Detective Story: I was standing at the window of m...

Detective Story: I was standing at the window of my apartment when I saw the murder happen…

This is a true story I witnessed with my own eyes.

I was standing at the window of my apartment when I saw the murder happen. The killer was down below in the courtyard. I immediately pulled out my phone to call the police, but right at that moment, he looked up and stared straight at me with a strange smile. Then he grabbed his knife and started walking straight toward my building.

My mom called me earlier that evening. “Honey, are you home yet? Good. Make sure you go to bed early tonight. Don’t leave your hair down, don’t follow any strangers, and whatever you do, don’t wash or hang clothes at midnight. It’s not even fully dark yet—who does laundry in the middle of the night? Just stay inside and rest, okay?”

I almost laughed and cried at the same time. I quickly hung up before she could add anything else. After turning on the AC, I walked over to the window to pull the curtains shut. It was only a little past 8 p.m., but the sky was already pitch black. Days were getting shorter. Maybe it was because of the Ghost Festival, but the whole apartment complex felt eerily quiet. Even the little garden that was usually lively at night was completely empty.

The air outside carried the strong smell of burning paper money. I hated that smell, so I hurried to close the curtains. Suddenly, a piercing scream cut through the night. It was a woman’s voice—sharp and echoing in the silence, sending chills down my spine.

I panicked, my whole body shaking. Instinctively, I looked down to find where the scream had come from. That’s when I saw the horrifying scene.

Next to the trash bin downstairs, a figure in black—clearly a man—was grabbing a long-haired girl by her hair and slamming her head against the sharp corner of the bin. He kept smashing her head down, over and over, until she collapsed. Then a glint of light flashed in his hand. He pulled out a knife and stabbed straight into her body. He stabbed her seven or eight times in a row, only stopping when she stopped moving completely. Her pure white dress was soaked red with blood.

I held my breath, my body frozen in place. Being stabbed that many times, especially in vital areas—she couldn’t possibly be alive. Murder. I had to call the police right away.

My hands trembled as I frantically dialed the emergency number. My heart was pounding so hard it felt like it was in my throat. The police responded quickly, saying they would send someone immediately. But the moment I hung up, I realized something terrifying.

The killer downstairs, wearing a hat, had looked up and was staring directly at me. His eyes were cold and dark, as if he knew exactly where I was. I went ice-cold. Only then did I realize I hadn’t closed the curtains. In the darkness, the light from inside my room was reflecting off the glass. I had been standing right by the window. Every small movement I made must have been visible to him. He had seen me.

Before I could recover, I witnessed something even more horrifying. He gripped the knife tightly and walked step by step toward the entrance of my building. A cold sweat soaked my back. This building only had six floors. He could easily figure out which floor I was on.

I knew the physical difference between men and women was huge. He had a knife, and he had just killed someone. Hiding inside seemed like the safest choice, but this old complex didn’t even have proper locks on the doors. If he really forced his way in, the police probably wouldn’t arrive in time. I couldn’t just wait to die. I had to run—now.

But as soon as I touched the doorknob, I hesitated. There was no elevator. If he had already entered the building, running downstairs would be walking straight into his hands. I had just moved here not long ago and didn’t know any neighbors. If I knocked on random doors and no one opened, it would be like trapping myself.

Time was running out. I gritted my teeth and decided to run upward. I locked my apartment door. Even if he tried to break in, it would take him some time. If I remembered correctly, the unit above mine was under renovation. The noise had been so bad that the owner had gone door-to-door handing out watermelons as an apology. They said they wanted to air the place out to get rid of the paint smell, and people rarely stayed there at night.

I ran up the stairs as fast as I could. But I was also worried about making too much noise and triggering the motion-sensor lights, which would reveal my position. The hallway in August was still stuffy, yet my whole body felt freezing cold. My legs were shaking. I didn’t dare turn on my phone’s flashlight. I could only grope my way up, holding the handrail, step by step in the darkness, breathing hard.

Finally, when I reached the fifth floor, the strong smell of paint hit me. The door was open. I took the gamble. Without even feeling happy about it, I rushed into apartment 501 as fast as I could. Hearing the lock click shut, the tension that had been building inside me finally eased a little. I collapsed onto the floor.

Moonlight streamed in through the window, casting a faint glow over the dusty floor and construction materials. The sharp smell of wood glue filled my nose, but somehow it made me feel strangely safe. Leaning against the wall, I waited for my heartbeat to calm down. Then I called the police back to confirm the exact location.

The police arrived faster than I expected. The sound of sirens made the neighbors curious. The building group chat started buzzing. Despite it being the Ghost Festival, everyone was leaning out their windows with phones, filming. Some even ran downstairs to see the scene in person.

In the group, someone said, “The police got here in time. They say they’ve already caught the killer.”

I finally breathed a sigh of relief. I figured the police would need me to give a statement, so I went downstairs. The body had already been removed to avoid panicking the crowd. Only a glaring bloodstain remained on the ground. Two masked officers were taking statements from the first witnesses.

A senior officer asked loudly, “Is the person who reported the crime from apartment 501 here? Can you come cooperate with us for a statement?”

I was about to speak up, but right then I saw something that made my blood run cold.

Next to the police car, the killer in black clothes was handcuffed, head lowered, showing no reaction to the neighbors’ curious stares. Intentional injury causing death could mean the death penalty. He had killed so brutally, with a clear motive of revenge. If he knew I was the one who got him caught, would he come after me for revenge after getting out of prison?

That thought terrified me. I pressed my lips tightly together and didn’t say a word. I decided to wait until the police took him away before going to the station to give my statement.

But it seemed the police already had enough evidence. After confirming I was at the scene, they didn’t press me to testify right away. The residents gradually dispersed. I checked my watch—it was only 8:30. Since I was already downstairs, I figured I might as well stop by the supermarket to buy some mosquito repellent. Maybe I’d sleep better tonight.

But when I got to the supermarket, the place was packed. Everyone was talking about the murder that had just happened. I didn’t want to join the gossip. I just focused on picking out the repellent, paid, and left.

Right as I was paying, my phone rang. It was a local number I didn’t recognize. I hesitated for a few seconds, then answered.

“Hello, is this Miss Taylor Chen?”

“Yes, who is this?”

“We are the local police. We just received a report of an intentional injury resulting in death at Phoenix Garden apartment complex. We’ve arrived at the main gate. Could you please tell us the exact location of the crime scene?”

I froze, unconsciously frowning. “Wait, what did you just say? You said you just arrived at the gate? But you were already here earlier. You even took the body and the killer away.”

There was a short silence on the other end. Then the voice became much more serious. “We are stationed in the suburbs. At night we have limited personnel, so we only just got here a few minutes ago. Miss Chen, were the people who took the body away earlier really police officers?”

The moment I heard that, my back went ice-cold. Cold sweat broke out. In my mind, I slowly recalled the suspicious points. The fake police had arrived too quickly—almost right after I hung up the emergency call, I heard their sirens. They took statements and left in a hurry. Their procedures were too sloppy. Most importantly, when I called to report the crime, I had never given my exact address. But the officer who took my statement clearly knew I was in apartment 501.

“Sorry, could you move aside a bit?” I startled and turned around. I had been standing too long blocking the aisle. Another customer wanting to grab mosquito repellent reminded me. I quickly stepped back, paid in a hurry, and left the supermarket with my bag.

When I returned to the complex, real police were now at the scene. A white police car with black stripes was parked right at the entrance to the small garden. The lights on the roof were flashing, but there was no siren. Several uniformed officers were controlling the crowd, using police tape to cordon off the area. The atmosphere was orderly and serious. These were real police. If they wanted to avoid causing panic, they would always maintain this calm attitude—unlike the fake officers who had turned on their sirens the moment they arrived, as if signaling someone.

The body had already been taken away earlier, which made the investigation more difficult. The old apartment complex had badly damaged surveillance systems. Identifying the killer through cameras was almost impossible. The police could only immediately contact nearby stores to pull security footage.

I was taken to the hallway to give my statement. A young officer next to me was responsible for recording audio and taking notes. The interrogating officer was a female detective. Her voice was steady, her eyes sharp.

I recounted everything that had happened that evening, every small detail. Detective Zhao listened patiently the whole time without interrupting. Only when I finished did she ask questions.

“Are you sure? You really don’t know the killer? Have the two of you ever met before, even if you didn’t pay attention?”

I was stunned. I didn’t understand why the police would ask that. I tried to remember, but in the end I shook my head. I had just moved to this area not long ago. My job kept me busy with overtime. I hadn’t even met my neighbors, let alone gotten to know anyone else.

Detective Zhao looked at me intently but didn’t press further. She only frowned slightly. “If that’s the case, why did he run upstairs?”

I couldn’t keep up with her train of thought. The young officer taking notes spoke up. “To kill the witness and eliminate the threat.”

Detective Zhao shook her head. “The killer had his entire face covered and was standing far away. The witness couldn’t identify him. Based on his build alone, even if he removed the disguise and stood in front of her, she wouldn’t be able to recognize him. Moreover, when he stood downstairs looking up at the lit apartment on the second floor, he must have clearly seen the witness calling the police. Even knowing the police would arrive quickly, he still chose to run upstairs instead of escaping. What do you think?”

After hearing the explanation, I suddenly understood. Yes. A normal criminal who discovered someone calling the police would definitely run away first. But he did the opposite—he ran upstairs for revenge. That really didn’t make sense.

Detective Zhao signaled the young officer to turn off the recorder. Then she turned to me. “Miss Chen, could you take us to your apartment?”

When we reached the second floor, the motion-sensor light in the hallway turned on with our footsteps. “Apartment 202, right?”

“Yes.”

Detective Zhao took out a flashlight she carried with her, approached the door, took photos as evidence, then turned to the young officer and instructed, “No clear footprints in front of the door. The lock shows no signs of forced entry. Notify the crime scene team to take fingerprints.”

After giving the instructions, she signaled for me to open the door. When the door opened, the apartment was exactly as I had left it. Cold air from the AC rushed out, making me shiver slightly. The living room light was still on. Two bags of trash I hadn’t thrown out yet were still by the door.

I stood to the side while the police collected evidence. But very quickly, I noticed something unusual. Whether in front of the door or on the floor inside or outside, there were no other traces besides my own fingerprints and footprints. The door lock showed no signs of being pried open, and no one had broken in from outside. That meant the killer had never tried to force his way into my apartment.

So had he simply been waiting and watching me? Or did he have some other purpose?

After confirming there was nothing unusual, the police finished taking notes. Detective Zhao thanked me for cooperating, left her phone number, and told me to be careful these days. If I noticed anything strange, I should contact her immediately. “If there’s nothing else, we’ll leave you to rest. Sorry for the disturbance.”

I nodded and was about to see them out when, as I stood up, my eyes accidentally stopped on the bathroom door. It was slightly ajar. That felt strange. By habit, I always kept the bathroom door tightly closed to prevent the cold air from the AC from escaping. Could I have forgotten today? No way. Even if I forgot to close it, the light inside should still be on. This evening when my mom called, she kept reminding me about Ghost Festival taboos, scaring me so much that I turned on every light in the house—including the one at the entrance. So why was the bathroom light off?

A sudden unease rose in my heart. The police had only confirmed that the front door hadn’t been forced. But what if the killer had entered another way?

I swallowed hard and looked at Detective Zhao. “Officer Zhao, could I trouble you to check something for me?”

“What is it?” She turned back, seeming to notice something off in my expression.

I tried to keep my voice steady, but I couldn’t hide the tremble. “I remember very clearly that before I left, the bathroom light was still on.”

“Are you sure?” Detective Zhao’s expression immediately turned serious.

My heart pounded so fast it felt like it would jump out of my chest, but I didn’t dare make any sound. I just silently nodded.

Three, two, one. The lead officer suddenly swung his baton, pushed open the bathroom door hard, and immediately moved into a defensive stance as he rushed inside. But there was no one there. The window was wide open. The mosquito screen had been removed. On the floor behind the shower curtain was a knife that had been left behind. The sink still had a patch of red that hadn’t been washed off. Water was dripping from the faucet, drop by drop, diluting the remaining bloodstains. It looked incredibly creepy.

Only now did I gradually notice the strong, fishy smell of blood in the air. There were clearly four police officers standing guard around me, yet my whole body still felt freezing cold. My back was soaked with sweat. My legs were so weak I could barely stand. I couldn’t stop myself from thinking: What if earlier I hadn’t gone to buy mosquito repellent? Or what if after the police arrived, I hadn’t given a statement and had come straight back home instead? What would have happened?

The officer who had rushed in first put away his baton, his voice heavy. “He jumped out the window and escaped. We’ve already notified the perimeter team below, but this old apartment complex has complicated pathways and lots of trees. It’ll be hard to catch him.”

No one spoke. Detective Zhao was the first to break the silence. She didn’t show any emotion, just gently supported me. “You’re really scared, aren’t you?”

I was terrified, but I was also worried that if I appeared too weak, I would cause them more trouble. So I quickly shook my head. “There are too many exits. Every alley is dark and narrow. If the police confront someone who knows this area extremely well, it would be like pushing themselves into a disadvantageous position.”

Knowing it would be difficult to catch him, they could only temporarily withdraw. Before leaving, Detective Zhao reminded me to lock all doors and windows tightly and absolutely not go out alone. She also said she would immediately request special protection and arrange for officers to monitor the area in case of any trouble.

I nodded obediently. But even though the police had arranged surveillance in the complex and helped me reinforce the windows with additional safety locks, when I was finally alone, I still couldn’t feel at ease.

Afraid my mom would worry, I didn’t dare tell her about this. But even though I lay in bed, I couldn’t sleep. I turned on my phone and opened the building group chat to see what everyone was talking about, hoping it would distract me. But the more I read, the more I noticed something unusual.

According to the police investigation, after killing the victim, the killer had climbed into my bathroom and hid there, waiting for a chance to strike. He had stayed inside the bathroom the entire time and only fled when the police discovered him.

So who was the killer that the fake police had taken away earlier? Was there more than one murderer? No. The killer had personally witnessed me calling the police, then climbed up to apartment 202 to lie in wait. His target was very clear. But the fake police had come looking for the person who reported the crime, and they had pinpointed me in apartment 501. This showed they were not on the same side.

