Chapter 54

Chapter 54: Scorched Mountain (14)

14

Hai Shu immediately asked, “What’s wrong?”

Sui Xing said that on March 20, that is, yesterday, while checking New City, she saw the company called Qifeng Kaiyun holding a “2D/Anime” event, and she was bumped into by a careless staff member.

It’s common for cultural companies to do offline events. Hai Shu didn’t pay much attention and said there had been a small breakthrough in investigating Tang Jinli’s communications. She was preparing to approach a man named Yao Wei in Qifeng Kaiyun.

Sui Xing said, “The guy who bumped into me is named Yao something—I heard his assistant call him Brother Yao!”

Hai Shu immediately became alert. “He carelessly bumped into you?”

Sui Xing described the situation, frowning: “From what I heard in their conversation, the one surnamed Yao is the person in charge of that event; he should have stayed until the end. He clearly didn’t arrange anyone to take over for him. If something urgent came up, he would just leave, not caring about the work at all.”

Hai Shu immediately sensed something was off. According to Fengcheng Anna’s description, Yao Wei was a very steady and reliable man; the word “careless” didn’t seem to fit him. But in Sui Xing’s description, the man surnamed Yao appeared to be someone who acted without planning. What caused this sudden change?

At this point in the case, all men who were suspected of having been involved with Tang Jinli were key police targets. Hai Shu had originally planned to prepare thoroughly before approaching Yao Wei, but the information Sui Xing accidentally obtained was unexpected. Worried about unforeseen events, Hai Shu decided to go to Qifeng Kaiyun immediately.

Qifeng Kaiyun was located in a mid-tier office building in Yanai District. Compared to the desolation of Tianming Media, it was much livelier, with stylishly dressed employees coming and going, and photography equipment stacked in the lobby.

“Yao Wei? Ha, I’ve been looking for Yao Wei too! I haven’t been able to reach him since yesterday!” a partner at the company complained. “He doesn’t supervise his own event, and when things went wrong, I couldn’t find him anywhere!”

“Can’t reach him?” Hai Shu asked hurriedly. “What went wrong?”

The partner said that yesterday, in Guibai District’s New City, the company held an offline 2D promotional event. Yao Wei, a senior at the company, had planned and executed it. But shortly after it started, he left the stall to the assistant. The company had invested a lot in promotion, and participation was increasing, but there weren’t enough photographers.

At that moment, Yao Wei, as the person in charge, should have coordinated. Yao Wei himself came from a photography background and had extensive contacts. If he were on-site, he could have immediately brought in people. But he left early and even turned off his phone! The other staff were like ants on a hot pan, causing the event to end hastily, and many attendees complained about Qifeng Kaiyun on social media.

“He must be scared of taking responsibility and hid!” the partner cursed. “Damn it!”

Hai Shu felt it wasn’t so simple, because Yao Wei left suddenly before any problem occurred at the event.

The police had just investigated the Yao Wei lead, and now Yao Wei was missing? Did he get some message that made him abandon work and run?

The partner continued: “I’ve known him for over ten years. He’s not usually like this; he can handle even the most troublesome work. What’s going on this time? By the way, beautiful, what do you need him for?”

Hai Shu showed her credentials. The partner’s eyes widened in surprise. “Yao… Yao Wei? What’s wrong?”

Hai Shu said, “I urgently need to find Yao Wei. Do you know where he lives?”

The partner swallowed and wrote down Yao Wei’s address. Hai Shu instructed him to inform her immediately if Yao Wei returned or contacted him.

Yao Wei’s residence was only one subway stop from the company. Knocking on the door yielded no answer. Hai Shu applied to Qiao Heng for a search warrant, but it wasn’t approved because the police had no evidence that Yao Wei was a suspect in the Tang Jinli case.

Hai Shu calmed herself and went to the property management office to get surveillance footage. She discovered that at 6:20 a.m. on March 20, Yao Wei came to the garage and drove off in a gray Passat. The camera hadn’t captured the car or Yao Wei since then.

