Animal Detective

Zhang Songhao and the others wouldn’t say, but Shen Xin could just search for it himself.

He had already seen the man and knew he was connected to Shenghai Bank. A quick search on the bank’s official website confirmed it.

He was one of Shenghai Bank’s five vice presidents, and the website said he was in charge of the credit department.

His resume showed he had worked at Shenghai Bank for many years, serving as a vice president, the chief risk officer of the Songpu Main Branch, and in other positions.

Shen Xin then deduced that the case was likely related to the loan business.

’Probably something like illegal loans.’

Shenghai Bank was a foreign-funded bank, but it was still subject to domestic regulations.

Zou Cong drove by, but shortly after pulling into the garage—maybe a minute at most, likely without even getting out of the car—he unexpectedly drove back out.

He even came face-to-face with one of the surveillance team’s vehicles.

Gu Dawei quickly signaled his subordinate, and they drove off to follow.

They worked in two shifts, and Team Two was responsible for surveillance at night.

Shen Xin was in the surveillance van, all ready to get to work, when Zou Cong unexpectedly left again.

He asked Hu Mingchuan from Team One, but he didn’t know what had happened either.

Not long after, a message came from Gu Dawei’s end.

He said Zou Cong had gone to a hotel and checked into a room.

The surveillance van immediately set off for the hotel.

When they met up with Gu Dawei, he couldn’t explain it either.

They got a room directly below the one Zou Cong checked into and used listening devices to monitor the activity upstairs.

Inside the surveillance van, they could hear sounds: someone walking around, the TV on.

He would occasionally make a phone call, but it was always about work.

Zhang Songhao arrived, completely puzzled. "It’s not like he’s meeting anyone. Why would he suddenly check into a hotel out of the blue?"

No one could figure it out, so they could only heighten their vigilance.

A little before eleven at night, Zou Cong even ordered takeout.

Then came the sounds of him slurping it down.

In the van, the team listened in silence, afraid of missing any detail.

Guan Wenkang glanced at his phone and grumbled, "He’s over forty. Can he really last that long?"

The others exchanged suggestive looks.

Shen Xin, with a straight face, analyzed, "Think about it. She went in a few minutes after eleven, but they didn’t start until half an hour later. Why?"

The others understood instantly.

The noises didn’t stop until a little after midnight.

Then, nothing.

Zou Cong saw the person out and slept straight through until morning, only leaving for work around nine the next day.

Team One took over.

Team Two could finally go home.

But a few of them started murmuring among themselves.

One of Gu Dawei’s subordinates said, "If he wanted to... ’do business,’ why not do it at home? He’s single, so it should be safer there, right?"

Shen Xin deeply agreed.

It was true that busts at budget hotels were a dime a dozen, while you might have to stake out a five-star place for days to catch someone.

But there was still a risk.

As far as Shen Xin knew, high-end hotels had judicial surveillance cameras with facial recognition.

People with criminal records would be flagged the moment they stepped into the hotel.

And if a vice president of a major bank like Zou Cong got swept up in a raid, it would look terrible. It might even affect his job.

In contrast, his home was relatively safer.

He wasn’t married, so who cared about his private life?

Guan Wenkang hesitated before suggesting a possibility. "Could it be that what happened last night scared him, so he didn’t dare go home?"

The team members looked at each other, unable to guess Zou Cong’s true thoughts.

That day, Team One conducted their surveillance as usual and found nothing.

But at a little past seven that evening, Zou Cong went home.

Knowing Zou Cong was heading home, Shen Xin had already sent Sergeant into the house ahead of time.

His behavior yesterday had been a bit unusual.

Sergeant could hear the faintest footsteps, so he waited just outside the corridor leading from the underground garage.

Before long, a tiptoeing Zou Cong appeared on camera.

He first turned on the lights, then glanced around warily.

Unfortunately, he didn’t spot Sergeant.

