underground parking lot.
The commercial district had four underground levels, but the fourth level wasn't open yet. She headed straight there.
The fourth floor was vast and empty. Construction was finished, but it hadn't been put into use yet.
The air only smelled of cement, with no scent of rotting corpses. Nan Yue planned to leave after a quick circuit.
She took two steps, stopped, and turned her head to look not far away.
There was a restroom there.
Underground garages had restrooms, but since this floor wasn't open, there were no lights in the toilet.
The designed exterior looked somewhat eerie without any lighting.
Nan Yue walked toward the restroom and pushed open the door to the men's room. A sudden stench of death wafted out, making her skin crawl.
Nan Yue found Wu Gang in the last stall.
His face had been slashed to ribbons.
Wu Gang had defensive wounds on his body, indicating he had struggled but was simply overpowered.
It couldn't have been a woman.
Wu Gang wasn't an ordinary man; he was someone who dealt in shady business and had enough experience on the streets to hold his own.
It was either Yang Xufeng, or Uncle Zhong with Xie Hui as an accomplice, or...
The Mute.
The only ones not in the tenement building during the day were the already missing Yang Xufeng and the Mute who had led them to the body.
With a heavy heart, Nan Yue rushed back.
...
On the other side, Jiang Siyan followed Nan Yue's instructions and found Old Wu's home.
Old Wu hadn't returned to the tenement building for several days. He had likely heard rumors and didn't plan on going back.
Jiang Siyan took advantage of the moment Old Wu stepped out, using the excuse of wanting an interview to slip into his home.
Old Wu's wife was a heavily made-up woman whose eyes never left Jiang Siyan.
"Handsome, let me tell you, what's there to ask about a cranky old man like him?"
Jiang Siyan smiled politely and easily managed to extract all the information he needed.
Old Wu had indeed come into money. He married the woman as soon as he got the cash, but after the wedding, he still insisted on taking time to return to that dilapidated building every month.
The woman found it strange. There was no life in that building, so why return?
Every time she asked, Old Wu looked miserable. If she asked too much, he would lose his temper, saying he didn't want to go back either and wondering who would ever want to return to such a dump.
Old Wu wasn't going back voluntarily?
Jiang Siyan scanned the room and asked casually, "Don't you keep any plants at home?"
The woman giggled, leaning her body toward Jiang Siyan. "No, the old man won't let me. He says something about pesticides being able to kill people."
"He's just being superstitious."
Jiang Siyan thought of the two bottles of pesticides Nan Yue had mentioned seeing in the room and understood.
"Does Dr. Wu usually take medicine? I heard he's a divine doctor."
The woman's face turned mocking. "Him? He's more like a fraud. He knows what's what, so he never touches that stuff."
Jiang Siyan had a bad premonition and stood up. "Thank you."
The woman was reluctant to let him go, trying to lean in close.
Jiang Siyan dropped his disguise and gave her a cold, indifferent look. The woman's hair stood on end, and she stepped back, not daring to approach.
As soon as Jiang Siyan stepped out, he dialed his phone.
...
Jiang Haoyu lay on the bed, finding it difficult to describe his current sensation.
The body was his, and he wasn't in any pain, but he felt like nothing was following his commands.
He couldn't get up in the morning—literally couldn't get up. His entire body felt like a clockwork spring that hadn't been oiled; every movement was a struggle.
However, when Gu Xiangkai came back and told him they would be out soon, he managed to find a bit of motivation.
Although his body couldn't move and his reactions were slow, composing a short news article was still simple.
He thought it through slowly. By evening, he had basically finished the article, needing only to fill in a few keywords. He could then tell Yin Qian to write it down and send it out so they could leave.
As Jiang Haoyu was thinking, he suddenly realized there seemed to be some movement in the room.
He couldn't hear very clearly; his ears were failing him too.
Jiang Haoyu struggled to sit up slowly, leaning on the table to stand up tremulously.
His vision went dark and dizzy, and he hunched over, gasping for breath.
When he recovered, he saw a pair of feet behind him out of the corner of his eye.
This is bad!
Jiang Haoyu tried to dodge, but his body wouldn't obey. A heavy blow landed squarely on the back of his head, and his vision went black.
With a thud, Jiang Haoyu collapsed. Blood poured out, staining the floor a bright red.
He struggled to open his eyes, looking at the blurry figure before him.
It was a petite old lady he had seen a few times, always with a mean expression.
But now, she was beaming with a smile, as if the person before her wasn't a young man with his head cracked open, but a chicken waiting to be slaughtered.
An elderly person's eyes are usually cloudy, but Granny Li's eyes were glowing slightly, making her smile look incredibly grotesque.
"Hehe."
"Brain."
"A young brain."
...
Meanwhile, Yin Qian and Chi Yu couldn't get into Yang Xufeng's room, but they were approached by Xie Hui first.
Xie Hui looked terrified, clutching Yin Qian's sleeve while trembling.
"It seems... it seems something happened to Yao He."
Yin Qian and Chi Yu exchanged a look, both feigning a look of anxiety.
"Something happened?"
Xie Hui seemed badly shaken, her words a bit jumbled, but she managed to explain.
She was a parishioner. Someone had preached in the tenement building before, and she had been looking after the misfit church left behind after the pastor left.
Even though the pastor was gone, Xie Hui still returned to the confessional from time to time to confess and take care of the plants.
Those were plants Xie Hui grew in her spare time.
But when she went to the church after dinner just now, she found bloodstains in the confessional and a phone dropped on the floor.
She had seen it before; it belonged to Yao He.
"She had a fight with Yang Xufeng yesterday. Yang Xufeng went out and I don't know if he came back. I didn't dare to call the police on a whim."
Yin Qian and Chi Yu nodded. "Let's go take a look."
Xie Hui found A-Wang to pick the lock. Once A-Wang got his money, he didn't ask questions and left as soon as the door was open.
The room was a mess, and the blood all over the floor hinted at something terrible.
Xie Hui cried out and collapsed to the ground.
Rate on N.U.