Earlier, I had thought the fake police were the killer’s accomplices. I assumed they appeared to help him dispose of the body and erase all traces. But in reality, if they really wanted to cover up the crime, they wouldn’t have needed to make such a big scene.

Thinking of this, a bold theory flashed in my mind. Could it be that they were not accomplices at all? But if not, then who were they? Why did those people pretending to be police take the body away? How did they know someone had called the police? And most importantly, why were they looking for the person who reported the crime?

The more I thought, the more confused I became. I rubbed my temples, trying to push away the chaotic thoughts in my head. At some point, the conversation in the building group chat had shifted to a different topic. From the murder, everyone started discussing the security of the residential area, then whether the management fees were worth it or not.

Only one person casually mentioned a sentence that caused the whole group to explode: “At first, the fake police said the person who reported the crime lived in apartment 501.”

Suddenly the whole group turned to discuss apartment 501.

“Wait, did you say apartment 501 in Building 15? That can’t be. That unit isn’t even occupied yet. It’s still under renovation.”

“You must be mistaken.”

The person who spoke immediately pushed back. “I’m not mistaken. I heard it very clearly. They said it was in our building.”

“How is that possible? Unless there was a burglar who broke into 501?”

Seeing the group getting more and more chaotic, I quickly sent a private message to the person who had brought it up. I briefly explained the situation, saying I was the one who reported the crime, but because I was afraid of the killer seeking revenge, I had temporarily hidden in apartment 501.

The other side seemed to be typing, but after waiting a long time, nothing was sent. I grew more anxious and continued messaging. “I know what I did was wrong. I promise I didn’t touch anything in the house. If you’re bothered by it, I can compensate you.”

After a long while, the other person finally replied with one sentence: “But I locked the door this afternoon. How did you get in?”

What the hell was going on? I froze, then hurriedly asked again. But when I had run up to the fifth floor earlier, the door to apartment 501 had clearly been open.

“Are you sure you’re not mistaken?”

“I can’t be wrong. Tomorrow is the weekend. Everyone in the area is resting. I was afraid the renovation noise would disturb the neighbors, so I told the workers to take the day off. After that, I locked the door carefully before leaving. Miss, are you sure the door was open at that time?”

“Oh my god. Could there have been a burglar who broke into 501? I have to go back and check if anything is missing.”

“I already told you—this complex is too old. I didn’t want to buy it originally, but my husband liked the cheap price. Now look what happened. The house is so easy to break into. How can we dare to live here anymore?”

The woman named Manager Li kept messaging, complaining nonstop about her husband’s lack of foresight. But I just stared fixedly at my phone screen. In my head, there was only one question: Who opened the door to apartment 501?

Could it be that when I ran up to the fifth floor and entered 501 to hide, everything had just been my good luck?

The more I thought, the more I felt this was more complicated than it appeared on the surface. But tomorrow I still had to go to work. Even if I couldn’t sleep, I forced myself to stop thinking, trust the police, and try to get some rest.

That night, I had a nightmare. Sometimes I was being chased by a dark shadow. Sometimes Detective Zhao, in uniform, pulled out a knife and smiled eerily, turning into the killer.

When I woke up the next morning, my head was still spinning, like a walking corpse with no soul. I got up, washed my face, and made a cup of coffee to wake myself up.

The only good news was that before leaving for work, I received a call from Detective Zhao. She said she had arranged police protection for me. They would be in plain clothes, blending into the crowd to avoid causing panic, but they would ensure my safety. I could continue my normal daily activities.

Hearing that, I finally breathed a sigh of relief. I slung my bag over my shoulder, went downstairs, scanned a shared bike, and headed to the subway station.

When I first got on the train, I still tried to observe the car to see if anyone was following me. But no matter how much I looked, I couldn’t tell who the police were. I gave up.

The subway was packed. I held onto the handrail and leaned against the window. The nearly two-hour ride made me drowsy. Finally, I reached the last stop. But the crowd was so dense that I was pushed around and almost fell. I even lost one shoe in the crush. Luckily, a kind person caught me. Otherwise, I would have been trampled.

After escaping the crowd, I looked up and finally saw clearly who had helped me. It was a tall, slender young man wearing a mask and black-framed glasses. He had on a simple T-shirt and sports pants, looking clean and neat with a backpack—like a well-behaved student. He was still holding onto my sleeve and quickly picked up my shoe for me. But the price he paid was that the breakfast in his hand had been knocked away. A McDonald’s paper bag fell to the floor of the train and was swept out the door by the crowd when the train reached the next stop.

I took the shoe, bowed my head in thanks, and felt guilty. “I’m really sorry. How about I buy you another breakfast?”

“It’s fine. You can just transfer the money.”

He spoke in a deeper voice than his appearance suggested. As he said that, he showed me a QR code. I added him as a friend and transferred the compensation. After he confirmed receiving the money, I finally felt at ease and left.

I exited the station and turned toward my company. But after walking only a few steps, my phone suddenly vibrated. It was a WeChat call from the young man just now. Why was he calling me? I frowned, stood still, and hesitated, not sure if I should answer. But before I could decide, he hung up on his own. Immediately after, a text message was sent: “Turn around. Don’t keep walking.”

I became even more confused. Did he send it by mistake? I was about to text back asking what he meant, but right at that moment—boom—a terrifying crash sounded. I looked up and saw a massive metal signboard falling from the building ahead, slamming hard onto the ground right on the path I was about to step onto. It created a deep crater in the paved road.

My hands went ice-cold. I gripped my phone tightly. If I hadn’t received that call just now—if I had continued along my route—the signboard would have crushed me directly.

The area turned chaotic. The heavy signboard was dangerously lethal. Luckily, no one had been walking exactly there at that moment. But the huge impact still panicked everyone. Some people screamed asking what happened. Others immediately called the police.

Two plainclothes officers immediately ran over, showed their badges, and asked if I was hurt. But at that moment, I was so frightened my hands were shaking violently. I lowered my head and stared at the phone screen. The message was still displayed: “Turn around. Don’t keep walking.”

It was as if the person had known in advance what would happen.

Who was he exactly?

“Do you walk this route every day when going to work?”

“Yes.”

“The signboard fell completely without warning. There were no signs beforehand.”

“Correct. But according to witnesses, a few seconds before the signboard fell, you suddenly stopped and didn’t continue walking. Why?”

“Because I wasn’t sure if I had locked the door, so I stopped for a moment to hesitate.”

I tried to stay calm and didn’t dare look into the eyes of the officer taking notes. But under the table, my hand unconsciously clenched tight. I was lying to the police for the first time. I was so nervous my heart rate spiked. I even stuttered when speaking. But luckily, I had just experienced a dangerous situation and my mental state was panicked, so showing abnormal behavior was normal. Therefore, the police didn’t suspect anything more.

After completing the statement, I returned to the company. I immediately hid in the bathroom, confirmed the surroundings were safe, then dared to take out my phone. I searched for that person’s account by ID, but discovered the chat history had been completely deleted. I sent a message: “I did as you said and didn’t tell the police about your existence. Now can you tell me what’s going on?”

A few seconds later, the other side replied: “Wait a moment. I need to confirm whether you’re lying or not.”

How strange. Instead of feeling annoyed at being suspected, I actually felt a little relieved. Because I was in the dark, and he was in the light. This was a fair transaction. But I was still very curious about how he planned to confirm whether my words were true.

After getting home, I was still scared from nearly being crushed by the signboard. But as soon as I calmed down, I immediately noticed something strange. Why had that person known in advance that the signboard would fall?

I asked him who he was and how he knew about this. But he didn’t answer. Instead, he demanded that I not reveal his existence to the police. If I followed his instructions, he would tell me why the killer had targeted me. But if I didn’t agree, he would delete his account, and I would never be able to contact him again.

I hesitated for a long time, choosing between being honest with the police or pretending to cooperate with him to get more information. In the end, I decided to listen to him. I used a soft approach to get more clues. But he didn’t contact me again all day. Only when I was sitting on the subway after work did he send a new message.

“Get off at the next station. Exit from Gate C and go to Qianhai Park. Find the second trash bin near the park entrance. You will see what you need.”

The moment I received the message, my first reaction was to immediately look around the subway car. If he could calculate exactly when I would get off, it was very possible he was on the train too. But no matter how much I scanned my eyes around, I didn’t see anything unusual.

The evening subway was filled with the atmosphere of fatigue. Almost everyone was looking down at their phones, holding the handrails and swaying with the train’s movement. On the seats, a mother was hugging her sleeping child. A briefcase had fallen to the floor. A young man in a suit. An old man with white hair clutching his bag and constantly looking up to check the station information. Everyone looked normal. Nothing suspicious.

I couldn’t guess whether this message was a trap or not. But while I was still hesitating, the train had already reached the station. I had no choice but to get off with the crowd. Then I opened the map and headed to Qianhai Park.

Along the way, I received a message from the police asking why I had changed my route. I gritted my teeth and didn’t reply. Anyway, the police didn’t want to act rashly and cause panic, so they didn’t intervene immediately.

Qianhai Park was very large and located near a residential area. It had originally been built to increase real estate value. The trees weren’t too dense, but the square was quite big with clear divisions. In the middle was an artificial koi pond with stone bridges and decorative rocks, looking quite attractive.

Very quickly, I found the trash bin the person had mentioned. It was a very large green one. Not far away was a small sandpit. A few children were playing with plastic buckets and shovels. Their parents stood nearby chatting.

I felt my heart beating hard. I reached out and opened the lid of the trash bin. But when I looked inside, I was stunned. There was nothing. Clearly the bin had just had its bag replaced. Inside there was only an empty bubble tea cup and a few used napkins.

Why was this? Had that person tricked me?

I picked up my phone, intending to message him asking what was going on. But right at that moment, from the sandpit nearby, there suddenly came screams and the crying of children. Adult screams followed one after another. The noise grew louder and louder. Someone panicked and shouted, “There’s a dead person! Call the police!”

I instinctively ran toward the sound. The people around were also drawn in, crowding closer. A child was sobbing loudly, being held tightly by her mother. Someone was calling the police. Someone was pulling out their phone to record video.

I looked in the direction they were pointing. In the corner of the sandpit that the children had dug up, right under the layer of sand, a pale face was revealed. The mouth, nose, and eyes of the person had been cut off. The face was stiff from rigor mortis, but it still clearly showed extreme terror before death. Just looking at it was enough to give someone goosebumps.

From afar, thunder rumbled. The sky, which had been overcast all afternoon, finally poured down rain.

After the police arrived, the scene was quickly cordoned off. The body of a completely naked woman had seven or eight sharp stab wounds. Through DNA testing, the wounds on the body matched the murder weapon that had been found earlier. As expected, this corpse was the one that had disappeared from the murder in the small garden the other night.

This was the second time in less than 24 hours that I was at the police station. I even sat in the same old spot. The only difference was that this time the sky outside the window was completely dark.

The first person to discover the body was a nanny watching the children. At first, she thought the kids were just playing. When they dug up the sand, they even happily pointed at the hole and shouted, “There’s a dead person here!” The parents didn’t pay attention either, thinking it was just the children’s joke. Only the nanny felt uneasy, went over to check, and then she really saw a corpse.

Detective Zhao held a thermos, gently blowing on the layer of tea floating on the water. She waited until the statement from the person who reported the body was finished before turning to me. “Little Chen, let’s go into the room and talk for a bit, okay?”

Today she wasn’t wearing her police uniform. Her hair was tied up neatly behind her ear. Her tone was soft, but the eyes behind her glasses were sharp enough that no one could avoid them.

Things had reached this point. Perhaps I couldn’t hide it anymore. I had waited a long time for everything to become clear. But when the truth was approaching, I felt my heart in turmoil.

The interrogation room wasn’t large, but because it had very little furniture, it still looked very empty. Detective Zhao signaled for me to sit down on the chair. Because I had hidden information earlier, I felt a little guilty. Under her gaze, I unconsciously wanted to lie, making up an excuse that I simply wanted to change the air and so I went for a walk in the park. But under her calm questioning, I quickly slipped up. In the end, I couldn’t hold it in anymore and told the truth.

I told the police about the person who had contacted me via WeChat. But the problem was that after the police took my phone as evidence, they searched everywhere but couldn’t find the WeChat account I had mentioned.

“That’s impossible. I’ve never deleted any friends. Even if the chat history is gone, that account should still be in my friend list.”

But even when I personally checked again, that account still didn’t appear. I had once given him the nickname “ph11,” but now he had vanished.

“How is that possible? Could it be a WeChat glitch?”

I panicked. My eyes quickly scanned the friend list, trying to search for the missing account. But there was none.

Detective Zhao frowned, her gaze more serious. “Taylor Chen, please take this case seriously. Don’t deliberately hide anything.”

The interrogation room wasn’t cold, but my back was drenched in sweat. That person’s WeChat account had been deleted, and it definitely wasn’t me who deleted it. If it was just a newly created fake account with no history, then deleting it would be as easy as throwing a stone into water, leaving no trace. But clearly, before getting on the train, I had still received a message from him. From that moment until now, my phone had always been with me and had never left my side.

I stayed silent, trying hard to recall every small detail after leaving the station. At that moment, the door of the interrogation room was suddenly pushed open. A man holding a stack of files walked in. He was tall and slender, with a buzz cut and sharp eyebrows. Wearing a police uniform, he looked extremely stern. He stepped closer to me, stood right in front of me, and asked in a cold voice, “Miss Taylor Chen, what is your relationship with the victim?”

I was caught off guard and instinctively answered, “I don’t know her. I’m not acquainted with her.”

His voice became even lower. “Right now, every word you say must be held accountable under the law. I advise you it’s best not to hide anything.”

“I really don’t know her.”

Detective Zhao also frowned. “Little Wu, before coming here I already confirmed it. According to the report, Taylor Chen was only an accidental witness to the crime. She had no prior acquaintance with the victim.”

The officer named Wu slightly stepped back, as if accepting the explanation. But his eyes still locked onto me. He continued, “The crime scene team has just confirmed the victim’s identity. Her name is Taylor Qiao, 26 years old, works as a livestreamer. Her registered address is apartment 2011, Building 15, Phoenix Garden complex.”

He paused for a moment, then continued, “If I remember correctly, Miss Taylor Chen, the person who reported the crime, is currently living in apartment 202 in the same building, correct? Building 15 has a duplex structure. Each floor only has two units. In other words, you and the victim were neighbors across from each other. Moreover, the two of you had previously argued in the building group chat about throwing trash in the wrong place. Most importantly, when checking the scene, we found a large number of unopened packages with your name on the victim’s body. Yet in that situation, you still insist that you don’t know her.”

