Lin Fan handed her phone to Qin Feng. "Zhongming Road."

Qin Feng took the phone and looked through the Weibo post. "Crying? Just because there's crying doesn't mean it's a ghost. Ghosts' cries can't be heard by people. Maybe there's something else going on nearby. Let's check it out later."

As he was about to return the phone to Lin Fan, he noticed her Weibo username and raised an eyebrow. "My Family Has an Uncle Qin?"

Lin Fan, embarrassed by such a shameful name being exposed, quickly snatched the phone back and put it in her bag. Her face was burning. "You must have seen it wrong."

Qin Feng smiled at her without saying anything. Lin Fan felt very awkward under his gaze and coughed to change the topic. "It's just a random name. I change my Weibo name several times a day, and I don't even have a verified account."

Qin Feng kept staring at her, his look meaningful.

Lin Fan got nervous and searched for a new topic. "What's your Weibo name? Let's follow each other."

"I don't have Weibo." Qin Feng took out his phone and said seriously, "I can apply for one now and follow you."

"No need—"

Qin Feng held his phone in front of Lin Fan, showing the registration page with a suggested username: "Old Qin Family Has a Child."

His voice was deep. "This one's good. No one has used it yet; I can register it."

Lin Fan's face turned red. "Hey!"

Qin Feng used a photo of Lin Fan as the profile picture. The server called their table number, so he put down his phone and went to get their order. Lin Fan peeked at the phone and nearly fell to her knees. What kind of photo was that? It was a close-up of her sleeping face. She was about to grab the phone when Qin Feng returned. Under Qin Feng's stern look, Lin Fan didn't dare to act out.

"When did you take that photo? It's so ugly."

"Guess." Qin Feng handed Lin Fan her congee. "Want some sugar?"

"No." Lin Fan stirred her congee. "Didn't you have dinner?"

"No." Qin Feng was never particular about food; he found anything tasty. He quickly devoured most of the food. "This pancake is pretty good."

Qin Feng pushed a portion of the pancake to Lin Fan, who was still bothered by the photo. "Can you not use that photo as the profile picture? It's really ugly."

"It's not ugly."

She couldn't understand his aesthetic! Lin Fan wasn't hungry and was just keeping him company.

"Use a better one."

Qin Feng wiped his hands with a napkin, picked up his phone, and pointed it at Lin Fan. "Look up; I'll take one now."

Lin Fan, still chewing on the pancake, was caught off guard and snapped a photo. "Alright, this one."

Lin Fan swallowed her food. "So hasty?"

Qin Feng quickly followed Lin Fan's account and found her contact on WeChat. "I'll send you a picture of me."

Lin Fan thought: This isn't a matchmaking session...

Under Qin Feng's insistence, she changed her Weibo profile picture to his photo. Where's the justice in that!

Lin Fan finished eating first and waited for Qin Feng. "I just saw Dong Hui again. He's pitiful, looking for his child for three years and never finding him. His last wish was to see his child, but he still couldn't."

Qin Feng pondered, finished his food, and stood up. "Let's go."

Lin Fan followed behind. "Do you have to go back to the office now?"

"Yeah."

Because of that Weibo post, Lin Fan and Qin Feng went to the old buildings on Zhongming Road. Qin Feng stood on the first floor, waiting for Lin Fan. He lit a cigarette and flipped through the case photos on his phone. Dong Hui's son had been missing for three years. The police had assisted for a while, but trafficking cases were enormous workloads. Three years ago, the surveillance system wasn't as advanced as it is now, making it very difficult to track.

Qin Feng flicked the ash off his cigarette and called out, "Lin Fan?"

Lin Fan responded, and he put his phone back in his pocket, extinguishing his cigarette at the flower bed. Soon, Lin Fan came downstairs, shaking her head. "There's nothing here. Maybe the source of the crying isn't this place."

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

As it neared midnight, Qin Feng pulled Lin Fan along. "Let's go home first."

"Okay."

As they reached the exit, a weak cry suddenly echoed, very brief. Lin Fan and Qin Feng stopped simultaneously, exchanged a glance, and Lin Fan spoke first. "Did you hear that?"

"Yes," Qin Feng said, drawing his gun and unlocking it. "It's not a ghost; I heard it too."

Lin Fan pulled a short sword from her clothes, and Qin Feng gave her a sidelong glance. "When did you slip that in?"

"When I got out of the car." Lin Fan didn't mention that she feared it might be Ouyang Yu here.

Qin Feng turned on his phone's flashlight and scanned the area, pushing Lin Fan behind him. "Don't rush in."

The crying seemed to stop. There were three rows of buildings in this complex, with two buildings in each row. The last row had been charred, but the first two rows were intact. As they reached the second row, the crying resumed.

Qin Feng blocked Lin Fan, listened closely, and whispered, "It's coming from underground."

Lin Fan crouched down to listen and indeed heard it more clearly. She was puzzled. How could there be crying from underground? These buildings didn't have basements. Where exactly was the crying coming from?

Qin Feng crouched and knocked on the ground. It was solid. He whispered to Lin Fan, "Look for a drain cover."

They quickly found a drain cover, and another cry came from below, clearer this time. The drain cover was fixed and couldn't be lifted. Qin Feng called his colleagues in the criminal police team, asking for support. The crying was unusual.

