"What's... wrong with me?"
Looking at the text she had sent on the screen, Shen Wanyin found it hard to believe.
Normally, although she wasn't as icy as Mu Qingxue, she would never casually banter like this with others.
Especially not with a man she wasn't that familiar with.
But now... she had actually sent such a message?
Shen Wanyin's heart skipped a beat. She instinctively pressed and held the text she sent, intending to click 'recall,' but when the recall option popped up, she inexplicably stopped.
Because in her mind, Fang Ming was the image of a mysterious, ethereal Master who transcended worldly affairs. Yet, through chatting, she discovered not only was he much younger than her, but he was also a normal person who would complain about being broke and crack jokes.
This stark contrast felt like a feather lightly brushing the tip of her heart, leaving a ticklish sensation.
Recalling the wild night at the hotel, she genuinely wanted to hear him softly call her'sister'?
...Rong City, Qin Group.
Fang Ming looked at the words on the screen, his brain momentarily short-circuiting.
Call her'sister'? And with a voice message? Does this woman want me to experience social death in the office?
Although Shen Wanyin was indeed an exceptional beauty, and the taste of that night was truly unforgettable, he, Fang Ming, had principles.
Selling skills, not his body, especially not while slacking off at work!
If his colleagues heard him hiding at his workstation, putting on a voice to call someone'sister,' they'd definitely think he had some special fetish.
[.]: "Ahem, that... the boss is coming, I need to get back to work, talk later!"
After sending this message, Fang Ming decisively exited the Chat Group, casually picked up a document, and pretended to read it earnestly.
"Hmm, what a beautiful and fulfilling day."
"Heh, so even a Master can get embarrassed sometimes?"
Shen Wanyin couldn't help but laugh out loud at this clumsy escape attempt. Her smile was breathtakingly beautiful, full of charm and allure... It must be said, after resolving Qin Xiao's second siege against Yunlan International, Fang Ming's life had become much more relaxed.
He had money, free time, no group tasks. Even during work hours, he had the leisure to chat and joke with others.
However, frustration doesn't disappear; it merely transfers.
That same day at 2 PM, Rong City Criminal Investigation Division, Technical Department Office.
Just as Fang Ming had guessed, Ji Ling霜 and her team's interrogation of Wang Hu and the others hit a dead end at the stage of identifying the person who hired them.
The only thing they knew was that the person was a sleazy man with a mole on his face.
Based on the information and suspects provided by Mu Qingxue, they suspected the mastermind behind it was Qin Xiao. But the police need evidence to make an arrest.
Bang!
A printed phone call record was slammed heavily onto the desk by her, causing the nearby thermos cup to shake twice.
The air conditioning couldn't suppress the fury burning in Ji Ling霜's heart.
"Can't trace it? None of it can be traced?"
Ji Ling霜's beautiful phoenix eyes were now slightly narrowed, exuding a sharpness that sent chills down one's spine.
The young officer from the Technical Department pushed his thick glasses up his nose, not daring to meet the gaze of this "Ice Rose of the Police Force."
"Captain, it's really not that our tech is lacking..."
The young officer swallowed hard, pointing at the string of garbled, code-like data on the screen to explain.
"The emergency call was made using a network virtual number. The server relay is set up overseas, jumping around—sometimes in South America, sometimes in Northern Europe, and finally even hopping to an Antarctic research station... This clearly indicates a Master among Masters."
"Also, we conducted a thorough search of the area where that sleazy man disappeared."
Ji Ling霜 crossed her arms, leaning against the edge of the desk, her long legs crossed, her brows tightly furrowed. "How about interviews with nearby residents? Were the blind spots in the surveillance checked?"
"We've checked everything."
The young officer made a pained face, pulling up several photos from the on-site investigation.
"There were no surveillance cameras in that area to begin with. For hundreds of meters around, it's all houses slated for demolition and shrubbery. The weirdest thing is..."
The young officer paused, his tone carrying a hint of disbelief. "We didn't find the clothes that sleazy man changed out of."
"According to criminal psychology and normal anti-surveillance logic, after changing disguises, to facilitate escape, suspects usually bury or discard their original disguise on the spot."
"But we didn't find a single trace at the scene. Everything just... vanished into thin air."