He looked straight at me. His eyes were sharp as knives. Every word carried pressure. I was completely stunned. Hunger and fatigue were all swallowed by fear. There was something very important, something I had overlooked. No, that couldn’t be right. Could my neighbor living across from me really be a man?

According to the rental contract, I had only moved here two months ago. Because of my busy work, I left early and came home late. I almost never had the chance to meet my neighbors. But there was one thing that annoyed me. The person living in the opposite apartment often left trash in front of the door and didn’t clean it up. The whole hallway smelled bad. I had knocked on the door, but no one answered. Helpless, I complained in the building group chat. I didn’t expect that person to see the message and immediately get angry, scolding me right in the group. He said I was narrow-minded and liked to nitpick small things. He even cursed that I should drop dead.

Neighbors in the group reacted differently. Some sided with me. Some advised reconciliation. Some just wanted to watch the drama. In the end, the building management had to intervene before the matter temporarily ended. From then on, the other side seemed more restrained and no longer left trash in front of the door. My mom also advised me to let it go, saying that when working and living in the same place, it was better to avoid conflict with others. The matter gradually faded.

About a week later, that morning when I opened the door to go to work, I accidentally saw the person living in apartment 202 also stepping out. Afraid of an awkward encounter, I immediately pulled back and stood behind the door, looking through the peephole. I remembered very clearly that the person who stepped out from apartment 202 was a man. He was wearing pajamas and slippers—a normal way to dress at home. So of course I thought my neighbor was male.

But if the police said that the apartment across from me had a woman living there, then who was the man I saw that day?

I told the police everything. They immediately became interested in the man who had appeared in apartment 202. During the murder investigation, the police needed to determine the victim’s social relationships. Now that the body’s identity had been confirmed and a man had appeared in the victim’s apartment before she died, that could provide an important clue.

Because I was the person who reported the crime and had a solid alibi, the police didn’t press me to reveal more about the missing WeChat account. They only maintained a skeptical attitude but, without evidence that I was lying, temporarily didn’t pursue it. I was allowed to leave the station freely.

“Miss Chen, you may go now.”

I was sitting in the waiting room, holding a disposable cup of water, lost in thought. Hearing the call, I startled and looked up. It was the buzz-cut officer. He stepped out from the office, adjusting his collar as he walked. “We also need to go to apartment 202 to check the scene, so we can give you a ride back on the way. To avoid delaying them, I immediately stood up. But because I moved too quickly, the strap of my bag got caught on the edge of the table. I almost knocked over the cup of water. Luckily, that officer quickly caught it for me, preventing me from getting splashed.

“Sorry, I wasn’t paying attention.”

He casually took the cup, poured the remaining water into the potted plant near the window, then threw the cup into the trash. All his movements were smooth, without the slightest hesitation.

Then he turned back to look at me. “It’s fine. Anyway, this room is a bit dry. Consider it adding some humidity to the air.”

Before I could reply, from the corner of the room a woman’s angry voice rang out. “Wu Vietnam, stop right there! How many times have I told you not to secretly water my cactus? How many plants have you killed already?”

“Oh, Sister Hu, long time no see. I’m in a hurry to go to the scene. We can talk later.”

With that, he quickly strode out, not forgetting to wink at me to follow.

So his name was Wu Vietnam. During the interrogation earlier, he had been so serious it was scary, his eyes sharp as knives. But now his tone was more relaxed, and there was a slight smile on his face, making the whole person look much more lively.

“Taylor Chen, right? Captain Zhao said you’re from Haiphong, correct?”

The familiar way of addressing me made the pressure from earlier seem to ease. I was a bit surprised. “You’re also from Haiphong?”

“Sort of. I grew up there and only moved away when I was 16.”

“Here, your phone. It’s been returned to the original owner.”

He handed me a sealed bag containing the phone. It had been a long time since I last held it. Instinctively, I unlocked the screen to check if anyone had contacted me. But the moment I swiped to unlock, something felt wrong. I hadn’t used my fingerprint or entered the password, but the screen opened directly. I was stunned. I immediately turned the screen off and on again. The lock screen appeared. I tried swiping to unlock once more. There was no request for a password or fingerprint scan. The entire security mechanism of the phone had been disabled.

But what was even more terrifying was that in the Notes app, a new message had appeared: “You broke your promise, Miss Chen.”

The creation time of the note was five minutes ago. But clearly, before handing the phone over to the police for inspection, I had personally unlocked it and confirmed there was nothing unusual.

“Miss Chen, get in the car.”

The car door was pulled open. Officer Wu Vietnam stood outside, making a gesture inviting me in.

The summer cicadas had fallen silent. The air after the rain carried a chill that made me unconsciously shiver. But what made my hair stand on end was the way he addressed me as “Miss Chen” in the note, which completely matched Wu Vietnam’s way of calling me in the car.

There were five people in the car. Besides Wu Vietnam, who was driving, there were three others I didn’t know. Throughout the entire ride, no one spoke. But in my heart, I was not at ease at all.

Ever since the murder happened, one incident after another had piled up. The killer still hadn’t been caught. The only shield I had right now was the police. But if even the police couldn’t be trusted, then what?

“Miss Chen, you look very tense.”

I looked up and saw Wu Vietnam’s eyes in the rearview mirror. He was driving but still paying attention to my expression. Thinking of the words in the phone note, my heart suddenly tightened. I tried to hide it and forced a smile. “It’s nothing. I think I just haven’t eaten for too long and feel a bit dizzy.”

“Do you need to stop and buy something to eat?”

“No need. I can eat when I get home.”

The police car stopped in front of the apartment complex. The door to apartment 202 was open. You could clearly see the condition inside. Right next to the thick shelf in front of the door, a stack of packages with my name on them was piled up. After opening the boxes, the police discovered they contained clothes, cosmetics, handbags, and jewelry—all items a normal woman might buy online. But precisely because they were so ordinary, the appearance of these packages was even more suspicious.

From the data extracted from Taylor Qiao’s computer, the police found a previous livestream video of hers. I finally saw the victim’s face. She was very beautiful, with long hair and big eyes. In the video, she was wearing a maid outfit, dancing in front of the camera and constantly thanking viewers for gifts.

I watched the video multiple times, trying to remember if I had ever met her before. But there was no memory at all.

The officer standing beside me shook his head and said to me, “Sorry, but I really don’t know her.”

From the investigation data, the police confirmed that Taylor Qiao was from Hangzhou. Two years ago, she moved to this city to work for a company that trained internet celebrities and became a livestreamer. Based on her transaction history, it seemed she lived alone. The room was quiet. A technician holding a computer suddenly exclaimed, “Officer Wu, we’ve gotten into the victim’s WeChat account, but the entire chat history has been deleted.”

From the computer data, the police finally contacted the manager of the company where Taylor Qiao worked. Before receiving the police call, this manager had no idea about her death.

“Taylor Qiao is dead? Damn it, is this real or fake? Because I opened the speakerphone, the voice on the phone sounded a bit distorted. If that’s true, I bet it was her boyfriend who killed her. I already told her long ago to break up with that crazy guy, but she wouldn’t listen. Now it’s happened. Really.”

Wu Vietnam immediately asked, “She had a boyfriend? Do you have his contact information?”

“I don’t, but he once called and threatened the company. The receptionist should still have his number saved. Wait a moment, I’ll check for you. Thanks.”

Wu Vietnam held the phone and waited. During that time, he glanced at me. I startled, realizing that the police interrogation of me was over. The fact that I was still here only made me an unnecessary presence. I immediately returned to my own apartment.

It was past 10:00 p.m. I dragged my exhausted body into the kitchen, found a pack of instant noodles to fill my stomach. The hunger that had lasted all day had left my stomach almost numb. Leaning against the kitchen wall, I silently stared at the pot of water on the stove, lost in thought.

Who was the one who stole the body? Who was the one who left threatening messages in my phone notes? If even the police couldn’t be trusted, then what could I do?

The water in the pot began to boil. I snapped out of it, quickly tore open the noodle pack, dropped it in, and covered the pot with the lid. Steam rose, covering the black glass stovetop with a thin layer of moisture. I took a cloth to wipe away the water stains, but when I looked carefully, I suddenly noticed something strange. The black glass stovetop should have had a round water stain from the steam, but this round stain was missing a corner. Looking closer, it had the shape of half a footprint.

Why was there a footprint on the stove? I had never stood on it wearing shoes. Moreover, the size of the footprint was much larger than my size 37. That meant someone had sneaked into my kitchen and stepped on the stove. But if there had been an intruder, had he left already?

I shivered. I remembered the murder weapon knife in the bathroom. A layer of cold sweat broke out on my back. I stiffened and turned my head to look toward the bedroom door. It was dark. But then I quickly calmed down. No way. Today before leaving the house, I had checked and locked all the windows. The safety locks couldn’t be opened from outside. There was no way for anyone to climb in. The front door also showed no signs of being forced. I had even wedged a hair into the door crack to check. When I returned, the hair was still in its original position. Moreover, all day today the police had been present in the complex. If someone had sneaked in, how could they have avoided their eyes?

But if it wasn’t today, then when had he come in? And what had he come here for?

My eyes unconsciously swept across the cabinet above the kitchen door. I remembered that on top of it there had once been a bronze Terracotta Warrior statue. My mom had said that thing wasn’t lucky. I had wrapped it in newspaper and stored it at the bottom of the cabinet. Could he have come here not to kill me, but to search for something?

I hurriedly opened the cabinet and searched for the bronze statue. But when I picked it up, there was a light metallic clinking sound from inside. I turned the statue over and looked at the bottom. There was an iron USB drive there.

I sat at my desk, locked the bedroom door from the inside. The USB looked suspicious. Earlier I had tried plugging it into my laptop, but a password prompt immediately appeared. Without the password, I couldn’t see the contents inside. Instinct told me this thing was very important. It might even be related to the murder. Normally, I should hand it over to the police immediately. But because of the threatening message in the phone notes, I hesitated.

The body had been stolen. Looking at the police’s attitude, it was clear they didn’t know about the fake police. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have kept asking about the whereabouts of the body. But a device that had been seized by the police had a threatening message appear in it. These seemingly contradictory events revealed one truth: there was a mole inside the police.

I wasn’t sure if they had realized this or not. But I didn’t dare act rashly. Because I didn’t know who the traitor was, and I couldn’t trust anyone.

My phone vibrated. It was a message from the landlord. “Little girl, I already asked for you. The previous tenant said when they moved out, they didn’t leave anything behind. That statue isn’t theirs. If it bothers you, you can just throw it away.”

I had asked the landlord to inquire about the origin of the statue, hoping to trace the USB. But according to him, even the previous tenant didn’t know anything about it.

“Could they really have forgotten it?”

I stared at the message and quickly dismissed that idea. No way. The Terracotta Warrior statue had been placed in a corner. Inside it was hollow and contained a USB drive. There was also paper padding underneath. If anyone found it, they would only think it was a normal decorative item. But in reality, it was a hiding place for a secret.

A person careful enough to hide a USB in such a concealed spot would never forget it.

I placed the statue on the desk and looked at the layer of dust covering the surface of the oxidized bronze. It looked completely ordinary.

Wait—dust?

A thought flashed in my mind. I quickly messaged the landlord back. “Manager, are you still in contact with the previous tenant? Could you ask them again if the statue really belongs to them? Because when I first saw it, it was on top of the kitchen cabinet, covered with a thick layer of dust and spiderwebs. That doesn’t look like something that was forgotten recently.”

The landlord seemed not to understand why I was so concerned about this. He politely advised, “Little girl, this apartment has been rented out for many years. It’s normal for things to be left behind. If that item is really so important, they would have come back to get it.”

His words weren’t wrong. When I first discovered the statue, I also thought it was just something left behind. But there had been a masked intruder who sneaked into my kitchen. He didn’t kill me but searched for something. He wanted to take this statue.

Everything became blurry. I was thinking of a way to persuade the landlord without revealing the secret about the USB when my phone suddenly rang. It was the landlord calling. I quickly answered.

“Little girl, actually I only wanted to help you. The previous tenant has already passed away. I can’t contact them anymore. But don’t overthink it. They didn’t die in the apartment. That person was a police officer who died in a traffic accident. When cleaning up his belongings, they might have accidentally left it behind. If you don’t like that item, you can throw it away tomorrow.”

The landlord’s voice grew quieter toward the end. It sounded somewhat hesitant. But at this moment, I didn’t care whether he was hiding something or not. I immediately interrupted him. “Manager, was that police officer named Zhao Wu?”

The other end of the phone fell silent. After a long while, he spoke. “How did you know?”

Just as I had guessed. When I plugged the USB into the computer, although I couldn’t unlock the contents, I could still see the device name. The USB had been named “Dao,” which matched the pronunciation of Zhao Wu.

Too many coincidences. A police officer who died in a traffic accident. A USB hidden inside a statue. An intruder searching my apartment.

My heart beat faster. The feeling that I had gotten closer to the truth grew stronger. I hung up, opened the computer, and typed the two characters “Zhao Wu” into the search bar. According to the landlord, this was the name of the deceased police officer.

There was very little information about him online. The only result I found was an official news article from 2017 with the title: “F207 Award – Star Police Officer of Jiangcheng, Outstanding Frontline Police Role Model.” In the photo, he was wearing a uniform, standing at attention and saluting the camera. He was in his early 40s, with a square face and a serious expression, matching the landlord’s description.

In 2018, Zhao Wu moved to rent this apartment. Every quarter, he paid the rent on time. The landlord felt he was an upright, neat, and easygoing person, so over time he stopped inspecting the apartment. No one expected that in 2019, on a cold winter day, the landlord received a call from an unknown number. The person said that Zhao Wu had died in a traffic accident. After the police collected his belongings, the apartment remained empty for two years. It wasn’t until 2021 that a couple rented it again. After they moved out, I became the next tenant.

I gripped the mouse tightly and continued searching for information about Zhao Wu’s accident. But there were no clues at all. Even if he wasn’t a police officer, a fatal traffic accident should have had news coverage. But there was none—no reports, no posts, not even the local newspaper mentioned it.

The more I searched, the more I felt something was wrong. I had gone in the wrong direction.