Sergeant had roamed the villa for a long time the night before last and was now familiar enough with it. Hiding in any nook or cranny, with his all-black fur, he was truly hard to spot even if you walked right past him.

"I think he was just scared yesterday, that’s why he didn’t come home," Shen Xin said, pointing at the screen.

On camera, Zou Cong began searching the entire house, upstairs and down, as soon as he got inside.

He was clearly looking for someone.

The police were investigating, and even if it was just peripheral surveillance, if he had something to hide, he would surely be on alert.

The house was empty, so his search naturally came up with nothing.

Only then did Zou Cong relax and start busying himself with making dinner.

He just boiled some frozen dumplings.

He grabbed a can of beer and leaned against the kitchen island, waiting somewhat distractedly for the dumplings to cook.

As he was drinking, in the instant he tilted his head back to take a swig, he suddenly caught a glimpse of something in the reflection of the window across from him.

It was dark outside and the lights were on inside, so the glass reflected the room’s interior.

In that split second, he saw something in the reflection.

The dining room was on the other side of the kitchen.

And from his angle, he could see a corner of the dining room.

Right on top of the dining room display cabinet, there was a dark, lumpy shape that seemed out of place.

Zou Cong froze in terror and whipped his head around.

The spot was empty. There was nothing there.

He turned his head back to look at the window. The same spot in the reflection, but the dark shape was gone.

Zou Cong blinked hard. Still nothing.

But he was certain he had really seen it.

It was just a fleeting glimpse, but there had been a black mass.

He hurried into the dining room and looked around. Everything was normal.

Under the table, in all the nooks and crannies—nothing.

"Who’s there!"

Zou Cong shouted, but there was no reply, only the sound of water boiling in the pot on the kitchen stove.

Just then, out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly noticed a light coming from the direction of the distant staircase.

He rushed over and was shocked to find that the motion-sensor strip lights on the spiral staircase had lit up and were ascending.

He had installed automatic motion-sensor strip lights.

There were sensors at the top and bottom, meaning that when someone passed by, the strip lights would automatically light up in an ascending sequence.

They were cascading lights, and the speed at which they lit up was roughly the same as a person’s walking pace up the stairs.

By the time Zou Cong got there, the cascading lights had already reached the landing at the top of the stairs.

It was as if someone had walked up from the bottom of the stairs and reached the landing.

The problem was, there was no one on the stairs!

The hair on Zou Cong’s arms stood on end.

He scrambled up the stairs.

The lights were on in the second-floor living room, but there wasn’t a soul in sight.

A cold sweat had already broken out on Zou Cong’s forehead. He panicked and shouted into the empty air, "Who is it? Come out right now! I’m telling you, I’m not afraid! Come out!"

Not far away, in a mere ten-centimeter gap beneath a decorative cabinet against the wall, Sergeant was curled up, silently waiting for the right moment.

He felt this place wasn’t safe.

Just as the panicked Zou Cong shouted twice and turned to go back downstairs, Sergeant saw his chance and darted into a room diagonally opposite.

At such a close distance, Zou Cong heard faint footsteps.

He whipped his head around, but again, saw nothing.

At that moment, Zou Cong could no longer stop the cold sweat from pouring down his face.

’I’m not mistaken. Something’s wrong. Something’s very wrong.’

’The curtains moving without a breeze, the door opening on its own.’

’And that incredibly realistic nightmare.’

’The black shadow I saw, and just now... something definitely passed behind me.’

Zou Cong gripped the stair railing tightly, his terrified gaze sweeping over every possible blind spot in front of him.

Everything was as it had been.

But the dead-silent atmosphere sent a chill down his spine.

"Yuan Jie... you... don’t try to scare me. I’m not afraid."

His voice trembled as he called out tentatively into the air.

There was no response.

Inside the surveillance van.

Shen Xin immediately looked toward Zhang Songhao beside him.

’Who is this Yuan Jie?’

"Holy shit," Gu Dawei gasped from behind him.

And in front of him, the expression on Zhang Songhao’s face had also changed dramatically.