Hearing this, Ji Ling霜's eyes grew even more profound.
Vanished into thin air?
There's no such thing as vanishing into thin air in this world; it's just that the methods are exceptionally sophisticated.
"If it was a group crime, and someone assisted by taking away the evidence, that would make sense."
Ji Ling霜 lightly tapped her fingers on the desk. "But now... forget not finding the suspect. Why would the person who made the emergency call also use such an extremely covert method?"
If it was a concerned citizen, there was no need to hide. If it was a case of criminals turning on each other... there was no need to hand those three fugitives over to the police either.
"Wants to avoid exposing their identity, yet also wants to save someone..."
Ji Ling霜's mind once again recalled the voice of the person who made the emergency call, and the 'ordinary-looking client representative' mentioned in Wang Hu's statement!
Could there be some connection between the two?
Her investigative instincts made Ji Ling霜 suspicious, but without evidence, even she could do nothing... Time passed day by day.
Qin Xiao couldn't find the Master behind Mu Qingxue, and Ji Ling霜 couldn't find the client representative mentioned by Wang Hu and the other two.
Meanwhile, Fang Ming, the person involved, aside from going to work, idling in the group chat, and occasionally hitting the nearby gym, basically spent his time drinking with Wang Meng and fooling around with Chen Qian.
After coming into money, he not only cleared the hundred thousand or so in gambling debts left by his deadbeat father but also lived a much more relaxed life than before.
He originally thought this comfortable life would continue until the Chat Group's search count refreshed next month.
But one night, a week later, in an old shantytown area outside Rong City's Third Ring Road.
In a small building with most of its exterior plaster peeling off, the room at the very end of the fifth floor had its security door tightly shut.
Thud!
A muffled sound came from inside.
The already wobbly folding wooden table was violently overturned. Cheap beer bottles shattered all over the floor, yellow beer mixed with cigarette ash snaking through the cracks in the floorboards.
"Cough... cough... cough, cough, cough!"
Liu Qiang curled up in the corner, hands clutching his head, coughing violently.
He looked to be under forty, wearing a yellowed tank top, shorts, and one of his flip-flops was broken.
His originally decent features were now bruised and swollen, a trace of blood at the corner of his mouth, his eyes filled with terror and regret.
"Liu Qiang, we're all old neighbors. If it weren't absolutely necessary, I really wouldn't want to lay a hand on you."
The speaker was a fat guy with dyed blond hair, a gold chain as thick as a finger hanging around his neck, sitting sprawled on the only sofa.
He chewed gum, one foot planted on Liu Qiang's chest, slapping an IOU in his hand with a loud 'pap' sound.
"See this??? Black and white, signed and fingerprinted. This three hundred thousand, you're paying it back today whether you want to or not!"
Liu Qiang, struggling to breathe under the foot, his face turning purplish-red.
"Bi... Brother Bin, I really have no money... And that game the other day was definitely rigged. I clearly had a straight flush, how could I possibly..."
Whack!
The Blond-Haired Guy slapped him backhanded, cutting off Liu Qiang's explanation.
"Cut the crap. You win some, you lose some. You lose and call it a setup? If you'd won money, did we see you share it with the brothers?"
The Blond-Haired Guy spat out his gum. "You've got two options in front of you now."
"First, pay back the money."
"Second, we do things by the rules. A hand is worth a hundred thousand, a leg is worth a hundred thousand. You figure out how many parts you need to lose to cover it?"
Hearing this, the two men in black suits beside him immediately pulled out two gleaming daggers from their waists, twirling them in their hands, looking mockingly at Liu Qiang on the floor.
The cold metallic feel sent a shiver through Liu Qiang's whole body.
"Don't... don't use the knives!"
Liu Qiang cried out, voice trembling. "Brother Bin, give me two more days, I'll find a way, I'll borrow from loan sharks, I'll sell my blood..."
"Sell your blood? How much do you think you're worth drained dry?"
The blond-haired fat guy sneered, leaning forward slightly, his fleshy face scrunching up, revealing a mouthful of yellowed, rotten teeth stained by smoke.
"Actually, it's fine if you don't have money. I remember you have a niece named Chu Yao, studying at Rongcheng University, right? Heard she's also a campus belle??"