The USB was still on the desk. Its silver color reflected the faint light. Inside it was a secret no one knew. But if I opened it, could I be sure I wouldn’t put myself in even greater danger?

The next day, I slept until noon before going downstairs to buy breakfast. The plainclothes police protecting me were still standing at the entrance to the complex, but they didn’t approach. However, as soon as I turned into a repair shop by the road, WeChat received a message asking, “Miss Chen, where are you going? Do you need us to help?”

Ever since last night, after I suddenly changed my route and discovered the body, the police’s attitude toward me had become more cautious. Besides protection, they also seemed to be monitoring me. My phone had a glitch when making calls—I couldn’t hear any sound. I planned to get it fixed later. If it wasn’t convenient, I could do it another time.

After sending the message, I stood in front of the repair shop door, staring at the old sign. Very quickly, I received a reply: “No problem. We won’t restrict your freedom. But if you want to go far, please notify us in advance.”

“Thanks.”

I put away my phone and stepped into the repair shop. The store was small and cramped. The owner was bent over behind a dusty glass counter. His face was hidden, only his hands were visible, skillfully disassembling a phone. A black beanie covered his long hair that reached his shoulders. His old coat was stained with dirt. His appearance looked extremely sloppy and unkempt. But his hands were unusually white and slender, too refined compared to the image he presented. He didn’t look up. His voice was hoarse. “What do you need?”

I clutched the thing in my right jacket pocket tightly and answered carefully, “Do you fix phone passwords? This is an old device. I forgot the password, but there are very important documents inside that I can’t open now.”

Hearing that, he stopped what he was doing, put the phone down. “What kind of phone? Take it out and let me see. Wait a moment.”

He nodded slightly. His eyes quietly followed my hand as I reached into my right jacket pocket.

Oh no. Sorry. I was in a hurry when I left. I think I forgot to bring my phone.

To prove it, I deliberately turned my left jacket pocket inside out. But when I looked up, I met his smile full of hidden meaning.

“The phone isn’t in the right pocket?”

It was the person I had met on the subway earlier. But this time he had removed his mask and black-framed glasses. The well-behaved appearance from before had completely disappeared. The fair skin and tall, slender figure that had given a refined feeling were now replaced by a cold, gloomy aura.

“You noticed I was pretending from when?”

His plan had been exposed. I couldn’t pretend to be worried anymore. He smiled faintly. “The moment you walked in the door. Your clothes didn’t fit properly. You deliberately lowered your head to avoid showing your face, hunched your shoulders, and stood close to the door. A shop owner who has repaired phones for many years wouldn’t have that posture. Of course, if we only look at appearance, he might just be a sloppy person who doesn’t care about looks. But his hands were too clean. His movements disassembling the phone were flexible, but his skin was so white it didn’t match his shabby appearance. Everything was an act he put on.”

He looked at me. His voice was calm. “You also realized I was pretending. But instead of leaving, you deliberately mentioned fixing a phone password. That was your way of testing me, right? But now it’s a bit awkward. You don’t want to give me the phone, but I must have it.”

He looked straight at the right pocket of my jacket. The small, cramped space and his height created an invisible pressure. I stepped back. Calmly, I said, “The police are standing outside the door. If you make any move, I will immediately call them. Even if you restrain me, you still won’t be able to get what’s in my pocket.”

He stayed silent, thinking for a moment, then spoke slowly. “Miss Chen, it seems you’ve misunderstood. From the beginning until now, everything we’ve done has nothing to do with you. You were just accidentally dragged into this. As long as you hand over the USB, I guarantee we won’t bother you anymore and won’t cause you any harm.”

I looked straight into his eyes. “Then what about the night I reported the crime? The killer with the bloodstained knife sat in my bathroom for hours, just waiting for me to return. Do you think he had no intention of killing me?”

He calmly replied, “That wasn’t one of ours. But his existence proves what I just said. We don’t want to get involved with anyone. Keeping this thing with you will only bring you trouble. Just hand it over to me now, and the danger will leave you.”

I narrowed my eyes. “But the body is already in your hands. So why, after catching the killer, did you release him?”

He paused briefly, then said, “We have our reasons.”

“What reasons? Knowing too much is not good for you. You only need to understand that cooperating with us is your best choice.”

I hesitated. He saw the wavering in me and breathed a sigh of relief. After thinking, he said, “Taylor Qiao’s death was actually an accident. The thing in your hands is very important. Not only do we want it, but others are also searching for it. But their methods are not gentle at all. You and the victim lived in the same building, were about the same age, and dressed similarly. When the information was transmitted incorrectly, the killer mistook you for her. Do you understand what I mean?”

I stayed silent for a long time, then spoke. “You mean the killer originally intended to kill me?”

He nodded. “Definitely. Every muscle on my body went cold. I wasn’t an accidental witness to the murder. The killer had already targeted me. It was only when the light in apartment 202 turned on that he looked up, saw me standing by the window, and realized he had killed the wrong person. That’s why he was forced to clean up the aftermath. But why did he want to kill me? What exactly are you all searching for?”

“I can’t reveal that. Knowing too much is not good for you. You only need to understand that cooperating with us is your best choice.”

I countered, “But the body has already been stolen and then dumped again. This isn’t simply a murder case. According to police procedures, they will definitely notice this point.”

“That’s not important.” He cut me off, his tone certain. “If I’m not mistaken, Taylor Qiao’s boyfriend has already been arrested.”

I was stunned. “How do you know?”

“You can check the official announcement yourself.”

I was suspicious, but I still took out my phone to look at the local news. Sure enough, just a few minutes ago, a new article had been posted. After investigation, Taylor XX, female, 26 years old, and her boyfriend Zhao XX, male, 28 years old, had long-standing emotional conflicts. Currently, Zhao XX has been arrested on suspicion of involvement in the case. Detailed information will continue to be updated.

He was calm, as if he had known everything in advance. The atmosphere in the small room became stifling. In contrast, the man behind the counter looked very relaxed, as if he held the winning hand. But he didn’t realize that I had quietly stepped back toward the door. When the distance was far enough, I quickly pushed the door behind me hard and retreated outside.

He was surprised. His eyes turned cold. “What do you mean?”

I calmly replied, “Nothing. It’s just that I don’t believe you. Actually, before stepping into this repair shop, I still didn’t understand the real meaning of the message in the phone note. If their goal was only to cut off contact between me and them, deleting the WeChat message would have been enough. But no, they deliberately left a threatening sentence. That line was like deliberate evidence. The edit time in the note was the biggest loophole. As long as the police discovered it, they would immediately realize there was a mole. They could have completely avoided this, but they deliberately let it happen. Now I understand. The nature of that message wasn’t just a threat. It was also meant to destroy my trust in the police. When a person falls into despair, they will grasp at any straw. And I was the fish being herded into the net.”

He kept emphasizing that I was in danger, that the police couldn’t be trusted, that even if the killer was caught, the people behind him would still be safe. He wanted me to feel I had no way out. He wanted me to willingly hand over the USB. But was there any evidence that they were trustworthy? None.

I stepped out of the repair shop and headed straight back toward the apartment complex. My heart was filled with tangled thoughts, but my face still looked calm.

The current situation: The USB contained an extremely important secret. Two different forces were both searching for it. One side was the killer who had murdered Taylor Qiao and the force behind him. The other side was the people pretending to be police, who might be an entirely different organization. They not only obtained my emergency report but also left a message in my phone. This proved they had infiltrated the police. But the strange thing was that the plainclothes officers standing outside the complex seemed extremely cautious. That meant not all police had been manipulated. As for the killer in black clothes, his method of committing the crime was extremely quick and ruthless. If his goal was to search for something, he could have done so without killing anyone. The only explanation was that he didn’t come to search for items. He came to kill.

One side was searching. The other side was silencing. Both had goals related to the USB, but their positions were opposed.

His words earlier were at least half true. This USB was truly dangerous. Keeping it with me could bring disaster. But it was also my only bargaining chip. Only as long as I still held this thing would they be cautious and not dare to act. The people behind it all were hesitating. They were afraid I would cooperate with the opposing side. They were afraid I would reveal the secret before they could act. But if I handed it over, I would have nothing left to negotiate with. Only then would I truly be the one who was dead for sure.

I needed to decrypt the USB. I needed to know what it contained.

My hand tightened around the thing in my jacket pocket. In my heart, I suddenly remembered the name Zhao Wu. Who was he? Why had he left this USB? Why were both sides trying to seize it at all costs? And was his death really just an accident?

Once again sitting in front of the computer, I used the photo from that commendation article as a clue and tried my luck with an image recognition tool online. Unexpectedly, after scanning through dozens of similar photos, I really found another clue. The current facial recognition system was frighteningly accurate. The newly found photo was a blurry screenshot. I wanted to trace back to the original article, but it had been deleted. However, from the logo in the top left corner and the scrolling text at the bottom, I could guess this was a news program on Jiangcheng TV called “Direct from the People’s Lives.”

I continued searching for information about this program, thinking that if I could find the episode, I might learn more about that police officer. But unfortunately, this wasn’t an online program. Although people had followed it before, there were no surviving recordings on the internet now. The clue I had just found was cut off again. I was disappointed and returned to the screen, staring at the screenshot I had found. But this time, I suddenly noticed a detail I had overlooked. The scrolling text at the bottom not only displayed program information but also related content. Although it was a bit blurry, I could still read it: “Dedicated police officer helps an old lady find her mother hen. Unexpectedly, the next day the old lady came to thank him with a bowl of chicken soup.”

I was stunned for a few seconds. I felt something strange and funny at the same time. But this led to a new direction of investigation. I typed into the search bar: “Police help old lady find hen. Old lady kills hen and cooks soup to thank him.”

The results were real. I found a compiled article about strange news on local TV. The story about the old lady killing the hen was ranked fourth. The article recounted in detail that in Happiness Small District, Tân Thương District, Jiangcheng, there was an old lady who had moved from the countryside to live with her son. She couldn’t bear to leave her egg-laying hen in the countryside, so she insisted on bringing it with her. But the apartment had no balcony and smelled bad from the chicken droppings. In the end, her son secretly released the hen downstairs. The old lady was heartbroken and made a big fuss. She even went to the police station to report it. A dedicated police officer helped her find the hen. During the conversation, he discovered the old lady’s worries. She was afraid of becoming a burden to her children, so she wanted to raise the hen to sell eggs for money. Thanks to the police officer’s mediation, the old lady finally agreed to give up the hen. The next day, she came to thank him with a bowl of hot chicken soup.

The story seemed humorous but full of humanity. Looking closely at the article, the “Lost Hen” case was not officially filed. The police officer who helped the old lady had used his off-duty time to search for the hen on his way home after going to the market. This showed that he lived near Happiness Small District.

I opened the map app, entered “Happiness Small District.” The distance was 36 km. Traveling by bus, changing from subway Line 6 to Line 10, then taking another bus, and finally walking a few hundred meters to get there.

The next day, I took the bus to Happiness Small District. Along the way, the police called to inform me that the main suspect in Taylor Qiao’s case had been arrested. The case was about to be closed. They would no longer assign officers to follow me. I replied briefly, “I understand.”

But in my heart, I felt something was off.

After getting off the subway, the surroundings were completely different from the city center. This area bordered the suburbs and had many factories. Dust rose from the road with every passing wheel, making the place look even older and more rundown. I followed the map to Happiness Small District. Along the way, I began to feel something was wrong. Someone was following me.

I slowly turned my head. Tân Thương might be old, but daily life was still very lively. The sounds of deliveries and greetings were noisy, typical of a long-established residential area. In a place full of people coming and going, a suspicious person would easily stand out.

The man wearing a baseball cap and a gray tracksuit looked very ordinary on the surface, but he didn’t fit the surroundings. I stood next to a fruit stall, pretending to pick oranges, but in reality I was observing him. The more I looked, the more familiar he seemed. He was pretending to make a phone call, but his posture was too straight, back ramrod stiff. Especially the way he made way for people passing by didn’t look like a clumsy tail but exactly like a police officer.

This thought had just appeared when I suddenly realized the source of the strange feeling. This guy was following me, but his gaze wasn’t only focused on me. He kept looking around, as if observing everything around me. His demeanor didn’t have the slightest sneaky or clumsy feeling. On the contrary, it looked like he was protecting me.

The police had once assigned people to protect me. This feeling was very familiar. Putting these characteristics together, I quickly realized who he was. The only thing was, if this was a police order, he wouldn’t need to be so secretive—unless he was following me not because of duty but as a personal action.

I immediately crossed through the crowd and proactively walked toward him. When I got close, I spoke directly. “Officer Wu, you’ve been following me for so long. Is there something you want to say?”

Wu Vietnam took the phone away from his ear and smiled faintly. “Miss Chen, your counter-surveillance skills are very good. If you took the police academy exam, your score might even be higher than mine.”

I had no interest in his compliment. “What do you want from me?”

Wu Vietnam cleared his throat lightly and stopped beating around the bush. He said seriously, “Actually, today I came here not because of duty. I want to ask you a few more things about Taylor Qiao’s case.”

I narrowed my eyes. “I heard the suspect has already been arrested. The case is about to be closed.”

Wu Vietnam paused for a moment, then said slowly, “This case may not be as simple as that. To make it convenient to talk, let’s step into a noodle shop by the road.”

The shop was quite old. A long wooden board divided it into two areas. On the left were about 10 crowded dining tables. On the right was the dough-kneading area. The owner stood in front of the kneading table, taking orders and making noodles on the spot at a very fast speed. It was peak hour. The place was noisy with people, and no one paid attention to the two of us stepping inside.

Wu Vietnam and I ordered noodles, found a secluded spot in the corner, and sat down. Only then did he start talking about Taylor Qiao’s case.

Taylor Qiao’s real name was Taylor Phoenix Moon. She used to work as a clothing sales clerk in a small town, then switched to being a livestreamer. The packages with my name were actually gifts from fans sent to Taylor Phoenix Moon. She was afraid her boyfriend Zhao Little Army would discover them, so she deliberately put my name on the delivery address. If he caught her, she could pretend it was a misdelivered package to stop him from opening it.

Zhao Little Army and Taylor Phoenix Moon were from the same hometown. Earlier, she had quit her job to follow him to the city to make a living. But Zhao Little Army was lazy and kept changing jobs. Later, he only managed to get a job as a security guard at an electronics company. The job required him to work night shifts, so he spent most of his time staying at the company dormitory. Only during his rotating days off did he come over to see Taylor Phoenix Moon. That’s why it took him a long time to discover how she was making money.

