"Holy crap!" Brother Liu exclaimed, then quickly glanced into the room, realizing he had spoken too loudly.
Seeing Zheng Lin chatting with Wu Jiaxin, he lowered his voice and asked, "Master Zhao, what do you think I should do?"
Zhao Yan spread her hands. "This is your business. You're the one who has to decide, not me."
Brother Liu thought for a moment. "I understand. Thank you, Master Zhao. Can I add your WeChat? If anything comes up, I can contact you."
Zhao Yan took out her phone. After they exchanged WeChat contacts, Brother Liu left with his dear.
"Jiaxin, come help me grind some ink," Zhao Yan said to Wu Jiaxin.
She then took out talismans from her backpack and began drawing protection charms.
She worked until past five in the afternoon, drawing over forty protection charms, only succeeding in three.
"Xinxin, after I leave, remember to lock the doors. If anything happens, call me. Sister Ma, please keep an eye on Xinxin too."
Wu Jiaxin nodded. "Don't worry, Sister Zhao. You be extra careful out there."
"Okay, I'm leaving!" Zhao Yan waved goodbye.
She hailed a taxi and told the driver to go to the police station.
She arrived at the police station around six o'clock.
"Miss Zhao."
Zhao Yan turned around and saw Zhang Yi, eating soup dumplings, approaching her and offering two.
Zhao Yan didn't stand on ceremony; she hadn't eaten yet.
"Are there any other new leads?" Zhao Yan asked.
"Last Monday, we found someone who bought a male corpse for twenty thousand yuan."
"We only traced the seller, not the buyer. The buyer was very cautious. According to the seller, the buyer told him to leave the corpse in a field and didn't have any contact with the buyer." Zhang Yi said.
Zhao Yan hummed softly. It wouldn't be that easy to find them.
"Oh, right. Old Jiang personally followed Officer Qin at noon. Don't worry, Old Jiang's tracking skills are excellent; Officer Qin won't notice." Zhang Yi said.
Zhao Yan asked, "Where is his location?"
Zhang Yi took out his phone. "I'll send him a message."
Zhao Yan finished the soup dumplings in her hand, and just then, Jiang Yu sent a message.
"He sent us the address. Should we go?" Zhang Yi asked.
"You're going too?"
Zhang Yi was a forensic doctor; he should be busy with other things at this hour.
"Jiang Yu asked me to wait for you at the police station entrance. He said to be responsible for bringing you there."
Zhao Yan nodded. So that's how it was.
She got into the car with Zhang Yi and adjusted her seat, leaning back slightly.
She mused that after this matter was resolved, she should buy a car too.
They arrived at a shopping mall, and Zhang Yi parked the car.
Zhao Yan looked around. Ahead was the pedestrian street, with many clothing stores.
After parking, Zhang Yi led Zhao Yan towards the pedestrian street and then into the underground mall.
Halfway there, Zhao Yan spotted Jiang Yu. He was standing at the entrance of a clothing store, playing on his phone, looking like he was mooching off someone else's Wi-Fi.
"How is it?" Zhang Yi asked.
Jiang Yu looked back at Zhang Yi and Zhao Yan. "I'm keeping an eye on him."
He then glanced at his phone. "I've been waiting for over forty minutes, and this guy still hasn't come out of the store."
"Could you have lost him? I just bragged to Miss Zhao about your excellent tracking skills, and now you've made me look foolish." Zhang Yi pouted.
Jiang Yu said confidently, "It's impossible to lose him."
Just as he finished speaking, Jiang Yu's eyes lit up. "He's coming out."
Zhao Yan looked ahead but couldn't see Officer Qin.
Zhang Yi asked in confusion, "Where?"
Jiang Yu pointed ahead. "Isn't that him? The one with the wavy perm."
"Wavy perm? Holy cow!" Zhang Yi was shocked.
Zhao Yan was also somewhat taken aback.
"No way, no way, no way! That's Officer Qin?" Zhang Yi exclaimed in disbelief.
Officer Qin was wearing a beige JK uniform and white stockings. His legs were red from shaving.
The JK uniform suited him very well, and with his height, he carried himself with great elegance.
"He's looking this way, quickly retreat," Jiang Yu said.
Zhao Yan and the other two immediately stepped back a few paces, using the protruding corner of the wall to perfectly conceal their view.
"Damn! He looks so good cross-dressing! I almost want to duel him," Zhang Yi exclaimed.
Zhao Yan was also surprised.
She vaguely understood why Officer Qin might encounter the killer.
Such a beautiful boy.
"This guy is too risky, dressing as a woman to lure the killer," Zhang Yi said.
"It seems like an old-fashioned method, but it's worth a try. After all, it's a last resort," Jiang Yu said.
Zhao Yan hummed in agreement. Without any significant leads, this was all they could do.
"He's leaving, let's catch up," Jiang Yu said.
Zhao Yan and the other two followed Officer Qin.
Officer Qin went to bars, KTVs, and various entertainment venues.
He visited places Li Mulan frequented.
They walked back and forth until past ten o'clock.
Zhao Yan's stamina was fine, as was Jiang Yu's. However, Zhang Yi was starting to falter. He hadn't complained of being tired, but his hands trembled like a Parkinson's patient as he held a bottle of mineral water.
For such a long time, Zhao Yan watched Officer Qin go back and forth.
This was a last resort. There were too few clues, so they could only pursue this slim chance. For this slim chance, they could work all night, even if it ended up being a wild goose chase.
"Officer Qin is coming out," Zhang Yi said.
Just as Zhao Yan was about to say something, she suddenly noticed something amiss behind them and immediately looked back. She saw Li Mulan trembling uncontrollably.
"I can sense his aura. He should be nearby," Li Mulan said, constantly looking around.
"Master Zhao, he's nearby."
Seeing Li Mulan's excited state, Zhao Yan took a deep breath and said, "Officer Jiang, Doctor Zhang, we need to be on high alert."
Zhao Yan's expression was serious. Zhang Yi even slapped himself twice to wake himself up.
Seeing Jiang Yu about to follow, Zhao Yan grabbed his wrist and shook her head.
"Let's wait a bit longer."
After waiting for over a minute, as Officer Qin walked past a public restroom, a sanitation worker pushing a garbage cart approached.
Even at the corner, he followed behind him.
Seeing this, Zhang Yi exclaimed excitedly, "This beast finally dares to show itself."
Just as he was about to reach Officer Qin, Jiang Yu suddenly ran forward.
He immediately pinned the sanitation worker down.
The sudden turn of events startled the sanitation worker.
"What are you doing? What are you doing? Why are you pressing me?"
Li Mulan spoke to Zhao Yan, whose expression turned grim. "We've been fooled. This isn't the killer."
"What!" Zhang Yi shouted.
"Speak, what were you doing with him!" Jiang Yu said coldly.
This startled the sanitation worker, who said, "Someone gave me three hundred yuan and said he suspected his girlfriend was cheating. He asked me to follow his girlfriend and, at the corner, to tap her shoulder. He'd give me three hundred yuan, and another two hundred after it was done."
"He also gave me the clothes and the cart."