Chapter 3 Equipment Advanced

  "It's really beautiful, I love it so much." Zhang Meng was the first to run into that elegant little world. It's hard to imagine that in this vast mountain range, there is such a miniature paradise.

  I didn't say a word, took out the toolbox and started working. I put on a cool night vision goggles which can help me observe footprints and small objects in the room. The air discriminator can accurately collect body aura and find out how many people have been here in the past five days. This device is usually not very useful, but for a private space that is isolated from the outside world, it's a different story.

  Ding ding ~ After I walked around in a circle, an air separator appeared on the screen with a "nine" character.

  "Who has been here recently?" I'm now exuding a strong aura, and Wu Xing and Zhang Meng are both intimidated by the advanced equipment I have with me.

  Kong Xiangdong swallowed hard: "Except for me and my wife, nobody usually comes here."

  "Recently, who has been here? Don't think about usual times, the day of the incident counts too. Who usually covets this place and knows it well? Think carefully." Before I asked again, I had already covered up these nine words, which means that apart from the deceased, there were nine people who came here.

  At this reminder, Kong Xiangdong remembered: "Two days ago, I found my wife lying in a pool of blood and was so scared that I went out to call the doctor. At that time, Captain Wang and Yan Feng ran over and helped me carry my wife to the emergency room. After she died, only Police Officer Lin came."

  "Who is Yan Feng?" I was very dissatisfied with this answer, as for Captain Wang, it was naturally the same Wang Wenluo we had just met, a talent who dreamed of Noah's Ark.

  Kong Xiangdong furrowed his brow and said, "Yan Feng is one of those young people who play online games all day, but he doesn't smell like smoke like the others. He always washes up in the mountain stream and does laundry, so we know him a bit, but not too well. I didn't think that kid would come to help out that day either."

  "What a ridiculous message, my eyes suddenly turned cold: 'Compared to the child and the captain, you as a husband are more suspicious. Don't underestimate the device in my hand, there must be more than six people who have been here.'"

  "What?! Kǒng Xiángdōng suddenly became anxious: "I'm paying you to solve the case, how could it be that I want you to investigate me myself? This is truly absurd!"

  "You won't report it, but the police will still come. You're offering a reward of one million, which can narrow down the suspects, but to me, it seems like you're trying to cover up your own anxiety." I launched into accusation mode, my words firing off like a machine gun.

  Kong Xiangdong's temper flared up: "Is that broken machine of yours so amazing? If it's really that amazing, then directly tell me who the murderer is, go ahead and say it."

  "The machine shows that recently, eleven people have come here. Don't underestimate high-tech, our crime unit's air analyzer is more sensitive than a dog's nose." I casually mentioned a number.

  A tough attitude is a convincing foundation. Kong Xiangdong was stunned at the time: "There are so many people, uh... right, when I took my wife to the emergency room that time, the 'door' here was open and not locked, I'm not sure who came, there's no surveillance camera either, don't know."

  "Ask you something, why always kick the ball? Think again, who might come to see?" My attitude wasn't very good.

  "Possible?" Kong Xiangdong was very unhappy, took a few deep breaths and said: "Zhao Ye at the 'door' might come, Chen Tuo, the supervisor of Ghost Market, should come, Liu Yuwei and my wife always talk, they will probably come to take a look too. Then there's Zhao Hongshen who sends a coffin whenever someone dies, he might come too...hmm, four plus our seven makes eleven people."

  Two more quotas are reluctantly allocated, and nine people have been here. I, Zhang Meng, Wu Xing, Lin Jingcha, four of us were eliminated first. Among the five suspects, Kong Xiangdong, Yan Feng, Wang Wenluo, three of them confirmed to be here, leaving two quotas for Zhao Ye, Chen Dong, Liu Yuwei, and Zhao Hongsen, who can be investigated as side branches to narrow down the search scope.

