Author: 长洱 / Chang’er

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 131

This was a matter of thinking about the case. Previously, they had been looking for traces of whether Xu Ran was at the crime scene. Through testing for bloodstains, fingerprints, or even footprints, it was all to prove this point. If they couldn’t find evidence, they couldn’t prove that Xu Ran was there, and since she wasn’t a criminal, the typical presumption was that she was innocent.

But this case was different. From the beginning, the emergence of online public opinion has presumed Xu Ran’s guilt. The people believed she was a criminal, which forced them to find an alibi for Xu Ran; otherwise, she would be considered guilty.

While it was hard to say, Li Jingtian had designed it almost seamlessly. With Xu Ran dead, naturally, she could no longer argue her case.

The only loophole in this was, coincidentally, Li Jingtian.

Xing Conglian slowly raised his phone and dialed the number for the trace inspection officer.

“Captain Xing, please. I really haven’t finished yet. You’re killing me here!”

Before Xing Conglian could speak, the police officer was the first to cry. His voice was a little hoarse, obvious that he had stayed up all night like them.

“There’s no need to check these things,” Xing Conglian said.

“Ah? What, can we call it a day?” The police officer asked in amazement.

“No, check for fingerprints.”

“Fingerprints where?”

“Clothes,” Xing Conglian said slowly. “Check Xu Ran’s bloody clothes.”

“Uh, Captain Xin, the fabric absorbs water so well that it’s almost impossible to find any fingerprints on it. And whose fingerprints are you looking for on Xu Ran’s clothes?”

“Xu Ran’s bloody coat has two decorative straps on the shoulders. Check to see if Li Jingtian’s fingerprints are there,” Xing Conglian stated clearly.

After a moment of silence on the other end of the phone, there was an excited shout. “I—I—I get it! Great!”

After the police officer on the other end of the line finished yelling, there was the sound of tables and chairs colliding, doors opening and closing, and echoes of running in the empty corridor. For any police officer handling a case, there was nothing more exciting than finding a clue.

Xing Conglian silently hung up and turned off the computer. His expression was calm and cold.

In the room, there was dead silence again.

Lin Chen sat next to him, only to feel mixed feelings in his heart. At this moment, he didn’t know what to say.

However, Xing Conglian was the first to speak. “Go and wake up Wang Chao.”

Lin Chen looked at him hesitantly.

Xing Conglian said, “Time is running out. We have to hurry. We’ll go to CA Entertainment to find Li Gaoqiang later and check to see whether Li Jingtian was at Royal One on the day of the incident. We’ll also meet with Mu Zhuo, who should give us an advance breakthrough in Song Shengsheng’s case.”

“An old case from nine years ago?”

“Doesn’t Consultant Lin have confidence?”

It was rare for Lin Chen to feel relieved. “How can that be?”

After he finished replying, he stood up and looked at the teenager, who was asleep on the opposite side, and said to Xing Conglian, “Carry him to the sofa and let him sleep for a while.”

Xing Conglian was taken aback for a moment, and then showed a disgusted expression, but he still walked over and picked up Wang Chao and slowly put him on the sofa.

The moment Xing Conglian withdrew his hand, Wang Chao suddenly woke up. He opened his eyes wide and looked at Xing Conglian with frightened eyes. “What the fuck, Captain?”

At that time, Xing Conglian was still holding Wang Chao in a princess carry. He quickly pulled his hand away and angrily said, “Shut up and go to sleep.”

Wang Chao groaned and fell asleep again.

Lin Chen found a coat and covered Wang Chao before walking to the teenager’s computer. Before he sat down, he heard slight snoring coming from Wang Chao.

Looking at the teenager’s soft face and long eyelashes covered by black hair, Lin Chen said to Xing Conglian, “The story from last time isn’t over yet.”

Xing Conglian quickly understood what he was referring to. It was rare that they could pick up on things that the other said in just a few words during extremely tense moments without the need for further padding. “When I arrived, half the people had been killed, and the ground was littered with corpses and blood. In a place like Africa, the temperature is relatively high, so the corpses rot quickly. Wang Chao was protected by a group of workers. At that point, a child of his age already knew the truth that people who die will no longer come back, so the first thing he asked after he saw me was: Can I no longer talk to my mother and father?”

Lin Chen looked at Xing Conglian again. In an instant, he was struck by great sadness, but he didn’t regret asking about this; neither then nor now.

“How did you answer?” he asked.

“This question was too difficult to answer. If it were you, Consultant Lin, what would you say?” Xing Conglian asked rhetorically.

Lin Chen thought for a while, then replied, “I would say: Yes, but look, you can still talk.”

Xing Conglian smiled lightly as he lit a cigarette. “Consultant Lin, don’t you think your answer is too esoteric for a ten-year-old child?” He took a puff and exhaled a ring of cyan smoke. “Although your parents are dead, you’re still alive, and you’re still fortunate to be able to speak. More importantly, because you’re alive and able to speak, you have the opportunity to be heard by others—by those who are still alive. They can hear your words that tell the stories of your parents…”

Lin Chen asked, “Then what did Captain Xing say at that time?”

“Oh, I said, yeah kid, so you’re going to hang with me in the future.”

“So he obediently left with you?” Lin Chen asked in disbelief.

“Of course not at first, but then I took him to the biggest local electronics store and bought him the latest computer. Then he was convinced.” Xing Conglian acted like he was rich.

“Really?” Lin Chen asked suspiciously. “Did you really answer him like that?”

“Yeah. I have to analyze the words I say very carefully because there are things that can’t be said.” Xing Conglian coughed shamelessly.

“Did he understand?”

“Of course not. He’s stupid…” Xing Conglian sighed. When he told the story, his tone was relaxed from start to finish, as if he were talking about something irrelevant.

Lin Chen didn’t ask about what came next. He thought that would be the next part of the chapter.

He clicked on the information compiled by Wang Chao and began to look at it.

Although the dead couldn’t speak, the living still had the opportunity to tell their unfinished story for them.

……

When Xing Conglian’s phone rang again, Wang Chao woke up.

The teenager abruptly jumped up from the sofa, as if he wanted to defend his family and country with a heroic sacrifice.

Xing Conglian motioned for Wang Chao to be silent and turned his phone on speaker.

It was a tense moment. The result of the appraisal determined the direction of their subsequent investigations, and even the direction of the entire unfinished story.

“Captain Xing! No! It’s really not!”

The police officer on the other end of the line had obviously finished everything as he was panting heavily.

“What’s not?” Wang Chao couldn’t help asking.

“The two leather decorative straps of Xu Ran’s bloody clothes didn’t have Li Jingtian’s fingerprints!”

The moment he learned the truth, the air suddenly froze.

They all became silent; even the police officer on the other end of the line stopped talking. Wang Chao knew that it wasn’t appropriate to speak now.

After a while, the frozen air turned gel-like and began to flow slowly.

Li Jingtian’s fingerprints weren’t found on the decorative strap on Xu Ran’s shoulders, which proved that she wasn’t the fan that was hugged by him. This further proved she wasn’t at the fan meeting and that she wasn’t the person who slit Li Jingtian’s throat. Further, it proved she was indeed mistaken for the true culprit, and she had died innocently and tragically under the pursuit of Li Jingtian’s fans.

Although they had expected these results, the moment they found evidence to prove it, it was too sad to speak.

It was Wang Chao who finally spoke first. “Then, Xu Ran’s suspicion has been cleared, and she wasn’t at the scene?” The teenager asked with some difficulty.

Lin Chen nodded to him.

“Then what are we going to do next?” Wang Chao asked.

Even the police officer on the other end of the line said, “Captain Xing, with the results out now, what are we going to do?”

In fact, the questions they wanted to ask were all the same. Although the words and expression were different, the underlying question was, with the fingerprints clearing Xu Ran’s suspicion, what should they do with the results?

If this was an ordinary case, the police could just issue a report, but the problem was that the case report for Li Jingtian’s throat slitting case wasn’t so easy to write. First, the police hadn’t determined the true culprit, so it wasn’t appropriate to release this report’s result. It could backfire and become proof of the police’s incompetence or become a problematic position.

Lin Chen looked at Xing Conglian, who was also looking at him.

“What does Consultant Lin think?”

“Release it,” Lin Chen said.

It was rare for Xing Conglian to raise the corners of his mouth. Though he was half-smiling, his eyes remained cold. He said to the police officer on the other end of the line, “I’ll notify the PR department to make an announcement. Thank you for your hard work.”

“But, Captain Xing… This!” The police officer on the other end wanted to say more, but Xing Conglian hung up.

“Captain, what the hell?!” Wang Chao still had a look of confusion. “If we release this result, what if Li Jingtian buys a plane ticket and returns back to his country?!”

“That’s why I need you to immediately monitor movements on his passport,” Lin Chen said calmly.

“What?! Why?”

“Do you think it’s just a problem between us and Li Jingtian right now?” Lin Chen asked rhetorically.

“Isn’t it?”

Lin Chen shook his head. “The question now is, who has more credibility.”

“Is it that complicated?”

“Li Jingtian is a singer who usually has a good reputation. He has many fans and is good at controlling public opinion. We have no tangible evidence to prove his crime right now, so his innocence remains high, while we, the police, have been in an embarrassing situation. Our investigation result is often scrutinized by the public, so how do we win this war of public opinion against Li Jingtian?”

“I don’t know!” Wang Chao thought for a while but was still confused. He turned around and asked, “Captain, you have a bad mind. What are you thinking?”

“We’re going to force him to buy a plane ticket to return home.” Xing Conglian gave him a look as if saying, ‘Why are you so stupid?’

Lin Chen explained, “It’s simple. When we issue the notice proving Xu Ran isn’t a criminal suspect, it’ll have a huge effect on public opinion, pushing Li Jingtian back into the limelight. If Li Jingtian buys a plane ticket to return home at this time, what will that look like?”

“Like…absconding due to guilt?” Wang Chao stared wide-eyed. “You’re so insidious. But will Li Jingtian really leave? If he buys a plane ticket to return home, won’t it be difficult for us to catch him?”

“Which is why this is a double-edged sword.” Lin Chen patted the teenager’s head. “But for us, the benefits of doing so still outweigh the disadvantages. In this kind of thing, we have to take a gamble.”

“Okay! A’Chen, how do we want to bet?”

Lin Chen looked at Xing Conglian and asked, “What does Captain Xing intend?”

“Let’s go to CA Entertainment and find the only possible witness to Xu Ran’s rape case, Mr. Li Gaoqiang.”

“So, is this to force Li Jingtian again?” Wang Chao snapped his fingers as if he finally understood something. “Are you afraid he won’t buy a ticket to return home?”

Xing Conglian picked up his phone and coat on the table but didn’t answer.

……

Lin Chen always felt that the reason why Xing Conglian dared to make such dangerous moves was because he was emboldened, as if whether Li Jingtian was hiding in the Xinni embassy, sitting on a flight back home, or even after Li Jingtian stepped into Xinni’s territory, he had the ability to bring him to justice. Although Lin Chen didn’t know where Xing Conglian’s confidence came from, it was always good to be confident.

It was 7:30 in the morning. They took a taxi from the internet café on the side of Red Street to CA Entertainment.

There were advantages to not having a car. For example, Xing Conglian didn’t need to drive fatigue after staying up all night. For example, they could listen to Mr. Driver, who had nothing better to do than gossip.

After getting in the car, Xing Conglian sat in the front passenger seat and only said one sentence to them before he fell asleep—a deep sleep that couldn’t be shaken.

Wang Chao glanced forward, excitedly twisted his butt, and said, “A’Chen, how about we get out of the car and dump the Captain?”

Lin Chen pretended not to hear. There were gradually more vehicles outside the window. The road was completely different from what it looked like in the middle of the night. Fengchun was much larger than Hongjing, and in terms of scale, it was only slightly worse than Yongchuan. The headquarters of many multinational companies in China were located here, such as CA Entertainment.

When passing by the city center, a huge poster that flashed outside the window attracted Lin Chen’s attention.

The poster showed a young man holding a microphone. He had dyed blonde hair and was lying on the grass, which seemed to extend infinitely, and was laughing. Lin Chen didn’t know if this was intentional or not by the photographer, but the most impressive thing in the entire picture was the small dimples on Mu Zhuo’s cheek.

The infinite magnification of the giant outdoor poster seemed to also infinitely magnify the vigor of the young man. He was so enthusiastic and energetic that it burned one’s eyes.

At the bottom of the huge poster was the line of the same slogan. As the vehicle moved, Lin Chen turned his head and read it softly. “Century Nianhua Stadium, May 6^th, Mu Zhuo is waiting for you.”

“A’Chen, are you talking about that poster?” Wang Chao asked after turning his head around.

“Yes.” Lin Chen looked back, always feeling an inexplicable emotion. When he turned his head to look at the poster again, he couldn’t see anything.

“I found there’s something seriously wrong with CA Entertainment. They like to make everything so big. Even their concert posters are so exaggerated,” Wang Chao said angrily, probably because he remembered Li Jingtian’s huge poster in Ansheng International Mall.

“Hey, sir, are you going to Mu Zhuo’s concert?” Mr. Driver suddenly asked.

“Uh… no. I’m just curious about it,” Wang Chao replied.

