A perfect crime? To me, it's full of flaws!

An hour later, on the highway.

Qi Feng drove his boxy black SUV, its body lines as hard as a brick, recklessly weaving through traffic.

Liu Yuanshan sat in the back seat with his eyes closed, but his brows remained furrowed, and his whole body swayed with the bumps of the car.

Lin Haitang, sitting upright beside him, was holding a heavy survey box in her arms—Liu Yuanshan's treasured box.

She still can't understand why things turned out this way.

Qi Feng was supposed to be there to carry the bag, so how did he end up in his own hands?

The atmosphere inside the car was almost too quiet, with only the low roar of the engine and the "patter" of the tires rolling over the road seams.

"Um... Xiao Qi, how much longer until we arrive?"

Unable to bear the silence any longer, Lin Haitang finally spoke up and asked.

"According to the navigation, it'll be about half an hour." Qi Feng glanced at the central control screen, then looked at her in the rearview mirror and asked, "By the way, Senior Sister, why did you come along too?"

His question immediately set off a string of firecrackers in the back seat.

"What do you mean, 'Why did they follow me here?'"

Liu Yuanshan, who had been resting with his eyes closed, suddenly opened them, his tone full of anger.

"This is Director Gong showing concern for my old bones! If I were relying on you to take care of me, I reckon I wouldn't be far from my grave!"

"No way, Master, am I that bad?" Qi Feng said innocently, "Even if I'm not good enough, there's still Senior Brother in S City. He'll definitely take good care of you."

"Hmph, you still have the nerve to mention your senior brother?" Liu Yuanshan adjusted his posture, shifting his buttocks around on the leather seat, feeling uncomfortable no matter what.

"Look at the car you're driving! What kind of crap is this?! It's practically shaking my old bones to pieces! It's not even as good as that Passat in the living room!"

Upon hearing this, Qi Feng was displeased and immediately began to defend his beloved car.

"Master, do you even know what I'm talking about?! This is an AMG G63, 4.0T, V8 engine, twin turbocharged! It's called the 'Scumbag's Pleasure Box,' a real man's off-road vehicle, it's super awesome, okay?!"

Liu Yuanshan looked disgusted.

"What G-rated stuff? Never heard of it. Anyway, it's not even as comfortable as Corey's Passat. How much did you pay for this piece of junk?"

"Uh..." Qi Feng's expression instantly fell, his tone full of pain, "It'll cost over three million two hundred thousand to get everything done."

As soon as that number was announced, the temperature inside the car dropped several degrees.

Lin Haitang tightened her grip on the survey kit, and when she saw Qi Feng's discomfitured face in the rearview mirror, the corners of her mouth couldn't help but turn upwards.

"What the hell?!"

Liu Yuanshan's voice rose eight octaves, and he jumped up from his seat.

"Over three million! That could buy so many Passats! You spendthrift! Where did you get so much money?!"

"I earned it myself!" Qi Feng retorted, "I made money trading stocks when I was in school, and... I also made money by doing feng shui for people."

In his life, he's good for nothing but stocks; whatever he buys goes up. As for feng shui, he learned it from a feng shui book he found in his old house that cost 4.8 yuan. His main skill is just swindling.

"You believe in feng shui? I think you've lost your mind!" Liu Yuanshan roared, his beard bristling and eyes wide with anger. "Three million yuan! Wouldn't it be better to buy a house and get married instead of this lump of iron!"

Qi Feng didn't want to talk anymore.

I have absolutely nothing in common with this old-fashioned person.

In his world, the best cars are the Passat and the Audi A6, because they are the vehicles of choice for leaders.

"Hmph, I'll teach you one thing today." Liu Yuanshan cleared his throat, looking at his unconvinced expression, and struck a shrewd and calculating pose.

"Remember this: as a subordinate, your car must never be better than your boss's! That's a major taboo in officialdom, understand?"

Qi Feng pursed his lips and muttered under his breath.

"Pshaw, what should I drive then? You ride that old-fashioned bicycle to work every day, do I need a 26-inch kids' bike?"

The car fell silent instantly.

Lin Haitang suppressed a laugh, her shoulders shaking slightly.

Liu Yuanshan's face visibly darkened.

"Hey! You little rascal!"

Liu Yuanshan flew into a rage, sat up straight, raised his large, fan-like hand, reached across the gap in the chair, and delivered a solid slap to the back of Qi Feng's head.

"Snapped!"

A crisp sound.

Qi Feng's head suddenly lurched forward, causing the steering wheel to tilt and the car to draw a small S-shape on the highway.

"Holy crap! Master! You're murdering your own disciple! You're driving!" Qi Feng shouted exaggeratedly.

"I'll clean house today!" Liu Yuanshan was still angry and made a move to hit him again.

Lin Haitang couldn't hold back any longer and burst out laughing, but quickly stopped herself, cleared her throat, and earnestly advised, "Old Liu, be careful, we're still on the highway."

