Chapter 36: The Absent Murder Case (4)

  All the way, Shengyuan looked at Xiaozhu who was silent and speechless, and touched his nose a little awkwardly. After a long time, he finally squeezed out a sentence: "That, Xiaozhu, what Xizhang said may not be true, don't worry too much."

  After a long silence, just when Sheng Yuan thought he wouldn't get an answer from Xia Zhu, Xia Zhu spoke up: "Mm, I know, thank you senior."

  Her voice was very soft, a kind of softness that would unintentionally disperse.

  Shengyuan felt a bit stifled listening to it, but didn't know what else to say either. He could only turn on the car stereo, but unfortunately the music was also uninspiring. The song that came out was a melancholic and sentimental little love song. Xiaozhu listened, her face turned to one side, as if she had fallen asleep.

  Before long, they arrived at Lin's residence amidst a whirlwind of excitement.

  The Lin's house still looked gloomy and lifeless, too far away to hear if there were any sounds coming from inside.

  Xia Zhu opened her eyes, and there was no trace of fatigue in the bottom of her eyes. Sheng Yuan didn't know if she had fallen asleep or not, so he could only reach out to grab the gun at his waist.

  "Senior."

  Sheng Yuan was stunned and then heard Xia Zhu say: "Actually, my marksmanship is not that bad."

  Her voice was faintly smiling, with a hint of warmth and elegance, yet it made Sheng Yuan's heart tremble with fear: "You..."

  "I just got my gun license, but I haven't gotten a gun yet..." Xia Zhu was silent for a moment before opening the car door and smiling: "Sorry, I misspoke."

  Shengyuan finally understood Xiaozhu's meaning, a bad idea flashed through his mind: "Don't be impulsive."

  His voice was laced with vigilance, and Xia Zhu heard it, but also didn't take it to heart. There was once a day when Lin Yuanxi slept after, she stayed up all night reading all of Xi Bao's reports and past crimes, at that time there was a sentence on top that Xia Zhu remembered, saying that Xi Bao had the ability to manipulate people's hearts.

  Professor Lin Qingzhi had once commented on this sentence, but Xia Zhu didn't know that the high-IQ criminal mentioned would be linked to himself and Lin Yuan in so many inexplicable ways.

  Lin Qing said: "Criminal psychology is actually a double-edged sword, it can be used to save people, but also to harm people. And you," Professor Lin Yuanzhi's expression was full of kindness and expectation at that time: "I hope you can become the former in the true sense."

  Xia Zhu seemed to understand and yet not understand, but now she realized Lin Yuanzhi's expectations back then. Thinking of the person still in a coma, her expression slightly changed. The name Xi Bo was like a vast dark cloud that almost engulfed her entire world. Both Lin Yuan and Lin Qing were closely related to this person.

  Now she herself has also been affected and has quietly fallen into the net set by Shi Bao.

  Taking a deep breath, Xia Zhu looked at Sheng Yuan with gratitude and said, "I'm fine now, thank you, senior."

  Sheng Yuan looked at her with some suspicion, reached out and touched her shoulder: "Don't be so stiff," he walked a few steps forward and turned back to say: "Your unstable emotions, not only can they harm yourself, but also possibly harm Yuan Qi."

  Xia Zhu's expression was firm, and he nodded in response: "I understand."

  The Lin residence's gate was locked, looking heavily guarded. Shengyuan knocked at the entrance for a while, but there was indeed no sound from inside.

  This made the two people outside the door look even more solemn, Xia Zhu stared at the door for a while, took out a small steel plate from her hand and inserted it into the ancient lock.

  Shengyuan was shocked: "Where did you learn this from again?"

  "A good teacher produces excellent students." Xia Zhu said lightly, her tone somewhat reminiscent of Lin Yuan's style.

  Shengyuan looked at her for a while, shook his head and smiled: "He taught a good apprentice."

  Xia Zhu listened to his sincere words and found it a bit amusing. She lightly waved the thing in her hand and asked, "Just because I can pick locks? Hmm, done."

  "It's nothing," Sheng Yuan waved his hand, pushing Xia Zhu behind him and taking the lead with his gun, "Once we enter this courtyard, anything can happen, Xia Zhu, be careful to protect yourself."

  "Yes." Xia Zhu replied concisely.

  However, they were disappointed to find that the entire villa seemed to have been completely emptied in this short period of time.

  There was no one, even the villa's servants had all vanished without a trace, as if everything had changed in less than half a day.

  Shengyuan's face was solemn as he put away his gun, standing in the empty courtyard and looking around, shaking his head after a while: "This is premeditated."

  "I think so too," Xia Zhu said softly: "Things are packed up quickly, it doesn't seem like a hasty escape, and... Yuan Li is not here either, it's very likely that he followed them."

  "I mentioned earlier that the Lin family had a big storm, and it's probably now," Sheng Yuan furrowed his brow and said: "But at present, the old master of the Lin family is also here, how much can those few children turn things around?"

  Xia Zhu was silent for a long time before suddenly asking: "What if what they want isn't just the wife's shares?"

  Shengyuan's face stiffened, and he looked at Xia Zhu in disbelief: "You mean...?"

  Xia Zhu smiled faintly: "If it's about plotting a major change, of course, it's impossible to just eliminate a small obstacle. For them, this isn't something difficult to guess."