“I’ve picked up a lot of music fans these days. Isn’t the Watermelon Music Festival going on? Many people come to our concerts every spring. I also picked up a group of little girls who came for Mu Zhuo’s concert. Is this Mu Zhuo famous?”

“Do you know him?” Lin Chen asked.

“Yes, the little girls I picked up were quite noisy. They told me a lot about him while I was driving them,” the driver said as he gave a thumbs up. “They said he didn’t have it easy. He was raped by a man before, but still persisted and is now quite popular?”

“It seems so,” Lin Chen replied.

“This is worthy of respect. His struggles,” Mr. Driver said with some emotion.

Hearing what Mr. Driver was saying, the young man laughing indulgently on the grass appeared in Lin Chen’s mind again. When he was investigating the case of Song Shengsheng, he also more or less saw the news about Mu Zhuo at that time. Public opinion showed infinite sympathy for him, which was completely different from the treatment Xu Ran was getting now.

This was social prejudice. It was always easy for people to hold an unfair and unreasonable negative attitude towards a certain kind of person or a certain type of group. This was both unreasonable and deeply rooted.

Lin Chen once again remembered the strong singer the driver was talking about. Although it was appropriate to sympathize with the victim in any case, Lin Chen felt something inexplicable when it came to Mu Zhuo. Somehow, he felt that the face gradually coincided with Song Shengsheng’s face.

Due to the traffic jam on the road, it was 8:30 before they arrived. In fact, the timing was quite good, since it gave Xing Conglian more time to rest. At the same time, this was exactly the time when work hours started up.

Xing Conglian opened his bleary eyes and quickly woke up. After getting out of the car, he lit a cigarette, looked at the office building towering into a courtyard, and without saying a word, walked straight in.

Just as he walked through the revolving door, he took out his phone and dialed the number for the PR department of the municipal bureau.

During the time when they got into the taxi and got off, Xing Conglian hadn’t reached out to the PR department once. He seemed to be waiting to strike at the right time, which was the moment when he walked into CA Entertainment.

He said dryly, “Make a statement on the case report of the wounding case in Ansheng International Mall on May 6. The general content is that Xu Ran, the deceased rumored on the internet, was not at the scene of the crime, thus clearing up all rumors…”

The person on the other end of the line didn’t know what to say. What Xing Conglian requested was quite difficult, as they didn’t even have a clear suspect now. If they issued this clarification announcement, it would make the police seem incompetent.

However, Xing Conglian insisted. “It’s fine. Weibo, newspapers, major news outlets—issue it to all of them. Anyway, it’s me who they will scold. What are you afraid of?”

When they reached the front desk, Xing Conglian hung up, gripped the phone, and knocked on the table of the front desk. He then took his badge from his pocket with his other hand and flashed it. “I’m looking for Li Gaoqiang.”

The lady at the front desk was a little startled. She hurriedly put down her powder puff and asked out of habit, “Do you have an appointment?”

Xing Conglian put down his badge and said with a smile, “Sorry, I don’t.”

“Then… Then I will call and ask.”

Xing Conglian stared at the little girl’s face and faintly said, “Wang Chao?”

Comrade Xiao Wang Chao was extraordinarily clever and said directly, “The office of the Public Relations Department is on the 25^th floor.”

Xing Conglian nodded and walked in.

The lobby security had already noticed them, but in broad daylight, no one dared to stop a policeman who came to handle a case, not to mention an entertainment company was much different than an entertainment club. After reporting to the front desk, they went to the elevator entrance unhindered.

At this moment, Xing Conglian gave a wink to Wang Chao.

Comrade Xiao Wang Chao quickly understood. He obediently pressed for the other elevators, and when they opened, he stopped the door gracefully. This was obviously to prevent Manager Li on the 25^th floor from escaping in advance.

Xing Conglian then walked into another elevator with a swaggering appearance, as if he was afraid everyone in CA Entertainment wouldn’t know of their arrival. When they got to the 25^th floor, there were already public relations staff waiting at the elevator entrance.

“Where’s your manager?” Xing Conglian glanced at the name tags on the female staff members that were around the elevator exit. It clearly had the words CA Entertainment Public Relations Department printed on it.

“Our manager hasn’t been at work today. I’m sorry, Mr. Police Officer.”

“It’s okay. We can go to his office and wait.”

How could a person like Xing Conglian be fooled by words like “Our manager isn’t at work”? After he finished speaking, he stepped forward and walked towards the office.

The female staff in the office all looked at each other, wondering what was going on. In the spirit of watching the excitement, many took out their phones and started taking pictures, creating an array of flashing lights in the room.

When Xing Conglian walked past the wall placard of staff members, under the manager’s column, they saw Mr. Li Gaoqiang, whom they hadn’t gotten to meet yesterday.

When Lin Chen looked at the photo embedded on the staff wall, he couldn’t help but sigh.

What a coincidence that Mr. Manager Li looked very familiar, and even more coincidentally, last night, this gentleman was named Lu Xu.

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<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 长洱 / Chang’er

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 130

Naturally, sneaking into the residence of a single woman was wrong, but since it was more inconvenient for two men to stand in the corridor of the lewd apartments, after Xing Conglian quickly unlocked the door, Lin Chen flashed into the residence with him.

So, when Miss Lily arrived home and opened her door, she saw two men sitting on her sofa.

One of them was looking at the photo frame on the coffee table. Lily quickly recognized the other person as the man who gave her fake checks, which caused her serious trouble today.

When the two heard the door opening, they both turned to look at her.

Lily didn’t say anything. She picked up her handbag and rushed over and smacked it at the fake rich man. “Fuck, you still have the face to come here and do this to me?!”

Listening to Miss Lily’s shouts, Xing Conglian didn’t even fight back and was firmly beaten a few times.

“Asshole, using fake checks. If you’re poor, don’t go looking for whores!”

As if she felt it was useless to keep hitting, after venting, Lily took out her phone and was about to make a call.

Xing Conglian’s eyes flashed, and he quickly took the phone from her hand.

“Still trying to rob me, huh?” Lily’s cry became louder.

Lin Chen looked at the girl with heavy makeup and put down the photo frame. “We’re here because of Xu Ran. I know you know her.”

Hearing what he said, the anger in Lily’s eyes quickly dissipated. She subconsciously looked at the photo on the coffee table, which showed two girls hugging each other.

Lin Chen also looked at the photo frame.

Although girls loved beauty and often exaggerated themselves, he could still clearly tell from the photo that the person who was making the peace sign on the left was the one standing in front of him, while the one on the right was Xu Ran.

Lin Chen glanced back and saw Lily’s eyes covered in sadness, which she couldn’t hide.

After taking two deep breaths, Lily trembled and asked, “Xu Ran… Is she dead?”

“Her life remains uncertain,” Lin Chen said.

“I know she must be dead! I persuaded her not to go or she would definitely be killed!”

Lily covered her mouth, trying her best to hold back her tears. She leaned against the wall and slowly slid to the ground.

“We’re here because of her, so I hope you will trust us.” Lin Chen took out a tissue from the table and squatted in front of the girl, wiping her tears.

The snow-white tissue gleamed with the eyeshadow sequins.

The tears turned Lily’s entire face into a palette of colors. She suddenly looked up, showing bruises around her mouth and under her cheekbone, and said to them, “Are you good people?”

Her eyes were suspicious but innocent, showing a look of distrust towards everything in the world.

“I said, you can trust us.”

Lily sobbed a few more times, then calmed down. She said to them with tenacious restraint, “Xiao Ran, she left a letter.”

……

Before walking into the room, Lin Chen never thought they would get a letter left by Xu Ran.

If Xu Ran didn’t have the ability to predict the future, how could she leave behind a letter?

He followed Lily into the narrow bedroom by the living room.

The old-fashioned apartment was filled with a musty smell from the damp walls. Lily squatted down in front of the closet and found an old shoebox under the closet.

“Xiao Ran… They smashed up Xiao Ran’s room, but she gave me something important for safekeeping, so…” Lily’s voice suddenly became gentle. She sobbed and looked up at Lin Chen. “So she has a lot of things with me, but in fact none of them are really important. Then she gave me a letter, saying if she died or if the police came to Royal One to investigate her case again, to have me secretly hand them her letter. If there’s a police officer that’s willing to go to Royal One to check her case again, then they must be a good person, but if not, then forget it.”

Lily tucked her hair behind her ear. “Actually, I think that’s just wishful thinking—as if there were that many good people in the world…”

She opened the lid of a shoe box and took out a plastic bag from it, then sat down on the bed.

Lin Chen dragged a chair from the desk and sat next to her.

Lily carefully opened the plastic bag and took out the stack of things inside.

Those were all things like photos and postcards, as well as a sticker book and two posters.

Those things looked old. Some of the photos had an obvious trace that they were removed from a photo frame, showing trim marks. The backs of the posters were still sticky with some adhesive. After Lin Chen asked for Lily’s permission, he felt for a while that he couldn’t read the letter. He picked up the sticker book and opened the first page.

Sure enough, the records of these things belonged to the same person.

Lin Chen held the sticker book for a long time, silently. There was a lone lamp on the bedside table, which was so bright that it made him feel extremely sour.

Finally, he raised his head.

Xing Conglian was standing at the door frame, facing the bed full of photos, and was relatively speechless.

Everything had a reason.

For example, why did Xu Ran fight fiercely when facing Li Jingtian despite having worked in this industry for so long?

Or, why did she go to the police and accuse Li Jingtian, knowing that it was impossible for her to take him down?

And after that, why did she still insist on going to Hongjing knowing the dangers it possessed?

Although Lin Chen still didn’t understand what the connection between these things was for the time being, looking at the young singer on the bed who was laughing, singing, posing in various funny ways, and giving his middle finger to the camera, Lin Chen knew that the reason was here…

Because it was Song Shengsheng.

Nine years ago, the unruly young man was imprisoned for rape.

“Xu Ran… She…” Lin Chen finally came back to his senses. He looked at Miss Lily on the bed and realized that he was choking uncontrollably.

“Xu Ran likes Song Shengsheng. She has liked him for a long, long time. She always believed that Li Jingtian and Mu Zhuo, those bastards, framed Song Shengsheng. But what’s the use? Song Shengsheng is already finished.”

Lily took out the letter left by Xu Ran and handed it to him.

Lin Chen lowered his head and looked at the snow-white letter paper in front of him. For the first time, he felt a little scared.

He slowly opened the letter when suddenly his hands were pressed.

Xing Conglian had appeared at some point behind him.

“I’ll read it,” he said to him.

Lin Chen pressed Xing Conglian’s hand, remembering that when they were on the same bed, the other party took the initiative to take on the embarrassing role.

Xing Conglian always took the initiative to take on the responsibility.

But, Lin Chen thought, he had things he should bear, and no one could replace that.

“Let me do it. This is what I should see.”

Lin Chen looked at Xing Conglian’s worried gaze and pushed his hand away. He felt that although he had never said a word to Xu Ran and they were complete strangers who had never crossed paths, he seemed to have depicted Xu Ran’s appearance countless times in his mind.

The moment he opened the letter, he seemed to see Xu Ran’s appearance quietly writing this letter a few days ago.

Hello,

I don’t know how to call you, so let me just talk to you.

If you’re reading this letter, then it means I’m probably dead.

Many letters or suicide notes will say this at the beginning. I thought it was hypocritical before, but now that I’m writing this, I find that it’s quite a suitable way to start.

My name is Xu Ran. A woman who’s 28 years old.

Three weeks ago, I received a job. The job I’m talking about is sex trading. Yes, I am a prostitute. In more popular terms, I’m a chicken—the kind of woman who’s dirty to the bone. I can’t deny this.

So when I walked into that door, I knew very well that I was going to provide services to men.

But behind that door, the man sitting there was indeed a person I’ll never forget.

I hate him. Hate him to the bone. I used to like a person very much, and that person was ruined by him, never to be reborn.

The person I hate is Li Jingtian.

And the person I like is Song Shengsheng.

In fact, before entering the door, I didn’t know exactly what Li Jingtian had done to Shengsheng, although I always suspected that Mu Zhuo’s false accusation against Shengsheng was planned by him.

So, when I saw Li Jingtian, I was angry. I couldn’t control my anger, but what could I do to him? I can only tell him I didn’t want his business because he’s too disgusting.

After I told him this, I slammed the door and wanted to leave.

But he didn’t let me leave. He grabbed my hair and slammed my head on the door.

I told him to get out. I don’t want his business. I don’t want to do those things with him.

You see, although I’m a prostitute, sometimes I turn down clients.

But Li Jingtian didn’t give me a chance to refuse. At that time, I was so angry that I kept scolding him. I scolded him for being disgusting and treacherous. I told him I didn’t want to sleep with him.

When he heard Shengsheng’s name, Li Jingtian suddenly laughed, excitedly.

He grabbed my hair and pushed me to the ground. He was jubilant. He said to me, “So there are still people who like Song Shengsheng.”

Later, I don’t really remember much of it. I was dragged to the bathroom by him. He stomped on my head, then shoved it into the toilet. He beat me, humiliated me. He didn’t treat me like a human, but like an animal. I shouted for help, but no one cared about me.

I don’t know if such a situation can still be considered rape.

You see, a prostitute took the initiative to deliver herself to the door, but refused a client, and was beaten to death by him.

