Chapter 1001: Chapter 1000: The People Who Shouldn’t Appear in the Photo

"So, Duan Haoran has been missing for five days, neither dead nor alive?"

Upon hearing Liu Leng’s question, Lin Wan explained the events twice over, then asked, "Isn’t Hai City covered with surveillance everywhere? Still couldn’t find him?"

Liu Leng sighed, "Even if it’s everywhere, it’s mostly at intersections and main streets, it doesn’t cover the whole city. According to our investigation, the last time Duan Haoran went out, he specifically changed into a hooded sweatshirt, and from the initial surveillance that caught him, he was deliberately avoiding cameras."

"That means he has a guilty conscience."

Liu Leng nodded and said, "We originally thought he intended to harm Liu Yutong, but it seems he didn’t, and Liu Yutong hasn’t seen him since you helped teach him a lesson."

"It’s clear that he’s a very emotional person," Lin Wan said seriously, "It’s easy for him to get caught up in things and hurt others, I thought just teaching him a lesson once wouldn’t be enough."

"Indeed," Liu Leng said, "not only is he likely to hurt others, but also himself. It’s said he had a history of self-harm in high school."

Lin Wan’s eyes flickered, "Self-harm?"

Liu Leng hesitated, exchanged a glance with Wang WenDa, and asked hesitantly, "Did Liu Yutong find a new boyfriend?"

Wang WenDa nodded immediately, "Yes, Liu Yutong mentioned it this morning."

"Oh? When did this happen?"

Lin Wan raised an eyebrow; she hadn’t known about this.

"Just a week ago," Liu Leng said.

Lin Wan turned to look at Lu Zheng, and they exchanged a glance; the reason for Duan Haoran’s desperate act was found.

At this point, Lin Wan confirmed with Liu Leng, "Then since Duan Haoran didn’t go to pester Liu Yutong, it means he knows it’s useless no matter how he pesters her."

Liu Leng nodded, hesitated, and said, "So it’s possible he might have gone down a path of no return?"

"At least it’s a possibility."

Lin Wan successfully transitioned from a potential suspect being questioned to a consultant assisting in solving the case.

"So I suggest you pay attention to the downstream riverbanks, coastlines, and related news from various islands near the estuary," Lin Wan shrugged, her eyes shifting as she said, "With Hai City’s surveillance coverage, missing for five days is almost unimaginable."

"Indeed," Liu Leng nodded, "Besides hiding a body after murder, there’s only suicide by river jump, being washed out to sea."

"Wouldn’t he just have run away from home?" Wang WenDa couldn’t help but ask.

Liu Leng turned to ask, "Do you think that matches Duan Haoran’s character?"

"Uh... doesn’t seem like it..."

"But at least list it as a possibility, have surrounding cities and counties take note," Liu Leng thought for a moment and said.

"Alright, thank you, Sister Wan." Liu Leng downed the coffee beside him in one gulp, "Sorry to interrupt your couple time."

"No problem, happy to help."

After saying goodbye, Liu Leng and Wang WenDa returned to the municipal bureau together.

"This person is quite skilled, managing to disappear without a trace. Logically, even if he suicide-jumped into a river, the body shouldn’t go straight into the sea, right?"

"Not too sure, let’s file the notes and case files; a relevant department has recently requested real-time details on all mysterious cases."

"Alright."

...

A moment later, Lu Zheng drove Lin Wan home.

"Qingyan and the others went back to Tonglin County; where shall we go this afternoon?" Lu Zheng asked.

Having spent nearly a month in ancient times, he needed to spend quality time with Lin Wan now that he’s back.

"You’ve been traveling with Sister Lingxi and Sister Ying these past few days, it’s my turn now."

Lin Wan sat in the passenger seat, took off her shoes, and playfully wiggled her toes with her long legs stretched out in front, "I want to travel too; we haven’t gone on an out-of-town trip in a long time."

"Of course! Where to?" Lu Zheng asked eagerly, "Domestic, overseas, anywhere on Blue Star, the world is your oyster."

"Hehe, maybe not the whole world."

Lin Wan waved her hand; she still wanted a day of just the two of them. Thinking for a bit, she decided on a further destination, "Let’s go to Mountain City for hot pot!"

"Alright, let’s go!"

Lu Zheng snapped his fingers, "Tomorrow’s Sunday, so we still have a day off. But besides hot pot, what’s fun in Mountain City?"

Lin Wan said earnestly, "Let’s check out Hongya Cave and Chaotian Gate, then take a tour of the Little Three Gorges."

"Okay," Lu Zheng replied, then suddenly remembered something, "Oh, in a few days, take a few days of annual leave."

"Why?" Lin Wan asked.

"I promised Ao Qian to visit the East Sea Dragon Palace after the flood," Lu Zheng explained.

Lin Wan’s eyes lit up, "East Sea Dragon Palace!"

"Yes, East Sea Jade Dragon Palace!" Lu Zheng nodded, raising an eyebrow, "There’s the Treasure Pearl Sea, Five-Colored Waterfall, Jade Mountain, Lava Lake, Coral Forest, the Undersea Dragon Palace, Dragon Sons and Daughters, Shrimp Soldiers and Crab Generals, ten thousand Water Soldiers. You want to go?"

"Yes, yes, yes!" Lin Wan nodded enthusiastically, "I definitely need to take this annual leave!"

Lu Zheng snapped his fingers with a smile, "Alright then, in a few days, once the other two guests from the county leave, we’ll go."

After discussing this, Lu Zheng booked flight tickets online, then drove straight to the airport. By a little past five in the afternoon, the two of them were already in the bustling streets of Mountain City’s urban area.

"First, let’s have hot pot, then we’ll watch the night view over the river tonight," Lin Wan said cheerfully as she hooked her arm with his.

Lu Zheng shrugged, "We just enjoyed the night view over the river in Hai City a few days ago."

"Mountain City is different!"

So Lu Zheng found a well-rated hot pot restaurant online and enjoyed an authentic Mountain City hot pot: no sesame sauce, only oil dips!

After the hot pot, they boarded a yacht, and that night booked a room with a river view. It must be said, amidst the brilliantly lit exterior, gazing at the double reflection on the window, had its own unique charm.

...

The next day, while Lu Zheng and Lin Wan were touring Mountain City, the Ancient Culture Research and Analysis Archival Room in Beidu was holding a meeting.

"A month ago, there was a mysterious event at Huang Mountain."

"Someone fell from Lotus Peak but landed behind Yuping Building on Jade Screen Peak, unscathed."

"These two locations are hundreds of meters apart; theoretically, it’s impossible."

"Did a mysterious figure appear?"

"There are many accidents across the country, but only here did a mysterious event occur. We determined that a mysterious figure might be traveling around Huang Mountain, so we collected all visitor information entering the mountain that day and cross-compared it with photos from the surveillance and those uploaded by tourists."

"And then? Did you discover anything?"

"We found two individuals not listed in the visitor information, but who appeared in a photo uploaded to a tourist’s social media post."

A photo was photocopied and distributed among everyone in the meeting room.

Looking at the photo, they saw the main subject was a young woman posing on a mountain path, with a popular Huang Mountain landmark, the Welcoming Pine, in the background.

Behind the young woman, near the Welcoming Pine, two people were circled.

A man and a woman, holding hands, enjoying the view.

"This is the clearest photo," said the person distributing the photo.

"Who are they?" someone asked.

The elder at the head of the table studied the photo carefully and said in a low voice, "The man is named Lu Zheng, and the woman is Si Lingxi."