The Flower Market has developed well in recent years. New real estate projects have sprung up like bamboo shoots after a spring rain. At first glance, it seems to be no less impressive than the first-tier cities.

However, this is just a superficial illusion. Beneath the glamorous facade, the city still has many backward, dark, and heavily concealed areas.

The old city, the suburbs, near the garbage dump, the abandoned industrial area...

These places are found in almost every city with similar situations, and the authorities have made the same choice—neglecting and forgetting the backward areas in the face of municipal achievements.

It's just that when the throat-slitting case fermented, they reappeared in people's sight amidst their paper prosperity, and people remembered them again in a daze.

Because all four victims of the throat-slitting case were killed in remote, rarely visited, and poorly monitored areas.

No one knows why these young and handsome men living in prosperous neighborhoods would go to these places. People only know that when they reappeared in the public eye, these young people who were supposed to have a bright future had become cold corpses.

...

In the city outskirts far from the bustling center, night comes earlier than most people think.

The old city area of the Flower Market is not only remote, but also sparsely populated. The houses to be demolished were almost pushed away half a year ago, and no one has cared about this place for a long time, leaving behind a large area of unsightly ruins.

Under normal circumstances, people who don't live here would never go to the ruins of the old city area alone at night.

Before stepping into this place, Zhang Yu also thought so.

He held an umbrella in his left hand, tightly grasped his phone in his right hand, and the messages from the contact "Ranran" on the still lit screen were particularly glaring.

7:03.

- Zhang Yu, I'm Ranran.

- I've been kidnapped. She seems to want to kill me. She locked me in a dilapidated building in the old city area. I barely managed to hide this phone. Now she's having dinner outside the room, and I can only ask for your help. Please come and save me!

- [Location information]

- I'm here!

- Call the police quickly and let them come and save me.

The above messages were sent in a very short interval, revealing the sender's urgency, but when it came to the three words "come and save me," everything abruptly stopped, not even the pinyin was completed.

The next message appeared at 7:15.

- Zhang Yu, hello.

- I'm not Ranran, but I'm with her now~ I didn't expect her to hide a phone. It almost ruined everything [laugh]

- I guess you should know who I am, right? "Mr. Handsome."

- I didn't plan to find you so soon, but now that you know my crime, I have no choice, it's a pity (^_^)

- She even sent you the location! So decisive. Well, Mr. Zhang Yu, you only have one option, "come."

- Come alone. If you come, I'll let Ranran go. If you don't come, as a punishment for not listening, she won't survive tonight.

- Remember, I don't want to see the police, so you must come alone. Looking forward to seeing you again, giving you a heart~

- Don't play tricks, I can see you.

After this, no matter what Zhang Yu replied, there was no response from the other side.

At that time, Zhang Yu was just getting off work at home. After receiving these messages, he unexpectedly felt a sense of relief, as if confirming his suspicions.

The only person who would call him "Mr. Handsome" was the substitute female clerk who didn't give her name. He hadn't seen Ranran since that day when the female clerk claimed to be Ranran's friend, and instead, the woman threatened him with writing on the bookshelf.

These days, Zhang Yu had been speculating about the truth of the matter, and today, he finally confirmed that the woman was not a good person, and he felt relieved.

The danger that had already been recognized was not an ambiguous unknown that tormented people.

He gave a bitter smile, hesitated for a moment between calling the police and going alone to the location, and chose the latter.

It wasn't that he didn't trust the police, nor was he being reckless. He was confident that he could rescue Ranran alone, but... he also had something he wanted to do.

As Zhang Yu tried to call a familiar number to leave himself a way out, he found that his phone couldn't connect to the outside world, the data jumped for a while, and then calmed down again.

"Hacked?"

Zhang Yu suspected that the other person had invaded his phone with hacking techniques, which also matched the last message—"I can see you."

Presumably, at this moment, his every move was under the other person's surveillance.

In fact, he could have thrown his phone elsewhere and found an excuse to leave and report to the police, such as going to the bathroom, which was a good excuse. After all, the other person was a woman, and it wouldn't be appropriate for her to monitor him urinating through the phone.

But he didn't do that, he just got up calmly, took his phone, and left with the car keys.

"Crack."

Lost in thought for a moment, Zhang Yu accidentally stepped on a piece of broken brick under his foot. He stabilized his body, which almost fell forward, and brought his attention back to reality.