When he found out she was meeting fans outside, he was furious. They had a fierce argument. Zhao Little Army insulted Taylor Phoenix Moon and even threatened that if she continued, he would kill her. She pretended to promise she wouldn’t meet fans anymore, but later broke her word, making him even more enraged.

The police followed the clues and went to Zhao Little Army’s workplace, but he had already packed his things and fled. It wasn’t until they tracked him to a cheap illegal lodging in the suburbs that the police finally caught him. He had been hiding for many days, his nerves tense. His statement was chaotic and full of contradictions. In the end, he broke down crying and confessed that he had hired someone to kill Taylor Phoenix Moon.

I recalled the image of the man in black clothes that night in the small garden. He had acted precisely and coldly. Every stab was lethal. It didn’t look like a killing in a fit of rage at all.

I frowned and asked, “Zhao Little Army is the killer?”

Wu Vietnam shook his head. “No. He didn’t do it himself. He hired someone. The killer has already been arrested. The case is nearing its conclusion, so Wu Vietnam didn’t need to hide anything anymore. After discovering that Taylor Phoenix Moon continued meeting fans, Zhao Little Army drowned his sorrows in alcohol. When drunk, he posted on a forum saying he wanted to find someone to kill his girlfriend. Unexpectedly, someone actually contacted him. He transferred 3,000 yuan to the other party’s account. After that, he didn’t pay attention to the matter anymore. But he never expected that Taylor Phoenix Moon would really be killed. When he sobered up, he realized he had caused a big problem and immediately prepared to flee. He didn’t expect to still be caught by the police.”

The two bowls of hot noodles were quickly served. I stared at the green onions floating in the bowl. I waited until the staff left before lowering my voice to ask, “3,000 yuan is the price to hire a killer?”

Wu Vietnam nodded seriously. After confessing, Zhao Little Army revealed the killer’s contact information. But before the police could arrest the guy, he had already turned himself in. He showed me a photo on his phone. It was a wanted notice for a fugitive criminal. Thai Hieu Thu, born September 6, 1975, wanted for intentional murder. He had committed the crime six years earlier, killing his wife and his wife’s lover, then fled. The police had once offered a reward for his capture but couldn’t find his whereabouts. Unexpectedly, this time he appeared on his own and even turned himself in.

“What did he say?”

“He said he accepted the job because he felt sorry for Zhao Little Army. He hated the type of woman who betrays, so he decided to act. But living on the run for many years had exhausted him, so this time he turned himself in to avoid having to keep running.”

I frowned. “If it was just a hired killing, why did he also want to kill me?”

Wu Vietnam said in a low voice, “He said he was panicked and killed to eliminate the witness, out of habit. But he sneaked into the bathroom, even climbed onto the gas stove and searched the cabinets above the door. Those actions can’t be explained simply by panic.”

I had too many doubts, but I couldn’t reveal anything about the USB. I could only stay silent.

Suddenly, Wu Vietnam proactively brought up another matter. “Do you know what the most important evidence in this case is?”

I looked up. “What is it?”

“It’s a recording saved on Taylor Phoenix Moon’s computer. It captured an argument between her and Zhao Little Army. In the recording, Zhao Little Army threatened that if she didn’t listen, he would kill her. It confirmed his motive for murder and helped the police determine the direction of the investigation.”

I lowered my head and thought. He deliberately mentioned the recording. It definitely had something unusual. Why had Taylor Phoenix Moon saved the argument herself? It even recorded her boyfriend’s threat exactly. Could it be that she had anticipated her own death?

Wu Vietnam shook his head, leaned down to eat his noodles, but lowered his voice. “At first, when we checked her computer, we searched everywhere, but at that time there was no such recording in the machine.”

I was stunned for a few seconds, then gradually understood his meaning. “You mean the recording was faked?”

“The technical department confirmed it is real. And Zhao Little Army himself admitted that the argument had happened. If the recording was fake, he could have completely denied the crime.”

I began to understand why Wu Vietnam had come to find me. If the recording was real, then Zhao Little Army’s motive for murder would be established. The police would use it to investigate and arrest him and close the case according to normal procedures. In addition, the killer’s and Zhao Little Army’s statements completely matched. The evidence was complete and the logic chain was intact. The case could be closed in a reasonable way.

But Wu Vietnam still had doubts. Although he couldn’t ask the question directly, there was only one link that could break this logic chain, and it lay with me.

The killer wasn’t committing murder for the first time. His method was skilled and ruthless. But after I saw him, he said he was panicked and killed to eliminate the witness. I was attacked by a falling object from above, and the person behind it was still unknown. The discovery that Taylor Phoenix Moon’s body had been stolen was also made by me. Moreover, I insisted I had contact with the fake police but couldn’t provide evidence.

Wait—I suddenly looked up, remembering one unusual point in this case. One thing that was too obvious but had been overlooked. If this was only a hired killing, then why did the fake police suddenly appear?

Hearing me ask that, Wu Vietnam looked a bit awkward, but in the end he only shook his head helplessly. “They probably have nothing to do with this case.”

I stared at him, waiting for an explanation. Wu Vietnam hesitated for a few seconds, then told me that those people belonged to an organization extremely hostile to the police. They often tried to obstruct investigations with disruptive actions. The act of stealing the body and then returning it wasn’t the first time it had happened. At first, the police suspected they were involved in the body theft, but later there were no additional signs. These people operated secretly with strange methods. To avoid causing public panic, before catching the entire organization, the police couldn’t publicly acknowledge their existence. Even within the force, only a few people knew about it.

I lowered my head and thought. I couldn’t help remembering the man in the phone repair shop I had met earlier. Perhaps he was also a member of that organization. He didn’t even avoid it but directly admitted the organization’s existence and that some people in the police knew about them. From what Wu Vietnam said, it seemed the police had also become aware of the organization’s existence.

I looked up and stared at the man in front of me. Under the dim light, Wu Vietnam slightly furrowed his brows. His facial features were stern and his bearing upright. But could he really be trusted?

Today he had proactively come to find me. Was it really because he suspected the case, or was it because of that mysterious organization, trying to probe me in a different way?

I assessed him, and he was also looking at me with eyes full of questions. I didn’t look away. After thinking, I spoke. “Actually, before being questioned at the station, there were a few threatening messages in my phone. What messages?”

I opened the Notes app and pushed the phone toward him. Wu Vietnam frowned as he read the entire content. From surprise, it turned to seriousness. Then he muttered, “It’s the evidence department again. Last time it was the computer. This time it’s the phone. Every time evidence is handed over, there’s a problem.”

I stared at him, observing his reaction. Wu Vietnam’s surprise and contemplation were completely natural, without the slightest pretense.

The previous interrogation had happened long ago. Why didn’t you say something earlier?

“Because I wasn’t sure who was threatening me.”

He stayed silent for a few seconds, then said, “After that, he took something out of his pocket and placed it on the table. This is my identification. You can take a photo as evidence. Everything I just told you, you can record. I proactively contacted you, which is already a violation of regulations. If you want, you can report it, and I will immediately be investigated. If you’re still not at ease, you can also record a video as evidence.”

I was stunned. Then I realized that Wu Vietnam was voluntarily offering himself as evidence to prove he was trustworthy. And I decided to trust him.

I told him about the footprint in the kitchen, about the times I had been contacted by people pretending to be police, and about the USB. Wu Vietnam stayed silent for a very long time after listening. “They’re looking for that USB. What exactly is inside it?”

“I don’t know. This USB is an old model. It can’t be formatted or have its password deleted. Without professional hacking techniques to force it open, the data inside could be damaged. So I can only take a detour and investigate Zhao Wu first to see if I can find other clues.”

The two of us sat talking for the whole afternoon. The customers in the noodle shop gradually left. The surroundings became quieter. I thought for a moment, then asked, “Wu Vietnam, I will go pay and then head to Happiness Small District. What about you? Are you going back, or coming with me?”

Wu Vietnam was a police officer and also the most stubborn person when it came to the truth. From the fact that he proactively came to find me to ask about the suspicious points in Taylor Qiao’s case, you could see that. But having direction also had to be realistic. He had to weigh between ideals and benefits. This case involved too many things. In the fog of the unknown, no one knew how many hidden corners were behind it. For a police officer like him, it wasn’t easy to casually get involved in this.

I thought he would hesitate. But unexpectedly, Wu Vietnam looked up without hesitation and nodded immediately. “I’ll go with you.”

“Have you thought it through?”

“Of course.”

Leaving the noodle shop, Wu Vietnam walked ahead, opening the map to lead the way. I was still hesitating. “Officer Wu, this matter may be more serious than you think. No matter whether you want to investigate the truth or not, you can’t lose your job. You should think carefully.”

Before I finished speaking, he suddenly turned around. I almost bumped into him. “Do you know why I went to the police academy?”

I quickly ran through a few possible answers in my head. Because of ideals? Because I wanted to uphold justice? Wrong. Because the job is stable and the benefits are good?

“Do you know why I came to find you today?”

“Why?”

“Because today I’m on leave. Tomorrow I have to go back to work.”

I was stunned. But he burst out laughing. “What I mean is, doing something doesn’t necessarily need a lofty reason. And there are things that don’t need to be worried about or feared too much. Sometimes, as long as your conscience doesn’t feel guilty, it’s enough. After all, everyone will one day have to face the truth. Also, you’re 25, right? You’re a few years older than me. Just call me Wu Vietnam. No need to be polite and call me Officer Wu. Let’s go. We’re almost there.”

Because of urban planning, quite a few areas of the old street had been redeveloped. Happiness Small District was sandwiched between two construction sites. The bright green hoardings made the old street ahead look even grayer and more desolate. Following the map, we walked inside and discovered that there were still some people living here, but not many. Weeds grew wildly everywhere. There wasn’t even a security guard.

After walking around once, we stopped at a small grocery store near the entrance of the street. The store was small but sold everything from vegetables and fruits to ready-to-eat food. All of it was crammed into the cold counter. The shop owner was a slightly plump middle-aged woman sitting behind the counter, embroidering a cross-stitch. Hearing footsteps, she didn’t bother to look up, just asked, “What do you want to buy?”

“We’re not buying anything. We want to find someone.”

Wu Vietnam said, “Find someone? Who?”

I took out my phone, opened a prepared photo, and showed it to her. “Do you know this person? His surname is Zhao. Many years ago he lived here.”

The woman took the phone and stared at the photo. But when she looked up, her eyes were full of caution. “What do you want with him?”

I quickly stopped Wu Vietnam from telling the truth. “We’re just here to return some money. Earlier, when my family was in difficulty, my parents borrowed money from Officer Zhao. This matter is too dangerous. The fewer people who know, the better. Instead of telling the truth and dragging innocent people into it, it’s better to make up a harmless lie.”

Wu Vietnam quickly caught on and nodded to play along. “That’s right. Because we couldn’t contact him, we came here to ask. We heard it was to return money.”

The wariness on the shop owner’s face quickly eased. “Return money? You two are late. Officer Zhao died in a traffic accident in 2019. He’s been gone for many years. He was a very good person. Everyone in this area had asked him for help at some point. It’s a pity. But if you really want to return the money, you can look for his daughter. His daughter? Yes. After Officer Zhao passed away, not long after, his wife also died from grief. Only one daughter was left. I heard that girl is quite hard to approach. She’s almost 30 this year and still hasn’t started a family.”

Wu Vietnam and I glanced at each other. I tried to stay calm and asked, “Do you know how to contact her?”

The shop owner shook her head. “I don’t know about that. I only met her once during a meeting to mobilize for the demolition of this area. She was always cold and didn’t talk to anyone. Just looking at her was scary. She doesn’t live here anymore, but she still firmly refuses to sign the demolition agreement. No matter who tries to persuade her, it’s useless. But because this area is about to be demolished, the residents’ committee still calls her regularly. You can go there and ask.”

Following the shop owner’s directions, Wu Vietnam and I quickly found the residents’ committee. This time, we finally got the contact information. On the white paper was written a string of numbers. I was both nervous and hesitant, thinking about what I should say when calling so it wouldn’t be too abrupt. But Wu Vietnam looked at the string of numbers and suddenly spoke. “This number looks familiar. Where have I seen it before?”

“Where?”

Wu Vietnam didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he took out his phone and entered the string of numbers. But before he finished typing, the system automatically displayed a number already saved in his contacts. The string of numbers on the paper was identical to a number saved in Wu Vietnam’s contacts, labeled “Evidence Department – Zhao Phi.”

We didn’t call immediately. At least, I didn’t want to use Wu Vietnam’s number to call. The idea had just flashed when I immediately reached out, snatched his phone, and pressed the end call button. Then we returned to the residents’ committee to confirm. Just as predicted, we were informed that Zhao Phi, Zhao Wu’s daughter, was 30 years old this year and worked as a police officer.

On the way back, we sat in different corners of the subway car and used our phones to communicate. Wu Vietnam said that he didn’t have much contact with Zhao Phi. He only knew she had worked at the station for many years and was a rather quiet person. But he had never heard that her father had also been a police officer.

Not mentioning it didn’t mean not knowing. A message from Wu Vietnam popped up. “I just checked the duty roster at the station. The day your phone was seized and the day the recording was discovered in Taylor Qiao’s computer, the person on duty in the evidence department was Zhao Phi.”

I sank into thought. Her ex-boyfriend had contacted me from the beginning. Why did he suddenly message me privately instead of speaking in the group? He replied quickly: “Because this is the second thing I want to tell you. Zhao Phi’s phone has been lost. Everything we discussed in the group may have been exposed.”

My premonition had come true. My whole body went ice-cold.

That night, after showering, I discovered there was a missed call from Wu Vietnam. My heart beat faster. If he called at this time, he must have discovered something.

Before we parted in the afternoon, we had agreed that both of us felt we shouldn’t act rashly regarding Zhao Phi. We needed to investigate patiently. But after getting home, I habitually searched for information about Zhao Phi online and unexpectedly found a clue.

Before becoming a police officer, Zhao Phi had a completely different development path from what I had imagined. There was even an interview article about her online. She had once been the top student at a famous university, majoring in biology, with outstanding achievements. After graduating, she was recommended by the school to join a national research institute. In the attached photo, a young Zhao Phi stood in front of the research institute door, posing for a photo with the reporter. She smiled gently and radiantly like spring sunshine.

