Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Gu Zhiyu continued, “And it was clearly my brother who asked me to go, but he told everyone that I was home alone with no one to look after me, and that was why he brought me along.”

“Are they in a relationship?” Fang Yue asked as he returned from the restroom. Having overheard the conversation, he immediately displayed a penchant for gossip. He was still unclear about the relationship between Nan Mu and Wen Miao.

“That, I don’t know,” Gu Zhiyu said, shaking his head. “I was young back then and only cared about playing. I really don’t know if they were or not.”

“I’d say there’s an eighty percent chance they were. If you don’t like someone, why would you keep watching them leave or invite them out to play?”

Just as Fang Yue finished speaking with such conviction, he saw his Captain winking and gesturing at him. He instinctively fell silent.

“If you put it that way, then I’m even more certain Sister Miao wasn’t the one. I only met Sister Miao three times, but I saw Sister Zhaodi many times. Sometimes she would call my brother in the middle of the night, and he would go out to meet her.”

“Zhaodi? Who is she?”

Gu Zhiyu shook his head. “A friend of my brother’s. Besides Sister Zhaodi, there was also a guy named Su Yu. After my brother went missing, he even called them. But after that, we lost contact with them.”

“Do you still have the numbers?” Qiu Ziyu signaled for Fang Yue to take them down.

Gu Zhiyu thought for a moment before running upstairs to find a mobile phone. He spent a few minutes charging it and turning it on. “This is the phone my father used to use.”

He flipped through the contacts and read out two strings of numbers. “I don’t know if they’re still using these two numbers. Since my brother disappeared, our family hasn’t contacted them again.”

“Alright.” Qiu Ziyu watched as Fang Yue noted them down, then reminded him to call and check once they returned.

“I hope you catch the killer,” Gu Zhiyu said, looking at Qiu Ziyu earnestly. “He’s been on the run for ten years. Don’t let him remain at large any longer.”

Qiu Ziyu’s expression turned solemn. “We will.”

“By the way, do you still have your brother’s personal effects? If possible, it would be best to hand them over to us for investigation.”

“Yes, the officer who called before mentioned it… I’ve already packed everything up.”

While Gu Zhiyu went upstairs to get the items, only Nan Mu and the other two remained in the living room. Fang Yue’s tense body relaxed, and he leaned toward Qiu Ziyu to whisper, “Rich people’s bathrooms are renovated so well. It’s bigger than the room I’m renting.”

Qiu Ziyu couldn’t help but laugh. “Work hard! You’ll have one too someday.”

“I have at least that much self-awareness.” Fang Yue wasn’t buying the motivational talk. “He’s a professor at A University of Science and Technology, after all. How can a lowly police officer like me compare to a professor’s benefits?”

Hearing this, Qiu Ziyu and Nan Mu both froze. They asked in unison, “Who did you say is a professor at A University of Science and Technology?”

Fang Yue was startled, then found it amusing. “You two really are in sync… Old Mr. Gu, of course. I just saw his photo hanging on the wall. It looked like a group photo from A University of Science and Technology.”

Qiu Ziyu and Nan Mu exchanged a look and stood up simultaneously. “Go, show us.”

The photos were hanging on the hallway wall-award ceremonies, group shots with students, and faculty photos from A University of Science and Technology.

When Gu Zhiyu carried the items downstairs, he happened to see the three of them crowded in front of the display cabinet.

Qiu Ziyu saw him first and pointed to the wall. “Your father was a professor at A University of Science and Technology?”

“Yes. After my brother’s accident, my father lost the heart to teach because he was so focused on finding him. He retired quite early after that.”

“What a coincidence. We’re both graduates of A University of Science and Technology,” Qiu Ziyu said, gesturing to himself and Nan Mu.

Gu Zhiyu realized why they were looking so closely.

Seeing that Nan Mu seemed very interested, he reached into the bookcase and pulled out a photo album. “These are all my father’s old photos.”

Nan Mu took the album and flipped through it page by page. Suddenly, on one of the pages, he paused for a long time.

Curious, Qiu Ziyu leaned over to look. In the photo, two young men were smiling at the camera with their arms around each other’s shoulders. Although it was clearly an old photo, one could still tell at a glance that one of them was Old Mr. Gu. As for the other one…
It was actually Xu Lei.

