Speculation

"You're back? I thought you guys were going to wander outside all day today." Mo Yun Wan sat unceremoniously in Lu Yao's seat. "Where is that high school student who supposedly had our Officer Song wrapped around his finger? Brought him back so soon?"

Since Lu Yao hadn't been in the bureau these past few days, her seat had been naturally taken over by Mo Yun Wan after a brief heads-up. Currently, Mo Yun Wan's letters and documents were scattered across the desk.

The one surnamed Mo claimed to be caring about the progress of Team Three's work, but her actual motive was highly questionable.

Lu Yao blocked her head and pointed behind her. "He's right here. Sister, we have an outsider present, and he's still a future flower of our motherland. Why don't we discuss keeping up our public image a bit?"

Song Qiao Yu followed her in, glancing at the "flower" behind him.

"Who cares about image?" Mo Yun Wan didn't care at all. "Go tell Liang An. If he has an issue, he can kick me out. Otherwise, be careful, or I'll paint Team Three as a place of mutual sarcasm, lack of unity, and rampant unfriendliness that needs proper education."

Hearing this, Song Qiao Yu was slightly surprised. "So you know you were sarcasing me?"

"Why else?" Mo Yun Wan snorted.

"I thought you were just born with this personality, and... I was tolerating your low EQ."

Having learned how to fight back, Song Qiao Yu seemed to be making rapid progress, though it was unclear if he had been specially studying this lately.

Of course, if one ignored the fact that he forgot his words halfway through, froze, and later checked the pre-written phrases on his phone's memo, his performance would have been truly perfect. Song Qiao Yu had put a lot of effort into preparing this single comeback, so those flaws deserved to be overlooked.

Liu Che finally walked in, patting the shoulder of Tang Tian, who was standing in the corner looking lost, and spoke in a low voice.

"Our forensic support team has a rather sharp tongue, but she's actually a good person. Forgive her."

Although seeing Liu Che's tattoos caught the always-smart Tang Tian off guard and challenged his common sense regarding the "unorthodox things" his elders warned him to stay away from, the brief conversation was enough for Tang Tian to feel that this officer, who looked like a thug on the surface, was actually the most decent one once he took off his jacket.

Precisely because of this, Liu Che's words carried a bit more credibility.

"Your Captain Liang is being highly irresponsible today and won't be back for now." Mo Yun Wan sighed, tossing a voice recorder onto the desk. "Cut to the chase. That deadbeat left a voice recorder before he left, and since I can't be sloppy with my work... Tell me, what exactly did you manage to dig up?"

Today, Lu Yao was an exemplary officer of discipline. "Sister, mind your manners!"

Just then, Shao Zi walked over from the breakroom, holding a thermos of hot water.

"Captain Shao is here too. Look at you guys, how idle you all are. Your meritorious deputy captain is about to turn into an old lady." Mo Yun Wan tsked. "Are you really heartless enough not to satisfy his uncontrollable curiosity?"

Before Shao Zi could react to the title thrust upon him, he realized everyone was looking at him following Mo Yun Wan's words. His expression went blank for a moment, and he didn't even know where to put the thermos in his hand.

"Mainly, what needed to be said has been said. There's only one key point left." Liu Che brought the topic back to business. "Liu Ji Li is much more important than we previously thought. He said he was an important contact person back then, holding a lot of personnel information related to the transport routes."

Lu Yao added, "The intelligence he provided will be highly useful."

Smuggling cultural relics didn't just involve secret transport and illegal sales; it also required many transit routes and even long-term storage for unsold goods. Warehouses required expert guards, and transport intermediaries had to remain hidden. The transaction process was on the surface, but the valuable relics couldn't be lost. If someone grew greedy, the losses wouldn't be minor.

In other words, someone had to control these people. Although they didn't directly handle the items, they needed to determine the best transit method based on the identities of the contacts. At the same time, they had to prevent members from pocketing the loot and causing losses to the organization.

Liu Ji Li once held a complete list containing all the information for him to coordinate.

Money was tempting. The reason Liu Ji Li hid the list was not only because he didn't dare expose the secret, but also because exposing the list would reveal the existence of Zhou You Shun. Once Zhou You Shun's identity was made public, Zhou Li's future would be ruined. Liu Ji Li, being in prison, might not fear external threats, but she was his perfect weakness.

Later, Liu Ji Li voluntarily chose to go to prison, and the list ended up in Zhou You Shun's hands.