  "Yuanqi must have thought of this too, so he quickly caught up." Shengyuan added.

  "That's right." Xia Zhu thought for a moment, and then walked into Lin Yuanqi's room on the second floor. She rummaged around inside, leaving Sheng Yuan bewildered: "Xia Zhu, are you thinking of someone?"

  Xia Zhu almost tripped and let out a sigh of frustration: "I was just thinking... maybe he left something for us."

  Unfortunately, the telepathy didn't work this time. Xia Zhu found nothing except for a photo, which was obviously taken during Lin Yuan's middle school days. She looked at the small, slightly yellowed photo over and over again, then carefully put it away in her wallet: "I'll keep it for now."

  Shengyuan looked at her with a tinge of sadness and couldn't help but say: "Nothing will happen, don't worry."

  "Ah, thank you, senior." Xia Zhu's tone was still polite and courteous, with a hint of subtle distance.

  Actually, Shengyuan often feels that when two people are together, whether they match or not is just a feeling and an aura. Seeing Xiaozhu and the arrogant Lin Yuanke together, he inexplicably felt that it was meant to be.

  It's just meant to be together, nothing else.

  However, at this moment, when Lin Yuanbie disappeared, he saw Xia Zhu for the first time, calm and self-contained, yet with a kind of aloofness that kept people at bay.

  Her face still wore a polite smile, but it had lost its usual warmth and loveliness, the whole person was like a replica of Lin Yuanxi, completely identical.

  Sheng Yuan settled his mind and added a sentence: "Hmm, I think the top priority is still to find Yuan Li first, why did he take off that cuff button?"

  "The cufflink matches the clothes he's wearing today, so it's unlikely to be noticed. There's only one possibility: where he is now doesn't want us to... No," Xia Zhu suddenly said, "There's another possibility, the signal was blocked or interfered with."

  Shengyuan was already calling Zou Muyuan, but before his call went through, Xia Zhu received a call from Bi Tianqi on the other end: "He's knocking on something!"

  Xia Zhu immediately held the phone close to her ear, turned on the recording function, and all she heard was a rhythmic knock on the other end, which was a message they had received together before. Although it was accompanied by severe interference, Xia Zhu still understood it effortlessly.

  "Morse code." Sheng Yuan muttered: "Do you understand?"

  "Uh," Xia Zhu suppressed the excitement and agitation that was almost bursting in her heart, trying to calm down: "It's Castle, the coffee castle outside the city, it's not far from here."

  "Coffee Castle?" Sheng Yuan was somewhat surprised: "Is it related to that case?"

  Xia Zhu had already rushed out and waved at Sheng Yuan: "Senior!"

  Sheng Yuan hurried up a few steps and caught up with Xia Zhu in front of him, somewhat helplessly: "I told you to follow me from behind when executing the task?"

  Xia Zhu awkwardly stopped and gave up his position in front to Sheng Yuan.

  Shengyuan drove very fast, but was not very steady. Sitting in his car, Xiaozhu couldn't help but compare him to Lin Yuanliu. She had never been in a relationship before joining the police force, and the men she met were limited, so she couldn't help but bring up each one for comparison with Lin Yuanliu. Sometimes she felt that driving habits were closely related to a person's character, and the contrast between Lin Yuanliu and Shengyuan was a classic example. Xiaozhu herself still preferred Lin Yuanliu's style, which made her feel inexplicably at ease.

  Xia Zhu thought of this and felt his ears burning again, so he turned his head to look out the window, desperately trying to cover it up.

  Sheng Yuan glanced at her through the rearview mirror, somewhat helplessly shifting his gaze back to the road ahead: "We're here."

  "Sure enough it's here, but why is the signal interference so strong?" Sheng Yuan looked at the cars stopped in front of the coffee castle with some confusion.

  "If I'm not mistaken, Yuan Qi is in great danger now." Xia Zhu said in a low voice.

  It was as if she had a subtle spiritual connection with Lin Yuan, and she could feel everything about him, accelerating the speed of her heartbeat, thumping loudly.

  Shengyuan could only shake his head: "Don't think too much, follow me, and wait for further instructions."

  He finished saying this sentence and looked back, only to find he had thought too much...

  Because Xia Zhu, who had always been very obedient to orders, got off the car and moved stealthily towards the back window of the castle. Sheng Yuan looked at him with a slight frown, but Xia Zhu's movements were swift and precise, revealing his trained background at a glance.

  But on Xia Zhu's resume, there was no sign of training, so why...

  He suppressed his underlying worries and followed this troublesome teammate forward.

  At this moment, a painful cry came from inside the castle, which could be heard clearly even outside.

  "Captain, the enemy may have erupted into conflict. Requesting support, we are outside Coffee Castle."

  "You settle Xiaozhu first, we'll be right over." Zou Muyuan's calm and powerful voice came from the other end.

  Shengyuan's mind slightly calmed down, and just as he was about to respond, he discovered a serious problem -

  "Captain, Xia Zhu is gone."

  The author has something to say: Thank you for the comments and support from Ball Algae Pets, La, Si Liang, Happy! (╭(╯3╰)╮)

  Thank you for the kind words and long comment on Tea Flower Girl's long comment, thank you (~_^)

  I've been really busy lately, sorry everyone, I'll reply to comments tomorrow! I love you guys.....