Regarding the matter of awakening lightning abilities after transformation

"Shh..." The ear-piercing friction sound grew louder as it approached. At first, it was just a faint sound, but now it was like a thunderclap from a clear sky, severely tormenting Yu Jinlin's eardrums.

"Tsk." Sensing that the sound wasn't going to stop, he hissed softly, reached into his bag and rummaged around haphazardly, finally pulling out a small white medicine bottle.

This is his chronic condition. The doctor diagnosed it as auditory hallucinations caused by neurasthenia. Medication can temporarily suppress it, but ultimately, taking medicine is only a temporary measure. To cure it completely, he needs to stop working and take time to recuperate.

And this time it didn't seem to work... Yu Jinlin swallowed the medicine whole, but the sound in his ears still didn't stop.

"Shh..." It seemed as if cotton needles were hidden under the soft sofa, piercing his skin little by little.

Yu Jinlin couldn't lie still any longer. He sat up, put on the slippers next to him, and searched the room for the source of the sound.

"Where is it?!" The scraping sound came from all directions, and his head felt like it was going to explode. Yu Jinlin pounded on the wall hard, and the sound instantly decreased, but it still maintained a very low frequency.

"Not here." He clenched his fists and muttered to himself, quickly leaving the living room, the rustling sound becoming more discernible.

To the right—no, below… Following the sound to the end, Yu Jinlin stopped. His pupils dilated, and his body trembled uncontrollably. It was a rusty iron door, and the unbearable scraping sound was coming from behind it.

The man's face turned deathly pale, his lips trembled, and his cold hand slowly covered the doorknob.

"You're back?" His heart nearly went numb, but he still managed to pull the handle. The door opened, revealing nothing but clutter, and even the creaking sound disappeared.

"Cough cough..." Dust rushed in and filled his lungs. Yu Jinlin coughed a few times and closed the door again.

My symptoms are getting worse. I'll take the day off tomorrow and go to the hospital to get checked out," he thought to himself, while washing his hands under the tap.

The water flow suddenly stopped halfway through, and Yu Jinlin twisted and turned it several times without success. He looked up and saw a headless corpse reflected in the bathroom mirror. His vision went black and he collapsed.

......

Back to the present, Gu Cheng, wearing a large baseball cap, headed to her destination. This time, the agreed-upon location wasn't an office building, but an elegantly decorated coffee shop.

As soon as she entered the store, she smelled the rich aroma of coffee, and a waiter wearing a black apron came forward to greet her warmly.

What do you need?

"Someone booked a private room in advance, and this is the room number she gave me."

Gu Cheng showed the room number to the waiter, who nodded and gestured for her to go this way. The two walked through the narrow corridor to the room at the end.

The room was brightly lit, with a palm-colored carpet underfoot and an owl clock hanging on the wall. Su Wanxi sat on the sofa in the center, her legs together, her delicate white fingers resting on a piece of paper. Her attire today was simple: a pure white shirt that accentuated her beautiful figure, a red ribbon tied at the bow, and gold-rimmed glasses perched on her nose, giving her a quiet and elegant appearance.

"Would you like something to drink?" Upon seeing the visitor, she took off her glasses and clipped the bookmark to her pocket, adding a touch of heroic spirit to her every move.

Gu Cheng had never been to such a... upscale place before. She had only seen many of the teas on TV and didn't know their specific flavors.

"This one." After hesitating for a moment, she ordered the cheapest Americano, without ice.

Are you sure you don't want to add it?

"Then add it..."

A moment later, the waiter brought over a plate with the ordered tea, milk, and sugar for the customer to mix. Gu Cheng took a small sip, the slightly sour and bitter taste lingering on her tongue.

"Have new cracks appeared again?" Before she came, she thought it was something extremely urgent, but now she was just leisurely drinking coffee with Su Wanxi.

"No, this situation is a little different from what you handled before." Su Wanxi added two spoonfuls of sugar and some milk to her cup.

“Different?” Gu Cheng’s gaze shifted from the book titled “Stone”.

“Yesterday morning, the Hermit Bureau’s head at the Central Hospital discovered new information.” As she spoke, Su Wanxi took out the documents from the file folder.

"Yu Jinlin, male, 28 years old..." Gu Cheng silently read each line in her mind.

"According to his own description, he suffers from severe auditory and visual hallucinations, and the doctor's initial diagnosis is neurasthenia." This document was only a few pages long, and she finished it in a couple of glances.

