He’d only taken a quick glance, but the room had been in complete disarray—piled high with clutter. It was very likely everything belonged to Room 204.

The grip in his hand suddenly tightened.

Pain shot through Lin Zehui, and he howled, “I give up, I give up! Stop hitting me! You’re a cop—you can’t break the law yourself!”

Gu Yezhou let out a cold laugh. “So you *do* know what ‘breaking the law’ means?”

A chill crept over Lin Zehui’s entire body as he looked at him. His pleading gaze turned toward Sang Ning.

Unfortunately, the hallway was too dim for her to see clearly. She only asked, “When did you meet Li Xiaoqiang? And what’s your connection to Shi Li?”

Lin Zehui fell silent.

Before he could say anything, Gu Yezhou lifted him off the ground with one hand.

In that instant, real fear took hold. He was terrified this officer might just throw him off the building.

“I really didn’t do anything!” he cried. “I only got close to Ningning to learn about her past—that’s how I met Li Xiaoqiang. It has nothing to do with me! I don’t even know who Shi Li is!”

Gu Yezhou gave him another casual bounce in his grip.

Lin Zehui was of average build—about 180 centimeters tall, not particularly muscular, but not small either.

Yet in Gu Yezhou’s hand, he might as well have been a toy.

“I’ll talk, I’ll talk!” Lin Zehui’s heart felt like it was about to leap out of his throat. “That Shi Li—my brother’s company needed some kind of artist, a comic artist or illustrator, I’m not sure. He had a partnership with them.

I just noticed that the female lead in his comics looked a lot like Ningning. I only came to ask him about it.

I didn’t expect—didn’t expect him to be dead! I really don’t know anything!

I didn’t kill anyone, Ningning… ah!! Please believe me!”

With every sentence, Gu Yezhou jostled him slightly. But everything Lin Zehui said was the truth.

Standing at the stairwell, Xiao Zhang watched in stunned silence. It wasn’t until Gu Yezhou’s cold voice cut through the air that he snapped out of it and stepped forward to take the man away.

In the end, Lin Zehui was shoved into the police car.

Even then, he insisted on maintaining that nauseating façade of devotion, shouting toward Sang Ning, “Ningning, I love you! Everything I did was for you!”

Murder?

Sang Ning might have poor judgment in men, but she knew this one didn’t have the guts to kill.

Otherwise, how would she be any different from the blind fool she’d been for those eighteen years?

As the police car drove off, Xiao Zhang lingered in the stairwell and asked, “Boss, anything else you need us to handle?”

Gu Yezhou thought for a moment, then decided to leave two officers behind.

As for Lin Zehui and Li Xiaoqiang, the interrogation would be handled by the investigators.

“Coming upstairs?” Gu Yezhou said, glancing at Sang Ning, who was still a little dazed.

She nodded immediately and hurried up the stairs.

Two officers followed behind. It was already winter, and they hadn’t had time to put on proper coats before responding to the call. They were shivering from the cold, yet still forced themselves to stand straight in front of Gu Yezhou.

“Photograph everything in Room 304,” Gu Yezhou said, glancing at the corner of the stairwell, his voice low. “If I’m right, everything that was cleared out of the victim’s apartment is up there.”

Sang Ning halted mid-step.

She was already standing at the door of Room 304.

The door was slightly ajar. By the faint beam of her phone’s flashlight, she could make out Shi Li’s backpack lying discarded by the entrance.

She pushed the door open.

Inside were canvases, easels, and paints.

On the coffee table sat a laptop, along with a keyboard, mouse, drawing tablet, and display screen.

Everything that had been swept clean from downstairs… was now here, in the apartment directly above.

Sang Ning pulled on gloves and shoe covers before stepping inside and turning on the lights.

The moment the room lit up, it looked as though the victim had been preparing to move upstairs before his death.

The deeper she went, the more uneasy she felt.

What if Lin Zehui really *was* the killer?

Having someone like him as a blind date was already a stain on her life.

Her gaze shifted to a partition wall. Mounted on it was a pegboard, covered with all kinds of climbing gear—ropes tied with intricate knots, carabiners, equipment.

Exactly like what had been found on the victim.

One rope in particular showed clear signs of wear, with strands frayed. There were bits of hair caught in it… and what looked like traces of skin.

The lighting in the corner remained dim. Carefully, Sang Ning removed the rope and sealed it into an evidence bag.

On the wall around the corner hung tools—wrenches and the like.

She inspected them one by one. No visible bloodstains.

She took out a UV light and scanned every surface.

No blood reaction.

“Take this hard drive back and see what’s on it,” Gu Yezhou’s voice came from the doorway.

Sang Ning glanced around again. Something about the layout felt off.

It was spacious—too spacious—and yet there was no bedroom.

She opened the innermost door.

A bathroom.

“Captain Gu, come take a look,” she called.

Gu Yezhou strode over. “What is it?”

Sang Ning pointed to the bathroom, then to the sofa in the living area, and finally to the climbing gear on the pegboard.

“Don’t you think this place doesn’t feel like a home? And yet… it kind of does, since there’s a bathroom.”

The mirrored cabinet beside the sink reflected her face—striking, but slightly pale.

Gu Yezhou stepped inside. With his height, the already small bathroom felt even more cramped.

For someone nearly 190 centimeters tall, living here would be incredibly inconvenient.

Sang Ning’s eyes flicked to an empty soap dish tucked in the corner.

“That’s strange too,” she said, pointing. “This bathroom clearly hasn’t been used—the glass has a thin layer of dust. So why is that soap dish so clean?”

Gu Yezhou shifted slightly to the side.

As he did, the bathroom door swung and hit the wall.

Normally, there would be a door stopper installed at the bottom—but there wasn’t.

The entire setup felt… off.

The moment the wooden door struck the wall, Sang Ning noticed something strange about the sound.

Just as she was about to speak, Gu Yezhou had already caught on.

He grabbed the door and slammed it against the wall again.

The sound wasn’t solid. It carried a hollow echo.

Which meant—

“The space behind the bathroom door is empty.”

They spoke at the same time, locking eyes.

Sang Ning pointed at the soap dish. “That—could it be the mechanism?”

With tiles covering the wall, pushing it wouldn’t work. If there was a hidden passage, that soap dish might be the trigger.

She’d heard of wealthy collectors building secret rooms into their homes—hidden doors with concealed switches weren’t uncommon.

Gu Yezhou twisted the soap dish left and right. Nothing happened.

Then, pressing down firmly with his thumb—

Click.

The soap dish sank inward with a sharp sound.

At the same time, something shifted behind the bathroom wall.

From the outside, it still looked like an ordinary tiled surface.

“Try it,” he said. “See if it can be pushed… or moved.”

Sang Ning’s eyes lit up, excitement flickering across her face—

like she’d just uncovered buried treasure.