This should be deserved.

Then, as I was submerged in the toilet, he entered me.

It hurts. It really hurts.

When he raped me, he whispered next to my ear, “The Song Shengsheng you like was also fucked by me like this. He likes it very much. He’s dirtier than you.”

Then, he beat and abused me repeatedly and kept telling me how he tortured Shengsheng in the same way. He said that Shengsheng was a masochist and liked to be fucked by him.

Shengsheng loves him to death and even volunteered to go to jail for him.

Those words are still swirling in my ears now.

At that time, I felt that the sky was falling. I really regretted that I couldn’t record his words and show them to everyone. Li Jingtian himself admitted that Shengshemg was innocent.

At that time, I felt I had to live. I wanted everyone to know that Li Jingtian isn’t human.

Later, I really didn’t die. When Li Jingtian left, he threw me into the bathtub and washed me many times.

He told me there was no evidence now. If I want to call the police, I can report it, but he said the police will never believe a whore. Who would believe a woman who sells her body would be raped at a place like Royal One?

Yeah, he’s right. No one will believe me, but I want to try. I think I should try.

The policewoman who received me was a very nice person. She really believed me. She took me for an examination. At that time, I felt Li Jingtian wasn’t necessarily right.

But I made a mistake. I regret it. I really, deeply regretted it.

When they asked me where the crime scene was, I remembered Li Jingtian’s words. If I said it was at Royal One, the police wouldn’t believe me, so I lied. I told them I was raped at his hotel.

I don’t know why I said that, but I really lied. Everyone scolded me, and they all sympathized with Li Jingtian. Then I realized that it was impossible for me to defeat him.

Because I lied, I lost the opportunity to get justice for myself and even the chance to seek justice for my voice. No one will believe what I say anymore. I screwed up, and I only have myself to blame. It’s all my fault.

This afternoon, Li Jingtian called me and asked me to meet in Hongjing. He said he wanted to compensate me.

I know he must want me to die.

But if I die, will someone look into my case?

Will I meet a good police officer, like that female police officer who trusted me and gave me another chance?

If my life can be exchanged for another chance to let you read this letter, then why don’t I die?

In fact, I didn’t have much hope, but I thought, ah, if I’m going to die, I might as well create some fantasies, right?

I know very well that it’s difficult for you to have the opportunity to get justice for me, but I hope that in any case, you can get justice for Shengsheng. He’s really innocent.

Please, believe me.

……

There was no final signature for this letter.

It started with a hello and ended with believe me.

Xu Ran didn’t know whether someone would eventually read this letter, but she still clearly stated what happened. She just wanted justice.

For the first time, Lin Chen felt that the word “justice” was so heavy—as heavy as Mount Tai—that it made people despair.

Unconsciously, Lin Chen found that his fingers were trembling. He knew very well that his eyes were frighteningly red now, but he thought, he really couldn’t cry.

His hand brushed over the snow-white letter; it was immaculately clean. Although Xu Ran’s handwriting was childish, the paper was really clean.

When Xu Ran wrote this letter, she didn’t shed a tear.

Every sentence in this letter was strong. Lin Chen raised his head and looked at the other girl sitting by the bed.

Although the girl had loose hair and messy makeup, she was looking at him with firm eyes.

Yes, they were all girls with the tenacious vitality of weeds. Although their lives were gloomy, the beliefs in their hearts were sometimes firmer than others.

Xing Conglian placed his hand on his shoulder.

He stood behind him and read the letter with him.

Lin Chen took a deep breath, turned his head, and looked at the man who had been silent this entire time.

At this moment, Xing Conglian’s phone rang.

Xing Conglian kept his hand on Lin Chen’s shoulder as he picked up the phone with his other hand.

The call was short.

The person on the other line probably only said one sentence.

Xing Conglian only replied with, “I see.”

But Lin Chen clearly felt Xing Conglian’s hand on his shoulder begin to tremble. The tremor was short, but such a thing was impossible for someone like Xing Conglian.

Lin Chen looked into his eyes and understood everything in an instant.

“Xu Ran is gone,” Xing Conglian said calmly.

After he finished speaking, the room suddenly became quiet.

This was the inevitable ending, and this was also the ending she prayed for.

Lin Chen looked out the dark window.

There was continuous rain. It was fine and soft, like a girl’s soft hair, like a girl’s insignificant life.

The night was dark, and it must equally be as dark in Hongjing.

Lin Chen looked at the dark night sky. He suddenly thought if people’s faith could really break through time and space, then Xu Ran should know they have read this letter.

So, she had persisted until now, and finally she could end her not-so-long, not-so-good life.

Xing Conglian patted Lin Chen lightly on the shoulder.

Lin Chen looked back at the man he loved deeply.

He suddenly wanted to ask a question, so he naturally did. “Your guarantee is very effective, right?”

Xing Conglian suddenly squatted down in front of him.

He stared at him with deep but serene eyes and then answered him.

“Please, believe me,” he said.

……

Wang Chao came later on.

When he arrived at Red Street, Lin Chen had already sorted out all the photos and letters with Xing Conglian.

When they left, Miss Lily was sleeping soundly in the room. They closed the dilapidated iron door and walked into the drizzle.

The teenager held his head and squatted under the streetlight where they were standing.

Seeing them approach, Wang Chao jumped up excitedly and shouted in a low voice, “Captain, A’Chen, you’re finally here. This place is too scary.”

Wang Chao really had a strange magic power. When they looked at the boy’s eyes that would never dim, it was like meeting a flame that would never go out in the endless night. He would make you believe that everything would be fine.

Lin Chen walked over, rubbed the boy’s wet head, and said, “Let’s go.”

Probably because they were so close, Wang Chao noticed their abnormality.

“A’Chen Gege, what’s wrong? You… You were crying again?”

Lin Chen couldn’t help but smile. “It’s really not this time.”

“Then what happened?”

Lin Chen found that when Wang Chao asked this, he was unable to answer.

“Xu Ran is dead.”

Xing Conglian walked up to him and answered it for him.

Wang Chao instantly became shocked, and he asked incredulously, “Then, do we have no case?”

Looking at the teenager’s disappointed but not sad gaze, Lin Chen began to understand why Xing Conglian was always protective of Wang Chao.

Lin Chen thought that although the night had many ups and downs, the luckiest thing was that Wang Chao didn’t read the letter.

This arrangement was probably their only good luck tonight.

“No, now we can start investigating the murder case,” Xing Conglian said.

“But, isn’t Xu Ran dead? Could it be that you found some important clues from Miss Lily?” Wang Chao sharply asked.

“Yes, we found clues.” Lin Chen pinched Wang Chao’s face.

“But this clue makes you very uncomfortable, right?”

“Why are you talking and thinking so much? Do you want to learn psychology from your brother A’Chen?” Xing Conglian abruptly cut in.

As they talked, they started walking out of the alley.

Lin Chen and Xing Conglian walked side-by-side, while Wang Chao faced them, briskly walking backwards. “Then what about the investigation of the murder case, Captain? Did you find evidence that Li Jingtian is suspected of murdering Xu Ran?”

“There’s no evidence,” Lin Chen said.

“Then, how can it be called murder?”

“Mr. Xiao Wang, do you have a misunderstanding about the murder?” Xing Conglian asked seriously. “It’s not like Li Jingtian stabbed Xu Ran to death with a knife. That’s murder. Those who persecute, trick, or incite others to commit suicide are all punished according to the crime of intentional homicide. You really should study harder.” Xing Conglian concluded.

“So now, are we going to investigate the evidence chain of how Li Jingtian caused Xu Ran to commit suicide? Wait, did Xu Ran commit suicide?” When they reached the entrance of the alley, Wang Chao finally turned around. “What are we going to do next?”

“We have to prove one thing first,” Xing Conglian said.

“What’s that?”

“We have to prove that Xu Ran isn’t the culprit who took to the stage and tried to slit Li Jingtian’s throat.”

Lin Chen thought about how Xing Conglian would arrange their next move, but he never thought Xing Conglian would say that.

He didn’t understand for a moment, but then he got it in an instant.

This was Xing Conglian.

……

Xu Ran’s suicide note was written too early, and she didn’t mention what happened after she went to Hongjing. She just said that Li Jingtian asked her to go there.

As for why she wore that red dress, dressing exactly like the culprit who slit Li Jingtian’s throat, Xu Ran didn’t explain these things.

Therefore, the contents of the letter were all unilateral statements by Xu Ran. Even Xu Ran herself stated at the end of the letter that she had no evidence to prove those statements.

In other words, they still couldn’t rule out that possibility—the possibility that all the incidents were committed by Xu Ran. In order to avenge Song Shengsheng and herself, Xu Ran planned all this and used her own death as the final touch of the entire conspiracy.

Although it was impossible for anyone to believe in the possibility that Li Jingtian was innocent after reading that letter, a fact-based investigation of the case had nothing to do with Xu Ran’s plea; it could only include factual evidence.

Even an extremely terrible monster like Li Jingtian or Xu Ran; both had the right to a fair and impartial investigation.

And the most critical breakthrough point of this investigation was whether the person who slit Li Jingtian’s throat was Xu Ran.

In fact, the identity of the throat-slitter had always been the primary focus of the investigation in Li Jingtian’s case.

Lin Chen was grateful for Xing Conglian.

Xing Conglian trusted his judgment on Li Jingtian, so he took him to Fengchun before the investigation report from the forensic department was released.

But it was necessary to investigate the truth of the whole matter, so it was impossible to bypass the threshold of the throat-slitting case.

It was 16 hours after the incident, which meant it had been 6 hours since they left Hongjing.

Lin Chen thought that Xing Conglian was stretched for time. During this period, Hongjing’s forensic department could release the investigation report of the throat-slitting case, while at the same time, during this blank period, Xing Conglian was able to bring him to Fengchun to investigate Li Jingtian’s sexual assault on Xu Ran.

The conditions for going out to handle cases were difficult, and the time was really late—or rather early.

The Jeep wasn’t around, so they found an internet café next to Red Street. Naturally, the place was chosen by Wang Chao because of its internet speed.

After Xing Conglian sat down in the small cubicle, he started making phone calls.

Lin Chen went out and ordered instant noodles. When he came back, he heard Xing Conglian speaking on the phone to another police officer who was in charge of the blood test.

“Status?” Lin Chen put down the instant noodles and asked Xing Conglian.

Xing Conglian put it on speaker, and the voice of the police officer responsible for the blood test sounded.

“Captain Xing, the blood test has just been completed. The blood on Xu Ran’s dress only contained her DNA. There are no other people’s blood samples mixed in. I really have no way to prove whether Xu Ran was or wasn’t the assailant. Shall we test for other things, like hair samples on the stage, and see if we can prove that Xu Ran was there?”

“I see.” Xing Conglian hung up and remained silent.

Sitting across from him, Wang Chao took a big mouthful of noodles and sighed. “Captain, don’t you feel uncomfortable being a police officer? You have to give evidence for everything!”

“Check on your stuff.” Xing Conglian knocked on the teenager’s head.

Wang Chao was dissatisfied. “Why don’t you say things like, Wang Chao, have a good meal first. I’m still a kid!” Wang Chao slurped up another mouthful of noodles unhappily but didn’t forget to move the mouse with his other hand.

Xing Conglian didn’t bother talking nonsense with him. He made another call. Lin Chen glanced at the number. It was another police officer who was in charge of the scene investigation.

“Captain Xing, Captain Xing, please don’t rush me, okay? Do you know how many things are on that stage? I have to test everything…”

“Has any DNA sample belonging to Xu Ran been detected?”

On the other end of the phone, the on-site police investigator seemed to be checking through documents. After a while, he replied, “I haven’t detected any DNA of Xu Ran for the time being…”

“Continue.” Xing Conglian hung up again.

The third call was to the officer in charge of trace inspection.

But the result was still disappointing.

“Captain—Captain Xing, don’t mention fingerprints. The outer surface of the bouquet was covered with fabric, so there wouldn’t be any left behind. The footprints were also checked, but they’re basically useless. You know how many people were at the scene. All I can say now is that the assailant’s height is similar. There are photos floating around on the internet everywhere, but hey, it’s the same as if I’m not saying anything.”

Xing Conglian hung up the third call.

Everything was returning without success and without evidence. Despite that, it was actually a good thing.

Although the test results they got were no use in solving the case, at any rate, they cleared up some suspicions on Xu Ran.

After contemplating for a moment, Xing Conglian was about to start calling again, but he stalled and didn’t dial out.

Lin Chen pushed the instant noodles in front of Xing Conglian and said, “Let’s eat something first.”

At this time, he really couldn’t find any breakthroughs, so Xing Conglian put the phone down.

Lin Chen opened the instant noodle bowl with him.

The noodles were soaked just right.

The smell of cigarettes in the room was strong, and the rain outside the window gradually turned from light to heavy. Inside the room, except for the slurping sound of instant noodles, there was only the hissing noise from the computer fan.

Wang Chao was the first to finish his bowl. He drank the soup, wiped his mouth, and said, “Captain, A’Chen, I have taken all the photos of the crime scene that were taken by the fans that I could find online. They have been sent to you. Hey, at such a critical moment, you still have to rely on me!”

Xing Conglian didn’t respond.

