Chapter 10: Another Identity

Deal?

Deal my ass.

How could a police officer possibly negotiate terms with a suspect? It was laughable.

After rushing out of the bookstore in a hurry, Xu Jinyao immediately contacted the Cyber Investigation Unit and ordered a complete re-examination of the elevator surveillance footage.

Checking surveillance was tedious and time-consuming. Due to the sheer volume of video and a shortage of personnel, the Cyber Investigation Unit typically relied on facial recognition software.

With a locked-in suspect, this program could precisely capture the killer’s face among hundreds or thousands of others in a short time, drastically reducing the drain on police resources.

But this time was different.

This time, not only was there no locked-in killer, they hadn’t even identified a single suspect. No matter how advanced the program was, it was useless. They had to do it manually.

And that would consume a massive amount of manpower.

With the time until the next attack drawing closer, the entire department was swamped. Being suddenly handed such a huge undertaking, almost everyone knew deep down this was a real waste of time.

That was until Xu Jinyao asked one question that rekindled everyone’s hope.

“Can the system identify the scars on the three victims’ ears from other people in the footage?”

Of course it could!

While machines were rigid, when it came to identifying differences, their weakness could actually become a strength.

Around eight o’clock the next morning, the Cyber Investigation Unit locked onto the first suspect.

It was a middle-aged man with similar scars on his ear.

Unfortunately, before Xu Jinyao could go and question him in person, she received another piece of news.

“Missing?” Xu Jinyao was surprised.

Du Chang nodded, “Yeah, he’s been out of contact for a week now.”

Xu Jinyao frowned, “He’s been missing for a week, and they only reported it yesterday?”

Du Chang also found it strange and had specifically asked about it. The Cyber Investigation team’s answer was, “Because the suspect doesn’t usually check in with his family regularly, so his family didn’t initially realize he was missing. If they hadn’t happened to discover no one was home this time, they wouldn’t have planned to report it.”

Du Chang could understand it. He was a grown man, after all. If his family didn’t hear from him for a week, they’d probably assume their son was too busy with work to contact them, not immediately jump to the conclusion he was missing.

It was purely luck they discovered his disappearance and reported it yesterday. His parents happened to be on their way to a friend’s house and stopped by to visit him, only to find his home empty during off-work hours. Combined with the fact he hadn’t contacted them in a week, they finally sensed something was wrong.

Xu Jinyao asked Du Chang for the address and then hung up, not saying whether she wanted him to come along.

When Du Chang tried calling her back, the line was busy, and he couldn’t get through no matter what.

At the same time, Xia Xun received a call from an unfamiliar number.

After hanging up, she quickly went to the bathroom to wash up, changed into clean clothes, and hurried out the door. She ran to the street, scanned a shared e-bike, and sped off towards Lan City Middle School.

–

Pushing aside thorn bushes taller than a person, the sturdy soles of her shoes were already caked with mud.

Xu Jinyao once again scanned her surroundings to confirm no one had followed her before turning her gaze toward a dilapidated building in the distance.

Reaching it, she kicked open the loose iron gate. With a loud clang, the gate hit the ground, sending thick dust billowing into the air.

Her gaze fell upon a figure in black lurking in the shadows. “I told you to be cautious when you’re in Lan City. You actually called me here?”

A cold, mechanical female voice drifted out, “Orders from higher up have come down.”

“Speak,” Xu Jinyao said, her tone laced with clear impatience.

“Find the true culprit of the serial cases as quickly as possible and hand them over to the organization.”

Xu Jinyao’s eyes darkened. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Finding the true culprit she could understand. But handing them over to the organization seemed… neither legal nor regulation-compliant.

The figure in black wore a face mask with a voice changer installed, which made every sentence sound equally icy. She said, “Member’s Code, Rule One: See nothing, hear nothing, absolute obedience.”

Xu Jinyao let out a cold snort from her nose.

“You…” The figure in black paused, already accustomed to her attitude. “Forget it. In any case, I’ve delivered the message.”

With that, she turned to leave.

Xu Jinyao stopped her. “Wait.”

She looked back and heard Xu Jinyao ask, “Finding the person is one thing, but handing them over isn’t a job I can do. You should understand that, right?”

“I am your Shadow, of course I understand,” the figure in black said. “You just need to tell me who the true culprit is. I’ll handle the rest and clean up afterward. You don’t need to worry.”

Worry wasn’t the issue. Xu Jinyao hadn’t been executing missions with this person for the first time. It was just that she felt if the true culprit was handed to the organization, this serial case would likely become an unsolved mystery, forever shelved.

That would damage her image of cracking major cases repeatedly. Honestly, she wasn’t too inclined to cooperate.

But failure to cooperate meant mission failure. And mission failure would mean all the effort she’d put in over these years was for nothing.

She’d painstakingly worked her way to her current position. Even if her identity as an undercover agent was exposed, she didn’t care—she absolutely could not let the mission fail.

She had to complete the mission successfully to have a chance to make those people pay the price they deserved.

Xu Jinyao suppressed her curiosity about the mission and asked instead, “Is there anything else?”

The figure in black stared at her silently, hesitating to speak.

“I’m leaving if not.”

Just as she turned, the figure in black spoke. “Be careful during this time.”

Xu Jinyao’s steps faltered. A flicker of surprise crossed her eyes as she looked back. “Since when did you start caring whether I live or die?”

Figure in Black: “It’s just a word of caution.”

