Buried a body…
Su Zhisheng suddenly stopped in his tracks.
Zhou Jiale had been missing for days. Su Zhisheng knew the odds of his survival were slim, but hearing it with his own ears still made his heart sink heavily.
The luxury villa’s wrought-iron fence was intricate and beautiful. Through the gaps, he could see a lush green lawn and a garden bursting with flowers. Lilies of various colors swayed in the breeze. Beside the flowerbed, a husky tilted its head up, “chatting” with a squirrel.
Anyone passing by would have stopped to watch.
The security guard stationed at the front gate spotted Su Zhisheng lingering from a distance but didn’t think much of it.
If he weren’t on duty, he’d have wanted to get closer to watch the dog and squirrel argue, too.
No one except Su Zhisheng knew the horror hidden within.
He reached into his messenger bag and pulled out a bag of nuts. With his other hand, he unlocked his phone screen.
He coaxed gently, “Little squirrel, is the body you saw this man? Answer my question, and these three walnuts are yours.”
The squirrel on the tree twitched its ears. “Human, you can understand squirrel talk?!”
It smells so good! But humans are dangerous. Not safe to get close.
Still, this young man looks so gentle. He doesn’t seem like a bad person!
The squirrel’s paws shuffled nervously along the branch. After some hesitation, it finally couldn’t resist the temptation of the food—or the inexplicable warmth this human gave off—and bounded toward him.
Its small claws gripped the fence securely, and its head poked through the gap.
“Goods first, then answers,” said the clever squirrel.
“Deal.” Su Zhisheng chuckled and handed over the walnuts one by one.
The squirrel hopped back and forth, storing each walnut in its tree hollow before returning to look at the phone. After several safe trips back and forth, it gradually grew accustomed to the human.
Finally, the squirrel boldly perched itself on Su Zhisheng’s wrist. Fortunately, Su Zhisheng was a veterinary student and had plenty of experience restraining animals of all kinds. He had solid strength—otherwise, his arm would have given out long ago.
As for the silly husky, seeing that the squirrel and the human were too busy to pay it any attention, it wagged its tail and wandered off to another part of the villa.
Now, the squirrel’s tiny black button eyes stared at the phone screen, carefully examining it. Its fluffy tail brushed back and forth across Su Zhisheng’s smooth arm.
“He really looks like him… Oh! I’ve seen this pinecone bracelet before—it’s definitely him!”
At that, the squirrel grew excited and thumped its tail twice against Su Zhisheng’s arm.
“I thought I’d found a little pinecone, but the texture was wrong, and it didn’t have that piney scent…”
So infuriating!
Why make a little pinecone toy look so realistic anyway?!
“Poor thing. Here’s a piece of walnut. Don’t be mad anymore. If you bring me that bracelet, I’ll give you three more.”
“Deal!”
The squirrel nimbly hopped away, quickly retrieved the pinecone bracelet from the tree, and dropped it into Su Zhisheng’s hand.
Su Zhisheng examined it carefully. The bracelet had no bloodstains on it—which he could only regret.
Still, the existence of this bracelet alone was enough grounds to make a call.
Instead of calling the police immediately, Su Zhisheng pulled out more walnuts.
“Little squirrel, do me a favor…”
After taking care of a few things, Su Zhisheng pulled out his phone, walked far enough away that the guard couldn’t hear a thing, and dialed the police.
…
Police cars sped through the streets, pulling into a famous luxury villa complex in G Province.
Yuntian City’s Criminal Investigation Unit Captain Xing Tianwei looked out the car window with sharp, piercing eyes, remaining silent.
The forensic examiner beside him sighed softly. “The person who filed the report only mentioned finding the missing person’s bracelet. I’m hoping we’ll find him alive this time and I’ll walk away empty-handed.”
The missing young man, Zhou Jiale, was handsome, but compared to his classmates at the film school, he wasn’t top-tier. According to his roommates, Zhou Jiale’s acting talent was average at best. Combined with his poor background and lack of industry connections, he had been quite anxious.