  I asked a few more suspects for some simple information, and then let Kong Xiangdong describe the scene after opening the "door" that day. He said some of my previous speculations in my mind, and after saying something useless, he said another thing.

  "Your way of investigating cases is completely opposite to that of Detective Kobayashi. He always asks about the situation on that day first." said Kong Xiangdong.

  "Of course, this is the absolute difference between the Major Crimes Unit and ordinary police. Now it's time to get off work, I'm going to sleep." My actions are beyond the expectations of the onlookers in the ghost town, and there must be a lot of discussion behind my back.

  But I don't care about these things anymore. Wu Xing went to visit an old friend, while Zhang Meng pulled my arm and ran to a pit?

  This manhole cover is round, with iron stairs leading down, not deep, about two or three meters, inside there are warm yellow lights and the sound of popular songs.

  "Hey~ Little White Sheep, are you home?" Zhang Momo excitedly called out towards the burrow.

  "Is that Little Lemon sister? The 'door' is open, come on in." A voice even more childish than Zhang Lemon's chimed in, "Geez, is this a kids' playground or what?"

  "I've brought a guest." Zhang Meng said, gesturing for us to go down together.

  "Ha ~ is it Detective Lin?"

  After Zhang Mian and I entered, we saw a 15 or 16-year-old girl with a mushroom-shaped haircut, looking lovely and sweet. She was wearing a yellow jumpsuit, white stockings, and little tiger shoes, super cartoonish!

  And then there's her room, what about the room?

  Sorry, when I saw that little face as white as snow, my spirit was a bit dazed and I couldn't tell whether this was a two-dimensional fairy tale world or a three-dimensional real space.

  Down to the ground 'cave' after, here is about thirty or more square meters around, small kitchen, small toilet outside, it's just a house and living room together with a small space inside, big doll, little teddy bear, little basketball, nest-like snail shell, kill various fairy tales.

  Without a doubt, after seeing me, that pure little girl showed a disappointed expression.

  "Wow, there's even a TV and laptop, fully equipped." I changed the subject to find another topic, hoping this simple little guy wouldn't be sad.

  "Bad guy, don't think nonsense, Bai Yang is a good kid, mentally normal. She's just born with an allergy to ultraviolet light, so she's always lived here like a little mole."

  "I'm not a kid anymore!" Bai Yang helped find slippers and urged us to change quickly, then immediately pulled Zhang Mian to the nest-like small 'bed' and whispered something in a low voice.

  I casually touched my ear, the night vision goggles' frame edge magnification switch opened, capturing every tiny sound, at the same time, my hand was always rolling the volume adjustment wheel to avoid being deafened.

  "Nah nah ~ Little Lemon sister, I found the person I like, it's that Detective Lin, wow! He's so handsome!" A soft voice came over.

  "Haha~ We're really childhood BFFs, we both have a crush on someone at the same time, and they're all police officers." Zhang Meng said with a red face, glancing at me, I pretended to be busy with my phone, but in my heart, I was super thrilled.

  My first love, including my classmate's 'girl' friend, the 'girl' just said yes to being together, okay, then it's all about saying the opposite, no means yes, yes means no, very few, or never said I like you, stuck on you, very rare!

  Can't figure out why some 'girls' never say things that make men willing to pay everything and strive.

  "Really?" Bai Yang sneaked a glance at me: "Xiao Meng, you're so lucky to be with the one you like, unlike me, I'm too timid and don't even dare to appear in front of him."

  "Ahh~~~" Zhang Meng's not-so-loud exclamation was a deafening roar to me!

  Taking a deep breath, I thought to myself that next time I overheard something important, I had to speak up quickly and quietly.

  "No way, you like him, but he doesn't even know you exist. You won't turn yourself into a little mermaid, will you? This is not going to work!" Zhang Meng clenched her small fist in anxiety for her.

  Cut! You still have the nerve to say others, I thought, at first you were excited and shouting, wanting to go out and play, but it was me who first emptied your small wallet with accommodation and financial means to keep you here, which gave us a chance to pursue.