=

After leaving the Gu Family home, Qiu Ziyu had Fang Yue call the two phone numbers they had obtained. Both lines were busy.

“Think you can find them?” Nan Mu asked.

Qiu Ziyu shook his head. “Hard to say. The numbers won’t go through, and we only have two names. We don’t have any physical descriptions or even their exact ages.”

“What’s your take on the Gu Family?”

“Intellectuals. That Gu Zhiyu seems quite experienced… though I think he’d lose money if he tried to do business,” Qiu Ziyu remarked randomly while holding the business card Gu Zhiyu had given him.

Nan Mu’s heart had been heavy, but he couldn’t help but let out a short laugh at the sudden, off-the-wall comment.

“Gu Zhishu didn’t have long to live anyway. Regardless of what grievances or conflicts existed, there was no reason for the Gu father and son to take action. It seems we still have to start the investigation from the periphery.” Murder cases usually began with an investigation into those closest to the deceased, which was why Qiu Ziyu had said that. “When I get back, I’ll have Fang Yue try to track down Su Yu… Zhaodi doesn’t have a surname, so she’ll likely be harder to find.”

Nan Mu nodded. “Gu Zhishu was only in his twenties when he was killed, and he had been a student the whole time. His social circle wouldn’t have been very wide. Since Su Yu was Gu Zhishu’s friend, he was very likely a classmate. If we start the search from his school, we might find some leads.”

Qiu Ziyu nodded. “What about you? What’s your next move?”

The trail for Wen Miao had gone cold again.

Furthermore, although Nan Mu had been focusing his investigation on Gu Zhishu, no one was certain if Wen Miao’s death was actually related to him. After all, judging by the MO, there was absolutely no correlation between the way Wen Miao and Gu Zhishu died.

“Want me to give you a suggestion?”

Nan Mu looked at Qiu Ziyu, who was winking and gesturing meaningfully, and raised an eyebrow. “What kind of good suggestion could you possibly have?”

“Listen to you,” Qiu Ziyu grumbled, dissatisfied with Nan Mu’s dismissiveness. “Actually, if I just took the Time Machine back to the past, wouldn’t I be able to see who killed Gu Zhishu? Once I save him, wouldn’t you know whether Wen Miao’s death had anything to do with him?”

Nan Mu crossed his arms with a half-smile. “I couldn’t even change Wen Miao’s death. What makes you think you can change Gu Zhishu’s?”

Qiu Ziyu froze. He had actually forgotten about that part.

“Besides,” Nan Mu pointed at Qiu Ziyu’s phone, which had started ringing loudly, “with that crappy job of yours, if you went back, who would you have answer your calls?”

Qiu Ziyu: “…”

True. He was on call at all times, expected to show up whenever summoned. If he didn’t answer his phone, he’d face reports, criticism, and disciplinary action.

If he went back to the past, it was a toss-up whether his position would even be waiting for him when he got back.

“Fine, why don’t you go then?”

“No, my opportunities are limited. I can’t save the whole world,” Nan Mu refused coldly. So many people died every day; how could he possibly save them all?

“That’s not what I meant…” Qiu Ziyu began counting points off on his fingers for him. “First, there are currently zero leads to investigate Wen Miao’s death. Wen Miao is dead, and Xu Lei is dead. How can you investigate without going back to the past?”

“Second, as for suspects in Gu Zhishu’s murder, we only have two people of interest: Zhaodi and Su Yu. But Gu Zhishu was only in his twenties when he died. Did Zhaodi or Su Yu have the capability to kill someone and then meticulously move the body to the base of Lion Mountain to bury it? Don’t forget, Lion Mountain wasn’t developed ten years ago; that place was a complete wilderness. Who would ask a sick friend to meet them in a place like that? If you were Gu Zhishu, you wouldn’t go, right? So even if we find those two, the likelihood of them being the killers isn’t high.”

“Third, Gu Zhishu has been dead for ten years. How much useful information can Su Yu and Zhaodi remember about a friend from a decade ago? Besides, if they really knew something, why didn’t they tell the Gu Family when Gu Zhishu went missing ten years ago? Based on that, the probability of getting anything useful out of those two is also low!”

Qiu Ziyu’s words weren’t without merit. Nan Mu hesitated again and again before finally making a decision.

He would go back one more time!