The Big Case

"Lao Liu, this whole thing feels completely off. I had no choice but to come to you."

Liu Zheng looked at the uninvited captain of the criminal investigation brigade, who had practically wedged his body into the doorframe to squeeze his way in. His temples throbbed.

He was still in his loungewear and slippers, looking every bit like a man ready to collapse onto the couch and enjoy his time off.

"Kuang Jianhua, I will say this one more time. I am off the clock," Liu Zheng said, pointing at the wall clock. The hour hand was already pointing at nine.

"Lives are on the line! Who cares about being on or off the clock!"

Kuang Jianhua looked like a man with nothing to lose as he shoved a kraft paper file folder directly into Liu Zheng's arms. "Your abilities are the most effective. If I don't come to you, who else is there?"

"I'm a captain too, you know. Dragging me out in the middle of the night to visit crime scenes is really bad for my image."

Liu Zheng grumpily weighed the file in his hand. It was quite heavy.

"That's only because you're a godsend! Once we crack this case, I'll make sure you get a massive credit on the record!"

"Save it. Do I look like I need you to give me credit right now?" Despite his complaining, Liu Zheng turned around and went back into his room to change clothes.

He knew Kuang Jianhua too well. Unless there was something truly serious going on, the man wouldn't be blocking his doorway like his hair was on fire.

The two had worked together for years. Whenever Kuang Jianhua ran into a bizarre, seemingly supernatural case he couldn't handle, it would usually be transferred over to Yanhuang Awakening.

These handover missions naturally fell onto Liu Zheng back when he was still just an investigator. After doing it time and time again, they had practically become old friends.

"The car is downstairs. I'll drive." Kuang Jianhua was very self-aware. He knew that if he was begging Liu Zheng to work, he had to provide excellent service, so he voluntarily took on the role of chauffeur.

"Then you should try finding me when I'm actually on the clock next time!"

Liu Zheng expressed his brief, futile indignation.

As soon as he got into the car, Liu Zheng's phone rang. The words "Old Bai" flashed on the screen.

"Hello? I won't be able to make it tonight. You guys eat and drink well..."

Liu Zheng's voice carried a hint of helplessness. "Sigh, I can't help it. Jianhua dragged me out to look at a case... Which Jianhua? Kuang Jianhua, obviously..."

Hanging up the phone, Kuang Jianhua, who was starting the engine, turned his head and asked, "Old Bai? Not going to ask him to join us?"

"He's having late-night snacks with some friends. It's a rare chance for him to relax, so I won't bother him."

As Liu Zheng spoke, he had already undone the string on the file folder.

Inside was a thick stack of A4 paper.

The first page of the file featured a bold title: Summary of Accidental Death Incidents.

There were eight cases in total.

Eight deceased individuals, all with different identities and zero connections to one another. Their only commonality was that the official conclusion for all of them was accidental death.

The first: a white-collar worker. Coming home late from work, he accidentally tumbled down the stairs of his apartment building, snapping his spine. Dead on the spot.

The second: a housewife. While watering flowers late at night, she was struck in the head by a falling chunk of debris from the building's exterior. Dead on the spot.

The third: a college student. While swimming late at night with friends in a small pool no deeper than two meters, he drowned. Dead on the spot.

The fourth: a young man living alone. He choked on a rice cake and suffocated. Dead on the spot.

There were several other different causes of death, but all resulted in dying on the spot.

Liu Zheng skimmed through the pages rapidly, his fingers unconsciously tapping lightly against the kraft paper folder, making a soft rhythmic sound.

The car was very quiet, filled only with the low hum of the engine and the streaks of light passing by the windows.

If you took out any single one of these case files, it would seem perfectly normal. So normal, in fact, that even the most experienced veteran detective wouldn't be able to find a single flaw.

The crime scene investigation reports, forensic autopsies, witness testimonies, and the entire chain of evidence closed perfectly, pointing to one irrefutable conclusion.

That it was an accident.

But that was exactly the problem.

Eight.

Eight completely flawless, accidental deaths had been stuffed into a single file folder by Kuang Jianhua and presented right in front of him.

That in itself was the biggest red flag.

Liu Zheng suddenly snapped the file shut. The crisp smack echoed clearly in the confined space of the car.

Kuang Jianhua's shoulders flinched slightly as he drove, casting a sideways glance at Liu Zheng.

"Well? Did you figure something out?"

Liu Zheng said nothing. He simply tossed the file onto the dashboard, leaned back into his seat, and stared up at the roof of the car.

He suddenly laughed. The sound was soft, but it made Kuang Jianhua's hair stand on end.

"Kuang Jianhua, oh Kuang Jianhua," Liu Zheng began slowly. "Have you ever seen so many flawless accidents?"

"It's exactly because I haven't that I came looking for you. Did you find the problem?" This was exactly what was giving Kuang Jianhua a headache.

Even though his superiors had given no orders and these cases were all officially closed, his intuition was sharp, and he harbored deep suspicions.

"I found a piece of it. The time of death for all these bodies was late at night. As for the rest, I'll need to see the crime scenes in person and then examine the bodies."

Soon, they arrived at the apartment where the white-collar worker died.

The apartment was a typical loft layout, with the living room downstairs and the sleeping area upstairs.

So the white-collar worker had come home from work and suddenly tumbled down while walking up the stairs.

More than ten days had passed since the case was closed. Liu Zheng found nothing and simply shook his head. "Let's go."

"Where to?"

"To see the bodies."

System: The mini-adventure begins.

Lin Mo flicked his fingers, and the yellow talisman pinched between them spontaneously ignited without a flame, turning into a wisp of green smoke that drifted away.

A thin, dark shadow was squeezed out of the smoke. After landing, it condensed into the silhouette of an old woman.

Nourished by the yin energy, the old woman, who had been on the verge of fading away, regained some solidity and lucidity.

Xie Yuling stood to the side, quietly watching this time. The panic she had felt the first time she saw something like this was entirely gone from her heart.

She knew very well that the spirit entity before her was incredibly fragile. She wouldn't even need to use her full strength; with just a single thought, she could scatter its soul to the winds.

This realization gave her a completely different perspective on these things that had once terrified her so much.

Because she was now keenly aware that a single blast of her divine sense would instantly obliterate this old woman's soul.

Especially an ordinary soul like this, which possessed absolutely no offensive capabilities.

"So how are you going to help this old granny find her grandson?"

"First ask the yin and yang, then divine the tracks."

As soon as Lin Mo finished speaking, a bowl appeared out of thin air in his hand.

It was a colorful plastic bowl printed with cartoon patterns. There was a ring of tiny bite marks around the rim.

The old woman's spirit trembled violently, uttering hoarse syllables, "The bowl... my grandson's bowl..."

"That's right. I grabbed it from your house on the way out. We need a token, after all."

Lin Mo said it as a matter of course. "I'm using it for divination."

Xie Yuling's eye twitched. She had no idea when Lin Mo had even taken it.

She watched as Lin Mo curled his finger and lightly flicked the bottom of the bowl.

"Ding."

A sound that definitely shouldn't have come from a plastic bowl rang out.

Nothing changed inside the bowl, but Lin Mo's brows furrowed.

"What's wrong?" Xie Yuling immediately noticed the change in his expression.