As if feeling lonely, the teenager started to chatter again. “Captain, don’t ignore me. I looked at all the photos and videos of the fans for you. There are not many photos where you can see the assailant’s face clearly. It seems that Li Jingtian’s brain dead fan group called for deletion of the bloody and violent photos of the scene, so no one posted pictures. That is to say, only the first photo that was posted showed a clear picture of the assailant. I suspect that the person who posted the post was arranged by Li Jingtian, but unfortunately, there’s no problem on Weibo’s end. It really is a Li Jingtian’s die-hard fan… You said that it would be nice if the surveillance wasn’t blocked, but let me tell you, Captain, it’s useless even if it wasn’t. You also know that face recognition algorithms are based on feature points. The assailant only showed their eyes. There are not enough feature points, so it won’t help you. Don’t blame me for talking too much. The assailant really looks very similar to Xu Ran. When she was caught on the street, she looked fearful, like she committed a crime, and ran to the streets and was hit by a car. There really is no proof. What should we do if we can’t find evidence proving Xu Ran wasn’t at the scene of the crime?”

“That can only be done by pulling a net and seeing if someone has seen Xu Ran within the time of the crime, so we can establish her alibi.”

Listening to what Xing Conglian said, Wang Chao was stunned, and the fork in his mouth fell to the table with a thud.

Lin Chen turned his head and looked at Xing Conglian’s face, which was hidden under the dim light. Xing Conglian ate his noodles carefully, neither fast nor slow; extremely methodically.

He suddenly realized that Xing Conglian’s attitude towards Xu Ran was actually more determined than his.

In fact, after stumbling into a dead end at the clubhouse and after reading the letter, Lin Chen subconsciously felt despair for Xu Ran’s sexual assault case because there was no evidence. Someone had wiped it all out in advance.

But after experiencing these things, Xing Conglian’s attitude towards this case was clear on who was innocent and ambiguous results couldn’t be accepted. If there was no evidence, then he would continue to look for evidence.

Lin Chen recalled what he thought. If people’s beliefs were strong enough to break through time and space, then they must also be able to break through bad luck.

Even if Li Jingtian’s calculations were foolproof, there would still be oversights.

People like them had to embrace faith.

……

Lin Chen pushed away the noodle bowl and checked all the photos and videos of Ansheng International Mall that were sorted by Wang Chao together with Xing Conglian, trying to find any omissions.

Those fan photos were either clear or blurry, but the protagonist in all of them was Li Jingtian. To be honest, even if he forced himself to look at these photos with the mentality of proving Xu Ran’s innocence, Lin Chen still felt nauseous every time he saw Li Jingtian’s hypocritical face.

Moreover, he was in a terrible state today. The hangover made his vision gradually blurry. He lowered his head, rubbed his eyes, and noticed that Xing Conglian had patted him on the shoulder. “Go and help Wang Chao find out more about Song Shengsheng’s case. I can look at these things myself.”

“Yeah, yeah, A’Chen. Stop looking at that disgusting idiot!”

Lin Chen habitually wanted to be polite, but since it was Xing Conglian saying this, there was no need to. He nodded, changed his seat, and sat beside Wang Chao.

“Okay, A’Chen Gege, my big sword is hungry and thirsty. Tell me what I need to check!”

Wang Chao was full of vigor.

In fact, there were as many as three cases they needed to investigate.

Lin Chen sorted out his thoughts and said, “I’ve seen the files for Song Shengsheng’s case. In fact, files that can be closed have been heavily reviewed, so the possibility of any issues isn’t high. However, Xu Ran believed that Song Shengsheng was innocent. So, I think there must be a lot of his former fans that also insist on this, and among them, some may have evidence, which may exist in previous fan debates or forums. Please try to search for them.”

But what Lin Chen didn’t tell Wang Chao was that Xu Ran also revealed in the letter a piece of information that Song Shengsheng and Li Jingtian might have been in a relationship, and the relationship between them was quite distorted.

“A’Chen, what are you talking about? Why are you being so polite to me? Don’t you love me anymore?”

Wang Chao was focused on the wrong point.

Lin Chen had no choice but to rub his head and say, “Of course I love you, good boy.”

Xing Conglian coughed softly.

“Captain, what’s wrong with you? Jealous?” Wang Chao snickered and then said, “A’Chen, do you want to sleep for a bit? It’ll take a while for me to check these things, and there’s still some time before dawn. You should rest for a while.”

Wang Chao pointed to the sofa at the corner of the room.

Being polite would look hypocritical. He really needed sleep. “Okay.” After Lin Chen replied, he laid down on the sofa.

“Thank you for your hard work,” he said before closing his eyes.

“You don’t love me anymore!” Wang Chao continued to draw out his whining.

Lin Chen quickly closed his eyes.

Sleepiness covered him like a tide.

In fact, before going to sleep, Lin Chen wanted to tell Wang Chao to wake him up in an hour, but before he could, he had already fallen asleep.

He had a dream.

The dream began on an extremely long, red street. The neon lights that washed over him turned into thin shades of red and green lights on the ground; as thin as the eyeliner on Lily’s face.

Then he saw Lily crying to him, and soon, Lily’s cries turned into the laughter of the taxi driver, Master Guan. It was equally loud and full of emotions.

The scene reverted to the dark basement of Royal One, where Xing Conglian was pulling him to run, then the two of them were lying in the same bed, with Xing Conglian on top of him, jerking him around.

While on the bed, he turned his head sideways and saw Xu Ran’s face.

Xu Ran stared at them with her face covered in blood as she fell into a pool of blood and a truck ran over her.

Li Jingtian’s face suddenly appeared. His eyes were vicious, staring with excitement at the person in the pool of blood. The scene seemed to be rewinding, frame by frame, going back to the beginning of everything.

The surroundings were noisy. People crowded over each other as Li Jingtian was singing. Through the gap between people, Lin Chen saw someone walking onto the stage.

It was a girl in a red dress; not tall, very thin, holding a bouquet of roses in her hand. She handed the flowers to Li Jingtian, who hugged her.

Bright red blood seeped out of Li Jingtian’s throat.

Lin Chen suddenly opened his eyes.

He got up from the sofa. Before he knew it, the sky outside the window was already bright.

Wang Chao had fallen asleep at the table, while Xing Conglian was steadily clicking his mouse. He looked at him but said nothing.

Lin Chen closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead vigorously.

If every dream revealed something, Lin Chen thought, his dream must also be indicating something.

Li Jingtian hugged Xu Ran.

He opened his eyes again, stood up from the table, and walked over to Xing Conglian’s side. Xing Conglian was looking at a photo. It was the first photo that was posted, accusing Xu Ran of being the assailant.

The picture was clear.

For them who had lost on-site surveillance, this was the clearest of all the photos.

In the photo, Li Jingtian turned his back to the camera and seemed like he was about to hug the fan holding the bouquet. His hand was raised high to put his arms around the assailant’s shoulder.

Xing Conglian kept zooming in on the photo to see the position of Li Jingtian’s hand.

Xing Conglian turned his head and asked Lin Chen, “Do you remember where Li Jingtian’s hand ended up?”

“On the shoulder,” Lin Chen replied with great certainty.

His gaze finally fell on a very unusual place in the photo.

On the shoulders of the red dress, there were two leather decorative straps.

---

Kinky Thoughts:

This was a fairly heavy and graphic chapter.

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<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 长洱 / Chang’er

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 129

The air in the thin blanket quickly became sultry due to the dense carbon dioxide they exhaled.

In the quiet love suite, in the middle of the night, under a blanket, both Xing Conglian and Lin Chen panted and lifted the blanket at the same time.

Perhaps because they were panting too loudly, or maybe it was because they were breathing too much together, but Xing Conglian once again heard Wang Chao’s high-pitched voice ringing in his ears.

“Captain, A’Chen! What are you doing?! You can’t treat A’Chen Gege like that, you beast!”

“Shut up.” Xing Conglian felt that the situation wasn’t right, but he still steadied his mind and asked, “Where did you drive the car?”

“Ah! I’m at Heping Avenue, YOYOYO*!”

*Slang for LOL.

Wang Chao’s voice became even louder.

The sound of the night wind clashed with the sound of the crazy engine, mixed with the hearty laughter of the teenager came through the headset. Xing Conglian said coldly, “Park the car at Heping Avenue and tell us the current situation.”

However, Wang Chao had fallen completely into the extreme excitement of drag racing. “The situation? The situation is very cool! Hahahahaha, Captain, are you asking me? Beg me!”

Xing Conglian rubbed his temples and began to regret, deeply.

“You’d better not let him touch the steering wheel in the future.” Immediately, Lin Chen’s voice sounded close to his ear.

“Indeed.” As he said this, he could hear the sound of the car rubbing against some cement surface through the headset again, so he looked at the ceiling and couldn’t help but add, “Consultant Lin, according to your experience, interpret what’s wrong with this. How the hell can touching a steering wheel be no different than smoking marijuana?”

“The reverse-upgraded version of road rage.” From Lin Chen’s voice, Xing Conglian couldn’t hear any traces of drunkenness, but he was convinced Lin Chen was still inebriated. Although he didn’t lose his ability to think and act, his thinking and logic weren’t as clear as usual.

“Some people, when they encounter some ‘trigger points’, will become another person.” Lin Chen’s clear and drunken voice sounded.

Xing Conglian would like to ask, “For example, if you encounter alcohol, is that the same?”

However, Wang Chao had interjected into their conversation with interest. “Captain, A’Chen, what are you doing? Are you just purely chatting underneath the blankets? Fuck, at least pretend a little. Aren’t you afraid you’ll get caught? Get high*!”

*Org. written in English. It’s netizen language referring to enlivening the atmosphere (get excited, get happy).

As soon as Wang Chao finished speaking, before Xing Conglian had time to ask what he wanted, he suddenly felt the person next to him move.

Lin Chen lifted up the blanket and suddenly rolled over onto him.

Naturally, laying shoulder to shoulder was completely different from this current posture. Although Lin Chen had just straddled him in the darkness, at that moment, Xing Conglian could clearly picture the position they were in.

Lin Chen had sat down from his waist, and his legs were spread apart. His feet were covered by a cotton blanket, with his ankle exposed.

In fact, the word slender may not be appropriate because, while Lin Chen was thin, he was well-proportioned, which was a typical example of someone being thin but not delicate. However, in Xing Conglian’s opinion, Lin Chen’s ankles were still slender and fair.

Xing Conglian didn’t know why he was imagining these kinds of things right now, but when he thought of Lin Chen’s legs that were further up, suddenly it became Lin Chen’s hands.

Lin Chen’s hands were now gently propped up on his chest, shaking lightly as he breathed.

He looked at Lin Chen’s face. Right now, his consultant’s eyes had changed from indifferent and emotionless to misty; distinctly gentle from the loss of focus.

It was too gentle.

Xing Conglian opened his mouth lightly, trying to say something, but before he could speak, Lin Chen slowly leaned down, pressing their stomachs and chests together…

Then, at the moment when their lips and teeth were about to intertwine, Lin Chen turned his face, buried his head in the crook of Xing Conglian’s neck, and breathed gently.

Because he was very close, Xing Conglian discovered that Lin Chen was indeed drunk. His body was hot, and he smelled full of absinthe, with the unique sweetness and warmth of alcohol.

Although Xing Conglian believed the gasping was just Lin Chen’s uncomfortable groaning due to alcohol, those warm breaths that sprayed in his ear, side, and neck had an unexpectedly seductive effect.

In the deep night, next to one of his ears, the breathing of one of his same-sex friends sounded, while his other ears picked up the sound of the night wind and a teenager’s wanton laughter. When he was almost about to pull out the headset and put his arms around Lin Chen’s waist, there was a sound of braking, an engine stalling, and the laptop opening and closing from the headset. In an instant, those sounds became clear.

Lin Chen must have heard it too, because his voice was calm as it rang in Xing Conglian’s ears. “Wang Chao, continue to check on Lily.”

Xing Conglian couldn’t tell how he felt right now, but he thought it was truly like Lin Chen. Under such circumstances, he was still focused on investigating the case.

……

In the Jeep, Comrade Wang Chao heard Lin Chen’s voice assigning him a mission, but he didn’t immediately start looking for information.

As a professional and upright electronic information practitioner, he naturally carried more than one laptop with him.

After stopping the car, the first thing he did was quickly open a small video in Room 1105 of the Oho Hotel, and then, after carefully placing the tablet and adjusting it to a perfect angle, he began to search for what Lin Chen asked him for.

“Lily doesn’t sound like a real name,” he muttered as he hacked into Royal One’s system. After flipping through a few pages in boredom, he looked up and saw two vaguely overlapping figures in the dark picture. He thought to himself, ‘My god, it’s a pity there are no potato chips here!’

Comrade Wang Chao sighed regretfully, then lowered his head and looked through the photos of the background page by page. God knew why normal people would want to make themselves into such a ghastly look. Their almost indistinguishable faces flashed before his eyes, suddenly dazzling him. Going through the photos was useless and only made him want to vomit. He quickly turned off the webpage depressingly and obediently looked at the salary records.

Sure enough, how could a shady place like Royal One put money on the salary records!

He looked through all the records and found that none of the princesses or young masters in Royal One had any salary records or social security records. Wang Chao recalled the magnificent building and suddenly felt it was like a dark, cannibalistic cave.

