"I need to go to the toilet."

Xu Xiaodong stood up and left the meeting room. The other police officers who had just returned from the "toilet" showed knowing eyes.

Xu Xiaodong went to the stairs at the end of the corridor and took out his mobile phone to call his mother.

"...Mom, what I said is all true. Don't go out in the near future. Just order takeaway when you eat... Takeaways don’t use waste oil anymore. It’s illegal to use waste oil and they’ll go to jail. Why do you always worry about this... Be obedient and don't go out. Definitely don't go out... I will be back soon."

Hearing his mother's voice, Xu Xiaodong breathed a sigh of relief. At this moment, he heard Old Zhang's voice coming from under the stairs, which was extremely intense.

"Tingting, why aren’t you obedient? Why would dad lie to you... That’s one thing. Don't bring up those things and associate it with this. I’m telling you not to go out, especially at night... Hey, don't hang up, don't hang up! "

Xu Xiaodong looked down and saw Old Zhang standing on the staircase platform, sighing miserably at his phone.

He hurried back and happened to meet Lin Dongxue who had returned from the forensics department. Lin Dongxue asked, "Calling your mother?"

"Is this called being afraid?" Xu Xiaodong admitted embarrassingly. "Does Old Zhang and his daughter not have a good relationship? I just heard him call her and it was just like a fight."

"He and his wife have been separated for many years, and his daughter should be in senior high right now."

"Aiya, every family has their own troubles."

At this time, Chen Shi walked in from the outside and saw Lin Dongxue holding the appraisal report in her hand. He asked, "Is it the autopsy report?"

"No, this is a fingerprint identification report. There was Ling Shuang's fingerprint on the 'diagnosis report' from just then."

Since Zhou Tiannan's death, some of her information had been discovered by the police. Ling Shuang was basically a wanted criminal. Chen Shi said, "This case was commissioned by Lie Guoxiao."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Just think. Why aren’t they killing the police but only the police's family members? It’s because Lie Guoxiao didn't want to hurt you and Lin Qiupu. The murder range he defined perfectly avoided you pair of brother and sister while at the same time achieving the goal of his revenge against the police."

"Taking revenge on the police? Isn’t that too wild?" Xu Xiaodong asked.

"How much evidence have you guys collected on Lie Guoxiao’s crimes?"

"A lot. It’s enough for him to sit in his cell for so long that the ground underneath him would break."

"Yes, he’s already come to an end. He’s a man with strong self-esteem. He wants to drag a few people into the water with him... This is my opinion."

"What a vicious guy!" Lin Dongxue murmured.

"Where is Old Zhang?"

At this time, Old Zhang came back looking a little depressed with the smell of smoke on his body. He saw three people standing in the corridor and said hello. Chen Shi said, "Old Zhang, can we use some people from your task force?"

"I'm also thinking about this, but the manpower we have right now is really tight. Lie Guoxiao is a big case and the higher-ups are very concerned with it."

"Then call Lin Qiupu back!"

"That's great. Acting as the captain is very hard. It would be best if Little Lin can come back."

Lin Qiupu came back soon after receiving Lin Dongxue's call. After understanding the situation, he said, "Let's start investigating right now!"

The only thing that could be checked was the on-site surveillance footage. The three of them found a quiet office and watched the surrounding footage of the scene. In order to save time, lunch was also taken in front of the computer.

Lin Dongxue sighed as she ate the fried dumplings. "Zhou Xiao is too difficult to grasp. It’s always like this every time, leaving nothing behind but a dead body."

Lin Qiupu said, "In fact, there was a little achievement in the process of hunting him down. We found his residence twice, but after we arrived, they had already moved away. This guy is too keen."

"It's incredible that a wanted criminal can hide in Long'an for so many years. As a person, he needs to eat, drink, and live. Why doesn't he leave behind a trace? Did he become someone who practices bigu?"[1]

"The answer is four words: Snakes move in a snake’s way." Chen Shi said, "These kind of people have their own world, where some people sell information, some provide food and shelter, and some provide weapons. It’s an underground world with a network of criminals. Ordinary people can't reach it at all."

"Unbelievable!" Lin Dongxue commented.

"This reminds me of something. One year, in the sewers of Xinghualing, we found..." Lin Qiupu suddenly stopped talking, staring straight at the screen.

Lin Dongxue leaned over to see what he had discovered and saw a person appearing on the freeze-framed screen. Lin Dongxue was surprised. "Brother, isn't this your former captain?"

Chen Shi hurried over to take a look. His pupils shrank instantly. The screen showed a street corner. A man walked by, his face clearly Song Lang’s.

Son of a bitch!!! Chen Shi cursed in his heart.

Lin Qiupu was completely absorbed by the picture. It took a while before he said, "He was my former captain. Four years ago, he became a wanted man for shooting his colleague. His whereabouts have been unknown. He appeared in the pawnshop homicide not long ago. I have reason to believe that he’s already an associate of Zhou Xiao’s."

"It can't be determined by surveillance footage alone!" Lin Dongxue said, "He used to be a policeman, so how could he get along with criminals?"

"In order to survive!" Lin Qiupu said. After seeing "Song Lang" in the surveillance footage last time, he had thought about it a lot and this was his inference.

"Dongxue, go and see if the autopsy report from Old Peng has come out." Chen Shi said.

After watching the surveillance footage for a few hours, Lin Dongxue was very eager to relax her eyes and spirit. After she left, Chen Shi moved her chair to Lin Qiupu's side and turned off Lin Qiupu's screen. Lin Qiupu frowned, "What are you doing?"

"I have something to tell you!" Chen Shi stared at him very seriously.

Chen Shi had imagined scenes of confessing his identity countless times. The environment at this moment was too ordinary compared to his imagination, but if he didn't say anything, Lin Qiupu would always think that Song Lang was now a criminal.

There was no way to go about it. Lin Qiupu's thinking was very simple and he was easily deceived.

Chen Shi hesitated for a long time, but he still couldn't make up his mind to speak. Lin Qiupu looked at him and asked, "Is something wrong with my sister?"

"You... how did you guess it?"

"Nonsense. You sent her away and wanted to talk to me alone, so it must have something to do with her!" Lin Qiupu's eyes were spirited and he looked extremely sure of himself.

Chen Shi lost his will all of a sudden. He no longer had the determination to be honest. He could only follow along and ask, "Can I propose to her?"

Lin Qiupu was slightly startled and asked with suspicion, "You’re suddenly bringing this up. Do you have a particular motive?"

"What motive can I have?"

Lin Qiupu stood up and poured a glass of water. "Don't tell her yet. I will think about it and give you an answer in two days."

Chen Shi thought that after two days, another strange contract might be thrown in front of him.

Chen Shi turned on the screen and looked at the profile of "Song Lang" on it. Anger welled up inside of him. Wasn’t this blatant provocation?

He considered whether to go to Doctor Yang to ask if Zhou Xiao had undergone face-replacement surgery recently. After thinking about it, he gave up. If the doctor wasn’t so tight-lipped, Song Lang wouldn’t have chosen him back then.

1. Daoist fasting technique to achieve transcendence. It’s grain avoidance due to cultural beliefs.