“A warning?” Xu Jinyao narrowed her eyes. “If I die, you can take my place. Wouldn’t my mission failing be exactly what you want? Why bother warning me?”

After a few seconds of silence, the figure in black said, “I am your Shadow. If you die, I won’t live either.”

Xu Jinyao stared at her coldly. “Don’t give me that. You’re nothing more than a spy the higher-ups planted to watch me.”

The figure in black said nothing more, silently climbing out through a window and leaving.

Xu Jinyao walked to the window, watching the direction the figure in black had disappeared. A vague premonition of danger welled up inside her.

She told her to be careful…

Those words were definitely not spoken casually.

Xu Jinyao didn’t linger, immediately departing the abandoned building as well.

Back on the bustling city streets, she pulled out her phone and called Xia Xun.

Xia Xun didn’t pick up.

She opened the tracking app, frowned, and muttered suspiciously, “Lan City Middle School?”

What was she doing there?

She didn’t understand.

A memory flashed through her mind then—the personal information of the third victim. A daughter… in high school?

Could it be… Xia Xun went looking for her?

–

Xia Xun had indeed gone to Lan City Middle School, and she had indeed come looking for Huo Zhu.

However, it wasn’t without a reason.

“I’m not saying this to be mean, Huo Zhu’s sister, but even though this child’s grades are excellent, her temper is just too terrible.”

The speaker was Huo Zhu’s homeroom teacher, a spirited young woman wearing glasses.

Xia Xun nodded along as she listened, agreeing. “Yes, yes, yes, Teacher, you’re absolutely right. This child really… sigh.”

Standing nearby, Huo Zhu’s lips twitched upwards as she suppressed a laugh.

She’s pretending pretty well, she thought.

Seeing her smile, several boys standing beside her immediately became enraged. One of them, gritting his teeth, whispered, “You still dare to laugh? I’m telling you, you’re done for today. Just you wait!”

The woman across from the sofa was scowling fiercely. “Teacher, don’t be so biased! What do you mean ‘temper is just too terrible’?”

As she spoke, her finger jabbed sharply at the air twice, pointing directly at the boy who had just spoken. “Principal, you be the judge! Come see what her child did to my boy!”

The boy immediately lowered his head, trying to hide his red, swollen, and bruised face.

“He’s scarred for life! Look!”

Xia Xun turned her head to look. All the boys simultaneously dropped their gazes, not daring to meet her eyes. Her sightline could only land on Huo Zhu.

Their eyes met. Huo Zhu pursed her lips, her dimples appearing shallow, then deeper.

“She’s still smiling!” the woman screeched. “She still dares to smile!”

Xia Xun retracted her gaze and squeezed out an apologetic expression. “Don’t get upset. This matter is our Xiao Zhu’s fault. No matter what, she shouldn’t have hit anyone. I’ll definitely scold her properly when we get home.”

“Now you think about disciplining her? It’s too late for that!” another parent chimed in. “I’m telling you, we must have an explanation today, or I don’t mind making a bigger deal out of this.”

Principal: “Now, now, everyone, calm down!”

Homeroom Teacher: “It’s common for kids to scuffle. It’s not that serious, really.”

Xia Xun’s gaze swept over everyone present. Suddenly, she chuckled, folded her arms across her chest, and leaned back into the sofa. “You want to call the police, is that it?”

Everyone fell silent for a moment.

She raised her chin. “Then go ahead and call them.”

“The apple really doesn’t fall far from the tree! Is this your attitude for apologizing?”

Huo Zhu frowned and stepped forward. “Why should we apologize? They have foul mouths and deserved it!”

“Listen to that! She actually says such things!” The woman began mocking. “I really wonder what kind of person she’ll grow up to be when she enters society.”

Xia Xun’s expression darkened. “As long as she doesn’t turn out like you.”

“You!”

“Fine, then let’s call the police! Let’s have the police come and judge whether your sister was justified in hitting someone!”

Xia Xun nodded with a smile, gesturing with a ‘please’ motion. “Go right ahead.”

The woman had already taken out her phone and was about to dial when the homeroom teacher sitting opposite suddenly stood up, her voice overriding everyone else’s. “Don’t you dare!”

Everyone looked towards the homeroom teacher involuntarily as her voice rose from soft to loud. “You people, one or two comments is enough! Harping on it again and again is going too far! Don’t you want to know why Huo Zhu hit them? She won’t say it, so I will!”

“Let me tell you, your precious sons spread nasty rumors about her in front of the whole class, calling her mother a murderer. Honestly, if it were me, I wouldn’t have gone so easy on them!”

“You are all women, and mothers yourselves. Think about it carefully. If your sons dare to treat someone else’s mother like this today, what’s stopping them from treating you the same way someday?”

The Principal’s brow furrowed deeply as he whispered a warning, “Teacher Li… please calm down.”

“I won’t calm down!” Li He swatted the Principal’s hand away, pulling out her phone agitatedly. “Yes! Fighting is wrong! But do you dare claim your sons have no fault whatsoever? You want to call the police? Fine, I’ll help you call them! I want to see who really won’t be able to show their face around school if this blows up.”

“Mom! Stop talking!”

“This is so embarrassing…”

“Teacher, Teacher, we’re sorry! Please don’t call the police.”

“Yeah, we won’t dare do it again!”

Li He had already dialed the number. Her breathing was heavy, as if she were extremely upset. The Principal quickly jumped up and snatched the phone away. “Everyone, shut up!!”