He touched the goosebumps that appeared on his arms and continued to report. “A’Chen, I haven’t found Lily’s real name yet, because there’s nothing in their system that can prove Lily’s identity. The social security and medical insurance records of all the staff don’t include the young masters and princesses who accompany customers at the table.” As Wang Chao replied, because he was too busy looking for the blank records, he didn’t have the mental energy to continue to observe the dynamics between the two on the tablet.

“What about medical records?”

At this point, he was startled to hear his boss’ voice, which was deeper than usual. It was even a little hoarse, with a hint of forced calmness.

Wang Chao grinned, and then he heard his brother A’Chen speak again.

Lin Chen said, “Yes, clubs like Royal One must have regular medical examination records presented to customers to prove that their people are clean and problem-free, and hospital medical exam records are supposed to be difficult to falsify.”

“Oh!”

Wang Chao became aware of this and immediately began retrieving medical examination records from all large and small hospitals in Fengchun. Sure enough, he found the regular medical examination reports of Royal One.

However, although he found the report, he also stumbled upon a bigger problem. He looked at the names and photos of the reports woefully and said to the two on the other end, “I found the records, but Captain, A’Chen, you have to wait a bit. The photos of these people here are all liquefied into a mess. I can’t use the photo retrieval function, so I have to compare each medical record one by one!”

“How long will it take?” Xing Conglian asked suddenly. As if he thought of something, he said, “Wait, if the alarm is because of Lu Xu’s snitching, they will most likely go to Room 1103 where Xu Ran’s incident happened, so keep an eye on it.”

“I’m keeping an eye on it,” Wang Chao hurriedly replied. He looked up at the erotic pornographic video, pressed the recording button, and then pulled out another tablet and brought up the full surveillance of the elevator and emergency exit.

The moment the picture appeared, Wang Chao’s heart almost jumped out of his throat. As Xing Conglian said, a group of heavily armed security guards had just taken the elevator up to the 11^th floor.

At the same time, he looked at the video recorded by the pinhole camera in the room again. He returned to the main interface of the other party and found that someone was turning on the video in room 1105 to view it. He quickly said, “Captain, someone really went to it. Ahh!”

Because there was no corridor surveillance, Wang Chao felt like a blind man.

“Captain, a team of security guards just went to the 11^th floor, and there are people watching the video in your room. Hurry up and act! Don’t just be still. If you’re exposed, you’ll be caught!”

He shouted nervously, but after he finished speaking, he heard his brother A’Chen’s weak and calm voice. “Wang Chao.”

“I’m here, A’Chen Gege!”

“Turn off the video of our room and don’t watch it, then delete the ones you just saved.”

Shit. What are you doing that you don’t want to be watched!

Wang Chao shuddered and couldn’t help but look around the Jeep. The surroundings were pitch black, but why was his back so cold!

“No, A’Chen Gege, how can I record your video? Later, I can also help you delete it. Believe me. I’ll take care of it!”

“Turn off the surveillance,” Lin Chen repeated solemnly.

……

With the end of Lin Chen’s last words, Xing Conglian heard the clear sound of the door opening and many people entering the room to search in Room 1103 next door.

Lin Chen obviously discovered that too, because his consultant raised his head and put a little distance between them as he stared at him in a daze.

The tips of their noses touched each other. Lin Chen was obviously hesitating.

But soon, Lin Chen seemed to have made a decision. Xing Conglian felt Lin Chen’s body start to slide backward, and at the same time, he arched his back.

Xing Conglian guessed what Lin Chen wanted to do in an instant. He grabbed Lin Chen’s wrist and said softly, “No need to do this.”

After he finished speaking, he pushed his knees hard, protected Lin Chen’s neck with his other hand, turned over, and pressed Lin Chen under him.

Because of the sudden inversion, Lin Chen was lying on the bed with his head up. Xing Conglian looked at the person under him quietly and found that Lin Chen was still staring at him. His eyes were gentle and serious.

His hand was still between Lin Chen’s neck, which made Xing Conglian recall what Lu Xu had said when he approached Lin Chen.

He said, “You smell good.”

At that time, Xing Conglian felt this sentence made him sick, but at this moment, he leaned on Lin Chen and couldn’t help but think of it.

Although there was no incense smell in the love suite and Lin Chen didn’t smell of soap or shower gel, Xing Conglian still felt Lu Xu’s words weren’t wrong. The smell on Lin Chen’s body was clean and refreshing, which was quite comforting…

And it was really fragrant.

Footsteps came out of the next room, one after another. The security guards obviously didn’t find them there, but perhaps the next moment they would knock on the door to the room where they were.

It was truly a tense moment right now. One door away were the security guards who were chasing them, but he was quietly lying on the body of his friend and colleague.

Xing Conglian felt that he hadn’t been this stimulated in a long time, but, although his senses were stimulated, he suddenly felt he needed to calm down.

Because Lin Chen was calm.

“Sorry.” He reached out and caressed Lin Chen’s face, and then started to move.

When Lin Chen heard Xing Conglian apologize, he felt choked up for a while. It was truly a bittersweet moment.

Lin Chen looked at the man on top of him.

The surroundings were dark.

This may be the only opportunity in his life, and a person who was as unlucky as him may not be able to get the same opportunity a second time.

He would not get drunk again; not forced to enter an erotic love suite with Xing Conglian after being drunk; he would not be pressed down under Xing Conglian to avoid the chasing security guards; and be as close to Xing Conglian as he was now.

The current situation was the result of numerous coincidences.

Now he only needed to simply raise his head and kiss Xing Conglian’s lips. Xing Conglian might push him away or he might respond to him, but it was more likely that Xing Conglian would regard this as just common drunken promiscuity, and he could even explain that there were some drugs added to the drink he had consumed.

He would definitely be able to find an excuse for this gaffe.

But Lin Chen knew exactly where his physiological response came from. When normal men experience movements such as theirs, even if they were facing a wall, they would still react a little. What was more, this was the Xing Conglian he loved. Even if he were hugged by him, this would make him happy.

How normal all this was.

It was normal enough that he could reach out and put his arms around Xing Conglian’s neck, kiss him, confess to him, and seriously state his physiological response.

However, this was the wrong time, the wrong place; everything was wrong.

Because more than half a month ago, Xu Ran suffered inhumane abuse in the room next door, and there was probably someone who had suffered just like Xu Ran on the bed they were lying on, perhaps even more inhumane things.

But in the final analysis, it was because Lin Chen was clear that it was the most irresponsible behavior to use being drunk as a cover-up, so that he could use it as an excuse if his test failed. At least, Lin Chen thought he didn’t want to use such an excuse. He wanted to respect Xing Conglian more.

Lin Chen stared at Xing Conglian’s dark eyes. He didn’t know whether he was drunk or not. If he was really drunk, it turned out that people could still be sober and rational even after being drunk.

Desperately sober.

……

It took a long time before Wang Chao’s voice sounded in their ears again.

“Captain, A’Chen, the security guards are gone.”

Xing Conglian finally stopped.

That was a really awkward moment. Lin Chen nodded at him and tried to control his expression as usual.

“We’re going to the next room. Open the door for us.” Xing Conglian rolled off of him. His voice instantly switched to a calm, clear state. He acted as if nothing had just happened.

However, Lin Chen still saw traces of panting on his chest.

“Holy shit, Captain. Are you guys seeking death?” Wang Chao shouted. “You’ll be discovered!”

“It’s fine. When they come to outflank us, we’ll have a chance to leave. Can you control an elevator? I remember there’s another elevator next door to room 03. We’ll go to the basement parking lot. Can you help us find a way to leave safely?”

Xing Conglian looked at him and commanded logically and clearly.

“Oh! That’s a good idea! The elevator is computer-controlled, so I have no problem opening it for you,” Wang Chao responded solemnly.

“By the way, call us a taxi at the exit of the parking lot.” Xing Conglian raised his watch and glanced at it. “It’s 1:05 a.m. After five minutes, open the door to the next room.”

“Roger!” Wang Chao said. “But Captain, I can also drive and pick you up!”

“I want to live a few more days,” Xing Conglian said coldly, and Wang Chao sensibly shut up.

“Are you okay?” After Xing Conglian arranged everything, he turned his head and asked Lin Chen.

“I’m going to wash my face.” Lin Chen sat up in his bed and fumbled out of it in the dark. However, because he was probably too restrained just now, his muscles were tense, so his legs suddenly twitched when he stepped on the ground in pain, and he staggered violently. Just as he fell to the bedside table, thinking he needed more calcium, his waist was supported by a broad and strong hand. Xing Conglian had wrapped his arm around his waist and said, “Be careful.”

This was really an afterthought.

Lin Chen felt that his face must be red.

In the end, it was Xing Conglian who helped him to the bathroom.

Lin Chen turned on the faucet, lowered his head, and let the water wash over the top of his head and the ends of his hair. The biting cold made him suddenly sober up.

For a minute, none of them spoke. There was only the sound of water flowing through the porcelain sink. When Lin Chen raised his head again, he saw Xing Conglian standing with his arms crossed. As he calmly puffed out rings of smoke, there was a faint odor of smoke in the air.

Now it was more like an afterthought.

Lin Chen pulled out a towel and wiped his face, adjusted his mood, and finally said, “What time is it?”

“There’s one minute and three seconds left.” Xing Conglian looked at his watch as he responded.

Then, there was silence between them again.

Lin Chen dried his face and looked at his eyes in the mirror, which had become red from the alcohol. He said, “Xing Conglian.”

“Hmm?”

“Your skills should be good, right?”

“Is Justice Bao satisfied?”

“Uh, do you need me to recuse myself?” In the quiet bathroom, the joking voice of Wang Chao sounded.

Lin Chen suddenly thought that if he hadn’t known that Wang Chao was listening and that someone was watching them, he might really have made a move on Xing Conglian.

It seemed he wasn’t such a righteous man either.

Thinking of this, he laughed with relief. Sure enough, everything was wrong.

He put the towel back on the shelf and said to Xing Conglian, “Let’s go?”

“Okay.”

Wang Chao was always the typical example of efficiency taken to the extreme.

When they walked out of the love suite, the door of the next room opened in response.

There was no need to be reminded. At the moment when Xing Conglian opened the door, Lin Chen thought that the security alarm of the entire building would sound again.

After all, their purpose was different. After entering, Xing Conglian turned on all the lights in the room.

However, when Xing Conglian wanted to take out his gloves and inspect the room, they both were stunned…

Because the furnishings, though they looked the same as the one next door, were completely different.

This room was very new and seemed unused.

The carpet was spotless, and the cabinets still had burrs. Under the bright light, the bed and cabinets, and even the handcuffs hanging from the ceiling in the room, seemed to glow with a shiny luster.

Lin Chen sniffed the air, which was filled with formaldehyde and the smell of banana water that would only be found in newly renovated rooms.

It seemed that someone had just completely remodeled this room.

Indeed, if they remembered the deleted video records, how could they not clean up all the physical evidence.

It would be strange if any evidence could be found here.

Beside him, Xing Conglian squatted down and touched the carpet, then raised his head and said to him, “The carpet is also new.”

“It seems they are much more meticulous than we thought,” Lin Chen said lightly.

“Captain, A’Chen, the taxi has arrived… What’s wrong with you?”

“Nothing. We just reached a dead end again.”

After Lin Chen finished speaking, Xing Conglian took out his phone and took a few photos of the scene from multiple angles.

Afterwards, Xing Conglian quickly put it away, glanced at his watch, and then asked, “Wang Chao, report the current situation.”

“A group of security guards is rushing down from the 13^th floor, and another wave is outflanking from the emergency exit on the 7^th floor. Hurry!”

Xing Conglian nodded.

As if he had timed it perfectly, Xing Conglian went to the back door and glanced at his watch again.

About ten seconds later, he suddenly opened the door, and almost at the same time, the indicator light for the elevator that had just reached the 11^th floor lit up.

At the moment when the elevator closed, Lin Chen seemed to hear a team of security guards shouting out from the emergency exit.

As the elevator slowly sank, Lin Chen didn’t have the slightest fear of being chased; rather, he felt quite calm.

If Xing Conglian knew what he was thinking at that time, he would probably hold his hand and say, “What a coincidence. When I was on the bed just now, I looked at you with the same calmness.”

However, they were now in an after-the-fact state and couldn’t communicate with each other.

Therefore, the two of them simply faced the smooth inner wall of the elevator, waiting silently for the moment when the door would open again.

……

The process of escaping from the parking lot was smooth.

Wang Chao’s ability to command was quite good, and Xing Conglian’s sense of direction matched it frighteningly well.

Lin Chen followed Xing Conglian through hordes of luxury vehicles, listening to the footsteps that were chasing them from far behind. At the moment when the security guards were almost close enough to smash their baton into the car window, they got into the taxi that Wang Chao had called in advance.

The taxi driver stepped on the gas and looked at the angry, nervous, and disappointed faces of the security guards. Lin Chen actually felt like he was escaping from ascension.

The driver was also frightened. Although he subconsciously stepped on the gas, he still shook his hands nervously when he saw the security guards waving their batons while rushing towards him. “Who the hell are you?”

“Police. Handling a case.”

Xing Conglian quickly flashed his badge.

