The forensics team entered to collect evidence, patting here, flipping there, even turning the entire bed over, sparing not a single cockroach.
The 'dead command' from above stipulated that a major breakthrough in the case must occur within three days. If the case was solved within three days, they would be awarded for their merit.
Therefore, the criminal investigation team spent their days here, rewatching every piece of surveillance footage.
As for the middle-aged woman known as Sister Mei, although not taken to the interrogation room, she was subjected to questioning once in the morning and again in the afternoon, which became commonplace. Even the young girl was being subjected to 'leading questions' by the police, hoping to find a breakthrough.
However, the young girl seemed to possess strong counter-surveillance abilities. No matter how the police framed their questions, the answers always remained the same: "I don't know, I'm unclear, I don't understand, I don't comprehend."
Since there was no concrete evidence proving a direct connection between the occupants of the villa and Yun Mei's death, it was only that Yun Mei's last known location was a blind spot in the villa's surveillance. Yun Mei had not appeared anywhere else in the villa.
However, a rather peculiar point was that this middle-aged woman did not appear as robust as Yun Mei. Even if she were the killer, how did she manage to put the person into a plastic bag and then into a trash can?
The surveillance footage offered no answers, and everyone could only eliminate possible scenarios.
After a period of busyness, night soon fell. Winter days ended early.
Xiao Xun returned to the villa and made dinner for Mu Jiahe. He ate his meal absentmindedly, and especially while cooking, looking at the kitchenware, he thought of how Yun Mei used them when she cooked.
While cooking, he muttered to himself, "Yun Mei, Yun Mei, what exactly did you go out for in the middle of the night?"
Mu Jiahe, who had appeared at the doorway at some point, said, "When you were watching the surveillance, did you check the footage from previous days? Did Yun Mei go out every night, or just last night?"
Upon hearing Mu Jiahe's words, Xiao Xun immediately stood up. "I'll go to the surveillance room to check."
Mu Jiahe waved her hand. "No need. There are also hidden surveillance cameras in the house that I didn't mention to you before. Yun Mei's situation this time is too strange. It's definitely not something that happened just last night; there must be some unspeakable secret hidden behind it."
Xiao Xun actually knew about the surveillance cameras in the house, but so many days had passed, he had long forgotten.
This time, he didn't expose it, pretending he was hearing about it for the first time. He watched as Mu Jiahe brought up the surveillance content using her phone.
Only then did he discover that not only did Yun Mei frequently go out in the middle of the night, but also that people often entered the house, and Xiao Xun and Mu Jiahe didn't recognize these people.
These individuals not only entered the main areas of the house as if it were their own but also casually went up to the second floor. However, they never entered the master bedroom on the second floor, whether out of fear or because Mu Jiahe had installed a very sturdy internal lock.
The possibility of fear was greater because these people had not touched the master bedroom door at all.
Watching the video, Xiao Xun felt a chill run down his spine. "Should we tell the police outside?"
Mu Jiahe immediately refused. "Do you want more trouble? If you tell the police now, you won't be able to leave tonight!"
Xiao Xun was in a bad mood. He looked at these strangers, memorizing their appearances, and repeatedly asked himself, 'Who are they? What do they want? Is Yun Mei's death related to them?'
He saw from the surveillance that these people included both men and women, the oldest being fifty or nearly sixty, and the youngest only twenty.
The first thing they did upon entering was to take off their shoes. Some wore socks, while others went barefoot. They did everything in 'silent' mode.
Some took things from the refrigerator to eat, some drank Mu Jiahe's prized wine, some watched movies in the basement, and some showered in the bathroom.
Furthermore, before dawn, they would eliminate all traces of their use, leaving no evidence, and they never did anything out of line.
Xiao Xun thought: How did these people appear in this villa complex? There were surveillance cameras everywhere, and security guards patrolled constantly. Ordinary people couldn't even enter the community unless, perhaps, these people were residents of the community.
Mu Jiahe looked at the surveillance. "I know. They are all people from this community, but they are not the owners of this community."
Xiao Xun looked at Mu Jiahe. "What do you mean by that?"
Mu Jiahe explained, "Look at them. No matter what they do, they seem very familiar, indicating they come here often. And they don't take any valuables, which means they aren't thieves. Most importantly, these people started appearing only after Yun Mei came to this house, which means Yun Mei knew them."
Xiao Xun highly agreed with Mu Jiahe's statement, but she directly suggested that these people were related to Yun Mei, and Yun Mei was his family's relative.
"Then how do you think she did it? She wasn't even at the scene."
Mu Jiahe turned off the surveillance playback and looked at Xiao Xun. "So the problem arises, with so many people appearing in the house, where was she?"
"Perhaps she was asleep and didn't hear..."
As he said this, he couldn't even stand his ground. Asleep, didn't hear, who opened the door?
Xiao Xun sighed. "Regardless, she's gone now."
Mu Jiahe nodded. "So, I hope you can be more rational and consider things less sentimentally."
Xiao Xun grunted and glanced at his watch. "It's getting late, we should go back."
When the two returned to the other world, Xiao Xun noticed something unusual. The temperature in the room was much colder than usual.
At this moment, Mu Jiahe pointed outside the window. "Look, it's snowing."
Xiao Xun stood up and went to the window. Indeed, large snowflakes were falling from the sky, blanketing the entire earth in a breathtaking white landscape.
Mu Jiahe, fearing Xiao Xun would freeze, lit the fireplace. Xiao Xun, having undergone training in the army, had improved his physical fitness considerably and was not bothered by this degree of cold.
However, one fortunate thing was that the mice and locusts of the Scourge Army had all disappeared with the onset of the colder season.
This was a good opportunity to defeat them.
The focus of the battlefield gradually shifted from inland to coastal areas. The conflict evolved from an invasion war by the undead army into a standoff with the resistance forces.
The Frost Clan, in particular, had launched several counterattacks, which undoubtedly served as a shot of confidence for the resistance forces of various races.
The Phoenix Army, after more than half a year, returned to the capital of Saint Romann from the front lines. They were no longer the rebel army of the past but a heroic army led by Duke Svein.
Three miles outside the capital, crowds had already lined the streets to welcome them.
They greeted the Phoenix Army enthusiastically, offering their warmest greetings, completely unaware that this army had once stormed the capital and killed many innocent civilians.
Delvana, as a Valkyrie of the Sun Clan and the absolute commander second only to Xiao Xun in this army, held her head high and was full of pride wherever she went.
However, upon reaching the city gates, all personnel except for officers of the rank of general were required to remain outside the city to camp. This was an unshakeable rule.
Apart from a large legion stationed on the Mediocra border and the armored units cooperating with the Spear of Vengeance, all other troops had returned.
Their mission this time was to defend the coastal areas. Although they had begun a forced march immediately after receiving the order, distant help could not solve an immediate crisis.