"Is something wrong with him?" Gu Cheng frowned, asking with some doubt. Judging from the file, Yu Jinlin was a successful young man, so it wasn't too surprising that he had some psychological problems due to work pressure.

“If that’s all, it’s certainly not enough to attract the attention of the person in charge.” Su Wanxi put down her coffee and handed her a new file.

“The following is the key to our targeting of him.” It was a police report from the Lanjiang City Public Security Bureau. The person who reported the crime was Yu Jinlin, and the date of the report was 2086, which is almost three years ago.

"His sister is missing?" Gu Cheng muttered to herself as she continued scrolling down.

Yu Jinxuan, female, 22 years old, a senior college student... went missing on July 6, 2086.

"The Hermit Bureau suspects her disappearance is related to the crack." The document also included a photo of the girl, wearing a white veil, with her back to the beach, smiling at the camera and showing her cute little tiger teeth.

So what should we do?

"After you finish this coffee, I'll take you to Yu Jinlin's place to find out more about the situation."

"Hmm, just the two of us?" Gu Cheng asked her in return.

"Qin Kexin went back to her hometown to visit relatives, and Zhou Li also has other things to do. There are only the two of us awakened individuals in this operation." Su Wanxi nodded and put away the documents on the table.

"Understood." The two stood up and left the private room.

"Ninety-eight in total, shall I pay by card?" Upon arriving at the front desk, the clerk smiled and handed the bill to Su Wanxi.

"Ah."

"I'll transfer the money to you." Seeing that Su Wanxi paid in full, Gu Cheng took out his phone to transfer the money to her.

"No need... Never mind, just transfer it to me." Having known Gu Cheng for so long, Su Wanxi had a general idea of ​​her personality.

Gentle yet strong, and sometimes stubborn.

The phone screen showed a balance of 24, while an Americano on the menu cost 23. As for the extra dollar...

Su Wanxi was stunned for a moment before she realized what was happening.

That's the price of a bouquet of flowers.

Section 28, Chapter Twenty-Eight: Detective Su Wanxi and Her Assistant

Who are you looking for?

"Does Mr. Yu Jinlin live here?"

"I am Yu Jinlin. What do you want with me?" He was dressed in casual home clothes, with a rosy complexion and steady breathing, completely unlike the patient suffering from neurasthenia described in the files.

“We are here to investigate the details of your sister’s disappearance. These are the relevant documents.” Su Wanxi handed the prepared documents to Yu Jinlin, who took them and examined them, frowning slightly.

"Missing... It's been so long since I reported it missing, what use are you now?" Ha, here to investigate Xiaoxuan's disappearance... His tone was not as gentle as before, even carrying a hint of sarcasm.

Three years ago, after reporting the crime to the police, Yu Jinlin began using all his connections to search for clues. Countless times, hope arose only to vanish, and after half a year of fruitless searching, his spirits sank. Now, the police have come to him at this very moment. Rather than investigating, Yu Jinlin prefers to believe that his adversaries have deliberately set a trap.

"Police resources are limited, and we are doing our best to investigate." It's still unclear who this so-called investigation is actually investigating. Su Wanxi spoke these platitudes without batting an eye, and if Gu Cheng hadn't known beforehand, she would have almost believed her.

"I understand, but it's a bit inconvenient today. You can only investigate for half an hour at most. I have a lot of work to do and can't afford to waste time." After confirming that his condition was getting worse, Yu Jinlin requested leave from the company. He didn't need to work at the moment.

The reason for the time limit was that Yu Jinlin was worried that someone would use this incident to create a scandal. For example, one of his competitors would be happy to see news of his dissolute private life spread. One man and two women, meeting in a suburban villa—good fodder for gossip; the imagination of onlookers always leaps rapidly on this level.

"Of course, we won't take up too much of your time." With the homeowner's permission, Su Wanxi and Gu Cheng entered the villa without any problem.

Yu Jinlin's villa has a retro style, with the living room walls covered in dark green and decorated with milky white stone carvings at the edges. The furniture is mostly solid wood, with an exceptionally fine finish. The most eye-catching feature is the fireplace in the center, on which sits a lifelike deer head model. Yu Jinlin really likes this rustic style; it always gives people a sense of inexplicable peace.

The two sat facing each other across the coffee table. Yu Jinlin poured two cups of tea for the visitors and then took the initiative to start a conversation.

"Let's skip the pleasantries and get straight to the point. What do you need to know?"

