Lu Yongyuan, from M City, is 43 years old and works as a construction laborer in the southern urban development zone. He had come to this construction site four months ago. Before that, he had been moving between different sites without a fixed workplace or company.

Ye Jinchen drove to the construction site with Sang Tong. This southern district had already undergone its second round of development this year, with thousands of workers employed here.

“Hello, we’re here to learn some information regarding the worker Lu Yongyuan.” It took a little while to find the person in charge because the site was large and well divided, and locating the right contact took time.

“Lu Yongyuan? Let me check.” The person in charge of the workers was cooperative. “He usually works over at Building 2… but he didn’t come in today.”

“What time did he finish work yesterday?” Ye Jinchen asked.

“He signed out at 7 P.M.,” the supervisor pointed to the time on a form and showed it to Ye Jinchen.

“Okay, thank you,” Ye Jinchen responded politely.

The supervisor lent Ye Jinchen two helmets, and he and Sang Tong headed toward Building 2. It was almost time for lunch, so they didn’t enter any particularly dangerous areas.

Not long after, Ye Jinchen saw workers finishing up and leaving one after another. Most of them were covered in dust and sweat, hard physical work in the heat was tough.

The site provided boxed lunches, and dozens of workers were lining up to receive their meals.

“Who is Wang Pengyi?” Ye Jinchen asked.

A man stepped forward from the crowd. Sang Tong glanced over; he was a man in his forties, wearing the site’s uniform and old work shoes, his whole body dusty.

His eyes were wary as he looked around. “That’s me.”

“Hello, we’d like to ask you a few questions.” Ye Jinchen showed his credentials.

“Comrade, whatever you need to know, I’ll cooperate,” Wang Pengyi said, immediately changing his expression. He brushed his short hair and followed Ye Jinchen and Sang Tong to the side.

“You left work with Lu Yongyuan last night?” Ye Jinchen asked.

“Yes! The guys working on the west side all left together. After work, we went to Li Xingfa’s house to drink,” Wang Pengyi replied.

After questioning, six workers had gone to Li Xingfa’s house for drinks. They were all coworkers and lived nearby. They broke up before 9 P.M., then each went home.

“Yongyuan drank quite a bit last night, he was staggering,” Wang Pengyi explained.

“He doesn’t smoke or chew betel nut,[[pk16m7]] just likes drinking, but he’s a poor drinker. We offered to send him home, but he refused. So we didn’t press him. It’s not the first time he’s gotten like that. It’s summer nights; being outside won’t hurt him.

The old city area’s alleys generally didn’t allow four-wheel vehicles—mostly motorcycles and bicycles, so there was little worry.

Ye Jinchen also questioned other coworkers, and they all said they went home around 9 P.M. What happened after that, no one knew.

“How do you think of Lu Yongyuan as a person?” Ye Jinchen asked again.

“Oh, that guy works hard—no doubt about that. Loyal, too. He often treated us to drinks and meat. But we’ve only known him a few months, so not super close,” Wang Pengyi said with a smile.

Lu Yongyuan was quite popular on the site. No one wanted a lazy partner who didn’t work hard and caused losses for the team.

As the saying goes, “one who takes favors owes loyalty.”[[o1z25q]] Lu Yongyuan often treated coworkers to a bottle of Erguotou[[ol7v21]] or a plate of spiced beef. Overall, he got along well with everyone.

“Never heard of him having disputes… He’s smooth when it comes to work. The first time he came on site, he even brought cigarettes for the foreman—knows how to get along,” Wang Pengyi shook his head.

At least no one on site had ever heard of him making enemies. The same was true when Ye Jinchen asked others.

“Lu Yongyuan’s only been here four months. Whoever killed him must have had a huge grudge… and killed him like that…” Sang Tong couldn’t understand.

Construction sites usually have complicated personnel, which easily leads to conflicts, but surprisingly, Lu Yongyuan got along well with his coworkers.

The weather was still hot today. After running around for a while, there was no progress.

Sang Tong licked her dry lips, and then a bowl of mung bean porridge appeared in front of her.

Ye Jincheng glanced at her flushed, overheated face and said, “Drink this, it cools you down and relieves the heat.”