Liu Yuanshan reluctantly withdrew his hand, leaned back heavily in his chair, panting heavily, and muttered under his breath, "You little bastard... you've got too big for your britches... you're lawless now..."

Qi Feng rubbed the back of his head, glared at the old man in the rearview mirror, and mentally cursed: This old guy really goes all out!

After this commotion, the atmosphere in the car wasn't so oppressive anymore.

After driving for a while, and seeing that they were about to exit the highway, Liu Yuanshan's anger had subsided considerably.

He regained his serious demeanor as a criminal investigation expert and said to Lin Haitang, "Haitang, tell us the case again so we can get into the zone beforehand."

"Okay, Mr. Liu."

Lin Haitang immediately opened the folder in her hand and began her report in a steady and clear manner.

"Currently, three victims have been confirmed, all young women aged between 20 and 25, with a slender build. The first victim, Chen Jing, 22, a company clerk, was found dead among dolls outside a coffee shop in the southern part of S City."

"The second victim, Wang Yue, 24, a freelancer, was found dead in a bench among dolls at the end of a popular commercial street."

"The third victim, Li Li, 23, a college student, was found in a corner of a shopping mall's back alley, among a collection of dolls."

Lin Haitang paused, then added, "The modus operandi in all three cases is exactly the same: torture and murder. The murder weapon is presumably a narrow-bladed single-edged bayonet with extremely deep wounds that pierced directly through the heart. After the victims died, the killer stripped them naked and stuffed them into custom-made large dolls."

Qi Feng listened as he drove, his fingers tapping unconsciously on the steering wheel.

"Custom-made dolls?" he interjected.

"Yes." Lin Haitang nodded. "The police investigated all the toy manufacturers and shops in S City, but found no sales records for the same toy. This toy is a size larger than those commonly found on the market, and it has a zipper on the back, making it easy to stuff things inside. It's very likely that the murderer made it himself, or ordered it through special channels."

"This killer has a histrionic personality disorder," Qi Feng suddenly blurted out.

Liu Yuanshan and Lin Haitang both looked at him.

"What do you mean?" Liu Yuanshan asked.

"Master, you think about it." Qi Feng drove the car off the highway and merged into the city traffic, slowing down.

"He went to all this trouble, killing someone, changing clothes, stuffing dolls inside, and dumping the body in a busy public place. What was he after? Wasn't it just for attention? He wasn't just dumping the body; he was 'exhibiting' his work."

Qi Feng's tone was relaxed, but his words made the air in the car heavy again.

"He treated the dead as his works of art, and the entire city of S as his exhibition hall. Outside cafes, on trendy streets, in shopping malls... these are all places with huge foot traffic, and he wanted as many people as possible to see his 'masterpiece.' This kind of person is extremely narcissistic and desperately craves external recognition, even if that recognition is met with fear and abuse."

Liu Yuanshan listened without refuting, his eyes revealing a thoughtful expression.

Qi Feng, this kid, is usually carefree and irresponsible, but when it comes to cases, his sense of smell is frighteningly sharp.

"Continue," Liu Yuanshan said to Lin Haitang.

"Yes. The biggest problem right now is that no valuable biological evidence has been found at any of the three crime scenes, and no clear images of the suspect have been captured. The killer is very good at counter-surveillance, always choosing to commit crimes in blind spots or blurry areas of surveillance. Captain Qin An and his team have been working continuously for seventy-two hours, checking a massive amount of surveillance footage and personnel, but with little success."

Lin Haitang closed the folder, her face grave.

"The most critical issue is public opinion. The hashtag 'Doll Corpse Case' is still trending at number one. Various self-media outlets are exaggerating and fabricating all sorts of terrifying stories. People in S City are in a state of panic, and the city police station's phones are ringing off the hook. The provincial department's request for us to come here is a death order; we must solve the case within a week!"

A week.

Qi Feng whistled.

That's a lot of pressure.

but……

He likes it.

The greater the pressure, the more complex the case, and the more complex the case, the faster his experience points in the system will increase.

He could already sense that tempting red clue boxes were floating in the sky above S City, waiting for him to discover them.

As the car turned a corner, the imposing building of the S City Public Security Bureau came into view.

At the entrance of the building, a dense crowd of reporters carrying cameras and microphones blocked the entire entrance.

Seeing this scene, Liu Yuanshan's brows furrowed into a knot.

"These reporters are more annoying than flies."

"Let's go in through the side door," Lin Haitang suggested.

Just as Qi Feng was about to turn the car around, his phone suddenly vibrated.

He picked it up and saw that it was a short text message from his senior brother Qin An. The message was brief, but it made Qi Feng's pupils shrink sharply.

[Master, Haitang, Junior Brother, have you arrived? The situation has changed.]

[We just received a report that a fourth doll has been found in an amusement park in the west of the city.]