The moment the driver saw the badge, he seemed to have powered-up and slammed on the gas again. The taxi smashed through the guardrail of the parking lot, flying like an arrow released from a string, and flew frantically into the distance.

“Police. It’s great you’re the police. I really want that place checked out. It’s best if it gets shut down!”

After the taxi driver said this to them, the taxi started zooming down the wide road at a speed of no less than 100 kilometers an hour.

Xing Conglian put his hand on the car window. He glanced at the name on the badge and praised the taxi driver. “Master* Guan, there are very few men with a strong sense of justice like you. Ordinary men can’t wait to soak in there all day.”

*He’s addressing him as shifu (关师). It’s a term frequently used for cab drivers or other skilled laborers in modern times.

The driver blushed and said honestly, “I can’t afford to go. It’s too expensive.”

Xing Conglian laughed heartily.

“What case are you investigating?” The driver asked again.

Lin Chen glanced at Xing Conglian and heard him reply, “It’s not convenient to speak of it.”

The driver gave a long “Oh” and said, “I mean, it’s no wonder those security guards are like mad dogs. Don’t worry. I’m a top-notch driver. They won’t be able to catch up!”

“Do you often come here to pick up customers?” Xing Conglian suddenly asked.

“Occasionally, but who hasn’t come to Royal One to pick up a few people if you’re working the night shift.”

Xing Conglian’s eyes lit up. “Then do you know where the princesses of Royal One usually live?”

“I don’t know about that.” Master Guan laughed shyly again. “I’ve come here to pick up guests a few times, but I can’t tell who the young masters and princesses inside are.” As Master Guan said this, he suddenly seemed to remember something. He smacked his forehead and said, “Wait, wait, let me ask for you. We have a radio station. I can ask about it!”

Before Xing Conglian had time to refuse, Master Guan had already pulled out his walkie-talkie and shouted, “Hey, which one of you often does business at Royal One? Do you know where the princesses and young masters usually live?”

Soon, chattering voices from many night shift drivers sounded on the radio.

Someone said, “Lao Guan, what’s wrong with you? Are you dissatisfied with your wife?”

Another person said, “Yes, Lao Guan. Finally, you want to have some fun!”

The middle-aged man named Lao Guan coughed twice, pretending to be righteous, and interrupted them. “Be serious. Right now, I have two police comrades who are handling a case. I’m asking for them.”

“Are they real cops?”

Lao Guan looked back at Xing Conglian. Xing Conglian nodded, took the walkie-talkie, and said to the drivers, “I’m Xing Conglian. My police badge number is 20151014xxx. You can verify it.”

Following that, more chaotic sounds erupted from the radio station.

“It’s really Mr. Police Officer!”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, Mr. Police Officer!”

“I hope everyone can provide clues to what Master Guan asked just now. It will be very helpful for us in solving the case.” Xing Conglian’s relaxed voice quickly calmed the commotion on the radio.

Taxi drivers were probably the most enthusiastic group in the city. When they heard there was a police investigation, the drivers immediately began to give ideas. Some said the girls lived on the east side of the city, while others said they lived on the west, but there was no accurate number.

Finally, a Mr. Driver who seemed to have received the notification suddenly said loudly, “I—I—I—I know, uh. Just now, Master Chen called me in a hurry and asked me to listen to the radio. I know. Royal One, uh, I usually pick up a few ladies there every night and send them home. Most of them lived on Red Street, but cars can’t be driven in, so I don’t know where they live!”

Lin Chen glanced at Xing Conglian again.

“Thank you very much,” Xing Conglian said sincerely to the drivers.

On the subsequent drive to Red Street.

Master Guan chatted with them. Most of the time, Mr. Driver was telling them about his heroic experiences and those of his old buddies who had rounded up thieves or transported supplies to rescue teams.

Although they couldn’t exchange the same stories with him, listening to his pleasant boasting voice, because of the effect of alcohol, Lin Chen fell asleep again.

By the time he woke up, Master Chen had already driven the car smoothly to the location of Red Street.

He and Xing Conglian got out of the taxi, only to find that, at some point, it was slightly drizzling. The rain hardly wetted their clothes, but it plunged the entire city into a misty fog.

Xing Conglian took out his wallet to pay, but Master Guan pushed it away. “You’re the police handling a case. It’s appropriate for citizens like us to assist. I don’t want your money!”

Xing Conglian was used to paying, and rarely did he encounter a situation where someone would refuse payment. He smiled and said, “You’re quite enlightened, but money still needs to be collected for services rendered. We also have our own rules.”

“Oh, I’m not charging you anything, or else I’ll be teased to death by those guys later!”

Seeing the 100-yuan bill about to be crushed by them, Lin Chen stepped forward and said to the driver, “You can accept it. If you don’t, I’ll report him for not paying a taxi driver when I go back.”

Lin Chen thought that his face must have looked serious, since after he said it, Master Guan finally accepted the money.

Xing Conglian had already gone ahead, and Lin Chen followed after him.

“Mr. Police Officer.”

Suddenly, the hoarse voice from smoking too much of the middle-aged driver sounded from behind them.

“Royal One isn’t really a good place. Can you shut it down?”

The streets in front of them were dark, and behind them was an ordinary citizen who was making a selfish request.

Lin Chen looked at Xing Conglian.

Xing Conglian’s figure paused under the streetlight, before it turned back. He stopped in front of the taxi, bowed forward solemnly, and said, “Don’t worry.”

……

Just like Royal One was named Royal One, Red Street was exactly as it was named.

From beginning to end, there were endless spa parlors with most of the doors closed. They walked slowly inward and found that there were still a few shops open. The air was filled with a dirty smell that came from the sewers. The alley was narrow but just wide enough.

Lin Chen and Xing Conglian walked side by side, bathed in the veil-like drizzle and fog in the alley.

The shops were glowing with pink light, and some of it flowed out from the cracks in the doors while others leaked from the floor-to-ceiling windows. Lin Chen looked at the shops that were still open and saw that most of them were filled with ladies lying in various promiscuous positions. Some were extremely old, while others looked as if they had just become adults.

It was really late. Most of these ladies were lying on sofa beds and didn’t even have any desire to attract guests.

The problem had become clear again.

How were they going to find Miss Lily’s residence in this long street full of alleys?

“Wang Chao, did you find it?”

“No!” The teenager responded angrily.

Lin Chen looked at Xing Conglian. Apparently, Xing Conglian’s order had prevented him from driving again, which made Wang Chao angry.

However, Wang Chao could only voice it, as Lin Chen heard the sound of him clicking on a mouse. “I just checked the medical examination records of the hospital. You don’t even know what I saw. God, just now, I’ve seen five cases of AIDS, not to mention countless cases of herpes and genital warts. A’Chen, I feel like I’m going crazy. I feel so uncomfortable.”

“Ah, I know,” Lin Chen said calmly.

“Why is this happening? Why do they have to do that kind of thing? Can’t they make good money!”

“Wang Chao,” Lin Chen stretched out his hand to hold back Xing Conglian and stood with him under the quiet light. “Not everyone is entitled to choose their own life.”

“But—but why are they so unclean? Wear a condom? Is it that difficult?!”

“Actually, you can look at these people from two points of view. First, they are indeed engaged in illegal industries. From this perspective, you can despise them and spurn them without any problem, but you can also imagine what kind of family they grew up in and what kind of life experience they have, which caused them to live such a life of selling their bodies. Of course, it’s true that they broke the law, and their life experience is just our speculation, but I think… Among those girls, there must be people who wanted to go to a good college and make a decent living by working in an office. I think some of them want such a life, but, really, not everyone in the world is qualified to choose their own life trajectory, and even some do not know they have the right to choose.”

Lin Chen looked at Xing Conglian.

The other party did not speak, but instead placed his hand between his neck and gently shook it.

This was a slightly intimate and familiarly comforting action.

But at that time, neither of them noticed that this action was not only intimate but also ambiguous.

Probably because they had slept together just now, even Lin Chen didn’t feel anything strange, as if this were normal and natural.

After a long silence, he finally asked, “Well, did you find Lily yet?”

Perhaps it was because of what Lin Chen said, Wang Chao’s voice had some choking in it, but the teenager quickly adjusted his emotions and said to him, “Found it, A’Chen. Lily’s name is Zheng Wenli, female, 21 years old.”

“Any information on her residence?” Xing Conglian quickly asked.

“Wait for me to check her records.”

After a while, Wang Chao said, “Damn, I found it. It’s really in Room 502, No. 3-117, Red Street. Zheng Wenli’s card paid the utility bills for that place. God, that old driver is really experienced!”

The teenager sincerely sighed.

Lin Chen stopped and looked at the house number. They were about to reach it.

In fact, he was a little surprised. He thought that a princess like Lily, who worked in a high-end club, should have enough income to provide her with better housing, but there was obviously no so-called better housing on this street.

No. 3-117 was an old-fashioned residential building with mottled walls. The corridor door was open, revealing a rusty door frame. Lin Chen looked up, and there were all kinds of dazzling underwear hanging from the balcony. Some windows were lit with pink and purple lights, which looked quite ostentatious. Lin Chen thought they had found the right place.

However, the process of finding Miss Lily was quite difficult. They stood in front of the locked, old-fashioned iron door and fell into trouble again.

Xing Conglian rubbed his nose and asked Lin Chen, “Is it illegal to break into a private residence?”

Lin Chen leaned against the handrail of the stairs, feeling a little dizzy. “What do you think?”

“Can you not report me?”

Lin Chen silently turned around.

---

Kinky Thoughts:

Keep in mind that Wang Chao is only a teenager, so the things he says sometimes can be immature, but as an 18-year-old raised by Xing Conglian and given his experience with the police force, I would’ve imagined he would be more worldly.

Personally, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with prostitution, and it shouldn’t be looked down upon. Unfortunately, many people who go into it are often victimized and exploited, and some are even forced. As Lin Chen says, it’s best not to judge others, especially when you don’t know their circumstances.

Just some food for thought.

Oh, and in case you missed it, Lin Chen and Xing Conglian were pretending to fuck in this chapter.

---

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 长洱 / Chang’er

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

---

Chapter 128

“Why can’t they be reimbursed?” Lin Chen couldn’t help but ask with a smile.

“Contraband products. The finance department won’t reimburse you for those, so I have to pay for them myself.”

Hearing what Xing Conglian said, Lin Chen felt both funny and annoyed. At any rate, he was a man who took out a bunch of membership cards casually, but he was so brokenhearted by the fake checks that were five yuan a piece. It was terribly confusing.

They chatted, and while talking, he followed Xing Conglian into the remote bathroom at the end of the corridor.

Xing Conglian became cautious. As an experienced policeman, he pushed open every bathroom stall to check and then nodded at Lin Chen. “No one.”

“Wang Chao?” Hearing this, Lin Chen called to the teenager listening on the other end in a low voice.

Wang Chao’s voice sounded in their ears again inside the bathroom, where it was only the two of them.

“A’Chen, I just checked the strings of numbers given by the captain. The owner of the phone number is Lu Xu. He was imprisoned for three years for organized prostitution. After he was released from prison 12 years ago, he…” The teenager paused and then said, in disbelief, “Has never had any social records.”

“What do you mean there are no social records?” Xing Conglian asked.

Just after inspecting the stall, Xing Conglian was leaning against the marble wall by the window. When he heard Wang Chao say that Lu Xu didn’t have any social records, he couldn’t help but ask rhetorically.

Wang Chao said, “That is to say, there was no payment information for housing, medical care, or social security when Lu Xu was released from prison. Not only that, but he also doesn’t even have bank card records, let alone Alipay. It feels like he’s a ghost!” Wang Chao specially lowered his voice and said, “Captain, this damn Lu Xu is so terrible. He doesn’t have any social records after being released from prison, which probably means all his transactions are cash-based. I don’t believe he’s not doing shady business!”

“I see.” Xing Conglian nodded. He rubbed his hair and said to Lin Chen, “Lu Xu lives so cautiously. It’s very likely he’s a small boss of a prostitution ring. He introduced Xu Ran to Li Jingtian, so it’s very possible that he’s a ‘key person’ that we’re looking for.”

The door to the bathroom where Xing Conglian and Lin Chen were suddenly pushed open as soon as Xing Conglian’s voice fell.

Xing Conglian glanced at Lin Chen from a distance and saw him nodding at him, so he turned around and pretended to walk inadvertently to the wall-mounted urinal in the corner. After he reached the position, he opened his zipper and casually looked towards the sink again.

He saw Lin Chen standing in front of the sink, gently turning on the faucet as he slowly rolled up his cuffs. Lin Chen bent down, splashed a handful of water on his face, and rubbed his face twice, as if he were in a state of drunkenness and trying to sober up. In short, the level of their performance was superb.

Like all men who were bored when they were relieving themselves, Xing Conglian moved his eyes to the man who had just entered the door.

It was a middle-aged man who had a fat belly. He had a wide forehead and convex eyes, but he wore a pair of gold-rimmed glasses, looking like a bloated toad. He was so fat that the belt on his pants could hardly hold up his pants. Xing Conglian noticed that the man’s black suit cuffs were stained with blood and his knuckles had hard brown smudges that looked like caked blood.