She had once said, “Joining the research institute is my biggest dream.” But when she was 26, she suddenly quit, took the civil service exam, then joined the Central North Police Station. And it was also that year that Zhao Wu passed away.

Before that, in Zhao Phi’s past, there had never been any plan related to the police. The connection between these two events was too obvious to ignore.

It was also for this reason that Wu Vietnam immediately returned to the station to check the files and see whether she had been assigned to the system or had voluntarily applied to the Central North Police Station.

Wu Vietnam’s call came five minutes ago. It wasn’t too long ago. Perhaps he wasn’t too impatient yet. I pressed the call back button. The other end picked up quickly, but no one spoke.

“Hello?” I lowered my voice cautiously. “How did the investigation into Zhao Phi go? Was she discovered? Or is there someone next to you and it’s inconvenient to talk?”

“Hmph.” A cold female laugh sounded from the other end. “He really isn’t convenient to talk right now.”

My heart sank. A bad premonition rose. “Who are you? Why do you have Wu Vietnam’s phone?”

But the other end didn’t answer. Instead, she asked back, “And who are you? A person I’ve never met. Why are you secretly investigating me? What is your purpose?”

I immediately guessed who was on the other end of the line. “You’re Zhao Phi.”

She didn’t deny it. I quickly thought, analyzing the current situation. The fact that Zhao Phi answered my call without surprise showed that it was possible she had proactively called me from the beginning. And before Wu Vietnam could clearly investigate Zhao Phi’s stance, he definitely wouldn’t easily hand over his phone for her to contact me. Therefore, I guessed that Wu Vietnam’s current condition was definitely not good.

Sure enough, the next second Zhao Phi spoke. “If you want Wu Vietnam to live, do as I say.”

She sent me an address and ordered me to get there by taxi. I wasn’t allowed to bring anyone with me, wasn’t allowed to find a way to contact the police, and had to arrive within half an hour. The distance was nearly 20 km, and there was no highway. The time was tight, clearly to prevent me from finding help.

I immediately took a taxi. When I was almost there, I realized something was wrong. At first, I thought that since Zhao Phi was threatening me from the shadows, she would choose a remote place to meet and forbid me from calling the police. But unexpectedly, this area was a bustling food street. Even though it was nearly 10:00 p.m., the place was still brightly lit with noisy crowds.

Why was it so crowded?

I unconsciously muttered. The taxi driver heard me. “Miss, did you come to the wrong place?”

But I saw the address was correct. I shook my head. “It’s not wrong. It’s just my first time here. I didn’t expect it to be this busy.”

“Oh, this is the central area of the city. In recent years, many social media influencers have come to make vlogs, so there are lots of customers. But actually, there’s nothing special. Even a skewer of grilled sausage costs 10 dollars. It’s ridiculously expensive.”

After a few sentences of conversation, I got out of the car. But even though I walked around following the address for a while, besides a small hamburger and egg stall, I didn’t see anyone.

Time was almost up. I had no choice but to take out my phone and message asking, “Where are you?”

The reply came immediately: “Look to your left.”

The moment I received the message, the car lights on the other side of the road flashed twice. The car window slowly rolled down halfway, as if signaling me to come over.

My heart sank. This position wasn’t wrong. It was indeed near the hamburger and egg stall. But she deliberately waited on the opposite side, showing she was observing me from afar. The busy food street was enough to create chaos and make me let down my guard. At the same time, the crowd also made me unconsciously relax my vigilance and lose my protective shell.

I walked step by step closer to the car. The door opened. Before I arrived, the person sitting in the driver’s seat, hidden in the shadows, had already gotten in. The first thing I did when getting in the car was to turn my head and check the back seat. Wu Vietnam was lying there with his eyes closed, motionless. But his chest was still rising and falling with his breathing. I breathed a sigh of relief. Then I looked at the woman sitting in the driver’s seat.

She was wearing all black. The sleeves of her sweater were rolled up to her wrists. Her long hair was tied neatly behind her head. Compared to the interview photo from before, she looked much more mature, and her aura was colder. In her hand, she was gripping a knife tightly.

“Don’t worry. He’s not dead yet.”

This sentence was clearly about Wu Vietnam. But you’re not necessarily safe.

Then her voice suddenly changed. The knife in her hand pressed straight against my neck. Her voice lowered. “It’s dangerous. Speak. Why are you investigating me? What is your purpose?”

The sharp pain spread from my neck. Everything happened too fast. Her crazed eyes were inches away, as if in the next second I would die immediately.

In that moment, my head went blank. I only heard my heart pounding like a drum and my own rapid breathing. Behind me was the car window. Outside was still the noisy laughter and talking of people, but it became distant and hazy.

“I… I…” I was so scared I stuttered, but the next second I suddenly realized something unusual. If Zhao Phi really wanted to kill me, she would have acted from the beginning. I was sitting in the car with no ability to resist. She could have completely driven to a remote place. At that point, whether threatening or killing to silence me would be much more convenient than in a crowded place like this. But she didn’t do that. Why?

My heart pounded like war drums. My eyes were fixed on Zhao Phi. My mind worked at full speed. The USB was hidden. Zhao Wu’s death that year. Immediately after, Zhao Phi suddenly gave up everything to become a police officer. After that, she was assigned to the Central North Police Station. All the evidence in Taylor Qiao’s case was handled by her. And the strange call tonight. Every piece of the puzzle spun in my head. If Zhao Wu’s death had hidden circumstances and Zhao Phi became a police officer to investigate that matter, she definitely knew more than I imagined. Yet she pretended not to know and instead asked me what I was investigating.

Compared to wanting to know the answer, her actions looked more like she was testing me.

The moment I realized that, I unconsciously relaxed a little. “Because I want to find out the truth.”

Zhao Phi’s voice lowered. “But there are truths whose price is even more terrifying than you imagine. I advise you to give up as soon as possible.”

“But I’ve already been dragged in. There’s no way back anymore.”

I took a deep breath and met her gaze. Zhao Phi looked at me deeply. Then she slowly put the knife away. Inside the car, silence fell. Outside, the food street became even noisier. The cut on my neck still throbbed with pain, but screaming at this point didn’t match the cold image I had just created, so I could only endure it.

After a long while, Zhao Phi finally spoke. “You guessed right. My father’s death that year wasn’t an accident.”

Her firm affirmation, without the slightest hesitation, made me sit up straight and listen attentively.

Zhao Phi said that before her father’s incident, he was investigating some case. Not only did he move out to live alone, but he also cut off contact with his wife and children. His attitude was extremely serious, clearly sensing that danger was approaching. But not long after, she received a call saying her father had died in a traffic accident. Although he had been given emergency treatment, he didn’t survive. The cause of death given was drunk driving and losing control, falling off a bridge.

Therefore, after Zhao Wu passed away, not only was he not awarded any posthumous honor, but his police status was also stripped. But Zhao Phi knew her father well. Zhao Wu had always valued discipline more than his own life. He had been a police officer for decades and had never violated regulations. He absolutely could not have been driving while drunk. More importantly, her father was allergic to alcohol. Just one drop and his whole body would break out in red rashes. No matter the circumstances, he would never drink alcohol. Yet he died in an accident caused by drunk driving.

Zhao Wu was so cautious. The case he was investigating must have brought danger. And in such a situation, his sudden death was very likely an assassination to silence him.

I frowned, cutting off her words. “Your father was a police officer. If his death was related to alcohol, his colleagues and superiors would definitely investigate. They couldn’t possibly not know he was allergic to alcohol, right?”

“That’s right. Of course they knew.”

Zhao Phi turned her head to look at me. The corner of her mouth curled into a smile, but there was no trace of a smile in her eyes—only a chilling coldness.

“So no one continued investigating this matter? Even his family didn’t pursue justice?”

“Of course those people would quickly close the case. I can’t bear to think about it. My mother was still alive at the time. She was furious and wanted to file complaints and beg them to give my father justice. But it was my mother herself who stopped me. She even knelt down and begged me not to continue investigating. After that, Zhao Phi was forced by her mother to return to the research institute on the grounds that her mother needed her to continue working, needed her to earn money to support the family, and couldn’t let her delay her future because of this matter. But not long after, she received news that her mother had died by suicide using gas. The fire spread and even burned down the entire house.

“How could that be?”

I felt heavy. The abnormal behavior of Zhao Phi’s mother before her death. The suspicious timing of her death. Did she really commit suicide?

I wanted to open my mouth to ask, but I guessed Zhao Phi would deny it. But unexpectedly, she nodded. “It was suicide.”

The lights from the food street shone into the car. Half of her body was hidden in shadow. Her face showed no emotion. For some reason, I suddenly remembered her old photo. The young girl standing under the sunlight, smiling gently. Losing both father and mother in a short time was an unbearable wound for anyone. But Zhao Phi tried hard to find the truth, constantly revisiting those painful memories, personally tracing the clues leading to her loved ones’ deaths.

The remaining questions, I didn’t have the heart to ask. I changed the subject. “Before Officer Zhao passed away, what case was he investigating?”

But before Zhao Phi could answer, a hoarse male voice suddenly sounded from the back seat. “The prostitution case at Minh Xuân Tea House.”

I was startled by the sudden voice and only then remembered that Wu Vietnam was still in the back seat. I turned my head and saw him frowning and rubbing his temples, not knowing when he had woken up.

Zhao Phi was shocked and turned to look at him. “How do you know?”

“Because of your father. I investigated all the cases Officer Zhao had handled. The year your father died, many case files were still complete. Only one case was missing, completely erased from the system and impossible to trace. I went through all the quarterly summary reports and finally found the name of this case.”

He suddenly frowned and rubbed his aching head. “Why does my head hurt so much?”

Wu Vietnam clutched his head, his face twisted in pain. “I hit you,” Zhao Phi said calmly. But she didn’t add that she hadn’t used anesthetic on him. “Why? I remember after drinking water I lost consciousness.”

“I was afraid you were pretending to be unconscious. So I hit your arm too. Sorry, the first blow missed.”

Zhao Phi still kept her calm expression, but her eyes showed a slight avoidance and didn’t look directly at the person clutching his head in pain.

The atmosphere in the car fell into an eerie silence. I quickly changed the subject and asked Zhao Phi, “But after you joined the Central North Police Station, you must have continued investigating this case, right?”

She nodded. “That’s right. At first, I only wanted to investigate my father’s accident, find evidence that he wasn’t driving drunk, and overturn the case. But after actually starting the investigation, I discovered obstacles much bigger than I imagined. It could even be said that the real cause wasn’t in that accident at all.”

Bang. A loud crash sounded. Zhao Phi’s words were cut off midway. A heavy impact came from the right side, slamming hard into the passenger side of the car, creating a dull thud. I jumped in fright and looked outside, only to realize something had happened.

The originally bustling food street had become chaotic. Pedestrians fled in panic. Screams and cries for help rang out clearly through the half-open car window. Wu Vietnam stuck his head forward. “What happened?”

But no one answered. With a police officer’s reflexes, he quickly realized that neither of us knew the situation either. He immediately opened the car door, stopped a few people running past, and asked urgently to grasp the situation. Only then did it become clear that a crazy person holding a knife was attacking passersby. Several people had already been injured. The scene was extremely chaotic.

After confirming the number of victims and the type of weapon, Wu Vietnam decisively gave orders. “Officer Zhao, stay in the car and call for backup. I’ll go to the scene to help evacuate the crowd and limit casualties.”

Zhao Phi immediately stopped him. “The criminal has a knife. According to protocol, we should wait for the armed police team to arrive and handle it. You should stay here and wait for reinforcements.”

Wu Vietnam took off his jacket and wrapped it around his left arm while shaking his head. “There’s no time.”

With that, he jumped out of the car, against the flow of fleeing people, and charged straight into the food street. Zhao Phi lowered her head and dialed the police. At that moment, the car window on my side was knocked hard. I jumped and turned around. Two young girls stood outside. One had her hair tied in two sides, with a round, chubby face that made her look like a student. The other girl had red, swollen eyes and a panicked face. She urgently said, “Sister, my friend is injured. No taxi will come. Sister, please help us take my friend to the hospital to get bandaged.”

The other girl had blood all over her sleeve. Her face was pale and weak as she leaned half her body on her friend. Her white shirt was covered in bloodstains. The scene made me shiver. Without thinking much, I immediately reached out to open the car door, intending to help them get in.

But unexpectedly—click—the car door was locked tight. No matter how hard I tried, the door handle wouldn’t budge. I looked at Zhao Phi in confusion. “Officer Zhao, why did you lock the door?”

Zhao Phi didn’t answer. She coldly controlled the button to roll down the window on my side. At that moment, a round black object flew straight toward the passenger-side window. Bang. The object hit the glass hard, bounced back, and fell to the ground. Immediately, a cloud of white smoke rose. In the instant before the window fully closed, I heard a curse full of frustration. The two girls who had just begged for help no longer had the fearful appearance of the injured. Both moved quickly, dashing into a small alley and disappearing in the blink of an eye.

I was stunned. My eyes were fixed on the white smoke outside the car window. I asked in panic, “What’s going on?”

Zhao Phi calmly replied, “Smoke grenade with anesthetic. The main component is Datura. When released in a confined space, it can quickly cause unconsciousness.”

I shivered. Cold sweat broke out on my back. “Officer Zhao, how did you realize they were lying?”

Zhao Phi shook her head. “Call me Sister Zhao from now on. Don’t call me Officer Zhao anymore.” The two of them acted very realistically. I also didn’t have clear evidence. I just felt something was off. Now it’s too late. My car has also stalled. There’s no light inside the car. Logically speaking, from outside it’s not easy to see there are people inside. And normally, if they needed help, they would knock on the driver’s side window first. There’s no reason to go around to the passenger side. I locked the car door simply to test them. I didn’t expect them to expose themselves.”

The car had just stalled. There was no light inside. Zhao Phi’s words kept spinning in my head, making me even more uneasy. My eyes unconsciously swept across the rearview mirror. Suddenly, “Sister Zhao, on the car—is there a tracking device installed?”

Zhao Phi shook her head. “No.”

“Then what is that red flashing light behind?”

I pointed at the rearview mirror, where a red dot was flashing in the gap between the back seats. Zhao Phi’s expression immediately changed. But she still said calmly, “You’re mistaken. There’s nothing there.”