It was already 7:49.

He hesitated for a moment and then drove non-stop to the location. Since he couldn't drive into the ruins, he switched to walking.

Carefully walking on the rugged road, Zhang Yu kept an eye on the location and messages, and the pattering rain and the pitch-black sky above gave him a strong sense of suffocation.

He felt very confused.

With every step he took, there was a mocking voice in his heart.

How absurd, what am I doing now?

Why am I so generously giving away my life when I know that coming here might mean death?

Ranran...

Ranran will be fine, won't she? She and that woman are in a cooperative relationship, right?These text segments have been translated from Chinese to English:

"These text messages, are they all sent by Ranran? From beginning to end, every single one is. That woman is sitting next to her, reading out the contents of the messages one by one, making Ranran type them out, leaving only Ranran's "victim" fingerprint.

Is this the truth?

Zhang Yu's heart felt like it was being pricked by needles, both painful and bitter.

He's not a fool, and he's not easily fooled.

He graduated from a prestigious university, enjoys solving mysteries, and has a wide range of knowledge. If he were to be a bit narcissistic, he's very intelligent.

More intelligent than the vast majority of people in the world.

In short— he wasn't deceived by this trick.

On the surface, it looks like Ranran was kidnapped by a woman and sought help, but was discovered by the woman. The woman took advantage of Ranran's life to coerce him into going to the old city area on this dark rainy night, to the place where the four victims of the throat-slitting case were found.

The other party almost blatantly told him: "I am the murderer of the throat-slitting case, and you are my next target. Come, come and save Ranran. If you don't come, the girl you like will die~"

But Zhang Yu saw through another layer.

From start to finish, Ranran should be in cahoots with the woman. Now, the woman is using Ranran to lure him in, and it's probably with Ranran's consent.

He didn't come to save Ranran's life, he just really wanted to know why Ranran chose to be complicit in this. What exactly did Ranran experience to choose to live in the darkness.

Zhang Yu wanted to know the truth, the whole truth.

As he got closer to the location, finally, at 7:53, Zhang Yu arrived in front of a half-collapsed residential house in the ruins.

The second floor of the house was missing a wall, and he could clearly see the deep darkness inside, like a black hole ready to swallow him up, leaving nothing behind.

In the deep darkness, he finally saw Ranran.

Ranran was wearing a set of casual clothes with indistinguishable colors, her hair loose, no makeup. It's hard to say how good-looking she was, but she had a very superior temperament.

She was holding a flashlight, standing leisurely on the broken wall, and the rain curtain made her figure in the dark hazy and indistinct, with only the light shining through the illusion, reflecting on Zhang Yu, who was holding an umbrella.

Zhang Yu's breath hitched, he didn't speak, just used the flashlight he had with him to shine back.

Ranran seemed completely unsurprised by his actions, the pair of eyes that always sparkled with vitality in his memory now only showed indifference.

Sure enough, she wasn't kidnapped at all.

The two looked at each other in silence, Ranran lowered her head, Zhang Yu raised his, silently facing each other.

A few seconds later, Ranran turned around first, leaving Zhang Yu with only her back, and a few seconds later, even her back disappeared.

Zhang Yu pursed his lips, and heard a noise beside him. He turned to look, only to see the eerie woman approaching in the rain.

"You love her more than I imagined." The woman spoke, not cold, but not as lively as in the text messages, using the same eerie tone that had tormented Zhang Yu for days.

Zhang Yu's gaze dropped to the woman's hand, and sure enough, she was holding something.

A knife? A knife for slitting throats.

He couldn't help but take a step back, then stopped.

Things had come to this point, he didn't need to regret: "Wait, before you kill me, I have a request."

"Hmm?" The woman tilted her head.

"I want to talk to Ranran... I want to ask her why she chose this path!" Zhang Yu's voice trembled.

However, the woman did not agree.

He only saw the woman raise her hand, and then, everything went black.

...

In the office, Yu Jiaming was stopped by Yu Xing.

"Han Zhiyong is not the murderer, then who could it be?" Yu Jiaming wiped his face with his hand, after hearing Yu Xing's words, he knew he had been hasty, and could only hold his breath and search for other possibilities in his mind.