According to Lu Yao's speculation, Zhou You Shun was probably also terrified of this hot potato and didn't dare hide the list in an obvious place. The location where the list was hidden was likely related to that tree, which was why Zhou Li's family went there for an outing. Thus, upon discovering the anomaly during their hasty investigation that day, they fled in a hurry with their wife and child. Afterward, he was probably kidnapped back to the scene by the kidnapper, who killed him after finding the list.

Mo Yun Wan listened and nodded. "So, your conclusion shouldn't differ too much from reality."

The reason she had time to bicker here was to resolve her own work issues. The autopsy of Zhou You Shun was basically complete; his death wasn't recent, and the cause of death was very clear.

"The conclusion is strangulation. Of course, the strangulation marks are the same as what we saw before, showing signs of struggle. Based on the position of the marks, we can infer he was likely in a squatting position at the time, but the perpetrator was very swift, and Zhou You Shun died quickly. After death, he was dragged into the pit." Mo Yun Wan's gaze shifted. "In other words, that strange pit was dug by the perpetrator. I find it very odd; even if they wanted to bury the body, why would such a pit appear?"

"A normal burial method shouldn't be like this." Lu Yao had also felt it was strange for a long time. "That position is just too peculiar. Brother Song, I still haven't figured out if there's any hidden meaning behind the spot you discovered."

Hearing this, Song Qiao Yu finally felt a bit comforted.

"Actually, that place is quite special," he said with rare hesitation. "I have a speculation."

The word "speculation" didn't seem to fit Song Qiao Yu, who usually lacked imagination and deductive skills.

Receiving doubtful looks from the others, Song Qiao Yu felt a bit embarrassed, but he stuck to his thoughts and continued.

"If Zhou You Shun wasn't originally in that position, perhaps the killer who killed him was once a soldier. Or... a mercenary."

"Why do you say that?" Mo Yun Wan was the first to feel curious.

This was the first time Song Qiao Yu had mentioned this topic himself, regardless of whether the listeners knew about his past identity.

"This is a basic method of concealment on the battlefield. To ordinary people, it might seem too tedious, but for that kind of terrain, it's very suitable for hiding. If we want to prove it... I think we can try investigating the pit for any residual traces... and so on?" Song Qiao Yu grew more confused as he spoke, even wanting to flip through a book on the spot.

"If someone was hiding in the hole beforehand, there might be some clothing fibers left." Shao Zi finally put down his thermos. "I can go take a look."

"As for suggesting a mercenary..." Song Qiao Yu lowered his head. "I actually lean more toward the second option. Retired soldiers should have records in whatever city they are in. People who have undergone this kind of training can be easily screened out. I feel that if such a person committed the crime, they wouldn't carelessly utilize their military training results."

That actually made some sense.

As if seeing a different person, Mo Yun Wan patted Song Qiao Yu's shoulder.

"This isn't bad at all—"

"Sorry, but whenever you speak, I feel like I'm being mocked." Song Qiao Yu took a deep breath. "As long as you open your mouth, no matter what you say. Can you please not praise me? It makes me feel terrified."

Mo Yun Wan was amused. "That's good then."

The surprise of the others didn't last long, but Tang Tian's gaze seemed to hold a different meaning, as if he was pondering something.

Lu Yao nudged him at this moment, and Tang Tian finally reacted, speaking up.

"I actually have a list here left behind by Tang Hua. I verified it with Liu Ji Li earlier, and he filled in some details based on his memory."

Mo Yun Wan raised an eyebrow. "Only sharing such important news now? It seems you guys made some breakthroughs on the way."

"With this list, we should be able to identify some candidates and protect them," Shao Zi said with some relief.

"Regarding the person we are looking for, Liu Ji Li actually has his own view." Lu Yao finally spoke. "He gave a name, because that person is very unique—a very young man with a strong build. Liu Ji Li didn't know his actual role, but he was sometimes ordered to provide him with some related data, so he had a deep impression of him. He speculated that this might be the assassin tasked with killing his companions, because he only needed the contact person's location, identity, and appearance, and didn't care about any other role information."

"What's the name?" Liu Che was a bit puzzled. "Why didn't you tell me about this earlier?"

Lu Yao began to look a bit dejected. "Because I couldn't find any related data along the way. But that name is clearly a rare real name. I even suspect if he changed his name—no, even if he did, I would have found him in the police database. There are no matching targets within my clearance level."

"Maybe he remembered it wrong? That's unlikely though." Liu Che also knew the search capabilities of his young colleague. "Or maybe he's not in the database, or it's just an alias?"

"He was very sure of this name, and Liu Ji Li said that person seemed to have an obsession with his own name, even disdaining the use of fake names to deceive people." Lu Yao shook her head.

Song Qiao Yu, however, hesitated at this moment.

"Maybe... I can find someone who can help."