Desperate people, accept the seed of my soul!

Last night, Zhou Shouzhen said he was going to stay up all night to finish a document and that no one was allowed to disturb him, so she went to bed early. But when she woke up, the bed next to her was still cold.

"Old Zhou, we're not done yet..."

The conversation abruptly ended.

The study was empty except for a complete set of pajamas lying limply on the chair.

The pajamas maintained the posture of a person sitting or lying down, with the neckline slightly open, the sleeves hanging down, and even the folds at the cuffs looking so natural—only, there was no flesh inside.

Zhou Shouzhen's wife quickly put down the milk, took out her phone, and dialed her husband's number.

The phone was found lying quietly on the desk, its screen lit up, displaying two words—

"Wife".

……

One hour later.

Zhou Wenbin stood in that study, leaning over and staring at the pajamas on the chair, observing them inch by inch.

"Team Leader Zhou," a technician approached, "the on-site investigation is complete. No signs of struggle, no dragging marks, no bloodstains, no hair, no dander... absolutely no trace of any living organism."

Zhou Wenbin didn't turn around: "Where's the surveillance footage?"

"We also checked the community's surveillance footage. From 10 p.m. last night to 7 a.m. this morning, there was no footage of Zhou Shouzheng leaving from any of the entrances, elevators, or corridors, nor was there any footage of any suspicious persons entering or leaving."

Zhou Wenbin stood up, his gaze sweeping across the entire study with a deep intensity.

The way they disappeared was bizarre.

There were no signs of any living organisms.

The monitoring is completely ineffective.

This is……

Another image suddenly flashed into his mind—two days ago, on that suburban road leading to the mental health center, the empty armored truck, and the same patient gown spread out on the back seat.

The same.

"Retrieve the files." Zhou Wenbin's voice deepened. "Retrieve the case file for the missing armored truck from two days ago."

Ten minutes later, two case files were laid out side by side in front of Zhou Wenbin.

The missing armored vehicle case: The armored vehicle was precisely intercepted, and three people disappeared. There were no signs of struggle, no bloodstains, and no traces of any living beings at the scene. A set of hospital gowns was left in the back seat, and its appearance was bizarre—the person wearing it had vanished into thin air.

The case of Zhou Shouzhen's disappearance: He disappeared from his home. There were no signs of struggle, bloodstains, or any biological traces at the scene. A set of pajamas, identical in appearance, was left in the study—the person wearing it had vanished into thin air.

Zhou Wenbin's gaze moved back and forth between the two files, finally settling on the "Social Relationships" section.

Zhang Ziqian: Su Xiao's murderer.

Sun Weimin: The dean who assisted Zhang Ziqian in getting acquitted in the Su Xiao case.

Sun Qiang: Zhang Ziqian's driver.

Zhou Shouzheng: The judge who rejected the police's application to lift the compulsory medical treatment in the Su Xiao case.

Four people.

They all stood on the opposite side of the Su Xiao case.

Zhou Wenbin felt a chill creep up from his tailbone.

If both cases were deliberate...

He took a deep breath and looked at the list of victims' families in the Su Xiao case.

Li Rui, deputy captain of the First Criminal Investigation Brigade of Chenxi City Public Security Bureau.

After carefully reviewing Su Xiao's case—

As a police officer who is also a "human being," Zhou Wenbin empathizes with Li Rui and sympathizes with his plight.

But as a "professional" police officer, Zhou Wenbin must remain suspicious of Li Rui.

Li Rui has a motive, counter-surveillance capabilities, and a destructive rage.

However, Zhou Wenbin could not understand how Li Rui could turn a living person into an empty set of pajamas without leaving any biological traces or alerting any surveillance.

……

According to standard procedures, Zhou Shouzheng's disappearance should be investigated by the Seventh District Branch.

However, after the case was reported, Zhou Wenbin did not receive a notice of case filing, but was urgently transferred to a special task force established by the Municipal Public Security Bureau, with Deputy Director Guo Jin personally in charge, and Zhou Wenbin was transferred to the task force.

When Zhou Wenbin arrived at the task force, he realized that he was under a lot of pressure from above.

Zhou Shouzhen was, after all, the vice president of the municipal court. The disappearance of such a figure without explanation had attracted attention from the provincial court and the city government.

The municipal bureau has no choice but to give an explanation.

However, the atmosphere within the task force was delicate.

Zhou Shouzhen had just rejected the police's application for Zhang Ziqian's case—a fact that was known throughout the entire municipal bureau.

Privately, no one sympathized with Zhou Shouzhen.

When that gavel fell, it shattered not only the hope of a detective, but also the last vestige of "justice" for all frontline police officers.

Therefore, people don't care much about this case.

They simply dispatched members of a special task force to investigate the case, treating it as a routine case.

Zhou Wenbin's assigned task was to focus on one person—Li Rui.

……

Twenty-four hours later, in the early morning, Zhou Wenbin closed the observation record.

On that day, he retrieved all of Li Rui's whereabouts and even personally staked out Li Rui's residence for four hours.

The result both relieved him and plunged him into deeper confusion—

Li Rui led a regular life, went to get off work and left work on time, had no unusual social interactions, showed no signs of running away, and did not experience an emotional breakdown.

On the night the armored truck disappeared, he was living alone at home with no witnesses; on the night Zhou Shouzhen disappeared, he was also at home.

He had a window of opportunity to commit the crime, but he couldn't explain his method—

To make someone disappear into thin air without any external assistance and without leaving any biological trace is beyond the capabilities of an "excellent detective" and enters a realm that cannot be explained by common sense.

What silenced Zhou Wenbin even more was Li Rui's state of mind.

That's not how someone who has just completed two revenge missions should look—no tension, no excitement, no hesitation.

He was as calm as a stagnant pool, like the embers after something has burned out.

Zhou Wenbin had seen that kind of calm before—in those who were truly desperate and had truly let go of everything.

Zhou Wenbin ultimately wrote the following line in his observation record:

"The target showed no abnormal behavior."

This is a fact, and a fact that has been filtered out.

What he didn't write down was the state that sent chills down his spine.

He was also unwilling to presume guilt against a colleague based solely on their current state of mind.

It wasn't dereliction of duty, but rather the judgment of a veteran criminal investigator: reporting suspicions without evidence would only bring unnecessary trouble to someone who has already suffered too much.

Moreover, deep down he secretly hoped that the case would never be solved—if those four empty sets of clothes were truly a manifestation of some kind of "justice," then as a police officer, should he be chasing the murderer or the fire that burned through the darkness?

……

At the same time.

Zhang Zhaoqing sat in his study, a stack of photos and documents spread out in front of him.

Those were the "results" gathered by the people he sent out to keep watch over the past four days.

The first one is the top student in his grade in high school who was pushed down the stairs by Zhang Ziqian. Now he works as an accountant in a small company. He is honest, hardworking, timid and afraid of trouble.

His parents had long since retired and lived in the suburbs, spending their days buying groceries and taking walks; their lives were as peaceful as a stagnant pool.