"Your younger sister is Yu Jinxuan. When was the last time you saw her?" Su Wanxi propped herself up on her arms, crossed her hands in front of her, and spoke in a tone that was neither humble nor arrogant.

"The last time I saw her... was right here. Xiaoxuan and I were having dinner as usual, and then we watched TV for a while." Yu Jinlin paused for a moment, as if recalling a distant memory.

"How is her mental state? Has she shown any signs of emotional instability?"

“Not at all. She happily chatted with me about interesting things that happened at school, and she didn’t stop until dinner was over.”

"Why didn't she go to school for the previous two months?" As soon as Su Wanxi asked the question, Gu Cheng keenly noticed the change in Yu Jinlin's expression. In addition to grief and regret, there was also a terrifying cold glint in his eyes.

These changes didn't even last half a second; Gu Cheng even thought she had misread them.

“At that time, Xiaoxuan was not in good health, and I also heard that someone at school was harassing her. Anyway, she was a senior and about to start her internship, so I simply helped her complete the relevant procedures so that she could rest for two months.” It sounds reasonable and convincing.

“You’re still bothering me... Can we talk about this in more detail?” Gu Cheng, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke up. She vaguely felt that Yu Jinxuan’s disappearance might be related to this guy.

"Heh, you all seem quite interested in my sister's love life," Yu Jinlin replied somewhat displeased, his expression a forced smile.

“It’s for work. The more we know, the greater the chance of finding your sister. I hope you can cooperate.” Su Wanxi continued, her face equally expressionless.

"Heh." He chuckled dryly, barely acknowledging Su Wanxi's statement.

"Xiaoxuan is a science student, and the male-to-female ratio in related majors is already prone to imbalance. In addition, she is pretty, so there are always people around her trying to curry favor with her."

"The one who bothered Xiaoxuan the most was a brat named Wen Xiangdong. He was my sister's classmate. He was probably a year older than Xiaoxuan and had a terrible reputation at school. All he did all day was play video games and think about going clubbing. He was idle and aimless. As Xiaoxuan's brother, I could never entrust her to someone like that."

Do you know him very well?

“After Xiaoxuan disappeared, I did suspect him. I secretly kept an eye on him for at least three months, but he just kept living his life as usual, just wasting his days.” Yu Jinlin took a sip of tea to moisten his throat.

"Investigating him will likely yield little result," he added at the end, his words brimming with disdain for Wen Xiangdong.

“I understand. I also want to know, what is the relationship between Yu Jinxuan and you and your parents?” Su Wanxi changed the subject, approaching the topic from another angle.

"What's the problem?" Yu Jinlin frowned, looking at Su Wanxi with some confusion.

“We need to consider all factors.” Su Wanxi didn’t expect Yu Jinlin to give any useful answers; she was simply testing his reaction.

“Xiaoxuan is someone I’ve watched grow up since she was little. It’s no exaggeration to say she’s my closest person. We’ve always had a very good relationship…” Surprisingly, Yu Jinlin didn’t refuse to answer. Instead, he recounted his own experiences in detail.

“My father passed away a long time ago, and my mother raised my brother and me. Xiaoxuan is very filial. At first, she didn’t even plan to go to university and wanted to stay by her mother’s side to take care of her.”

“Which parent in the world doesn’t want their child to have a bright future? In the end, Xiaoxuan couldn’t go against her mother’s wishes and gritted her teeth to come to my city to study at university, so we could take care of each other. I was also worried about leaving my mother alone in our hometown, so I arranged for someone to look after her.” As he said this, Yu Jinlin glanced at the clock in the living room. Fifteen minutes had passed since their conversation, and there was not much time left for the investigation.

"Can we go to Yu Jinxuan's room and take a look?"

“No, I will not allow anyone to enter her room after she disappeared.” Anything is acceptable except this. Even if someone comes with a search warrant, Yu Jinlin will argue his case.

"Okay, that concludes today's investigation. Thank you for your cooperation." Su Wanxi didn't press the matter further and stood up to leave.

“If you’ve changed your mind, you can dial this number.” She and Gu Cheng walked to the door, and she handed her number to Yu Jinlin.

"I see."

Yu Jinlin stood in the living room and responded expressionlessly.

Section 29, Chapter Twenty-Nine: Sweet Coffee and Case Analysis

"Miss Su..." Gu Cheng sat in the passenger seat and called out to her softly.