Returning to Qifeng Kaiyun, the news that the police were looking for Yao Wei had spread. Small companies didn’t have strict discipline; the partner was just “watching the drama” and didn’t care whether others were slacking.

“Is he at home?” the partner asked urgently.

Hai Shu, recalling that the partner had said he had known Yao Wei for over ten years, asked, “Where is Yao Wei from? What’s his family situation?”

“Local guy. We were university classmates. After graduation, I started a business, he worked for a big company. Later he didn’t want to continue, and I happened to have this company, so I invited him to help,” the partner said, growing anxious. “What on earth happened? He’s never disappeared without a word before. Why don’t you check his home?”

Hai Shu said, “You report the situation to the police, and I’ll apply for a search warrant.”

The partner thought, you’re right here, why report? but still took out his phone and did as instructed.

Hai Shu asked, “You know his family well?”

The partner said that although he was Yao Wei’s boss, Yao Wei was actually wealthier. He had worked his way up from the county. Yao Wei’s parents were both intellectuals, one teaching at a university, one at a middle school. Yao Wei didn’t live with them and rarely returned, ignoring their advice.

Hai Shu said, “Yao Wei is in his thirties; his family must be pushing him to marry?”

“Hey! Old topic!” the partner said. “So he really doesn’t want to go back. I’ve figured him out—he treats every girl well, but just doesn’t want to marry.”

Hai Shu showed Tang Jinli’s photo. “Have you ever seen Yao Wei with her?”

The partner examined it for a while. “No, don’t know her, haven’t seen her.”

Hai Shu asked other employees. Someone said, “Isn’t this the girl Anna brought here?”

Hai Shu looked around. “Anna didn’t come today?”

The person said, “Anna is signed as a model with us. Unlike the rest of us working here, she basically doesn’t come to the office. If there’s a shoot, we go pick them up directly.”

Hai Shu asked, “Anna gets along well with Yao Wei?”

“Of course. Anna’s main contact is Brother Yao.”

“The person in the photo—was he also handled by Yao Wei?”

“I don’t know about that. Anna often introduces her friends, but it’s just to help; the money is all Anna’s own.”

After the police received the report of Yao Wei’s disappearance, Hai Shu contacted Yao Wei’s parents through the partner. They were very anxious upon learning he was missing and rushed to his home. Hai Shu assumed they had a spare key, but Mrs. Yao took out the key and found it wouldn’t open the door, awkwardly saying, “He doesn’t want us to see him.”

Mr. Yao comforted his wife and asked Hai Shu, “What should we do now?”

Hai Shu asked, “If I apply for a search permit, do you agree?”

They both nodded and urged, “Then hurry!”

Qiao Heng received the application again. Hai Shu asked, “This time it’s okay, right?”

Qiao Heng smiled. “You always find a way.”

Once the permit arrived, Hai Shu used tools borrowed from the property management to open the door. Wen Xu also arrived to inspect together with Hai Shu.

The apartment had three bedrooms and a living room, spacious for one person. The living room was scattered with equipment and gear bags, and unfinished cookies sat on the coffee table. In the kitchen sink were soaking bowls and a milk cup, and the cutting board and knife used for chopping vegetables remained on the counter. The frying pan on the stove had solidified oil, with two eggshells beside it.

Yao Wei had cooked noodles, fried eggs, and poured a cup of milk yesterday morning. But in the rush to attend the company event in Guibai District, he left the dishes unwashed, expecting to clean them that night.

But he never returned.

Mrs. Yao kept calling him, crying, “How could he just disappear like this?”

Hai Shu finished checking the bedroom and study. The computer in the study looked normal at first glance, but to be safe, it needed to be taken back for detailed inspection. When she came to the last room, she pressed the handle—it was locked.

A room locked in a single-person apartment?

Wen Xu said, “For a photography enthusiast, it could be a darkroom.”

Hai Shu unlocked it. It was indeed pitch black, but once her eyes adjusted, it became clear this wasn’t a darkroom but a…

Hai Shu flipped on the switch on the wall. Cold white light poured down, illuminating the photos on the walls, showing a side of Tang Jinli never presented to the police.