“Thanks, Captain.” Sang Tong hadn’t had much appetite because of the heat, but after taking a sip of the icy-cold mung bean porridge, even her restless mood calmed down quite a bit.

With her stomach satisfied and her spirit recovering somewhat, her mind finally started working again.

They were now basically sure the person was alive at 9 o’clock. After leaving Li Xingfa’s house at nine, everyone else had gone home.

“Actually, we can’t be certain if someone followed Lu Yongyuan home, killed him, then hanged him,” Sang Tong said casually, stirring the porridge with her spoon.

She craved something salty after the sweet taste.

“Yeah.” Ye Jincheng agreed; he was thinking the same.

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After lunch, the two returned once again to the crime scene. Lu Yongyuan lived on the first floor. After entering the hallway, you have to go up four or five steps to reach his door.

As Ye Jincheng’s foot just stepped onto the stairs, he stopped and stepped back a few paces.

Sang Tong, walking behind him, almost bumped into him because of his sudden movement.

Following Ye Jincheng’s gaze, Sang Tong saw a small advertisement stuck on the wall. Just one glance made her face flush a bit.

Wasn’t this one of those ads people like to paste in bathrooms?

“Lao Zhang, come help me make a call,” Ye Jincheng called out. Zhang Weimin came out of the room.

Ye Jincheng pointed to the wall, and Zhang Weimin immediately understood.

Sang Tong then remembered that Lu Yongyuan’s coworkers had said although the construction site wages were low, he still made a few thousand yuan a month. Apart from food, Lu Yongyuan spent almost all his money on entertainment—mostly on women.

Zhang Weimin jotted down the phone number and then went to find a quiet place to make the call.

Sang Tong followed Ye Jincheng back to the crime scene. Watching his back, she had just been wondering how Ye Jincheng would call her, and now she somewhat understood.

His voice was cold but carried a slight magnetic tone, really unlike…

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“If this is a locked-room murder, how did the killer make it a locked room?” Ding Jianxiu was puzzled.

“Actually, the killer’s locked-room trick isn’t very sophisticated,” Sang Tong said, looking at Ye Jincheng’s face. Seeing his calm expression, she knew he had already guessed it.

“Because the window has a security grill, and the door was locked from the inside. That’s why it looks like a locked room, neither door nor window can be used to leave,” Sang Tong explained.

“The security grill can’t be opened, but the window can,” Sang Tong pointed at the glass window, which still had a narrow gap a couple of fingers wide—usually left for ventilation.

“The killer didn’t even take any tools away,” Sang Tong said, looking at Ding Jianxiu and then pointing outside.

On the security grill, a retractable clothes drying rod rested on the windowsill. Its iron color almost blended with the grill. Suddenly, Xu Ran appeared outside, reached out, and picked up the rod—definitely taking it back for inspection.

Half an hour later, a woman appeared at the hallway entrance, skillfully knocked on door 101, her expression slightly anxious.

A few seconds later, the door opened. The woman inside was startled when she saw who it was, "Sorry, I got the wrong place."

But… this time, even if she wanted to leave, she couldn’t.

The woman who came was called Yun Yun. She claimed to provide massage services on the surface, but those in the know understood that extra payment meant special services.

“Lu Yongyuan only ever called you?” Ye Jinchen’s cold voice came. Yun Yun initially didn’t want to say anything, but the pressure from the other side was too much.

“No, he called quite often, and many people came. I just started coming recently,” Yun Yun said.

The phone number on the little ad was always the same. If there wasn’t a specific request, the boss would randomly assign someone. The previous girls didn’t want to work there anymore, and she was unlucky to have been called twice.

“Did he call you last night?” Ye Jinchen asked again.

“He… he did,” Yun Yun stammered.

“What time did you arrive? When did you leave?” Ye Jinchen frowned.

“He called me at ten. I got there at ten-thirty and left at eleven-thirty. He wasn’t able to… perform, but he still made me suffer. Look at all these bruises on me, they’re from him. Because of this, the other girls don’t want to come here,” Yun Yun rolled her eyes as she spoke.

That thing of Lu Yongyuan’s wasn’t very good and didn’t last long, but he was a pervert who liked to play all sorts of cruel games, torturing people badly—hitting and biting. If it weren’t for the money, no one would want to come.