Xing Conglian saw him walk towards Lin Chen, turn on the faucet, and begin to wash his hands. The other party seemed to notice him and glance at him. Instead of looking away immediately, he shrugged at the man indifferently and finally turned his gaze back.

The space in the bathroom became quiet again, leaving only the sound of gurgling water echoing.

Just now, Wang Chao didn’t hear either one of them respond and quickly shut up.

In fact, if the middle-aged man had pushed open the door later and hadn’t interrupted Wang Chao’s report, they would have heard him say, “Captain, I found a picture of Lu Xu when he was in jail. I’ll send it to your phone.”

If Wang Chao could’ve finished speaking or sent the photo directly to them without saying anything, they would realize that the person in question had just walked into the men’s bathroom where they were.

Amazingly, sometimes things were so coincidental, it was as if there was a screenwriter or some brain-dead author behind the scenes, arranging these coincidences. If Wang Chao hadn’t been interrupted, Xing Conglian would know that the “key person” they were looking for was five meters away from him and was having some unclean thoughts about his consultant.

Obviously, Lu Xu didn’t walk into this bathroom because he knew in advance that two police officers were investigating him, and it wasn’t because Miss Lily tipped him off either, because at this moment, she was fighting with the other girl over the distribution of the check book, and there wasn’t time to check its authenticity.

Getting down to business, when Lu Xu received Lily’s message just now, he thought it was just an ordinary guest who wanted to have fun. He stopped in the restroom to wash the blood off his hands since he just finished educating two disobedient girls. This just happened to be the closest men’s restroom to him.

Lu Xu turned on the faucet, rubbed his hands, and looked around boredly. When he saw the man standing by the sink, he almost instantly forgot about washing his hands.

It was a young man who looked very indifferent. The other party was thin, but not like a matchstick. He had a beautiful back and a thin waist, and a very handsome and noble aura that gave him a sense of unattainability. In short, the young man washing his hands was unlike the other young masters in this place and was the type he preferred.

Lu Xu thought he might be some rich man’s plaything, well-bred and favored, so he couldn’t be blasphemous.

The reason Lu Xu came to this conclusion was because he analyzed Lin Chen’s clothes. Lin Chen had rushed from Hongjing to Fengchun overnight, so he was still wearing a white shirt that was soaked from the day’s sweat. The shirt looked dirty and a little old, and of course, cheap.

After mixing in here for a long time, Lu Xu could tell who was wearing big brand-name clothes and what year style. The clothes of this young man next to him obviously didn’t belong to any luxury brand. It was ordinary, cheap clothing from a typical mall. It had the obvious signs of having been washed many times, as there was a natural fragrance of detergent. Lu Xu became itchy thinking of this.

In fact, if he hadn’t drunk so much alcohol, he would have thought more deeply. If the people around him were just playthings raised by rich people, how could they be dressed so poorly?

But at that time, Lu Xu didn’t have time to think so deeply because Lin Chen had put his wet hands down and stood up.

The spotlight on the sink was bright, and Lu Xu smelled the clean scent of detergent.

Lu Xu watched as a crystal-clear drop of water flowed down the young man’s cheek to his jaw. Lu Xu wiped his wet hands on his shirt twice, then put his arms around the waist of the young man beside him.

Unlike the young man’s hands, his body appeared flexible and warm. Lu Xu reached out and touched the other’s cheek.

“Hello.”

Looking at the handsome and angular face of the young man, Lu Xu leaned down. He felt the scent of fresh green leaves that was mixed in the air, which made him want to bury his head in the other man’s neck and sniff his body.

From the time the fat, middle-aged man moved his gaze toward Lin Chen, Xing Conglian had already felt the sordid desire from that gaze. He quickly zipped up his pants and walked towards them, but his steps weren’t as fast as Lu Xu’s hands. The distance from his position to the sink was too far. Before he could reach Lin Chen, the fat palm of the middle-aged man had already touched Lin Chen’s cheek. This made Xing Conglian furious. People like him rarely get angry. At that time, he was about five steps away from Lin Chen and had already clenched his fists and sketched in his mind the most painful way to take this bastard out without killing him. He was ready to swing his fists fiercely, but suddenly, everything seemed to have entered a state of slow motion.

He clearly saw Lin Chen at the sink, pulling his hand out from under the running water, turning off the faucet, and then turning around. Lin Chen’s left hand was holding the fat palm that touched his face, while his right hand was raised high and pressed on the back of the middle-aged man’s head. Then, he saw Lin Chen’s hands, which usually held pens or books, grab the middle-aged man’s hair and pull. He held the other party’s bloated head back as he pressed it down abruptly. Lin Chen immediately took a step back, and at the same time, his knee hit the lower part of the middle-aged man’s ribs. When he connected to the middle-aged man’s stomach, Lin Chen let go and watched as the man covered his abdomen as he kneeled to the ground, slowly falling down.

Although Lin Chen’s movements were broken down slowly in Xing Conglian’s eyes, in fact, his set of movements to his knee strike was completed within a second.

It was precisely because Lin Chen’s movements were fast and ruthless that the middle-aged man’s scream wasn’t heard immediately. Experienced people knew that a hard blow from the knee to the stomach would be so painful it was impossible to breathe, let alone scream.

At that moment, Xing Conglian felt the preciousness of life for the first time.

He slowly shifted his gaze from the middle-aged man on the ground to his advisor.

However, Lin Chen acted as if nothing had happened just now. He turned around calmly, turned on the faucet again, pressed on some soap, and continued to wash his hands. Xing Conglian felt that he couldn’t see through Lin Chen’s psychological reaction to what just happened.

The water washed over the lavender soap on Lin Chen’s hands, over his slender fingers, and then flowed down from his slightly clear fingernails.

Xing Conglian swallowed.

It was quite frightening to see him wash his hands as if nothing had happened after beating someone.

It wasn’t until Lin Chen finished washing his hands and turned off the faucet again that the unfortunate middle-aged man on the ground finally began to scream. Xing Conglian quickly came over and knocked him out.

“Are you okay?” He finally searched his guts and found a response that he could express concern without being too over the top.

However, hearing what he said, Lin Chen raised his brows at him as if to say, “How could something happen to me? What nonsense are you talking about?”

……

No matter where they were, of course, when they hit someone, they had to leave as soon as possible. Although they were the police, they were conducting an unannounced visit, so they couldn’t make a big ruckus.

Xing Conglian felt regretful walking out of the restroom because he couldn’t take a swing at the unconscious man.

After leaving, Lin Chen took out his phone and dialed the string of numbers they just got.

As if it were too coincidental, the moment the phone connected, the sound of extremely vulgar electronic dance music came from the door behind the men’s restroom that they had just left.

Lin Chen stopped in his tracks and looked at Xing Conglian in bewilderment.

“Tell me, when I was calling just now, how likely is it that someone else called that idiot at the same time?” Lin Chen looked back at the restroom’s door and asked.

God knew that even if Lin Chen called someone an idiot, he really didn’t want to kill them.

“Small,” Xing Conglian said.

Lin Chen curled his lips, turned around, and walked back to the restroom just now.

Perhaps, nothing could be more refreshing than letting someone go, but fate forced you to continue your uncompleted mission.

Xing Conglian walked to the sink.

Lin Chen had already turned the faucet on again, picked up a handful of water, and sprinkled it on the head lying on the ground.

The middle-aged, fat man lying unconscious was stimulated by the cold water and instantly woke up.

Lu Xu, who was as heavy as a few sacks of lead, seemed a little unclear about what just happened. He bowed toward the sink and braced himself to get up.

The moment he raised his head, Xing Conglian obviously saw the look of horror in his eyes, and this look reached its peak when Lin Chen turned back as he locked the restroom door.

“Who are you and what do you want!” Lu Xu shouted in panic.

Lin Chen didn’t answer.

Xing Conglian grabbed Lu Xu by his collar and dragged him into the nearest stall.

Although he admitted that he was being a bit heavy-handed, he wasn’t too fierce. Despite that, the middle-aged, fat man in front of him slid directly from the toilet seat to the ground. “You two, I’m really sorry. I drank too much just now and was out of my mind. I’m sorry!”

Lu Xu changed his face as quickly as flipping a page in a book, almost to the extreme. He sobbed and begged for mercy, then began to slap himself in the face.

This was a typical hob* begging for mercy. Once they realized that they were in trouble with someone they couldn’t afford to mess with, they would start frantically begging for forgiveness, disregarding all human dignity.

*Internet term refers to someone who’s arrogant and unreasonable.

Xing Conglian glanced at Lin Chen and saw him just leaning against the wall opposite the stall, with his arms crossed and without any expression on his face.

This meant: What happens here is not my responsibility.

Xing Conglian felt that he was a grunt collecting accounts for his boss. He squatted down and continued to hold the back of the middle-aged man in front of him by the neck and said helplessly, “I’m not going to kill you. Don’t be so nervous.”

As soon as he said this, Lu Xu cried even more miserably, causing Xing Conglian’s eardrums to hurt.

“Brother, I’ll beat you again if you keep crying.”

As soon as Xing Conglian’s voice fell, Lu Xu stopped crying. This kind of slick guy was really difficult to deal with.

Xing Conglian pointed to the toilet and then said to Lu Xu, “Open the lid.”

The fat middle-aged man wiped off his snot and tears, turned around carefully, knelt on the ground, and opened the toilet lid.

Then, unexpectedly, Lu Xu actually stuck his head into the toilet.

Xing Conglian was shocked to see this. What’s wrong with this guy?

At this moment, Lin Chen finally spoke up.

Xing Conglian listened to his consultant click his tongue impatiently and said slowly, “What are you thinking? I didn’t want you to drink toilet water. Answer a few questions I have.”

Hearing Lin Chen’s voice, Lu Xu suddenly wanted to push his head out of the toilet, but because he had stuffed himself in too tightly, he bumped the back of his head when he pulled out.

He groaned in pain, then quickly shut up and sat down on the toilet extremely obediently. It seemed that Lin Chen’s education just now had improved his memory.

Xing Conglian retreated behind Lin Chen. Obviously, what Mr. Lin said now would be more effective than him.

Lin Chen stood with his arms crossed and pursed his lips slightly, looking as cold as ice.

“Do you know Xu Ran?” Lin Chen asked directly.

Lu Xu suddenly raised his head.

At that moment, a very stern look flashed in Lu Xu’s eyes. Xing Conglian saw the cruelty, indifference, and unsympathetic look in them. He believed that Lin Chen probably saw the same thing.

However, Lin Chen didn’t say much. He just took another step forward and said, “I ask. You answer. It’s very simple. I don’t want to repeat the same question a second time.”

Lu Xu changed back to his timid appearance again and said, “I… I know Xu Ran.”

“What’s your relationship with her?”

“Who are the two of you?” Lu Xu asked curiously.

“I didn’t give you the right to ask questions,” Lin Chen said loudly. “On Sunday night, three weeks ago, did Xu Ran come to Royal One?”

Lu Xu’s eyes darted twice, as if he had guessed something. He clasps his hands into fists, showing great panic. “Mr. Policemen, this really has nothing to do with me!”

“How long is the sentence for organized prostitution?” Xing Conglian heard Lin Chen ask him.

“Fixed-term imprisonment of more than ten years or life,” he replied.

When Lin Chen heard this, he turned to the middle-aged man on the toilet. “Did you hear that? People like you usually have no way of coming out alive if they go in.”

“It’s really not my fault!” Lu Xu began to cry. “This was all voluntarily done by that little bitch, Xu Ran. She came here that night but was working normally. I don’t know why she was like a chaste woman that day and refused to obey. Later, she was beaten badly by the guests and thrown out through the back door.”

Hearing this, Xing Conglian was shocked. He looked at Lin Chen, but Lin Chen still had an indifferent, otherworldly look.

“That’s all?” Lin Chen asked again.

“Yes…” Lu Xu replied.

“You haven’t told me who the guest was.”

“Mr. Police Officer, I really don’t know who they are. Look at the people who come here. Everyone pays attention to privacy. How can a little ass like me know who the guests are? I’m responsible for telling the girls the room number and letting them in.”

“That is to say, before Xu Ran entered the room, she didn’t know what kind of guests she would face, right?” Lin Chen asked.

Hearing this, Lu Xu suddenly regained his energy, and his tongue became slicker. “Mr. Police Officer, I know you have good intentions, but think about it. How long has that little bitch been in this business? How can she not know anything? Don’t be deceived by her… Later, that little bitch said it was Li Jingtian who raped her. She really wanted to blackmail him. I guess that didn’t work out for her in the end, so she went to sue someone else. Haa, bitches like her use such tricks all the time. I’ve seen a lot of it before…”

Suddenly, Lu Xu’s words stopped, because Lin Chen walked extremely close to him. He leaned down and grabbed the back of his head again, causing Lu Xu to scream in pain.

Lin Chen put a slight force on his hand and raised the middle-aged man’s fat face. “I told you to answer what I asked, so why aren’t you listening?”

“I—I…”

“Answer my question. Before Xu Ran entered the door to that room, did she know who the guest would be?” Lin Chen continued to apply force to his hand.

Seeing his consultant leaning over slightly, Lin Chen’s thin back and arms had become taut due to the exertion. Xing Conglian swallowed again.

“Yes, she didn’t know!” Lu Xu replied.

“Which room… Which room did you send Xu Ran into?”