The photos were exposed but carried an irresistible aesthetic. Even without understanding art or photography, one could see the strong subjective sense of beauty. Tang Jinli’s poses were natural, many looking directly at the camera, deliberately posing—not covertly photographed. These were fundamentally different from the “boyfriend-snapped” photos often seen online.

But Yao Wei had covered his walls with these photos and locked them away, creating a subtly uncomfortable feeling.

Wen Xu said, “He clearly isn’t a voyeur, yet he put himself in the voyeur’s perspective.”

Mrs. Yao almost fainted at the photos. “What… what is he doing?”

Mr. Yao, fearing further shock to his wife, led her out first.

Yao Wei’s electronic devices were sent back to the police bureau for further inspection. Hai Shu stayed behind to conduct a thorough search of the apartment. There were no signs of any woman having been there. The photos Yao Wei took of Tang Jinli were mostly outdoors—forests, under starry skies, and even one set with the nighttime Jinsheng Center as the background.

Yao Wei clearly had experience, choosing to shoot at the Jinsheng Center at times when no one would pass by.

He didn’t seem to welcome guests; the shoe cabinet didn’t even have spare slippers or shoe covers. The locked room at the end was probably to prevent his parents from discovering his secret. He had even changed the front door lock to keep them out.

Aside from photography equipment, books, and discs, Yao Wei didn’t have much to reflect personal taste. Hai Shu opened a cabinet door and found a household medicine kit, well-stocked with cough and headache remedies, all unexpired. Yao Wei clearly cared about his health.

Hai Shu didn’t immediately put the kit back, because the cabinet also contained many foreign bottles—weight-loss granules, hair-growth medicine, vitamins, black-hair pills… almost all expensive supplements. There were also small bottles and bags without labels.

Hai Shu carefully placed these medicines in an evidence bag.

Late at night, part of the first criminal investigation team held a meeting in a small conference room, while another team in Guibai Village was on another mission.

Wen Xu said, “The last time Yao Wei’s Passat was captured on surveillance was 8 p.m. on March 20 on Erlizhi Road in Yanai District. But from the footage alone, we can’t tell if he was inside. After that, both the car and Yao Wei disappeared. This is the latest info; we haven’t checked Erlizhi Road in person yet.”

Hai Shu was fairly familiar with Erlizhi Road; it was near the big roundabout, but she had never driven in.

Wen Xu continued, “Yao Wei’s computer and camera have been inspected. We overestimated him—he didn’t just take photos of Tang Jinli for personal appreciation; he also posted them on foreign websites for profit.”

Hai Shu asked, “Did he upload photos of anyone else?”

Wen Xu shook his head. “If we’re talking about a single account, it’s only Tang Jinli’s. If he had others we can’t trace, that’s uncertain.”

Hai Shu felt nauseated. “How much money did he make?”

Wen Xu said, “Very little. Converted, it’s less than two hundred yuan, and he left the money in the account untouched. I think what gave him the greatest satisfaction wasn’t the money, but sharing in a dark corner with someone. Tang Jinli’s photos were last uploaded on October 30th last year.”

Hai Shu said, “After Tang Jinli had the incident, he couldn’t take more photos.”

The medicines brought back from Yao Wei’s apartment were still under examination, results pending. But the photos on Yao Wei’s wall and his act of selling them overseas directly linked him to the Tang Jinli case. Qiao Heng agreed to investigate Yao Wei’s disappearance in coordination with the Tang Jinli case.

Early on the 22nd, Hai Shu was rushing to Erlizhi Road when she suddenly received a call from Wen Xu. “Captain Hai, you might need to come back. While we were canvassing near Yao Wei’s neighborhood, the police station received a report: a body was found in the river across from his apartment complex.”

Graywave City had many rivers, and riverside properties could sell for high prices. Even with similar locations and layouts, houses with a river view were always more valuable. Yao Wei’s neighborhood wasn’t right on the river; the view was blocked by riverside houses in front. But walking from the neighborhood entrance to the river only took about fifteen minutes.