“Usually a casual night is two hundred yuan. He liked to hit and bite. If things went okay, he’d pay five hundred, and if he got rough, one or two thousand,” Yun Yun confessed.

From what they learned, Lu Yongyuan called them several times a week and had quite a few girls come over.

“The worst was that girl Tang Tang. Last time, the old man almost strangled her to death. She still has a mark on her neck. It’s terrifying,” Yun Yun complained.

Sang Tong looked at the woman in front of her. She seemed barely in her twenties and didn’t hold back when talking about these things.

Yun Yun knew she’d just get fined for her situation. Compared to murder, selling sex wasn’t such a big deal. After a few months inside with a fine and some “education,” she’d be out. Yun Yun cooperated and told everything she knew.

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The southern part of the city were mixed and hard to manage. At 7 PM, Ye Jinchen and Sang Tong walked down a somewhat narrow street.

There were few people, but the purple-red lights made the place dizzying. The neon sign at the door glowed a warm red, with the word “Massage” especially large.

Places like this, which on the surface were massage shops but in reality dealt in those kinds of services, were the hardest to crack. Without catching them in the act, they would never admit it; even if caught, they’d deny it fiercely.

“Wait here,” Ye Jinchen took a step forward and left Sang Tong a word, to which Sang Tong obediently nodded.

The wait wasn’t long before Ye Jinchen returned with someone.

The girl looked young, wearing a short skirt, her exposed skin covered with several tattoos. A glaring mark on her neck stood out. This must be the Tang Tang Yun Yun had mentioned.

Tang Tang lowered her head, looking unwilling, making Ye Jinchen behind her seem like a bad uncle with ill intentions. But dressed all in black, tall with long legs, Ye Jinchen looked somewhat too handsome for that.

It was unclear how Ye Jinchen found Tang Tang and got her to come along so quietly. Too bad Ye Jinchen didn’t bring her back, there was nothing to learn from her anyway.

After more than half an hour, the three finally returned to the bureau.

Tang Tang said she wanted a smoke, and Xu Ran gave her one. In the interrogation room, she was calm, much like Yun Yun had been. Sang Tong noticed that Yun Yun hadn’t shown fear or panic during questioning, just a bit nervous but overall calm.

“Been in here so many times, used to it. After a few months inside with fines and education, they’re out again,” Xu Ran explained to Sang Tong. Some addictions were like heroin—once hooked, escape was nearly impossible.

HDD[[ibo38o]] was one of the three big illegal money-making industries skirting the law. The last two were heavily cracked down on, so they dared not be too blatant. But prostitution was more flexible, and punishments weren’t too harsh. Most chose to confess and give up others or bosses to reduce their own sentences.

Just like Yun Yun dragging Tang Tang down with her—she could have kept silent, but human nature was selfish. If it didn’t affect their own interests, they might get along well, but once their interests were touched, fragile friendships meant nothing.

“Yes, it was him. Last time, he almost strangled me!” Tang Tang immediately recognized the man when shown the photo Ye Jinchen handed over.

“He lives at Ping Alley, Building 6, Room 101. He’s not a human—he’s a pervert, especially in that area…” Tang Tang’s face filled with anger when talking about Lu Yongyuan.

She had taken Lu Yongyuan’s “order” last time and almost died in his home. Her body was badly bitten and bruised, and he had choked her. Who wouldn’t be scared?

“He didn’t just use his hands to choke, he also used a hemp rope.” Ye Jinchen stretched out his hand. On Tang Tang’s wrist were still healing marks, abrasion wounds with scabs, evidence of how brutal it had been.

Everyone who was listening nearby, frowned and sighed. They’d seen perverts before, but someone who played as crazily as Lu Yongyuan was rare.

“I thought I was going to die. I really thought he’d kill me. Luckily, he let go in the end,” Tang Tang still shuddered at the memory.

Sang Tong lowered her head to think. The victim had been strangled and hung by the neck, and that area had been cut off. Could it be that Lu Yongyuan had done this to someone else before, and that person sought revenge?

At that moment, Xu Ran, who had gone to answer the phone, came back through the door, “The cutting board test came back. It indeed has the victim’s bloodstains on it.”