"If Han Zhiyong is not the murderer of the throat-slitting case, then he must have had a conflict with Han Xinyi and wanted to use Liu Ping to kill Han Xinyi. But if that's the case, it's a separate case, and it's someone trying to push their own guilt onto the throat-slitting case murderer, it has nothing to do with the throat-slitting case!"

He said these words out loud, adjusting his mindset as he spoke, forcing himself to calm down.

This calmness made Yu Jiaming think of Yu Xing, who seemed to have everything under control so far.

He looked at Yu Xing leaning against the door frame and said in a deep voice, "But there is still a possibility that Han Zhiyong is the murderer, why are you so sure? You—already have an idea, don't you... Although it's a bit embarrassing, as a criminal police officer, I don't know as much as you do, but now is not the time for me to be sentimental. Yu Xing, I'm asking you now, to tell me all your speculations."

Yu Xing really wanted to applaud Yu Jiaming's decisiveness.

This kind of decisive action that puts aside one's dignity is not something that everyone has, especially for someone who has become the captain of the criminal investigation team at such a young age. If there is no pride, no confidence, it's impossible.

The higher the position, the more accustomed one is to flattery, the less likely they are to set aside their pride to ask others.

Yu Jiaming did not receive a reply from Yu Xing, and continued, "And I promise you, after the case is closed, I will not investigate you."

"No matter why you participated in the investigation, or how you obtained this information, I won't pursue it, Yu Xing, I will keep my word, please help me."

After hearing the words he wanted to hear, Yu Xing finally straightened up.

He smiled and said, "Okay."

"I can't be sure who the murderer is. Yu Xing took out his phone and tapped a few times, then smirked in response to Yu Jiaming's expectant gaze, "But I should be able to provide you with the identity of the next victim.""What? You know who the next victim is?!" Although Yu Gaoming was somewhat prepared, he was still shocked by Yu Xing's astonishing efficiency. However, with the situation being urgent, he immediately straightened his face and got serious, "Alright, I won't ask how you know. Who's the next one, tell me."

Yu Xing flipped his phone around, showing the screen to Yu Gaoming, which displayed the time as 7:22.

His fingers, distinct at the joints, pointed to a location on the map: "Here, follow this position. This librarian named Zhang Yu should be the next target of the killer."

Yu Gaoming leaned in for a closer look and realized it was a real-time location, indicating that the little red dot representing Zhang Yu was moving through the city, gradually shifting towards the direction of the old town district.

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Yu Gaoming: "..." Wait, the old town district?

The captain of the criminal investigation brigade rushed out of his office to issue orders, while also calling Gao Changan to have his deputy drive there, preparing to prevent the crime.

Yu Xing followed at a leisurely pace, meanwhile tapping to return to the previous menu, and as a result, the name of the person who sent Zhang Yu's location was revealed.

Z.

The hacker Zhu Yan.

...

7:40.

Yu Xing sat in the back seat of the police car, with Gao Changan driving in front and Yu Gaoming sitting in the passenger seat.

The trees outside the window kept receding, and the torrential rain pattered against the car windows, leaving behind one shattered droplet after another, gradually forming a sheet, no longer distinguishable from one another.

The lights of the city gradually faded, becoming more and more distant. The road from the city center to the suburbs was a bit long and a bit boring.

His eyes slightly closed, he listened wearily to the continuous reports coming from Yu Gaoming's phone since a while ago.

"Captain Yu, Han Zhiyong has disappeared!"

"He was supposed to be at home today. We specifically checked the surveillance to confirm he didn't leave the house, but when we arrived at his place, there was nobody there!"

"Captain Yu, I don't think he necessarily realized our intent to arrest him and fled out of fear of the crime. After all, we only just learned the inside story. It's very likely that he's now preparing to commit a crime and has already headed to the crime scene!"

One urgent or steady voice after another came through, and after Yu Gaoming replied to each, he glanced at the navigation in front of Gao Changan, then turned back to Yu Xing and said, "You're right, Zhang Yu's movement towards the old town district is fast, clearly driving, just like the previous victims, with no apparent connection to the old town district."

Gao Changan interjected, "…Are we going to be too late?"

"We won't be," Yu Xing reassured, resting his head against the back of the seat, exuding a calming strength.

He actually knew who the killer was, but to avoid being too quickly labeled by the police as "Oh, this kid has been using us from the start," he planned to let Yu Gaoming see the killer's face for himself.