Immediately after, she lowered her voice and leaned close to me. “Get out of the car immediately.”

She threw me a cloth. I quickly grabbed it and covered my mouth and nose. I opened the car door and climbed out from the passenger side, slipping through the white smoke. Zhao Phi followed right behind me, pulling me and running toward a secluded corner of the street. We had only run a short distance when I turned my head and saw the car had already been surrounded by a group of people. They quickly realized the car was empty and immediately scattered, blending into the crowd.

I felt panicked and unconsciously wanted to run away from the eyes watching us. But Zhao Phi pulled me back. With one hand, she untied her hair, letting her long hair fall down. She said softly, “Run with the crowd. Don’t look back. If we blend into the flow of people and don’t do anything suspicious, we won’t be easily discovered.”

I snapped out of it, looked around, and assessed the situation. The food street was very close to a university dormitory area. Many students came to buy late-night snacks. Now that a knife attack had occurred, although some people stayed to watch, most fled in fear back to the dorms. Among them were quite a few groups of female students walking together. It was dark. Zhao Phi and I blended into the crowd and looked completely unremarkable.

Understanding her meaning, I took off my outer jacket and tied it around my waist. Then I tried to blend into the crowd of students moving toward the school gate. I tried to keep my voice calm and asked softly, “Should we really go into the school with them?”

Zhao Phi said in a low voice, her expression serious. “I don’t want to either, but this is the safest direction.”

“But why do we think this is the safest direction?”

“Because all other directions have people lying in ambush.”

Zhao Phi’s words were cut off midway. And I finally understood what had made me feel strange all this time. From the moment we left the car, we had only been focused on running away, instinctively choosing the direction opposite to the people searching for us, then blending into the crowd of students heading into the dormitory area. But if this was exactly what they wanted, then what?

The university I had never been to before. I wasn’t familiar with the layout, and the campus was enclosed. If they discovered we had slipped in here, they only needed to block the exits. Even if we grew wings, we wouldn’t be able to escape. But it was too late. We were pushed forward by the crowd and couldn’t turn back.

Suddenly, the crowd became chaotic. An arm tightened around Zhao Phi’s neck, but before he could strike, he was kicked away by her. A brawl broke out. The startled students screamed. The scene became extremely chaotic. Someone covered my mouth. A black cloth covered my eyes. People on both sides grabbed me tightly and dragged me, pushing me through the school gate. They moved too fast. I couldn’t react. I was almost dragged, stumbling, farther and farther from the chaotic gate.

When the cloth was pulled down, I realized I was standing on a soccer field. Around me was a group of people. The dim figures under the faint lights made it unclear who were students on dates and who were the ones who had just kidnapped me.

A person stepped out from the crowd. “We meet again.”

He spoke without any disguise like on the subway or in the phone repair shop. This time, his appearance was very natural and much calmer. “I still haven’t introduced myself. My name is Trinh Ban.”

The man hidden in the shadows reached out to shake my hand. His smile was faint. “This time, let’s talk seriously. How about it?”

I warily stepped back, but to avoid provoking the other side, I still reached out and shook his hand. “What is it?”

He waved his hand. The shadows surrounding us immediately retreated in silence. “Why were you dragged into this? Why did the killer target you? And what exactly is going on? Don’t you want to know?”

He sat down on the grass, crossing his legs, then signaled for me to sit down too. “Sit down and listen. This story is quite long.”

He began the story with a sentence full of hidden meaning. “We have to start from a suicide by jumping off a building.”

He said the incident happened five years ago, around early spring in March. The Tân Thương police station received a report that someone was about to jump. The police reacted quickly and immediately went to the scene while also notifying the fire department to set up a safety net. The police’s task was to buy time and persuade the victim while waiting for the rescue team to prepare. The officer in charge of the suicide case at that time was Zhao Wu, who had just been promoted to senior officer. The victim was a woman estimated to be about 25 years old. With more than ten years of experience in the force, Zhao Wu tried to communicate to evoke the victim’s psychology and help her find reasons to hold onto life. But unexpectedly, right after he asked the first question, the girl only gave a bitter smile and then jumped from the rooftop. Her body fell hard to the ground, blood flowing everywhere. She died on the spot.

Hearing this, I instinctively frowned. It was clearly a tragic scene. But the tone of the man in front of me was cold and emotionless, without the slightest fluctuation.

He continued. The deceased was named Ton Phan Ne. After the body was taken to the morgue, the family only arrived belatedly. A man who claimed to be her husband said that his wife had mental illness and had attempted suicide many times before. Therefore, this death was not unexpected to him. After handling the paperwork to claim the body, this person even expressed gratitude to the police officers who had assisted with the rescue, then left just like that. The suicide case ended here and was considered closed.

“So it ended just like that?” I couldn’t help interrupting him. Most suicide cases are difficult to investigate because the deceased is no longer there, and the remaining family members usually deny any involvement. The police also can’t force anyone to reveal the victim’s real reasons. However, if the victim is dead, the family is usually the ones who lose control the most. They often can’t accept the reality, blame everything around them, and may even prolong arguments and create public pressure. In many cases, the responsible police officer is even disciplined.

I didn’t believe everything could end so smoothly. Hearing me question him, Trinh Ban laughed. “You find it strange, right? Zhao Wu thought the same. That’s why he requested to check the family’s records of the victim. But when he searched, he discovered that all the information had been sealed at the request of the family and couldn’t be accessed. But the more it was like that, the more Zhao Wu felt something was wrong. Based on data from previous investigations, he secretly collected information about Ton Phan Ne and the man who claimed to be her husband. And then he discovered that the two of them had never had any legal marriage relationship. The victim was only 26 years old and still single, while the man named Ho Binh was someone who had been arrested multiple times for buying sex.”

I immediately asked, “So Zhao Wu definitely wasn’t satisfied with the conclusion of the case?”

“Of course. Zhao Wu was a stubborn person, not easily persuaded. Even when his superiors ordered him to stop the investigation, he still didn’t give up. He continued secretly collecting materials, following the people involved. And then he really found something. Ho Binh worked as a security guard for a normal teahouse. There was nothing special about it, but he spent money very extravagantly. His spending was completely inconsistent with the salary of a security guard. Through deeper investigation, Zhao Wu discovered that this teahouse was actually a disguised location for prostitution activities. And most of the girls there were victims who had been forced. Many of them had been tricked from distant rural areas. Once brought here, they almost had no way out. Ho Binh was the middleman. He was responsible for sending money back to the girls’ families and monitoring their phone calls with relatives. For those poor parents in the countryside, they only knew that their daughter had gotten married and was even sending money home. No matter what happened, they didn’t dare speak up. Ton Phan Ne, the woman who jumped to her death, was actually just one of many victims. She had been tortured until her spirit collapsed. In the end, she climbed to the rooftop and chose to end her life.”

Hearing this, I felt a tightness in my chest. My voice was hoarse as I asked, “And then?”

“With the help of the intelligence line, Officer Zhao had collected important evidence related to the prostitution activities at Minh Xuân Teahouse. After submitting the evidence to his superiors, the case was officially filed, and he began leading a team for strict inspections of Minh Xuân. But the problem was that after the case was opened, the investigation proceeded too smoothly in a suspicious way. Every time the police set up an ambush, they got no results. It seemed the teahouse side always received advance notice. No matter when the police raided, they only saw a completely legal scene with customers enjoying tea. The police investigation fell into a deadlock. The teahouse owner began to have a provocative attitude, accusing the police of targeting ordinary citizens and wanting to collect protection fees. The superiors began to waver and intended to suspend the investigation. Pushed into a corner, Officer Zhao had no choice but to turn back and rely on the intelligence line he had cooperated with before, hoping to contact one of the victims being held to get testimony and collect direct evidence.”

Hearing this, I felt tense. My throat was dry. “Did they succeed?”

Trinh Ban nodded. His voice was calm. “They succeeded. Everything went quite smoothly. One of the victims agreed to cooperate with the police to collect evidence. Not only did they obtain audio recordings as testimony, they also took photos of the person behind the scenes pulling the strings at Minh Xuân. But when Officer Zhao held that photo in his hand, he didn’t dare make it public immediately. Because in that photo, the person behind the scenes had appeared many times on the police commendation board. It was also at that moment that he realized why, from the very beginning, the suicide case had been handled perfunctorily and deliberately suppressed. Why, after the case was filed, the investigation couldn’t yield results. Why every time the police raided Minh Xuân Teahouse, they were always prepared in advance. Because inside the police force, there was already someone providing information to the other side. So even though he had full evidence in his hands, Zhao Wu still couldn’t make it public. Because he knew for sure that as soon as he revealed it, the people behind would immediately know. If that happened, the girl who had risked her life to come forward as a witness would have no way to survive.”

I stayed silent. In my heart, I had a vague guess about Officer Zhao’s worries. Minh Xuân was like having eyes inside the police force. And once the evidence was exposed, the people behind would immediately act to silence the witness.

I arranged all the events in my head. Based on the information I had searched online, combined with what Zhao Phi had said, it could be confirmed that not long after Officer Zhao obtained this evidence, he had died in a car accident. The reason recorded in the file was drunk driving and losing control, falling off a bridge and dying on the spot. And then, until today, even a police officer like Wu Vietnam couldn’t find any documents related to that case in the system.

After a moment of silence, Trinh Ban seemed to wake up and continued speaking. He recounted what Officer Zhao had done before his death. Officer Zhao wasn’t intimidated by the identity of the person behind the scenes. He chose to take a detour. First, he wanted to ensure the safety of the witness, then expose the truth. But he didn’t expect that the next time he contacted that witness, what he received was news of her death. The witness had jumped from the rooftop of Minh Xuân Teahouse and died on the spot. Her way of dying was exactly the same as Ton Phan Ne’s death. Officer Zhao absolutely refused to believe that a person who had actively cooperated and longed for freedom would suddenly commit suicide. Therefore, he fought hard to reopen the case and investigate it as a murder. For many months, he investigated the victim’s relationships and the killer’s motive. But because there wasn’t enough evidence, and there was even a suicide note written by the victim herself, in the end the police still determined the case was suicide. Officer Zhao was immersed in guilt and self-blame. At the same time, he tried to find the victim’s family, hoping to help and compensate them in some way. At the same time, he also realized one thing: the person behind the scenes wasn’t just covering up the truth but could even turn black into white. With the little evidence in his hands, he completely lacked the strength to overthrow that person. So he chose to endure silently and secretly continue the investigation. This time, the focus of the investigation was no longer the victim or the witness, but the person who had never been exposed. He spent two years fighting courageously with that person. Finally, at the beginning of 2019, he had collected the most important evidence, enough to destroy the entire force behind it. But then, on the day he planned to submit the evidence, Minh Xuân Teahouse suddenly caught fire. Hundreds of people were burned in the sea of flames. The police found Officer Zhao’s police badge in an alley near the teahouse. And when they tried to thoroughly investigate this fire, Officer Zhao had already died in a car accident.

The case of the fire that year and Officer Zhao’s car accident were both full of suspicions. But in the end, they were closed hastily, leaving no clues.

Both Zhao Phi and I understood clearly that the fire that year and her father’s car accident were not simple accidents. That was why, from the day Officer Zhao passed away, we had never stopped searching for the truth. We recruited people in the police who were dissatisfied and formed a group. And then we became the name that the police often mentioned—rebels. We were still always searching for evidence. In April this year, we finally had a breakthrough. We found the most important clue. Officer Zhao had not kept that important evidence with him. He had hidden it somewhere else to protect his family. For two years, he had never returned to his hometown but only lived in a rented apartment in the central north area. Speaking to this point, Trinh Ban turned his head. His eyes looked straight at me. His meaning was very clear.

Hearing this, I had summarized the entire story in my head. Only one question remained: “Who are you exactly?”

The man in front of me looked only about 20 years old. Five years ago, he was still a child. But in the entire story, there was no one named Trinh Ban.

He looked at me. His eyes were deep. Then he calmly said, “Me? The woman who died because of Officer Zhao that year was named Trinh Lam. She was my biological sister. After my sister passed away, I became an orphan. Officer Zhao couldn’t bear to see me live in hardship. He brought me from the countryside to the city, helped me with household registration procedures, and sponsored my education. So when he passed away, the first person I contacted was Zhao Phi.”

Speaking to this point, he paused for a moment, then continued, “And now the most important evidence is in your hands. How you choose is up to you. If you hand it over, we can drag the person behind the scenes into the light, clear Officer Zhao’s name, and give all the dead people an answer. But if you refuse…”

I looked up at him and asked coldly, “Will you kill me?”

The young man’s face under the moonlight showed a flash of confusion, as if he didn’t know how to respond to my question. “What are you saying? You also want to help clear Officer Zhao’s name, right?”

I didn’t answer immediately. I only continued asking, “That night when Taylor Qiao was killed, you were at the scene, right? The door to apartment 501 in Phoenix Garden was also pried open by you. The person in apartment 501 that night, besides me, there was someone else, right?”

The man in front of me finally looked up, full of interest, staring at me. “Oh, why do you think that?”

“That night was too chaotic. I was so panicked I couldn’t think clearly. When the police found the bloodstained knife in the bathroom, at that time I only thought I was being overly suspicious and sensitive. But the next morning, when I returned to apartment 501 and discovered pry marks on the lock, I couldn’t continue deceiving myself anymore. Before I entered apartment 501 that night, there was already someone inside. The fifth floor had no obstructions to the view and was easy to be discovered. If there was any movement, these two factors combined made apartment 501, which was under renovation, become a perfect observation spot to monitor the situation below without worrying about being discovered. At that time, your purpose in being in apartment 501 was probably the same as the killer’s, right? So when Taylor Qiao was killed, you didn’t stop it. You even happily stood by and watched, preparing to be the one who reaped the benefits.”

Trinh Ban laughed loudly. He didn’t deny it. “Sometimes being too smart turns out to be stupid. Earlier, I already gave you a chance. But you stubbornly stood on Zhao Phi’s side. Look at you now, tied up like this. Where is she? And that busybody police officer—did they come to save you?”

I didn’t answer. I was extremely worried, staring at the man who was trying to open the USB. I ignored everything and turned to ask Trinh Ban, “Without the USB password, can he open it?”

