Coming to Myself

Her phone had not been found yet.

Liu Yisha’s home was tidy, with no signs of a struggle. Moreover, the area was densely populated, making it almost impossible to abduct a living person from there.

The disappearance did not occur at home.

Judging by the state of her home, she had not planned to travel far.

Therefore, on the 7th or 8th, she had gone out. Where did she go? Who did she meet?

However, the possibilities were endless. The first victim, Zhao Feier, had been taken on her way home from a night shift. They lived in the same area. Liu Yisha could have encountered the killer simply by going out for breakfast or buying groceries.

You Mingxu scratched her head in frustration. She already had a feeling this would be a very challenging serial case. Otherwise, the Huaicheng police wouldn’t have been fumbling in the dark for a year. She turned her head and glanced at the guy standing ramrod straight, hands in his pockets. This was his area of expertise, wasn’t it?

She recalled Yin Feng’s deduction about the "Urban Artisan." She looked down at the dense streets, shops, and crowds below and smirked. In this area, there had to be at least five hundred Urban Artisans, if not a thousand. His words were as good as saying nothing.

"Handsome," she called him over anyway.

For this business trip, Yin Feng had been instructed not to wear cartoon-themed clothes in yellow or green. Instead, he was dressed in a sweater, a jacket, and leather shoes—all high-end items sent by Chen Feng. As he walked over, he looked impeccably dressed, with clear, handsome features, tall and straight. As long as he kept his mouth shut, he appeared cool and stylish, every bit the respectable man.

However, the moment he leaned against the railing beside her, stepping onto the lower crossbar, stretching his arms straight, and swinging his body back and forth, his true nature was revealed.

You Mingxu had truly never seen a man so determined to ruin his own charm. The sexy, pitiable man who had held her while climbing the stairs earlier was nothing but her illusion.

You Mingxu: "Get down!"

Only then did he slowly climb down.

You Mingxu asked, "What have you found?"

He replied, "Looking at the selection of victims, there are many similarities: they were all recent female college graduates, unemployed, with narrow social circles; they lived in the same area and lived alone; they all had pressing financial needs. Their daily lives were confined to a radius of one or two kilometers. Of course, there are differences too: one was plain-looking, while the other was quite attractive. One was likely a virgin, the other was not. This shows the killer doesn’t care about these two points."

You Mingxu pondered for a moment and said, "Also, before their deaths, they likely spent two to three days with the killer."

"Those two days must have been excruciating."

You Mingxu sighed inwardly and asked, "Based on your experience... how did the killer select them?"

Yin Feng shook his head: "I don’t know. There are still too many possibilities. He might even live in the same building as them. Or perhaps he’s just a kilometer or two away, scanning for his next target with a telescope."

By evening, all police personnel had returned to the municipal bureau for a briefing. Lao Tan from the provincial level and the deputy chief in charge of criminal investigations in Huaicheng presided over the meeting.

The spacious meeting room was packed with people. The air was thick with the smells of cigarette smoke, coffee, sweat, boxed meals, and even the scent of goji berries from insulated cups.You Mingxu sat beside Lao Tan, with Yin Feng seated behind her. As she settled in, she glanced back at him. Whenever serious matters were at hand, this guy was always quiet and obedient, requiring no extra attention from her.

Lao Tan, being experienced, first asked a question: "Was the case of Zhao Feier from last year ever disclosed to the public?"

The criminal investigation team leader in charge of the case in Huaicheng, Han Feng, replied, "We only issued a brief case announcement, but the specific details were not revealed to the public. However... Zhao Feier's body was discovered by villagers. By the time we arrived, there were already many people at the scene, and some had taken photos and posted them online. We immediately took action to delete those posts to avoid affecting the investigation. But it's impossible to keep it 100% confidential now."

Lao Tan took a drag of his cigarette and remained silent.

You Mingxu thought to herself that this meant they couldn't completely rule out the possibility of someone imitating last year's case. After all, the perpetrator had been dormant for a year. However, You Mingxu had also seen the photos from the first case and leaned toward the idea that it was the same person. The way the body was folded and the impact it conveyed were just too similar.

"It's definitely the same perpetrator," Han Feng said.

Many officers nodded in agreement.

At this point, You Mingxu asked, "How's the vehicle investigation going?"

Xu Mengshan replied, "We have some results. We found two drivers who passed by the location where Liu Yisha's body was dumped between 2:00 and 2:30 last night. Both saw a Jinbei Van parked by the county road. However, neither noticed the license plate nor saw anyone in the vehicle."

A low murmur of discussion spread among the officers present.

A photo appeared on the projection screen at the front—a blurry image of an old Jinbei Van. The rear of the vehicle showed no license plate, and a faint figure could be seen in the driver's seat.

Xu Mengshan continued, "A camera on the county road, three kilometers from the dump site, captured this vehicle. Based on the time of death and the drivers' descriptions, what they saw should be this van."

Someone said, "That's great. Last year, the surveillance conditions near the dump site were poor, and we couldn't locate the suspect vehicle. Now we finally have a lead."

Another added, "But this model of van is very popular in this region, and many second-hand ones have been sold here. There are at least hundreds, if not thousands, of them."

After discussing with the deputy chief, Lao Tan laid out the next steps for the investigation:

Han Feng would lead a team to conduct a more in-depth and extensive investigation into the key evidence in this case—the Jinbei Van—and the fingerprints left at the first crime scene.

You Mingxu would lead a team to delve into the backgrounds of the two victims, investigating their interpersonal relationships and their whereabouts before they went missing, in hopes of finding clues about the perpetrator.

Logically, the meeting should have ended, and everyone would have gone their separate ways to work. But Lao Tan cleared his throat and looked behind You Mingxu, asking, "Teacher Yin, do you have any opinions?"

Everyone immediately turned their attention to Yin Feng. Initially, they had all noticed this exceptionally handsome and distinguished-looking man, but when he remained silent, with his palms pressed together and head bowed as he played with his fingers, they assumed he was just a minor assistant.

Yin Feng raised his head, his eyes as clear as a fresh graduate from the police academy. He even raised his hand like a student and asked, "I'd like to ask, what is Campus Loan?"Han Feng immediately understood what he was about to ask, but the thirty-something police captain thought to himself: Yin Feng seemed to be an important figure from the provincial level—how could he possibly not know what Campus Loan was? If he was asking anyway, it must be intentional. Did he have issues with their previous investigative work? Han Feng’s face flushed with heat at once. Last year’s unsolved case had been weighing on his mind like a heavy stone. Just as his lips parted to speak, Lao Tan added, “Oh, this is Yin Feng, the criminal psychology consultant from the provincial bureau and a professor in Peking University’s Psychology Department.” Lao Tan didn’t mention his identity as a famous author—it was too flashy and inappropriate.