Chapter 1 The Trail

Inside the security room of the crematorium, Su Tianyu pulled up the surveillance footage. Seeing the man in the picture wearing a gray work suit and a dust mask, he immediately turned and shouted, "Hey, security guard, come over here."

"Go on," Da Bai said, dragging the security guard to his feet and pushing him in front of the computer.

Su Tianyu pointed to the middle-aged man in the picture and frowned, "You're on duty here every day. Have you ever seen this person?"

The security guard craned his neck and glanced at the screen. "I've seen him."

"What does he do? Is he also a worker at the crematorium?" Su Tianyu pressed.

"No, no, he works at the funeral supply shop next door." The security guard shook his head and replied, "He comes to deliver goods every day or so. I think his last name is Guo."

Su Tianyu stood up immediately. "What's the name of his shop? Where is it?"

"It's right next door..."

"Never mind, just write it down for me." Su Tianyu tore a corner off the security guard's manual and handed it to him.

Two minutes later, Su Tianyu, holding the address, pointed at the security guard and said, "I'm telling you, we really are with the counter-terrorism unit. If you don't believe me, you can call and verify with the counter-terrorism unit. My name is Jin Maohui. You can't reveal any information about this matter to anyone, not even the police, or you'll be held criminally liable."

Seeing how serious Su Tianyu was, the security guard immediately nodded. "I... I don't want any trouble. I won't tell anyone."

"Good!"

Su Tianyu tossed out the words and left the security room with Bai Hongbo.

A few minutes later, everyone gathered in the courtyard. Su Tianyu yanked open the car door and said, "Got a lead. Let's go to the funeral supply shop next door."

Kong Zhenghui and the others immediately got into the car and headed to the funeral supply shop according to the address Su Tianyu had given them.

It was already past nine o'clock at night. The sky was dark, and the surrounding funeral supply shops were closed. Su Tianyu arrived at the door of a shop called "Life's End," and peered through the window, seeing a light inside.

"Da Bai, break down the door," Su Tianyu called out. "There's someone inside."

Hearing this, Bai Hongbo began knocking on the door. After a while, a voice came from inside, "Who is it?"

"Ordering an urn," Da Bai replied.

After a short while, the door opened, and a middle-aged man in a robe greeted them, uttering auspicious words, "My condolences, everyone!"

Su Tianyu stepped into the room and looked at the middle-aged man again, recognizing him as the one who had delivered flowers to Uncle Jiu's daughter.

The middle-aged man was also very polite. After leading everyone into the house, he asked, "Who passed away? Alas, this season is peak season for deaths. Come, come and take a look. We have all kinds of urns, and matching funeral services..."

"Did you deliver flowers to a young girl today?" Su Tianyu asked.

The middle-aged man paused. "You are...?"

The two sides began to communicate. Su Tianyu flashed his never-before-used Coast Guard ID, and in the capacity of an officer, inquired about the flowers.

Seeing that the other party was with the Coast Guard, the middle-aged man stopped trying to sell urns and told the truth, "Oh, I was delivering something to the crematorium when I ran into a young man outside. He asked me to deliver the flowers and gave me thirty yuan."

Su Tianyu frowned and asked, "What did he look like?"

"He was wearing a ill-fitting tracksuit, carrying a bag, and wearing a mask. I couldn't see his face clearly." The middle-aged man recalled, "Oh, right, he had a scar on his forehead, like a festering wound. It looked pretty scary."

"Anything else?"

"That's it. I just delivered the flowers for him. I didn't say more than ten words in total," the man replied.

Hearing this answer, Su Tianyu felt a little anxious, because the other party had provided very little information, and there were no surveillance cameras at the location where they had met.

Who could this person be? Why would he send flowers to Uncle Jiu's daughter and pay respects to Uncle Jiu's deceased wife?

Several figures flashed through Su Tianyu's mind, but he felt that his thoughts were too outrageous, and he quickly rejected them.

Just as Su Tianyu was lost in thought, Kong Zhenghui, who had been waiting at the door, came in. "Liu Zi, something else has happened."

"What is it?" Su Tianyu looked up.

"The North 403 tunnel in Dragon City has exploded." Kong Zhenghui frowned and said, "It's collapsed. It was done deliberately."

Su Tianyu looked blank. "The tunnel collapsed too?"

"Want to go take a look?" Zhou Tonghui suggested.

"Let's go," Su Tianyu called out to the others.

...

Around 12:00 AM.

Su Tianyu and the others changed into a different set of clothes, put on baseball caps and masks, and drove to the scene of the 403 tunnel explosion. But to their surprise, there were so many people there that the roads leading to and from the tunnel were blocked with at least a hundred cars. Even if they came openly, it was unlikely that the police would notice them.

When the group arrived, both entrances to the tunnel were completely blocked off, and the cordon stretched out for nearly a kilometer. The surrounding area was filled with rescue teams, police, forensic vehicles, and even military vehicles.

Seeing the chaos around him, Su Tianyu took off his mask, lit a cigarette, and walked up to a few onlookers, asking, "Hey, brothers, are you stuck here too?"

"Yeah," a middle-aged man in his fifties nodded. "Damn it, this place exploded, and they didn't even announce it on the radio. We drove right into it and can't get out."

"What happened? I heard it was done deliberately?" Su Tianyu asked.

"Yeah, I heard it was done deliberately, otherwise why would there be so many police officers?! Sigh, these days, people's mentalities are all messed up. Why would you go and blow up a tunnel?"

"Is the whole thing collapsed?" Su Tianyu asked again.

"No, I heard that just one of the load-bearing beams was blown up. And the person who blew up the tunnel didn't seem to be trying to cause a bloodbath. He even put up 'No Entry' signs at the entrance beforehand. Otherwise... if he really wanted to take revenge on society, hundreds of people would have died in that two-kilometer tunnel, right?" the man replied.

"That's true."

Su Tianyu wandered through the crowd for nearly an hour, gathering a lot of information.

The tunnel explosion did not cause any casualties, and the spot the perpetrator chose was very precise, accurately severing the load-bearing beam at the north entrance, suggesting he was very familiar with the place.

After looking around the scene, Su Tianyu and the others drove straight back to Dragon City, stopped at a random intersection, reclined their seats, and went to sleep.

Around 4:00 AM, Wang Daolin's phone rang.

"Hello?" Su Tianyu answered the phone, yawning.

"The cases have been merged. The police's on-site investigation report is very similar to the Baolong Mining case, whether it's the modus operandi, the amount of explosives used, or the items recovered from the scene. There's basically no difference." Wang Daolin said in a low voice, "It was the same person who did both cases."

"Okay, I understand. Thank you, Uncle Wang!"

"Be careful. This case is getting clearer," Wang Daolin did not directly participate in the case, but at this moment, he could sense the perpetrator's general motive and identity.

"I know."

The two ended the call, and Su Tianyu immediately shouted to Da Bai, "Let's go find Uncle Jiu's daughter!"

"What's wrong?"

"I think I've figured out his pattern, and... I think I know who it is." Su Tianyu frowned and said, "We have to hurry. If I'm right, we might be able to find this person before the police."

That's right, although Su Tianyu felt that his idea was a bit far-fetched, the truth was leading him in that direction.

6:00 AM, a breakfast shop in Zhanan District.

Su Tianyu looked at Uncle Jiu's daughter and suddenly asked, "Do you remember where your father and brother used to work?"