Lin Fan had already searched the entire yard and shook her head. “No entrance.”

“Out back.”

They searched from the hallway to the yard but still couldn’t find an entrance, and the crying had stopped.

Qin Feng’s phone rang. He pulled Lin Fan out of the complex to answer the call, but Lin Fan quickly slipped from his grasp and ran to the back of the complex. Qin Feng kept an eye on her while signaling Xiao Wang to bring the car over.

Xiao Wang and three colleagues got out of the car and ran over. “What’s going on?”

“We heard crying in the yard. It seems to be underground. Let’s search.”

Xiao Wang was astonished. “Boss! It’s past midnight!”

“If we miss it, it could be a matter of life and death.” Qin Feng looked towards where Lin Fan had disappeared and started walking to the back. Xiao Wang followed. “How are we supposed to search?”

“Just keep looking.”

Lin Fan stepped on some garbage and jumped onto solid ground, shining her flashlight around. She found a narrow path. The area was an abandoned construction site, and people had started dumping trash here, turning it into a huge garbage dump.

There was a noise behind her. Lin Fan turned to see Qin Feng jumping over the wall and striding towards her. He grabbed her arm. “Why are you running around?”

Lin Fan hid behind him. “Is there a guard at this abandoned site?”

“There should be someone.” Qin Feng shone his flashlight around, looking up at the steel frames. The site had stopped work due to an accident, but all the equipment was still there, so it was likely guarded.

Then they both saw a small prefab house in the corner. There was a loud thud behind them, and Lin Fan and Qin Feng turned to see Xiao Wang, covered in dirt, having just stumbled in. He had probably fallen into a mud pit. Xiao Wang spat out the dust. “What is this place? Where’s the crying? I can’t hear anything.”

Qin Feng walked towards the prefab house. The flashlight revealed clothes hanging on a line, indicating someone lived there. Qin Feng knocked on the door, but there were no lights inside, only the smell of alcohol.

Lin Fan rubbed her nose. “There should be someone inside.”

The door was locked from the inside. Xiao Wang tried the window. “The window can be opened.”

He opened the window and shone his flashlight inside. “No one’s here.”

“If no one’s here, why is it locked from the inside?” Qin Feng said. “Go in and check.”

Xiao Wang was reluctant. “...”

Leaving two colleagues outside, Lin Fan also climbed in, turning on her flashlight. The room was filthy and smelled terrible. There was unfinished fried noodles on the table. Lin Fan touched the noodles. “They’re still warm.”

Suddenly, a muffled sound came from below, like someone’s mouth was being covered. Qin Feng moved his foot and pulled back a black plastic sheet, revealing a hole. The sound became clearer.

There was a ladder. Qin Feng went down first, signaling to Xiao Wang, “You stay with Lin Fan. I'll go down with Zheng Wei.”

The underground space was large. The groans of a man and the muffled cries of a woman mixed together. Qin Feng gritted his teeth. There was light underground, and around the corner, they found a man and a woman on a bed. Qin Feng drew his gun. “Police!”

The man, caught off guard, was punched to the ground. The woman’s hands were tied to the bed, and she wasn’t wearing any clothes. The man tried to reach for a nearby knife, but Qin Feng stepped on his back and handcuffed him.

Zheng Wei tried to untie the woman’s hands, but the knots were too tight to loosen.

Qin Feng covered the woman with a cloth and pulled the gag from her mouth. She burst into tears.

“Wow, there really is a woman here!” came a voice from behind.

Qin Feng turned to see Xiao Wang, followed by Lin Fan, who as usual, hadn’t listened to orders. Lin Fan saw the woman on the bed and Zheng Wei struggling with the knots. She quickly took out her short sword and cut the ropes, helping the woman up. “Are you okay?”

“Help me! Please take me away…”

The woman sobbed intermittently. Fortunately, Lin Fan was there to help her dress and support her. Otherwise, the men wouldn’t have known how to handle it. They got the woman out of the cellar.

The woman clung to Lin Fan, who ended up being taken to the criminal police team with her.

There was no going home tonight!

With no female officers on duty, Qin Feng found some clothes for Lin Fan to help the woman change into. He handed Lin Fan a key. “There are blankets in the duty room. You can sleep there. It’s going to be an all-nighter.”

Rubbing his temples, Qin Feng watched Lin Fan. She nodded and pulled a fruit candy from her pocket, offering it to Qin Feng. “You’ve worked hard.”

Qin Feng took the candy, chuckled, and ruffled her hair. “Go sleep. Call me if you need anything.”

“Okay.”

Watching Lin Fan leave, Qin Feng put the candy in his pocket and headed to the interrogation room.

The man’s name was Xu Jianli. He was forty-two and had been hired a year ago to guard the site for a monthly wage of fifteen hundred yuan.

“I like beautiful women and want to be with them. But you know, a poor guy like me won’t have women, especially not beautiful ones. They all like money.”

His face showed neither shame nor fear, only a crazed, obsessive look. Such people are the most dangerous; they have no guilt and no respect for life.

“That day, I happened to see her alone on the road, so I knocked her out and brought her to my cellar.”