“Room 03, on the 11^th floor,” Lu Xu replied without hesitation.

“One last question. Where is the private room booked by CA Entertainment today?” Lin Chen said calmly, without giving Lu Xu another chance to speak. “I think you’re very used to taking CA’s business, so I don’t want to hear you say you don’t know where, okay?”

“9^th floor! 901!” Lu Xu quickly replied.

Lin Chen nodded as if satisfied. He let go of Lu Xu and walked out of the bathroom without turning back.

Upon seeing this, Xing Conglian walked to where Lin Chen was just standing, took out his phone, and shook it in front of Lu Xu. “I recorded all that just now. Watch your mouth. If anyone knows that we’ve been here, then…” he said as he made a motion of slitting his throat.

After Xing Conglian finished speaking, he heard the sound of the restroom door opening and closing.

He rushed out the door and followed Lin Chen. Lin Chen was walking in front but was obviously staggering, so he rushed up to support him. “What’s wrong with you?” He couldn’t help but ask.

Lin Chen shook his head and said, “I seem to have drunk too much.”

“It’s just half a glass of absinthe,” Xing Conglian said in disbelief.

“What’s the ABV?” Lin Chen asked.

“Uh…” Xing Conglian thought for a while, then replied, “The one you drank just now seemed to be 55%.”

At that moment, Lin Chen’s mind churned up countless curses.

What “just half a glass” and what “only 55% ABV”? 55% already belonged to the category of spirits. Half a glass of that stuff could completely make people intoxicated, which was equivalent to getting locked up until sober and fined for drinking and driving.

Does everyone drink vodka like wine in your country?

Holding back all kinds of nausea and dizziness that were churning up, he said to Xing Conglian, “Let’s go to the 9^th floor.”

“We’re already in the elevator, and I have already pressed 9 just now.” Xing Conglian’s voice sounded uneasy around him.

Lin Chen continued to rub his brows and forcibly focus his attention. “That Lily has a problem. She must know something. We’ll go find her later… Wang Chao…”

After he finished shouting, the nervous voice of the teenager sounded from the headset again, as prompted. “A’Chen, I’m here. Are you okay?”

“I’m okay.” Lin Chen paused before he continued, “Thoroughly check the identity and background of Miss Lily. Just now, even Lu Xu, who runs the prostitution ring, didn’t know who Xu Ran was going to face. Why did Lily hand over his contact to Xing Conglian after he mentioned Li Jingtian’s name? She should know something. There’s something up here.”

“Oh, oh, okay, A’Chen Gege!” Wang Chao’s voice sounded exceptionally well-behaved.

Soon, with a soft ding, the elevator door opened again.

When he walked out of the elevator, Lin Chen heard Xing Conglian ask with concern, “Can you hold on?”

“I’m fine,” he said.

Although he said he was fine, he felt as if he was stepping on clouds instead of soft carpet. He looked at the room numbers next to him and calculated according to the order of the rooms. Room 901 should be at the end of the long corridor. Lin Chen had never felt that a corridor could become this long.

His head was getting heavier. Through the doors of the private rooms, he felt he could clearly hear many shouts and laughter coming from inside. Some people were singing, and some were screaming. Everything around him seemed to be fragmented like a reflection after the glass shattered.

Fortunately, Xing Conglian was by his side. He tried to guide Lin Chen’s body with his hands.

Just as he was about to walk to the end of the long corridor with great difficulty, suddenly, a nervous call from Wang Chao came through his headset. “Captain, A’Chen, the security system of Royal One seems to have issued an alarm. The alert is aimed at you!”

Lin Chen suddenly sobered up.

“Speak clearly.” Xing Conglian lowered his voice.

“I don’t know. I don’t know for the time being. There are too many blind spots in the surveillance here. I just saw a large number of security guards rushing out of the lounge. Their destination is the 9^th floor. Did you threaten Lu Xu just now? He dares to seek death?!”

Wang Chao prattled on.

Lin Chen looked at Xing Conglian, but the other party just turned his head and said to him, “I just hit him lightly.”

“Lu Xu is more courageous than we thought.”

Standing at the door of Room 901, Lin Chen noticed that his tone had become cold.

Through the thick, frosted glass, he could see some lights and figures coming from his head.

Perhaps Mu Zhuo was inside, and maybe even Li Gaoqiang. Perhaps there were more clues just a door away from them, but now they had no way to get in.

Although they were separated by a door, it was like a gap in the sky.

Lin Chen retracted his gaze and heard Xing Conglian ask Wang Chao, “How’s the surveillance situation?”

“A security guard is going to the 9^th floor. Captain, there’s an emergency exit on your left.”

“I know.”

As he spoke, Xing Conglian led Lin Chen into the emergency exit.

As soon as he walked from the bright area into the dim space, his eye had a short period of discomfort. Lin Chen squinted and continued to listen to the unusually calm dialogue between Xing Conglian and Wang Chao.

“You just said there’s no surveillance on the 8^th and 9^th floors here?”

“Yes.”

“But this building has more than 20 floors. What’s upstairs?”

“It seems to be a hotel upstairs, called the Oho Hotel!” Wang Chao said.

“Is there any surveillance?”

“Let me check it out. Captain, what do you want to do?”

“Just now, Lu Xu said he sent Xu Ran to room 1103, so if I’m not mistaken, there should be close ‘business contacts’ between the hotel rooms upstairs and the clubhouse downstairs…”

“Shit, Captain. Are you saying the upstairs is the prostitution den of the club? Wait, do you want to go upstairs?”

“Open a room for us in the hotel on the 11^th floor,” Xing Conglian said decisively.

Lin Chen realized that Xing Conglian had asked him to hold on to the cold iron handrail as he led him up.

“Huh? Captain, are you kidding me? You want to hack the system, so you’ll just hack it. You want to open a room, so you’ll just do it? How can you be so domineering and cool!” Wang Chao’s hands were flying. The more nervous the teenager got, the more talkative he became. Suddenly, the button clacking sounds stopped. Wang Chao said nervously, “I just saw a security guard on the 7^th floor walking into the emergency exit. I suspect they will come from downstairs to outflank you, so you have to hurry and get to the 10^th floor in 20 seconds.”

Sure enough, before Wang Chao’s voice fell, the sound of rapid footsteps echoed in the emergency exit beneath them.

Lin Chen tried his best to follow Xing Conglian, making his steps as inaudible as possible.

The sound of door panels opening and closing quickly filled the emergency exit on the 9^th floor. In the dimness, Lin Chen saw Xing Conglian nod at him, and they started running to the 11^th floor.

“Wang Chao!”

The exit was within reach as Xing Conglian shouted.

“I took a look at the 11^th floor. Room 5 happens to be empty. Go out from your passage, then turn left. The penultimate room is there. The good news is that although there’s surveillance on the 11^th floor, I found it to be false surveillance, which means it won’t pick up anything. I wish you good luck and hope you don’t get caught!”

After Wang Chao finished speaking, he quickly hit the Enter key.

Xing Conglian slammed open the door of the emergency exit.

There was soft carpet under his feet and a long passage in front of him. Lin Chen walked in the corridor with Xing Conglian.”

“The third door. It’s open for you.”

As Wang Chao spoke, the door lock in front of them lightly flashed. With a soft click, Room 1105 opened in response.

Xing Conglian quickly opened the door to the room, and Lin Chen followed in a flash.

The moment the door closed, Xing Conglian stood at the entrance, habitually wanting to turn on the lights.

Wang Chao’s voice sounded again. “Captain! Wait, I suggest you don’t turn on the lights and go quickly to bed…”

In the dim space, Xing Conglian pressed the headset repeatedly, thinking that there was something wrong with his ears. “Are you kidding me?”

“No, Captain, I’m not joking.” Wang Chao’s voice sounded a little awkward. “Didn’t you ask me if there’s surveillance on the 11^th floor? It’s fake monitoring, but there are pinhole cameras installed in every room. Shit, well, to be honest, I saw a lot of discord going on in many of the rooms. I suspect the hotel is secretly recording pornographic videos for their guests. Captain, I think I need my eyes stabbed by needles after watching these.”

Xing Conglian was confused. He digested it for a while and then asked a somewhat idiotic question, “So, we also have them in our room?”

“Yes, but it’s pitch black now. If you turn on the lights, you’ll be in trouble!”

At this moment, Xing Conglian heard Lin Chen’s voice. “So what about room 1103? The room of Xu Ran’s incident. Are there any records?” Lin Chen asked.

After Lin Chen entered the room just now, he sat down on the carpet while leaning against the wall. He tried to stand up but obviously failed.

Xing Conglian hurriedly squatted down and helped him sit down again.

Wang Chao obediently checked the records, then replied apologetically, “There should be, but I checked and found that room 1103 doesn’t have any video records since three weeks ago. The video from then was obviously deleted, so…”

“So, our trail is broken again,” Lin Chen whispered.

“These people are really courageous.” Xing Conglian suddenly became alert. There were all kinds of elites and dignitaries at Royal One. In the face of wealthy and powerful people, the club actually dared to secretly record them. Then this wasn’t simple boldness. Obviously, they had other plans for these secretly recorded videos.

Xing Conglian thought of this and found another problem. If Li Jingtian dared to accept a girl from Lu Xu here, it would show that he was comfortable here. In other words, Li Jingtian didn’t know that he was secretly being recorded.

So if he didn’t know that the guest rooms of Royal One would secretly record videos, how could he spend the effort to clear all video files in his room afterwards?

There were obviously more questions that deserved a deeper investigation, but at this moment, they had no way to pry further.

“Wang Chao, you try to gather some ‘evidence’ of their backstage.”

“What evidence, Captain? The opening record or something?”

At this time, Lin Chen spoke. He patiently said to Wang Chao, “He’s asking you to find some sex videos of dignitaries in the background records…” Lin Chen spoke bluntly. He took a breath and continued. “After all, we’re not the local police of Fengchun. Our hands and feet would be tied, and for places like Royal One, it’s very likely they wouldn’t work on non-priority activities. Then, fighting fire with fire is the best way.”

Xing Conglian was a little surprised that Lin Chen was so drunk, yet he could clearly explain his thoughts for him in an organized manner.

“I understand. A’Chen, Captain, what you mean is, take the opportunity to get some videos and post them online. If the local tyrants who patronize here see their ugliness being secretly recorded, they will be furious and will do their best to kill Royal One. This club will definitely be finished in Fengchun by then.”

“You know, so do it quickly,” Xing Conglian said.

He thought things had been thrilling enough, but Wang Chao screamed again.

“Captain, I saw some security guards coming to outflank the parking lot. Fuck me, I’m just the support. Why should I be responsible for pulling agro!”

In this case, Xing Conglian couldn’t criticize Wang Chao. The sound of movements came from the headset.

Wang Chao seemed to have moved to the driver’s seat. The engine sounded, and the teenager’s voice became excited. “I’m going to drive! Go, go, go!”

“He can drive?” Lin Chen asked suspiciously.

“Yes. He has a driver’s license since He was 16 years old.”

“Then why don’t you let him drive the car occasionally.”

“Because his driving… is really bad.” Xing Conglian admitted to Lin Chen.

Sure enough, the sound of a vehicle collision and alarms after the impact sounded.

He could tell from the indistinct engine sound coming from the headset that at this moment, Wang Chao was driving his Jeep at a speed of 100 kilometers an hour on the urban road.

Although it was already late at night and there were relatively few cars on the road, it seemed like it was an exciting night.

Xing Conglian rubbed his temples and wanted to sigh helplessly, but the irritating voice of this brat sounded in his ears again.

Wang Chao’s voice was hoarse, like he had swallowed a hundred cough syrups. “Captain, I forgot to tell you. You have to go to bed and put on a show. Although I opened the door for you, if there’s no one on the bed in the video, those perverts watching the small video screen will definitely become suspicious!”

Hearing this, Xing Conglian finally began to look at the room.

Although the light wasn’t turned on, there was a glimmer of light from the gap in the curtains, which allowed Xing Conglian to roughly see the outline of the room.

In the middle of the room was a round, fun bed. Xing Conglian felt that, judging from the nature of the room, it was likely to be a waterbed.

Above the waterbed, there were two handcuff-like things hanging from the ceiling.

A whip and a fun chair were placed on one side of the room. Xing Conglian dared to imagine that there must be a plethora of sex toys stuffed in the bedside table on the opposite side of the waterbed.

“Consultant Lin, are we going to bed?” He retracted his gaze and asked Lin Chen in a low voice.

Lin Chen was probably drunk. Although it was difficult for Xiang Conglian to see his expression clearly, after hearing him say that, Lin Chen struggled to stand up again by himself. As he leaned against the wall, he said, “Cut the crap and help me up.”

People would say that a person could easily become another person after drinking, but Lin Chen seemed to become a bit violent when he drank.

Xing Conglian thought this, and recalled the scene of Lin Chen beating Lu Xu severely just now. It was rare for him to be a little timid, but he still helped Lin Chen up and brought him to the bed.

Sure enough, the fun bed was indeed a waterbed. When they lay down, occasionally they would roll together.

Xing Conglian drew a thin blanket from the pillow and covered the two of them from head to toe. While Lin Chen was lying next to him, a warm breath came.

Xing Conglian discovered that he hadn’t had experience lying on the same bed with someone else in a long time.

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