Animal Detective

He had been scared before, and scared twice at that. Subconsciously, he had already revealed key information.

It was like a murder case.

You might have identified several possible suspects, but without evidence, you can’t prove who the real killer is.

Then, one of them has a slip of the tongue and says they’ve killed someone before.

At that point, there’s no need to keep pressuring him, using scare tactics to try and frighten him into revealing *how* he killed them and *where*.

That’s not easy.

Instead, you should go back to the case itself.

He said he killed someone, so you should look for evidence on the victim—ironclad evidence proving he was the killer.

Once you have that key evidence, why bother scaring him? Just show up at his door and bring him in for questioning.

Applying that analogy to the current situation...

Zou Cong had unconsciously revealed key information twice.

So it was highly probable that Director Chen had ordered it, forcing Yuan Jie to his death.

And Zou Cong was either in on it or he was the one who carried it out.

’Then we just need to investigate the relationship between those three.’

’With such a complex web, I refuse to believe we can’t dig up a shred of evidence.’

’With that evidence, we can make the arrest directly.’

Outside, Hu Mingchuan finished his phone call, but apparently with no results.

He got into another car, fuming.

So for now, they would have to wait for news.

Before long, Gao Mingyu’s phone rang. It was probably a call from a superior.

He got out of the car to take the call.

Only Shen Xin and Guan Wenkang were left in the car.

Guan Wenkang finally relaxed, giving Shen Xin a look of lingering fear before saying, "I was kind of hoping they’d let us install the cameras. It would’ve been fun to scare those two, especially that master."

’Fun is fun,’ Shen Xin thought, ’but solving a case isn’t a game.’

After mulling it over, Shen Xin said, "This master is a *real* master."

’A master who knows to install surveillance cameras to catch a ghost—what else could he be but a real master?’

Guan Wenkang snorted with laughter. He gestured outside with his eyes, asking Shen Xin if he wanted to make a bet on the final outcome.

Shen Xin thought for a moment and said, "My money’s on them not installing it."

Guan Wenkang reached out and patted Sergeant, a look of regret on his face.

Shen Xin gazed at the villa in the distance.

’All this supernatural mumbo-jumbo is ultimately fake. The truly terrifying thing is when an arrest warrant is slapped down in front of you.’

The debate this time dragged on for a while.

They waited until the surveillance installation crew arrived, and there was still no decision.

In that case, there was no need to argue anymore. The opportunity was lost.

After dinner, the news finally came: withdraw. The night’s operation was canceled.

Surveillance would continue, but Sergeant was no longer needed.

Zhang Songhao drove Shen Xin back to his hotel, slapping the steering wheel in anger as he vented about how Gao Mingyu had no empathy, was totally unreasonable, and didn’t appreciate how hard his officers worked.

His resentment ran deep.

Shen Xin tried to console him. "Captain Zhang, I actually think withdrawing is a good sign."

Zhang Songhao froze, not understanding at first.

But he had been doing this for many years, and he came from a criminal investigation background. His mind quickly turned, and it dawned on him. "You mean they’re confident they have him?"

Shen Xin nodded.

For the past few days, they had been relying on Sergeant’s reconnaissance.

Now, they had suddenly pulled back, saying he wasn’t needed.

That could only mean one thing: they had a breakthrough on another front.

Zhang Songhao’s spirits instantly lifted. He quickly dropped Shen Xin off at the hotel and rushed off to the task force headquarters.

「Meanwhile, inside the villa.」

Zou Cong had contacted one of his bank’s surveillance system suppliers.

With a single phone call, the supplier’s business manager personally rushed over with a team and installed over twenty cameras throughout the villa.

They ensured there would be no blind spots.

The whole ordeal lasted until after nine o’clock at night.

After seeing the installation crew off, Su Xuanqing asked, "So? Feeling better now?"

Zou Cong looked around but still shook his head. "No, it’s a ghost!"

Su Xuanqing rolled his eyes dramatically and went back to watching the financial news on TV.

He hadn’t left.

Zou Cong was terrified and insisted he stay, even demanding they sleep in the same room.