The caller was an elderly man who went running along Riverside Avenue every morning. He prided himself on knowing every blade of grass and stone by the river. Today, while running along one stretch, he felt something off about the waves—like something was blocking them. Upon closer inspection, he saw something on the reeds and pebbles by the shore.

Curious, he ran down the riverside steps, and to his shock, it was a person!

His first thought was that the person was drunk and had drowned—common, especially in summer, when young people would drink by the river, singing, and accidentally fall in. Last year, he had even rescued someone and received a “Courageous Act” banner.

This time, he thought he could save the person and pressed on the chest—but after two presses, he realized something was wrong. The feel of a living chest is different!

“Dead… dead?”

The local police, knowing the city bureau was investigating nearby, contacted the nearest bureau officers after receiving the report. Wen Xu rushed to the river while listening to the elderly man recounting the scene vividly, feeling increasingly heavy in the chest.

The elderly man said he didn’t smell decay and didn’t immediately realize it was a corpse, suggesting the death wasn’t long ago. Yao Wei had been missing for only two days; if dead, the body hadn’t started to decompose. So he contacted Hai Shu to come see.

At the scene, the police had cordoned off the area where the body lay. Wen Xu, mentally prepared, saw—it wasn’t Yao Wei.

The elderly man exclaimed, “Every year, someone drowns in this river. Why don’t these young people learn their lesson? It’s not even summer, yet they drink and run into the river!”

After an initial examination, Wen Xu thought: no, this person didn’t drown from drinking. There were no signs of drowning; the body had been thrown into the river post-mortem.

The elderly man kept chattering, demanding more warning signs along the river. Wen Xu hurried to perform the autopsy, while the man shouted after him, “Society is cold!”

Hai Shu arrived to see this scene, half-amused, half-bewildered. Finding a body near the home of someone under a missing-person investigation—this was another layer of irony.

Hai Shu roughly assessed the riverside body: male, 1.73 meters tall, with no identifying items. Though the elderly man didn’t recognize him as dead, the body had been deceased over three days, already emitting the odor of decay. Cause of death required autopsy.

Hai Shu assigned two team members to stay at the station, assisting the police with surveillance and canvassing. She had an indescribable premonition—the case wasn’t simple.

The morning rush had passed. Erlizhi Road was quiet. This older district in Yanai had narrow roads and few cameras, contrasting sharply with the modern elements elsewhere in the district.

Hai Shu drove along Erlizhi Road, checking any Passats parked roadside for license plates—but none belonged to Yao Wei. She knew it was unlikely to find his car here. Her concern was: why would Yao Wei pass this road, why come here?

From Guibai District’s New City to RiseWind Cloud (Qi Feng Kai Yun) there was no need to pass this road. Returning home, he wouldn’t take it either. Was he meeting someone here? Or leaving the company event in a rush to handle something nearby?

Hai Shu couldn’t figure it out, so she drove along the road, imagining where Yao Wei might go next. The surrounding area was older residential districts, not as old as Tang Jinli’s rental. These areas had walls, with convenience stores and hotpot restaurants along the roads. The only large building nearby was Kangmin Hospital.

Team members spread out, showing Yao Wei’s photo to residents. From hotpot shop owners to women walking, all said they hadn’t seen him.

Hai Shu steadied herself and decided to meet Fengcheng Anna again. Yao Wei had been introduced to Tang Jinli by Anna, and with Yao Wei now missing and suspected of selling Tang Jinli’s photos, Anna had become a key link.

Today, Fengcheng Anna was shooting in Chenwan District. Hai Shu waited and noticed Anna’s outfit this time was completely different from before—she looked like a commanding older sister type, which strangely suited her.

“I’ve already heard in the group chat,” Fengcheng Anna asked worriedly. “How could Brother Yao go missing? He couldn’t have gotten into trouble, right?”

Hai Shu asked, “Were most of your photos at RiseWind Cloud taken by Yao Wei?”