Unexpectedly, Trinh Ban sneered, his voice deliberately loud, as if wanting to take revenge on me. “Of course you can’t open it. But for a skilled hacker, cracking the password is just a small matter.”

My heart completely sank. And his words were immediately proven true. The man only operated a few steps and bypassed the password screen, successfully opening the USB. He checked each file to confirm the contents, then closed the computer. Then he made a phone call. The person on the other end was clearly not an ordinary person. Even though it was just a phone call, his attitude changed clearly. After answering, his tone was extremely respectful. “I’ve checked. Everything is fine. They didn’t have time to back up the data. I understand. I will check again. Don’t worry, sir. I will definitely handle it cleanly.”

It seemed that even in front of this person, he was only a disposable pawn. He held the phone and walked into the bedroom, locking the door behind him.

I stared in that direction. My hands clenched tightly. The person he called was definitely the one who had given him orders. It was very possible that was the person behind everything. Because this matter involved too many people, the fewer people handling it, the more it ensured secrecy. That was also why, from approaching me to capturing Trinh Ban, everything was handled by him alone.

“Anything else?”

I was thinking frantically, trying to find a way to escape. But suddenly Trinh Ban spoke up. He asked me, “Do you smell something?”

My thoughts were interrupted. I instinctively turned my head to look at him. I no longer saw the mocking expression on his face. On the contrary, his face was extremely serious. “Do you use gas in your house?”

I was stunned, then instinctively replied, “I don’t use gas.”

Trinh Ban was also stunned, his face full of doubt. “That’s strange. From earlier until now, we haven’t gone into the kitchen. If you also don’t use gas, then who turned it on?”

No one had gone into the kitchen, but the smell of gas filled the air. I instinctively turned my head to look toward the kitchen. Then I saw something that had never been there before. A strange lock was on the kitchen door.

There was something wrong. My whole body immediately went ice-cold, covered in goosebumps. Actually, throughout the entire evening, I had always felt something was off. The person behind everything wasn’t just monitoring our every move but could also easily take Zhao Phi’s phone, intervene in our plan, and then lightly capture both me and Trinh Ban. But too many incidents had happened. If he really wanted to ensure the plan succeeded, he only needed to send one subordinate to handle it—unless he wanted to truly erase all traces. And that meant he had sent a subordinate he completely trusted. Because he had also seen the contents of the USB. Even Trinh Ban didn’t want to use the USB to threaten him. So would he accept keeping someone who held his weakness? Instead of controlling someone who might betray him, why not just kill them?

So this subordinate acted alone. He said there would be people coming to pick him up, but in reality no one came. The long phone call just now was definitely just an excuse to distract him so he wouldn’t notice our movements. If that was the case, the person behind it was truly ruthless to the extreme.

Trinh Ban muttered, “Could he have sneaked into the kitchen when we weren’t paying attention? But how?”

I shivered, trying hard to steady my voice. “It wasn’t him. He is also like us, just a pawn. Like a chess player preparing to flip the entire board.”

Trinh Ban wasn’t stupid. After thinking for a second, he immediately understood the problem. But he laughed loudly. He laughed until tears flowed. “Who told you guys to keep calculating against me? Now we’re going to die together.”

I didn’t speak. I only thought about Zhao Phi and Wu Vietnam—people who knew nothing. I also thought about my parents. Next month was my mom’s birthday. She always said I should focus on work and not worry about the family. But I knew she still hoped I would come home with her. I had already prepared a gift and planned to take a day off to go back. If my dad came to pick me up, he would definitely scold me with his mouth, but in his heart he would be happy.

Suddenly, Trinh Ban spoke up. “Do you know? I’ve always felt it was unfair. I traded my life just to get that USB. Besides wanting to use it to threaten them, I also wanted to ask him one question: On what basis? On what basis do some people live in luxury while others are destroyed like insects? On what basis do they have the right to take away other people’s lives as easily as stepping on an ant? That year, my mom died. My dad didn’t want to raise me. He said he was going away to work and just disappeared. Only me and my sister were left to rely on each other. People say the eldest sister is like a mother. But my sister was only 16 at the time. She wanted to work, but because she was still too young, no one would hire her. I don’t remember the other things clearly. But I remember the feeling of extreme hunger very well. One night, me and my sister were so hungry we went crazy. We sneaked into someone’s garden and dug up potatoes. There was no fire to cook them, so I just ate them raw. And I thought they were the most delicious thing I had ever eaten in my life. I even wanted to dig more to bring home, but we were caught. Several men with sticks rushed over. My sister tried to protect me, but it was useless. Both of us were almost beaten to death. After that, when my sister was a bit older, someone in the village invited her to go work far away. They said that outside you could earn a lot of money and bring it back for the family…”

The smell of gas in the room grew thicker and thicker, making me start to feel dizzy. But Trinh Ban continued speaking. “My sister also left. Not long after, she started sending money back. She told me to use that money to pay school fees. She told me to study hard. She said that when things got better, she would bring me up to live with her. I listened and studied hard until the end of middle school. Every weekend I would call my sister. But then rumors started spreading in the village. They said that my sister earned so much money, it definitely wasn’t from honest work. They said my sister was selling her body. I fought with them that afternoon. I skipped school to go to the phone booth and call to ask what was really going on. I only wanted to hear her deny it. But she kept hesitating and told me not to worry about those things. I was so angry at that time that I exploded and cursed her, calling her dirty and shameless. Right at that moment, I suddenly realized there was movement behind me. Me and Trinh Ban were originally sitting back to back. Earlier he had laughed so hard his body had turned a bit. Now he was completely back to back with me. Now he quietly reached his hand behind, touching me. I wasn’t sure what the situation was and didn’t dare make a sound. I focused on feeling. After a moment, I realized he was holding a small knife, trying to cut the rope binding my hands. As long as the rope was cut, we still had a chance. His hand was still moving, but his mouth didn’t stop speaking. “From that day on, I never called her again. But she still sent money back as usual. Do you think she was stupid? That kind of job, how could she do it for a lifetime? Why didn’t she think about herself? The more I thought, the angrier I got. I decided that after graduating, I would go find her and scold her until she woke up. I even wanted to throw all the money she sent back in her face and tell her to think about herself, not always worry about others. But before I could do anything, I received a call from Zhao Wu. He told me she was dead.”

His words had just finished when the rope on my hands was also cut. But the joy hadn’t even arrived when the bedroom door suddenly opened. The man came out. His first reaction was to frown. He had also noticed the smell of gas in the room. Then he discovered that I had freed myself from the ropes and immediately rushed over to restrain me again. But right at that moment, Trinh Ban changed direction and charged straight at him. The man lost his balance and fell hard to the floor. Trinh Ban struggled to pin him down, then said in a low voice, word by word, “Quick, take the USB and run. Find Zhao Phi or that guy named Wu. Back up the data. Don’t go out the front door. There are definitely people waiting outside. Jump out the window to escape.”

I urgently asked, “What about you?”

He had saved me. I couldn’t just abandon him. His voice grew weaker and weaker, clearly lacking oxygen while still having to fight that guy, expending a lot of energy. But he still said, “Between the two of us, at least one has to survive. You have to get the USB out. You’re not good at fighting. Jumping in to help me now won’t do any good. I can’t let that stupid little girl and Zhao Wu die in vain.”

I knew Trinh Ban was right. Right now he was desperately holding back that guy, mainly thanks to the element of surprise. But as time passed, the initial advantage had turned into a disadvantage. If I turned back to help, besides prolonging it by a dozen seconds, it wouldn’t change anything. The best way now was for me to leave immediately and find people to come rescue.

I gritted my teeth, pushed open the window, and climbed out. This apartment building was quite old. The pipes and air conditioning units were installed without any pattern. But thanks to that, I could hold onto them to climb down. That guy really wanted to kill everyone. There were people waiting below. The moment I touched the ground, several shadows from all sides immediately closed in. Clearly they had been lying in ambush beforehand. I had no choice but to run straight ahead with my head down. Oxygen deprivation made my head spin. No matter how hard I tried to breathe, I couldn’t reduce the nausea. I gripped the USB tightly in my hand. The sharp edge dug into my palm, hurting. My legs were already weak, but I still forced myself to keep balance and kept running. But right at that moment, bad luck struck again. I tripped over something and fell hard to the ground. My vision went dark. The sound of my fall startled the birds sleeping on the tree branches. They flapped their wings in fear and flew up into the night sky, the sound shaking the space. Right before I completely lost consciousness, in my head there was only one thought: It’s over. I failed Trinh Ban.

When I woke up, according to normal logic, I should have been captured and locked in a dark, cramped place. But no. I was lying in a hospital. The air had a faint smell of disinfectant. An IV needle was in my wrist. The drip bag hung right above my head. Bright sunlight shone through the clean window frame, covering half the hospital bed with a warm layer of light. The moment I opened my eyes, a figure immediately leaned down to look at me. “You’re awake.”

It was Wu Vietnam. I startled awake and tried to sit up immediately. “What happened to me? And the USB?”

“Don’t worry, it’s not lost. The USB has been reported and submitted to the station. Currently, the police have officially established a special investigation team to expand the investigation. No one in that group will escape.”

I felt as if a heavy burden had been lifted. Then I gradually recalled what had happened last night. At that time, I was desperately running in the dark night. But I had been caught, right? How did you all save me?

Before I could finish the sentence, Wu Vietnam suddenly fell silent. His expression was a bit awkward. After a long while, he finally spoke. “The person leading the pursuit of you last night was actually us.”

Last night, after I sent the message and didn’t see you reply, I guessed something had happened. Zhao Phi proactively confessed everything to her superiors. So we immediately implemented the rescue plan. To avoid alerting the snake, the police secretly arranged forces in many places and simultaneously arrested the people who had been lying in wait in front of your house. But unexpectedly, before we entered your house, you had already jumped out the window and escaped on your own. Afraid you would get hurt, we chased after you. But you only ran desperately without turning your head. Just as I was about to explain and tell you not to panic, you had already run a distance and fainted.

I was stunned. “So that’s how it was.”

Wu Vietnam patted my shoulder lightly and said in a firm voice, “To put it more clearly, Officer Zhao has never driven drunk. He was a hero who fell because he protected the country’s security. In the years after the incident, the truth of that year’s case was finally revealed. All the criminals, including those who had violated the country’s information security, were arrested. Officer Zhao’s car accident was also reinvestigated and proven that he was not driving while intoxicated at all. He was a hero who fell to protect the country’s safety. He was posthumously awarded a high-level medal.”

Trinh Ban was arrested for repeatedly obstructing police duties. But thanks to the fact that he had protected the important evidence in the end, he was only sentenced to one year in prison. When I visited him, he had shaved his head short. Through the thick glass, I told him about the outcome of the criminals, about the news reports praising his sister, calling her a hero who had bravely stepped forward to help Officer Zhao with the investigation. His eye sockets reddened. His face was calmer than ever. After a very long time, he smiled faintly. “That stupid little girl really had guts.”

Zhao Phi also officially resigned from the police force. She was hospitalized and began chemotherapy. Although her illness had entered the final stage, her mood was very optimistic. Every time she called me, she would ask, “Little sister, is there any good book or movie worth watching? Recommend some to me. I’ve watched Tân Ô Long Viện for the tenth time or so.”

One normal day after that, on the weekend, Wu Vietnam and I went to the hospital to visit her. But unexpectedly, as soon as we reached the door of the hospital room, we heard arguing from inside.

“I’m living well. I don’t need you to take care of me. Besides, who are you anyway? Why are you meddling so much?”

“But back then when you broke up with me, you didn’t say you were sick.”

“You’re talking nonsense. I broke up with you, and only after that did I get sick.”

“So now that you’re sick, I’m not allowed to visit?”

Zhao Phi had always been gentle and calm. She rarely got angry. Wu Vietnam was startled and raised his hand, intending to knock on the door, but then pulled back. I and he looked at each other, then both peeked inside through the glass window. On the headboard of Zhao Phi’s hospital bed was a fresh bouquet of flowers. A tall, slender man stood at the end of the bed, looking at her attentively. He was wearing a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up, revealing slender arms. He wore silver-framed glasses. His features were handsome, but what stood out most was his gentle, scholarly aura.

I couldn’t speak. I could only open my mouth and use lip movements to ask Wu Vietnam, “What’s going on?”

Wu Vietnam also shook his head, his face full of questions like mine. But his reaction was faster than mine. He quickly pulled over a female nurse walking past and asked in a low voice. The nurse indeed had a lot of information. She smiled faintly and pulled us to a small corner, gossiping in a low voice. “You two want to ask who that guy in there is, right? I heard he’s Miss Zhao’s ex-boyfriend. No, calling him an old flame is more accurate. He’s a university professor, tall, handsome, and has come here several times. Every time he gets chased away by Miss Zhao. But this professor doesn’t care about wind or rain and still persistently comes to visit.”

I was surprised and asked, “Why does Sister Zhao chase him away? He looks like a good person.”

The nurse shook her head. “I’m not sure. But if two people break up and still argue and hold grudges like that, there must have been some big conflict back then.”

Wu Vietnam also nodded in agreement. “That makes sense. Anyway, Sister Zhao’s personality is very good. If there wasn’t something major, she definitely wouldn’t treat him like that.”

But unexpectedly, right at that moment the door opened. The handsome professor came out holding a skewer of candied hawthorn. “Let’s go eat lunch. There’s a small restaurant nearby that sells light food. It suits your taste. Your friend is here too? Want to come together?”

Zhao Phi was stunned for a moment, then immediately got angry. “Do you understand human language? I already told you not to meddle so much. Speak softer, or your throat will hurt again later.”

“Whose fault is the sore throat? Everything is my fault. So don’t be angry anymore.”

Zhao Phi looked at him for a long time, then finally smiled. “Fine. Let’s go eat.”

After that, the three of us left the hospital together. On the way, Wu Vietnam quietly asked me, “Do you think they will get back together?”

I smiled. “Who knows? But looking at them, it seems possible.”

Life slowly returned to normal. The USB was handed over to the authorities. The full truth was revealed. The people behind Minh Xuân Teahouse and the larger force were all arrested. Officer Zhao’s name was cleared. Zhao Phi continued her treatment. Trinh Ban served his sentence. And I… I finally understood that in this world, there are always people who are willing to sacrifice everything for justice, even if it means facing darkness and danger.

Some stories end, but the courage and truth they leave behind will always remain.

And that is the story I personally witnessed.