Naturally, Su Xuanqing couldn’t agree to that.

As Zou Cong tossed and turned, unable to sleep, Su Xuanqing offered him a brilliant solution: go buy some sleeping pills.

He guaranteed it would knock him out until morning.

Zou Cong thought that might work.

A few sleeping pills later, drowsiness indeed washed over him, and he slept soundly until dawn.

When he woke up, Su Xuanqing was already up and practicing Tai Chi in the back garden.

Zou Cong hadn’t rested well for days and hurriedly asked if anything had happened last night.

"Oh yeah. I got up in the middle of the night and saw a female ghost with a long face. It was super scary," Su Xuanqing said without turning around.

"A female ghost? That’s not right."

Zou Cong paused. ’It’s supposed to be a male ghost.’

Then it hit him, and he said, exasperated, "Old Su, I’m being serious."

Su Xuanqing said, "I’m being serious too. Old Zou, stop letting your imagination run wild. Listen to me: there are no ghosts in this world, only in the hearts of men."

He turned his head and gave Zou Cong a meaningful glance.

Zou Cong’s expression stiffened. Still uneasy, he went back to check the surveillance footage.

They had installed top-of-the-line equipment.

High-definition, infrared night vision, and even object recognition with automatic recording.

But after reviewing the footage, he found nothing except for Su Xuanqing getting up in the middle of the night to get a drink of water from the kitchen.

Still, he wasn’t convinced.

He figured Su Xuanqing was such a powerful master that he’d scared the "unclean thing" into hiding.

He wanted Su Xuanqing to stay for one more day.

Su Xuanqing paid him no mind, made a call to his assistant to pick him up, and left shortly after.

「The daytime was fine.」

But when night fell, looking at the empty villa, Zou Cong still felt his skin crawl.

He lay in bed, tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep.

He didn’t take any sleeping pills this time. He decided to tough it out, thinking that if nothing happened tonight, then he would truly be in the clear.

He stayed awake like that until almost three in the morning before he couldn’t hold on any longer and drifted into a groggy sleep.

When he woke again, the sun was high in the sky.

Bright sunlight streamed through the window, and everything in the house was as it should be.

Zou Cong got up, did a full sweep of the villa, and checked the surveillance footage again.

"Could it be that I was just overthinking things?"

Zou Cong wondered.

But the facts were right in front of him. Su Xuanqing wasn’t there, so if something was going to happen, it should have happened.

"Trust in science."

Zou Cong took a deep breath, finally feeling at ease.

A perfectly good weekend. Normally he’d be out living it up, but this whole mess had completely ruined it.

But there was still time.

Zou Cong changed his clothes, getting ready to go out and unwind.

He’d been terrified these past few days.

Just then, the doorbell rang.

He glanced at the security monitor for the front gate, and his expression changed slightly.

He recognized the man in the lead.

He had come to the bank to investigate before. He was the deputy head of the Zhongming Economic Investigation Brigade, a man named Hu Mingchuan.

And there were several others behind him.

Zou Cong’s heart sank. He quickly collected his thoughts and opened the gate.

"Captain Hu, hello."

Zou Cong opened the front door, greeting him with a beaming smile while asking who the others were and why they had suddenly come looking for him on a weekend.

Shen Xin was with them, sizing up Zou Cong.

’Looks like he’s recovered. His color is pretty good.’

Hu Mingchuan watched Zou Cong quietly, seemingly savoring the moment. Then, he pulled an arrest warrant and a search warrant from his bag.

"Zou Cong, you’re coming with us."

In an instant, the smile on Zou Cong’s face froze.

His gaze went from startled, to blank, to utter disbelief.

Finally, his eyes flew wide open.

The terror on his face was far more frightening than seeing a ghost.

"I..."

His voice trembled, but the words wouldn’t come.

Hu Mingchuan gave a signal, and one of his subordinates stepped forward, pulling out a pair of handcuffs.

But the moment they touched him, Zou Cong’s legs gave out, and he crumpled to the ground. They couldn’t pull him up no matter how they tried.

Shen Xin shook his head to himself.

’As expected,’ he thought. ’Reality is much more terrifying.’