Coming to Myself

You Mingxu felt a bit unnerved by his words, but she agreed with him. She lifted her head and looked at the rooms near the stairwell.

Due to the sudden nature of the incident and the lack of clear evidence, the police had only taken everyone from the Gold Splitting Treasure Company in for questioning today. They had conducted an urgent search of the company while deploying the remaining officers to expand the search in the surrounding areas. They hadn’t yet carried out detailed investigations or forensic examinations of all the rooms and evidence.

You Mingxu steadied herself, a scene forming in her mind: Fan Jia stumbling down the stairs, her face pale and her energy depleted, the "power bank" containing the evidence in her pocket.

"Fan Jia knew that as long as she made it to the first floor, even if she couldn’t get out, we would notice. But she never made it down," You Mingxu said. "Why?"

Yin Feng replied, "Either her strength was already insufficient, or she encountered some kind of danger."

You Mingxu looked up, her gaze fixed on the room directly opposite the stairs. "Exactly. She either entered one of these rooms voluntarily or was forced to. And then, she vanished."

The first room was an office with three desks, some spread-out reports and documents, and a computer that hadn’t even been turned off. You Mingxu only glanced around briefly before stepping out.

The second room was also an office, larger this time, with five or six desks and several large cabinets. The police had already searched it during the day and found nothing. You Mingxu observed for a moment before leaving.

Next to the stairs was the men’s restroom. You Mingxu pushed the door open and immediately noticed the window on the wall—high and small, clearly too narrow for an adult to pass through. She checked each stall, then finally looked up at the ceiling.

Yin Feng followed her gaze.

She said, "Climb up and take a look."

Yin Feng was about to agree when he caught sight of the stains on the restroom wall and hesitated.

You Mingxu urged, "Go on."

"A Xu, let’s call Xu Mengshan instead," Yin Feng said quickly. "It’s too dirty and smelly in here."

You Mingxu gave him a half-smile. "You’re the boss, making great arrangements." She then kicked him lightly on the backside. "Hurry up! I praised you for nothing today! A grown man afraid of a little dirt? If I weren’t shorter than you, I’d have done it myself."

Yin Feng’s butt tightened.

The woman’s kick wasn’t hard, but it didn’t hurt either. A man’s backside was somewhat sensitive, and her kick sent a jolt through him—a tingling, oddly pleasant sensation. Suddenly, he felt he could endure even the filth ahead. Holding his breath, he swiftly scaled the partition wall, straddled it, and soon pried open the ventilation shaft in the ceiling.

You Mingxu watched him work.

Yin Feng shone his flashlight around for a while but found nothing. He jumped down.

Still, he couldn’t help sniffing his sleeve, convinced it had picked up a smell, and frowned. You Mingxu found it amusing. How could it smell after such a short time? She deliberately leaned in to sniff as well, feigning disgust. "It stinks."

Before she could finish, Yin Feng wrapped his arms around her, pressing his head heavily into the crook of her neck, and whispered, "If it stinks, we stink together."

You Mingxu almost laughed and was about to push him away when she felt one of his hands slide down to her waist while the other arm encircled her back, tightening his hold.

You Mingxu stayed still for a couple of seconds before saying, "Alright, let go."

He mumbled into her shoulder, "No."You Mingxu's voice was so calm it surprised even herself: "Enough, Yin Feng, let's focus on the case. We shouldn't cross the line."

He released her and walked out of the restroom without letting her see his face. Watching his retreating figure, You Mingxu couldn't describe the turmoil in her heart. But she knew he could understand her now.

When she emerged, he had returned to his usual demeanor, lips slightly pouted as he looked around observantly.

You Mingxu felt relieved, yet somehow unsettled. She said, "Let's keep searching."

He grunted in acknowledgment.

You Mingxu turned and pushed open a nearby door.

Flipping the wall switch, she found it didn't work - broken. This appeared to be a storage room, barely 3-4 square meters, dimly lit with several storage shelves. The corners were piled with miscellaneous items. On the opposite wall was a window, revealing only pitch darkness outside dotted with faint starlight.