The police suspected Zhou Jiale’s disappearance was linked to wealthy individuals. However, those people had been careful—no leads had turned up from Zhou Jiale’s accounts. It was likely he’d been communicating with them using a phone registered under someone else’s identity.
For days, the police had been combing through vehicles—truly like looking for a needle in a haystack. Just as everyone was growing frustrated, a tip came in from a civilian, delivering an important lead.
Zhou Jiale never went anywhere without that pinecone bracelet. Even if the villa owner wasn’t the mastermind behind Zhou Jiale’s disappearance, they would surely have clues that could crack the case.
“Come to think of it, the person who reported this is actually a familiar face.”
A young officer said, “The Su family’s missing-child case was solved by our precinct. That day, when Su Zhisheng met his wealthy parents at the station, everyone was incredibly envious and gathered around to gawk. Captain, you were on leave then and missed all the excitement.”
“The Su family’s attitude wasn’t exactly warm at the time. We just thought they weren’t close. But then, just like that, their biological son ended up being publicly labeled an ‘adopted son.’”
“Su Zhisheng is pretty pitiful. We found out that the nanny who switched the children went missing years ago. He can’t even find her to get justice.”
Xing Tianwei, who had been silent for a long time, finally spoke. His voice was cool and steady.
“This isn’t over. I’ll reopen the investigation into the nanny’s disappearance. But priority will go to the major cases at the station.”
His gaze was distant yet resolute, carrying a determination to pierce through the river of time and uncover the truth.
The car stopped in front of the villa’s main gate. Xing Tianwei stepped out, dressed in a black police uniform.
He was tall, with sharp brows and pitch-black eyes that exuded an overwhelming sense of pressure.
The burly security guard at the gate trembled at the sight of such a formidable presence.
He lifted his phone. “The young master is home. I’ll have him come welcome you right away.”
Meanwhile, Su Zhisheng, the person who had filed the report, hurried over and pulled out the crucial piece of evidence—the pinecone bracelet.
Looking at the tall, handsome police captain before him, Su Zhisheng’s heart raced because of the secrets he carried.
But his face still wore a calm smile, and his outstretched hand didn’t tremble in the least. “Officer, this is it.”
“Good work.” Xing Tianwei’s expression darkened slightly.
Though he sensed something off, he didn’t say anything further. Instead, he handed the bracelet to the forensic team.
The forensic technician returned to the vehicle and used a luminol reagent to test the bracelet. Unfortunately, no bloodstains were found. He relayed the results to the other team members via earpiece. The security guard at the gate couldn’t hear a thing and had no way to tip off the villa’s owner.
Just then, Zhang Weilong—who had just returned home after partying all night—finally walked out, yawning.
The young officer spoke sternly. “We discovered Zhou Jiale’s bracelet on your property. We need to conduct a thorough search and also request your cooperation for a formal statement.”
After hearing the full story, Zhang Weilong’s eyes snapped wide open with sudden realization!
“Zhou Jiale used to be my escort. It’s perfectly normal for his things to end up at my place. I have no idea where he’s gone, either. I hope you find him quickly, Officer. I’ll cooperate with the statement.”
“As for searching the villa…”
Zhang Weilong’s tone shifted abruptly. “Officer, do you have a search warrant? We wealthy families keep a lot of confidential documents. Forgive me, but I can’t agree to such an excessive request.”
The rookie officer’s face flushed red with anger.
This guy had no way of knowing whether the pinecone bracelet had bloodstains on it. He was simply digging in on a more favorable position, deliberately testing the police. After all, without a search warrant, the police couldn’t forcibly search someone’s residence unless the individual voluntarily agreed.
He was so arrogant and well-prepared—clearly, Zhang Weilong had something to hide.
But Zhou Jiale was only listed as missing, and with a bracelet that bore no trace of blood, there was no way they could obtain a search warrant.
Seeing the police momentarily hesitate, Zhang Weilong knew his gamble had paid off. He couldn’t help but feel a swell of smugness.