Fengcheng Anna nodded. “We’re good partners.”

Hai Shu asked, “Did he ever ask you to take revealing photos?”

Fengcheng Anna’s eyes widened, pausing. “You mean sexualized photos? Actually, that wasn’t his request. Some of our projects just require wearing less clothing.”

Hai Shu said, “Can I take a look?”

Fengcheng Anna found them. “Here they are.”

No—they were different from the ones Yao Wei took of Tang Jinli.

Hai Shu covered Tang Jinli’s face in the photos and showed them to Fengcheng Anna. She was shocked, saying she had never taken anything like this and that no one at RiseWind Cloud would shoot such photos.

Hai Shu said, “These are Yao Wei’s works.”

Fengcheng Anna took a long moment to understand, then shook her head. “Brother Yao isn’t like that. He’s a good person, otherwise I wouldn’t have introduced him to Jian Ni.”

During the investigation at RiseWind Cloud, what Hai Shu heard most was also, “Brother Yao is a good person.” He always showed concern for women and looked after men as well. When the partners sometimes assigned unreasonable tasks, no one wanted to speak up, and he would step in to coordinate. Privately, everyone treated him as the real boss, seeing him as gentle and understanding. Anyone who could marry him would be incredibly lucky.

The partner and two employees confirmed that last summer, Yao Wei had said he had a girlfriend, smiling happily. But when asked who, he would always say it wasn’t stable yet and he would introduce her later. This year, he never mentioned it again, leading everyone to guess he and his girlfriend might have already broken up.

The old saying “know a person’s face but not their heart” applied especially well to Yao Wei. He was friendly at work, never refused labor, and treated partners as brothers—but at home, he used women’s bodies as commodities to sell.

He had a very dark side.

Fengcheng Anna swore she didn’t know what Yao Wei did to Tang Jinli. She looked innocent, but judging by the result, she had indeed pushed Tang Jinli into an unprecedented inferno.

Hai Shu had just returned to her car when she received a call from Wen Xu. The autopsy results and identity of the riverside body were out.

“The deceased is Zhao Ruocheng, 35 years old, a… auxiliary police officer in Shaohua Street, Yanai District,” Wen Xu handed Hai Shu the autopsy report as she rushed back to the city bureau. “Time of death was between the night of March 18th and the early morning of March 19th.”

Hai Shu immediately noted his occupation. “Auxiliary police?”

Wen Xu said, “If he weren’t an auxiliary officer, confirming identity would have taken longer.”

Zhao Ruocheng became an auxiliary officer over a year ago, and his biological data had already been collected. Wen Xu compared samples taken from the body with the system and confirmed the source.

Though auxiliary officers aren’t full police, a body of an auxiliary officer thrown into a river was not a trivial matter. Hai Shu continued scrolling. “Cause of death is…”

“Respiratory suppression caused by drugs,” Wen Xu said. “We detected a large amount of propofol in Zhao Ruocheng’s body. Properly used, it’s an anesthetic, but it’s also a controlled substance; an overdose can stop breathing. His lungs are clean, showing no drowning signs. When he was put into the river, he was already dead.”

Hai Shu frowned. “Propofol is a controlled substance, right?”

Wen Xu nodded. “It’s rarely used even in anesthesia now. On the black market, some addicts use it for short-term euphoria.”

Investigating this case would require a full social network inquiry on Zhao Ruocheng, but the Criminal Investigation Team One didn’t have enough personnel at the moment. The body’s discovery time and location made it easy to link to the missing Yao Wei; propofol was also found, but there were no signs yet that the two cases were related.

Although Hai Shu was a workaholic, she couldn’t investigate every case. After thinking, she decided to transfer Zhao Ruocheng’s case to the Yanai District Sub-Bureau.

It was common for the sub-bureau to send cases to the city bureau, but the city bureau sending cases to the sub-bureau was unusual. Hai Shu planned to leave the procedure to Qiao Heng and focus on finding Yao Wei. But as soon as she explained the situation, Qiao Heng said sternly, “This case might not be transferable.”