  She pouted with a wronged little mouth: "I don't dare to, and he's too busy. I haven't even finished writing my love letter and he's already exhausted."

  "In the emergency room? I'll go with you in a minute. You must tell him." Zhang Meng said solemnly, she wasn't afraid of losing face at all.

  However, Bai Yang shook his small mushroom head, and his expression fell: "I don't know what's going on, but when Officer Lin saw you two get out of the car, he seemed to be afraid or something, and immediately drove away."

  Something is wrong!

  Could it be that this Lin policeman is also a suspect? I was too careless and shouldn't have directly skipped over his identity just because he's a police officer. At the very least, I should have checked his badge number and confirmed it on the police department's website.

  "Look, this is Detective Lin, isn't he handsome?" Bai Yang handed the camera to Zhang Meng.

  At this time, I turned off the eavesdropper and stretched out my hand: "Hand it over and let me take a look."

  "Hmm..." Bai Yang thought for a moment and said: "Alright, let me show you. Maybe you know his name."

  "Wait a minute." Zhang Momo's small face turned pink with embarrassment: "Bad guy, you eavesdropped on our conversation?"

  "I'm analyzing the case, but I lack intel on Ghost Market. Her camera should give me some leads. As for your little 'girl' gossip, I couldn't care less." My face was stone-cold, not a single drop of emotion leaked out.

  The little white guy jumped down from the small "bed", stretched out his hand and handed me the camera: "Police brother, you are as handsome as him, look, do you know him? What's his name?"

  "Hmph! I'm from the provincial Public Security Bureau's Major Crimes Unit, how could I possibly know a small-town cop like you? How boring."

  "Huh~~~" As I took the camera and looked, my eyes bulged out. This person, how come he looks so familiar, familiar to the point that I almost know the number of hairs on his legs.

  Zhang Meng saw the look on my face and also jumped off the bed, curiously asking: "Bad guy, you're the first police officer from the major crimes unit to handle this case, you shouldn't know him, should you?"

  "Whoa... I took a deep breath, and couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity of it all: 'As it turns out, this person was my college roommate, someone I lived with for four years. However, our relationship was extremely bad.'"

  "What's his name? What is it?" Bai Yang was excited, her innocent and curious eyes gazed over, making it impossible to refuse.

  "His name is Lin Zhen," she said. "This guy has a face like an ice block, and can't get along with anyone. In four years of college, he didn't have a single friend to talk to. How could you possibly like him?" I was on the verge of collapse. Back in the day, Lin Zhen was always number one, and his gaze that saw right through everything made me, Cao Qiankun, and Wang Dali feel like we had a fishbone stuck in our throats.

  Under the same roof, in the same room, it's even more unbearable.

  So we three brothers worked hard, each in our own field, studying diligently. To be precise, it was because of him that I embarked on the path of forensic medicine, and eventually became second only to him in this field. Until graduation, he never surpassed me, haha!

  "Lin Zhen, what a handsome name, so cool and awesome! ~" Bai Yang is absolutely infatuated for the first time, a little 'flower' crazy.

  Huh? It's actually Lin Zhen, is it really Lin Zhen? Is it Lin Zhen?

  "Hahaha~" I suddenly had a gloomy and sinister smile on my face.

  "Hmph!" Zhang Meng said with a puffed up face: "You scoundrel, what are you laughing at? Let me tell you, with me around, don't even think about doing anything bad."

  Cough... I turned gentle: "Bai Yang, Lin Zhen and I are classmates, although our relationship has some minor flaws, but after all, we were roommates for four years. What he didn't do, I'll help him complete. Do you know anything about the murder case that happened two days ago?"

  Zhang Meng's small face looked disdainful, but the innocent Bai Yang didn't notice anything was wrong: "Specific things I don't know either, there are things I've heard and also seen myself, what do you want to know?"

  "We'll get everything." I sat on the bed with two little beauties, and we'll take it slow tonight.