He turned his gaze to Su Zhisheng, his expression dripping with contempt.
“Su Zhisheng, is it appropriate for you to bring the police to your prospective fiancé’s doorstep?” Zhang Weilong looked the beauty up and down but ultimately abandoned any thought of switching marriage partners.
Still, his voice carried a hint of ill intent. “Well, you are just an adopted son, after all. You haven’t been steeped in high society for long—you’re still far from a true blue-blood. I’ll teach you slowly after we’re married.”
Su Zhisheng, having grown up scuffling at the bottom rungs of society, was even more of a rogue. He opened his mouth without skipping a beat: “Got it, babe! I’ll start learning right now—beginning with familiarizing myself with our new home.”
With that, he stepped past the gate and darted like a rabbit toward the garden.
Even a spoiled rich kid like Zhang Weilong was momentarily stunned by the sudden “babe,” rooted to the spot. By the time he snapped out of it and ran after him, it was too late.
“Get back here! Police, aren’t you going to do something?!”
Xing Tianwei remained cold and aloof, though the corner of his lips pressed down to suppress a faint smile.
“Officer Wang, go mediate this ‘domestic dispute.’”
“On it.”
By then, Su Zhisheng had already reached the flowerbed and stopped.
“Security!” Zhang Weilong shouted as he ran, trying to stop Su Zhisheng from digging up the garden.
The security guard at the gate happened to be answering police questions. Caught between his boss’s summons and the officers, he didn’t know what to do.
He’d just started this job. He didn’t want to lose it. But… had the previous guard really gone back to his hometown? Or had he already returned to his “final hometown”?
Everyone assumed Su Zhisheng was about to turn into a human excavator.
But no one expected that his clean, pale hands wouldn’t touch the dirt at all. Instead, he cupped his own cheeks.
“Ahhh—blood! Help!”
Zhang Weilong wanted to scream for help even more than he did.
He stared at the sea of brilliant red flowers, cold sweat beading on his forehead.
It’s just blood on the flowers or the soil. If I eat it on the spot, there’s no evidence.
But where’s the blood? Where?!
Damn it. The body is buried under the white lilies next door. Why would there be blood in this red lily bed? Did it drip during transport?
“No! You’ve only been standing here for a minute—how could you possibly have found blood? This is slander! Defamation!”
Su Zhisheng smiled.
Of course, he wasn’t that ridiculously sharp-eyed. He had simply bribed the little squirrel with walnuts, letting the adorable furry creature sniff out where the victim’s blood had splattered.
That particular flower was close to the edge of the bed. Once he knew the general area, finding it was easy.
Xing Tianwei led his officers over.
“We’ll get to the bottom of this and clear your name.”
His icy voice chilled Zhang Weilong’s heart halfway to freezing. At least Su Zhisheng was probably lying…
The next second, Su Zhisheng plucked a red lily and handed it over.
The young officer took a look. “It’s only the size of a fingertip, but that is definitely blood!”
Su Zhisheng smiled, then tilted his head wickedly at Zhang Weilong. “Babe, that must be from the gardener injuring himself, right? How pitiful. Give him some injury compensation—just take it out of my future allowance.”
“Who would want to marry some jinx who sends his husband to jail?!” Zhang Weilong trembled with rage.
The next moment, he crumpled to the ground like a deflated balloon.
“I—I didn’t mean to kill him! He just had bad luck. I just hit him casually…”
The speed of his about-face was astonishing.
Seeing that he couldn’t escape blame, he immediately confessed, hoping for leniency. Clearly, Zhang Weilong had already consulted a lawyer after the crime and had prepared his contingency plan.
Xing Tianwei assigned officers to dig up the flowerbed where Zhang Weilong claimed to have buried the body. Then he walked over to Su Zhisheng.
His gaze was deep, his words gentle and proper—yet he issued an invitation that brooked no refusal.
“Good work. But as the person who filed the report, I’m afraid you’ll need to come to the station to give a formal statement.”
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