"Oh, if it isn't Officer Liu Guoqiang. What's the matter? Bringing your female subordinate to our hotel for a room?" one of the security guards, a man with a roguish look, said loudly, as if afraid others wouldn't hear. "Lu Li, cut the sarcasm. We're here on official business. Take us to your surveillance room." Officer Liu opened the car door and stepped out directly.
I smiled and said, "Who is this Lu Li? Even the police dare to mess with him?"
"Yu Zhen's lackey. He's now the head of security at Xuanmeng Hotel. Never had any respect for the police. One day when I catch him red-handed, I'll make his life hell," Fang Lin said flatly.
I glanced at Fang Lin. This female officer looked young, yet she was surprisingly vicious.
"Alright, cooperating with the police is our civic duty. Officer Liu, follow me." Lu Li said, waving at the people behind him.
Fang Lin looked at me and said, "Why is this bastard being so cooperative today? By the way, Zhao Lianfan, do you want to put on a hood?"
"Why would I wear a hood?" I asked, puzzled.
Fang Lin smiled and said, "You've got handcuffs on your wrists. Aren't you embarrassed?"
"I'll unlock them for you, but don't even think about running. You're still a suspect for now…" Liu Guoqiang leaned into the car and pulled out the handcuff key.
I grunted in acknowledgment and followed Liu Guoqiang and the others into the surveillance room at the end of the hotel's first floor. Liu Guoqiang clicked the mouse, then his eyes suddenly turned cold as he asked, "What's going on? Where's today's surveillance footage?"
"Oh? Haha, sorry Officer Liu, but unfortunately, today's cameras are broken. You can check the old footage—maybe you'll find something you're looking for?"
"Slap!" Fang Lin slammed her hand on the table and said, "Lu Li, you're destroying evidence!"
Lu Li laughed and said, "Pretty lady, what can I do if the cameras are broken? Without evidence, don't go around making false accusations."
Seeing that the footage had been deleted, Liu Guoqiang immediately stood up, pulled out his phone, dialed a number, and said, "Call all the brothers over for a room inspection. Someone reported that Xuanmeng Hotel is organizing large-scale prostitution."
Lu Li's face changed, and he said, "Liu Guoqiang, don't abuse your power for personal revenge. In this city, who the hell would dare report my Xuanmeng Hotel? If this gets to your superiors, have you thought about how you're going to explain yourself?"
Liu Guoqiang turned to look at me and said directly, "He reported it."
I stared at Liu Guoqiang in shock. This guy was just like Zhuge Wu.
"Little brat, do you even know what prostitution is?" Lu Li walked toward me, glaring fiercely, and swung a punch at me.
I frowned at Lu Li. I didn't believe he'd dare hit someone in front of the police. In fact, Lu Li didn't actually aim at me—he punched the air a few centimeters in front of me. But what left me even more speechless was that his punch wouldn't have hit me anyway. However, Fang Lin, standing behind me, suddenly shoved me forward just as Lu Li's fist was about to land, causing his punch to slam directly into my forehead.
"How dare you hit the whistleblower!" Fang Lin suddenly sidestepped to my flank and kicked Lu Li, moving with remarkable agility.
Caught off guard, Lu Li was sent flying by Fang Lin's kick. The other two security guards who had followed in swung their fists and charged at Fang Lin.
"Assaulting an officer!" Liu Guoqiang stepped forward in two strides and landed two heavy punches on the faces of the other two men. Before they even knew what hit them, they crashed into the door behind them.
I clutched my forehead, looking at this Liu Guoqiang and Fang Lin. Since when did the police play such deep games? The three of them were quickly handcuffed and brought into the lobby, though their expressions remained relaxed. Before long, over twenty more police officers walked into the hotel lobby, carrying a search warrant with them. "Search it. Start from the top floor, room by room." At Liu Guoqiang's command, all the officers flooded into the elevator. Naturally, I followed the officers upstairs, but the result didn't surprise me—Zhuge Wu was indeed not there. And the Xuanmeng Hotel itself showed no signs of any problem.
When the police left, they took Lu Li and the other two with them, but I knew they'd be released soon enough, and my days ahead wouldn't be easy from now on…
The trail came to a dead end here. Zhuge Wu had vanished into thin air, as if he'd never existed. I was brought back to the police station with them. Since I hadn't been cleared of murder suspicion, I had to stay at the station until things were sorted out. After giving my statement, it did nothing to help catch Zhuge Wu. He was a member of the Lieguiren Lianmeng and connected to Yu Zhen—catching him would be extremely difficult.
Fortunately, I was a minor, and Liu Guoqiang and Fang Lin felt somewhat apologetic for using me earlier. Combined with my cooperative attitude, I wasn't locked up with the criminals. Instead, I was placed in an abandoned office that had a bed. Liu Guoqiang said that clearing my suspicion was actually simple—they just needed to finish examining the scene and confirm there were no fingerprints of mine on the victim. But that took time. He told me not to worry; it wouldn't take too long, and I could apply for bail within twenty-four hours at most.
Liu Guoqiang took my fingerprints and left, locking the door from the outside. I plopped down on the bed, picked up Zhuge Wu's cloth bag, and immediately pulled out his phone. This wasn't the one he'd used before, and it had no battery—it wouldn't even power on. There were other things inside too: the whip with the "SM" markings that had fallen out earlier, along with a stack of cash and some yellow talismans. At the bottom of the bag was a yellowed old book with three large characters on the cover: "Jin Ping Mei"!
I took out the charger and started charging the phone. After a few minutes, the screen lit up. Just as I was getting excited, I heard the sound of a lock turning at the door. I quickly stuffed the phone back into the cloth bag and calmly watched the door. In walked Liu Guoqiang and Fang Lin.
"Zhao Lianfan, you're really in serious trouble this time," Liu Guoqiang said, his expression grim.
I looked at him in confusion, then at Fang Lin. Fang Lin explained, "We found several strands of your hair in the victim's clothing."
"What? That's impossible! I never touched her!" I shot up from the bed.
Fang Lin continued, "And there were also strands of your hair under the victim's back. You say you never touched her, but by any reasonable logic, that doesn't hold up."
"Did you find anything else? Like fingerprints that don't belong to me?" I asked urgently.
Fang Lin and Liu Guoqiang both shook their heads simultaneously. "No other fingerprints were found."