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

"Shh...smell carefully, there's a bloody smell!"

Qi Feng lowered his voice, covered Haitang's mouth with one hand, and pulled her behind a tree to hide the two of them.

The heavy rain poured down, pounding on the leaves and the ground with a dense, crackling sound.

Lin Haitang steadied herself and instinctively leaned half her body out to observe the house hidden in the darkness.

Qi Feng reacted quickly, pressing his large hand directly onto the back of her head and forcibly pushing her head back.

"You stay here and support me," Qi Feng whispered in Lin Haitang's ear. "I'll go in and investigate. Ten minutes. If I don't come out in ten minutes, call Captain Fan for backup."

"No way." Lin Haitang refused without hesitation. "Call for backup right now!"

She reached into her pocket for her phone.

Qi Feng grabbed the back of her hand and used his fingers to stop her movement.

"No." Qi Feng's voice was firm and unwavering. "The rain is too heavy, and the mountain roads are difficult to traverse. A large police force rushing here overnight won't be able to keep their movements secret; it would easily alert the enemy. Besides..."

[At this point, I hope readers will remember our domain name: 20 ...

Qi Feng paused, his gaze piercing through the rain, staring intently at the house that was completely dark.

"I just smelled blood. In this desolate wilderness, what if this family was slaughtering chickens and sheep to process their livestock? We went to all this trouble, bringing the city bureau over, only to find out it was a false alarm. We wouldn't be able to explain it to Captain Fan."

"Then I'll go with you!" Lin Haitang grabbed Qi Feng's arm tightly, preventing him from going forward.

"That won't do either," Qi Feng refused again. "The situation is unclear. If we both go in and something happens, we'll both be trapped inside without anyone to send a message or ask for help."

Lin Haitang's chest heaved violently. She knew Qi Feng was right, but she just didn't want to...

Just then, Qi Feng suddenly lowered his head and kissed her directly.

It carried the chill of rain and an irresistible domineering presence.

Lin Haitang's pupils dilated instantly, her body stiffened slightly, and then softened in Qi Feng's arms.

Lip points.

Qi Feng looked directly into Lin Haitang's eyes.

"obedient."

After uttering those two words, Qi Feng gave Lin Haitang no further chance to refute him and decisively turned away.

He reached behind him to his waist and drew his sidearm.

With a flick of the thumb, the safety latch was released.

"Click".

A very faint metallic crack was completely masked by the rainy night.

Qi Feng lowered his center of gravity, held the gun with both hands, pointed the muzzle diagonally at the ground, and silently crept towards the house under the cover of trees and bushes.

Lin Haitang leaned against the tree trunk, her hands clenched into fists, staring intently at Qi Feng's figure gradually disappearing into the darkness, biting her lower lip.

She made a decision in her heart.

To hell with those ten minutes. The moment she sensed anything amiss, she would rush in and, in that instant, press Fan Liang's call button.

Qi Feng's feet sank into the muddy ground.

He deliberately slowed his pace, landing on his toes first and then slowly pressing down on his heels to minimize the sound of his footsteps.

They were getting closer and closer to the house.

Qi Feng arrived at the perimeter of the house. It was a makeshift fence made of discarded wooden strips and wire.

After years of exposure to wind and rain, the wooden strips have become highly rotten.

He did not choose to enter through the main gate.

Qi Feng went around to a slightly higher spot on the side of the fence where the wooden railing was relatively low, and then climbed over into the yard.

Then he quickly crouched down in the waist-high weeds in the yard, his eyes scanning the surroundings rapidly.

In the yard, there were some rusty farm tools and several old water vats piled up.

There were no dogs, or any other living creatures.

He pressed himself against the wall, inching his way toward the window on the side of the house.

The windows were old-fashioned wooden-framed glass windows, covered in grime, with a tattered cloth curtain drawn inside, making it impossible to see anything inside.

Qi Feng pressed his back against the cold, damp brick wall, slowly turned his head, and pressed his right ear close to the window crack.

The rain was very loud.

Close your eyes completely, adjust your breathing rhythm, and focus your hearing on the point where your ear touches the window crack.

One minute.

Two minutes.

three minutes.

Apart from the sound of the wind and the muffled thud of rain hitting the roof, there was no other sound inside the house.

There was no sound of conversation or movement.

Qi Feng opened his eyes, his gaze cold and sharp.

Don't do it again and again.

He left the window and followed the wall to the front door.

This is a heavy wooden door, its surface covered with mottled cracks.

The door wasn't locked, it was just ajar, with a gap of less than a centimeter.

The nauseating, pungent smell of blood was emanating continuously from the crack in the door.

Qi Feng stood to the side of the door, aiming his gun at the crack in the door.

A blinding white light pierced the night sky.

Immediately afterwards, a deafening roar erupted, followed by a thunderous explosion.

Qi Feng seized the moment the thunder roared and slammed his left hand against the wooden door.

The old door hinges emitted a dull creaking sound, but it was perfectly drowned out by the deafening thunder.

The door opened.

An overwhelming stench of blood and corpses assaulted the senses.

Without any hesitation, Qi Feng pulled a high-powered flashlight from his tactical vest with his left hand.

As he pressed the switch, he charged into the house with his gun in a standard tactical angled maneuver.

The white beam of the powerful flashlight instantly tore through the darkness inside the room.

Qi Feng's movements froze instantly.

He remained motionless, holding the gun with both hands.

The room fell into a deathly silence, with only the sound of rain coming from outside the door.

Behind the trees in the distance.

The moment Qi Feng pushed open the door and entered, Lin Haitang began to count silently in her mind.

one two three....

Ten, eleven, twelve...

thirty.

All thirty numbers have been counted.

There were no gunshots or sounds of fighting inside, and Qi Feng did not come out.

Lin Haitang's nerves instantly tightened to their limit.

She drew her sidearm, abandoned all attempts at concealment, and dashed out of the woods at full speed.

Mud splashed onto her trouser legs, but she didn't care.

She rushed across the yard and kicked open the half-open wooden door.

"Qi Feng!"

Lin Haitang rushed into the house with a gun in hand.

The beam of a powerful flashlight shone on the wall, providing illumination.

Qi Feng stood there, his back to her, the muzzle of his gun lowered.

Lin Haitang followed Qi Feng's gaze and looked towards the center of the room.

I only glanced at it.

Lin Haitang's pupils contracted sharply, and her face turned deathly pale, devoid of any color.

A very strange sound came from her throat.

The next second, Lin Haitang suddenly turned around, stumbled and rushed out of the gate, and rushed into the rainstorm in the courtyard.

She leaned against a broken water vat in the yard, bent over, and felt a violent spasm in her stomach.

"vomit...."

Hearing the noise, Qi Feng also came out of the house.

He walked to Lin Haitang's side, said nothing, but simply reached out his left hand and patted her back repeatedly to help her catch her breath.

Lin Haitang vomited until tears streamed down her face. She clung tightly to Qi Feng's clothes, unable to utter a single complete sentence.

Qi Feng's expression was equally grim, his brows furrowed into a tight knot.

He freed his right hand and took out his waterproof phone from his pocket.

"Captain Fan, Haitang and I are on the hillside northwest of the villa. There's an abandoned house there."

"We believe we have discovered a fifth victim."

"Requesting backup. Bring forensic and trace evidence."