Ning Family Manor

Under the night sky of Pengcheng, the neon lights receded into the distance, leaving behind only a heavy silence.

Liu Zheng and Old Bai were clad entirely in black, virtually indistinguishable from the thick darkness surrounding them.

In the distance, the estate crouched quietly in the gloom, resembling a slumbering behemoth.

"Tsk. If a branch of the Ning family lives this lavishly, I can't imagine what the main house looks like."

Old Bai kept his voice low, his tone carrying a sigh that was an indistinguishable mix of envy and disdain.

"A branch that's all but extinct. All that wealth is useless now." Liu Zheng's voice was flat, devoid of emotion.

He checked his equipment one last time and jerked his head toward Old Bai.

The two moved out immediately, gliding toward the estate like two spectral shadows, completely silent.

This operation was off the books—shadowy business that couldn't see the light of day. From the moment they stepped into Pengcheng, they had gone off the grid.

Of course, relying on just the two of them was akin to looking for a needle in a haystack.

It was the intelligence from "Eastern Leaf" that had allowed them to lock onto this estate once again.

The data showed that the estate had long been abandoned; the servants had been dismissed, leaving behind nothing but an empty shell.

It wasn't that no one had investigated before, but they had all come up empty-handed.

But Liu Zheng refused to buy it. He had a gut feeling that those people had missed something crucial.

Or perhaps, something only he could discover.

As a member of the reconnaissance team, Liu Zheng was quite confident in his own abilities.

Holding the estate's floor plan in his hand, he led Old Bai along a familiar route to a specific spot, vaulting over the wall with practiced ease.

Inside the wall lay a vast, untended garden.

Various expensive bonsai trees had long since burst their bindings, their branches growing wild and gesticulating madly in the night wind.

The ground was covered in a layer of withered leaves and weeds; stepping on them produced a faint rustling sound.

"Honestly, is it really necessary to come here again? This place looks like a mass grave."

Old Bai adjusted his night-vision goggles. Through the lenses, the entire world turned into an eerie shade of green.

He held his gun at the ready, scanning the surroundings vigilantly. Not even a rat scurrying past would escape his notice.

But the surroundings were deathly silent, save for the sound of the wind.

The two avoided the main path, instead skirting the shadows along the wall until they reached the side door of the mansion.

A manor of this size had many entrances and exits; there was no need to walk through the front door.

Liu Zheng fished a compact set of tools from his chest pocket and crouched in front of the door.

With a faint *click*, the door opened.

The whole process took less than ten seconds.

They slipped inside and quickly closed the door behind them.

The interior of the house was even darker than the outside, and a smell mixing dust and decay hit them in the face.

They turned the brightness of their night-vision goggles to the maximum. Flashlights were strictly off-limits; turning one on would be like lighting a flare in the dark, announcing to everyone, "We are here."

"Such a huge house, and we haven't found anything?" Old Bai's voice carried a faint echo in the empty hall.

Liu Zheng didn't speak. He simply used his ability to scan the scene before him, inch by inch.

The furniture in the hall hadn't been covered with white sheets, so the dust accumulation was severe.

A thick layer of grime coated the floor, though they had put on shoe covers before entering, ensuring they wouldn't leave prints in the dust.

Suddenly, Liu Zheng's gaze froze.

He raised his hand, making a sharp tactical gesture for Old Bai to stop.

"What is it?"

Old Bai lowered his voice to barely a breath of air. He followed Liu Zheng's line of sight, the muzzle of his gun dipping slightly in response.

In the phosphorescent green display of the night-vision goggles, amidst the thick dust on the floor, there was distinctly another set of fainter footprints.

The footprints extended from the depths of the hall, eventually vanishing at the staircase leading to the second floor.

Old Bai's Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed hard.

*It seems this place isn't empty after all.*

"Stay sharp."

Liu Zheng's voice was very light, yet it conveyed an undeniable calm.

While sensing for any faint, intermittent energy fluctuations in the vicinity, he drew his gun from his pocket. His movements were fluid, and the crisp sound of the slide racking echoed jarringly in the dead silence of the hall.

The two stopped speaking, instantly entering a tactical state where they communicated solely through eye contact and hand signals.

Following the footprints upstairs, they placed every step on the edges of the stairs to minimize sound.

The second-floor corridor was equally covered in dust, and the trail of footprints pointed clearly toward a room at the end of the hall.

But at the door, both Liu Zheng and Old Bai stopped.

They exchanged a glance; both had spotted the problem.

These footprints only went in. There were none coming out.

Either the person was still inside, or they hadn't left through the door.

But both felt it was necessary to wait.

Flanking the door left and right, they pressed against the cold walls, guns trained on the door panel, waiting patiently.

Time ticked by, minute by minute. They waited for over ten minutes.

Yet the inside remained terrifyingly quiet. There wasn't even the sound of footsteps.

Liu Zheng raised his hand and signed: *Do you think the target is still inside?*

Old Bai shook his head, a ruthless glint in his eyes, and signed back for a breach: *Rush in and check?*

Liu Zheng thought for a moment, nodded, then held up three fingers to count down.

Three! Two! One!

Old Bai kicked the door open, and Liu Zheng followed close behind. Guns raised, they stormed in with overlapping fields of fire.

However, the anticipated attack never came.

The sights of their two guns locked precisely onto a corpse lying in the center of the room.

The body lay stiff on the floor, covered in fine, dense lacerations, as if it had been tormented by countless razor blades.

The most bizarre part was that the blood hadn't flowed out. Instead, it had solidified like red ice crystals at every wound.

Old Bai quickly checked every corner of the room—the bookcase, the coffee table, even the ceiling—before finally shaking his head.

"Clear!"

No survivors were found, nor were there any signs of a struggle.

"Cover me."

Liu Zheng spoke up, walking over to the corpse and squatting down to observe it carefully.

Despite Liu Zheng's usually happy-go-lucky demeanor, he actually possessed forensic skills.

He put on the latex gloves he carried with him, first checking the corpse's carotid artery, then peeling back the eyelids to take a look.

"Can't confirm the time of death, but I'd guess he's been dead for a while. The body isn't decomposing or smelling... this is the work of an Ability User."

Liu Zheng's voice was grave as he pointed to the solidified beads of blood. "The moisture and heat were instantly drained from the blood. The killer's ability is likely related to ice or solidification. Furthermore, the body temperature is extremely low; he's basically a human ice sculpture."

As he spoke, he turned the corpse's face upright.

It was a face frozen in an expression of shock and confusion.

"One less missing person, one more on the casualty list. We can report it up: Zhai Xun from the Pengcheng Bureau has been found."

Liu Zheng confirmed the corpse's identity and analyzed, "The person who took Zhai Xun out was likely a mole; otherwise, he wouldn't look so surprised."

Liu Zheng continued to examine the body.

"Oho, looks like we've got a new lead."

"What?"

Liu Zheng suddenly chuckled softly. He pointed to the corpse's tightly clenched right hand.

"Look at that."

Old Bai leaned in. Zhai Xun's fist was clenched tight, but looking through the gaps in his fingers, something was visible inside.

He unclenched his fist, revealing a small scrap of fabric inside.

It was not from his own robes.

Instead, it was a fragment of a sleeve cuff, embroidered with a peculiar pattern.